Original subtitles

[bell tolls]

[MUSIC - COLIN TOWNS, "CADFAEL THEME"]

[singing in latin]

[imposing music]

[RAIN PATTERING, HOOVES THUNDERING]

[man screaming]

NARRATOR: The year is 1144, and civil war,

unforgiving and cruel--

[horse shrieks]

--rages in England.

King Stephen fights to retain his throne

against the pretender, the Empress Maud--

a fight which stretches to the furthest corners of the realm,

even to the abbey at Shrewsbury.

[water rushing]

[thunder rumbling]

[hooves thudding]

[men shouting]

Leave him be!

[men clamoring]

Even the soldiers of the Empress Maud can let a boy live.

Empress Maud?

I fight for the king, not the pretender.

[man shouts]

I fight for neither.

Let him go!

[man grunts]

Brother.

Forgive me.

[thunder rumbling]

[metal clinking]

MAN: The storm--

WOMAN: (PANICKED) St. Winifred will save us!

The blessed save us--

[sobbing]

[DISTRESSED CHATTER, MONKS CHANTING]

[man coughing, coins clinking]

(SOBBING) Save us from the floods, Blessed St. Winifred!

Save us from the floods to come!

Blessed St. Winifred, save us.

Save us!

This dreadful rain, Prior Robert.

What if if floods inside?

Flood is not a certainty, Brother Jerome.

We must protect our saint!

We'll take her up to a safe place

away from the highest flood.

I want you to wrap the casket.

Thank you, Prior Robert.

We didn't carry her all the way from Wales to see

her float away in Shrewsbury.

Did we, Brother Cadfael?

True, Brother Prior, nor to get soaked in our own house.

The pilgrims' generosity will remedy that.

We're fortunate indeed that their generosity never fades.

[PILGRIMS CHATTERING, COINS CLINKING]

[man grunting, bell tolling]

[workers chattering]

[man grunts]

ALFRED: Brother Cadfael!

Alfred!

Oh, my dear friend.

[dogs barking, horses snorting]

What are you doing here?

Why aren't you looking after your sheep?

Sheep are gone.

Lost them all in the flood.

BROTHER CADFAEL: Well, that's why you're

working here in Shrewsbury?

I've debts to pay, else I lose everything.

Everything?

ALFRED: Everything.

[grunts]

Alfred--

Brother.

I have need of you.

Take me to Abbot Radulfus, straight away.

If you would, Brother.

I said, straight away!

Take care.

Lord Beaumont.

Alfred.

You've taken a fall in the world.

[thunder rumbling]

The faithful have surpassed themselves, Father Abbot.

[coins clinking]

There's almost two thousand shillings!

Their devotion to St. Winifred is humbling.

[rapping on door]

Come.

[door clanks and creaks]

Father Abbot, these brothers have (POINTEDLY)

requested to see you.

ABBOT RADULFUS: Herluin?

Prior Herluin.

I hardly recognize you.

From Ramsey Abbey?

Yes, Father.

I am Prior Herluin.

And I'm in a better state than Ramsey Abbey.

ABBOT RADULFUS: How did you come?

We got no word. [wood scrapes]

I need no chair.

I will say what I have to say on my own two

feet, which is how I got here to answer your question.

And you had no word, because the word is with me.

Something terrible has happened to Ramsey Abbey.

Empress Maud has burnt it down.

Burnt it!

PRIOR HERLUIN: We live in a civil war, brother.

But we are here for Ramsey's future.

You must have no doubt, Prior Herluin.

Shrewsbury and St. Winifred will help.

My novice Tutilo prayed constantly to St. Winifred.

She held our lives in her hands.

She has a strength beyond all understanding, Brother.

And she had a purpose in bringing you to us.

Tell us what you want, and it is yours.

I want St. Winifred, Brother.

Brother Tutilo has had a vision.

Tell them, Tutilo.

I saw the shrine, Father Abbot, and a beautiful woman

in front of it--

PRIOR ROBERT: You can't-- you can't take St. Winifred.

Without her, Shrewsbury is nothing!

No, brother.

Ramsey Abbey is nothing.

It is flat on the ground.

Your duty is clear.

Perhaps I should tend the prior

before we retire for the night.

I need no tending.

Cadfael is our herbalist, Brother Prior.

After a journey such as yours, it

might be best if he sees you, because tomorrow, he

goes to the Lady Donata.

Lady Donata of Longner?

She was a benefactor of Ramsey.

I will come with you tomorrow.

Father, she is extremely ill.

Perhaps a visit from an old friend--

She may be too ill.

Then I will pray with her.

Well, that's settled.

Brother Cadfael, you will take Prior Herluin.

Tomorrow, then.

[RAIN PATTERING, WORKERS CHATTERING]

Ah.

Are you ready?

PRIOR HERLUIN: Only three of us going to Donata's?

We've been diving into ditches for the last two months,

avoiding Maud's men.

Brother Cadfael is well prepared, Brother Prior.

He was a soldier.

He came to God late, then.

I came when he called.

Now can you ride a horse?

I can, though I've served God all my life.

[grim music]

Father, we have a day to prepare.

Brother Cadfael's taken Prior Herluin.

I shall not desert him, or Ramsey Abbey.

He is a brother Benedictine.

But Father Abbot, you'll not grant his request!

St. Winifred belongs in Shrewsbury.

And now from Shrewsbury she calls

across the breadth of England.

She wants Ramsey and Shrewsbury to flower together.

St. Winifred goes to Ramsey for a year.

[thunder rumbling]

With Herluin, that year will stretch forever.

That is my decision.

[GREGORIAN CHANT, HORSES SNORTING]

[animals bleating]

[dogs barking]

Uh, are you going in, Brother?

I certainly am.

It's just the reeve won't let us see the Lady Donata.

Well, if you're here to sell something,

I'm afraid the reeve's word is final.

We're singers and performers.

Vagrants.

Oh, we earn our living.

