by Griff Hosker
"Good."
We headed for Antwerpen. I regretted agreeing to this for we would have to sail close to Flanders. The peace which had been brokered was not yet fully in place. A captain could decide to raid an English ship and claim that they thought we were still at war. When we headed into the estuary which led to the port I became happier. Antwerpen was a new port. I could see that the Count of Hainaut had spent a great deal of coin to build quays of stone and warehouses not to mention a large open market. Hainaut was a small county and, like my valley, could only raise a large army by making money through trade.
We were the largest ship in the port and the harbour master came aboard and made a great deal of fuss moving two smaller vessels to remote berths to enable us to have a prime position. I saw more ships moored further along the river. They were closer to the noisier part of the port. We were in a quieter berth which was closer to the sea and closer to the warehouses. For some reason we had been accorded favour.
The harbour master did not recognise me but knew that I was a lord and he was deferential, "My lord, welcome to our port. The Count is keen for ships such as yours to visit us. You are English are you not?"
"We are, from the north of England. My captain here has many goods he wishes to trade."
"Excellent. Will you stay ashore this night?"
"Perhaps."
"I would advise it, my lord, for the tides here can be tricky and it is difficult to leave at night."
"Then we will stay. Come, we will walk ashore while the captain discusses business. Ralph, I would have you accompany us. Five men should be enough to protect us, eh?"
"Aye lord. I will choose the best."
We went ashore with swords but without helmets and shields. There were still a few traders selling their goods. As we passed one I saw that it sold threads and I remembered Mary. I haggled for some gold, silver and red coloured threads and then asked for needles. When he told me the price Ralph could not keep his feelings to himself, "Lord that is as expensive as a good sword! A fortune for a couple of dozen needles!"
I smiled, "Nonetheless I will buy them. Gilles and I know some women who will appreciate them more than a sword." Gilles grinned.
Henry, Richard and James went off to spend some coins themselves. The bodyguards were close to them. They would be safe enough. There was a merchant selling weapons. He had some fine daggers, stilettos and short swords. The bodyguards glared at any who approached their charge and I turned my attention to the ships in the harbour. We were the only English ship in port. I saw one French and two Flemish ships as well as a Norwegian knarr, a Swedish knarr and two Danish knarr. It was the two Flemish ships which interested me. They were not as tubby as the other merchant ships. They looked almost lean by comparison. I wondered if they doubled as warships. Their crews were also well armed but the biggest difference was in the attitude of the crews. The other sailors all spoke pleasantly and waved to us as we passed. The men of Flanders scowled. Perhaps they did not approve of the peace.
When the squires and Henry had made their purchases we found a tavern. I paid for a jug of their golden ale. The men at arms approved although the squires and Henry were not certain if they liked the taste. By the time we headed back to our ship the traders had all gone home and one of the Flemish ships had left port. They must have had a good pilot for the tide had turned.
William looked happy when we reached the ship. "We made excellent trades, my lord! They paid my first price and we did not need to haggle. Next time I will ask for more! The harbour master sent some food over. He is keen for more business."
I wondered if our luck was changing. When I woke I saw that we were the only ship left in the harbour. The others had left on the rising tide. William explained that we had had to delay our departure as our cargo had not been unloaded the previous night and we were waiting for our bolts of cloth to arrive. I was glad that we did wait when the mailed horsemen rode in from the east.
They reined up next to the warehouses. My men at arms looked worried. "Keep your hands from your swords. We are guests in this county." I walked down the gangplank. Their leader dismounted and approached me. He was about the same age as me but he was a veritable bear of a man.
"I am pleased you have not left. I am Baldwin, the Count of Hainaut. They call me Baldwin the Builder!" He laughed, "You can see why!"
"And I am the Earl of Cleveland."
"I know. It is why I hurried here! I have heard of you. You are the Empress' champion!" I nodded. He put a huge paw around my shoulder, "Come let us talk in private." He led me to a quiet part of the quay. "When I heard you were here I came as soon as I could. This is a propitious day. I would like an alliance with England."
The turn of events took me by surprise. "But the Empress does not rule it yet! Stephen is still the King."
He shook his head, "He will soon lose control. Now that Normandy has fallen England will follow and I would like to be friends. We are a small county with many enemies. I am gambling that the Empress will win; especially with you as her leader. I keep abreast of events outside my small county. An alliance with England could help us."
"And how would that help us?"
He smiled, "I was told that you were clever. The port of Bruges, in Flanders, is silting up. Soon it will not be the major port on this coast. It will be us. Already they are improving Dunkerque and Calais but they are nothing compared with us and we have access to the interior of France. We have strong links with Denmark and we can have free trade between our countries."
I nodded, "Perhaps we can. There is someone to whom you should speak." I waved Henry over.
"A squire?"
I smiled, "No, my lord, this is Henry FitzEmpress. He will be the next king of England." I saw the Count's eyes widen. I gave a slight bow to Henry, "This, my liege, is the Count of Hainault. He would have an alliance with you and your mother."
Henry was quick witted, "And what do we gain from such an alliance?"
"Free trade and an ally which is north of Flanders."
