Tombland

Johnson turned to the women. ‘At least your people have some lands left, gals. Mine are gone. I served with old King Henry’s army in France two years while my wife and son ran our little piece. I wrote letters, but never got any back. So many of the men’s letters were lost. By Christ, I saw some things that made me sick of war. When it ended I came home to find Sarah and John had been evicted. I never found them, though God knows I’ve tried. I’ve laboured on farms when I can these three years. Then I started hearing people in taverns murmuring about the common people taking things into their own hands, and I joined ’em.’ He clenched his fists. ‘And now we’ve done it. Maybe now I’ll get revenge for my suffering.’ I saw tears on his wrinkled cheeks. Goodwife Everneke put out her hand to him. Abruptly, Nicholas got up and went into the hut. Wincing a little, I got on my hands and knees and crawled after him, waving to Barak to stay where he was.

Nicholas had wedged himself into a corner of the lean-to, sitting with his hands on his knees. It was dim in there, the only light coming through the door. I sat beside him. He sighed and looked at me. ‘These people’s stories,’ he said. ‘I never knew English people endured such things.’

‘And now they have reached their limit.’

‘The world turned upsy-down. Yes, I saw that in Surrey Place.’ It was the first time Nicholas had mentioned his imprisonment. He looked at the doorway, where Johnson and Barak and the two women were still talking quietly. In the distance we could still hear the prophet. ‘This is the coming of Christ’s kingdom, the masters will be put down and all things held in common, and justice done. Christ’s elect will rule, and we shall have true religion!’

‘I wish that man would shut his mouth,’ Nicholas said wearily. ‘He’s been ranting on for hours!’ He sighed. ‘Before, when we were riding around Norfolk and I used to argue with Toby, it was just words, but now it’s real. Even so, this is wrong. Society is like a body, and the head must rule – is that not what we have always been taught, is it not what the Bible says?’

‘You were never one for the Bible,’ I mocked gently. ‘What happened at Surrey Place?’

He looked at me. ‘We were taken out of the carts, all in chains. Everyone was quiet, afraid we might be killed. Even the Boleyn twins were quiet. Some of the rebels made pretend lunges at us with their bills and pitchforks. Then they opened the doors and took us in, to cheers from the men camped outside. It’s a magnificent palace, pillars and decorated ceilings, elaborate carvings on the walls, but just a shell; all the grand furniture must have been taken away when the Earl of Surrey fell. We were split into groups and put into empty rooms, left to sit on the floor with our feet bound. Thank God I wasn’t with the twins, but Witherington, Boleyn’s neighbour from Brikewell, was with me. When the rebels left us, he started railing and shouting about how the Protector and the council would have all these rogues hanged. I thought he would have a seizure. More gentlemen were brought in later, we had a gaoler who brought in food and said we were lucky to have it, the way we’d starved the commons. Once I heard shouting from another room; I recognized those twins’ voices, heard men running and then there was silence, I think they got a beating.’ He was silent a moment, then he looked at me and asked, ‘Who are these people anyway? They’re not all peasants.’

‘From what I’ve seen, there are yeomen, husbandmen with a little land, cottagers and labourers, and a lot of village craftsmen – butchers, carpenters, tailors, thatchers. A cross-section of the villagers. A few have brought their wives, but I think most women have stayed with the children to keep their farms going. And, of course, there are the soldiers.’

‘Deserters from the Scottish war. No wonder the redshanks are winning,’ Nicholas said bitterly.

‘The war is a disastrous mistake. The Protector should never have started it.’

‘Yet it is the duty of all to follow and assist the ruler in the waging of war.’

‘Even if the war does not meet the criteria of a just war? A sudden and brutal invasion to take over another country? Does the authority of the ruler mean we must abandon all conscience and reason?’

Nicholas shook his head. ‘Rebellion in time of war must be wrong.’

I said seriously, ‘Nicholas, I had you released on my word of honour that you would not cause trouble.’

He frowned. ‘I know, and I won’t.’

‘Well, keep your mouth closed, and remember your manners. Look, why don’t you have a walk around the camp with me and Jack?’

‘Among those men who beat me? No.’ He looked again towards the doorway. ‘Jack seems happy enough.’

‘I think it’s partly a way of escaping his own troubles, though yes, he sympathizes with Kett.’

‘And you?’

‘I don’t know.’

‘What do you think the Lady Elizabeth would say, if she knew you were here?’

I said uneasily, ‘I was brought here by force.’