The Pillars of the Earth - Ken Follett [213]
Richard looked at her and said in a low voice: “He’s right, isn’t he?”
“Yes,” she said venomously. “There’s no point in our complaining to the sheriff.” She was thinking of the one time men had been afraid of her: in the forest, when she had stabbed the fat outlaw, and the other one had run away in fear. This priest was no better than the outlaw. But he was old and quite feeble, and he had probably counted on never having to face his victims. Perhaps he could be frightened.
Richard said: “What shall we do, then?”
Aliena gave in to a sudden furious impulse. “Burn down his house,” she said. She stepped to the middle of the room and kicked the fire with her wooden clogs, scattering burning logs. The rushes around the fireplace caught immediately.
“Hey!” Ralph yelled. He half rose from his seat, dropping his bread and spilling the stew in his lap; but before he could get to his feet Aliena was on him. She felt completely out of control; she acted without thinking. She pushed him, and he slipped off the chair and tumbled to the floor. She was astonished at how easy it was to knock him down. She fell on him, landing with her knees on his chest and winding him. Mad with rage, she thrust her face close to his and screamed: “You lying thieving godless heathen, I’m going to burn you to death!”
His eyes flicked to one side and he looked even more terrified. Following his glance, Aliena saw that Richard had drawn his sword and was holding it ready to strike. The priest’s dirty face went pale, and he whispered: “You’re a devil....”
“You’re the one who steals money from poor children!” Out of the corner of her eye she saw a stick with one end burning brightly. She picked it up and held the hot end close to his face. “Now I’m going to burn out your eyes, one by one. First the left eye—”
“No, please,” he whispered. “Please don’t hurt me.”
Aliena was thrown by the rapidity with which he crumbled. She realized that the rushes were burning all around her. “Where’s the money, then?” she said in a voice which suddenly sounded normal.
The priest was still terrified. “In the church.”
“Where exactly?”
“Under the stone behind the altar.”
Aliena looked up at Richard. “Guard him while I go and look,” she said. “If he moves, kill him.”
Richard said: “Allie, the house will burn down.”
Aliena went to the corner and lifted the lid of the barrel. It was half full of beer. She grasped the rim and pulled it over. Beer flowed all over the floor, soaking the rushes and putting out the flames.
Aliena walked out of the house. She knew she really had been ready to put out the priest’s eyes, but instead of feeling ashamed she was overwhelmed by a sense of her own power. She had resolved not to let people make her a victim, and she had proved she could keep her resolution. She strode up to the front of the church and tried the door. It was fastened with a small lock. She could have gone back to the priest for the key, but instead she drew the dagger from her sleeve, inserted the blade in the crack of the door, and broke the lock. The door swung open and she marched inside.
It was the poorest kind of church. There was no furniture other than the altar and no decoration except for some crude paintings on the limewashed wood of the walls. In one corner, a single candle flickered beneath a small wooden effigy which presumably represented Saint Michael. Aliena’s triumph was disturbed for a moment by the realization that five pounds presented a terrible temptation to a man as poor as Father Ralph. Then she put sympathy out of her mind.
The floor was earth but there was a single large stone slab behind the altar. It made a rather obvious hiding place, but of course no one would bother to rob a church as visibly poor as this. Aliena went down on one knee and pushed the stone. It was very heavy and did not move. She began to feel anxious. Richard could not be relied upon to keep Ralph quiet indefinitely.