by Griff Hosker
Sir Hugh poured himself some more wine, “And the ransoms are so paltry it is hardly worth the effort of collecting them.”
“I would not bother with ransom. If they surrender then all well and good but if not then slay them.” I looked around and saw determination written on their faces. “We meet here again in two days’ time. That should be long enough for you to return and bring that which you need.”
Sir Hugh said, “Lord, if it is possible I will wait at Barnard. It is a long ride here and I can make the north quicker from my castle if that is our destination. I can leave Ralph here. He will fetch me if it is the north.”
I looked at Sir Ralph. He nodded, “That suits me lord.”
“Then it is settled. I want you to bring your best men and men who are all mounted!”
“Aye lord!”
We sent a rider to Carlisle to tell the Constable my plans. I did not expect help from that quarter but they would be vigilant.
Chapter 2
I took with me Sir Morgan, who before he was knighted was Alf, my former squire and two men at arms when I rode with Sir John to Durham. We would speak with the Bishop and then stay at Fissebourne. Edith, Sir John’s wife was tearful as we headed north. She kept wringing her hands. Her son had gone and gone quickly. I think Sir John was embarrassed about it. “It is not seemly to take on so. Our son is with the Warlord. It is an honour!”
I smiled, “I understand, Sir John. Mothers do not see young warriors. They see the helpless bairn they bore into this world.” Edith nodded her gratitude. “Do not fret, Lady Edith. My father has promised that he will not draw his sword in anger. I promise you that your son will return unharmed and will be well trained. Your husband and I were both trained by my father and there is none better.”
We escorted Sir John’s family to Fissebourne and were then able to ride harder to Durham. Since the Bishop had been sent to Normandy by my father we had had no trouble accessing the castle and cathedral. We rode through the gates without hindrance and the sentries saluted. It had not always been that way. I had had to either fight or creep my way in. Leaving our squires and men at arms to watch the horses we strode to the Bishop’s chambers. When my father had last been here there were Templars and traitors in the halls. This time I saw only priests. When, however, we saw the Bishop I saw that hatred still burned in his eyes. His mouth smiled but we were his enemies. He would bear a grudge. We would never be friends. I cared not. What could he do to us that would hurt? We had the ear of the King and my father was the second most powerful man in the land.
“Earl, this is unexpected. How can a humble Bishop be of service?”
I hated fawning and I hated lies. Yet I needed the Bishop and his knights. As yet the size of the Scottish army was unknown. I would not risk just my men. “We have intelligence that the Scots may be considering an invasion. They are allied with the French.” My eyes bored into the Bishop. He had worked for the French before now.
“I am appalled. I thought there was peace.”
His outrage was over played. He knew what the Scots were up to. “There was, but our king and King Louis have had a falling out over the Vexin. I need your knights.”
“Of course, but do you know where they will attack?”
“No. I am awaiting the report of my scouts.”
“Then I cannot in all conscience allow the Palatinate to be stripped of her defences.” This was politics. He had a reason to hold men from me.
I smiled. I could play this game too. “I would not dream of doing so. You need not use the fyrd for this. They can defend your Palatinate. I need your knights and their mounted men at arms. I will expect them gathered here in four days’ time. Sir John here will be my lieutenant and he will let you know where the Scottish attack will begin and he will lead your knights. Unless you wish to lead them yourself?”
The panic on his face made me smile. “No, Earl William, I am more than happy for Sir John to lead my knights. Was there anything else?” He was trying to be rid of me.
“Now that you are returned from Rome I would have you maintain a closer watch on the enemy. Your castle at Norham is perfectly placed to give warning of an attack across the Tweed. I would have you send me a report each month to let me know if the dispositions of the Scots have changed.”
I saw him frown and chew his lip. He was working out if he could dispute with me and he realized he could not. He would have a victory but on his terms. “Of course, my lord. I am a loyal subject of King Henry. Your knights will be here four days hence”
“And how many knights will that be?”
“Eighty, Earl.”
As Sir John and I rode back to Fissebourne he shook his head, “I feel that I need to bathe. That man makes my flesh crawl.”
“I know but the King has decided that he can trust him. We can do little about it. At least we have his men now. Eighty is only part of his muster. He is not giving us all of his knights but I suspect it will be the ones he does not like and that makes them good men in my eyes.”
We arrived at Stockton two days’ later. My knights and their men at arms had already arrived and were camped around the north side of the castle. It was the area we used for common grazing. There was water and good grass. In the summer there were trees for shade. When we left the men of my town would reap the bounty of the horses which had been grazing on it. Our fields would be enriched and our crops improved. We wasted nothing.
I was greeted, almost as soon as I entered, by Sir Ralph of Barnard. “My lord I would like to speak with you.”
“Cannot it wait, Sir Ralph? I am weary after the ride.”
He stood and faced me. “No lord. It is important.”
I sighed, “Very well then come to my solar.” I was surprised that the rest of my family were not there to greet me. They normally were and then I realised that all would have much to occupy them. Alice had seen me arrive and anticipated my needs. She followed us up to the solar with goblets and a jug of wine. I gave her my cloak and riding gloves.
“Well Sir Ralph, what is so urgent?”
