Hoodsman: Revolt of the Earls

by Smith, Skye

  "Do you think me a blind fool," remarked the steward. "Gysel may be Jeanne's maid in this manor, but in her husbands household she was his sex slave, and after the marriage, she was thrown to his guardsmen. If I am not mistaken, that is Gysel's brother unsaddling that horse, so I know how Roger died. Badly."

  On hearing this Brunt drew his sword but Raynar told him to put it away.

  "Your secrets are safe with me," said the steward. "Sir Roger was a right bastard and deserved a dozen deaths. I still think that Jeanne's father's death was no accident. I am happy at her return to this house, but I fear that once it is known that she is now a widow with two manors, there will be worse knights than Roger sniffing at this gate."

  "Not if King Henry is successful in Shropshire," said Raynar. "He is here to enforce his Charter of Liberties upon the lords of the Marches, and one of the articles of the charter is that no woman can be married against her will."

  "Perhaps you are the blind fool if you believe the promises of a Norman noble, especially one from the family of William the Conqueror."

  "For thirty years I have had nothing to believe in save revenge. I must believe in this king and his charter else my life's trials will have been for naught. If we do not soon have peace in this kingdom, then yet another generation of young folk will have nothing save the hope for revenge. Jeanne and her brother are proof of my words." Raynar could feel himself becoming too passionate. "Enough, show us our beds before the light is gone."

  * * * * *

  The steward removed himself from the lords chambers so that the two women could take up residence in the only private room. The steward was a widower, and his only son had done a runner to escape serfdom, so he had no need of the privacy. Everyone else slept in the hall, save the kitchen and cleaning women who had their own families and huts nearby.

  The meal offered, and wolfed down, was lamb and leeks with a sauce made from windfall plums. Jeanne and Gysel ate in their chamber, and when they were finished they sent for Raynar to join them there.

  "Gysel and I have been talking," Jeanne told him. "I need my silver treasury. The steward has few coins and I must run both manors now. That takes coin, silver coin."

  "I also need silver coins. We are traveling overland through small villages. Gold is so valuable it is near to useless outside of market towns and castles and churches. I will give you the candlesticks. They can be sold or melted down to give you coin."

  "And where am I to sell them? The only place would be Shrewsbury, and they were likely lifted from one of Shrewsbury's own churches. Besides, I am not leaving this manor while armies are on the march and Welsh raiders are about." Jeanne crossed her arms and looked stubborn. "I have thought this through. Roger would have been saving the coin for taxes or debts coming due after harvest. Those will now be my taxes and my debts. I need those coins."

  "Taxes and debts you can pay with the candlesticks. Silver coins are for paying men," Raynar almost said 'and whores' but caught himself just in time.

  "Then half," she bargained. He was silent and then nodded. "And the candlesticks," she finished. He nodded again and left the room to fetch them. When he came back, a long time later after swilling more ale with the men, Gysel was feigning sleep on one bed, and Jeanne was reclined half naked on the other. He put one saddlebag and the two candlesticks on the table beside the bed.

  She wrapped her fingers around his wrist to stop him pulling away. "Spend the night with me. It is your due," she said.

  "Woman, I am old enough to be your father."

  "Grandfather," she corrected. "You will not feel foolish. You will feel pleasure. I promise you."

  "No," he replied, "it would be like you were whoring me for the silver."

  "Then I will be the best paid whore ever," she laughed, "and that is something to brag about." There was a giggle from Gysel's bed. "Quit fighting me, Raynar. My husband used his cock like a weapon. I need to feel the caress of a gentle man. I have been told that older men last long and come small. That sounds wonderful to me."

  She stuck fresh candles in the candlesticks and lit them from the stub on the table and the room turned golden in their glow. He backed towards the door and she stood and flowed after him "With my new candlesticks there will be lots of light to see me by."

  She was wearing the thin shift that he had first seen her in. The bright candlelight shone through it and hid nothing of her womanly curves. She shrugged one shoulder and allowed the fabric to slip down one of her breasts until it was held from slipping further by the nipple.

