Earl

by Griff Hosker

  Harold was the first to return. It was in the late afternoon. He had been to the west and the road to Anglesey. His small conroi had been augmented by five pack animals. Two of his men bore wounds; one of them looked serious enough for the attention of our priest.

  "Father John, would you see to the wounded?" Harold dismounted. I felt like a proud father as I saw the look of joy upon his face. He had fought alongside others before but this was the first time he had been entrusted with a solitary command. I clasped his arm, "It went well?"

  "Aye, my lord. My time in Sherwood stood me in good stead. I found a bank and some trees which overlooked the road and we waited. This column of horses was escorted by ten men. There were but five warriors. We slew two quickly with arrows but the other three fought hard. The servants fled west; they will know we are here."

  "And what were the rewards?"

  "A sumpter with arrows, a second with spears and the other three contained grain." He held up a small bag. "We found some coins. I will give them to my men. They fought well. It was intended for Chester. Your strategy has paid off my lord. We are choking them."

  I noticed his squire talking animatedly to John. "And how did your squire?"

  "He was calm and doughty. He never wavered when we attacked."

  "Good. This is all good experience for them."

  As the day turned to dusk the others returned with varying degrees of success. We had suffered wounds and slight losses but our sudden appearance had caught the Welsh napping. Their losses far outweighed our own. We had another six horses as well as many swords, shields and coins. My men had not sighted any knights. These had been small groups of foragers looking for settlements which had survived the initial raid. I was pleased that young Harold had had the most success. The successful conroi was the centre of everyone's attention. Dick was delighted with the arrows for although they were not of the same quality as the ones our fletcher made, they would enable our archers to be more profligate with their precious missiles.

  After we had eaten I gathered my knights, Wulfric and Dick, to give them the instructions and orders for the next day. "Some men escaped Harold's ambush and headed west. I will head there tomorrow with my conroi. They will have a better idea of our position and I would prefer to meet them on my terms. The rest of you will continue to fortify the camp. I will leave Erre and the Varangians here."

  Wulfric shook his head, "He will not like that, my lord!"

  "He will obey orders!" Wulfric nodded. "I want you to send out your archers tomorrow but they should stay hidden. I want this Owain to waste time tomorrow seeking us. They will find us eventually, but each day they don't brings the Earl closer to us."

  "They just watch, my lord?"

  "No Dick, they can ambush but I want them to remain hidden. I want them as the outlaws of Sherwood, invisible. Their job is to be our eyes and ears."

  Edward threw the bone he had just gnawed into the fire. "Should we not be finding where their leader is? It was obvious that he was not at the siege."

  "I do not wish to spread us too thin. Our first instruction was to relieve Chester. Our presence here has done that already. If we do not find whoever leads their army today then I will raid their lines again tomorrow and see if we can force them away. If they have not reinforced them then that may be possible."

  Sir Richard stroked his beard; a sure sign that he was thinking, "Who is it that leads them?"

  "The Earl thought it was Owain the son of their king. I know nothing of him save that he has two brothers. If the Earl is coming north then he must think him a formidable foe else he would have left the Earl of Chester to deal with him."

  The next morning we rose early. I did not take Star; I took Scout instead. I did not think I would need a warhorse. I was also a little mindful of facing Vikings with their axes and savage disdain for horses. I used Dick and his archers as scouts. We headed west along what must have been a Roman road many years ago. It had not been maintained. It had a reasonable surface for horses and men but wagons would have struggled to cover long distances upon it for there were many of the cobbles missing and the ditches had not been cleared.

  We headed just ten miles down the road. We used the remaining Roman marker stones as guides. The Dee lay to the north of us. I wondered if they might use the river to supply their men. I knew the Welsh did not but Vikings used their drekar the way we used horses. As we watched for signs of movement along the road I sent Griff of Gwent and Wilson to see if there were any ships in the river. I had not wanted to go too far down the road in case we were needed back at our improvised camp. Griff of Gwent and Wilson were only away a short time.

  "My lord, there are ships coming up the river but they are the Viking dragon ships. There are three of them."

