by Griff Hosker
“And, my lord, if they do come into the woods after us then we can make them dance a merry dance. Their knights will not have the advantage then.”
“Nor would my men at arms.”
“No my lord, we would need to change. I think we can change but can the Normans?”
I thought about it. This was not the glory of a shield wall but that glory had perished with my friends and my father, far to the south. The day of the Housecarl was over, if only because the remaining Housecarls were Ridley and me. Was it even worth staying to fight? Would we not have more riches and fame if we travelled to fight as mercenaries? Aethelward felt it was important to fight and I owed it to the dead. We would have one last attempt at wresting the land back from William’s greedy fingers.
“If you are all foolish enough to follow me then we shall do as Branton suggests.” Their smiles were as though we had already won a victory. I shook my head in disbelief. “Branton you had better scout out two camps quickly before winter falls. Osbert and Ridley we will need to prepare ourselves for living in the wild. Weapons are vital but we need to think about armour which is less heavy and yet still affords protection.”
“When I served my other lord, he was not a rich man and we had leather armour with metal pieces. If we used a mixture of leather, disks, such as we have on our shields and the shoulder protectors of iron then we might move easier through woods.”
Ridley nodded, eagerly, and the Normans, they use a mail hood beneath their helmets to protect their necks and backs. They would not be too heavy.”
“Both good ideas see to it and I will take some of Branton’s men and look for good places to ambush the enemy.”
So we spent the late autumn into early winter busily making our preparations and hoping that the King would not come north. It seems he was a cautious man for he spent a long time building a solid castle at Warwick. Uncle had told me of his White Tower in London and it seemed that this King would control the land through stone and iron; the stone of his keeps and the iron of his men. That suited us for it meant he would have few men to hold on to this land and that gave us the land between castles. Branton found two good camps; one was close to Helmsley and the old Viking village of Griff. It was in a valley which was hidden from view but which had good access north and south along the valley. The other was east of Medelai where the river tumbled over rocks and there was a high cliff. The forests stretched to the hills many miles to the west and we could roam at will. Both had water and wood; both were well known to us. As the first frosts of winter gripped the ground we planned the spring and the camps we would build.
Six of the fifty men we had brought from the field of battle were too badly wounded to serve as men at arms. Despite my offer of money they implored me to still be able to serve me. Branton came up with the idea of stationing three men in each camp as caretakers and hunters for we would be too busy to gather game for ourselves and it seemed to suit everyone. Osbert organised stores of salt and the pans we would need to cook. Ridley had his steward buy in materials to help us repair our clothes and make new ones. We had plenty of time to plan and think of unexpected events for the Normans spent the winter in Jorvik and far to the south.
On my forays I saw that they had defended Jorvik with many crossbow men and the city had become Norman. I saw, before the snows came, that they had started to build a huge motte close to the river a mile or so from the old warrior hall. Already it would be too big for us to assault. The road to the north was quiet and all that we discovered, using the road, were traders. Once they found that we were not bandits they became quite friendly towards us and they were the source of much of our intelligence as they travelled south to Lincoln and beyond. We knew that Hereward still held out and that Edwin had submitted, living at Warwick, probably as a prisoner. We discovered that the Scots had strengthened their border fortresses ready to repel any invasion from the Normans but of Edgar and Sweyn we heard nothing; it was as though they had disappeared from the land. I still visited Medelai and my steward still supplied me with my dues. No-one, as they had with Thomas, had told him that he had a new lord. He was a loyal man whose son had fallen with us at Osmotherly. These tributes I retained for a future time when things became desperate.
When we travelled close to Maiden Bower it saddened me as I saw the desolation that had been my home. Each time we came down the road to travel to Coxold I found myself drawn to view the graves of those that I loved. We always ensured that the ground above the graves, which still bore just a rough stone, was undisturbed and that the carrion feeders were chased away. It is strange to think of it now but none of us ever spoke as we went about the manor that had been Maiden Bower. It was as though it was a holy place but when we left, I for one, felt an inner peace. Perhaps it was the spirits of those that I had loved watching me from beyond the grave. We learned that others shunned the place as they felt that it was haunted. We did not fear it and it may have been haunted but those ghosts would not harm us.
