The torch was still on the ground at the bottom of the short flight of stone stairs, flaring; he could see Aicelina in its flickering light as she moved into the doorway. She had her hand over her mouth but still clutched Guillaume tightly. The boy was white-faced and shocked at what he had witnessed but still held his tongue.
Talon hurried down the stairs, stamped out the flames, and then returned to drag the man down the stairs into the deeper darkness of the wall. Aicelina followed with Guillaume. Talon then led the way toward the place where he had come down from the battlements. The yard was silent but he was concerned that there might be some of the hunting hounds loose in the yard. The ones he had seen the last time he came were fearsome animals and he knew he would have a bad time of it if they attacked.
They made their way across the yard, keeping to the darkest shadows, and finally to the base of the stone stairs that led up to the battlements. Talon had the guard’s spear and his knife out and led the way. When the got to the stairs, he picked up his bundle of clothes from the dark recess where he had left it and gave it to Aicelina. Then he motioned her to go up the stairs as quickly as she could. She took Guillaume’s hand and went lightly up the steep stairs with Talon hard on her heels.
They made it to the top without incident; Talon peered along the ramparts in the darkness. There didn’t appear to be any movement by the guards. He suspected that they were probably asleep or even drunk. The discipline in the castle seemed to be very lax.
He found the rope and tugged. There was an answering tug back. He pulled one end up and tied it round Guillaume’s chest. “Hold onto this, little brother, and do not fear.”
Guillaume looked up at Talon and whispered, “I am not afraid, Talon.”
Talon grinned his approval in the dark and then lifted Guillaume over the edge of the wall and, taking hold of the rope, lowered him down the outside wall. He could see nothing below in the darkness but imagined that the Welshmen would get over their surprise quickly enough when they found Guillaume.
The rope went slack and then after a few seconds there was a tug. He pulled it up quickly and turned to Aicelina who had stood behind him saying nothing while he was engaged. He reached behind her and took the end of the rope and tied it level with her chest. “Can you hold on while I lower you?”
She came close to him. “I can hold. Come quickly after me, Talon,” she whispered, her lips brushing his cheek. She tossed his clothes over the side. Then he helped her over the edge and carefully lowered her down. There still seemed to him to be some distance to go before she was on the ground but he heard something. He turned quickly and looked back down the stairs they had just come up. From his position against the wall he could only just make out the floor of the yard below.
It was a moonless night but despite the few clouds in the sky some stars were out and this gave enough illumination for him to see two dark shadows racing toward the base of the stairs. They were the huge deerhounds he had seen before. He broke into cold sweat. He would be no match for the pair if they managed to get onto the battlements with him.
He speeded up the lowering process and then just as the rope went slack he dropped it and grabbed the spear. He stepped quickly toward the top of the stairs and hurled the spear at the first huge dark shape that was coming at terrific speed toward him. There was a choking yelp and then the shape twisted away and fell over the side, landing with a loud thump.
The second deerhound bayed, a terrifying sound in the quiet of the castle. It hesitated, still baying, but that gave Talon just enough time to leap to the edge of the wall, grab the loose rope end and swing out from the top of the wall. He prayed as he went that the other end had been tied off. Just as he was about to lower himself the hound poked its huge head over the edge of the wall and they were face to face. The creature lunged at him, which brought its slavering jaws within inches of his face. the animal was growling and snapping ferociously; specks of saliva struck Talon’s cheeks. Talon wasted no further time; he slid down the rope ignoring the burning on his hands and landed in a heap at the bottom of the shallow moat. Figures rushed out of the night to grab him and get him out of the odious trench and back onto his feet.
Above them there was pandemonium. They could see men carrying torches running along the battlements toward the still baying hound. There were shouts and all the clamor of a castle coming awake from an alarm.
