The Knowledge Stone (32 page)

Although this procession of thoughts through the Head Stableman’s brain took only an instant, Kati was screaming at him again: ‘Go! What are you waiting for, you stupid man? I will certainly have you whipped for this. I will tell my father to cast you out of the Manor House. I will see to it that you die a beggar.’

Still the man did not move, his eyes fixed on hers: ‘No.’ This single word spoken quietly.

‘What!’ Kati was dumbfounded. ‘You disobey my command? Now you are finished here. I will speak to my father immediately I see him.’

Silence. Then the man spoke again: ‘You may do what you wish, Miss Kati. When I see the Master, I will certainly tell him what you have done today.’

With that, the Head Stableman turned around and, with the boy in his arms, walked to the riverside gate and disappeared within.

The following weeks and months were times of exceptional trauma at the Manor House. On that first day, the Head Stableman took the injured boy to his rooms at the stables and sent for a physician to attend to his injuries. That evening, it was discovered that Kati was missing and an extensive search commenced. When it became clear that she was not within the immediate grounds of the Manor House, the search extended to the areas outside the gates and it was then that Kati was found, still lying in the undergrowth beside the stable wall, unable to move because of the severe injury to her foot. The physician and the surgeon barber were summoned to the Manor House and, in due course, the nails were removed from her foot.

Despite the application of the best medical treatments, Kati began to show the symptoms of lockjaw five days later and this developed into the full-blown disease. She spent the next weeks in various stages of horrific rigidity as the disease took its course. However, because she was a young, strong girl and perhaps because she was receiving the best medical treatments that fourteenth-century medicine could devise, eventually she began to recover slowly. Nevertheless it was many weeks later before she could begin to walk and it was then apparent that the lockjaw plus the injury to her foot had left her with a serious limp. Meanwhile, the other young patient continued to be in the care of the Head Stableman and some trusted workers at the stables. The boy healed quite quickly but was left with a large ugly scar on his neck.

The trauma at the Manor House was not confined to injury and illness. The day following the awful events on the riverbank, the Head Stableman requested a meeting with the Master and intimated that he needed to discuss a series of very serious matters. The spur for this initiative was the presence of the injured boy in his rooms; if the boy was to recover there, he must seek the Master’s permission. After all, in the eyes of the law, the boy was convicted of a serious assault crime against his Master’s daughter. However, the Head Stableman remembered that the Master had promised to support his plea for lenience in Court; this suggested that he was sympathetic towards the boy. Of course the man was unaware of the Master’s unsettling conversation with his daughter which was the true origin of his note to the judge.

The Master received the Head Stableman in his private room that evening.

‘Master, I am sorry to bring this report to you,’ the Head Stableman began, ‘but it is right that you should be aware of the truth of the terrible events that have happened here. Will you permit me to speak the truth?’

‘Yes, you may speak and I would welcome the truth, however terrible.’

So the Head Stableman spoke of the events of the previous day; how he had heard the boy’s cry, how he had investigated, what he had seen and what had happened thereafter; how, by good fortune, the wound had not been fatal. He told how he had eventually been able to stem the flow of blood. He had then brought the boy to his own livings and called for medical help. Finally, he produced Kati’s blood-stained knife and placed it on the Master’s table: ‘This is the knife she used, Master. She dropped it on the ground as she ran away.’

There was silence as the Master looked sadly at the knife. Then the Head Stableman spoke once more: ‘Master, I seek your permission to keep the boy with me until he is well.’

‘I give you that permission,’ the Master said, ‘and thank you for all that you have told me. You may leave me now. We will speak further about the boy after he recovers.’

The Master sat at his desk for a long time with his eyes closed. At last, he stood up and went to the room of his young son and found him studying by the window. ‘You have heard what has happened?’

‘Nanny told me that Kati is injured and in danger of the lockjaw illness.’

‘This is true. She stepped upon some rusty nails on the riverbank and now she is in the hands of the physician. But this is not why I came to speak to you, Son. I have some questions to ask you.’

‘Ask, Father, and I will tell you the truth if I know it.’

‘My questions are about Kati, Son. When you were younger, did she ever attack you, hurt you?’

