by Smith, Skye
"But he still aims at me!" said the abbot and he grabbed Hereward’s arm to hold him in place as a shield.
"He takes a long aim only to force your men to stop and to think. When he kills, he draws, aims, and looses in one smooth movement. You are dead before you can react." Hereward finished pulling away. "I could not save you from Raynar’s bow. I was shielding you from the others. He then turned so that the two officer monks could see his face, but the abbot could not. With only his eyes he made it clear that the chapter should do something to control this abbot.
Hereward walked down the steps towards the chest, and then turned his head towards the abbot. "Brother Abbot, it grows late. Perhaps you could arrange for the loan of horses so we can ride back to our ship."
The abbot mouthed the word ship like it surprised him, and then yelled an order to arrange for the horses. He turned to enter the safety of the abbey, but was stopped by a call from the bowman who was standing at ease with one arm around the gorgeous angel. They both held their bows loose with one hand, with the arrow held in place by the same hand. The man's eyes seemed to shine blue as he called out, "I'll be back." The abbot felt a shiver run up his spine from the look he was given.
* * * * *
On horseback, the four miles to the ship passed quickly. Once they had cleared the gates and the town, the men cheered in relief from the battle tension. Raynar rode beside Anske and gushed over her with praise for her initiative. Not just for walking through the men to claim a bow, but for shooting the abbot's man in the buttocks rather than the heart.
Hereward rode between the two abbot's men who had been sent with them to return with the horses. He never missed a chance to chat and gossip and tease information from the common men. Thorold's mood had changed completely and he was eager to be home with his treasure.
"Thorold’s treasure will be split up and heading south with Klaes's men by tomorrow," Anske told Raynar.
"What do you mean?" said Raynar.
"Thorold is using the coin to buy breeding stock, and more seed and food. The prices in the south are much lower, so Klaes has agreed to have our Westerbur men do the buying and the transporting. Some by ship, some overland. All of our men will be gone for a month."
"But what of Edgar's chests. How will I redeem them and protect them without a force of warriors?" he asked. "I was counting on Klaes to support me. Protect the treasure."
"Ask Hereward or Thorold, not I. What about your outlaw friends?" she replied.
"Can't Klaes wait a week?"
"Klaes can wait, but the hungry and the farmers cannot. The planting must continue and they need seed now."
They crossed a small bridge and there was a loud whistle from the bushes. At the next small bridge they were met by Gerke. He looked down the line of horses. "Are they ours?" he asked, while wondering how to get them back to Spalding.
"No, they are on loan from the Abbey."
Gerke helped Beatrice down, but ignored Anske. She had been born on a horse and would have kicked away his helping hand. They did not leave the cartway until the abbot's men were out of sight with the strings of horses. He saw a splash of dried blood on the folds of the countess's skirts. He pulled at her skirts and asked, "Problems?".
The countess looked at the stain with annoyance. "Nothing that your sister-in-law could not handle," and then all his men wanted to be the first to tell the story.
Once the ship was under way, Raynar found Hereward and posed the question about who to use as guards when next they sought Edgar's treasure. Hereward signaled to Thorold and the three of them sat on a seaman’s trunk and did some planning.
"I am full busy," stated Hereward, "I must return to Ely and help Sweyn set up the town. Once there are supplies enough in Ely, I must wander the fens and find outlaws to steal horses for Sweyn."
"I too am full busy," said Thorold. "Once I have Klaes and his men away in search of stock, I must go to Lincoln to make my case for helping the farmers to the new sheriff and the bishop. My own men will be spread thin protecting both the manor and the ploughing teams."
"So I must raise my own force, or wait," said Raynar thoughtfully. "If I wait, the risk is greater that the abbot will ship the treasure to William, or worse, have William's army collect it."
"That abbot is so fearful of you after all the bull shit I fed him that he would probably let you redeem it all by yourself," replied Hereward.
"Or kill me on sight."
"Hmm, there is that."
"How many warriors did you count?" asked Raynar. He was busy with pen and paper drawing maps and diagrams of the burgh walls while he still remembered all the details.
"There were twenty on the burgh walls when we came, mostly near the gate. After Anske buried her arrow in that ass there were immediately sixty on the wall or in the yard."
"Sixty, I was told he had perhaps a hundred and fifty," stated Raynar.
"The abbey has many houses, like Repton. The guards will be spread between them. The abbot serves William in place of the sheriff. Those duties would also take men away from the abbey."
"Did you see any archers?" asked Raynar.
"About ten had crossbows. The ones by the gate."
Thorold broke in, "With sixty men on those repaired walls they could hold off hundreds and the slaughter would be terrible on both sides. You will need guile, not force."
"Or overwhelming force, so they surrender. But that means Sweyn, and there would be nothing to stop him from taking it all," warned Hereward.
"If I create a force of outlaws, where do I find enough horses for them?"
"The abbot seems to have too many for an order of monks," said Hereward. "You look resigned Raynar."
"I seem to spend half my life crossing the countryside between the Peaks and Spalding. I need to go again to bring the outlaws here from the Peaks and Sherwood."
"The Fens are teeming with outlaws right now. I expect no problem in raising a hundred to help Sweyn," said Hereward.
