Grave (Episode 10 - The Further Chronicles of a Young Lady (and her Maid))

Continued from Episode 9 - Found

The story so far:  You can find out how our two heroines came to be where they are today by reading The Chronicles of a Lady (and her Maid) either here on ABCTales or in book form (link is external).  In brief, 'Ethel' and Gwladys ran away from a life of servitude at the Inn, run by Aefelthrith's former Lord, along with his partner (and their baby), to take their chances on the road , much against Gwladys's better judgement.  Entering a new town, they had to find a way to fund their life on the road.  A pawn shop run by 'Anty Marj' seemed to be the short-term answer and a lengthy negotiation secured a good deal on Aefelthrith's ring, until Anty Marj suddently vanished before the deal was completed.  Discovering her lifeless body in the Stock Room, Aeflethrith decided this was a sign that they should take over the business.  With Anty Marj safely stowed in an outhouse, Gwladys and Aefelthrith set about running the pawn shop and all seemed to be going reasonably well, until  Anty Marj's body vanished and an officer of the Watch, appeared.  When the Watch produced a confused Anty Marj, wondering why someone else was running her shop, Gwladys managed to convince her that she had sold the shop to them, palming Aefelthrith's ring into her pocket to demonstrate payment.  A suddenly hugely enriched Anty Marj went away a happy woman and the Watch withdrew, satisfied.  Meanwhile, Gwladys engaged a young urchin, 'Arry, to help clear the back garden of weeds, as a means of giving him a bit of income to support his poorly mother and avoid him either going down the pit or up the chimney, much to Aefelthrith's displeasure.  Next morning, 'Arry sets about his task bright and early and all is well, until he produces a skull from his digging:

“Oh my God!” Aefelthrith looked, wide-eyed, at ‘Arry’s discovery, “Is that what I think it is?”

“I reckon it is” Gwladys nodded and relieved ‘Arry of the object.

“Looks like an ‘ead ter me” ‘Arry volunteered.

“I think you’re right, ‘Arry” Gwladys said, examining the object, “where did it come from?”

“Aht ‘ere, where I’m diggin’” ‘Arry led his employers out into the garden, “just there” He pointed to a shallow hole, in a patch of ground now devoid of weeds.

“I think yer gonna ‘ave to dig ‘round it, very carefully, an’ we’ll see if there’s owt else to go with this” Gwladys directed.

Half an hour later, what amounted to a shallow grave had been unearthed, revealing an, almost complete, skeleton of someone relatively short and slight of build.

“And there was me hoping that it was just a…erm, coincidence” Aefelthrith said, despondently.

Gwladys looked at her in astonishment.

“A coincidence?  How could it be a ‘coincidence’?”

“Well, all right, perhaps ‘coincidence’ was the wrong choice of word.  I meant some form of…unfortunate occurrence” Aefelthrith replied, clearly flustered.

“’Unfortunate occurrence’ eh?  When you were back ‘ome, with yer mam and dad, did yer ‘ave skulls turning up in yer back garden as a regular thing, then?”

“No, not at all, of course not!” Aefelthrith frowned, then brightened, “Perhaps it used to be a graveyard, this garden?”

Gwladys turned to ‘Arry, who was standing a few yards away, glumly observing the exposed skeleton.

“’Arry, ‘as this ever been a graveyard, that yer know to?”

“Nah, ‘s’always bin a shop, far as I know” ‘Arry shook his head, “I could ask me mam?”

“Werl, yes yer could” Gwladys nodded, wandered over to where ‘Arry was standing and placed a motherly arm around his scrawny shoulders. “But, listen to me, young ‘Arry.  I dunner ‘old with keepin’ secrets, not in the normal way of things, right?”

‘Arry looked up at her and nodded.

“But, ‘ere’s the thing.  If people get to ‘ear about this, they might get the wrong end of the stick, yerknowworrimean?  People like The Watch, if yer tek my meanin’?”

“I wudner say nowt to The Watch, missus, not about nothin’” ‘Arry looked most offended at the suggestion.

“Nah, I’m sure yer wunner” Gwladys patted him on the head, raising a cloud of dust in the process, “but I think it might be a good idea to say nuffin’ to no-one, alright?  Not even yer mam, just until we get this sorted out, right?”

