Baron's War

by Griff Hosker

  “Of course, I will have it. It is more generous than I could have expected. I thought to return as a household knight and I would have been happy to do so.”

  “The days when you were a bachelor knight are long gone. You are the new lord of the manor of Hartburn. I will get Father Abelard to write the appropriate deeds.”

  When our wives and Lady Ruth returned we spoke of lighter matters. I commented on how much their children had grown and they expressed joy at our new additions. Lady Ruth scampered around amusing the bemused two young daughters of Sir William.

  Fótr arrived quickly. Norton was just a couple of miles away. He and Johann had known each other since the Baltic. They had much to say to each other. I do not think that Johann resented Fótr; that was not in his nature. He had been with my wife when I had rescued her and I knew the youth well. He would be a worthy knight. It took Sir Edward longer to reach us for he came with his wife and his son. As his wife was pregnant he had brought a wagon.

  The four ladies bubbled and chattered like magpies. The girls all fussed around the youngest child present, Edward’s son, Thomas. Edward and William had much to say to each other. For the first time since I had returned to England I felt a sense of peace. My people were around me once more. True it was not all of them but there were enough to give me satisfaction.

  Edgar had appreciated the nature of this reunion and the food he had ensure the cook’s food was superb. The wine Captain Henry had brought on his last voyage had settled and, after being decanted, proved to be some of the best we had ever tasted. I sat with Sir William and Edward. Fótr, Johann and Petr sat with Henry and Alfred at the other end of the table. The ladies sat together. It was a most amenable arrangement. The ladies chattered. The squires and Sir Fótr spoke of knighthood and we three were able to hear what had happened in Anjou.

  “It began well enough, lord. Our new overlord did not seem to notice us. Then we heard of barons in Normandy who had rebelled against King John being targeted by the French King. Many lost their manors. Some passed through La Flèche and we discovered that King Phillip and his overlords were taxing the Normans. They were driving them out and replacing them with French knights. The exception was in the land ruled by William des Roches. That did not include La Lude.”

  “King Phillip, King John, lay them in the same bed and it would be hard to tell them apart.” Edward was correct.

  “Sir Richard saw what was happening early on. He discovered that the daughter of the Comte de Louvain was unmarried and was over thirty years of age. She is homely and when Sir Richard heard that the Comte sought a husband for his unmarried daughter he offered to take her. To be fair she is a very pleasant lady but she is too old for children and has been unmarried for so long as to be an object of derision from the other ladies. They are well suited. Sir Richard has had the love of his life and this marriage secures him La Flèche. As soon as Sir Henry realised that was the way to become secure he courted the daughter of the Seneschal of Tours. She is a beauty and appears enamoured of Sir Henry. He will survive.”

  He reached for the wine and poured himself a healthy goblet.

  “And you had no way to compromise?”

  He shook his head. “I was advised to betroth my eldest daughter, Eleanor, to the son of the Lord of Saumur. He is but six and she is five. I would not do it. Bandits raided my land. Some of my men and farmers died. My taxes were raised. We were asked to fulfil the levy each year at harvest time. The farmers were suffering and it could not have gone on. I was contemplating returning anyway but when Captain Henry arrived then I leapt at the opportunity.” He leaned back. “That is my story. I am sorry, lord, had I come back when you did, like Sir Edward, then you would not have wasted coin and my men who died fighting bandits would be alive.”

  Edward put his arm around my former squire. “When we look back, William, we always have perfect vision. A man makes decisions and, if they do not go right, he lives with them. You are home and Hartburn is a fine manor. It is closer to Stockton than is mine. All it lacks is a hall.”

  I nodded, “And tomorrow we can look at the manor and you can decide where your hall will be built.”

  The next morning Edward and Fótr returned to their manors and I rode out with Sir William, our squires, our two eldest sons and Sir William’s men. We had more than enough horses. We rode to where Wulfstan had built his first hall and Sir Harold had enlarged it. When it had been built it had been well away from the beck which often flooded. Over the years and perhaps because of our work on the river it now flowed dangerously close to where the old hall had stood.