  My immediate reaction was one of dismay. They were being reinforced and then I realised I was looking at this the wrong way. They now had more mouths to feed. I could not see them having spare food in their own lands in Ireland at this time of year. It was Anglesey which was the bread basket of Wales. They would be using their valuable source of supplies for their allies. Cheshire had not been conquered yet. The Welsh king was gambling on taking the fertile land for his own. "How many oars on each one?"

  "One had thirteen and two of them nine."

  "Were they heavily laden?"

  "No, my lord, there were high in the water. I saw weed."

  "You have done well."

  Griff of Gwent asked, "Why is it good, my lord, that they ride high out of the water?"

  "It means they only have one man per oar. They only have sixty men aboard the boats. We killed almost that many the day before yesterday. These must have been summoned before our attack."

  "My lord, riders! They come from the west."

  John's voice made me turn and spur Scout back into the trees. The place we had chosen for an ambush had a dip on our side of the road. I now used that to our advantage. I nudged Scout forward so that I could peer through the thin foliage. There were two knights on horses. They were followed by ten armoured men at arms leading a column of marching men. They were armed with spears. I saw the light glinting off some helmets. This was not the fyrd. I tried to remember the maps of the area. They could have come from St. Asaph. I knew there was a castle there but more likely it was from Flint which was just ten miles down the road. I could not make out the numbers but it mattered not. We had surprise on our side.

  "Dick, have your archers ready. I will take the men at arms and charge up the road. You attack them in the rear with arrows."

  "Aye my lord."

  "Wulfric follow me."

  I rode back down the road to a point about forty paces from the line of trees. I formed up with Wulfric, Roger of Lincoln and Jack son of John. With John my squire behind me the other ten men at arms made a solid wall of iron.

  We had long spears, captured from the Welsh, with us. Our lances I would keep for the day we met a large body of knights. I estimated when the Welsh would appear and, when I judged the moment right, I spurred Scout. We trotted forward and then cantered. I saw the banners appear above the skyline and knew that they were within twenty paces of the rise. I lowered my spear and the other three followed suit. We saw each other at the same time. The difference was that we were going at a canter while they were moving at the speed of a walking man.

  As soon as we were seen I heard the Welsh voice give the alarm. Dick's arrows began to descend upon those at the rear of the column. I later found that the men there were leading pack horses with fresh supplies to replace the ones we had taken. Although Dick only had nine bows they could release almost as fast as they could blink. I pulled back my arm, aware that I was not riding Star and Scout was not as big a mount. I punched upwards at the knight on my right. He, too, had pulled back his arm to strike me with his spear but I was faster, Scout was faster, and my spear was deadly. It struck him in his right side and tore through his mail links. As I withdrew it the head came away bloody. Roger of Lincoln, riding to my rig
ht, pulled him from the saddle and I heard his scream as my men at arms rode over his body.

  The enemy men at arms had tried to make a hurried shield wall but the speed of our advance caught them in mid formation. I spurred Scout who leapt a little in the air when I urged him on. His front hoof flailed making two of the men at arms raise their shields for protection. I had an easy hit on one of them, striking him just above his belt with my spear. Roger of Lincoln took the other in the thigh. Then the four of us were into the disordered spearmen. Dick's arrows were still causing chaos and I saw the men leading the horses ahead of us turn and try to flee. I thrust my spear into one of the spearmen who clutched at the haft as he fell. I released it and drew my sword.

  "Come on Scout! On!" My steed responded to my spurs and my shout. He was far superior to the sumpters ahead and we soon made up the ground. As I raised my sword to strike the men they threw themselves to the ground.

  "Mercy! We surrender! Do not kill us!"

  Wulfric and Roger reined in next to me. Wulfric growled at them. "Then throw down your weapons!"

  I turned and saw that most of their men at arms lay dead or wounded and the surviving spearmen had all surrendered. I shouted, "Dick, bring your archers and take charge of these horses and the prisoners." I dismounted and nudged one of the Welshmen in the ribs. "You, stand."