“I wish to have your permission to court your daughter, the Lady Ruth.”
I was so taken aback that I was stuck for words. I took a drink of wine and studied the young man. I had known him all of his life but I had seen him infrequently. First, he had been the young boy who had helped Hugh’s squire. Then, as he grew older, he had become squire. When we had defeated King William of Scotland he had been knighted. Since then I had barely seen him for he was a warrior patrolling our western defences. Yet in all that time I had barely had a conversation with him and now he wished to marry my daughter.
“This is sudden.”
He nodded and gave a shy smile, “I confess, lord, that I have little experience of courtly matters. My father and I are border knights yet as soon as I saw the Lady Ruth at the feast I knew that she was the lady for me.”
“You have known Ruth since she was child. What has changed?”
He blushed. He was right this was an area in which he was uncomfortable, “Lord she was a girl and now, well she is a woman.”
“But how does she feel?”
His face fell, “Lord, if I thought that she would not return my affection I would not have asked your permission. In the last three days we have spoken to each other often. Samuel escorted us along the river. I swear there was nothing untoward, lord. We just talked but… we have an understanding. She is also keen to marry but we need your permission.”
I nodded. I had expected this at some time but I was not happy. I would be losing my little girl. However, Ralph was as fine a knight as I had ever met and he would make a good husband for my little girl. “Then you have my permission to court my daughter but as we will be fighting the Scots for a time I fear that you will see little of each other.”
He looked relieved, “I know, lord. Thank you.”
I now saw the reason for the absence of my wife and daughter. They were co-conspirators as I suspected was my son, Ralph�
�s greatest friend.
As I left my solar and headed for the Great Hall they both emerged to greet me. “Well, father?”
The look on my daughter’s face gave me the answer to the question I had asked of Sir Ralph. “Then you do wish to be Sir Ralph’s wife?”
She threw her arms around me, “Of course I do! He is handsome, he is kind and he is funny!”
I glanced at my wife who nodded, “He is, William and they are both smitten.”
“You know we go to fight the Scots?”
“But he will be at your side and he will be safe. Promise me that he will be safe, father!”
“That no man can do. But as the last man we lost was Sir Richard and that was more than five years ago I hope that you shall be able to enjoy a courtship with Sir Ralph.”
She kissed me and raced off. My wife linked my arm, “And I believe that our son will be asking Sir Tristan for permission to court Lady Eleanor.”
“Our world is changing.”
“As it should. “She squeezed my arm and we headed for the Great Hall. “And your scouts have returned. I told them to wait in the Great Hall. I realised that once you spoke with them then poor Sir Ralph and Ruth would not receive a fair hearing.”
“And you are right!” I hurried to the hall. My four scouts were there. “Well?”
Aiden had learned to read maps. My father had taught him and it made him a most invaluable gatherer of information. He unrolled the map of our land. “Masood and Edgar found nothing close to the wall and they came down the high divide towards Barnard. They found no sign of enemies there either. Edward and I headed north of Carlisle. We found the Scots. They have two armies. One is led by the Lord Douglas. We recognised his banner. He is close by Gretna. There were more than a hundred banners. The other is at Langholm. That one is led by Lord Balliol. He has a hundred banners too.”
I nodded and began to work out what my options were. My father had told me that the Earl of Chester had also been warned of the Scots intentions but he would have the Welsh to deal with too. His constable at Carlisle, Robert de Vaux, Baron of Gillesland, was a good man but he only had ten knights and forty men at arms to defend Carlisle Castle. If Lord Douglas attacked then he could simply bypass the castle and head south and east. He was the greater threat of the two. Lord Balliol was well placed to attack Barnard but that was a stronger castle.
“You have done well. Get some rest for we leave for the west in the morning.”
Aiden nodded, “Aye lord but there is something else. We noted the numbers of banners but they have also brought the wild men of the isles and the highlands. We counted many camp fires. They are here in great numbers.”
Aiden knew war and he knew what these wild men could do. “Thank you for the warning.” I turned to my squire. “Go to the stables I will join you there.
After sending a rider to Sir John to ask him to bring the knights of Durham to Barnard I held a council of war with my valley knights. Sir Harold shook his head, “I know why they come that way. It is not horse country.”
“But we have the wall to slow them down.” Sir James was ever the optimist.
“Let us not get ahead of ourselves. The wall may not even be necessary. They cannot cross the Esk until they reach Longtown. The Roman Bridge is the place we hold them.”
“We fought there once before, with your father. Will the Scots not remember that?”
“Perhaps Sir Tristan and if they do then we will make more plans. We ride tomorrow and any who have yet to join can follow.”
My knights all had questions. When I had spoken with them all I found myself left with Sir Padraigh. In times past Samuel would have been with him. He would have been eager to know more of my plans. As soon as the council was over he and Sir Ralph had left to be with their lady loves. I suppose I could not blame them. We were going to war and men died in war.
“How many men do you leave in Stockton, lord?”
“I have spoken with Ralph of Bowness. He says that we only need leave the fifteen who are no longer young. He is confident that the men of the town could defend our walls if danger threatened.”
“I am sorry that I bring but two men at arms and two archers.”
