Earl

by Griff Hosker

  There were one or two small manors which bordered the walls but the knights who lived there were little more than farmers having but a couple of men at arms. Although they had castles they were small. Any attacker could reduce them in a day. They were defences against brigands and animals only. We took tents for the three of us and our squires. Our men would sleep under the stars. We would not be on the road for long.

  I used Sir Hugh Manningham’s scouts to keep watch to the north. They rode along the old wall which afforded a fine view north. I saw that, in places, trees had begun to grow. “I would have some of your men cut those down at the end of summer. The timber will be useful but I am more concerned about the cover it would give an enemy.”

  “You are right, my lord. I should have seen that. You have an eye for such things.”

  “Perhaps. When I studied in Constantinople I was drilled by my teachers about lines of sight and defences. The Romans built well but they intended the wall and the road to be maintained.” I pointed at the surface across which we rode. “This too will need repairs soon. I will write to the King. It is not right that you should bear the expense. This artery is vital.”

  We reached Haltwhistle and the manor of Robert de Lapaigne. He was a young knight with just four men at arms and six crossbowmen but his castle was well sited. He was embarrassed that he could not offer us accommodation.

  “It is not a problem. We are here to show the Scots that we are ready should they wish to steal from us.”

  “And I am glad that you have come. There have been rustlers taking cattle and sheep from those who farm to the north of us. Many of the farmers have fled south.”

  I nodded, “One or two have reached the Tees.” I noticed that Sir Hugh was becoming a little distracted and he kept peering north. “Is there a problem?”

  “Two of my scouts have yet to return. I had sent them to the north and west of this manor. Owain and Alan are reliable men something may have happened to them.”

  I had learned not to ignore such problems. “Aelric, take the archers and ride to the north and west. See if you can find Sir Hugh’s scouts.”

  It was dark and we had eaten when they returned. The two bodies draped over the rear of two of my archers’ mounts told their own story. Aelric dismounted. “We found the two men to the north west, my lord. It was the foxes fighting over them which alerted us.” He shook his head. “They had only just begun their work but it is not a pleasant sight. Their heads were taken. If they had not worn the livery of Sir Hugh we might not have known who they were.”

  Sir Hugh nodded his head, “Where did you find them?”

  “There was a village or some such a mile or so beyond where they were slain. It was on a hill. We smelled wood smoke and when Griff of Gwent went to spy upon it he said there were Roman ruins hard by.”

  Sir Hugh nodded, “Booth Castle. It was a Roman camp. The Scots raided and took it last year. I would have fortified it and built a castle myself but…”

  “But the King had us fighting in the east; I know. There is little point travelling through the night. We know not the tracks and I would not risk losing more of your men.”

  “And horses!” Sir Hugh Manningham and I knew that horses, in this part of the country, were as valuable as men. The ones who had slain Owain and Alan were now mounted.

  We prepared to ride before dawn. I worried about taking William. I could not afford to leave Leofric behind to watch him. He would have to ride with us. His mother would not be happy but what she didn’t know would not worry her. My son, for his part, seemed quite happy about the prospect. We reached the site of the attack by dawn. The trail the killers had left was clear to see, even for me. We headed towards the settlement Sir Hugh knew lay ahead. I was not worried about an attack; we had three knights and over twenty men at arms as well as my archers. It would take a strong force to cause us problems.

  As we followed Sir Hugh’s scouts I pondered the problem. Who had risked Sir Hugh’s wrath to kill his men? Although we were some distance from Hexham he was known as the King’s man along the wall. Had the Earl of Gloucester had some intelligence about this? It seemed a lucky stroke that we happened to be in the area when the attack had occurred.

  Hugh of Gainford pointed to the ground. “Horse droppings, my lord. They came this way.”

  “Aye.” I turned in my saddle. “If there is trouble William then you stick close to Leofric and do all that he tells you.” I would not need to give advice to Leofric he would protect my son, with his life if necessary.

  The arrow when it came was badly made and badly aimed. It smacked into my helmet. The angle of the side deflected it off behind me. I heard no other cries. I had known men hit by such accidents. It was an ambush. I drew my sword and pulled my shield up. I heard Leofric instructing William. I risked a glance behind me. He looked so small on his pony. Then I concentrated on the attack. My archers had dismounted. Two held the horses while the others strung their bows and found whatever shelter they could.

  Sir Hugh shouted to his knights. “Hexham! Ride to the right!”

  “Hugh, Roger, follow me!”

  I swung Scout to the right as another two arrows thudded into my shield. I could see nothing although I knew that whoever was attacking us was hiding in the trees above and ahead of us. They were hoping that we would not be able to follow them in the forest. Trees did not stop my men. Hugh of Gainford brought his horse next to mine. Without turning he said. “We were lucky then, my lord. They took us by surprise.”

  “It is where we miss Aiden and his nose. He would have smelled them before they could have loosed.”

