A Friar's Bloodfeud: (Knights Templar 20) Read Online Free PDF Page B

Through the trees that grew thickly on either side, he could see smoke and some buildings. They were
     the first he’d seen since he left that dreadfulalehouse in Exbourne that morning. The memory made him scratch again at his neck.
    There was not much to see. If he hadn’t spotted the buildings, he wouldn’t have guessed that this was a thriving little vill.
     He knew of Monk Oakhampton – the manor was owned by the monks of a great abbey, Glastonbury, and he had heard that it was
     a very profitable little place. It was no surprise, looking about the area here. There was the ribbon of silver-grey river
     on his left, promising drink and fishing, and the soil looked darkly rich. From the look of the fields, in which the crops
     were already creating a fresh lime-coloured carpet, the place was one of those in which farming never failed.
    It boded well for the manor he was to join. Close by, surely it would have a similar lushness. Good husbandry and management
     of the land was all that was needed to make a place like this rich, and he would see to it that the manor where he was to
     be sergeant would grow in fame for its harvests.
    He rode past the small cotts of the Glastonbury estate, and then on for another mile or so, until he came to a clearing in
     the trees from where he could see his new home.
    It was a long, low building, looking a little grubby now where the limewash had faded and started to turn green, with a thickly
     thatched roof and the aura of wealth. Massy logs lay piled at one end, a makeshift thatch over the top to protect the wood
     from the worst of the rains. Smoke drifted from beneath the eaves, and there was a bustle about the yard as men darted here
     and there. Adcock could see that the buildings at the side were where the stables lay, because as he sat on his mount studying
     the place, he could see horses being brought out by grooms, all saddled and readyto be ridden. Soon a group of men stepped over the threshold and stood eyeing their beasts.
    The man in front took Adcock’s attention. Even from this distance the fellow clearly had commanding presence, a round-shouldered
     man with grey hair already turning white. His face was grim, square, and broad as he donned soft leather gloves, and he contemplated
     Adcock from half-lidded eyes as the newcomer approached the hall. It was a cold, devious look, and when Adcock noticed an
     archer with a bow at the ready, an arrow nocked on the string, he felt a rush of fear flood his soul. He was suddenly aware
     that this man was dangerous.
    ‘Who are you?’ the commander called as he drew near.
    ‘Adam of Rookford, master,’ he answered quickly, feeling himself flush a little under the amused gaze of so many men.
    ‘Oh, aye, the new sergeant,’ Sir Geoffrey said. ‘You’ll be wanting to hasten inside, then, and find some ale after your journey.
     There’s bread and meats. Shout for the servants for anything you need.’
    ‘You are off?’ Adcock looked about him for the raches and other hunting dogs, but there were none about other than the odd
     sheepdog and cattle-herding brute.
    ‘Yes, we go to visit a neighbour or two,’ Sir Geoffrey said.
    ‘I thought you were hunting,’ Adcock said. He felt the eyes of all the men on him as he reddened and began to stammer. ‘I
     was looking for dogs, but then I realised there weren’t any for hunting. Not out here, anyway.’
    ‘You want to see my dogs?’ Sir Geoffrey asked, and a strange smile came over his face. ‘Perhaps later, eh? For now, you rest
     until I return.’
    He took the reins of the horse brought to him by a shorter, narrow-shouldered youth, and swung himself into the saddle,adjusting his sword until it was more comfortable on his hip, tugging at his glove again, settling himself in his seat. Then
     he grinned at Adcock, and the new sergeant felt a renewed apprehension.
    At his bellowed command, the other men clambered on their horses, and then, when he whirled his arm about