It was close to All Saints when we had our first action since we had fled Doncaster. We had been to the east of Jorvik and were approaching the road to the south when one of my scouts drew my attention to the small column heading north for the safety of Jorvik. It was coming on to dusk as the days are short at that time of the year and they were hurrying. The light from the thin, setting sun silhouetted them and hid us in the darkened east. We could see that they were Normans by their mail and their helms. There was a knight, six men at arms and a small wagon. There were but eight of us and none of us wore mail but it was too good an opportunity to miss and a chance for me to see how ambushes would work. Four of my men were archers and the other three armed, as I was with shields and spears.
“Edward, you take the archers and ride ahead to that oak tree. When they come in sight aim for the knights. We will attack from the rear.” I was pleased to see the grins appear in the dark; they not afraid and looked forwards to the break from dull patrols. We trotted down the left of the road to come behind them. “You two take out the two men behind the wagon. You take out the driver and I will attack the others. Come to my aid when you have disposed of your men.”
We still had the round shields we had always had. I know that the kite shield was better for a horseman but the shield was familiar and we had retained them. The advantage we had was that you could use it offensively and that was how I would try to overcome the two or three men I might be facing depending upon how lucky my archers were. As soon as the wagon passed our place of concealment we charged down, silently in a single line. I did not see but I heard the cries as my men did their job. I was busy concentrating on the three riders who turned to come to the aid of their comrades. They too had spears which they held overhand as though to throw. That suited me. It would take a very lucky hit to hurt me. I ignored the one to my left, my shield would take care of him and I held Board Splitter ahead of me. The warrior grinned in anticipation as he raised his spear to strike me but Boar Splitter thrust up under his arm to mortally wound him. I felt the spear strike my shield as I withdrew Board Splitter. The next warrior thought he had an easy victory until the two arrows plucked him from the saddle and he fell dead. And then it was over. The man who had struck my shield was killed by the two men at arms behind me.
“Gather the weapons and armour, put them in the wagon. Edward, collect the horses. We will head to the woods to the west.” I wanted the contents of the wagon but I did not want to leave the wagon tracks for them to follow. We could pack the horses with the booty and ride back to Coxold during the night. I realised that it would be closer to the putative camp at Helmsley but that was in the future.
While my men packed the horses I examined the wagon. It contained boxes of crossbow bolts. They were useless to us. There was a small box with papers in and a smaller box with money. “Edward, throw these bolts into the river. They are no good to us but they will be missed by the garrison.” When we left the wagon it was as though the foxes and crows had picked it clean; there
was nothing left to aid the Normans.
Ridley was worried and chastised me when we arrived back so late. “You are becoming an old woman like Sarah, my friend.”
He did not smile at my attempt at humour, “Aelfraed you do not know how important you are. If you fell then there is no-one left to fight William. You are the symbol which holds us together.”
I could see that he was genuinely upset. “I am sorry Ridley and I will try to avoid getting killed.”
Osbert had been checking the goods we had acquired. “You had a good haul. How did you do it? Edward says they outnumbered you?”
“Aye they did but we attacked from the dark into the sunset and we attacked at the front and the rear. It worked this time.”
“They are all dead my lord, it will work again. The money is useful but I cannot read these documents, they are in French.”
I cursed. That was our weakness. Anything in French was as good as code. “How about Oswald?”
Oswald was the priest from Topcliffe. He had robbed the estate before I arrived and I had had to be stern with him but once the manor became successful he became a loyal and faithful priest. His church had benefited from the manor’s success and now, without a lord at Maiden Bower, he was the focus for the people and acted as an agent. More importantly he could read the documents. We will visit him on Christmas Eve for it will seem normal to attend church then.” I did not want people to know that Oswald still aided us and we would go as hooded men, anonymously.
