Janna Mysteries 1 & 2 Bindup (46 page)

‘You’re going to take the veil?’ Hugh exclaimed, thunder-struck. Godric said nothing, but Janna saw his face crumple. He looked absolutely shattered.

‘No! No, but I will stay there for a time.’ Long enough to talk to the abbess. Janna raised her hand to touch the purse at her waist, felt the outline of the precious parchment, the letter from her father. She had another reason for going to the abbey. She smiled at the thought of it. If she could, if she was allowed, she would stay long enough to learn to read and write. If she could only read her father’s letter, it would help her find him, help her solve the secrets of the past. Her heart felt lighter; new courage flowed through her veins as, at last, she saw the way ahead. ‘I thank you for your offer, my lord, and for yours too, Godric.’ Impulsively, she caught hold of his hand and held it to her cheek. ‘You are very dear to me, but my mind is made up,’ she said firmly.

‘Then, with your leave, sire, I will escort Janna to Wiltune.’ Godric still looked stunned as he turned to Hugh.

‘Tonight,’ Janna added. Not for anything would she spend another night here, not now that Robert knew who she was.

‘Tonight,’ Hugh confirmed, but he looked every bit as unhappy as Godric about Janna’s sudden decision. ‘But are you quite sure …?’

‘Yes, my lord,’ Janna interrupted. ‘I am quite, quite sure.’

The iron gates of the abbey clanged shut behind Janna. Godric looked at her, and felt a great desolation in his heart. ‘Goodbye, Janna,’ he said quietly. ‘God go with you.’

‘Goodbye, Godric.’ Janna stretched her hand through the gate, and drew him closer. She puckered up her lips and blew him a kiss, then gave a rueful smile as she heard the tut-tutting disapproval of the nun waiting behind her to take her to the abbess. She would miss Godric; she would miss them all, she realised. After living alone with her mother for so long, she’d found a place within the small community of Hugh’s manor. It had given her new confidence to know that she was liked and valued there, and that she could make a life for herself even without her mother’s guidance. It was hard, now, to walk away from everyone she had come to know. It was especially hard to walk away from Godric, and from Hugh.

She’d escaped from Robert, but not from her own heart, she realised. Perhaps time out from the real world might give her a chance to get her emotions in order, as well as giving her the opportunity to learn the skills she needed for the journey she must make if ever she was to find her father.

Perhaps time out might give her the chance to forget about both Godric
and
Hugh? Janna knew that she would do well to succeed in that, for while she was locked in here, Gytha would have the run of the manor and be free to choose whoever might have her. Looking closely into her own aching heart, Janna knew that in Gytha’s shoes, she would find it hard to make a choice between Godric and Hugh. Better perhaps to be in her own shoes here at the abbey, with no choices left to her at all.

‘Come,’ said the nun. She beckoned Janna forward and Janna followed, turning her back on Godric, and on the outside world. In an effort to scrape up some courage, she set her shoulders square and tilted her chin. One thought gave her comfort. She was Johanna, daughter of John. Wherever she went, and whatever she did, she would make her father proud of her. Finding him was her goal now. For the time being, romance would just have to wait.

aelfshot
: a belief that illness or a sudden pain (like rheumatism, arthritis or a ‘stitch’) was caused by elves who shot humans or livestock with darts

ague
: fever and chills

alewife
: ale was a common drink in the middle ages. Housewives brewed their own for domestic use, while alewives brewed the ale served in alehouses and taverns. A bush tied to a pole was the recognised symbol of an alehouse, at a time when most of the population could not read.

apothecary
: someone who prepares and sells medicines, and perhaps spices and rare goods too

besom
: a bundle of twigs attached to a handle and used as a broom

breeches
: trousers held up by a cord running through the hem at the waist

boon work
: at busy times in the farming year (such as haymaking and harvest) villeins were required to work extra days in the lord’s fields. In return, they were given food and ale.

canonical hours
: the medieval day was governed by sunrise and sunset and divided into seven canonical hours. Times of prayer were marked by bells rung in abbeys and monasteries beginning with matins followed by lauds at sunrise; then prime, terce, sext, nones and vespers at sunset; followed by compline before going to bed.