Look-- I'm Remy, and this is Daalny, and all we want

is to show the Lady Donata what we can do.

- Reeve. - Yes.

Where's your mistress?

She's in her sickroom.

The reeve can show me.

(SHARPLY) Only if I think best.

You?

You, an old soldier, stop a prior?

At Ramsey, you'd be flogged red raw for that.

Now stand aside.

(ANGRILY) Brother Prior, this is not Ramsey Abbey.

I will not be flogged, and I will not stand aside.

This lady is dying, and she is much loved.

You may wait in the anteroom.

Tutilo, come with me.

Daalny.

What?

Go with them!

Brother, I nursed my mother when she was ill.

Oh, very well.

Come on.

But no bothering her for work!

[fire crackling]

[quiet rattling]

Now, I've brought you some poppy juice.

It will help you to sleep.

And guests, too, who I can't entertain.

I don't need entertaining.

She's a singer called Daalny.

She works with a troubadour.

(CHUCKLING) Oh, no.

Not love songs.

I thought you worked in the infirmary.

Not for long.

[donata huffs]

Here you are.

Ugh.

Snails again.

It will help with the pain.

Now, there's uh, there's a prior here to see you.

From Ramsey Abbey.

It seems the Empress Maud has burnt it down.

Sensible woman.

More snails?

Oh.

[grim music]

I nearly lost a son to Ramsey Abbey.

Hateful place.

Always asking for money.

Well, they won't get any more from me.

[rain pattering, men shouting]

[horses screaming]

My son married a pretty girl like you.

She knocked all that abbey nonsense out of him.

I suppose he's walling himself up, too, that pretty boy

squashing grass.

His name's Tutilo.

He's been blessed with a vision of St. Winifred's

shrine, and a beautiful woman.

Oh, was it me?

Cadfael.

Surely a face like his should have children.

Oh, yes, yes. Let the ugly ones die off.

LADY DONATA: You prove the rule, old friend.

[quiet chuckle]

Now this is made of strawberries.

Hm.

I used to sing when I was young.

Not for a living, of course.

I had a sweet voice.

[chuckles] Young men used to sit at my feet.

Music was our life.

But now?

They run away to war and creep into abbeys.

Young man.

Do you know the name of that instrument?

It's a psaltery, my lady.

Oh.

Knows something.

But can you play it?

At my age, I can tempt fate.

[psaltery music playing]

[daalny and tutilo singing]

That girl is singing with Tutilo.

She's probably giving a free performance.

[curtain rattles]

[curtain rattles shut]

So, she'll see me now.

She doesn't want to see you.

[CURTAIN RATTLES OPEN, SINGING CUTS OFF]

PRIOR HERLUIN: Here.

If you think that I've walked 200 miles

so that you can make music with some tavern slut--

[grim music]

--you better think again.

[men clamoring]

[men cackling]

No, please!

[weapons clanking]

No, have mercy!

[man whimpering]

[sword hacks, man groans]

[horse chuffs]

TUTILO: I'm a novice.

But lucky.

I'm with Prior Herluin.

But his abbey burned down.

And we will raise it up again.

And as the abbey rises, so will I.

[daalny chuckles]

Perhaps you should have been a stonemason.

They rise up with the abbey as well.

(SHARPLY) Tutilo.

Singer, your child needs respect for the cloth.

[cart creaks, remy grunts]

She's not my child.

I bought her when her mother died.

BROTHER CADFAEL: Bought her?

You mean she's your slave.

[hoofbeats approach]

[horses breathing harshly]

Lord Beaumont.

Remy.

Where there is Remy, there must be Daalny.

So, you're going to charm them in the Shrewsbury taverns,

are you?

[quiet cough]

Ah.

Once more, the good prior.

Well.

I may hear you sing again, eh, Daalny.

My lord.

[horse snorts]

REMY: Lord Beaumont.

[man urges horse]

He was our last master.

Paid well.

Must have liked Daalny's voice.

[QUIET CHATTER, BRUSHES RUSTLING]

[water pattering]

PRIOR HERLUIN: Brother Jerome, who

told you to cover St. Winifred?

(STAMMERS) We wrapped her to carry her from the flood.

There is no need.

She will be on her way to Ramsey before there is any flood.

All because of your vision, Tutilo.

You have your faults, but you will do well at Ramsey

with St. Winifred.

If that is what God intends for him.

And for her, Brother Prior.

Now then, soldier.

You won your little battle over the old woman,

but the victory over the saint is mine.

Were we fighting, then?

And you will question me once too often.

I see little love for St. Winifred

in Prior Herluin's face.

Well, Father Abbot.

Love may grow.

[CART CLATTERING, RAIN PATTERING]

[MAN URGING HORSE, PEOPLE CHATTERING]

Whoa, whoa.

BROTHER CADFAEL: Alfred!

Come out of the rain.

[fire crackling]

[quiet chuckling and conversing]

Ah--

It's all right.

You're with me.

So, you're being paid to drive that cart

all the way to Ramsey Abbey. - Yes.

I sold my wool to Lord Beaumont, and he gave

the lot to Ramsey as a gift.

Alfred, that's splendid.

That's a good outcome.

Alfred, you must be very careful.

It will be a very dangerous journey.

Maud's soldiers are everywhere, and with all this rain,

the river is rising fast.

Well, I shall avoid the river.

I'll cross the Meole Brook and take

the high ground east to Ramsey through Lord Beaumont's land.

PRIOR ROBERT: (STERNLY) Brother Cadfael.

We must go.

Sorry.

You can't get rid of the smell of sheep.

Especially dead ones.

[suspenseful music]

You can't wrap a holy relic in sacking!

The casket is going in the wool on the cart.

The wool is greasy.

This casket contains the sacred remains of the blessed

virgin St. Winifred.

You mean it's just bones?

[daalny gasps]

Those bones connect the earth to heaven,

and your presence defiles them.

Brother Prior, she is only helping.

Oh, yes.

And slaves have tricks.

They have pretty ways to keep the company of a novice.

