Horseback can be a very private place, and they had much to say among themselves. The bailiff spoke first. “We have to find Thorolf’s horse, and Otkel said he thought Thorolf stayed at the fair to meet a woman. Finding her is, like as not, our most important job.” “That won’t be hard,” one of the troopers said. “It’s Matilda, the widow who runs the stables in Milltown. She has horses to rent at the fairgrounds.” Gervase raised his brows. “Otkel didn’t know that.” “Otkel may be a fine lieutenant—but would you tell him the secrets of your soul? Leif knew of Matilda. He’s the stocky Northman with the red beard and crucifix. The others seemed shaken from loss of leadership in a foreign land. Leif, I think, mourned a friend.” “It must have been lonesome, being Thorolf,” the bailiff mused. “Leif seemed to think that, too. But Matilda was always pleasant to Thorolf. She’s from Milltown, so he didn’t see her nearly as often as he spoke of her. They met again yesterday, and Leif says Thorolf was absent-minded afterwards.
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