Page 68 of The Knucker King

Chapter 26

Avice

Avice stared daggers at John’s back as he brought Epona to a stop outside the church of Lamorna.

“You did not tell me that he was in there,” she hissed.

John slipped from her iron grip and dismounted the mare effortlessly.

He squinted up at her, breath misting as he scoffed. “I did not think it was important where Benjamin was, just that I should bring you to him.”

“I am not going in after what happened last time.”

A line appeared between his eyebrows. “Nell insisted on not waiting for you, she practically bullied me into taking her home under your orders. So, what happened?”

“Father Peter grabbed me, and there is this noise—”

George Courier threw open the church door and dashed over to them, followed by a stableboy who went to attend to Epona. “Thanks be to God you are here; I do not think Ben is long for this land. Midwife Avice, he needs you.”

John offered her a gloved palm. “Please.”

She kept her shivering hands under her cloak for a moment more. The cold penetrated, despite the many layers of clothing she wore, as though the frost had settled on her very bones.

“Where is Nell?” Avice asked.

“Goodwife Beatrice is looking after her, she is happy to watch her for a fish or two whenever I go out,” John replied. “Do not change the subject. Will you please come and help Benjamin?”

Avice bit back the desire to enquire whether Beatrice knew about John’s former dalliance with her husband. “I was not changing the subject.” She took the fisherman’s hand. “I just wanted to make sure that she was out of this weather.”

He helped her slip down from Epona’s back, placing a steadying hand behind her. Avice readjusted her cloak and skirts, painfully aware that under her hood she was not wearing her coif and wimple. She had abandoned them in the frost on the day she went to rescue Trewoofe. She had no intention of wearing one again.

If they want my help, they will just have to bear it. She stuck her chin out. “Mister George, please lead the way.”

“Of course, follow me,” he replied, turning on his heel and marching through the arched doorway of the church.

John offered his arm. Avice paused to study him before taking it. He looked upset, and of course the situation was distressing, but it seemed deeper than that for him. His face was lined with worry, and jaw tightly clenched.

Is Benjamin the fisherman who he is having a dalliance with?

She slid her hand through the crook of his elbow, gripping there for support. Every single instinct bucked at her to turn away and leave. Her last experience in the church meant she never wanted to return. Yet here she was mere days later, putting her own wellbeing aside for the good of a patient.

Bramble flickered in her periphery. I am here too. Nothing like that will happen again, I promise.

She nodded and swallowed her nerves, grateful for her familiar’s support. Their boots echoed loudly throughout the empty square, reverberating on the frozen cobbles. They crossed over the threshold, and the noise hit Avice with the force of a tidal wave.

She froze. Gone was the previous irritating, needling buzz; she refused to move a sliver more as screams penetrated her ears.

She squinted down the nave. At the sanctuary stood George and Father Peter. A man lay on the floor at their feet, covered in blankets. The new cross loomed over him, and she could barely make out the sound of muttered prayers over the screeching.

John prodded her. “Avice?”

“I cannot.” She dug her heels in. “Do you not hear the screams?”

He frowned down at her. “What screams?”

She released him and threw back her hood. “The screams!” She pointed towards the cross. “There is a torturous noise in here. I will not be able to work.”

“Avice, you—”