A Dishonorable Knight(143)

Osgood swallowed visibly and shrugged his beefy shoulders. "I guess one of the men who attacked me brung it with them."

"So you didn't have even a sip?"

"Well, uh--"

Sir Jasper held up a hand and said, "Before you answer, Osgood, you should know that the guard who found you smelled spirits on your breath and spilled wine on your shirt. Are you sure you didn't merely pass out from drink allowing the prisoner to escape on his own?"

"No sir! I was knocked unconscious! See? Here's the bump I got. It still hurts, too."

"Yes, I've already examined it, Osgood. I'm sure it does hurt. But you did drink the wine, did you not?"

Not overly keen even when sober, Osgood's befuddled mind succumbed to Sir Jasper's gentle but insistent questioning. "Yes, sir, I did. I'd been on watch since dawn and I hadn't had a bite or drink all day."

"I understand. Where did you get the wine from?"

Clearly, Osgood had not thought of a response to this question, but one look at Sir Jasper's set face told him the man would accept nothing but the truth. "A lady."

"What lady? A serving maid?"

"No sir. She was a lady. She smelled real good and she didn't talk like a wench."

"Did this belong to her?" Sir Jasper held up the delicate necklace Osgood had pulled off of Elena with his drunken clumsiness.

"I don't recall." Belatedly seeing a way to shift some of the guilt, he changed his story and embroidered it as well as his feeble imagination would allow. "Actually, I think I broke that when I was fighting her for the keys. Ye see, she gave me this wine and said food was on the way. I thought she was just a wench bringing me my dinner so I started to drink it. There must have been witchcraft in it because it was stronger than any wine I've ever drunk. Anyhow, when she saw it was affecting me, she grabs for my keys, but I tried to fend her off. That's when I must have broke her necklace. Then she pounds me on the head and knocks me out."

"I see," Sir Jasper said with a frown. "And I don't suppose you've seen her before or know who she might be?"

Osgood shook his head gingerly for it still throbbed. "I thought she was a new servin' wench bringing me my supper."

"I thought you said she was definitely a lady."

Osgood licked his lips. "Well, lady, wench, not much difference, eh?"

Sir Jasper pressed against his temples with the thumb and midfinger of his right hand. Dropping his hand, he returned his weary gaze to Osgood. "Do you remember what she looked like?"

"She was real pretty."

Sir Jasper waited for more information. When none was forthcoming, he prodded, "Her hair? Her eyes? Do you remember their color? How about the color of her gown? Surely you must remember more than that she was pretty."

"It's real dark down there and she did trick me into drinking that wine. But it seems..." Sir Jasper felt he could see Osgood's mind struggling to remember. "It seems she told me her name. It was Clarice." Osgood shook his head. "No, but something like that."

Sir Jasper's patience clearly shortening, he said, "Oh very well. She's pretty and her name is something like Clarice."

The strain in the knight's voice was not lost on Osgood and fearing for life and limb--no one allowed a prisoner to escape in King Richard's guard--Osgood kept babbling. "No, it wasn't Clarice, it was...Catherine! That's it! I swear it on the grave of my father, whoever he may be. Her name was Catherine. She told me right before she hit me with the tankard. Her name was Catherine and she was real pretty and she smelled good. I think her dress was red and she had long silky hair," Osgood was obviously making up things now, so worried was he that Sir Jasper would have him flogged. "She was real fair, too."

With a loud sigh, Sir Jasper said, "You are dismissed, Osgood. Return to the barracks and do not leave until I grant you permission. If you remember anything else, send word to me immediately."

Osgood bowed awkwardly and backed out of the room, congratulating himself for having so cleverly gotten out of that mess.

In the small antechamber where he had questioned the simple-minded guard, Sir Jasper wondered what in all of England would have possessed Lady Catherine to assist Gareth in escaping. Had she taken a fancy to the young knight? Sir Jasper didn't see how the two would have even come in contact with each other, but there was no accounting for the fancies of the young. What the king would do to the chit, he knew not. Shaking his head in pity for the no-doubt love struck lass, Sir Jasper rose and left the room to search out the king.