I had not been in a church since my own wedding in Jorvik; I was not a religious man and too many good people had died badly for me to believe too strongly in a kindly, caring God. If we had had such a God then I would not have had to kill Guy and Copsi and my child would live still. I stationed men at arms around the outside of the church and I went in with Ridley and Osbert. We kept the cowls over our heads; as much to protect our people as ourselves for, this way, they could deny all knowledge of us. I recognised some of the fyrd who came in with their families. We sat in the shadows at the back. The church was dimly lit in any case. Oswald chanted the Latin litany and the congregation responded. We rose, knelt and sat as the others did. Eventually, after what seemed an eternity, it finished and we sat as everyone left. There were some curious looks and I suspect that some of the fyrd recognised me but, thankfully, no one spoke.
Oswald returned and we threw back our hoods. “My lord! I wondered who the hooded men were at the back and, to be honest, I feared that you were Norman killers.”
I looked at him curiously, “Norman killers?”
“There have been rumours of Normans seeking out those who fought with you, men at arms and archers. You have a price on your head as do your men.” That was news to me but then we avoided towns and congregated places.
“We need you to translate some French for us. Could you do that?”
“Of course my lord. Come to my home, there is a fire there and I am too old for this cold.”
He was right, his hearth was cosy. He lit a candle and took out the first document. His eyes opened and then he shook his head. “Aye, well I know who the new lord is, William of Perci. He is coming in January to take over the manor.”
I shrugged. We knew that it would be someone, at least this way we knew who it was. “Does it mention Coxold?”
”Yes, he is to have that one and Medelai.” He looked sadly at us. It seems, my lord, that you are dispossessed.” Again that was no surprise and we had, in effect, prepared for it. “There are other manors close by. It seems that he rules all but Jorvik.”
He put the letter to one side. “If there is naught else in that letter then I would burn it. Then there is no trace.”
He nodded, smiled and threw the document into the fire. “As a man of God I would not have thought of that, my lord.” He took out the second document which appeared to run to several pages. “Ah now this is interesting. It informs a certain, Odo of Bayeux, that Earl Morcar is to be arrested and held in anticipation of King William coming north in March to begin the building of his castle and to rid the land of the last remnants of Saxon rebellion.” He put the paper down. “It seems my lord that he is coming for you.”
We decided to have the best Christmas that we could. Ridley and his steward slaughtered all the animals which we had kept for the winter. There would be little need now. We left only the food for the steward and the household. We had deprived ourselves of rations for some time to eke out the reserves. If Coxold was going the way of Topcliffe then we would dine on geese and duck, mutton and chicken. Only the breeding pairs were left and every village and tenant of Ridley was invited. It was a truly jolly occasion. We did not know it then but this would be one of the last times that we would enjoy the pleasant company of women. The women and girls loved the fact that they had so many men to dance with and their husbands and fathers were proud that the last of the Saxon warriors were in their company.
When the nights lengthened, even though it was frosty and the ground was hard, we bade farewell to Coxold. Ridley was tearful for he had become fond of the place and its people. Had the Normans not come then he would have made a good lord and his benevolent rule would have benefited the people. As it turned out, no one in Northumbria enjoyed that but then few in Northumbria would survive the onslaught of the next few years. We loaded the horses with everything that we would possibly need and said goodbye.
Ralph Ralphson had grown considerably and bore a huge grudge against the Normans. He was desperate to join us and fight but we persuaded him to stay, if only to continue to manufacture those weapons and armour we would need. In the end he agreed only if he was allowed to bring the weapons and armour himself. I reluctantly agreed for I needed the goods he would bring but I was not happy about letting someone from outside our tightly knit band of brothers have access to our hideaways. I trusted the boy but he was a weakness and I prayed that it would not come to haunt us.