“They are good men and besides we have the Durham knights with us. We will not have to bear the brunt of the fighting. You and your men are well mounted. Soon I will be able to give you a manor.” He looked at me. “Sir Wulfric has no children. When he dies the castle will need a lord.”
“And am I ready?”
“You had best decide that yourself but I believe so. Now go and make sure that the men at arms have all that they will need. I will go and see to the horses and Ralph my squire.”
I had two war horses: Lightning and Volva. Lightning was named for the blaze on his head which looked like a bolt of lightning. Volva had been named by Sir Morgan when he had been Alf, my squire, for she was a clever horse and Alf said that a volva was a clever Viking woman. I would take both. The palfrey I would take would be Goldie, so named for her golden colour. Her dam had been my father’s horse, Skuld. Ralph was checking the reins and the saddle. A broken piece of tack could result in disaster on the battlefield.
“They are all three ready, lord.”
“And your horses?”
“They are both keen to go to war.”
I walked around my three horses to see for myself their condition. Their coats gleamed and they were well muscled. It had been too long since they had been to war. That would now change. “The spears are ready?”
“I will take them on my spare horse.”
We left at dawn the next day. My people cheered us off. It was not a large number of men who left my castle. Sir Philip and Sir John, along with the Durham knights would meet us at Barnard. There were just eight knights. We had fifty men at arms and fifty archers. Eight servants came with the rouncys and the baggage. We would sleep in comfort at Barnard Castle and then there would be an uncomfortable night in the forests and moors close by Alston.
The Durham knights had not arrived and so we had plenty of room at Barnard Castle. As we ate with Sir Hugh and his family something was nagging at the back of my mind. “Sir Hugh, you know the land around here better than any.”
“Any save my son. Ralph has led many patrols.”
I turned to Sir Ralph, “How far is it to the wall?”
“Perhaps forty miles, lord.”
I cut another slice of duck and chewed it absent mindedly.
Sir Hugh said, “Something bothers you, lord?”
“Why do the Scots split their forces? It makes no sense to me. We have always beaten them and I would have expected them to have the largest army that they could to face us.”
“Perhaps they cannot feed all their army in one place. They may need grazing.”
Sir Harold was right. He was ever practical. However, the Scots did not normally worry about grazing nor did they use as many horses as we did. I was not convinced. “I fear that this is a trap.” I waved a hand around the hall. “Until my father won it this castle belonged to the Balliol family. Lord Balliol is not at Gretna. He is with the second army at Langholm. What if the one at Gretna, led by Douglas is to draw our forces thither?”
“What for?”
“Simple, Sir Gilles. It would leave the road to Barnard and my valley open.”
Sir Hugh nodded, “My castle is strong and has never fallen. You know yourself that the Scots have tried many times.”
“And if there was just your castellan and the garrison; what then?”
For the first time Sir Hugh and his son understood the danger. The river which ran around the western side of the castle afforded protection. The bridge over the river was narrow but if they had the wild men of the islands then they could swim the river. It was a large castle and a hundred knights and their retinue could take it.
“Sir Hugh I would have you and your men at arms stay here. This castle needs to hold.”
“That will leave you short of knights lord.
”
“Just two and that is a small price to pay for peace of mind.”
“One knight lord. I will not stay here when you need knights. This is my first campaign and I would fight alongside Samuel.” Sir Ralph’s voice was full of determination and I understood it. He was courting my daughter. He would wish to be at my side.
I glanced at Sir Hugh who nodded. “Very well. And I will not wait for the men of Durham. I am anxious now. We will get to Longtown and hope that they have not yet crossed the bridge.”
I waved for Sir Hugh to follow me. “You know that Sir Ralph has asked permission to court my daughter?”
“I do. It is an honour.”
“Then let him know that he does not need to impress me on the battlefield. I would not have my daughter lose her knight before they are wed.”
“Is that why you suggested we stay here?”
“No, Hugh. You will not let this castle fall. If I am wrong then I will send for you and your men at arms. If I am right then your presence here could save my valley.”
“I have a good pair of scouts: Oswald and Cedric, they know this land well. I will send them to Langholm. They can keep watch on Balliol. I believe that you are right about Balliol. He does wish this castle to be returned to him but I have seen little evidence that King William is capable of such cunning.”
“True but as we have seen before, Hugh, the French often send their knights to advise and this plan reeks of French intervention.”
The weather was changing. It was partly the season: autumn was approaching but it was also the fact that we were higher. North of Barnard there was a ridge which ran from England to Scotland and divided the land between east and west. The road was Roman but it was a smaller one than that which led to Durham. The manor of Alston was vacant. It belonged to the Earl of Chester. When Scots had raided during the civil war the lord, Sir Alexander and his family had all been killed. Some said it was a blood feud with a Scottish lord but whatever the reason no one had wanted the manor. It was poor and it was run down. We camped there and kept a good watch. Aiden and his scouts left before dawn. They would scout the land through which we would travel. We were now in land which was beyond anyone’s control. Bandits, brigands and local warlords controlled this land. Sir Hugh just watched for enemies. He did not have enough men to control it. Almost any that we met would be enemies.
