by Griff Hosker
When David let go of my hand I released Rebekah. She said, quietly, “I will not break, lord. I am stronger than you might think.”
I smiled at her. She was stunningly beautiful. “I am just a rough, clumsy knight. I treasure beautiful things and I do not break them.”
“You think me beautiful?”
“There is no think about it. You are beautiful.”
Her eyes went to the dish before her. “I am damaged and there is no beauty in me. The outside might be a well painted vase but inside I can hold nothing. I am empty and dead.” She looked so sad that it almost broke my heart. The servants brought in the food. The centre piece was the lamb. We were served by the servants. Rebekah said, “Give the lord plenty. I want him to give me an honest opinion of my cooking.” The sadness was gone and there was a smile but her eyes still showed the hurt.
I could see that it was important that I gave an honest opinion. I put the spoon into the stew. The lamb was so well cooked that it parted with the pressure of the spoon. It was unctuous. The taste was sublime. I could taste the lamb but there were undercurrents of other flavours. I took a second and a third. Each mouthful seemed different to the last. I tasted an apricot and I tasted mint and rosemary.
“You do not like it lord?” She had a worried look on her face and I realised that I been concentrating so much on doing as she had asked that I was frowning.
I smiled widely, “It is delicious but I am enjoying the journey through the dish. It is like a beautiful lady such as you. There are layers hidden. Your find one taste and another lurks beneath ready to surprise you. I am enjoying discovering those layers.”
She nodded, seemingly satisfied. As we ate we spoke. I had eyes for none but Rebekah. She reminded me of the Empress Matilda. She was clever and she was witty. She was well read but through all of the conversation she held back from revealing anything about herself. In contrast, I told her about my wife and my children. I told her of my mother and her sacrifice. I laid bare my soul.
When the meal was over it was becoming dark. Robert said, “Lord, we should be getting home. The road is not safe at night and Francis will worry.”
“You are right, Robert.” I took Rebekah’s hand and kissed the back of it. “Thank you for the evening, lady. The meal is the best I have ever eaten. You are a fine cook.” I suddenly remembered that there had been others there. I turned and kissed Ruth’s hand. “You have a most welcoming home.”
She gave me a wry smile, “I am pleased that you noticed.”
David Ben Samuel embraced me and said, in my ear, “Thank you, lord. My daughter looks happier already. I will speak with Masood.”
As we rode home I was silent. I felt guilty. David Ben Samuel thought I had been kind to his daughter because I was a gentleman. The truth was that I was enamoured of her. I wanted her for my own.
The next day we went on the Shilat road to patrol and we met Saul and his caravan as they made their way through the parched landscape. We rode with them back up the Jerusalem road. He was happy, “There are many Franks in the land now. That is good for us. Prices will rise. We will make even more profit. Soon I will think about my own home.”
“You would leave your father?”
“Not completely. He owns large parts of the land around our home. He has promised my brothers and I our own plot for us to build. When I build, I intend to have a well-constructed home. One day war will come here again and we will have to be ready.”
I nodded and told him of the coming war. “I do not think that it will be until after the winter but you should be ready.”
“As you can see we have taken your advice. Some of us now wear mail beneath our garments and helmets on our heads. When time allows, we would like your men to teach us how to fight. A man should be able to defend his own home.” I was pleased that my words had been heeded. We were like a thin layer of silk holding this land safe. One day we would be gone and they would be left alone.
We left them at Aqua Bella. The last section of road was safe. Once inside I told Francis of the impending war. “I will leave men here but it will not be many.”
“You have made our home stronger than it was. We will defend it for you, lord.”
Three days later David Ben Samuel arrived with a small, thin man who was dressed as a shepherd. I guessed that it was Masood. I took them into my home.
David spoke, “Masood agrees to do as you have asked.”
“And what is his price?”
“Price?”
“A man should be rewarded. Whatever he wishes he shall have.”
David spoke to the shepherd. “He wishes a horse.”
“Then he shall have one.” When he was told, Masood grinned and suddenly looked much younger than I had thought. I explained what I wanted. Masood did not seem worried by the prospect. “He needs to go to Jerusalem and wait by the Turkish merchants.” I gave him the name and location of the contact. Masood nodded as did David. They both knew the place. “He should follow those whom he suspects of being bandits and find their home. That is all that I want him to do. He returns here and tells me.”
Masood agreed and with that the plan was hatched. David and I explained to him that he should blend in with the people who frequented that part of the city and that he should wait nearby and pretend to be a beggar. That done, David and Masood left. I spent the next day planning the expedition which would destroy our foes. Robert and Garth took it in turns to watch the road. Tom and I gathered what we would need to go into the high country and scour the bandits from their lairs. We now had some Turkish horses as well as horses which we had captured from the bandits. As much as I would have liked to use my own horses I knew that it would be better if we used horses used to that country. They would be less likely to alarm the other horses we might find there. We also gathered the curved bows we had captured. There were four of them. My new men had been practising with them. Although they would not be as effective as Garth and the other archers, the four of them would enable us to rain more arrows into their camp.