"We are at peace with Flanders."
The Count smiled, "There is a difference between words of intent and actions. The Flemish have lost the support of the French that is all. It is temporary. My spies tell me that they plot against your mother. Queen Matilda has the support of the Flemish people. Besides, my young prince, the men of Flanders have peace with King Stephen. I offer an alliance to the house of William of Normandy. There is a difference."
Henry said, "Then I will ask my mother when next I see her but, for myself, I see no reason why we cannot be friends."
He was learning fast for he had not said allies, he had said friends. There was a clear distinction.
"Thank you and as a sign of the friendship we will send our ships to trade with you at Stockton." He looked at me, "If that is acceptable to you, Earl?"
"It is."
"My lord, the tide."
William's anxious voice made us turn. "We must leave."
"Before you go, be wary of the ships from Flanders. Trust them not. The two ships which were berthed here were not welcomed by me but I cannot afford to offend Flanders. We have a peace of sorts but I know that it cannot last."
"Thank you for your warning."
As our cog made its way to the sea I said, "Ralph, have the men armed and prepared for danger."
"Is there trouble lord?"
"There may be. The Count warned us of Flemish ships."
"If it is the two which left before us, lord, they were both smaller than we are."
"But there are two of them. It costs nothing to be vigilant. Let us regard this as a test for the new men. Distribute the bows to those that can use them and have the men disperse themselves about the deck. Stay hidden. They may not know the numbers we have. We only took five ashore."
"Aye lord."
"William of le Havre, you and the other bodyguards stay close to the Marquess. Your bodies will be the best armour he can have."
"Aye lord."
"Gilles, bring hatchets and short swords on the deck and place them by the mast."
"Aye lord."
William of Kingston shouted to the ship's boy, "Tom, up the mast and see what is ahead."
I joined William at the rudder. He had armed himself already. "Did you see the ships when they left?"
He smiled, "We watch every ship, lord. We need to be able to spy out danger quickly when we are at sea. Those two ships were the only ones whose captains did not speak when I went ashore. The others warned me of shoals, mud flats and other dangers. It is what we do. We are a fraternity of the sea. The two Flanders ships kept to themselves. You may be right. They were smaller and rode lower in the water but they did not appear to be laden. We are. I think they have large crews."
I was happy now that Henry had not chosen to bring a horse with him. If there were to be rapid movements then the last thing we needed was a skittish horse.
"Come, my lord, we will stand by the stern rail with Henri the Breton, the helmsman."
Henry FitzEmpress said, "You think they would attack us?"
I pointed to my swallow tailed standard which flew from the mast, "This marks my ship. I fear that the Count was right and they wish me harm. This may not be the doing of Stephen but we know that the Queen and William of Ypres are both from Flanders. If they could rid the world of the warlord of the north then a thorn would be removed from their side. I think it is better to be cautious."
I had begun to think that all the portents were wrong when Tom shouted, "Ship to starboard, captain!"
"What is she?"
There was a pause. "Flemish! She is the one which left on the morning tide, captain!" The ship’s boy had sharp eyes.
"Then let us see if we can put some distance between us. We are favoured by the winds." He turned to Henri the Breton. "A couple of points to larboard, Henri."
"Aye captain."
I looked astern and saw the sail of the Flemish ship as it began to close with us. It was moving quickly. "William, this wind, it aids the other ship too does it not?"
"Aye my lord but it will take a long time for him to reach us and it may well be dark by then. We can lose him at night."
"But where is the other ship? We were warned of two. I see only one."
"Aye and this is the one which left on the morning tide."
I turned to Henry, "I have learned long ago that a battle at sea is much like a battle on the land. You use strategy. You force your opponent to do something which you want. I fear they want us to sail this course and the wind and their presence has ensured that we do. One ship left before the other. What if that second ship left early to be in a position to ambush us?"
"But how could it know our course..." Henry suddenly looked aft. "They are driving us to their waiting ship!"
William looked around, "You are right!" For the first time my captain did not look confident.
"Captain if we headed a little more to starboard what would be the result?"
"They would begin to catch us. The course would take us closer to Denmark." I could see that I had puzzled him. A captain never wasted a wind and I was asking him to do just that.
"And if we made a larger move to starboard?"
"Then they would catch us rapidly."
"You said you wished to trade with Denmark, head for Edjberg. It might be logical if we headed there. We will see what this ship of Flanders does."
"But we have nothing left to trade!"
I smiled, "When we see what the enemy intends we can draw them close and if you then went to larboard...."
William grinned, "We would fly for we would have the wind! If there was any enemy ahead of us we might catch them unawares. The sea is emptier than you think. They will be waiting for two sails to approach. When they do not if the captain is nervous he might move! Henri, give me the rudder. Prepare to come about!"
We had been heading west by north and, as his crew ran to the lines to adjust the sail, William of Kingston changed the course to north by east. Although smoothly done Alain of Navarre, one of the bodyguards, lost his footing and fell over. Henry and my squires laughed. It eased the tension. I stared astern. The Flemish ship was taken by surprise and they tried to turn before their sails were properly set. I saw them in disarray and they fell back a little as they lost way.
