‘No, you took it from a woman raped and murdered in Villaines. I know because I gave it to her after she treated me with kindness. You looted it when you slew her family. And what of her daughter? She was no older than twelve. Did you rape her too, before attacking her mother? And why did you steal it? It is a worthless stone. A trinket for a woman who had nothing but calloused hands and barely enough food to feed her family.’

Blackstone tugged free the leather cord that bore a small, dulled and scratched brown-red stone. He handed it to ben Josef, who looked at it and nodded.

‘I fight, I get paid,’ said Geoffrey. ‘We take what is there to be taken. What difference is there between us, Sir Thomas?’

‘You ask what difference there is between us?’ said Blackstone. ‘I hang rapists and murderers.’

*

They broke camp soon after first light. They buried their comrade and shared his clothes and arms among those closest to him. They abandoned the wagon because Blackstone needed to travel fast. Halif ben Josef rode with a pack horse to carry his satchel of medicines while Lázaro rode at Beyard’s side. The boy showed no sign of recognizing the prisoner and remained as silent as the day they had rescued him, yet Beyard sensed there was a change coming over him. He trembled less and he didn’t seem so sullen when he attended to his duties; nor did he show any sign of trepidation when Blackstone spoke to the men around him. Beyard watched Lázaro as they rode past the hanged man. The boy displayed no emotion but when he turned his gaze away from the corpse Beyard noticed the tell-tale sign of a smile.

Hours later Blackstone beckoned Renfred to bring the routier’s horse to the front of the column. La Fontaine was less than ten miles from where they stopped. It raised its head and sniffed the breeze.

‘Let it go,’ said Blackstone.

Renfred slapped the horse’s rump. It trotted across the open grassland, veering after a few hundred yards to follow its instincts and the scent on the wind that would take it back to de Hayle’s horses.

‘There’s no saying where de Hayle is hiding,’ said Killbere. ‘Do we follow or wait until he sends out another scouting party?’

Blackstone beckoned the captains to him. ‘Renfred and a scouting party will follow the horse. We’ll go in two groups. I’ll lead; Sir Gilbert will follow. If we ride into an ambush, he can cover us. Will, the boy and ben Josef stay back with your archers. You’re our rearguard. If we sight them and are forced back you’ll cover our withdrawal and then you kill as many as you can before we turn and make our stand. Questions?’