Chapter Thirteen

The cleaning and feeding of Janet and Joan de Tosni was a monumental task.

Caledonia struggled to put aside her emotions, her innate guilt, and focus on the duty at hand as she took her daughters inside to begin reversing the process that Madam Madonna had started. Entering the keep itself was an interesting experience because she had always been limited as to the rooms she could visit. She and Robert had separate bedchambers, and hers was on the top floor with the servants and quite possibly the smallest chamber in the entire keep, while Robert had the large chamber on the next floor down and Madam Madonna had the room next to his.

The old nurse was still watching over her charge.

The daughters slept in what was essentially an alcove in Madam Madonna’s large and spacious chamber. Caledonia figured this out when she took the girls inside and wanted to know where they kept their clean clothing. As it turned out, they didn’t have any clean clothing. They only had the clothes on their back. Janet took her to Madam Madonna’s chamber, which was lavishly furnished, and then showed her mother the small alcove that had three little mattresses on the ground. There weren’t even any blankets. The saving grace was probably the fact that the alcove was next to the hearth, so even in cold weather, the girls wouldn’t freeze. But seeing how her children had been raised not only increased her guilt—it fueled a fire of rage in her that seemed to be gaining intensity by the moment.

Nicola eventually found her in Madam Madonna’s chamber, and when Caledonia explained the situation to her, Nicola was suitably outraged. However, she had one thing that Caledonia didn’t have—the fact that she was somewhat emotionally detached from the situation. She had a better perspective on what needed to happen and how it needed to happen, and as Caledonia convinced her daughters that they needed to take a bath, Nicola swung into action.

The first thing she did was rummage through Madam Madonna’s personal possessions looking for soap or anything else that could be used for a bath. Mother Madonna, in spite of being a former nun, seemed to have a plethora of personal possessions, including bathing implements, oils, and soaps. The woman had enough loot to start her own merchant stall because she also had combs, perfumes, and even some cosmetics. The more Nicola dug around, the more she found.

It was all quite surprising.

Handing Caledonia the oils and the soap, Nicola went on the hunt for a tub. She had absolutely no fear as she searched through the halls and chambers until she finally came across a copper tub that was kept near the kitchens. At this point, Thor had all of the servants rounded up and out in the bailey, where he could explain to them who was now in charge. In fact, the entry door was open and Nicola could hear her brother speaking rather sternly to the servants from the keep. There were at least fifteen of them that she could see, all of them listening to the new Earl of Tamworth and Stafford.

Her brother.

She was actually quite proud of him.

Unwilling to wait for the servants to be dismissed, Nicola went through a kitchen that smelled heavily of smoke and yeast, and out into the kitchen yard in search of some royal soldiers because she needed help lugging the water and the tub up to Madame Madonna’s chamber. Because she was a resourceful young woman, she was able to convince Darius to give her a hand even though he had his own duties given to him by Thor. Nicola wouldn’t be put off, however, and being that he was in love with the woman, Darius simply obeyed her. He grabbed several soldiers, and the group of them headed back to the keep so they could bring the bathtub up to the upper floors.

As was usual in almost all castles, there was an enormous iron cauldron of hot water boiling over the open flame. It was a staple in most kitchens so any hot water needs could be fulfilled, including baths. Darius and the soldiers found buckets, and the bathtub, along with the hot water, was hauled up to Madam Madonna’s chamber. As they entered, they found Caledonia cutting off the bottom on a pair of shifts she had found. Given the fact that the children had no clothing, she had little choice unless she wanted her daughters to run around naked, so she’d commandeered two shifts she found in a trunk and, using scissors she found in a sewing kit in the same trunk, cut them both to fit her daughters. They were a little big, but they would have to do until she could make real clothing for the girls.

One problem at a time.

Once the tub was half-full of steaming water, Caledonia and Nicola coaxed the little girls out of their filthy and tattered clothing. Janet argued that she liked what she was wearing and intended to go back down to the kitchen yard and play with her pet chicken, but Caledonia managed to convince her that taking a bath would be more fun. According to Janet, she’d never taken a bath in her life, and given the state of her skin and clothing, Caledonia was willing to believe it. However, she didn’t seem to be afraid of the water and, in fact, climbed in happily when she realized it was warm. But Joan, the baby, was positively terrified of the water and screamed as if she was being murdered as Caledonia lowered her into the warm bath.

As Nicola scrubbed Janet, Caledonia scrubbed the little one. Joan stood up in the bathtub, screaming at the top of her lungs as her mother washed her with soap that smelled of lavender and rosemary. The wash also included washing out her mouth because it was still full of mud and dirt. The areas between her teeth were black with dirt, and Caledonia used some of the fabric that she had cut off the shifts as a rag to clean the child’s teeth. There was even dirt in her nostrils. For the dirt-eating child, the grit was literally everywhere.

