hand up and thrust the knife into his opponent's throat; then, his hand continuing in an arc, he pulled the knife sideways, severing most of the neck.
Blood came like a fountain from the man's throat. Thomas staggered back, dodging the splash. The man in black fell to the ground, his head hanging from his body by a strip.
Thomas dropped the knife from his right hand and clutched his wounded left arm. He sat on the ground, suddenly looking weak.
Merthin was alone with the wounded knight, two dead men-at-arms, and the corpse of a three-legged dog. He knew he should run after the other children, but his curiosity kept him there. Thomas now seemed harmless, he told himself.
The knight had sharp eyes. "You can come out," he called. "I'm no danger to you in this state."
Hesitantly, Merthin got to his feet and pushed his way out of the bush. He crossed the clearing and stopped several feet away from the sitting knight.
Thomas said: "If they find out you've been playing in the forest, you'll be flogged."
Merthin nodded.
"I'll keep your secret, if you'll keep mine."
Merthin nodded again. In agreeing to the bargain, he was making no concessions. None of the children would tell what they had seen. There would be untold trouble if they did. What would happen to Ralph, who had killed one of the queen's men?
"Would you be kind enough to help me bind up this wound?" said Thomas. Despite all that had happened, he spoke courteously, Merthin observed. The knight's poise was remarkable. Merthin felt he wanted to be like that when he was grown up.
At last Merthin's constricted throat managed to produce a word. "Yes."
"Pick up that broken belt, then, and wrap it around my arm, if you would."
Merthin did as he was told. Thomas's undershirt was soaked with blood, and the flesh of his arm was sliced open like something on a butcher's slab. Merthin felt a little nauseated, but he forced himself to twist the belt around Thomas's arm so that it pulled the wound closed and slowed the bleeding. He made a knot, and Thomas used his right hand to pull it tight.
Then Thomas struggled to his feet.
He looked at the dead men. "We can't bury them," he said. "I'd bleed to death before the graves were dug." Glancing at Merthin, he added: "Even with you helping me." He thought for a moment. "On the other hand, I don't want them to be discovered by some courting couple looking for a place to... be alone. Let's lug the guts into that bush where you were hiding. Green coat first."
They approached the body.
"One leg each," said Thomas. With his right hand he grasped the dead man's left ankle. Merthin took the other limp foot in both hands and heaved. Together they hauled the corpse into the shrubbery, next to Hop.
"That will do," said Thomas. His face was white with pain. After a moment, he bent down and pulled the arrow out of the corpse's eye. "Yours?" he said with a raised eyebrow.
Merthin took the arrow and wiped it on the ground to get rid of some of the blood and brains adhering to the shaft.
In the same way they dragged the second body across the clearing, its loosely attached head trailing behind, and left it beside the first.
Thomas picked up the two men's dropped swords and threw them into the bush with the bodies. Then he found his own weapons.
"Now," said Thomas, "I have a great favour to ask." He proffered his dagger. "Would you dig me a small hole?"
"All right." Merthin took the dagger.
"Just here, right in front of the oak tree."
"How big?"
Thomas picked up the leather wallet that had been attached to his belt. "Big enough to hide this for fifty years."
Screwing up his courage, Merthin said: "Why?"
"Dig, and I'll tell you as much of it as I can."
Merthin scratched a square on the ground and began to loosen the cold earth with the dagger, then scoop it up with his hands.
Thomas picked up the scroll and put it into the wool bag, then fastened the bag inside the wallet. "I was given this letter to deliver to the earl of Shiring," he said. "But it contains a secret so dangerous that I realized the bearer is sure to be killed, to make certain he can never speak of it. So I needed to disappear. I decided I would take sanctuary in a monastery, become a monk. I've had enough of fighting, and I've