  He did so, "Please do not kill us. We have families."

  I saw immediately that this was not a warrior. He was little more than a villein. "Then speak the truth and answer my questions."

  "I will."

  "Where have you come from this day?"

  "The castle at Flint, my lord."

  I pointed to the dead knights. "Was one of these a lord of the castle?"

  He shook his head, "No, lord. The Lord of the manor is Cynan ap Iago. That is his younger brother Rhodri ap Iago."

  "And is there a garrison at Flint?" He hesitated. "I was beginning to warm to you Welshman. It would be a shame if I had to slit your throat because you were too slow in answering."

  "Yes, my lord. This is half of the garrison."

  I smiled. "What is your name?"

  "Gwynfor of Caerwys."

  "Then you and these other eight shall live. You will return to your master and tell him that the Earl of Stockton, who leads an army of King Henry of England and Normandy demands that he surrender his castle. I will come tomorrow to receive his answer." I saw him glance behind me. I laughed, "This is not my army! These are my oathsworn out for a pleasant ride." He nodded. "When you have delivered your message I would go back to Caerwys and take up another occupation." He nodded and began to move albeit slowly. "I have given my word. Go."

  After they had fled down the road Wulfric asked, "Why did you let them go?"

  "A number of reasons. Firstly we do not need extra mouths to feed and men to guard. Secondly, because I want the lord of Flint Castle to send a message to the other leaders in the valley. If they think we intend to attack then they will prepare for a siege of their own castles and are less likely to reinforce Chester but most importantly because there is no need. These were not warriors. These were like Tom the Fletcher who was slain for no reason."

  He pointed to the other prisoners; the men at arms, "And those?"

  "They are different. They are warriors. We will guard them and then decide how we may use them."

  Arkwright and Jack son of John had both been wounded. Annoyingly it was in their legs which would mean they could not ride. My men at arms used their legs to guide their horses as much as their reins. We were short of men at arms. However it was fewer than we might have expected. We headed back to the camp.

  Our arrival prompted much discussion. We had two more fine palfreys as well as the sumpters with even more supplies. We would not starve that was for certain.

  "Did your scouts bring in any news?"

  Edward had taken charge in my absence, "They have columns of scouts out seeking us my lord. They rode in pairs on small ponies. Six of them will not report back but there were others who fled when they saw the bodies of the dead scouts."

  I nodded, "And they have been reinforced with more men from Dublin. We are safe from attack from Flint. It is St. Asaph which might cause us problems. Harold, on the morrow, take your conroi and scout St. Asaph. Be cautious. Do not try any foolish heroics."

  He laughed, "Then I shall try not to emulate you, my lord."

  He left early while we questioned the six prisoners who remained. Arkwright and Jack son of John were more than happy to guard them and their bad temper at being camp bound was taken out on the hapless prisoners who were too petrified to move. It seemed that it was Cadwallar who commanded the men attacking Chester whilst Owain and his other brother, Cadwaladr, were in the Cheshire plain around Nantwich and Middlewich.

  Dick commanded the scouts who ranged, this time to the north, east and south of us. Harold was to the west and would warn us of any danger from there. Once I was certain that there was no danger from St. Asaph's garrison I would attack the besiegers once more. I wondered why Robert of Gloucester had not arrived nor sent a message. The last time we had been in Cheshire he had used me as bait. I did not think he would do so again but I felt very vulnerable. At least I could beat a retreat this time. I would not have to fight my way out through the whole army of Gwynedd.

  I was examining the swords of the knights we had killed when one of Sir Richard's scouts galloped in. "My lord, they have raised the siege. There is an army coming towards us!"

  Chapter 5

  I did not panic. I had expected this and we were prepared. "Dick, organise your archers. Sir Tristan, have your men disguise the stakes in the ditch." I turned to Erre, "Now is the time for you to show your worth, Erre. I want you and your men to be the gate. My other men at arms will fight from behind the walls."

  Erre grinned, "It is about time we showed these horse soldiers how a real warrior fights."