“You seem to have stirred up a lot of trouble there, Talon, Bach. They sound just like the English after we have finished a raid on them. We have been worried sick that they had caught you,” Gareth exclaimed in a whisper as they ran for the edge of the woods. There was a snapping sound from the walls and a couple of barbs from crossbows thumped into the ground nearby. They ran harder still.
Others from the group came up to them as they came into cover, wanting to know what had happened. He heard the twang of a bowstring and an arrow sped toward the people on the battlements. There was a shout of alarm seconds after it had flown.
“That should keep their heads down!” Drudwas laughed with satisfaction.
“I had no choice about the delay; I could not find Guillaume and Aicelina,” Talon said.
“If you don’t mind me saying, m’lord, but you smell a bit different.”
Talon cursed Gareth’s sharp nose and said quickly, “I had to wear a pomade, Gareth; the bishop’s people all stink of incense and other smells.” He decided that he should dive into the pool by the fort before he went into the grounds in case someone else got a whiff of him. To change the subject, he said, “There is a dead man at the base of the walls, Gareth. We need to...”
“We heard the body fall, Talon. We have taken it deep into the woods. No one will find it.”
Talon nodded in the dark. “It doesn’t matter now; I had to kill another inside. I have learned much this night and we need to tell my father and Sir Philip. I shall tell you as we go. We have to leave, Gareth; they will guess soon enough what has happened and then turn the other hounds loose on us. We must to speed away!”
They melted deep into the darkness of the woods, still unseen by the men on the battlements. Talon knew that they would find the dead guard soon enough, and the missing prisoners, and then the hunt would be on.
The Welshmen led the way unerringly through the dense woods. Guillaume was perched on Drudwas’ back, clinging to his neck with all his might. The strong Welshman didn’t seem to notice the boy’s weight. Talon came in the middle, helping Aicelina as they ran. Although she was in a skirt she had tucked it up around her waist and he got a tantalizing glimpse of her white legs as she ran alongside. Gareth and Ap-Maddock took the rear. Soon enough, although they were already deep into the woods, they heard the distant baying of several hounds loose behind them. The whole group paused for an instant of alarm to listen to the chilling sound and then ran on with greater urgency. Talon knew that these great animals would corner them quickly enough if they caught the scent, which he had no doubt that they would.
“They will catch up with us very soon, Gareth,” he gasped as they ran.
“There are streams ahead, Talon; we are heading for them. It will not be long now and then we shall to go downstream and throw them off the scent.”
“There will be men with them, I would not be surprised,” Drudwas said from under his load.
“Go you with Talon and Drudwas, Devonalt, while me and Ap-Maddock will lead them a merry chase through the woods,” Gareth ordered him.
Talon nodded in the darkness. It made sense but it was dangerous. He had no doubt that Gareth and Ap-Maddock were capable of leading the hounds away from their proper quarry. He just hoped that they did not become victims themselves.
Almost as though he had a map in his mind and could see clearly in the dark, Devonalt brought them to a wide and shallow stream. In the quiet of the night the only sound was the rippling sound of the water over the stones and the distant baying of the hounds echoing eerily in the forest as they followed their trail.
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bsp; Talon turned at the water’s edge in the darkness and gripped Gareth by the hand. “Take care, my friend. God speed, and do not get caught.”
“I have led many an English hunting party around in circles back on the Welsh borders, Talon. We will be safe. Go quickly downstream as far as possible before you leave. Drudwas and Devonalt know the way.”
Talon gripped Ap-Maddock by the hand in the darkness. They shook in silence and then Talon and his party plunged into the shallow cold waters and waded downstream. Gareth and Ap-Maddock disappeared into the dark almost immediately.
Their party, led by Devonalt, waded carefully along the middle of the stream; it was uneven and they often barked their shins against rocks that protruded from the bed or fell into a deeper pool. They stopped to listen after wading downstream for about a hundred yards.
The sound of baying grew louder as the hounds with their scent now firmly in their noses rushed up to the edge of the water. Everyone held their breath as they heard the baying and then the shouts of the huntsmen as they ran up to the milling hounds.