In fact, the baby was so dirty that they considered this bath just the first rinse. Nicola sent down for the soldiers again, and they returned to empty the bathtub and bring fresh water. The second bathing was a little better, and didn’t leave the water nearly as dirty as the first, but Joan still screamed through the entirety of it. Caledonia soldiered through, however, scrubbing and rinsing a child who seemed to feel that she was genuinely being murdered in the process. Once it was all done, and the girls were clean and dried and put into the makeshift clothing, Joan promptly fell into an exhausted sleep on Madam Madonna’s bed. It took Janet a little longer, but once everything was said and done, she fell asleep next to her sister.

Warm and clean for probably the first time in her young life.

Caledonia would have rather liked to have joined them.

Standing over her daughters, she felt as if she’d been through a battle. Which she had. But they were both clean and the baby’s hair was drying into soft white curls in the warm air. To see them like that eased Caledonia’s heart a little, but it would be a long time before the guilt of leaving her children in such a horrible state left her. But, as Thor had said, it was time for her to focus on her children and not her own guilt.

It was time to do something about it.

She’d gotten a good start.

“God’s Bones,” Caledonia muttered. “I’ve never been so exhausted in my life.”

Nicola was still sitting on the floor where she’d dressed Janet. She couldn’t seem to get up. “I think I’ve lost my hearing in one ear,” she said, sticking her finger into it. “I’ve never heard a child scream so long and so loudly before.”

Caledonia nodded in agreement, gazing down at her sleeping daughters. “They’re like feral animals,” she said. “No discipline, no rules or love or guidance. Joan screamed as if she’d never seen water in her life.”

“She probably hasn’t,” Nicola said, wearily rising to her feet. She spied the girls on the bed, sleeping so sweetly, and chuckled. “But look at them now. They are angels.”

“For the moment.”

“Where is the eldest one?”

Caledonia’s attention turned away from the bed and toward the windows. She could hear the sounds of the bailey outside.

“That,” she said thoughtfully, “is a very good question.”

*

He was onthe hunt.

Thor was on the trail of Jane, who had been screaming in the upper bailey about a devil, but now had conspicuously vanished. Thor knew that the servants and the Stafford army had been gathered and that they were waiting for him in the lower bailey to address them, but he had promised his wife that he would find her eldest daughter, and find her he would.

But she was elusive.

Not for long if he could help it. He had been following her trail, being directed by royal soldiers who had seen the child run past them, until he ended up in the stables where the grooms were settling the warhorses after their journey from Birmingham. He was down in the lower bailey now, following the signs, and ended up just inside the stable door. The stables of Stafford were quite large, a long building that stretched along part of the motte. It made sense because all of the filth from the stables was easily dumped into the moat right behind it. As he cautiously entered the structure, which still had servants inside as they tended to the animals, he began to hear a small, high-pitched voice.

He wasn’t sure where it was coming from, but he happened to glance at one of the servants who was filling a feed bucket, and the man pointed to the eastern side of the stable block. Thor didn’t even ask him why he pointed because he already knew.

There was someone in the stable who shouldn’t be there.

Therefore, he headed off to the eastern portion of the stable block, where he immediately caught sight of a slight, white-haired child. Her hair was to her knees, matted and dirty, and she wore tattered clothing that was too small for her frame. There were several horses at this end, including his own warhorse, and the child seemed to be standing just in front of his stall. The horses were facing inward as they munched on their grain, but that didn’t stop the little girl from talking to big horse arses.

She seemed quite intent.

“And that is why Christ has saved you from your sins,” she was saying. “Whenever you disobey your master, you are disobeying God. All creatures need salvation, and I am here to make sure you understand the spirit of God.”

Thor couldn’t help the confused furrow of the brow. He thought he hadn’t heard right with the first sentence he was able to make out, but then he realized that the child was trying to preach to the horses. She seemed quite serious about it. Given that she wasn’t hysterical at the moment and screaming about devils, he took the opportunity to approach her.

Carefully.

“My lady?” he said, trying to catch her attention. “My lady, are you Lady Jane?”

She stopped looking at horse buttocks and turned to him. Thor hadn’t gotten a good look at her before, when she’d run through the bailey, but now he could see that she was the exact image of Caledonia. She had the same dark, dark green eyes and white hair, the same upturned nose, the same lips. It was like looking at his wife when she’d been a child, such a beautiful, ethereal child.

A child who was looking at him curiously.