The church disapproves of slavery, not of the slave.

Isn't that right, Tutilo?

I'm sure Prior Herluin knows what is right, Brother Cadfael.

[distant creaking]

Let us see our saint safely off.

And pray she comes safely back.

[gregorian chanting]

Get out of the way.

Simon, what is it?

Is it the Lady Donata?

I have a gift for Brother Tutilo.

For me?

"For Tutilo and his vision.

This gift should help open his eyes.

Donata."

We'll build our abbey twice over with this.

BROTHER CADFAEL: Oh, no, Brother Prior.

In this box lies Ramsey itself!

Yes.

Those jewels will take Ramsey to the rafters.

And if we give alms--

We'll roof the rafters.

BROTHER CADFAEL: Without St. Winifred ever leaving us!

We have an agreement.

ABBOT RADULFUS: Brother Prior, you came to Shrewsbury

for alms to rebuild Ramsey.

And as Brother Cadfael says, you part from Shrewsbury with them.

And without Saint Winifred.

I see where this comes from--

women!

Singing, conniving, and plotting to make a fool out of me!

This is a black day for our order, Father Abbot.

[staff clacking]

Tutilo, with me!

[tutilo sings gregorian chant]

[rain pattering]

[horse whinnies]

[daalny screams, man grunts]

[muffled shrieking, scuffling]

[bell tolling, gregorian chant]

Can't you wait till morning, Alfred?

They're gifts for Ramsey Abbey.

I've got to get ahead of the flood.

Take care!

The river is rising fast.

[alfred urges horse]

Take care!

[water sloshing]

[wood scraping]

[ominous music]

[men urging horses]

[water sloshing]

[daalny gasping and gurgling]

[distant creaking]

[quiet splashing]

HUGH BERINGAR: Ah, Brother Cadfael.

The rain has done its damage here.

At least the river didn't burst its banks.

The town survived. - Eh.

Unlike our roof.

Well, you're surely not putting St.

Winifred back amongst all this!

She'll be safely secured upstairs for the night.

Now that the floods have passed by,

people will want to give thanks.

No, no-- careful, please.

How are the villages downstream, Hugh?

Well, some are in a sorry state.

We didn't wrap St. Winifred in leather, did we, Brother Prior?

I gave her to your charge, Brother Jerome.

(STAMMERS) The casket!

St. Winifred-- she's gone!

[distressed whispering]

What Prior Herluin failed to get by agreement,

he's tried to get by stealth.

[horse snorts]

Brother Cadfael, be politic.

Don't worry, Father.

Hugh Beringar shares our secret.

Go with God, Cadfael.

Find that cart and bring St. Winifred home.

[workmen chattering]

[birdsong]

Well, it looks like the cart went through the stream here.

But there's marks of other horses too.

There'll be quite a few horses.

It's hard to tell--

the ground's so wet.

Cadfael.

Cadfael!

Hugh! Come here!

She's still alive.

HUGH BERINGAR: So, the last thing

that you remember is looking at your dress in the guesthouse.

Then I woke up in my box.

I nearly drowned-- you don't have to make out I'm lying.

HUGH BERINGAR: Well, I would lie if I were a runaway slave.

That's just what a freeborn lord would say.

A runaway slave runs forever.

I'll stay with Remy-- at least I know where I am with him.

HUGH BERINGAR: We're losing time, Cadfael!

Yes, all right, Hugh.

Whether she ran or not, she's alive.

What's on that cart is dead.

Cart?

I saw a cart in the abbey courtyard, piled up high.

It was wool, on its way to Ramsey

Abbey with a cargo of jewels and a stolen

saint hidden inside it.

HUGH BERINGAR: (SHARPLY) Cadfael!

Come on.

We must hurry.

They certainly ransacked this.

And the horse is gone.

Could be Maud's men, needing horses

to catch up with her army.

Well, I can't see any blood.

But what's happened to Alfred, the driver?

DAALNY: I was on his cart, then?

BROTHER CADFAEL: Yes, you were.

Drugged and kidnapped.

But why?

Cadfael.

Here's something.

They got a lot more than a horse.

The jewel box!

Oh, yes-- empty, of course.

There's something here.

BROTHER CADFAEL: Hm?

[ethereal music]

St. Winifred's casket-- why have they left her?

[hoofbeats approaching]

Halt!

Lord Beringar of Shrewsbury.

What brings you onto my land?

Daalny?

Have you left your master?

[pilgrims clamoring]

We've told you before!

The shrine is being cleaned after the flood.

Now you will see St. Winifred soon enough, when we are ready.

Now make sure nobody enters.

[horse whinnies]

MONKS: Now, please be calm-- please, be patient!

BROTHER CADFAEL: You stay with me, Daalny.

Brother Cadfael.

We found the casket.

Now get it inside, quickly.

(STAMMERS) Follow me.

MONK: Please, please!

If Donata's jewels have been stolen,

Prior Herluin will once more lay claim to St. Winifred.

Lord Beaumont, you saw nothing?

If Maud's men attacked the cart, then where's the driver?

If he's still alive, I'm sure he'll come to me.

[metal squeaking on wood]

So someone's got my abbey.

ABBOT RADULFUS: Ah.

You have heard of the unfortunate events.

PRIOR HERLUIN: Empress Maud has taken my jewels.

But I hear she left the wool.

And what it covered.

St. Winifred, on the cart to Ramsey.

But how did that happen?

Well, she certainly didn't get there by herself.

Think of that night.

[mysterious music]

River rising, Shrewsbury in danger.

And upstairs, the precious bones of our saint

behind a locked door.

In the yard, a cart loaded high with good, warm wool, headed

for Ramsey, headed for safety.

Rain pours, river rises.

People run.

Dogs howl, cocks screech, and the thunder!

And it is done.

A miracle?

The saint's intention is clear, Father Abbot.

To Ramsey.

Simple.

Putting herself on the cart might indicate her intention

was to leave Shrewsbury.

