by Griff Hosker
I guessed that the other four sentries would be on duty on the battlements. We needed to eliminate them first. When I reached Great Hall the Constable was being tied up by Ranulf. Maud smiled when she saw me, "I knew you could pull it off Earl."
The Constable suddenly recognised me, "The Warlord of the North! God save us! We were told you were dead."
"Many men have said that and yet I still walk this earth." Turning to the Earl I said, "We have the armoury." Edgar appeared, "Now we shall secure the keep and I will let my men in. Come Gilles and Richard, we need you."
The advantage we held was that the sentries were keeping watch beyond the keep. They were looking out to the town and the lands around the castle. There were others charged with securing the entrance. They would not be suspicious of someone coming from below. I used Gilles to peer around the corner of the door to the battlements. He pointed to the right and held up one finger and then did the same for the left. I pointed right to Edgar and Gilles and I tapped Richard on the shoulder. We went left. The guard was leaning out looking down at the ground. The first he knew of my presence was when my sword pricked his neck. I put my finger to my lips. He nodded. Richard took the man's sword and tied his hands behind his back before securing his feet.
There were two sentries left. We moved towards the one nearest us. As luck would have it he was using the garde de robe. A man with his breeks around his ankles does not resist. We let him finish his business before trussing him up. Edgar and Gilles had taken the other. With the keep secured I led Edgar to the main gate. The guards were still tied up although I could see that they had tried to escape their bonds. One of them shrank back as I approached! He was terrified of what I might do. We undid the door and using the torch which burned in the guard house signalled for our men. They were less than a mile away but, even so, it took some time for them to reach us. As they neared the gate I heard the alarm shouted from the outer walls. There were still four sentries who had not been captured. It mattered not for the hooves of my knights' horses were clattering over the drawbridge.
Dick looked relieved to see me. "The Earl was right then? We pulled it off. "
"Aye, there are four guards still at large. Have them taken and tied up."
"What do we do then?"
"I am not certain but we have the castle and we will not relinquish it without a fight!"
By the time dawn broke the Earl, or rather his wife had made the decision about the garrison. She was practical. She knew we had not enough men to hold them and would not countenance murder. We disarmed them and let them go. The Constable and his wife were kept as hostages. It was as simple as that. The castle was strong enough to be held by my men. William, escorted by four of my men returned to Glossop, to fetch the Earl of Chester's men. Once they arrived then our work was done.
We took our share of the treasures of Lincoln. There were many fine weapons. We found a hauberk for Richard and a better one for Gilles. The Constable had a brand new mail hauberk which the Earl appropriated. I know not how but the smith had managed to make it shine like silver. For me it was too bright. We also found and took four war horses. Dick did not have one yet neither did Gilles. Although he and Richard were just squires one day they would need a war horse. The treasury was divided between the Earl and myself. I shared my half with my men, equally, and he gave a quarter to his brother.
I was happier when, four days after we had taken it, the Earl's men arrived to take over the duties of the garrison. The Bishop of Lincoln had visited with us. Maud was superb, she won over the cleric using her father's name and the peaceful manner in which the castle had been taken. I do not think we could have taken the castle without her presence. It was from the Bishop that we learned that the Empress and the Earl of Gloucester had landed in England. We discovered that the Empress was being besieged in Arundel Castle. It was the home of Queen Adeliza, the widow of King Henry.
That news helped me make up my mind. "I must go to the aid of the Empress."
Neither the Earl nor his wife was happy about that. "Aelfraed, it is an almost impossible journey. You have to travel through Stephen's territory. The enemy will know you are abroad and every man will hunt you."
"I have waited four years for the chance to fight alongside the Empress and your father, my lady. Any who try to stop us had best bring a large army!"
She nodded, "I cannot stand in your way my lord but I shall miss you. Your coming was as the start of an avalanche. We are gathering speed and soon my father and his sister will have recovered what Stephen has stolen."