  I said nothing for this was not my hall. I allowed Sir William and Johann to walk the site. There were, in this manor as well as mine, large patches of clay. We called it Stockton clay. It was not particularly good for making pots but worse, it did not allow the water to drain away. They found it in many places. Eventually they made their way up the valley sides. There was a large flat piece of higher ground. There were too many trees close by but they could be cut down and used for the hall and the palisade. It had a good view over the back to the south and west. Enemies could be seen from afar. To the north and the east, the ground fell gently away to the next becks. I saw in the distance the farm of Cedric the pig farmer. A hall here would please him.

  He smiled, “I think here, lord. What do you say?”

  “It is where I would have chosen. I would cut down that small wood for timber. The last thing you need is for cover that close to your hall and then I would dig beneath the roots and, in the autumn, set fire to them. It will make for fertile ground and stop them regrowing.”

  He nodded. “All we need is tools.”

  While you and your men mark out your walls we will return to my hall. I will send some of my men. They can help you for a few days. I will not need all of them.” He cocked his head to one side. “I need to ride patrols. We were surprised by bandits once and after Rothbury some of the survivors may have fled south. And there is something else. The Sherriff made threats. He has yet to carry them out or perhaps my patrols have deterred him. Whatever the reason I will maintain them for the safety of all.”

  Alfred said, “Can I stay and help?” He had formed a friendship with Henry. Henry was just a year or so older.

  I nodded and said to Sir William’s squire, “Johann he will be a squire in training soon. Work him!”

  He grinned, “Aye lord.”

  As we rode back across the Ox Bridge, Petr asked, “You had already chosen that site lord. Why did you not tell him to build there?”

  “A man’s home is a personal thing. He would never have been happy had I suggested it. He would have thought of other places he might have built. Had he suggested somewhere else then I would have explained why I did not like it but, in the end, it is his choice. When you become a knight and you have a manor then you will make the choices.”

  I sent more than half of my men back to help and then had Ridley and David of Wales prepare horses and arms for a patrol beyond Sadberge. There were forests there. Not as extensive as the ones further north but large enough to hide bandits and brigands. We had scoured the land by the river and between Thorpe and Wulfestun but, to the west, we had not as yet ventured. Hartburn lay to the west and the arrival of Sir William meant that I had to seek bandits there now or William and his family might be in danger. The crusades, taxes and King John’s vindictive nature had meant that there were fewer lords of the manor. The reeves and the burghers themselves kept the villages safe but isolated farms and dwellings were vulnerable.

  As Petr and I unsaddled our horses he asked, “Lord, why are there bandits? Is it because they can find no work?”

  “No, Petr, that is the excuse they give. We seek men at arms all the time. Sir Ralph is short of at least six. If these men are warriors then they could find work. If they are farmers or hunters then there are landowners who would employ them. I would. The fact that they do not have families tells me much. Do not waste your sympathy on them. They do
not deserve it.” I know that I sounded harsh but, in my experience the only ones who lived in the forest and deserved my attention were those with families. They were the ones who had been driven from their land and had nowhere else to go. The forest provided shelter and food.

  As I went into my hall I thought about William’s new manor. When Sir Harold and his son had been lords of the manor it had supported ten farms for the land was fertile. The land west of the beck which we had passed on our way to the Oxbridge had had four farms along it. Now there was one. Cedric the pig farmer and his four sons farmed the land between the two branches of the beck. They raised pigs and grew crops. The pigs thrived on the boggy Stockton clay and they rooted in the fields when the crops had been harvested. Even so, it was a hard life for them. They had no horse and his sons had to pull the plough themselves. Their animals had been taken by the bandits, brigands and Scots who had raided. Part of the land was Stockton clay but the valley sides were rich and produced good crops. Their orchard provided apples for the winter but the five of them toiled from dawn until dusk. Their children and their wives were thin. I had allowed them to trap rabbits and hares. Many lords did not. Sir William would bring hope. His men would stop raiders. When he increased his riches, he would provide sheep and cows for his people. It was what I had done when I had returned.