Unless someone lifted her on instead.

No, no.

I think it was a miracle.

Lord Beaumont, with respect--

Off the pedestal.

Into the courtyard, onto the cart.

PRIOR HERLUIN: Yes.

The saint is working her purpose.

And when she stopped the cart on my land,

she showed us her purpose is to be with me.

If I allow Herluin to have a case,

I must allow Lord Beaumont's.

Father, that casket was removed by human hands, not

saintly ones.

And is the slave girl involved in all this?

Find those hands, or we may lose our saint forever.

[eerie vocalizing]

DAALNY: I'd been mending my dress.

And this door, was it, eh--

closed? - Open.

Open?

So did you notice anybody outside?

No.

It was so dark.

BROTHER CADFAEL: You didn't, for instance,

see everybody near the cart?

I was busy mending my dress.

I told you.

Someone attacked me, put a filthy rag over my face,

and I woke up in the box.

If I hadn't kicked my way out, I'd have drowned!

This rag-- did it smell of anything?

Yes.

It stank.

Stank?

How did it stink?

Was it a-- um, sharp smell?

Was it uh, cloying?

Was it a flowery smell?

It was very pungent and sour.

Like vinegar.

Vinegar? Huh.

I see.

You knew Donata's jewels were on the cart, didn't you?

What would I do with jewels?

I'm Remy's property-- (ACIDLY) what I own, he owns.

It's like saying a dog owns its own color.

And did your master Remy know of Donata's gift?

BROTHER CADFAEL: Hugh.

[daalny sighs]

Here's a rag.

Vinegar.

And hemlock.

Too much hemlock, and the sleeper never wakes.

[grim music]

When you worked in the infirmary at Ramsey,

did you ever use hemlock?

Yes.

We used it to stop pain.

Hemlock is missing from my shelf.

Daalny was drugged with it.

A little too much, and hemlock can kill.

Huh.

I know what hemlock does.

Yes.

It buys silence.

[ominous music]

Now, last night, Daalny was standing in her doorway,

sewing.

The light was behind her.

Someone down in the courtyard, busy with the cart that

was going to Ramsey, could have seen her

and thought that she'd seen them.

And what they were doing, they didn't

want anybody to know about.

Brother Cadfael, if you think I'd harm her--

We found St. Winifred's casket on that cart.

I didn't put it there.

[grunts] Oh, come on--

that's why you're here in Shrewsbury.

You hope to bring honor to Ramsey Abbey,

and we know how that's achieved, don't we?

Through the possession of holy relics.

I didn't put St. Winifred on the cart!

And set against the possession of a saint, what's

the death of some poor slave?

I wouldn't harm--

Go on.

You wouldn't harm?

I wouldn't harm a hair on her head.

I know that.

Well, I'm sure the truth will come

out when the shepherd returns.

DAALNY: The shepherd?

He was driving the cart.

[birdsong]

What he knows will decide the fates of priors,

novices, abbeys, and inns.

Very well, then.

You come with me.

[suspenseful music]

[WATER BURBLING, PEOPLE CHATTERING]

Pull him out.

[men chattering]

Trial by water.

Such a cruel way of finding out if someone's lying or not.

DAALNY: Who are they trying? [captive coughing]

BROTHER CADFAEL: The men suspected of looting.

He floated.

He's guilty.

Yes.

So now he'll lose a hand.

(QUIETLY) I do think there are better

ways of getting to the truth.

Take that to the infirmary, and take

Daalny back to the guest house.

I'll do that, Brother.

HUGH BERINGAR: Where's the next one?

Come on, throw him in.

You meet me at the stables tonight.

What?

After supper, you meet me.

MAN: That one, that one!

That one's next.

HUGH BERINGAR: Cadfael?

Cadfael! [prisoner gasps]

No! No, please--

[water splashes] - Did they tell you anything?

Oh, he put St. Winifred's casket on the cart

all right, in some fit of passion, but--

[prisoner screams]

--I'm sure he never touched the girl.

[people jeering]

HUGH BERINGAR: And what about the jewels?

Without Donata's gift, the saint's as good as lost.

BROTHER CADFAEL: (MUSING) Daalny was put on that cart

because of something she saw, whether she admits that or not.

But what is she hiding?

The thief of the jewels, or the thief of the saint?

[prisoner pleading]

And if Alfred's still alive, I'm the one he'll come to.

HUGH BERINGAR: He might well come to you,

but while you're waiting, I'll be looking.

[men shouting]

Yes, yes-- pull him out.

Pull him out!

He's guilty.

He will lose a hand.

You won't get a better offer, Remy, and I need a singer.

[PATRONS CHATTERING, LIQUID TRICKLING]

I can't trust money during a civil war, my lord.

And Daalny's a coin that will always keep its value.

Remy, come with us.

I want to talk to you.

Wait, what have I done?

Show me where you're staying, and I might tell you.

(GROWLS) I'm supposed to be singing with Daalny!

Never mind about that.

Apologies, my lord, if you had business with him.

Change your mind, Remy?

My offer remains the same.

HUGH BERINGAR: Come on.

[night bird calling]

[dog barking]

[horse whinnying]

[door creaking]

[horse chuffing, hay rustling]

Why'd you bring me here?

You saw what they do to thieves.

I'm no thief.

I saw you put something on that cart last night.

Now I know it was St. Winifred.

You are a thief.

It was my vision.

You stole the saint!

Was it just you--

[distant men chattering]

--or was it that prior as well?

[horse chuffs]

No.

Alfred the shepherd helped me.

DAALNY: Listen to me-- you don't lie well enough.

Do you think Brother Cadfael doesn't know what's happened?

When that shepherd returns, he'll

give you up to save himself.

You run, before it's too late.

My life is Ramsey Abbey and Prior Herluin.

Herluin will cage you up in Ramsey Abbey.

You'll lose everything.

He'll stop your voice.

You will sing, even when the flesh is off your back,

but finally, you will stop.

(STAMMERS) Daalny?

