The Scribe(156)
Theresa gave in, her nerves on edge. On the way back to the chapter house, she saw Hoos talking to Alcuin. Instinctively she pressed herself against Izam as they walked toward Hoos, but the young man simply turned around and left the room.
Izam and Theresa ate together in one of the stables, surrounded by hay and straw. While they shared a stew, Izam confessed to her. He told her that apart from two or three of his subordinates, he didn’t know who to trust.
“Not even that Alcuin. I know him from court, yes. He is a wise and highly regarded man, but I don’t know. With all that you’ve told me…”
Theresa nodded, not paying too much attention, for at that moment all she cared about was that her father received help as soon as possible. When she reminded Izam, he promised to look for Zeno after they had eaten. He said he had already made inquiries and it was just a matter of paying the man enough.
“If I say that I need to interrogate your father,” Izam thought out loud, “I don’t think they will get in my way.”
Theresa begged to go with him, but Izam told her it would raise suspicion.
“Then bribe the guards—or say I need to be present when you talk to him.”
“Sure! You, me, Zeno… anyone else? It’s not a welcome banquet.”
Theresa looked at him, dumfounded. Suddenly she dropped her plate and ran toward the exit. Izam realized he had been too brusque, so he caught up to her and apologized for his stupidity. He admitted he was nervous because he didn’t know who or what they were up against.
“Did you not see Wilfred? If looks could kill, your father would be dead,” he said.
“If it’s a question of money, for the love of God, tell me. In Fulda I have lands.” She had forgotten that Izam already knew that.
“It’s not a matter of… damn it, Theresa! Whoever they are, they’ve already killed two people—three, including the parchment-maker. And the two little girls were sick with God knows what. If we’re not careful, next it will be us.”
Theresa bit her lip but still insisted on seeing her father. Izam knew she would not give up, so he made her promise that she would stay by his side until everything became clear.
“And the scriptorium? I promised Alcuin I’d help him.”
“Jesus Christ! Forget the scriptorium! Forget Hoos and forget that accursed Alcuin! Now let’s find that physician before he drains all the wine in the cellars.”
They located Zeno in a hovel, tending to a townsman who had lost three teeth in a fight. While the physician finished with him, he asked what they wanted, but Izam pretended they were concerned about the twins. Only after the wounded man left did Izam reveal his true intentions.
“I’m sorry, but Wilfred has prohibited me from tending to him,” said Zeno apologetically as he wiped blood from his hands. “I still don’t understand why: That scribe is going to kick the bucket any moment either way.”
Hearing his prognosis, Izam was glad that Theresa was waiting outside.
“If he’s going to die anyway, what difference will it make if you see him?” He made his coin pouch jingle.
In the end, he managed to convince him by promising that he would replace Wilfred’s guard with one of his own men who could be trusted not to open his mouth. Zeno asked for payment in advance, but Izam offered him just a couple of coins. When Zeno reached for them, Izam seized his wrist.
“A warning: Make sure you are sober, or it’ll be you who needs his mouth fixed.”
Zeno gave him a stupid smile. Before parting, they agreed to meet after the Sext service, by which time Izam hoped he would have persuaded Wilfred to increase security at the dungeons with his own men. Then he went with Theresa to collect her belongings from her room, for he didn’t want her to stay there any longer. The young woman took some clothes, a burin, and her wax tablets before they continued to Izam’s cell.
“What do you intend to do?” she asked once the door was closed.
Izam removed his sword and threw it on the table. He said he would advise Wilfred to increase the watch with some of his men, then wait for Wilfred’s sentry to leave.
“I’ll find a way to have Gratz watch the door.”
He told her to wait there and not to leave the room under any circumstances. Then he equipped himself with a dagger that he hid under his cloak. When he was about to leave, Theresa stopped him. She was scared Hoos would attack her, but Izam assured her he wouldn’t. He went out into the corridor and called to the soldier on guard. The youngster, a beardless, pock-faced kid, promptly accepted his order to stop anyone from entering the room.
When Izam had gone, Theresa curled up on the straw mattress to await his return.
Theresa lay there staring at the ceiling, wondering why Wilfred had been compelled to send Gorgias to the dungeons. After a while she decided to take a look at the Vulgate she still had in her bag. She took the codex to the window and, after finding the verse from the Thessalonian Epistles, she went over the notes that her father had made in diluted ink.
In total she counted sixty-four phrases—or rather, sixty-four lines, for they did not form clear sentences or paragraphs, but strings of unconnected words, all related to the famous parchment. It was no use. But she knew those words must have some significance, so she went about transcribing each one to her wax tablets. When she had finished, she placed the tablets on the mattress and with the dagger that Izam had given her, scraped away the hidden text in the Vulgate. Then she closed the codex, hid Gorgias’s parchment under her skirt, and waited for Izam to return.