  We left early the next morning. Alfred had begged permission to work at Hartburn. I did not mind. He would be safe there. I had six archers and four men at arms. We wore no mail but we did take spears. If we found no danger then we would hunt. My archers had now grown used to the land. The Tomas brothers led the way as we passed first Hartburn and then Elton. We could have gone towards Redmarshal but there were some doughty yeoman farmers there and they prosecuted bandits vigorously. I also wanted to see Elton. If Johann was ready to be knighted then he needed a manor.

  The hall still stood but the roof had collapsed in. The reeve lived in the barn. It was drier. Perhaps that explained his lack of enthusiasm for his task of managing the manor. The land itself had the potential to be rich but it was surrounded by woods and the shrubs had encroached upon the fields. It would take some serious work to clear the fields. Satisfied with what we had seen we headed down the greenway which led to the back lane. Eventually the road passed through Sadberge before forking. Sadberge was prosperous but they had a wall around their town. I had remembered it as having more people but I had been young and our memories of such times are distorted.

  I spoke with the reeve as we passed. They had not seen any sign of bandits but they all farmed or worked within sight of the village. They did not venture in the woods. They eked out a living and prospered better than most. They appeared to be almost like monks. They looked in and not out. They looked after their own.

  We turned north and began to make our way towards the woods which thickened out to become forests. Just before we entered I looked at the sun. It was about the third or fourth hour of the day. Once we entered the canopy of trees it would be hard to see the sun. Cedric Warbow and Dick One Arrow went to the left and right. They would ride in the trees and prevent us being surprised. We had chosen our best horses. I had Skuld. That meant they made little noise. They did not neigh unnecessarily. If they did neigh then there was danger. We walked our horses so that they did not thunder on the ground. We did not want to frighten off either bandits or game. My archers had strung bows. If there was danger then an arrow could be nocked in a heartbeat.

  My archers found a small pond and we watered our horses there. My scouts examined the ground. Mordaf said. “There were men here, perhaps yesterday morning. Two were barefoot.”

  “Bandits?”

  He shrugged, “Not all men like shoes. In our village we had one who would not wear shoes or sandals. He liked to feel the earth beneath his feet.”

  I sighed, Mordaf could find an argument in an empty room. He liked to present a different viewpoint, “But it is more likely to be a bandit than someone from your village?”

  His brother grinned “Aye lord.” He pointed east. “Their trail goes that way.”

  “Then let us follow and determine what kind of man it is.”

  Just then Cedric One Bow said, “Lord I have found another footprint. This one appears to be a child.”

  I heard Mordaf mumble, “Could be a dwarf!”

  This was a puzzle. Could a child be a bandit too? “Let us proceed carefully. We will walk our horses.”

  Although we had a good view from the backs of our horses we could be seen easier. Being closer to the ground helped my archers to follow the trail. The trail we were following turned into a well-worn one. The tracks were harder to follow. Luckily, they occasionally stepped from the trail and we knew we were on the right track.

  Suddenly Gruffyd held up his hand. When he dropped his reins and nocked an arrow we all knew that he had seen something. I wrapped Skuld’s reins around the branch of a young oak. I carefully drew my sword. I waved for Petr to stay with the horses and then to Mordaf to move on. My men spread out naturally. They used whatever cover we could find. We all watched where we stepped. We spied the camp. There were children: two of them and a young mother with her arms around them. There was a man too but he was lying on the ground, held by four of the bandits. More were standing around and they were armed. The pinioned man had a bare chest and I could smell burning hair and flesh.

  We had no time to waste. David of Wales looked at me and I nodded. He gave a hiss between his teeth. I could barely hear it but it must have been a signal for the archers. Six arrows flew and the four men torturing the man fell. Even as the arrows flew my four men at arms and I were racing forward. I saw that there were twelve men who were still on their feet and, as one ran at me with a sword, I realised that these were not bandits. They were well armed and clothed.