DAALNY: And I, who have no freedom,

cannot bear that thought.

[dog barking]

DEPUTY: Sheriff--

HUGH BERINGAR: Is this where you're staying?

REMY: You'll find nothing, my lord.

I don't own anything much.

[animals squawking]

HUGH BERINGAR: Go on.

Get in there.

REMY: The only thing you're going to find in there

is a bit of catgut for my lute.

You try that way.

Just get in!

[remy grunts]

DEPUTY: You search the loft.

What is on here?

I oil my lute with it.

HUGH BERINGAR: You don't get much music out

of a cracked box.

(CALLS) Make sure you go right through that bedding!

What's this?

It's spirit.

Oh, you drink this, do you?

You're welcome to a taste, my lord.

I set light to it.

I don't just sing and play the lute--

I breathe out fire.

Nothing up here.

DEPUTY: Right.

(SINGING) Oh, my love has golden hair

that shines in the sun.

Walking in the morning dew, catch it in my heart,

catch it in my heart.

Oh, who will be my love now my heart is broke.

Nevermore a soldier's love, nevermore his golden hair.

Who will be my love?

[patrons chattering quietly]

[distant bell tolling]

[bell tolling]

[fire crackling, herbs rustling]

[DAALNY SINGING, PATRONS CHATTERING MERRILY]

[bell tolling, song continues]

DAALNY AND PATRONS: (SINGING) Another keg,

another keg of ale.

Pass another drink, he's feeling lonely.

MALE PATRON: Hey--

[bell continues tolling]

DAALNY AND PATRONS: (SINGING) --another keg,

another keg of ale.

Pass another drink, he's really lonely.

BROTHER CADFAEL: Tutilo! What's happened?

[fire crackling]

[TUTILO BREATHING HARSHLY, NIGHT BIRDS CALLING]

He's here.

[distant hooting]

BROTHER CADFAEL: Alfred.

He's dead, Tutilo.

[grim music, birdsong]

HUGH BERINGAR: Well, you were right about one thing--

Alfred did try to get to you.

Yes, if only he'd reached me.

Well, no one who knew Alfred would kill him for his purse,

unless they knew he was carrying stolen jewels.

BROTHER CADFAEL: Hugh!

He was a decent, hard working man.

And he can't speak up for himself.

HUGH BERINGAR: This branch could have been used.

No, it's too rotten.

All the same, somebody hit him with it.

See these splinters of rotten wood caught in the cowl?

HUGH BERINGAR: Yes.

But here at the temple, there's what

seems to be crumbs of stone.

I can't see any on the cowl--

HUGH BERINGAR: So he's hit with the wood while his cowl was up.

His cowl was down when I found him, Brother.

There's a bruise on his forehead.

But I suppose when he's hit with the rotten wood,

he loses his balance, and then he--

he falls, and he cracks his forehead.

And then, while he's unconscious?

He's finished off.

Yes, but what with? a piece of stone?

Huh?

And then the stone's replaced, so that it

looks as if it was never moved.

But then why hide a murder weapon that's just a stone?

There's no telling what a killer will do.

I think his killer worked with him.

Came after him to stop him talking.

BROTHER CADFAEL: Yeah, but talking about what?

The jewels? The saint?

The slave?

Alfred was an honest man--

I'll not have his death seal his guilt,

nor the wrong one blamed for it.

Well, everything revolves around that cart to Ramsey Abbey.

Alfred was murdered because he was driving it.

Daalny nearly drowned because she was on it.

Donata's gift was stolen from it.

And St. Winifred was hidden in it.

Relics, slaves, and jewels.

Who benefits from the theft of relics?

I do.

And I can see Brother Cadfael's thought as

clearly as I can see his face.

He'll be saying next that I burnt down Ramsey Abbey myself.

BROTHER CADFAEL: Oh, no.

I'll be saying next, you'll build it up.

Nothing will stop you.

You will use this boy's vision as suits you best.

His vision is true.

He walked across England for St. Winifred.

Abbot Radulfus, do you stand silent?

Brother Prior, no one has ever questioned Tutilo's vision.

You walked him across England 200 miles,

through Maud's soldiers, through floods, through hunger.

You'll not stop.

(SHARPLY) You'll stop at nothing.

You accuse me?

You, an old soldier?

(GROWLS) Ambition is a vicious mistress.

And a decent man lies dead.

I did it.

Brother Prior knows nothing.

BROTHER CADFAEL: You killed Alfred?

(STAMMERS) I put St. Winifred on the cart.

[grim choral music]

Alfred helped me.

(STAMMERS) I didn't kill him.

Come with me, boy.

You lied to Brother Cadfael about stealing.

You're lying now about killing.

Church and saint are beyond my law, but you're not.

Tutilo?

What made you put St. Winifred on the cart?

She told me to.

You did it for Prior Herluin.

He didn't tell you to, but that's why you did it.

This is a holy theft.

Tutilo was inspired by the saint herself.

His vision brought him here.

Her voice told him what to do.

Under church law, Abbot Radulfus, as you well know,

our claim to the saint stands.

(COLDLY) Your claim, Brother Prior, stands among others,

not least Shrewsbury's own.

[sharp clanking, man grunts]

Get in there.

Go on.

[tutilo breathing shakily]

You stole the saint and killed the only witness.

Unless we find otherwise, this is where you stay.

ABBOT RADULFUS: You insulted Prior Herluin

while believing him innocent.

But I had to remove uncertainty.

An old friend has been killed, and I can find no motive.

And though I know Tutilo put the relics on the cart,

I cannot believe that that boy's a killer.

But you do believe the killer is connected with the cart

to Ramsey Abbey?

I know a decent man is dead.

I know a young girl nearly drowned.

I know death is following those relics.

And I beg you, Father, before someone else dies--

decide who is to have them.

If death follows St. Winifred, I must, or our holy saint

will become profane.

[birdsong]

Surely Remy told you of my offer.

He did, Lord Beaumont.

