The Midnight Man Read Online Free PDF Page B

through the bars of a prison door. We can see the captives within. We can watch their torment. They may even know we watch. We sympathize with them but they cannot truly explain why they are there, who they are or what they are doing. We are witnessing souls twisting in pain and torment. The noises, the lights, the horrid stench, the rank odours are simply manifestations.’
    Anselm stared hard at a painted cloth on the far wall celebrating the legend of the Lady of the Lake. He sat as if fascinated by the snow-white hand breaking free from the dark green water bathed in a setting sun to grasp the great jewel-encrusted sword Excalibur.
    â€˜And?’ Beauchamp asked gently.
    â€˜Something else is also there – retainers of the apostate angel, hell’s dark robber.’
    â€˜What are you saying?’ Sir William insisted.
    â€˜The Midnight Man, in his foolish blundering, drew in the rankest lords of the air. However,’ Anselm’s voice grew sharper, ‘some great evil,’ he pointed in the direction of the church, ‘has definitely occurred there. No,’ he hushed their protests, ‘let me assure you of that. I have great experience, God forgive me, of hauntings, ghosts and exorcisms. I tell you all, such spiritual manifestations have their suppurating roots firmly in human wickedness. Let me explain. Once,’ Anselm paused, his head down. ‘Once,’ he repeated, ‘I was summoned to an old manor house. I shall not give you the name but it stood in the Romney marshes, a forbidding, gloomy place built of stone, wood and plaster. It was much decayed, a desolate habitation abandoned after the great pestilence. The nearby village was also an abode of ghosts.’ Anselm shrugged. ‘No life, no work. Once a thriving community, the angel of devastation had swept through as it had so many places. A sheer nothingness brooded over it. No crops, cattle or sheep. The trackways around it lay abandoned as traders and tinkers saw little profit in going there. Now, the King, freshly returned from France, wished to reward one of his young knights. He granted him that manor and all the land attached to it. This young paladin received his chancery writ to take up possession.’ Anselm waved a hand. ‘He also married a young noblewoman. Both knight and lady moved into their new home.’
    â€˜Romney?’ Beauchamp abruptly asked. ‘Why, Sir Thomas de—’
    â€˜Please,’ Anselm interjected, ‘I beg you – such matters are best kept secret. I promised.’
    Beauchamp pulled a face, shrugged then sat back cradling his goblet, watching Anselm intently.
    â€˜The knight and his beloved bride occupied this manor on Romney marsh. Retainers and servants were hired, ditches dug, fields cleared, the house and outbuildings were repaired.’ Anselm sipped at his beaker of water. ‘Few of the retainers stayed. The house was declared accursed. Like you, Sir William, the knight appealed for help . . .’
    â€˜Not really,’ Beauchamp interrupted.
    â€˜Sir William, you do want our help, yes?’
    The merchant knight murmured his agreement.
    â€˜But there was more,’ the royal clerk insisted. ‘The King’s Justices of Oyer and Terminer have just completed their circuit through the London wards. They received many petitions that the hauntings at Saint Michael’s be investigated. Similar pleas were sent to the Archbishop of Canterbury and the King’s council.’
    â€˜I encouraged these,’ Higden declared. ‘Didn’t I, Smollat?’ He turned to the parson, who nodded vigorously even as he stifled a yawn.
    â€˜The same,’ Anselm continued, ‘occurred with this hapless knight. I was asked to visit the manor and exorcize whatever lurked there.’ He stretched out and grabbed Stephen by the arm. ‘This was before my young friend here joined me.’
    Stephen smiled at the word