Tombland

‘Dark, I think. Maybe red. I don’t know.’ He blushed suddenly. ‘You see, sir, I don’t see well. Things close to are all right, or I couldn’t do my work, but at any distance I don’t see so well. And the man – Master Snockstobe, he was in the other room and he came out at once and took him straight through to the back. But as they went through, Master Snockstobe asked the man which key was it, and I heard him say it was for the horse Midnight’s stable, Master Boleyn’s key was lost.’

I closed my eyes. How like our cursed luck for the boy to be shortsighted. But he could testify that someone had come in, and asked for a copy of a key to the stable. His evidence could still be crucial. I looked at Walter, who had begun shivering.

‘Why are you afraid of this man?’ I asked.

‘It’s not him. It’s those sons of Master Boleyn I fear. Sir, Master Snockstobe was sore worried yesterday. Do you think he could have been killed?’

‘I don’t know. Walter,’ I said. ‘I want you to come to court on Thursday. But we will protect you until then –’

‘No!’ the boy shouted. ‘Mistress Boleyn was murdered, and now perhaps my master. I won’t go to court!’

‘Do you have any relatives in Norwich, where you would be safe?’

‘No. My family live out in the Sandlings, I’ve nobody here.’

‘The people at your church?’

‘No! I’m not safe in Norwich!’

I kept my tone calm. ‘Listen, Walter, you can come back with us to the Maid’s Head, we can put you in our room, lock you in, if you wish. Then, after the trial, we can arrange safe transport to your family.’

‘The Maid’s Head?’ His eyes widened. ‘They won’t let the likes of me in there! I’ve got to get out of Norwich!’

‘They will let you stay if I say so. And if you are in danger, do you think you will be any safer on the road?’

Walter groaned and put his head in his hands. ‘I must go home.’

‘By telling the truth in court you may save an innocent man. You are a Christian, is that not the Christian thing to do?’

Walter bowed his head, rats’ tails of hair hiding his eyes.

‘Now, this is what I want you to do. Go upstairs, pack all you need, and we will take you to the Maid’s Head. You will be protected there, Walter, I promise. Then all you need to do is tell the truth on Thursday, and then we will ensure you get home safely.’

He looked up, a desperate expression on his pale face.

‘Go on, lad,’ Nicholas said encouragingly.

Walter nodded. He mounted a flight of wooden stairs at the side of the shop. Toby shook his head. ‘Another little cringer like Scambler. Once England bred strong, honest farming people, now they’re all gone to seed scraping a living in the towns. No wonder we’re losing the war in Scotland.’

‘You can be harsh, Toby,’ I said.

‘’Tis the truth.’

After a few minutes Nicholas stirred restlessly. ‘He should be down by now.’

‘Let’s go up,’ Toby said.

We mounted the steps quickly. Upstairs was a small bedroom, with a rickety bed and a cheap edition of the new Prayer Book on a table. The shutters of the window were wide open.

‘Fuck!’ Toby shouted. ‘He’s gone!’ We ran to the window. Outside the sloping roof of an outhouse allowed easy access to a yard. Walter had vanished.

We raced outside. Toby ran up the alley, while Nicholas and I went down to Tombland. We looked at the roads and lanes branching off from the square. Walter could have taken any of them. Nicholas went into the Maid’s Head, to see whether any staff had noticed a boy running across the square. He came back shaking his head, and shortly afterwards Toby rejoined us. ‘It’s hopeless,’ he said. ‘He could be anywhere.’

‘Where are the Sandlings, his home?’

‘Down on the Suffolk coast. But there are many roads, and he probably won’t take the obvious ones. We’ve lost him. I said he was a cringer.’

‘He was terrified,’ Nicholas said.

‘There’s nothing we can do,’ I said bleakly. ‘I can give testimony as to what he said, but without Snockstobe or Walter it’s all just hearsay.’

‘Scambler could testify he lost the key,’ Toby suggested.

‘I don’t think his losing the key for a day would help much. And I doubt he’d make a good impression in court. He seems to be a figure of fun around Norwich generally.’

Nicholas said, ‘If Snockstobe was murdered, could Scambler be in danger too? If the twins gave the key to the man who went into the shop?’

I nodded agreement. ‘Nicholas, could you go to Scambler’s place again, warn him and his aunt to stay indoors until Friday. Perhaps they can get someone from their church to stay with them. Say I will visit them tomorrow, to make sure all is well. Toby, you may as well go back to your parents now. We will see you at the Blue Boar at nine o’clock. Do you know where we might hire a sword for you?’

‘How are you going to waylay the twins afterwards?’