I think Remy needs me too much.

LORD BEAUMONT: Daalny!

He would get a good price.

And you?

You would live in a lord's castle.

I often sleep with no roof over my head.

I don't feel a need for a castle.

Brother Cadfael!

I will speak to your master again.

And at the end of the day, money will speak for you.

Tutilo's in jail for killing the shepherd.

Yes, I know.

You know he's innocent.

You know he can't kill.

He can steal.

Oh, yes, he can steal, but he's a dreamer.

Well, you seem to know him better than he knows himself.

DAALNY: I was with him at the horse fair stables last night.

BROTHER CADFAEL: Ah.

When did you part?

I left when I had to sing at the tavern.

- When was that? - Not long after dusk.

I heard the last bells of the day as I left the stables.

Wonder where Alfred was at that time.

Ah-- all right, I want you to do something for me.

Do you know where the ferry crossing is?

And here, in the year 852 in Bury St. Edmund's.

Father, that case took 50 years.

God's truth cares nothing for time, Brother Prior--

and Shrewsbury, Herluin, and Lord Beaumont all

have claims to St. Winifred.

St. Winifred will be haggled over like fish in the market!

The cart stopping on Lord Beaumont's land

was an accident.

Accidents do not happen to saints.

Prior Robert, those that reside in heaven have only one voice--

the word of God, written down for all time in the Bible.

[choral music]

I must let that voice speak.

Trial by the Bible?

BROTHER CADFAEL: Yes.

It's called a sortes biblicae Now imagine

this herb book is the Bible.

Well, it's opened at random, and then

each claimant to St. Winifred is blindfolded,

and they place a finger on a verse.

And the meaning of the verse indicates the rightful owner.

I'm not too sure about that.

Oh, but you're sure enough about trial by water.

Yes.

I've seen that many times. I understand that.

Oh, what you see often is what you understand, is it?

So when the river is water one day and ice the next,

you understand why.

We must hope that the Bible decides in Shrewsbury's favor.

Well, it may well do so.

But is it right, Hugh, that the word of God

should be used to solve a quarrel

about where hard-working pilgrims place

their hard-earned pennies?

Because that's how all this started, and it may well

end when a young man hangs.

He had cause to kill Alfred, and he was

found with blood on his hands.

He'll only hang if he's guilty.

I only know what I always knew, old friend--

[quiet creaking]

--that you were a decent man.

If what you knew was worth your death--

[QUIET CREAKING, QUICK FOOTSTEPS]

--now I must try to save the living.

What did the ferryman have to say?

He rowed Alfred to this side at dusk on the night he died.

At dusk?

And half an hour later, Alfred was at my door.

Now normally, he would've come straight in,

but he couldn't take those last few steps.

Someone was waiting for him.

Yes.

Half an hour after dusk is the time

for the service of Compline.

Tutilo was in the stables then.

Was he?

I thought you said that you'd left the stables as you heard

the Compline bells ringing.

He went back inside--

I'm sure he did.

No.

You can only be sure that you left.

Tutilo could easily have come from the stables

to my workshop.

He certainly had time to kill Alfred.

[fabric rustles]

Hold that candle closer.

Isn't the thread from Alfred's hood?

No.

No, the color's obscured by the blood,

but it's too fine a thread.

So it may be from his killer.

Fetch me a clean dish from that pile over there.

Yes, thank you.

Now-- [sniffs] we'll need some hot wax

to hold the thread in place.

Thank you.

[quiet sizzling]

DAALNY: And will that save Tutilo?

Brother Cadfael, Tutilo's in jail.

Lord Beringar isn't going to let him out for one thread.

[liquid trickles]

What are you putting in that dish?

Saltwater and patience.

[inhales deeply] For now, that's all I have.

[choral music]

The sortes biblicae is a very rare event.

And you, my lord.

Mm-hmm?

When you were drawn to St. Winifred,

you didn't expect this.

Drawn to her?

[huffs, chuckles] Cadfael, I have an empty chapel,

a pretty nest without an egg.

BROTHER CADFAEL: So it's not a matter of uh, belief or spirit,

then?

Oh, I'll play along.

It suits me, Cadfael.

I'm not a man to be pushed or pulled into place.

Lord Beaumont.

Unless I want to be there.

[woman vocalizing in latin]

Silence.

Bring Lord Beaumont to the Bible.

BROTHER JEROME: "Ye shall seek me and you shall not find me;

and where I am, ye cannot come."

(QUIETLY) St. Winifred and Lord Beaumont

can't be in the same place.

ABBOT RADULFUS: Take Prior Herluin of Ramsey to the Bible.

[woman vocalizing in latin]

"I tell you--

I (STAMMERS) tell you, I know you not.

Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity."

I renounce my claim.

I was deceived by the novice Tutilo.

Everything was a lie.

Tutilo is an agent of the devil and a murderer.

ABBOT RADULFUS: Take Prior Robert

of Shrewsbury to the Bible.

BROTHER JEROME: "You have not chosen me,

but I have chosen you."

The word of God has pronounced.

St. Winifred remains at Shrewsbury.

Take up the Bible.

[wind whistles, flames sputter]

[grim music, petals rustle]

[DISTANT DOOR SLAMMING,

DEBRIS RUSTLING]

[pages fluttering]

A petal of white blossom is against a verse on the page.

This was Winifred's flower.

"And brother shall deliver brother to death."

This has meaning for someone here.

She speaks to me.

Winifred speaks to me!

I killed the shepherd.

I killed Alfred the shepherd!

TUTILO: Daalny!

Herluin has denounced you.

Denounced me?

He was my teacher.

They will hang me.

You must not give up.

Cadfael will help you.

(STAMMERS) You cannot come here again.

They'll say you helped me.

I will not desert you.

What mistakes I've made.

I'm not for Ramsey Abbey.

Never could nor should be.

If not for Ramsey, I'd not know you.

(FIRMLY) And you will live.

You will live-- they shall not hang you!

