Read The Tolls of Death: (Knights Templar 17) for Free Online

right?’
    ‘What’s it to you?’ Serlo snapped, attempting to hide his fear.
    ‘Nothing … except that my master would be very interested to learn that you were pocketing gifts. Why, that would be defrauding him of his legitimate income. Theft, Master Miller.’
    ‘It’s a lie!’
    ‘Is it? I should ask Nicholas then, should I? Think on it, miller.’
    Serlo said not a word. He walked on as though there had been no interruption, but even as he stepped into the security of the church, he felt the shiver of fear coursing along his spine as if Richer atte Brooke was again threatening him.
    ‘God’s bones, you bastard son of a Saracen harlot, I’ll have my revenge on you for your insults,’ he swore quietly. ‘If you’ve reported my tolls it’ll make repaying my debts that much harder. By Christ’s wounds, I’ll avenge any grief you bring on me: aye, an hundredfold. You’ll regret coming up against me and mine, just as your father did!’

Chapter Two
     
    On that same day Simon and Baldwin rose early and celebrated Mass in a tiny, all but empty chapel before leaving the coast to set off inland for home.
    Later in the morning, reaching a small stand of trees at the top of a hill, they paused a while, staring north and east, then dismounted and took a drink from their skins. Sitting with his back to a young oak, Simon closed his eyes and sighed. ‘It was almost worthwhile climbing this far just for the pleasure of halting and resting!’
    There came a grunt from his side. Bob, the young boy whom the ostler had sent with them to bring back the three mounts when they reached the next town, was feeling distinctly put out, and Simon grinned to himself. A gangling lad of some eleven or twelve summers, Bob had declared himself more than happy to ride with them as far as they wanted, but that was two days ago, and now he was tired and irritable, glowering at Simon or Baldwin whenever either spoke. He obviously felt he was being taken too far and too fast for the penny he had been promised, and his expression as he gazed about him showed that he was nervous in these foreign parts. Simon wondered how far from home he had travelled before. Surely not so far as this, he thought.
    ‘A little exercise is always good,’ Baldwin remarked. He was standing still, staring out to the east. ‘You should try it more often, lad.’
    Simon heard a snort, but as was his wont, Bob said nothing. Instead, Simon sat up and rested on his elbow. The ground wasdamp and chilly, but he was overheated. ‘Do you know any of this country?’
    Baldwin shook his head. ‘Sometimes a man from Cornwall would come and present a matter at Exeter, and I have met knights at the court of our lord, Hugh de Courtenay, but I have never travelled this way myself before.’
    ‘A great shame,’ Simon grunted as he rose to his feet. ‘Christ’s pain. If I sit there any longer, I swear I shall fall asleep.’ He stretched, then gasped. ‘Ow! I am too old for all this toil and meandering about the countryside. Once we arrive home, I’m going to rest for at least a month.’
    ‘What? The new master of Dartmouth will rest on his laurels when there is all that work to be done?’ Baldwin asked with malicious pleasure.
    Simon’s face fell. ‘You evil … I’d forgotten that for a moment!’
    ‘Yes. Your move to Dartmouth.’
    ‘Must you remind me that the first thing I have to do on returning is pack up and move to the coast, to live with hordes of sailors and shipmen. My God! And my daughter … I wonder what has become of Edith in my absence.’
    Seeing his crestfallen expression, Baldwin regretted his brief attempt at humour. Their relationship was too important for him to want to upset the other man. ‘Simon,’ he said, going to stand at his friend’s side, ‘when you reach the coast I am sure that it will be a delight to you. There can be little better than a home near the sea. The atmosphere is cleaner, fresher and more invigorating