We had plenty of spare horses, courtesy of the garrison. We were well supplied with food, arms and arrows. Our only problem was the almost two hundred miles of hostile territory we had to travel. We took a western route to avoid London. London was loyal to Stephen. The further west we went the more chance we had of meeting allies. What we would not do was seek hospitality anywhere. I wanted to be invisible. We would not use the Great North Road but smaller side roads. It would be just as quick for my small company. There were less than thirty of us. I left my servants with Maud in Lincoln. It was not fair to risk them. We would fend for ourselves.
It was unknown land for us all. Ralph of Wales led my scouts. They did not range far ahead, just a mile or so. We managed to reach Burton before we were spotted. We had made almost seventy miles unseen. It was unfortunate for we were ready to camp but the handful of hunters who spied us headed back to the castle we could see in the distance and that determined our action. We headed further west. We rode for ten more miles and were then forced to halt. We found a clearing in a wood. Our horses were in no shape to move on.
We had just lit our fires and were cooking the game which my archers had caught when our outlying sentries galloped in. "My lord. Men at arms and a knight. They are hard behind us!"
"Stand to! Arm yourselves!"
I drew my sword. There was little point in running, even if it had been possible. The knight, his squire and twenty men at arms rode in. He wore no helmet. Had we wished we could have slain them with arrows but I respected the gesture of peace.
The knight dismounted and held out his hand, "You are Aelfraed, Earl of Cleveland and King Henry's Champion."
I nodded, "Do I know you?"
"We have never met but I have heard of you. When my hunters reported your livery then I knew who it was. I am Alan de Dinant, Baron of Burton."
I recognised his name then, "You are the knight who defeated the champion of the French King at Gizors."
He nodded, "King Henry gave me the manor as a reward. Come you shall stay with me this night."
I shook my head, "Our horses can go no further. We have ridden eighty miles this day."
"That is quite a feat and yet you were willing to fight me with exhausted men."
I pointed to the woods and whistled. My archers emerged, "Not quite."
He laughed, "Your reputation is deserved."
"Tell me whose side are you on?"
"As I was not a baron when the King made you all swear an oath to the Empress I am not honour bound to support either contender. I serve myself. England and Normandy are not well served by Civil War. I look to my own lands."
"Then you are lucky for I swore the oath twice and I must restore the Empress and her line to the throne."
"Then I wish you well. Fear not my men will not tell any that they saw you but I would keep away from Northampton. It is filled with the supporters of Stephen. Wallingford Castle is held by fitz Court, Lord of Burgavennu. He supports the Empress. There you would find an ally."
"Thank you. Farewell."
"Farewell and may God be with you."
After hearing the news from the Baron I decided to leave early and head for Wallingford Castle. I had been trying to work out how to cross the Thames. The only fords were well to the west, Wallingford would afford us the opportunity to be safe while we crossed. Once again we made our way through the small twisting lanes and tracks used by locals. We were spotted more frequ
ently but our numbers prevented any from interfering with us and we now moved quickly for Wallingford was close.
We were close to Brill when we hit trouble. There was a castle nearby; it had been a palace in Saxon times and Stephen must have fortified it for there were banners hung from its walls. Although we skirted it I fear we were seen for we heard a horn sounded. I knew that we were close to the River Thames. It was perhaps ten or fifteen miles away. I took a chance. "Let us outrun them. Dick, order the archers to guard the rear. Sir Harold, take the squires and find the river!"
I did not know this area at all and we were now relying on the sun to guide us. We had to keep heading south. We could not afford the luxury of reading the occasional signpost. There had been few enough of them anyway. After a couple of miles of the chase Rafe caught up with us, "Lord there are twenty or so men following. They are gaining on us."
"In that case bring your men through us. Ride ahead and we will ambush them. You and the archers choose the spot."
"Aye lord."