“Would you like me to teach you the word of God?” she asked.

He smiled, gesturing to the horses. “Is that what you were doing?” he asked. “Teaching them the word of God?”

She nodded. “Even the animals must know,” she said. “How else are they to get into heaven?”

“How else, indeed,” Thor said. “But you are Jane, are you not?”

The child eyed him before nodding and turning away. “You can listen to me as I teach them,” she said. “Do you know that God loves you but if you disobey Him, you will go to hell?”

She was going back to the animals. Thor watched her closely. “Do you know that if you disobey your mother and father, you will go to hell also?”

Jane stopped and looked at him. “I have no mother or father,” she said. “My father is dead.”

“But your mother is not,” he said. “Before you start screaming that she is the devil, who told you that? Because saying that your mother is a devil when she is not is a sin.”

Jane’s eyes widened. “But she is wicked! She is the devil!”

“Who told you that?”

“Madam Madonna!”

Thor already knew that, but he wanted to hear it from her. He knew it wouldn’t do any good to deny it. He wondered just how bright she was and if he could possibly reason with her, because they certainly couldn’t have her running all over the castle screaming that Caledonia was the devil.

He crooked a finger at her.

“Come here,” he said. “Sit down.”

He was indicating a clean spot of hay near one of the empty stalls, but Jane was confused by the request. “Why?” she said.

“Because I am asking you to. Please, my lady.”

“Who are you?”

“I am the new Earl of Tamworth and Stafford,” he said. “Your father held the title before I did. Now it belongs to me because the king granted it to me. Do you understand?”

She nodded, but he wasn’t entirely sure she really understood. Still, his explanation had her moving over to the spot he had indicated. When she sat down, he sat a few feet away from her, facing her.

For this conversation, he needed to get down to her level.

“My name is Thor,” he said, looking into those dark eyes. “As I told you, I am the new earl. That means you will be living in my home from now on. Do you understand me so far?”

Jane nodded. “All of us?” she said. “Me and my sisters and Madam Madonna and the servants?”

Thor wasn’t sure he should tell her about Madam Madonna yet, but on the other hand, he wanted to be completely truthful with her from the start. Lies or hiding information wouldn’t do well when building trust, and he wanted to build that very much.

“Lady Jane, do you know what a lie is?” he asked, avoiding her question.

She nodded solemnly. “Aye,” she said. “Lies displease God.”

“But what is a lie?”

“When you say something that is not true.”

“Exactly,” he said. “Well done. Now, do you think God is displeased when people are cruel?”

“Aye.”

“I think so, too,” Thor said. “My lady, how old are you?”

Jane shrugged. “I am not of age yet,” she said. “Madam Madonna said I will be of age in a few years and then I will marry someone of her choosing.”

That was an interesting bit of information, but he didn’t pursue it. “May I ask if Madam Madonna is good to you?” he asked.

She nodded without hesitation. “She prays for us,” she said. “She prays that God will let me go to heaven. My sisters will not go to heaven, but I will.”

“Did Madam Madonna tell you that?”

“Aye.”

“Do you love your sisters, my lady?”

That was a question Jane had never considered before. Perhaps no one had ever asked her. It seemed to confuse her.

“They are my sisters,” she said.

Thor phrased it another way. “I know,” he said. “But if they were to get hurt or die, would you be sad?”

She had to think about that. “I would miss them.”

“Because you love them,” Thor said. When she still looked rather blank, he elaborated. “If they were to become ill, would you help them?”

“I have helped them when they are ill.”

“Because you are the eldest, you must protect them,” he said, watching her still-blank expression. “If someone was trying to hurt them, would you protect them?”

She cocked her head thoughtfully. “Once, a soldier tried to take Joan,” she said. “I screamed and he was stopped.”

Thor smiled. “You see?” he said. “You are a very good sister because you love them, and that makes God very happy.”

She didn’t look so blank any longer. Hearing that bit of praise from Thor made her smile. “And I will go to heaven!”

“Of course you will,” Thor said. “But that brings me back to what we were originally speaking of. Do you believe it is wicked when someone lies? Does it displease God?”

She nodded eagerly. “Aye, it does.”

Now, Thor had her understanding what he wanted to speak to her about. At least a little. He forged ahead.

“I am going to tell you a story because I want to explain something to you,” he said. “Many years ago, a lady had a baby. A lovely daughter that she loved very much. God was very happy with the birth. But someone wicked took the baby away. Told the baby lies about her mother. The mother was not wicked, and it was very sad for her to be kept away from her baby. God was no longer pleased. He was displeased with the wicked person. Would you be displeased, too?”

Jane had to think about that. “But why would the wicked person take the baby away and lie?”