  Suddenly an arrow flew from behind me and a half dressed archer fell to the floor some fifty paces from me an arrow sticking from the side of his head. Aelric and his archers were watching our backs. They had dismounted and were running through the trees almost as swiftly as we rode. I leaned over Scout and peered ahead. The Scots were hard to spot for they were dressed in brown cloth and were almost invisible in the trees. I caught a glimpse of something shiny and I leaned further forward sliding my sword to the side. The warrior jabbed his spear which hit my helmet. The head broke from the spear and I rammed my sword into his unprotected middle. Scout’s speed tore the sword from the wounded man and he slumped dead besides the path.

  I reined Scout in. “Hold!” I realised that this was not going to result in many more dead Scots for they were hard to see. We would be wasting our time. “Reform and head for the settlement.”

  I heard my orders repeated ahead of me. Hugh and I turned. As we neared the edge of the woods I saw that John had also remained with William. He looked at me apologetically. “I thought is best to stay with Leofric.”

  “You did right, John.” As I sheathed my sword I said, “The pickings were poor anyway. These were not warriors; these were brigands or farmers.”

  Roger of Lincoln drew next to me, “I counted four of them dead, my lord. I think another three escaped west.”

  Aelric and his archers waited for us just beyond the woods. “That was a well aimed arrow Aelric.”

  He nodded, “I saw his hand and guessed where his head would be.

  As we neared the overgrown Roman road I saw Sir Hugh and his men. “We killed six, my lord.”

  “Did you lose any?”

  He nodded, “Peter of Blythe fell from his horse. His arm is broken.”

  I knew the fellow would suffer more from his friends than from the wound. It was seen as foolish, in the extreme, to fall from one’s horse.

  “Aelric, take the archers and form a screen ahead of us. I doubt they will try another ambush but let us take no chances eh?”

  The land rose towards the old Roman fort. The road which led to it had not been used for over eight hundred years and it was barely recognisable as a road. The fort itself was in a state of disrepair. They had used some of the stones to form a low wall and then added the wattle and daub to the sides. It would be less draughty inside such a building. Apart from a handf
ul of fowl and a couple of sheep the village was empty. Even so we rode in cautiously.

  “Search the buildings. See if they left anything worth taking.”

  I dismounted. While my men and Sir Hugh’s searched for danger I joined William and my squires. My son’s face was aglow. “That was exciting.” I took off my helmet. He held his hands out for it. When I had given it to him he examined the place the arrow had struck. There was a mark but it had not even dented my well made helm. “Did the blow not hurt, father.”

  “It matters not if it hurts. So long as it has not buried itself in your body you fight on. It is a bruise and nothing more.”

  He handed it back to me. “Is it over now?”

  I shook my head. “The women and the children will not have fled through the trees. The men did that to distract us and allow their families to escape. They were brave men. We will follow them. They cannot outrun us.”

  “And what will we do with them when we catch them?”

  I pointed to Sir Hugh of Hexham who was leading the men at arms towards us. “Sir Hugh will make them slaves. It is payment for the men he has lost.”

  “I would not like to be a slave.”

  Leofric laughed, “You are the son of the Earl of Cleveland. You might be held for ransom but you will not be made a slave.”

  He looked at Leofric curiously, “And you, Leofric; would you be held for ransom?”

  “I wear your father’s livery. They might take me and try to make the Earl buy me back.”

  “Would you buy him back, father?”

  I shook my head, “It only encourages such action. I would take my men and give Leofric his freedom by force of arms.” I saw the surprise on William’s face. “Remember that, my son, you have a responsibility for the men who serve you. They will trust you and you should honour that trust.” He nodded and I saw, in his eyes that he understood.

  Sir Hugh reined in. “My lads saw them heading north east. They will be heading for Gilnockie Tower. It is stone and can be easily defended. It is sixteen miles from here.”

  “Then we can catch them.” I turned to Hugh of Gainford. “Have your men slaughter the animals and then fire the huts. We will leave a message for these invaders. You should be able to catch us up.”

  “Aye my lord.”

  We travelled through a mixture of farmland and forests. It seems that this land was wilder than that south of the Tyne. There were only greenways which twisted and turned. It meant we could be ambushed. Aelric and my archers were vigilant. After an hour or so I heard a shout from the scouts. “They are ahead of us!”

  I spurred Scout on and saw a long line of villagers. They had men at the back and the women were at the fore driving the animals. “Sir Hugh, send your archers to head them off. We will tackle the men.”

  As we formed our lines I saw that they had seen us and a rider galloped off driving a line through the women. He was on one of the two horses they had stolen from the dead men. He would escape but the others would either be dead or be slaves within the hour. I knew that he was going for help but I could do nothing about it. the women, children and the last of the men lay before us.

  I did not bother to command Leofric. He knew what to do. I drew my sword as we descended upon the band of fleeing villagers. I noticed that there were more warriors with this band. At least six had shields and over half of them had helmets. Their weapons were a mixture of spears, swords and wood cutting axes. The twenty men turned to form a rudimentary shield wall. It was a valiant attempt but it was doomed to failure. Unseen by the warriors the archers were already galloping ahead and their families and animals would be secured.

