Belaset's Daughter - By Feona J Hamilton Page 0,103

was a sunny day, so the sun could guide him back to the castle, when he came to the edge of the forest, which he undoubtedly would before too long, he thought.

Suddenly, he caught sight of movement high up in one of the trees just ahead of him. He stopped the horse, with a gentle pull on the reins and dismounted silently. Letting the reins drop, he put his hand on the horse s muzzle, and gave it a single, reassuring press.

Leaving it standing alone, he crept forward to get a better view.

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Perched comfortably in the tree on a thick bough, leaning his back against the trunk, sat a man who Jervis recognised as being one of the archers that he had watched practising in the castle grounds in Lewes. Jervis could see now that he had his bow ready, with an arrow notched in it. Puzzled, Jervis crouched down and waited to see what the man was about. He was certainly not hunting for deer, perched up where he was; it looked more as though he was waiting for something to happen.

The man sat up suddenly, and leaned forward, peering down to his left, in an attitude of tense listening. Jervis strained his own ears, and heard the sound of two horses coming nearer. There must be another track below, he thought to himself, still watching the archer in the tree. The man drew back the bow, and sat, poised, ready to let fly the arrow.

Before Jervis had time to realise what was happening, the arrow had left the bow, there was a thud as it found its mark, and a cry, mingled with a startled shout and the whinnying of horses. Then came the sound of hooves fading into the distance, a quick scuffle as the archer in the tree vanished behind the trunk, and Jervis was left, stunned with disbelief at what he had just seen and heard.

He backed silently away from his place of concealment and returned to where his horse stood, head down, nosing around for something to eat. The horse raised his head, but Jervis quickly placed a warning hand on its muzzle, to stop it making any sound and giving his position away. He listened for the sound of anyone searching, but all was silent.

What was happening? Surely, since there had been two men riding together, the one left unhurt was trying to find their attacker? Jervis stood beside the horse, thinking deeply, then made his decision.

Leaning down, he took the reins in his hand and walked forward, leading the horse, which ambled along behind him. Making his way back to where he had stood looking at the archer in the tree, Jervis stopped and listened again. There was still nothing to be heard, so he went forward a little further, to where the faint track he had been following turned and disappeared round the corner. As he rounded the bend, he found himself at the top of a small, but very steep, bank. At first, all he could see was a horse, standing alone, which pricked its ears forward and turned its head to look up at him. Then he saw the murdered man.

On his back, with one eye staring straight up and an arrow protruding grotesquely from the other, lay Roger de Tourney. His arms were flung out on either side, and his legs were spread-eagled. The force of the arrow, reaching its target, had flung him straight off the back of the horse and onto the path. The wound was so dreadful, that he must have died instantly, as the arrow pierced his brain. Jervis felt himself go pale and the nausea rise in his throat. Swallowing hard, he stood, his face averted from the dead man, as he fought the urge to vomit.

After a few moments, the feeling passed, and he started to look round for signs of the other rider. Skirting the body, he looked on either side of the path along which they must have come. Just to one side, broken twigs and trampled undergrowth showed where the other rider had taken off at a gallop. He must have decided to simply flee the scene, BOSON BOOKS

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riding, as he had, away from where the archer had sat in the tree, waiting for his target to come into view. A sudden thought struck Jervis: had the other rider deliberately lured de Tourney to this spot? But if he had, why the shout of surprise? It