The archers were lighter than we were and their horses could go faster. Unlike many lords I made sure my archers had the same horses as my men at arms. We would reap the reward this day. Soon the archers came through us. The last one, Ralph of Wales said, "They are whipping their horses, lord! They will surely kill them!"
"We will lead them to your ambush." When they had passed me I said, "Draw your weapons and prepare to turn and charge them. When I give the word flee and we will draw them to our ambush."
In situations like this the worst thing that a leader could do was to panic.
Alan son of Alan was at the rear and he shouted, "Lord, they are forty paces from me."
I turned and saw that they were gaining on us but their horses were lathered. "Turn and charge them!"
My men were prepared and the column split in two as we wheeled around. Suddenly they found themselves being charged. They did not expect it. I rode directly at their leader, a knight. Rolf was galloping hard and he was very responsive. I feinted to go shield side of the knight and as he tried to turn his weary horse I pulled Rolf to the right. Standing in my stirrups I brought my sword across the knight's neck. He tumbled to the right pulling his horse down with him. The next two riders next to him were thrown from their horses. Dick had slain a man at arms and I shouted, "Fall back!"
I continued my wheel and galloped up the road to our waiting archers. The fallen horses delayed them and they dropped back to sixty paces behind us. I saw trees ahead and knew it would be a good ambush sight. I glimpsed my men hiding there. As I passed Ralph he gave a whistle. I rode forty paces and shouted, "Turn and face them!"
I wanted their attention on us. Angered at the loss of the knight and three men they came hard towards me. They passed the ambush without even knowing it was there. My archers released at less than twenty paces. No one can survive that. The first twelve all died and the ones at the rear, seeing their comrades slain turned tail and headed back to their castle. Their departure meant we had time to rest. We collected the horses, hauberks and arms as well as the few coins they had with them and then headed for the river and Harold. When we reached the three of them they were with ten men at arms. I recognised the livery of Sir Brian fitz Court. We had reached friends and we would sleep safe that night.
Our greeting and our welcome was as warm as I could remember. The Baron had been holding out for as long as I had. The difference was that he had been assailed many times by the forces of Stephen the Usurper. He had, however, a strong castle and a fine position. He was the most westerly of the Empress' supporters. He guarded a valuable crossing of the Thames.
He threw his arms around me when I dismounted. He was a huge bear of a man. "I have longed to meet you, Earl. This is an honour. We face enemies here but you face Stephen and the Scots as well. You have a reputation as a doughty fighter."
"And it is good to meet someone else who did not bend the knee to this Count of Blois! I have much to tell you and much to ask too."
"We will eat first."
Edgar said, "Lord, is there a healer?"
"Someone is hurt?"
"Stephen the Grim and Oswald suffered wounds."
I was annoyed with myself for failing to check on my men. The Baron said, "Aye, Father John in the chapel. He is a good man with a needle!" I must have hesitated for the Baron put his huge arm around me and said, "Come, let the priest do what he must. You can do nothing by worrying and we have much to speak of."
I went, reluctantly with him. He was a man of prodigious appetite and he could both talk and eat, Poor Tristan who faced him spent the entire time wiping morsels of food from his face. When I told him of the attack he nodded, "Stephen fortified the old palace at Brill and he uses it as a base for a column of men at arms who prey on any who try to cross the Thames. You did well to emerge with your lives."
"We handled them roughly and I think that other travellers will be safe for a while." He nodded. "What news of the Empress?"
"She is still in Arundel and Stephen prosecutes the siege. I think if the King's widow was not in the castle he might have tried harder. It is, however, a powerful castle. It will not be easy for him to take it."
"And the Earl of Gloucester?"
"He is in Bristol. The Empress needs to be reunited with him."
"How many men do you have, Baron?"
"A sound garrison but not enough to relieve the siege."
"I was not thinking that but we are the foremost thorns in Stephen's side. If we took our conroi towards Arundel with banners and standards he might think we led an army which would relieve the siege. You are surrounded by enemies here. It would not take much to spread the rumour that the Baron of Wallingford and the Earl of Cleveland have raised an army to rescue the Empress. If it failed we could retreat back to your castle. If is but fifty miles. We could be there in half a day."