“Fair enough, missus” ‘Arry nodded.

“Right y’are” Gwladys risked another pat on the head, “now, you get yerself off back ‘ome.  I reckon we’re done ‘ere fer the day”

“But…but…” ‘Arry began, and looked close to tears.

“Oh, ‘ang on, ferget me own ‘ead if it were loose!” Gwladys grinned, rooted in her pocket and produced a handful of coins, “’Ere y’are, that’s what we agreed for a day, innit?”

“Yeah” ‘Arry swiftly grabbed the offered coins, “but…I’ve ‘ardly done nowt, ‘ave I?”

“Yer’ve done enough fer one day, now get yerself back ‘ome and look after that mam of yours, right?  We’ll see yer bright an’ early back ‘ere, tomorrow, an’ not a word about all this, agreed?”

“’greed!” ‘Arry said, spat on his hand and held it out.

Gwladys, with great reluctance, shook it and watched him skip away, whistling happily.

Once ‘Arry had vacated the premises, Aefelthrith turned on Gwladys.

“Must you keep pandering to that child?  We’re not made of money, you know?”

“Oh, get over yerself!” Gwladys snapped, “What more could ‘e ‘ave done today, eh?  Found a few more bodies, p’raps?”

“Well, yes, but…”

“Look, we need time to think, without ‘avin’ ‘Arry at our ‘eels” Gwladys carefully placed the skull back in its logical position in the grave, and began to shovel soil back over the exposed skeleton.

“What are you doing?” Aefelethrith looked shocked.

“Whoever’s been lyin’ ‘ere all this time, they ain’t ‘urt no-one, ‘ave they?  So they might as well rest ‘ere a bit longer”

“But…but…we know that they are there” Aefelthrith insisted.

“Yeah, we do…an’ ‘Arry, of course” Gwladys nodded, “but no-one else does, do they?  So, there’s no point in gettin’ folk all upset by leavin’ ‘im, or ‘er as it might be, all exposed, like, is there?  Besides, wild animals might take a bone or two if we leave it in the open”

“We can’t just pretend it’s not there, though, can we?” Aefelthrith said, hopefully.

“I’m not sayin’ that” Gwladys shook her head and continued shovelling, “but we need to find out a bit more, afore we do owt else.  Let’s see what ‘Arry’s got ter say, tomorrow.  It could be that it were a graveyard, back in times past, in which case, we might not get any veg but it’s all fine”

“And, if it was not?”

“Ah, now that’s when it gets a bit tricky, don’t it?” Gwladys completed her shovelling and patted the area down flat.

From behind them, the shop door-bell rang out.

“I suppose that will be another one of your ‘unfortunates’” Aefelthrith sniffed and marched back into the kitchen.

“There but fer the Grace, an’ all that” Gwladys said, inspecting the site to make sure there was no evidence of any disinterment.

She was leaning on her shovel, taking a little pride in her work, when Aefelthrith burst back into the garden.

“It’s…it’s…the Watch!” She managed, gasping for breath.

“What is?” Gwladys frowned.

“In the…in the shop!” Aefelthrith pointed, frantically, behind her.

“What, that Constable?”

“No, I mean Sergeant ‘Thing’”

“Oh, Sergeant Argent?” Gwladys giggled.

“Yes, him!  You don’t think that ‘Arry has…?”  Aeflethrith put a hand to her mouth and looked terrified.

“Nah, ‘e wouldner grass us up, not ‘Arry” Gwladys shook her head.

“Grass us up?” Aefelthrith looked bemused, “What, pray tell, does ‘grass us up’ mean?”

“Tell on us, type of thing” Gwladys explained.

“Oh, right” Aefelthrith nodded, and then frowned, “are you sure?  I mean, what do we really know about him?”

“Werl, we know ‘e’s been comin’ ‘ere for months, pawnin’ ‘is mam’s ring ter pay fer food, an’ we know ‘e’s got a mam who’s badly, an’ a dad what’s no better’n ‘e should be.  That’s all we need ter know” Gwladys dusted some soil from her hands, “now, let’s see what this Sergeant of your’n wants”

You can find the previous adventures of Gwladys and Aefelthrith in both Kindle and paperback formats at The Chronicles of a Young Lady (and her Maid (link is external)