“Because she wanted the baby,” Thor said. “The wicked person took the baby away because she did not want her mother to have her. She told the baby anything she could so she would hate her mother. That surely must displease God very much because it of the lies. One of the commandments is to honor your father and mother, after all.”

Jane nodded but wasn’t sure what to say to it all. Thor could see that he was close to overwhelming her with his conversation because she was young and clearly wasn’t very adept in the art of conversation. It occurred to him that everything she’d said to him about the word of God sounded as if she was mimicking someone.

Perhaps that was all she knew.

The only human contact she’d ever had.

“I am telling you this for a reason, my lady,” he said quietly. “You were the baby in my story. Someone very wicked has kept you from your mother and has told you lies about her. God is not pleased about that. He is not pleased that you called your mother the devil.”

Now, Jane was starting to catch on to what he was saying and why. Her breathing started to quicken.

“Where is Madam Madonna?” she said, her eyes welling. “I want to speak to Madam Madonna.”

Thor could see that he was about to lose her. “My lady, listen to me for a moment,” he said. “It is important. With Madam Madonna, all you knew was poverty and suffering.”

“Nay!”

“Are you hungry?”

“God wants us to suffer!”

“He does not,” he said. “Madam Madonna wanted you to suffer. She wanted you to be hungry and cold. But your mother has come to help you and you will never be cold and hungry again, I swear it. You will go to bed with a full belly and awaken to food and warmth. She will love you and you will be happy. Would that not be better than living in rags as you do?”

Jane was starting to weep. She lurched to her feet and ran off before he could stop her. But he let her go, standing up and brushing the chaff off his breeches, hoping he hadn’t made the situation worse with her. The child had clearly been conditioned to believe only what Madam Madonna told her.

It was a sad situation.

Pondering his next move, Thor wandered from the stable, heading out into the large lower bailey where soldiers and servants were gathered. He’d brought around eight hundred men with them, and at this moment, his men were on the battlements, at the gatehouses, and guarding de Lucera and Madam Madonna in the vault. Given that he needed to speak to those sworn to Stafford, he pushed aside thoughts of Jane and headed toward the gathering. Truett was bringing in several more errant Stafford soldiers and saw him coming. As his herd of soldiers mixed with those already gathered, Truett went to Thor.

“That is all we can locate, Thor,” he said. “We are fairly certain that this is everyone.”

Thor looked at the collection. “Excellent,” he said. “How many Stafford soldiers?”

“We can only find about seven hundred,” Truett said. Part of the de Nerra family, he was big and dark and intimidating. “It seems that there were twice that many, but after de Tosni died and his wife fled to London, no one wanted to remain under the de Lucera knights. I’m hearing tale that they stole from their own soldiers and treated them rather poorly.”

Thor grunted. “Then that will work in our favor,” he said. “When was the last time they were paid?”

“When de Tosni was alive, from what I can gather.”

“What about the servants?”

“The same, I would imagine, but I’ve not spoken to any of them.”

Thor paused and turned to Truett. “It simply proves my theory,” he said. “I said that it was possible de Tosni’s knights were ruling over Stafford as if it was their person domain, and you are the second person who has confirmed that theory. I intend to have an honest conversation with these men about it, but one thing is increasingly certain.”

“What is that?”

Thor cocked a dark eyebrow. “That de Lucera, his cousins, and Madam Madonna are to be exiled from Stafford permanently,” he said. “In fact, I see no reason to wait. True, will you see to it?”

Truett nodded. “Of course,” he said. “What do you want me to do?”

Thor turned in the direction of the gatehouse with the vault hidden below it. “Take twenty of our men,” he said quietly. “Escort them to collect their belongings, but they are to take nothing of value with them. No coin, no weapons. They can only take what they can carry, and you will have them escorted out of here and left at Penkridge. That was the village just south of here. Give them two pounds each and tell them that if they ever show their faces at Stafford or Tamworth that I will cut their heads off and feed them to the pigs. They’re damn lucky I’m not keeping them all in the vault for the rest of their lives. But… I want to be fair. Fairer than they’ve treated anyone around here, from what I’m hearing.”

Truett fought off a grin. “I will happily do it, my lord.”

“Do it today.”

“Aye, my lord.”

With that, Truett was gone, preparing to throw the de Luceras and Madam Madonna out on their ears while Thor went to the head of the gathering of Stafford soldiers and servants and told the entire group who he was, whom he stood for, whom he had married, and the fact that every individual who served Stafford was to listen to Lady de Reyne as if God Himself was speaking to them.

He left little doubt.

Some would say that Stafford Castle was saved that day.