  He surrendered once she reached for him and began undressing him. It was wonderful to watch her young silky skin as she dropped her shift and then lay back on the bed. It had been three months since he had last lain with a woman, so he was immediately ready.

  Behind him he heard Gysel's bed creak and he wondered whether she still had her shears. He shriveled immediately. He turned away from the light so that Jeanne would not see his limpness, and told her that he was too tired and needed sleep. Jeanne accepted that answer for now, and instead cuddled into him in a spooning position.

  Hours later he woke to the feeling of her caresses, followed by her guiding him into her. It was wonderful to feel the warmth of her skin by the full length of his body, and it became even better as she rocked gently against him. Both of them were trying to be quiet for Gysel's sake, and that seemed to make the rocking feel even more delicious. Once he was finished he held her gently in his arms and pulled the bed cloak over them so they would not feel chilled as they relaxed.

  At first light he woke, needing to pee. Jeanne was snoring a soft burr, and he pulled his arm from under her and rose stealthily from the bed. Her face now had a soft plumpness and she looked more like a twelve year old, than a seventeen year old. He was wrong thinking that she was not pretty when he first met her. Her beauty had simply been hidden by a mask of fear.

  "The slop bucket needs emptying," said Gysel behind him. She also was watching the lass sleep. He turned, and remembering the shears, put both hand down to cover his cock. He looked at Gysel on her bed. She was naked. Her body was covered in black and brown and dark red bruises. Not just between her legs, but down both thighs and on her upper arms, and wrists and ankles. She had scratches and long welts under both arms that presumable stretched across her back.

  She saw him looking. "My skin will heal," she whispered. "I will be able to walk and ride again. There are other things that may not heal. My mind, my womb. Roger used me for a year, and though I hated him for it, at least while I was his, I had a position of respect in the household. When he brought Jeanne, I was thrown to the beasts. I hated her for that. After three months of being humped at every hour in every hole I knew there was no escape save drowning myself in Meole brook." She watched Jeanne sleep. "It was wrong of me to hate her. We were kin to our misfortune."

  "She is new with child," he whispered. "I doubt she knows it yet."

  "How do you know?"

  "Women taste different when they are with child," he replied. "Less salty, less metallic. I am not fool enough to think that she seduced me to thank me. She seduced me because if she had son to claim as Roger's, her claim to the manors would be undeniable. If she had known she was with child, she would not have drawn me to her bed."

  He took the slop bucket with him to the latrine and emptied it after relieving himself. Afterwards while walking the grounds he saw some yellow flowers in the kitchen garden and went and pulled a bunch. The cook was up early making bread for the unexpected guests, and he borrowed a pestle from her and crushed the yellow flowers, the buds and the stems in a bowl. The cook looked over his shoulder and said "merry gilds" and he confirmed it.

  "Crush them and take out the driest pieces and you are left with a healing salve for skin," he explained.

  He did not knock on the chamber door in case the women were still sleeping. Jeanne was, but Gysel was awake. He sat on her bed and pulled down her covers to again see her naked skin. She did not stop him, or p
lay modest. He took some of the yellow unguent from the bowl and ever so gently rubbed it over her bruises and frayed skin. "Merry gilds" he whispered. He expected her to take over as soon as she saw the technique, but she did not. She did not even do for herself when he reached her more private parts.

  He had known both these young women for less than two days, and yet all along he had thought of Gysel as so much older. With her face now clean and relaxed, he had a shock. She was perhaps only a year or two older than Jeanne, and Jeanne must be barely seventeen. He felt a surge of guilt for being sexual with such children, but then mocked himself for the thought. Both had been forced to womanhood young and by the same Norman swine. They probably knew more about sex than he did.

  He heard a soft noise and felt Jeanne's skin rub against his silk shirt as she sat behind him. She began pulling at his silk shirt, pulling it up. His own hands were stained yellow so he did not want to touch it to pull it back down. As he rubbed the healing ointment into Gysel's skin, Jeanne rubbed at him, in a much more intimate way.