  Roger of Lincoln and Wilson rode to my right while John held the standard to my left. The others were to his left. It was not an even line for the ground was not easy to negotiate but we kept the same speed and, to the Scots, we would appear as a solid wall of horse flesh and armour. Some of Sir Hugh Manningham’s men had spears and I saw Sir Hugh urge them on. It was a clever move for their spears reached the brave souls at the front of the shield wall. As the spears of the three men and arms and their horses hit them two Scots fell. Their centre broken, we poured through the gap. I saw Wilson slice down with his sword and split open the helmet and skull of a Scot. Roger brought his sword up under the chin of a second. It emerged through the back. The survivors ran.

  I chose one, younger than the rest, and brought Scout close to him. I swung the flat of the blade across the back of his head. He crumpled in a heap at my feet. I reined in and watched our men finish off the warriors. As Leofric and William joined me I dismounted and handed my reins to my squire. I turned over the youth. He was no more than fourteen summers. I saw in him, William, my son, in a few years time. I had laid him unconscious for I wished to question him.

  Hugh of Gainford and his men joined me while Roger of Lincoln led my men at arms to follow Sir Hugh towards the women and animals now some way ahead and hidden from view. I took off my helmet and gave it to John.

  Hugh of Gainford dismounted and joined me. “That did not take you long.”

  “I know. I wanted a prisoner because I do not understand this attack. They must have known that killing Owain and Alan would bring retribution. Why risk our vengeance?”

  Nodding he waved forward his squire, Ralph, “Disarm him.”

  As he did so the youth began to come to. I took out my sword and held it gently against his chest. His eyes opened and then widened rapidly when he saw himself surrounded by his enemies. “Do not struggle or you will die. Answer my questions and I may well allow you to live. Do you understand?”

  There was a moment of defiance in his eyes. I pressed my sword lightly against his chest and he nodded.

  “Good. Why were our scouts killed?” He hesitated. “Every other man in your village is dead and the women of the village are captured. I want to know why your headman ordered such an action. It means the end of your village.”

  “It was not our headman. It was the lord from the west, the Baron of Dumfries, he told us to kill any Normans who ventured north of the wall. He promised gold for every head.”

  That explained why they had had their heads taken. “Where does this Lord have his castle?”

  He pointed vaguely to the west. “It is a day’s hard ride in that direction.”

  “You have never been there?”

  “We came from the north two summers since and I only know the land around our home.”

  “What is his name?”

  “He is a lord that is all that I know.”

  He knew nothing more and I sheathed my sword. “Do you have family to the north?”

  “Aye, my lord. My grandmother lives there still.”

  “Then return hence and stay away from England. You will live longer.”

  He rose and looked nervously at the men at arms. “You will not ride me down for sport?”

  “No, I will not. Now go.” He began to run along the greenway. He kept looking over his shoulder. He darted into the forest some half a mile from where we stood and he disappeared.

  “Was that wise, Sir Alfraed?”

  “He may return to fight us but I saw in him, William, my son, in a few years time. I would hope for mercy for him should he be in a similar situation.”

  We heard the sound of animals and keening women as Sir Hugh Manningham returned with the villagers and animals. As he reined in next to me I said, “We will camp at Booth Castle.” I pointed to the sky. “It is getting late.”

  “Aye.” He pointed to the horse his squire led. “We have Owain’s horse, at least and the slaves will come in handy. Some of these young boys will grow into strong backs.”

  I rode at the head of the column and we made our way south again. Hugh of Gainford looked around at the land which had been taken by the Scots. “I can see why the Scots took this land. It would take more men than Sir Hugh’s to control it. There should be a castle.”

  “And when King Henry returns to England I will suggest that to him.
We have done what was asked of us and this time I cannot be reproached for laying waste to the land. We dealt with murderers, that is all.”

  “You will not seek a confrontation with this Lord of Dumfries?”

  “There is little to be gained and we have not enough men. We will let Sir Hugh take the slaves back to Hexham and we will head west and then return along the Roman road by the wall. We have done as the Earl wanted. The man who left will have reported my banner. The Scots know who is here now and, I hope, will heed the warning.”

  He nodded, “It is coming to high summer and soon the men will be needed to work the fields.”

  “That was my thought too. We will be home again in four days.” I turned to William. “Have you learned much in this little expedition and campaign?”

  “Yes father but I thought fighting would be harder.”

  Hugh laughed, “That was not fighting William. We were hunting men that is all. When you face a foe who has armour and is well led then it is a different proposition.”

  Each day brought a change in my son. This was his school room. I had learned to be a knight in Constantinople where I had learned the theory. It was only when Athelstan had begun my training proper that I had understood the real meaning of knight. William would learn by watching us.

  Chapter 9

  Sir Hugh wanted to send some of his men to accompany me but I waved his offer away. “We have done as we were asked. The Scots know I am not in Wales. We have bloodied the nose of the Earl of Dumfries. Besides this makes our force look twice as big for with you heading east and me heading west we can make a larger show.”

  He saw the wisdom of that suggestion. “I will send your share of the profits to Stockton.”