"I need men I can trust with such a treasure. I need bowmen. I need the Brotherhood."
"You make a good point," Hereward confirmed. "Most outlaws in the Fens are axemen. Crudely trained farmers and foresters. And those chests would tempt an angel."
"Are you discussing my chest?" interrupted Anske while holding her hands cupped under her breasts.
Raynar reach forward and pulled her hands down before the crew noticed what she was doing. "Don't be naughty. You are still feeling the blood surge through you from the battle energy. Your head is throbbing with relief. It is the same with all these men, but with men both of their heads throb. This is the wrong time to be teasing them."
She went all demure, but then in a very proud tone said, "I enjoyed sticking that pig in the ass."
"The poor man. I think he was just trying to pull Beatrice out of harms way."
"Do you think so. Oh dear," she looked crest fallen.
"Perhaps you shot the wrong man, but the shot was absolutely the right thing to do, and he did look like he was assaulting a lady. Did you notice that no one helped him until they were ordered to," the praise was from Thorold. "You have my permission to shoot anyone who manhandles my women."
"Even you" she mocked.
"Only if you warn me first."
Hereward help Raynar fill in his map of Peterburgh and his floor plan of the Abbey compound. As the Abby's knight, Hereward even knew where the vaults were, and where the keys for them were kept.
Anske, meanwhile, would not stop touching and rubbing against Raynar, but he could not stop drawing until he had captured his memories. Finally he rolled the paper and put it safely away in his pipe, and then turned to face Anske. She had the most delicious smile on her face.
"Do you know the problem with a ship?" she asked. "There is no private place anywhere. I have never felt so horny in my life and I can't do anything about it."
He held her close in his arms and stroked her coarse flaxen hair.
"So you are traveling again.
Going to fetch your Hoodsmen from the Peaks," she whispered. "May I come? You saw today how useful I can be," she looked down at her skirts. "I will dress as a boy and keep my hood up. Oh please, please. I will even ride a nag." She pulled out her dagger from her sleeve, held out a weave of her hair and sawed it off. Three feet of braided blonde hair dropped to the deck. Then another three feet.
Raynar looked down on the deck at the two long braids of yellow hair. Her hair was her delight and she had just sheered it for just the hope of riding with him. "You may come," he said, "but you must pack women's clothes and those braids, just in case you need to pretend you are a woman." She began to laugh and only then did he realize what he had just said. Of all people, Anske need never pretend to be a woman.
* * * * *
* * * * *
The Hoodsman - Blackstone Edge by Skye Smith
Chapter 19 - Traveling with an Angel to Repton in May 1070
The plan was to ride two days to Repton to talk with Tucker, then another day to Tideswell to recruit the men of the Peaks forest, and hopefully some horses, and then to Sherwood to recruit more men, and then back to Burna or Spalding. At the least, such a journey would take would be a week. With recruitment delays and the shortage of horses, it would likely take two weeks.
It was a good plan, but there was a flaw. A couple can never move as quickly as either party. The first delay was before they had even left Spalding. Once Inka found out that Anske was joining into one of Raynar trips, she wanted the same privilege with Hereward. She wanted their help to convince him.
"Hereward, you will need me in Ely." Inka had been following Hereward around as he packed. "Who would be more useful on the grand island of all Frisian islands than a Frisian seer. You will need me to tell you where to set up the latrines and the fish traps and which high land will stay dry and which will dampen your spirit. Think of the knowledge that you will have through me."
"Yes, well, you have a point, but the monks will not welcome a seer on their island, especially not a woman seer. They will accuse me of bringing witches to their island."
"Their island. Their island. Those thieves and necromancers. They came with their 'all powerful' god of the desert and told the marsh islanders that if they worshipped the most powerful god then they no longer need fear the silly local gods and spirits.
Silly local gods hah. The monks god was imaginary, while the silly gods were real. They were the gods of the tides and the rains and the sun and fertility. Real gods of the real things that kept life sweet on the islands." Inka raised her voice so that all could hear. "It sounded reasonable, so the islanders helped them build their abbey and fill it with gold, and when the real gods forsook the island, the monks told them it was because they had not given them enough gold."
Hereward's arguments eventually collapsed as everyone knew they would, and he invited Inka to accompany him to Ely. Now both couples were packing their gear and seeking out simple homespun shirts for their disguises as farmers. It took much longer than it should have, mostly because the women were in high spirits and were rewarding their men with a shameless playfulness.
Hereward had to pull Inka away from her farewells, else they would miss the next ship going from Spalding to Lynn. Raynar then had to convince Anske that she did not need to visit her island village of Westerbur on the way to Burna. What won his argument was telling her that her friends would laugh at her riding that farm nag and looking like a skinny, though lumpy, lad.
Even the slow ride across the marshy land of the Fens took longer than it should have. Anske was in such a good mood and still feeling the surge of life force from the fight at the Abbey, that it seemed like they were stopping every hour for a tumble in the long spring grasses. Anske rightly pointed out that their couplings were natural gifts to Freyja as May approached and the more gifts they gave, the better she would watch over them. Eventually Raynar forced their pace to make sure they had crossed Ermine street before they camped for the night.