The boy was silent for a time, head bowed, his mind racing with memories. Eventually he replied, speaking hesitantly: ‘Yes Father, I regret to say that she did. Often. When I was very little and learned to speak, no-one would believe me when I said she hurt me; in fact my nanny and sometimes my Mother punished me for suggesting it. So I soon learned to take the hurt and say nothing.’

It was the man’s turn to be silent. Then, in a soft voice: ‘The Chinese junk …?’

‘She broke it, Father, then told you I had done it.’

‘The drowning in the river …?’

‘She held my head under the water until I nearly drowned and then threw me naked into a large patch of nettles. I was mad with the pain and jumped back into the river. I did not know what I was doing and swam away into deep water. Kati made no attempt to rescue me. I understand I drowned and my body pulled out of the water by some boys downstream. One of them knew how to bring me back to life.’ The man sighed deeply and looked at his son with tears in his eyes.

‘My Son, I have been responsible for the pain you have suffered. How will you ever forgive me?’

‘Father, my life has been wonderful since you have become my friend, teaching me to swim and giving me the best birthday present that any boy could ever receive. Father, I love you so much!’ Father and son embraced.

‘Thank you for telling me the truth about your life with Kati.’ The man prepared to leave but the boy held up a restraining hand: ‘Father, there is one other thing you must know about …’

The boy now told his father about Kati’s threats to destroy his precious and valuable astrarium from the very day of his birthday. He explained how he had developed and installed a system of protection within the case of the instrument and showed his father a drawing of the mechanism and a sample of the steel wire he had used. He then told how Kati had actually attacked the instrument on that day when the medallion was found under the sleeping platform in the Great Hall: ‘You will remember how we were all fully occupied by that search.’ He produced the hammer that she had abandoned on the floor when she rushed from the room, after being extensively but superficially injured by the whipping wires of the protection system. ‘I did warn her personally,’ the boy concluded, ‘and there was a clear warning notice on the machine but I knew it was almost inevitable that she would disregard my warning. I had to protect my wonderful astrarium.’

The man was devastated by this news. His own daughter bent on destroying an extremely valuable instrument which had cost him a considerable part of his wealth! It was unbelievable, heart-breaking. After a final embrace the man thanked his son once again and stumbled from the room. Seeking out his wife, he recounted all that he had heard from the Head Stableman about Kati. Then he added the account of his son’s sufferings at the hands of his daughter, finishing up with her attempt to destroy the astrarium. After he had finished, holding his head in his hands, he said: ‘How can she have done all these terrible things? How can I have been so duped? The terrible thing is – there is even more I must speak about to you.’

His wife listened carefully as her husband now told her about his conversation with Kati when she tried to persuade him to permit her to attend the trial of the stable boy: ‘Suddenly it seemed that the boy’s crime had been to speak to her without permission. The boy always insisted that he had never touched her – in fact he was never near her, because he was the one who caught the horse and calmed it. This was confirmed by the other stable hand who still works here. It was this other man who went to Kati’s aid when she fell. This is what the Head Stableman said in the Court when he was giving evidence. I have become convinced that the boy has been severely punished for a crime he did not commit. In fact – I must go further – punished for a crime that never existed! Kati’s accusation was a complete lie.’

Husband and wife sat together wordlessly for some time. Finally the woman spoke, her tones calm and practical: ‘Listen, Husband, at this time, we do not know what will happen to our daughter. In the circumstances, it is not unlikely that she will develop the lockjaw disease; this is what the physician and the barber surgeon have told us. The rusty nails were within her foot for many hours. So we must now wait for the Lord’s judgement upon her. Once that judgement has been delivered, if she is still alive, we will know that the Lord has transferred the next part of the judgement to us. Meanwhile, we should wait and make sure that our daughter has the best treatment for her ills. Regarding the stable boy, it is clear that he should remain at the stable yard in the care of the Head Stableman and others. It will be for you to decide what should happen to him in the longer term.’

Several months crept past on the leaden feet of worry. Kati’s illness took its course and eventually she was able to return slowly towards a semblance of good health. When she was at last able to limp rather painfully around the Manor House and the immediate grounds, her father and mother sought her out for a private conversation.

