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He hunched forward in his saddle. ‘Come on. We’re nearly there now and then you can get off that horse. Make the most of such a short journey,’ he added, ‘when we go to Lewes you’ll be riding all day every day for at least two weeks.’
    Edwin winced at the thought and allowed himself to fall a few paces behind. Martin increased his speed and forced them all to keep up as they rode on.

    Edwin had been concentrating on riding, which had helped take his mind off other things, but as they drew nearer to the abbey his nerves returned. He hadn’t had much of a chance to question Brother Godfrey on the way as Martin had insisted on riding next to him while the brothers were behind. In fact, he had no idea of what he was walking into, other than that a monk at Roche had been murdered. He didn’t even know the monk’s name. Who was he? How had he been killed? Why might anyone want to kill him? And he knew absolutely nothing about monasteries. Why couldn’t he ever be asked to solve something he knew something about?
    He was about to ask Martin if he might ride behind with Brother Godfrey when the squire announced, ‘We’re here.’
    Edwin had thought they were still in the middle of nowhere, but as they came round a slight bend in the road he saw the abbey. It was something of a shock – a huge, soaring church, great stone buildings all round it, and an encircling wall with a tall gatehouse which wouldn’t have looked out of place on a castle, all standing there in the peaceful countryside. The stone was very white, and as the sun shone on it he was almost blinded. He shaded his eyes. ‘That’s odd – it looks a bit like the keep.’
    Martin gave him a look. ‘Where do you think they got the stone from for the castle? There’s a great limestone quarry round behind there.’
    How foolish not to have thought of that. And Roche Abbey – roche meaning rock. Edwin thought he’d better sharpen his wits a bit before he asked any more questions. But Martin was slapping him on the shoulder, looking a little more like himself than he had since that strange incident earlier. ‘Come on. It must be nearly dinner time. And I’ve got you here in one piece – at least that’s something.’
    As they approached the gatehouse, Edwin could see that one of the two great wooden gates had a smaller door cut into it. It opened and an aged monk tottered out. He squinted at them until they came right up to him and dismounted. ‘ Benedicte, my sons, and welcome. Have you come to pray, or to seek lodging?’
    Before either of them could answer, Brother Godfrey stepped round from behind them and spoke very loudly and slowly. ‘Greetings, Brother Thurstan. I have returned from visiting the earl and I have brought his men with me.’
    The ancient monk peered at him. ‘You’ve been out? Which one are you?’
    Edwin heard his companion give a long-suffering sigh. ‘It’s Brother GODFREY , Brother. Please admit us so I can take these men to Father Abbot.’
    ‘Oh, it’s you, is it? Well, you’d better come in. You’ll want to take these men to Father Abbot.’
    Brother Godfrey made another exasperated noise, and both he and Brother William, who had remained silent all the while, stepped through the little door. Edwin heard the sound of a bar being lifted, and then the large gates opened wide enough to admit them. He took the reins of the two mules as well as his own horse, leaving the others to Martin, and entered the abbey. Then with a heave the great gates were shut again, the bar thudding back into place with a disturbing finality.
    Edwin looked around him. He was in a place which looked like a cross between the castle and a working farm. The area in front of him was full of buildings like the ones in the outer ward at Conisbrough: a stable block, workshops, offices, a stone building which looked like it might be a kitchen. Beyond that he could see the abbey itself, the huge white tower of the church soaring into the sky. To