His eyes fluttered slightly, and he grunted in his sleep. She nudged his arm. His eyes opened then. It took him a moment, then he paled and opened his mouth to shout. Naomi slammed her gloved hand across it and gripped her dagger against his neck. “Make a noise and you will die this night.”
His eyes were wide open with fear.
“I believe you have something that does not belong to you?”
Even at death’s door, he gripped the reliquary tighter and shook his head.
“You can either give it to me quietly or I will pry it from your dead fingers. The choice is yours.”
The man looked doubtful but was pondering his next move, then he kicked something. It crashed to the floor, making a loud noise. He smirked as Naomi heard the guards shuffling about outside. She clenched her fist and punched him hard in the crotch. He squealed in pain and released the box. Naomi then knocked him out cold with the pommel of her dagger just as the doors burst open and two guards entered.
“What a pity you could not be quiet,” she said.
The guards were startled by her presence. “Get her,” one yelled. They signaled to one another, then lunged for her.
Naomi sighed and rhetorically asked, “Why must men always do things the hard way?” Then she moved. Naomi pivoted out of the way, pulled out her iron tipped quarterstaff and swiped the dagger out of the man’s hand. Then she tucked and rolled just as the second burly guard tried to grab her from behind. She crouched, swung the staff upwards, and slammed it into his groin. He squeaked and fell to his knees, clutching his nether regions.
“You bastard. I’m gonna enjoy killing you,” another shouted as he barreled towards her, fist raised. Naomi ducked, threw her quarterstaff in the air, slid across the floor until she was behind him, stood, then caught the spinning staff on his other side. She slammed it against the back of his head. It knocked him out cold. Naomi picked up the box, threw it into her boist and sprinted straight out the front doors.
Naomi slid her quarterstaff back into the belt strapped to her back. She had just reached the outer courtyard when her path was blocked by a man standing below the awning of the outer building. He had a bow and nocked arrow aimed at her from several meters away. By the vicious look on his face, he was getting ready to use it. “Not so fast, lad. Hand over the box or I’ll shoot.”
Naomi casually shrugged her shoulders, then, taking him by surprise, she bent low and sprinted straight towards him, not taking her eye off the arrow. She saw his surprise when he hurriedly released the arrow. Naomi’s free hand shot out so fast, she caught the arrow before it hit her in the chest. Then she kept running.
He shouted in fright and tried to nock another, but it was too late because Naomi had reached him. She slammed the sharp end of the arrow into his thigh. Before he could do anything else, Naomi stepped with one foot against the arrow’s fletching, grabbed his shoulders and used the momentum created by her movements to pull herself up his body until her foot stepped on his head. She lunged for the ledge behind him and hoisted herself and her bag onto the roof. Essentially, she had used his body as a ladder. When she glanced down, Naomi noticed he was writhing with pain on the ground, trying to remove the arrow from his thigh.
“Make sure that does not get infected,” she said, then ran across the top of roofs to escape. She knew the village intimately and the endless sea of thatched roofs and homes built close together provided her with an ample getaway route. When she reached her destination, only then did she catch her breath. Naomi climbed down a large wall and lowered herself into a gardened courtyard. Her mission was complete.
It was just past two in the morning when she reached the shadow of the abbey’s outer wall, waiting to be allowed in through a side gate.
“Child, must you make such a ruckus running across the rooftops? Half the village heard you,” Abbess Murdina hissed as she unlocked the gate.
“Badessa, you have returned. Tis so good to see you, but in my defense, I ran into some trouble in the village.”
“Of course you did. When have you not run into trouble? Now, what have you been about?”
They walked through the gate as Murdina locked it behind her.
Naomi replied, “Ealdorman Smith has been stealing from the orphanage. He has been skimming the proceeds from the poor box. I simply took back what he stole, but I promise I managed not to hurt anyone too much, even though I was tempted.”
“Well, thank the good lord for small mercies,” Murdina replied, making the sign of the cross.
Once Naomi was safely inside and the gate locked behind her, the women quietly made their way from the outer courtyard to the cloister and continued in hushed whispers.
“Did anybody recognise you?”
“No, I kept my hood and scarf firmly in place and I stayed in the shadows. I was not followed.”
“And the ealdorman?”
“Alive. Although he will have a sore groin when he awakes. He will most likely be limping for a few days and may need a staff to help him walk.”
Murdina just shook her head and tried not to laugh. “Very well then. The orphanage will be relieved to have the money returned, although they best keep the funds better secured.”
Naomi just nodded and handed over the reliquary box to the abbess. She was about to launch into a hundred questions about news from her travels when Murdina said, “No questions for now, lass. We need to talk about something of great importance. Come with me.”
***
NAOMI SAT IN ABBESSMurdina’s solar and remembered it always felt safe, like home. She would miss it if she were ever to leave the abbey. Naomi watched Murdina move gracefully around the room, lighting candles and adding wood to the fire. Murdina paced, looking somewhat perturbed.