We then waited for Masood to return. I hoped he would return before the summons from the king. Ten days after I had sent him he returned with David Ben Samuel. I was eager for the news but I was patient enough to allow Masood to tell David and then for David to translate for me.
“There is a camp just two miles above Shilat.”
“That close?”
“It surprised me too, lord. It explains why they are able to strike so quickly. Up on the ridge there is a natural hollow with water. They have huts and they have families.”
“Is he certain that they are families and not captives?”
After he had translated David said, “It is hard to determine that.” Masood explained how we should get there. Then David said, “He is willing to lead you.”
I realised that would be the best idea. I nodded. “Does he need a weapon?”
“He has his sling and a knife. They are all that he needs.”
David taught me a few words so that I could speak with Masood and then he left. I took Masood and let him choose his own horse from the ones we had captured. He picked a hardy little one. I would not have used it for us. It was too small but it was perfect for him. I decided to strike immediately. I gathered my men and explained that we would travel overnight and attack the camp at dawn. We would attack from the west so that we were in darkness while the camp would be lit by dawn’s early light. Masood had told us that there were up to forty men and young warriors in the camp. Although we would be outnumbered, we would have surprise on our side. I intended to destroy their home. Even if we did not slay them all we would make them find a new home and the caravans would be safe, for a while.
We muffled our horse’s hooves with sacking and removed anything which would jangle. We did not need our shields. In fact, they would only get in the way. We left our helmets at home. We would just use our coifs and ventail. They would not be needed until we were much closer. We left just after dark. We had sixteen miles
to travel and we would be in Masood’s hands. He showed that he knew how to ride. I could not ask him how he had become so accomplished. He led us unerringly along trails and tracks which I did not know existed. We went steadily without stopping. As we climbed we moved more slowly. The last thing we needed was a shower of skittering stones to tumble down the hill sides.
Eventually, as we rose through a scrubby line of spikey bushes, he signalled for us to dismount. As we did so I sniffed the air and I could smell wood smoke. I could not see any glow. The fire was hidden. We hobbled our horses and I left Gurth on watch. We began to ascend the path which twisted and turned. Suddenly Masood held up his hand and we halted. He disappeared. I heard nothing. I hated waiting. Then he reappeared, wiping blood from his knife. He was grinning. A few paces up the trail I saw the body of the sentry. His throat had been slit and his eyes removed. I remembered that to Masood, this was personal. His family had been taken and killed by people like this. In this land it was an eye for an eye, quite literally.
As we moved higher up the slope I began to hear the noises of the camp. It was the sound of grunts and snores. It was the crackle of fires. It was the sound of animals. We had the whiff of smoke as it blew towards us. The wind was from the east. It took our smell away from the camp. Someone gave a cry but it was not the cry of danger. It was a cry of pain. Then there was a laugh. We carried on with our ascent. Masood waved us to the left and the right. We had arranged our positions while in Aqua Bella. Garth would secure one end of the line with Alf while William and Ralph of Ely would secure the other. The rest of us were spread out in the centre. With nine bows and two slings we would kill or maim as many as we could before those of us with swords entered the camp to end their lives.
I looked to the east and saw that we had barely made it in time. There was the slightest hint of light from the east. I risked looking down into the camp and saw shadows huddled together in untidy groups. They were gathered around fires. I saw some shapes moving suggesting that they were awake or, active. I saw the heads of their tethered horses. The bandits did not risk them in a pen. Like ours they were hobbled and tied to a line. Walter of Derby was next to me and it would be his arrow which would signal the attack. I saw that there was another sentry on the far side. When the light from the east became a pale grey, I saw his shadow. It would not be long now. I pulled up my coif and fastened my ventail. Only my eyes could be seen.
I saw one or two figures rise. When I heard the hiss and splash, I knew that they were making water. It would not be long now. I looked at the sentry on the far side. A shaft of sunlight lit him up. He had a spear in his hand. He was two hundred paces away. It was time.
“Now Walter.”
Walter was almost as good an archer as Garth. He aimed at the sentry. He was a perfect target. The arrow flew straight and true. My men only used perfect arrows. Walter did not even watch its fall. He had another arrow in the air even as the sentry fell. Masood’s stone struck one of the men who had been making water and then arrows flew from my archers. Even the ones using the Turkish bows found flesh. There was panic in the bandit camp. They could not see us for we were hidden in the dark. They would soon work out where we were but, for the moment they were confused. In the confusion men died. I have no doubt that some women died too but it was dark and we had little option.
The sun, when it rose, broke like a wave over the tops of the ridge opposite. We were bathed in the cool sunlight of dawn. We were seen. I saw men hurrying up the slope towards us. I rose and drew my sword. Having left Gurth on guard I had just eight men. I slid down the slope towards the bandits. I had no shield but I had my dagger in my left hand. It had belonged to one of my grandfather’s oathsworn. It was a seax and it was a wicked weapon. It could gut a man in one slice.