  Our swords clashed. He was an experienced man at arms. Another pair of arrows flew and two more of the men fell. The man at arms tried to knee me between the legs. I was lucky. I was reaching for my dagger when he did so and his knee just jarred against my own. I stepped back with my dagger in my left hand. As he went to draw his own I swept my sword towards him. He blocked the blow with his sword but he was slightly off balance. As he reeled backwards I lunged with my dagger and caught him in the thigh. It was not a mortal wound but one which slowed him as blood seeped from his leg. I stepped forward again and feinted with my dagger towards his eyes. His head jerked back and he had to take two huge strides to keep his balance. They were to no avail for he tripped over the body of one of the men slain by my archers. Even as he fell and I raised my sword I was aware of my archers reaching ahead of me towards the woods. That glance was almost fatal. Prostrate on the ground he swept his sword towards my leg. Instinct took over. I jumped and, as I landed, rammed my sword into his throat. As I withdrew my bloody blade from his body I saw that all but three of the men were dead and my archers were pursuing the others.

  Turning I saw that Ridley was unhurt but Godfrey had a bloody leg and Godwin was binding it. I shouted, “Petr, fetch the horses.” There was vinegar and honey in the saddlebags of his father’s horse. I turned to the man who had been tortured. His wife was holding his head. “How is he?”

  “He would be dead but for you, lord.” There was a sob in her voice and her two children, a small girl and boy, were clinging to their father and weeping. The man’s eyes were closed but he was breathing. I had questions, many of them, but they would have to wait.

  I sheathed my sword and went to the man I had slain. He wore good leather armour. There were metal studs in it. I picked up his sword. That too was a good one as was his dagger. He had a purse and in it were more than twenty silver coins. It was a leather purse and heavy. This was a mercenary. I stood. Ridley was also examining the dead as Petr brought the horses. Godwin took the honey and vinegar and Padraig the Wanderer went to his own saddle bags and took out his own honey and vinegar. He went to the man who had been tortured.

  I heard the smile in his voice as he said to
the children, “Let’s see if we can make your father better eh? Do not fret little ones, this looks worse than it is. He will soon be as right as rain. What is your husband’s name?”

  “He is Aelric. I am his wife Nanna.” She looked up at me, “Thank you lord.”

  “Speak later. Petr give them some ale. There is food in my bags.”

  Ridley came over, “Mercenaries, lord. They were good. If we had not had the archers with us we would have struggled.” He held up the purses he had taken from the dead. None was as full as the one I had slain but they showed that these were no bandits.

  “But how did they get here?” I waved my hand around. “This is a quiet area. It is why we sought bandits. They could not get work close by here.” I held up the purse, “And from the coins in this purse they did not need work.”

  “They would have needed horses but, coming from the south, we saw no sign of them.”

  As if in answer we heard the neigh of horses and the creak of leather as David of Wales and his archers led a dozen horses. He shouted, “The rest are dead, lord. They had these horses tethered half a mile north of here. That is where they were running. They had come from the north east. We saw their trail clearly.”

  Godfrey had been seen to and the tortured man lifted his head. It was time for questions. The answers I would receive would be added to what I had seen. Here was a puzzle which needed unravelling. I went over and knelt down, “Aelric, I am Sir Thomas of Stockton. Tell me your story.”

  He and his wife started, “They asked about you! They thought that we had been thrown from your land. They wanted to know where they could hide close to Stockton!”

  “Why would they think you were thrown from my land?”

  He pointed west, “We farmed the land of Sir Thomas of Piercebridge. He was a good man. We made a living. He died without issue and the land was taken to pay taxes. We were thrown from the land. We heard from others, as we headed for the Great Road, that there were new lords of the manor in the valley of the Tees. We were heading east to see if it was true. We used the quiet ways of the woods for those who live in the settlements by the roads are not kind. They called us names and threw stones at us. They said they wanted no more poor people in their town!”