  When he finished with Gysel, Jeanne pulled him by his private parts over to her bed. "I haven't finished rewarding you yet," she said, as she pushed him down on her bed and then climbed on top of him.

  He heard Gysel rising from her bed, and he pulled his face out from between Jeanne's breasts and said "No, get back on the bed. The unguent will be rubbed off by your clothes and it needs to sink in. Besides, it would stain your clothes horribly." He heard Gysel settle back onto her bed. The thought of her watching them, and the intoxication of being ridden by Jeanne was too much for him and he was finished as quickly as a teenager.

  While he snoozed he heard Gysel tell Jeanne, "If you want a bun in the oven to cinch your claim on the manors, then you should choose a younger man." He turned his head and caught Gysel's eye, but she put her finger to her lips to silence him. The meaning was clear. She did not want him telling Jeanne that she was already with child.

  "Oh but how can I?" whispered Jeanne. "It must be a secret. I trust this man to keep it a secret."

  "Well I already know," replied Gysel, "so you must trust in me. What about my brother, Brunt? After what has happened to us, you know he will be ever so gentle with you, and I can swear him to secrecy. Have you seen the way he looks at you. He would do anything for you."

  "He looks at me with the same look as the rest of these men. Their eyes follow us with lust." Jeanne replied in a whisper. After a pause she said, "Yes, bring Brunt to me, but then you will have to leave the room and find an excuse to take this old man with you."

  The words 'old man' hurt his feelings but not enough for him to stop pretending to be asleep.

  * * * * *

  Over a late first meal of the day, Raynar decided that the fate of the kingdom could wait while they had a day of rest and laundry. They stayed within the pale walls with the gate barred so as not to spark curiosity with the farm wives and washer women of Hesleie.

  The men reclined in the morning sun and watched the steward give a tour of the manor buildings to Jeanne and Gysel. Both of the women gave Raynar a short sweet smile as they passed by. Brunt made to join the tour, but Raynar held him back.

  There was a saddle bag on his lap, and from it he counted out and gave each of his men ten silver coins. More than enough to get them back to the army if they were ever separated. He explained that the army would not gather at Bridgnorth for perhaps another week and in the mean time, he would like to spread the word of the fyrd levy to the outlaws of Shropshire and Cheshire and then visit the sheriff at Chester.

  After the men had pulled a heavy bench over to him, he pulled a map of the border counties from his pipe and spread it out so that all could see. He had already trained them to read this map, and each had a rough copy inked on linen scarves in their own purses. "You were all outlaws before your king’s service. I need to know where you ranged, how many outlaws were in the band, and how well organized they were."

  One by one the men reached forward and pointed out their range and talked about the bands they ran with. When they had all finished, Raynar studied the map. "Well one thing is obvious. We must make for Offa's Dyke near Oswestry and follow it north to Chester. All your bands were keeping close to the Welsh hills for safety. I am surprised the Welsh allowed it."

  "We rarely saw any young Welshmen," said Brunt. "The Norman earls of the border Marches harrowed them and their families until they were starving. Those that survived would have moved west, into valleys far away from the earls."

  "Aye," said another, "families that didn't move tended to disappear into shallow graves. It was unbelievable to me that the Welsh princes allied themselves to Belleme after what his father and brother did to Wales."

  "I think it was a wise move on their part," explained Raynar. "They never did trust Belleme's promises, but they saw the opportunity to grab enough English livestock to prime the farms of Wales. They would never have wasted their own lives to help Belleme. What they hope is that this civil war turns bloody and that the Normans all kill each other off."

  "So tomorrow we are for Oswestry?" asked Brunt. "Can you spare me to stay here longer?" He expected a brusque no, and was surprised when it did not come. Instead Raynar called out to the steward to come and talk.

  "Yesterday," Raynar spoke to the steward, "we saw many carts of food and Norman families heading towards Shrewsbury. Are your farmers heading there too?"