We rode east, mainly because the other refuge we had was a little close to Medelai. We knew that there would be a hue and cry to find us; we could use the western camp when they had searched the area. Sixty men left Coxold, men at arms, archers and six camp guards. It was not a huge army but it was one of only two who were fighting the Normans.
Chapter 11
By the time the nights had lengthened and our waists grown thinner we had two well made and well hidden camps. It had been hard building them in the winter but, as Osbert had pointed out, it meant that when the plants began to grow our shelters blended in and looked natural. We tried, whenever possible, to build our shelters out of living trees and bushes; bending and shaping branches and weaving in other materials. In the depths of winter we had to augment these with cloaks and clothes to keep us dry. The forest, however, contained much game and we used this whenever our supply of salted meat grew short. We still visited Coxold and Medelai until they were occupied and the two stewards kept us supplied but in early March, Branton, who had been sent to Medelai, galloped in with bad news. “Perci is at Medelai and he has begun to build a castle at Topcliffe. He has put every man woman and child to work.”
“But it is spring! What about the crops? The lambs?” Ridley was incensed; they were not his people but he knew what would come next.
“They do not care Ridley. This is what happens when you lose a war. But at least it means we can move to our western camp and see if we can annoy the Normans a little.” There were just our three crippled warriors at the camp and they were pretending to be itinerant charcoal burners. It was an acceptable enough story and their injuries should provide an excuse for them not to be expected to build the castle walls. “We will move out tonight. Branton, you take the archers and make sure our way is clear.”
The ride was not short but we were lucky and had a fine moon to guide us. The night was frosty but not icy and the horses made good progress. The hardest part was the slope leading down to the Vale of Jorvik. We had not seen any Norman occupation of Thirsk, which was a small place anyway but we avoided
it as we did Masham. We rode through the night like ghosts for everyone was inside their homes, including the Normans. As the coldest part of the night came and went I wondered how we could use that to our advantage. We could move freely along roads during the night and be ready to strike as dawn broke and tired sentries saw what they expected to see.
We found Branton waiting for us close to the old Roman town of Catherick. He spoke quietly. “There is a Norman conroi ahead. They are in Catherick itself.”
“We will go around but tomorrow you and I will find out who this conroi belongs to.”
Edward, Branton and I rode to Catherick the next day. It was but a handful of miles from our camp and there was plenty of cover for our horses. We spied the Normans at work on the motte and bailey they were building. I say Normans, but they were on their horses supervising the thralls and villeins who toiled away. There would be much hunger this summer if the lambs were not cared for and the crops not sown. We counted five knights or, at least, horsemen who were dressed as knights and fifteen men at arms. We could see no crossbowmen. This looked like our first opportunity to strike at the invader who was spreading across the land like a disease.
The men rested all day and we rose in the middle of the night at moonset. We took all the men we had for we wanted no surprises. We left the horses in the stand of trees with two men and then we split up. Ridley and Osbert took half the men to wait close to the construction site in case we failed in our mission whilst Branton and I took the others to hide close to the river and the village. The Normans had obviously occupied the old warrior hall for there were armed sentries outside. The huts of the villagers were further from the river. We spread out in a thin armoured line. The two sentries at the main door appeared to be the only guards which meant that there should have been eighteen men inside. Branton had six archers and they each aimed at one of the sentries. As I nodded six arrows found their targets and the two men fell silently into oblivion. One of the horses neighed but there was no other sound. Branton and the archers went to the horses while I took the fifteen men at arms with me. I was counting on surprise. Once we entered the hall then we knew that all inside were Normans and therefore enemies. Branton waved at me to show that he had secured the horses. With his archers mounted they could catch any who escaped our trap. The door opened with a slight creak; I hoped that the sentries coming and going during the night had made the noise before and it was familiar enough to ignore. All of us wore our shields at our backs and carried swords, axes and maces.