  The other archers galloped in and reported the same thing. There was an army coming. By piecing together all of their information we discovered that there were almost eighty Vikings and Irish warriors along with forty Welshman. The good news was that there just six knights and their leader was one of the Princes of Gwynedd. Seven knights could be handled; especially if we used the ground to our advantage. Although the Welsh had fine archers we knew that they had to be short of arrows. We had all of the ones that had been sent to them! We also had the benefit of height. The hill fort was on a small rise. It would slow down any attack. We also discovered, when all the scouts reported, that half of the men from Dublin had mail. That would somewhat negate the effect of Dick’s arrows, at least until they were at close range.

  "Dick, concentrate on the ones without armour. If we can thin them out they may become demoralised." I looked to the west. I needed Harold and his men. Even with them it would be a hard fight but without them we were in danger of defeat. The reinforcements from the dragon ships had made all the difference to our enemy. Even as I looked to the west I realised that it had been the reinforcements which had allowed Prince Cadwallar to attack us. Perhaps we had been lax and his scouts had spotted us or, more likely, we had been seen by the dragon ships.

  I saw the rippling snake that was our enemy as it wound its way towards us. They knew we had horses and they were maintaining their solid lines to negate a charge. I did not intend to charge. I suspected that their leader would attack on a broad front. That way he would have overwhelming numbers all the way along our line. That was where Dick and his twenty eight archers would come into their own. When Harold returned, if Harold returned, then we would have thirty six. Perhaps thinking of my former squire made him appear for I heard Tristan shout, "My lord, it is Harold. He has returned."

  He had come just in time. He threw himself from his mount. "There is a garrison at St. Asaph, my lord, but it is not a large one. I scouted Flint too and it could be taken."

  I smiled at his enthusiasm, "Thank you, Harold, but we have a rather large army approaching us. W
e will deal with that first before we reduce a castle eh? Send your archers to Dick and bring your men at arms to Wulfric."

  We stood behind Erre and his men while Wulfric distributed the new men at arms along the line. He did it carefully for he was looking for a balance. He knew the men at arms well and he sought perfection in our defence. There would be no random choices from Wulfric. The extra spears we had captured meant we could afford to give every man at arms two. In an initial attack we would be able to keep the advancing men at a distance and the longer we did that then the more time we had for the archers to weaken them.

  "John, plant my banner here behind Erre. Then join the other squires. I want the five of you mounted and ready to fetch us our war horses when I give the command."

  He looked disappointed. "I am not to fight in the line?"

  "Follow my orders and you shall fight."

  As he went Erre chuckled, "I like that young cockerel. He has spirit. He would face these wild men from Dublin even though they have more skill than he has."

  Wulfric said, "Aye Erre, but not more heart. I have seen that boy fight and he is fearless."

  The enemy were now two hundred paces from us. Dick had placed ranging rocks so that he knew the distance. Normally he would have waited until they were closer before he released his deadly missiles but the enemy had accommodated him well for they came in a solid block and given us the opportunity to send many arrows their way. At a hundred and fifty paces the arrows flew. Although my own archers were the best in my small force all of them were more than competent. They were an elite band. The enemy shields were slow to come up. A handful of men fell. The ones at the front also brought theirs up too even though no arrows were loosed at them. It made them take their eyes from the uneven ground and my men at arms laughed as some of them fell.

  Dick kept releasing arrows. I saw him target the knights and their horses. It might seem cruel but archers knew the value of dismounting a knight by killing his horse. Two horses were killed before all the knights dismounted and took shelter in the wedge which moved relentlessly towards us. I heard a command given first in Welsh and then repeated in what I assumed was Norse. The line began to spread out to a wider formation. This time the men in mail were the subject of Dick's arrows. I saw a trail of bodies which marked the route towards us. I watched as Dick aimed deliberately at a Viking warrior who was encased in mail and had a masked helmet. The only flesh which could be seen was his lips and nose hidden behind a huge beard. As he raised his head and opened his mouth to shout an arrow plunged into it and silenced him forever. Another took his place.