  "Them walls of the burgh and the castle are not for the likes of us," he replied. "The Normans have taken all the ready food and their kin and will sit safely behind the walls, while the rest of us are expected to hide and go hungry."

  "Then once they are all inside the walls, the only armed men along the highways will be scouts. No patrols and no army because they will all be camped at Shrewsbury waiting for the king, or waiting to relieve Bridgnorth."

  "I suppose so," said the steward, "but I am just a farmer. What do I know of castles and of kings?"

  "Brunt," said Raynar, "you must come with us for a few days until we can find your own outlaw band. You will lead them back here to protect these walls. As we find the other bands we will send them to join you." He motioned them closer to the map. "You see, if the king is sweeping in from the east, and the Welsh are in the south and the west, then if Belleme retreats he will start out north of the River Severn. That means that the fyrd we raise on our way to Chester must be used to block the north. This manor is as good a place as any for a headquarters."

  Now that he had a rough plan in his head, Raynar relaxed in the sun and rested and planned and memorized the map of the features between here and Chester. The men mostly did nothing apart from repairing the horse leathers and sharpening the used arrows.

  That night they ate well and then once the women withdrew, they drank well. Raynar expected another summons from Jeanne, and wondered whether he should refuse her. When the summons came it was for Brunt, and not he. He didn't know whether to feel rejected or relieved, but he did decide not to count on Brunt's quick return, so he made his bed and slept long surrounded by the other men.

  At first light he woke and Brunt had still to return to the hall. He decided to be pleased for him, but he regretted not telling Jeanne that she was with child yesterday, for now he never could. Gysel was matchmaking and he would not ruin it for Brunt.

  * * * * *

  * * * * *

  The Hoodsman - Revolt of the Earls by Skye Smith

  Chapter 19 - Ranging along Offa's dyke, Shropshire in August 1102

  Offa's Dyke was much as he remembered it. Not much could change with an earthen wall and ditch other than the thickness of the bramble hedges. They first came to it some five miles south west of Oswestry and then moved north along the dyke looking for the trails used by outlaws. Brunt was in the lead and was frustrated at not finding any landmarks in their right places. Raynar kept telling him that you did not find outlaws, they found you, and so the party was riding in the open and making loud and happy talk. Eventually Brunt res
orted to calling out the names of the outlaws, and that finally produced results.

  Once they had been found by the first outlaw band, Raynar's plan began to unfold. The outlaws had been taking advantage of the draw of men-at-arms and knights towards Shrewsbury and Bridgnorth, and all were mounted on stolen horses, and had food stores. That this was a recent development was evident from the thin arms and swollen bellies of most of the men.

  They listened carefully to Brunt's explanations and agreed to follow him, not for love of the new king, and not in hopes of the king's pardon, but because of their hatred of the Montgomery clan, especially Belleme the Impaler. Raynar pointed out that only half could follow Brunt. The other half must make for their own villages taking with them the news and the call to raise the fyrd. It was left to the outlaws to decide who did which, but there was a natural division. Those who expected warm welcomes from their villages were in one group, while those who did not rallied to Brunt.

  Four of the outlaws joined Raynar as guides to find other bands. They watched as Brunt led his new men eastward, and once he was out of sight continued their ride north along the dyke. Near the valley of the Ceirlog they found a huge band of mixed English and Welsh outlaws. By the time the explanations and the conferring were complete, it was too late in the day for more men to strike out for Hesleie. Again one of Raynar's men stayed with the band as guide and protector. Protector because if they did meet any of the sheriff's men, he could don his king's tunic and speak to them as another king's man. They organized the outlaws in the same way as they had the first band. Half to Hesleie and half to spread the word of the raising of the fyrd.

  Raynar replaced one set of outlaw guides with another and continued north along the dyke. Near Wrexham they shared the hospitality of another outlaw band who were known to his remaining bowmen. They slept in their poor camp and ate their venison. This band was in a bad way. They were ragged and had no horses but were not hungry. There was a strong garrison at Wrexham so for other than game meat, pickings were slim for these men.