by Unknown
“Do we chase them jarl?”
“No Captain Alain. Take your men and collect the horses and cattle from the farms we have just passed. They will now be warned. I will take the rest and we will secure the village. Bring the horses you capture here.”
The lord who sat on his horse with a single retainer was a brave man. He waited until he was certain that the village was empty before he raised his sword in defiance then turned and the two of them galloped after the rest. As we entered the village I said, “Gilles and Bertrand, search the church. Rolf Arneson and Harold Haroldsson, ride to the end of the village and keep watch in case they return.”
“Aye jarl.”
“Erik Long Hair, see if you can find a cart.”
I wondered if the sound of the bell had reached Valauna. It was only eight miles or so away. I did not know if the refugees would flee there. It did not matter. We had not lost a man. I would gamble that my thirty could defeat any number from Valauna. I dismounted and tied Night Star close to the stone water trough. The trough was a sign that this was horse country.
Erik Long Hair and Sigtrygg Rolfsson manhandled the large wagon from the yard behind the lord’s hall. My men began to pile the booty on board. There were sacks of grain as well as candlesticks and linens from the church. They also brought out unexpected treasure: saddles, reins, halters and bridles. In the forge, they found the tools of the smith and they were brought. Gunnar Stone Face and Gudrun Witch Killer managed to lift the anvil on to the back of the wagon which creaked alarmingly.
“Take off the bags of grain. They can be tied to the backs of horses. Just use the wagon for the rest.”
Pots, vessels and furs were brought out of the hall. The lord had been well off. Olaf Head Breaker had also found a chest with coins in it. The lord must have taken the rest but the chest was welcome.
David the Quiet and Jean son of Jean rode in with eight horses. “The captain is still collecting animals. Theobald guards the cattle.”
“Good. Hitch four horses to the wagon. Load the rest with the grain. You two will wait with me.”
Rolf Arneson and Harold rode in. “Lord we have seen riders in the distance.”
“Valauna?”
“It looks like it. They were a couple of miles away.”
“You two tie your horses to the wagon and drive it back. Gilles, Bertrand, David and Jean we will stay here. The rest head back to the Haugr. We will catch up with you. When you meet the captain then ask him to join me with his men.”
We rode to the end of the village and I drew my sword. I took my shield and, after removing my cloak, hung it from my back. I then replaced my cloak. Gilles did the same but the other three kept their shields hung from their saddle. I had had my life saved more than once by a shield which protected my back. We each chose our own method of fighting.
I saw the column of horsemen approaching. The blue banner with the gryphon told me that it was the garrison from Valauna. I doubted that it would be Charles Filjean. He would wait for the battle fought by his Leudes. That would be his opportunity for revenge. I now knew that it had been his father who had been the better warrior. The son knew that. If his father could not defeat me then he stood no chance.
The Franks halted two hundred paces from us. I saw that the leader, wearing mail, peered around suspiciously. We had ambushed them with archers before and he was not going to ride towards five warriors who were a potential trap. He waved left and right. Four men detached themselves and, in two pairs, began to circle the village.
“Do we retreat lord?”
“No, Jean son of Jean. I am not afraid of four men. This buys time for our men to get further up the road. We will move when the main column advances.”
The two pairs of men circled the village. I could see what they intended. They were looking for signs of archers and warriors hiding in the buildings. There were none, of course. They waved to the main column and it continued to move towards us. The sergeant who led them was cautious. We were not moving and he was trying to work out why. I waited until they were fifty paces from us and then said, “Draw your swords and let us go. Watch out for the four flanking riders. They will attempt to attack us.”
We wheeled around. Our horses had been patient long enough and they leapt through the heart of the village. The two pairs of Franks raced after us to try to cut us off. David the Quiet veered to his right and, as the Frank closed with him David whipped his horse’s head around and slashed at the Frank’s head. The warrior tried to jerk back and pull his horse around at the same time. All that he succeeded in doing was pulling his horse to the ground. His companion almost suffered the same fate but he stopped his horse. The two on the other side decided that discretion was the better part of valour and they reined in.
The Frankish column was now gaining with us. Ahead I saw Alain leading the other six warriors. He had adopted a wedge formation. He was the tip of the arrow.
“When we get close, go left and right. The Franks will have a shock when the captain and his men strike them.” The road dipped ahead of us and I knew that Captain Alain and his men would be hidden. “Now!”
I wheeled to the left with Gilles and Bertrand. Jean and David went to the right. Alain ploughed into the sergeant. He might have been a cautious warrior. He might have been experienced but Alain had become a deadly killer. He deftly deflected the sergeant’s spear and lunged at the warrior’s neck. When two more warriors fell, the rest turned and fled. Their leader and his deputy were dead and they had lost five warriors.
We watched them leave and took the two horses which had not bolted. The sergeant had good mail and we took that with their swords, helmets and their purses. We turned and followed our wagon. We caught up with it at Rurik’s farm. I wondered how the Leudes would react to our bold attack.