One bandit had outstripped the rest and he ran at me with a long, curved sword. I did not pause. I used speed and the quick hands my father had taught me to use. I blocked the sword with my own and tore my seax across his middle. It was though a nest of red writhing snakes fell from his stomach. As he fell I ran to meet the next warrior. Tom was next to me and his sword hacked across the neck of a bandit who came for me from the side. I swung my sword at another two who stood before me. My sword bit into the side of one as an arrow took the other.
I heard Robert of Mont St. Michel shout, “They are broken! Stop them getting to their horses.”
The bandits had hobbled horses and an escape would not be quick. My five archers had moved from the ridge and each time a bandit tried to reach the horses they were slain. When four had fallen, the survivors, and there were not many of them, took to their heels and fled without horses. We moved through the camp slaying the wounded bandits. It was a kindness. We could not tend to them and most would have bled to death. There were, perhaps, a dozen women and twelve or so children. They cowered before us.
I waved Masood forward. I used, probably badly, one of the phrases David had taught me, “Tell them they will not be harmed. They come with us.”
From his grin, I guessed I had made a mess of the words but he understood. He rattled words out and I saw that there was relief on their faces. I guessed that they had, in the main, been slaves or captives.
“Get the horses and search the bodies. Fetch any weapons you can find. I want to be away from here as soon as possible.” He nodded, “Destroy any buildings. Let us make it hard for them to rebuild here.”
I wiped my sword on the headdress of one of the dead bandits. Robert said, “What do we do with the women and children?”
“We will take them with us. I will ask Francis to question them. They may have families to go to.”
“They will slow us down, lord.”
I laughed, “And you have somewhere you wish to be? This means that we need not patrol for some days. I am content. We have made the road safer and it is good that we have freed these women and children.” I knew that this was part of my atonement. My wife and children were dead but I had saved these. It was wyrd.
Chapter 11
My men put the older women and those who were not able to walk as quickly on the backs of the captured horses. I had already decided that I would give Masood a second horse, he had deserved it. Our journey home was both slower and more uncomfortable than the one to the camp. We had ascended in the cool of night and we descended in the heat of the day. We stopped more frequently to give the women and children, and our horses, water. Garth rode next to me, “Do you know, lord, I never thought I would miss England’s rain but I do. There is not enough water in this land to wet a baby’s head! How do people live here?”
“They are tough people, Garth.”
Masood walked up and down the line of captives. He spoke to all of them at some point during the journey. When we reached Aqua Bella, I saw that David Ben Samuel and his son, Saul, were there.
He smiled. “I was curious to see how the venture went and I was not certain if you might need a translator.”
“It went well, as you can see, but I am not certain if these are family or captives.”
While the horses were taken into the stables Francis and his wife brought around bread and water for them. The high walls afforded some shade. Masood began to gabble at David Ben Samuel. He pointed to two women and said something. The two women suddenly ran out of the open gate. The two guards on the walls readied their bows, “Stay your hand! Let them run!”
Sometimes God moves in mysterious ways. They ran across the road towards the scrubland. It was rough and it was uneven. One of them turned to see if we were pursuing her. She tripped and hurtled through the air. When she landed, her head hit a large rock. The sound was like an axe hitting a log. Blood and brains spurted as her skull was cracked on the jagged rock. The other looked in horror at her companion and then carried on running through the scrub.
The other women and children were transfixed. David Ben Samuel went to speak with the captives. He returned to me as Garth carried the woman’s body back inside the walls.
�
�The two of them were the sisters of the leader of the bandits. You slew him, lord. I would not shed any tears over the dead one. From what the captives told me the dead woman was as cruel as the chief. The women feared that they would slay you in your bed. The rest were afraid of the two of them.”
“Nonetheless we will bury her. What do you suggest I do with the captives? Do they have homes to go to?”
He shook his head, “Masood spoke with them on the way here. They were all taken from two villages close by Nablus. Their men were butchered. They have lived with the bandits since the children were babies. It is all that they know.”
“Then we will find a home for them here. Francis, these women and children will be staying here. Have one of the under crofts given to them for a home.”
He nodded, “You are a kind man, lord.”
“They are women and children. A knight should care for those. Is there work enough for them?”
“There is always work, lord.”
“Masood, take another horse. You deserve it.” David Ben Samuel explained and Masood’s face broke into a grin. “Will he go back to being a shepherd?”
“He will but he has a hut in the hills. I think the horse he requested was to give him freedom. He is a good shepherd and good with animals.”
Masood tied his second horse to his first and mounted. Saul and David mounted also, “Do not be a stranger lord. My sister asks after you.”
“I will but I fear that will be after we have campaigned for the king. Now that I have cleansed the bandits the road should be safer. I know not how long we will be away.”
“The rumour amongst the merchants is that the Crusaders will attack Damascus. If that is true then it is a mistake. When you fight the Turk, you choose your battles. Nur al-Din is as good a general as his father was.”
“I think King Baldwin is a young king and he needs to be seen as a leader. There are others who would take his throne from him.”