Come on, you--

out!

BROTHER CADFAEL: So you thought Alfred was Tutilo.

Tutilo tried to steal St. Winifred from us.

I hated him!

BROTHER CADFAEL: And you followed Alfred to my workshop.

It was dark.

His hood was up, and Tutilo was missing from Compline.

(STAMMERS) As was I, Father.

And I saw him, (STAMMERS) and then I trod on this big stick,

and I picked it up, and--

and followed him.

And I-- I ran, and (STAMMERS) I jumped, and I struck him.

Show me how.

Eh.

Struck--

[monks murmuring]

And then she spoke to me in the sortes.

She knew.

Brother killing brother.

She certainly knew your thought.

But you didn't kill anyone.

Alfred had a bruise on his forehead.

You merely knocked him off balance, that's all.

So I didn't kill him?

BROTHER CADFAEL: With a piece of rotten wood?

No.

But there was someone else there watching

who killed Alfred while he lay unconscious on the ground.

So I am responsible?

(COLDLY) Responsible?

You're a fool.

But Alfred's killer would have made sure of him, whether he

was unconscious or not.

ABBOT RADULFUS: Whatever the effect, Brother Jerome,

your intention was murder, and your soul stands in peril.

Return to your cell.

You'll leave it only for your punishment.

Father.

[distant raucous chatter]

This is a good gem.

Do you have more?

I might.

Then I might need more coin.

Then I might return.

[faint crackling]

I tell you this--

it's Tutilo.

In a fit of passion over Winifred perhaps,

but Tutilo killed Alfred.

I found this thread in Alfred's hair.

I think it was left by the killer.

A thread?

Hm.

What do you hope to find from that?

Well, once I've cleaned it, who it belongs to.

But this is a place of pilgrimage.

Mm.

You've got people coming here from all

over England, every day. - Yes.

That's exactly my point.

This doesn't come from a monk's habit.

And I agree Tutilo had cause, and he had blood on his hands--

but that's not enough to hang him.

A thread in a dead man's hair?

Well, even if you do find who it belongs to, that's all it is.

But it opens up doubt, Hugh.

Not in my mind, Cadfael.

But we will put him to the test.

It's red.

[instrumental and choral music]

[animals and people chattering]

We've only got your word that Tutilo

remained behind here when you left

to go and sing in the tavern.

But I can prove to Lord Beringar we were here,

because I heard what he said.

Yes, but it's not that you were here then.

It's that Tutilo was here afterwards

when Alfred was killed.

How to prove that?

[sniffles] What's a prayerbook doing here?

DAALNY: Tutilo must have left it.

It's been marked for the Compline service.

Tutilo was here.

He was following the offices from here.

While poor Alfred was being killed.

[men grunting]

I don't know.

Now out you go.

Go on.

And search him.

[cell door clanking]

This means no more than a bit of thread, Cadfael.

But Hugh, he could hear the abbey bells.

He was following the service of Compline

in the stables on his own, when Alfred was killed.

He could have placed the book for you to find.

[sighs] I'm sorry, Cadfael.

I'm doing my best for the boy.

MALE ONLOOKER: Throw him in!

[mob clamoring]

The water will test him.

If he sinks, it will confirm his innocence.

FEMALE ONLOOKER: Go on, throw him in!

[water splashing]

[mob cheering]

[tutilo splashing]

[mob clamoring]

MALE ONLOOKER: He's a floater!

FEMALE ONLOOKER: Guilty!

FEMALE ONLOOKER: Guilty! MALE ONLOOKER: Yes!

MALE ONLOOKER: Hang him! - Pull him out.

He is guilty.

He hangs in the morning.

MALE ONLOOKER: What you waiting for?

[chattering, metal clanking]

Remy.

[horses chuff and whinny]

What are you doing?

You don't own a horse.

Well, I do now.

And a lot more besides, soon.

My singing days are over.

What do you mean, over?

And you can keep the costumes.

I'm buying an inn.

An inn?

Where did you get the money to buy an inn?

(SHARPLY) Remy?

Tell me how you got enough to buy an inn.

He got it from me.

I told you money would speak for you.

REMY: It's the best for both of us.

I get an inn, you get a castle.

You used to sleep under the stars, Daalny.

You'll sleep much better in a feather bed.

[daalny scoffs]

[wood clanking, birdsong]

[mallet clanking, saw rasping]

Brother Prior.

Daalny said you had abandoned me.

Did she?

I may return to Ramsey empty-handed,

but I will still be by your side tomorrow, Tutilo.

And I will pray for your twisted soul.

My soul was never so straight.

I see clearly how I ought to live.

Then confess your guilt. I will speak for you,

and you can come back to Ramsey with me.

So you can flog my back till it's raw?

PRIOR HERLUIN: Then stay in Shrewsbury.

And hang.

And you should take this thought to the rope with you--

the tavern slut has left you.

Daalny?

Never.

She's off to some grand house--

Lord Beaumont's.

She's sung for him before.

Oh, she'll sing, all right.

She'll sing, and play, and shout.

She'll make the roof shake.

Lord Beaumont has bought her, voice, life, and body.

[grim music]

Herluin!

(QUIETLY) Herluin.

Now that's cleaner.

And it is red.

[knocking on wood]

Come in.

Daalny.

I um, I've got Tutilo's prayerbook, still.

Perhaps you'd like to take it to him.

(DULLY) Thank you.

He'll be pleased.

And what about you, hm?

What will happen to you?

I am bought, by Lord Beaumont.

Oh, I see.

Well, it's a good house.

[sighs]

He offered to buy me before.

[sighs] Never mind how I'll live.

Tutilo will hang tomorrow.

If I were to give you some poppy juice,

you might take it to him.

It will calm him down.

He won't want to be calm.

He'll want to shout out loud he's not guilty,

so I'm not the only one who remembers him!

But you mustn't give him too much--

I won't give him any!

You and your potions!

All you've got is some stupid bit of thread!

Brother Cadfael, I trusted you--

Listen!