William grinned, "Now we have a race. Let us see who the better captain is!"
On this course the ship from Flanders did not catch us as quickly. We had created a gap and William exploited it. When we saw the coast of Denmark ahead, William turned to me, "Do we put in to port?"
I shook my head, "As you say we have nothing to lose. We have eaten into the day and confused the men of Flanders. Let us go home!"
"Stand by to come about!" He began to turn the rudder, "Come about!"
This time the bodyguards grabbed anything that they could to maintain their balance and it proved wise for, as we turned, the full force of the wind caught us. The sail billowed and we leapt forward. Once again our move caught the enemy by surprise and we saw them recede into the distance.
"They will catch us, my lord, but by then it will be dark."
The fates sometimes hear our words, or so the older, more superstitious sailors say. We had fooled the ship astern but what we did not know was where the second ship waited for us. The fact that it had no idea where we were did not matter for, not long after we had made our turn, the second ship of Flanders loomed up ahead. It was sailing a course from south west to north east. Their captain had gambled and won.
"To arms! Ralph, keep the men hidden below the gunwale." I turned to William. "What will he do?"
"If he has no hostile intentions he will keep to his course. If he wishes to attack us then he must change course and get to windward."
"What can we do?"
"If I turn a little south then, if he does make a turn, we can use the wind and return to our east by north course."
"Then let us do that."
It soon became clear that their intentions were hostile for he made a turn to the east too. With the wind behind her the Flemish ship began to pull ahead and then she made a turn to larboard. She would be alongside us soon. I looked aft. The second ship of Flanders was closing but not quickly enough.
William looked at me and I nodded, "Come about!" He put the rudder over and we were on a converging course with the enemy. I could see that his decks were filled with warriors.
"Ralph, have the archers thin their ranks a little as we close. Keep the rest hidden!"
"He means to put his ship across our bows." William was just keeping me informed. Here he was the general. He knew the sea and he would make the decisions. He put the rudder over to starboard just as my six men at arms with bows began to loose at the enemy. One enemy fell with an arrow in his arm. Our move took them by surprise. They turned too and we would meet larboard to starboard.
Drawing my sword I said, "Come let us greet these pirates!"
My squires, Henry and his bodyguards headed towards the larboard side. I saw my archer's arrows hit men waiting to leap aboard and they pitched into the sea. I saw warriors with grappling hooks ready to bind us together. I picked up a hatchet and held it in my left hand. Gilles saw me and copied my actions. Even though my archers hit many, as we closed their hooks struck our deck and began to draw us together. I began to hack at the rope holding one as they pulled closer.
"Ralph! Now!"
Ralph and the rest of my men rose as one. I severed the rope by me but enough of the others had caught and we were tied. My archers put down their bows and took up their swords as thirty odd Flemish soldiers and sailors threw themselves aboard.
I threw the hatchet at a Flemish warrior who was about to swing over. It caught him a glancing blow on his helmet and he fell into the sea between the two ships. He screamed as his body was crushed between the two hulls. I held up my sword and one impaled himself as he leapt across the narrowing gap. He hit my sword with such force that I was able to let my sword
slip behind me and his momentum carried his body from my sword. A Flemish man at arms balanced precariously on the rail as he raised a spear to strike at Gilles. I brought my sword down on his foot, half severing it. He fell screaming between the hulls. His body was held as he bled to death.
Gilles, my squires and Ralph, had kept them from the vicinity of the mast but Henry and his bodyguards were beleaguered at the bow. "Ralph, clear them here. Squires, with me!" I drew my dagger.
I ran down the deck, dimly aware that the Flemish ship had lowered his sail and the 'Adela' was pushing the two ships further north and west. I brought my sword around in a sweep to take the head of a sailor who had just pushed a pike into the side of Alain of Navarre. I sensed a weapon to my left and I lifted my dagger to block the axe which struck down. It slowed it down but the blade still struck my mail. I stabbed forward with my sword and it came out of the man's back. I pushed his body from the blade. Henry and his remaining three guards were fighting bravely but even as I watched Stephen of Chinon died as two men struck him at once.
James had not fought in a battle before but he saw Henry in danger and, racing forward, he stabbed one of those who had killed Stephen and stood back to back with Henry. I shouted, "James, use your dagger too!" My new squire did as I ordered.
Two men were standing on the rail ready to join the others. I ran at them. I swung my sword at their knees as I threw the dagger at them. My sword hacked into the knee of one. The dagger caught a glancing blow to the second. He lost his balance. Both tumbled between the ships. The two hulls ground together making their bodies pulp.
"Richard, cut their lines!"
Gilles was showing that he was ready to be a knight for he fought with a sword and short sword. The men at arms and sailors who fought him did not have his skills. As I stabbed one through the side he and Henry finished off those who were around him.
"James, help Richard cut the lines! Gilles, guard Henry!"
I turned and ran down the cog. I could see the second ship heading for us. Half a mile away she would soon be upon us. William and his crew were defending the rudder. I ran to the clay pot where we kept coals to light our lanterns at night. Sheathing my sword I unhooked it from its sconce. "Ralph, clear a path for me!"