Chapter 17
It took eight days for us to discover his reaction. Sólmánuður was upon us and the crops were all beginning to ripen in the summer sun. Folki sent one of his men with a message. “Jarl, the Franks are gathering close to the farm of Erik Green Eye.”
The news came as a surprise. I nodded, “Go and tell him that I will bring some men.” I waved over Gilles who, along with Bertrand, was giving some of my warriors horsemanship lessons. “I want ten mounted warriors. The Franks, it seems, are approaching Erik Green Eye’s farm.”
As they left I waved Arne Four Toes over. “Arne ride to Alain at Rurik’s farm. Tell him to see if there is any movement from the south.”
“But the attack is from the north.”
“I think this may be a trick. I wonder if this Frank is trying to deceive us. We will see.”
Gilles brought over my horse and I mounted. We headed north. I turned to Bergil Bjornson who had brought the news. “How many men were there?”
“They were mounted, jarl, and it was hard to get true numbers.”
I nodded. It was easier to estimate men on foot for you could count the spears but horsemen, in a line, were harder. Erik’s farm was closer to the Haugr than was Rurik’s and we soon reached it. Although he only had a palisade and ditch around it they had closed the gate and all were within when we reached them. I waved my men inside.
“I will take Bertrand and Gilles to spy out the numbers.” I did not need to ask where they were for I saw a banner and spear heads on the edge of the wood four hundred paces to the north. The three of us rode across the field of beans. Erik’s slaves had left two paths for them to tend the crops and we rode up those. I saw that the beans were ripening. The summer had been a good one thus far.
At the edge of the field we stopped. There was a natural hedge of wild blackberries and nettles. If we had to then we could leap it but I was content to sit there and count.
Gilles said, “It looks like a large army.”
“Does it Gilles?”
“Aye lord, look they cover the whole of the front of the wood.”
“Then count the horses for me, you too, Bertrand.”
“There are sixty h
orsemen that we can see.”
“And you think there are more behind the ones who sit astride horses?”
“There must be, lord.”
“I think not. I think that there are just the sixty we see there.” I pulled Copper’s head around and began to ride back to the farm. “It is a large number of men but not enough to attack the Haugr. They are there to draw our main force north. Our enemy can then attack from the south.”
They opened the gate and we entered. With the ten men I had brought and Folki’s, Erik had twenty warriors in his farm. That was more than enough to defend the palisade against sixty horsemen. The ditch which surrounded the farm was wide and deep.
I dismounted, “There are sixty men in the woods. I am guessing that they will not approach any closer. If they had greater numbers, then they would have surrounded your farm, Erik. This way they tempt me to bring my horsemen and try to chase them away. If I do, then they will flee back to Ċiriċeburh.”
“It is the trick we have played on them.”
“It is. We will ride back to the Haugr. If they attack, then light a beacon and I will come to your aid. Be prepared to evacuate the farm and bring your people into the Haugr. When the Leudes and his army attack us, we shall need every warrior behind my walls.”
Riding back Gilles asked, “If you are wrong and this is the main attack, lord, what then?”
“Then I will have been guilty of over thinking this but everything I have learned about this Frank tells me that he is both careful and clever. He did not attack us as soon as Fótr and his men were defeated. He has bided his time preparing for an attack. I have thwarted his earlier plans and disrupted his attempts to subvert us. He must now attack and this,” I waved a hand behind me, “is his last trick. He will be coming from the south.”
Arne was waiting for me when I arrived back, “The Captain took his men into the woods to scout. He said it had been quiet.”
“That is an illusion.” I handed my reins to Gilles and my shield and helmet to Bertrand. “I will go to speak with Sven and Harold.”
When I reached my ships, they were both working on the drekar. She was in her cradle and they were finishing caulking her with horsehair and seal oil. “I think the Franks may be about to attack. I would have the ships moored beyond the causeway and the church.”
Sven nodded, “The weather looks set fair but if we get a summer storm…”
“Then we will know that this is part of the Norns’ web.”
Sven touched his hammer of Thor. “Aye. Will the attack come today? We have still some work to do.”
“You have time to finish but be prepared to move quickly if I send word.” I went to Sigurd and Skutal and gave them the same information. They would moor their fishing boats astern of the knarr and then join my men on the walls.
That evening I picked at my food. I had done all that I could but I was still unhappy. I was gambling with the lives and the livelihood of the whole clan. Warriors like Folki, Alain, Gudrun and Knut had joined me because they believed I was a good leader. The clan had moved here because I had persuaded them. What if I was wrong? What if the Norns were tricking me? I began to doubt myself.
Mary’s hand began to stroke my hair, “What troubles you, my husband?”
“What?”
She smiled, “Ragnvald has been talking to you for some time and you have just been staring at your ale. What is on your mind?”
“I am sorry, my son.” I ruffled his hair. “I do not know if I have read this enemy aright. Perhaps I have given him too much credit.”