"By God but you are a man after my own heart! Are your men fit to travel?"
"Aye but our horses will need a day or two to recover. We rode them hard."
"Then we will leave the day after the morrow. That will give us time to spread the rumours. It will be good to see our banners together. The Usurper will shit himself!"
Even without out deception word would have spread that I had reached Wallingford. My banner was flown from the tower and my men strode around with their distinctive liveries. They were free with their words and spoke of rescuing the Empress. After speaking with the Baron I had discovered that Stephen had had to spread his forces thinly. He would find it hard to keep up the siege and send a force to defeat us. I began to believe that our presence alone might raise the siege.
When we left we used the main roads. We did not want to be hidden. The Baron left plenty of men to guard his castle and when we rode we took the horses we had captured and spread them around the column as spares. That, and the fact that we rode with more distance between us than was normal meant that observers saw a huge army snaking its way south. Ralph of Wales and my archers rode ahead of us to ensure that any prying eyes were too far away to count men. They just measured the distance on the road which we occupied.
We had reached the tiny manor of Lurgashall when we met our first opposition. We were thirteen miles from Arundel but, more importantly we had passed the crossroads with the London Road from Arundel. We had cut the Usurper's lines of communication with his heartland and his supporters. Crossbow men used the manor to try to ambush us. Our archers sprung the trap and Edgar and his men flushed them out and slew them but two riders escaped and headed south. That did not worry me. We wanted Stephen to know we were coming.
We entered the manor house. We had been ready to rest our horses for the final push and this seemed as appropriate a place as any. The lord of the manor and his family had fled but conveniently left food cooking. We ate a hot meal. I summoned Dick, "Send a couple of scouts south. Let us see what is ahead."
The Baron was in a much better humour with food in his stomach. "There is nothing which tastes
finer than a meal taken from another! This venture has proved interesting, Earl. I had thought that we would have met opposition on this road before now."
"Stephen is now beset on all sides. The Bishop of Ely is stirring up unrest in the east. The Earl of Chester and his Welsh allies have Lincoln and much of the land to the west. With the Earl of Gloucester in Bristol the Usurper knows not where to go."
"Think you that the tide has turned?"
I shook my head, "It has taken four years to subdue Normandy and we both know that Stephen has bought many of the barons. They may have no honour but they will fight to hold on to the lands and titles which the Usurper has given. My unborn grandchild may be married before this war is over."
"That is cold comfort, my lord. I would have expected more optimism from you. The world knows that you are the most loyal supporter of the Empress just as you were of her father."
"I have seen too much betrayal for optimism. We have a Bishop of Durham who watches and waits. Even the Earl of Gloucester's son in law was on the side of the Usurper until Stephen gave away the Earl's lands."
We were preparing to ride the last few miles when my archers rode in. James son of Robert and Will Red Legs had ridden hard. "My lord, King Stephen comes!"
"Does he come for war?"
"No lord. He has a strong escort, that is all."
The Baron clapped me on the back, "By God, Cleveland you were right! He comes to talk!"
"Before you think this is over wait until we speak with him. He may come to ask for our surrender. He may have taken the castle."
"No, lord. Arundel is too big a nut to crack. He will have to wait it out and starve them into submission."
In that I agreed with the Baron. As we had discovered it was only the wooden castles which could be taken by assault. The rest needed lengthy sieges or deception as we had proved at Lincoln.
The Baron and I gathered our knights to meet with Stephen. As the most senior noble it would be me who would speak with the Usurper. He arrived with a retinue of a hundred. Half were knights and the rest men at arms. I doubted that he could have left many knights at the siege. This was a ploy to cow us. He wanted us to think he had more knights than he did. We had done the same. This was a war of deception as well as bloody battles.