‘caught red-handed’
: literally with blood on your hands, evidence that you had been poaching in the king’s forest

cot
: small cottage

cottar
: a medieval villein (serf) who occupied a cottage and a small piece of land on his lord’s demesne, in return for his labour

demesne
: manors/land owned by a feudal lord for his own use

Domesday Book
: commissioned by William I after he conquered England in 1066, the book is a meticulous reckoning (for taxation purposes) of who owned what in England, from manors, mills and land holdings down to slaves, pigs and ploughs

farthing
: one quarter of a penny

feudal system
: a political, social and economic system based on the relationship of lord to vassal, in which land was held on condition of homage and service. Following the Norman conquest, William I distributed land once owned by Saxon ‘ealdormen’ (chief men) to his own barons, who in turn distributed land and manors to subtenants in return for fees, knight service and, in the case of the villeins, work in the fields.

forest law
: from William the Conqueror’s time, royal forests were the preserve of kings and the ‘vert’ (living wood) and the ‘venison’ (the creatures of the forest) were protected and managed. The laws caused great hardship to the peasants, who needed timber for building and kindling, while hunger tempted many to go poaching – but they faced punishment, and sometimes even death, if caught with blood on their hands.

gore acres
: the odd corners of fields too awkward to plough

gorget
: a cape with a hood, worn by the lower classes

hayward
: manorial official in charge of haymaking and harvest, and the repair and upkeep of hedges and ditches

heriot
: a death duty to the lord of the manor, usually the best beast, and sometimes also some household goods, such as metal utensils or uncut cloth. This constituted ‘payment’ for the loss of a worker.

hue and cry
: with no practising police force other than a town sergeant to enforce the law, anyone discovering a crime was expected to ‘raise a hue and cry’ – shouting aloud to alert the community to the fact that a crime had been committed, after which all those within earshot must commence the pursuit of the criminal.

kirtle
: long dress worn over a short tunic

leechcraft
: a system of healing practised during the time of the Anglo-Saxons, which included the use of herbs, plants, medicines, magical incantations and spells, charms and precious stones.

medale
: a drinking festivity after the lord’s meadows have been mown.

mortuary
: death duty paid by a villein to the parish priest – usually the second-best beast

nostrums
: medicines

phantasmagoria
: the fantastical illusions of dreams

ploughshare
: along with the coulter, the iron cutting parts of a plough. The coulter is a blade or wheel that makes the preliminary cut through the soil; the share is the cutting blade of the plough.

posset
: a hot drink with curative properties

pottage
: a vegetable soup or stew

reeve
: the reeve (steward) was usually appointed by the villagers, and was responsible for the management of the manor. Shire reeves (sheriffs) were appointed by the king to administer law and justice in the shires (counties).

requiescat in pace
: Latin for ‘rest in peace’. The letters RIP are still carved on tombstones.

rush light
: a peeled rush dipped in hot animal fat, which made a primitive candle

scrip
: a small bag

skep
: a beehive fashioned from woven straw and covered with a cloth to keep out rain

strip fields
: a system of farming was practised in medieval time, whereby two fields were ploughed and sewn for harvest in summer and winter, while a third field lay fallow

sumpter horse
: a packhorse used to transport goods

tiring woman
: a female attendant on a lady of high birth and importance

villein
: peasant or serf tied to a manor and to an overlord, and given land in return for labour and a fee – either money or produce

water meadows
: the farm land on either side of a river that floods regularly

week work
: two or three days’ compulsory labour in the lord’s fields

wortwyf
: a herb wife, a wise woman and healer

T
HE
JANNA MYSTERIES
is set in the 1140s, at a turbulent time in England’s history. After Henry I’s son, William, drowned in the White Ship disaster, Henry was left with only one legitimate heir, his daughter Matilda (sometimes known as Maude). Matilda had an unhappy childhood. At the age of eight, she was betrothed to a much older man, Heinrich, Emperor of Germany, and she was sent to live in that country until, aged twelve, she was considered old enough to marry him. Evidently she was beloved by the Germans, who begged her to stay on after the Emperor died, but at the age of twenty-four, and childless, Matilda was summoned back to England by her father. For political reasons, and despite Matilda’s vehement protests, Henry insisted that she marry Count Geoffrey of Anjou, a boy some ten years her junior. They married in 1128, and the first of their three sons, Henry (later to become Henry II of England), was born in 1133.