She sat next to me. “Let me tell you of my home when I was growing up. My father’s friends would come over each week and go to church. After church, they would sit around the table, drink and talk of old wars fighting for Charlemagne and of unfought wars yet to come. They would move knives, salt pots and goblets around on the table to represent armies and men. This Philippe of Rouen will be the same. I am afraid that your people like to fight and to war. My people like to plan and to plot. You are not Fótr. You will not fall into his trap as easily. Now eat and speak with your son!”
I nodded, “Well Ragnvald, what is it you were saying?”
“When our enemies come, father, will I be on the wall with the other boys?”
I looked at Mary. The slightest of frowns crossed her face and then she shrugged. I drank some of the ale and then stroked my beard, “Let me think on this. You have trained with the other boys have you not?”
“I nearly brought down a gull!”
“I know, I was told. It would be right that you joined them. If you are tall enough for your head to be above the palisade on the fighting platform, then you can.”
“Thank you!” He jumped down from his chair and ran off. Going, no doubt, to collect his sling and stone.
Mary smiled, “Clever my husband, you know he is not tall enough yet.”
“It is practical. He cannot throw his stones if he cannot see the enemy.”
Alain of Auxerre rode in during the afternoon. “Lord the enemy comes. We went last night and spied out Valauna. He has a mighty host gathered there. He waits.”
“He waits for me to attack the men he has sent to the north. Ride back and fetch Rurik, Finni and their people. I will send for those in the other farms which lie to the south of us. Then have your men drive the horse herd north to the farm of Bárekr. His farm should be safe for it is close to the sea. We prepare for a siege.”
“Aye lord.”
I knew that the farmers would be unhappy. There was a risk that the Franks would destroy their carefully tended fields. There were eight farms to the south which would have to be abandoned. The warriors who farmed them would understand but it would still be hard to see the work of a year undone.
After I had told Mary I donned my mail and sent for Bertrand and Gilles. “Come, it is time we made the Leudes think he has fooled us. We will attack his horsemen.”
“The three of us?”
“No, Gilles. It will be a large number who attack.”
Arne Four Toes and my other warriors who lived by the Haugr had seen the preparations and joined me. “It begins. I go north but I will return. Rurik and Finni will be joining us and the other southern farmers. Watch for tricks from now on. We have enough water?”
“The earlier rains were harvested in barrels and the well is high. We have enough dried and smoked fish and meat. It is only the bread we will lack.”
“That cannot be helped.” Our bread oven was outside our wooden walls. The risk of a fire was too great to have it within. It would be a sacrifice we would have to make.
The three of us rode to the horses. We tied halters to them so that we could lead them to safety. Gilles said, “What of the mares in foal, lord?”
“Take those to the Haugr. We will care for them there.”
He led the six mares to the Haugr. I saw my men returning from Rurik’s farm. Alain of Auxerre and his men peeled off to join us. “Take the horses to Bárekr. He can watch them. When they are secure then bring your men to Erik Green Eye’s farm. Have all of our people’s animals take to Bárekr’s farm. He can watch them there. We go to war.”
There was relief on the faces of my men at Erik’s farm. I smiled, “This is where we ride to battle. Folki mount your men. Today I would have them look like Franks. When Alain comes, we will attack Hugo of Ċiriċeburh and his men.”
“But it will soon be evening.”
“I know Folki and that will aid us for they will not be able to see our numbers. We have less than thirty warriors but I would have them think that there are twice that. I want all of you here to tie a second spear to your left leg.”
“That will make fighting difficult, jarl. My men find it hard enough fighting with just one spear.”
I shook my head, “Only the captain, his men and we three will fight. In the dark he will see horses and spears. If he counts the spears he will think I have committed all of my men to an attack and send word to his master.”
Alain arrived, “We have changed horses, lord. The others were tired.”
“Good for you will need fresh mounts.” I explained what I had planned. He grinned and nodded. “You and your men will pursue them all night. Do not get close enough for them to estimate numbers but keep at them. In the dark their fear of us will make them see double. I want them back inside Ċiriċeburh. Return to the farm of Bárekr. I will let you know when I need you next.”
I led my men from the farm shortly before dusk. We did not ride through the bean fields. Instead I rode parallel to the woods and headed up the slope which had the spindly trees Erik had yet to cut. It also allowed us to approach from the east where it was already growing dark.
I formed my men up so that Alain and his men were the front rank with Gilles, Bertrand and myself. We were not tightly formed. Folki and my men with the extra spears were behind us. I waited until it was almost dark and then I shouted, “Charge!”
We galloped up the slope towards the thin line of Franks. Folki and my other men just followed at a canter. The eleven of us hit the line of Franks and we surprised them. They were not ready. Some did not even have swords or spears ready. I thrust my spear into the thigh of a Frank and he was unhorsed. Gilles’ spear took one in the neck while Alain unhorsed one with a powerful strike to the shield. The rest of the ones before us ran. I heard a horn from my right and then there was the sound of horses moving through the woods. Bertrand dismounted to end the lives of the two wounded Franks and I said, “Captain, keep your spears in their backs! We will see you when you return.”
“Aye lord, this will be a hunt to remember. Come boys! We will have vengeance on our former master. Let us show him that running away is a bad habit to cultivate!”