You mustn't give him too much of it, because he

will fall fast asleep.

(POINTEDLY) And if you mix it in wine, he won't even taste it.

(QUIETLY) I will take the poppy juice.

You sure you understand what I'm telling you to do?

Yes.

[suspenseful music]

Good.

Now don't forget the prayerbook.

Did Lord Beaumont give you that dress?

No, Remy did.

He thinks people like it.

Does eh, Remy himself wear red, too?

We wore the same.

Now here's the poppy juice.

And if I were you, I'd use all of it.

[kiss smacks]

[sniffling]

What is that stench? BROTHER CADFAEL: Hm?

This?

Oh, I'm boiling some sheep's wool.

Get the grease out of it.

I use it for my ointments.

So that was the smell, with the hemlock.

What, when you were kidnapped? No, no.

No, no.

Hemlock doesn't mix in ointment.

[gentle patting]

[suspenseful music]

[door clacks shut]

What was it Alfred said?

"You can't get rid of the smell of sheep.

Especially dead ones."

DAALNY: I've brought this for the young monk.

It's his last night.

Please, have some, and drink to his health in a better world.

[ominous music]

(QUIETLY) Tutilo.

You said you'd get the money!

These things are never simple, my friend.

If you will only wait a little longer--

I'm leaving for Bristol.

What can I say?

You want your property back?

Yes I do.

These are the jewels you gave me?

Yes, they are.

[man grunts]

I thought I'd have to arrest him myself, Lord Beringar.

These are Lady Donata's jewels.

Where'd you get them, Remy?

[hurried clattering]

Now go, run.

Not without you.

I cannot!

I'm sold to Lord Beaumont.

You must.

Even if we hide together, we'll still be together.

He'll find us!

Go.

Live for me.

Be free for me.

There is no freedom without you.

Daalny, my pride once weighed me down.

But with your love to hold me up,

I shall fly, and carry you with me.

You can be free.

Yes.

Of course I can.

[kiss smacks]

[men shouting]

There he is!

Stealing my property, boy?

They'll hang you twice over.

We must claim sanctuary!

Open up!

Open up!

Your place is with me, Daalny.

You can't hide in there.

[daalny whimpers]

Shut it!

[door clanks, bolt rasps]

(GROWLS) Open this door, now!

I said open the door!

[door echoing hollowly]

Brother, we claim sanctuary!

Jerome, fetch Beringar.

LORD BEAUMONT: Come with me, Daalny.

The sale is made.

I am free, and with Tutilo.

The boy is living dead.

He hangs in the morning.

Only the guilty hang, my lord.

You keep your place, Cadfael.

They claim a saint's sanctuary.

To me, that is stronger than oak.

Does it mean nothing to you, my lord?

It is nothing.

Men and iron move the world, not long-dead girls from Wales.

Oh, so you move the world, do you?

Or just bales of wool, and a horse and cart?

Don't try to baffle me, Cadfael.

I want what's mine!

Bought and paid for.

Daalny.

Come here.

But she wasn't bought and paid for when you employed

Alfred to kidnap her, was she?

DAALNY: The shepherd!

Yes.

It wasn't just hemlock you smelt when you were attacked-- it

was the stench of dead sheep.

What did you tell Alfred, hm?

That you could give her a new and better life?

I bought her from Remy.

HUGH BERINGAR: With jewels from the cart to Ramsey Abbey.

The fool tried to sell them on.

Yes, you had to give Remy the jewels you'd stolen.

He'd never sell her, unless you'd set him up for life.

Remy is a singer in a tavern. He lies!

You bought her!

Because you couldn't steal her.

You bribed Alfred to kidnap her, carry her to your land.

But the box he put her in fell off the cart into the water.

Poor Alfred himself ran away.

He was terrified at what you'd do to him.

Daalny.

Come to me and we will forget this.

But then Alfred was a dead man, wasn't he?

From the moment he agreed to help you.

You beat him to death with a stone within feet of my door,

before he could speak to me.

You'd already seen the monk hit him once--

you hoped he would be blamed.

Beringar, would I stoop so low?

A man who steals a woman packed and carted to his door?

My lord, you creep along the ground.

[sword rings]

No, Hugh.

LORD BEAUMONT: Cadfael.

You take too much of your own potions!

Oh no, my lord.

My mind is not fevered.

It sees the very real marks we all of us leave behind.

You left yours in Alfred's hair.

It's a pretty thing, isn't it?

As is the casket of a saint.

The face of a slave.

The jewels of an old woman.

A red thread, woven through with gold.

No tavern singer wears this cloth.

But you do.

A thread?

[chuckles] Is that it?

Your proof?

Lord Beringar, this monk has woven

a whole cloak from one thread.

I agree.

It's nothing.

Say no, and it's no proof.

Here, throw it away.

Hang the boy.

Take the girl.

With you or without you, she will never be a slave again.

She will always belong with Tutilo.

What did the saint say when you opened the Bible?

"Ye shall seek and not find."

It's love that hides from you, my lord.

You only know what you can touch.

And that is a slavery without end.

You won't leave with me, girl, and you won't leave at all!

Kill me, my lord.

If I leave here with you, I am dead.

[beaumont gasps]

A thread of cloth in a dead man's hair.

You hang me, Cadfael, with that thread.

[grim music, beaumont groans]

[sword clanks]

[solemn choral music]

[horse chuffs]

PRIOR HERLUIN: Cadfael.

Is that my property?

It is Lady Donata's gift box.

Will you wish me godspeed, Brother Prior?

Well, I will.

Godspeed, to you both.

And good luck.

[instrumental music]

[kiss smacks]

Thank you.

Brother Cadfael.

PRIOR HERLUIN: I thought that boy had something once,

but I mistook his nature.

He is seduced by coin.

Not everyone belongs in the house of God, Cadfael.

I share that view, Brother Prior.

[bell tolling]

[MUSIC - COLIN TOWNS, "CADFAEL THEME"]