Henry I announced Matilda his heir and twice demanded that his barons, including her cousin, Stephen of Blois, all swear an oath of allegiance to her. This they did, but when Henry died, Matilda went to Rouen (Normandy) for his burial while Stephen went straight to London to gather support, and then on to Winchester, where he claimed the Treasury and was crowned King of England.

Not one to be denied her rights, Matilda gathered her own supporters, including her illegitimate half-brother, Robert of Gloucester, and in 1139 she landed at Arundel Castle in England, prepared to fight for the crown. She left her children with Geoffrey, who thereafter stayed in Anjou and in Normandy, pursuing his own interests. Civil war between Stephen and Matilda raged in England for nineteen years, creating such hardship and misery that the
Peterborough Chronicle
reported: ‘Never before had there been greater wretchedness in the country … They said openly that Christ and His saints slept.’

I became interested in this period of English history while researching
Shalott: The Final Journey
, when Callie meets Matilda at Arundel Castle as part of her quest. As this new series began to fall into place, I realised that this time of shifting allegiances, of fierce battles and daring escapes, of great danger and cruelty, formed a perfect setting with many plot possibilities. Janna’s travels will bring her into the company of nobles, peasants and pilgrims, jongleurs and nuns, spies and assassins, and even the Empress Matilda herself.

With England in the grip of civil war, secrets abound, loyalties change and passions run high, and Janna will encounter the darkest side of human nature: the jealousy, greed, ambition, deceit and fear which so often lead to betrayal and murder. As well as solving the mystery of her past, Janna’s mission is to find out the truth and bring the guilty to judgment, but she will need great courage and insight to escape danger and solve the crimes she encounters along her journey.

For those interested in learning more about the civil war between Stephen and Matilda, Sharon Penman’s
When Christ and His Saints Slept
is an excellent fictional account of that history. On a lighter note, I have also read, and much enjoyed, the
Brother Cadfael Chronicles
by Ellis Peters, which are set during this period. While Janna’s loyalty lies in a different direction to Ellis Peters’ characters, her skill with herbs was inspired by these wonderful stories of the herbalist at Shrewsbury Abbey.

I have set the
Janna Mysteries
in Wiltshire, England. Janna’s quest for truth and justice will take her from the forest of Gravelinges (now known as Grovely Wood) to royal Winchestre, seat of power where the Treasury was housed. I’ve kept to the place names listed in the
Domesday Book
compiled by William the Conqueror in 1086, but the contemporary names of some of the sites are: Berford – Barford St Martin; Babestoche Manor – Baverstock; Bredecumbe – Burcombe; Wiltune – Wilton; Sarisberie – Sarum (later relocated and named Salisbury); and Winchestre – Winchester.

The royal forest of Gravelinges was the only forest in Wiltshire mentioned in the
Domesday Book
. While it has diminished in size since medieval time, I have experienced at first hand how very easy it is to get utterly lost once you stray off the path!

Wilton was the ancient capital of Wessex. The abbey was established in Saxon times and became one of the most prosperous in England, ranked with the houses of Shaftesbury, Barking and Winchester as a nunnery of the first importance. Following the dissolution of the monasteries during the reign of Henry VIII, ownership of the abbey’s lands passed to William Herbert, lst Earl of Pembroke. Some 450 years later, the 18th Earl of Pembroke now owns this vast estate. A magnificent stately home, Wilton House, stands in place of the abbey and is open to visitors.

While writing medieval England from Australia is a difficult and hazardous enterprise, I have been fortunate in the support and encouragement I’ve received along the way. So many people have helped make this series possible, and in particular I’d like to thank the following: Nick and Wendy Combes of Burcomb Manor, for taking me into their family, giving me a home away from home and teaching me about life on a farm, both now and in medieval time. The staff of the Pembroke Arms, who also looked after me while I was in England. Tony Caceres, who introduced me to the fascinating history of Govely Wood and its surrounds. Mike Boniface, warden of Grovely, who guided me through the forest by day and ensured that I also saw it (and the badgers!) at night. Pat Sweetman from the USA, who warned me about rue, and who kindly shared her knowledge of herbal medicine with with me. Gillian Polack, mentor and friend, whose knowledge of medieval life has helped shape the series and continues to give it veracity. Linsay Knight and the team at Random House for their faith and support, and Eva and Zoe for their insight and meticulous care. Finally, my husband Mike, who understands that I often need to live in another place and at another time – my gratitude and thanks to you all.