They were late starting in the morning, for shameless reasons, and were still on the wrong side of Fosse Way by midday. They were more cautious now. This land was within a half days ride from Nottingham. Nottingham had the largest Norman garrison in the region and was one of the few garrisons that still sent patrols and foraging parties into the countryside around it.
They crossed Fosse Way in the same woods that Raynar had used on his last journey to Repton. Even if you were spotted by a patrol, you could disappear quickly into the woods again. There was a patrol but the woods let them hide until they had passed. Once they were clear of the woods there was open farm land around Loughborough and another high risk of being noticed by Normans, so they decided to take a rest before leaving the woods.
He had sworn to himself that this time he would not be seduced, but he could not help himself. She had a joyous energy running through her and all that was needed was to rub her breasts in his face for him to lose his resolve and enjoy the sweetness of their love.
Afterwards they lay naked in each others arms in the warm sun and the fresh grass and the rings of spring wildflowers and breathed the dreams of lovers. They were both snoozing when a dozen children swarmed them, sitting on them and holding them down until their hands and feet were bound. Their yells were ignored. Once their bonds were snug, half the children began looking for valuables in their clothing and hung from their saddles. The two oldest boys were making much of his unique bow and strange sword, and of her breasts and pubic hair.
The boys must have been barely of age, because they squatted beside her and ran their curious hands softly over her body. Raynar's threats brought the rest of the children back from their foraging through the saddle bags. One of them stuffed moss in his mouth to shut him up, but the rest were fascinated by what the older boys were doing.
"See, I told you they weren't two monks doing a bummer," said an older girl.
"Well how was we to know she was a girl when she was dressed like that."
Unlike Raynar, Anske was calm and quiet. Frisian women were not embarrassed by nudity, and being so lovely she was accustomed to being the object of male lust. To her, these were just two normal boys with healthy amounts of curiosity. She raised her head and watched them gently circle her nipples with their fingers. "How long were you watching us?"
"Since you came. We could see his sword so we couldn't come close until you fell asleep," said the oldest boy.
"So you watched everything."
"We did," he pointed to the other older boy, "but we sent the others away because they were giggling."
"You liar," said the older girl, "you wanted us gone so you could play with your things."
"Umm, boys," said Anske sweetly, "I don't mind you watching me, but you shouldn't touch me unless I ask you to."
The older girl slapped their hands away and said, "Yeh, don't touch her."
The oldest boy pushed her down and said, "They are my prisoners, so she is my slave, so I get to do anything I want to her." This caused Raynar to choke while trying to spit out the moss. "Just like the Normans did to my mom. They held a knife at my throat and my mom did anything they wanted." He grabbed the sword and put it at Raynar’s throat. "So pretty lady, are you going to do anything I want?"
Anske said, "Don't be silly. Where is your mother now. Does she live close by?"
A little girl came up to her and looked her in the face and told her that all their moms live at the camp near the stream.
"Do you think your moms want you to do to me what they were forced to do to the Normans."
The little girl and all the girls said no.
"Then be a sweetie and go and fetch your mom."
"Don't you dare," said the other older boy, who was moving his hand up Anske's thigh. "If you do, I will beat you."
"No you won't, you little bugger," said an older voice from the bushes. A woman in rags pushed her way into the tiny clearing. "What have you lot done now? You'll have us all outlawed."
"They have coins,
even silver coins, and look at these weapons, and two horses," said the oldest boy. "We can bury their bodies and have it all."
"Oooh, you scare me with what you say sometimes," said another woman coming into the clearing.
The boy defended his remark, "If we let them go, they will run to the to constable and tell him where to find us."
"Leave her pussy alone, you," the mom yelled as she came closer and looked down at Anske. "She is so pretty. You little ones. Go back to camp. And close your mouths. There were no strangers in the woods today. Understand me. No strangers, no matter who asks."
"But mommy," said the little girl, "she is my angel. You cannot hurt her."
"Back to camp, and say nothing."
"But she was the one that fixed my arm," said the little one. "Remember, when we had to walk so far in the mud, and then there was that boat across the river, and that town that fed us and gave us a roof out of the rain."
The two women came closer and looked at Anske. "Oooh I don't know. They wus all dressed like nuns." She unwound her filthy tattered shawl and wrapped it around Anske's head. She cried out, "Oh Freyja, what have we done." She told the boys to cut the bonds and she said to Anske, "You, you were there. You were one of the women in Selby that saved us all."
"And he was one of the men," Anske replied softly, "one of the healers. He kept the Breton pigs from ravaging the young women." She turned her head in a sudden thought, "Be calm Raynar. Don't hurt the boys. They were just being boys." She said it just in time, because as soon as his bonds were cut Raynar was on his feet and ready to fight.
One woman clipped a boy across the back of the head. "Stop gawking at her tits and fetch her clothes for her."
The little girl was bringing them already. "I told you so. I told you she was my angel."
"I suppose that we deserves what we gets from the constable now," said the first woman, "but I cannot hurt the folk that saved my children from starvation and sickness. The little one would have lost her arm or worse, had it not been for you."
