Page 234 of The Armor of Light

‘Shecan,’ said Marie. ‘Just look at her,’ she added cattily, and the spectators laughed.

Sheriff Doye then surprised Sal by calling her as a witness.

She had a decision to make, and just a few seconds in which to make it. She was angry with Jarge – furious – for putting her in this position, but there was no point in seething over that. Would she perjure herself for him? It was a sin as well as a crime. She might suffer for it in the afterlife as well as on this earth.

But if she told the truth Jarge would probably hang.

She took the oath, then Doye said: ‘Mrs Box, were you in the rope room with the ringers during their rehearsal on the night we’re talking about?’

There was no harm in admitting that. ‘Yes,’ she said.

‘For the whole time?’

Someone had told Doye what to say, Sal thought. On his own he was not this smart. ‘Yes,’ she said.

‘And during that time, did your husband, Jarge Box, leave the room?’

The moment had come, and Sal did not hesitate. ‘No,’ she lied. ‘He did not.’

‘Have you ever rung a church bell?’

‘No.’ The lies came easily now.

‘Do you think you could?’

‘No idea.’

‘Mrs Box, would you commit the crime of perjury to save your husband from hanging?’

That question took her by surprise. She had just committed the crime, of course, but she could not answer yes to the question – that would undermine her testimony. On the other hand, she was not sure that no was a good answer: it would make her seem callous. Men disliked a callous woman. And all the jury were men.

She hesitated, but that was all right: it was, after all, a hypothetical question, so why shouldn’t she be uncertain?

In the end she decided to say that. ‘I don’t know,’ she said. ‘I’ve never been asked to do that.’

Looking at the faces of the jurymen, she felt it had been the right answer.

At the end Sal and Jarge conferred briefly, then he got up to say what they had agreed. ‘Maisie Roberts probably did see a biggish chap walking along the dark street while the bells were ringing. She didn’t exchange words with him, so she can’t say the voice sounded like mine. She’s mistaken, that’s all.’

That was true, and the jury ought to see it.

Jarge went on: ‘My old friend Benny Dodds was prone to exaggeratea bit, and he may have told his wife that Sal Box looked strong enough to ring a church bell. Benny has been dead for six years, rest his soul, so Mrs Dodds could be forgiven for not remembering it quite right. And that’s all the jury has heard! You can’t hang a man on that sort of evidence.’ He stepped back.

Hornbeam spoke last. ‘Gentlemen of the jury, Jarge Box is a weaver who has lost work due to steam looms, so he has a motive for Luddism. He claims to have been bell-ringing, but Mrs Roberts is sure she saw him in the street while the bells were ringing. He says his wife is not strong enough to ring the bells for him, but Benny Dodds, another ringer, said that she was and she did.

‘Remember, jurymen, that today you are not asked to say whether Jarge Box is guilty. You are here to decide whether there is enough of a case against him for you to send him to the assize court. There is evidence, but doubt has been thrown upon it, and you may well feel that the issue must be decided by the higher court.

‘Kindly make your decision.’

The twelve men conferred, and to Sal’s dismay the heads quickly began to nod in agreement. A few moments later one of them stood up and said: ‘We commit the accused man to the assize court.’

36

KITCLITHEROE HAD NEVERseen a desert before, but he was pretty sure this was one. The ground was hard and dusty, and the sun was relentless all day. He had always imagined a desert to be flat, but in the last few weeks he had crossed mountains higher than any he had ever seen.

He and Roger sat on the ground, eating mutton stewed with beans, as the sun went down over the river Zadorra in the north of Spain. Everyone said the big battle would be tomorrow. It would be Kit’s first, and it might be his last. He was so tense with fear that he had to force himself to swallow.

It was June, and they had been in Spain for two months. When they arrived in Rodrigo City they had immediately been put to work servicing cannons. The guns had been stored away for the winter and now had to be got ready for action. The commander of the Royal Artillery there was Lieutenant-Colonel Alexander Dickson, a man Kit had quickly come to respect for his energy and intelligence. Kit had been a manager himself, and understood the paramount need for clear orders that made sense to the men.