They all sat around a table and her father spoke quietly and without emotion: ‘Kati, your mother and I are pleased that you have been able to recover from your illness. However we have been appalled to learn of your actions towards the stable boy on the day you were injured on the riverbank. We know everything that happened, Kati. We also know how you have hurt and abused your brother over the years. For instance, we know that you almost succeeding in killing him when you took him swimming in the river – and we know how he came to be stung by nettles so severely. Finally, we know about your attack on your brother’s very valuable astrarium – you bear the marks of that attempt on your face and body, Kati, and will do so for the rest of your life.’

Kati interrupted her father by bursting into tears and saying: ‘Father, all you have said is not true. I have not done any of these things …’

‘Be quiet, Kati, I suggest you should not attempt to deny anything I have said because I know that everything I have said is true. Furthermore, I suspect that you instigated at least some of the other bad things that happened here over the years. However, I have heard enough and your mother and I have come to a decision about you. It is clear that you cannot stay here because your murderous actions would come to light sooner or later and I would be required to hand you over to the town authorities for justice. I cannot have the good name of the family besmirched in this way.’

Kati was terrified. What was to happen to her? Her father was speaking again but her hearing had been temporarily disconnected from her brain.

‘Do you?’ Her father was looking at her quizzically.

‘Sorry, Father, I …’

‘Do you remember Master Ottvid? He is a very rich merchant who lives over the mountains.’

‘Yes, Father, I do.’ She remembered a rather small portly man who had a serious speech impediment and would not look anyone in the eye. Her father had introduced her to him and she had treated him with extreme rudeness and contempt. As a result, the unfortunate man became more and more tongue-tied and uncomfortable in the face of her aggression towards him. She had thought he was pathetic in every way! But why was her father speaking about this peculiar little man? Kati’s brain raced. Then, suddenly, she knew! Father would send her to this Master Ottvid and she would live with his family. There would be children to bully, perhaps. Certainly there would be servants to abuse. She would be very nice to Master Ottvid and he would give her a lot of money to spend. Kati cheered up considerably but controlled herself carefully. Her mother and father must not see that she was pleased!

‘Kati!’ Her father’s voice was sharp and brought her back to reality. ‘Are you listening to me? What is wrong with you? You should be listening carefully because this affects your future.’

‘I am very sorry, Father. I have developed a sudden pain in my head.’

‘I will tell you again, Kati. Listen! Master Ottvid is a very rich merchant. You are very fortunate indeed that he has agreed to marry you …’ – her father’s voice droned on but Kati heard nothing more. Her mind was in turmoil once again. ‘Marry! Marry! Marry Master Ottvid! No! No!’ Her thoughts were hysterical. She could not possibly do that. She did not want to marry. She did not want anything to do with men. She had told her father that many times and he had always said: “Don’t worry. I would never force you to do anything.”

As she thought this, Kati cut across what her father was saying and blurted: ‘But Father, you always said you would never force me to do anything.’

Her father sighed deeply: ‘I said that in the days when I thought I had a daughter who was kind and gentle. Now I find I have a daughter who is cruel and selfish. Listen to me, Kati. You will marry Master Ottvid and this will happen as soon as it can be arranged. Then you will go to live in the town over the mountains with your husband and you will not return here, ever again. Do you understand?’

Kati wept. However she knew that her presence at the Manor House and, indeed, in the local area, was now untenable. She recognised that she was in danger of being arrested and brought to Court so she must now make her escape as soon as possible. But marry Master Ottvid? That was unthinkable … or was it? Now her mind began to rampage through the new situation into which she found herself catapulted. Master Ottvid was a pathetic weak little man who could not even speak properly. She could dominate him! Yes, she was sure she could do that. From the beginning she would be cold and haughty and order him about. She would treat him like a dog. And she would make it clear from the outset that she would have nothing to do with sexual coupling, whatever that involved. She would insist that she lived in a separate part of his house, have her own servants and be given plenty of money to spend on what she liked: ‘Yes,’ Kati mused, ‘this can be the start of a wonderful new life for me.’ She felt quite elated.