Soon enough one of the hounds caught a scent and it began to bay, a chilling sound that filled the night, echoing into the depths of the woods. The others seemed to catch it and they, too, began to bay again. There were more distant shouts and the whole group moved away, going upstream. The baying soon became too distant to hear and the forest quieted again.
The group listened for a few more minutes, then continued cautiously downstream. On occasion one or the other of them would slip and there would be a splash. The whole group would freeze for a minute or two as they listened to any sound that might indicate danger. After what seemed to be an hour, Devonalt called a halt and they listened again to the forest. It was pitch-black all around but apart from the odd rustle in the undergrowth there was no sound to alarm them. An owl hooted in the distance and the faint sound of a fox yapping followed, but otherwise the forest was silent.
He turned to Talon and whispered, “We can leave the water now, m’lord. We should hasten to the fort as there are still places they could catch us if they decided we slipped them at the stream.”
They all struggled out of the water and stood dripping on the bank. Talon took hold of Aicelina’s hand. It was wet and very cold. “Will you be all right?”
She took his wet sleeve in her grip; she was shaking with the cold. “I will be better for a warm blanket and a hot soup. I shall be all right, Talon, but I am very cold.”
She was soaked from the shoulders down and shivering violently. He took his damp over-smock off and placed it over her shoulders but there was otherwise nothing he could do for her except to say, “We will warm up as we move through the forest. It won’t be long now before we are at the fort.” He had to make a conscious effort not to let his teeth betray him, as he was numb with cold himself.
“God willing we will be protected for the rest of the journey,” she responded her through her chattering teeth.
He admired her composure. She had not behaved as though frightened but he was sure she had to be despite her seeming calm. Talon turned and gave his brother a reassuring pat on the back, but the boy was too tired to do more than mumble something and continue to cling to Drudwas’ broad back.
The party continued on its way guided unerringly by Devonalt, who had an uncanny sense of direction in the depths of the black forest. It was almost dawn by the time they arrived on the outskirts of the village, which was still asleep.
Still being cautious, they kept to the edge of the forest as they approached the fort. It was very quiet and still dark, that false kind of dawn that indicated light, but is still a short time from the sunrise. Talon could see the dark shapes of men walking slowly along the top ramparts, awake and alert at even this early hour. He nodded his approval. His father had learned his war craft in a hard country and was using it well here. But his instinct was nagging him, he still felt somewhat unsafe. Then Drudwas raised his hand for silence. He pointed toward the edge of the forest to the south of the fort several hundred yards away.
He turned to whisper to Talon. “I thought I heard the sound of a horse, m’lord. Why would there be a horse over there?”
Talon wondered at the man’s ability to hear what no one else could, but he was not going to contradict Drudwas. What horses would be loose during the night? The others crouched while Talon and Drudwas stood and listened and watched.
“We have to move closer, Drudwas,” Talon said. “I cannot hear from here.” He believed implicitly in what Drudwas might have heard. He looked at Devonalt. “Wait here with Aicelina and my brother while we go and find out what is going on.”
The man nodded and the two men moved slowly and carefully along the edge of the woods toward where Drudwas thought he had heard the horse. They had only moved fifty yards when there came the sound of another faint jingle. Both froze as they heard it and looked at one another, then without speaking melted into the undergrowth on the edge of the woods. There was no doubt about it: there was a horse, perhaps two, in the forest ahead. The enemy was waiting for them to come to the fort in the hopes of intercepting them before they could get to its safety. He wondered which one of the Guillabert family had thought of this.
Talon whispered to Drudwas, “Can you get close enough to find out how many of them there are?”
Drudwas grinned in the darkness. Talon could see his remaining teeth gleam. “I can stroke their horses’ necks while they talk and they will not see me, Bach.”
“Make sure you come back alive, my brother.”
Drudwas disappeared noiselessly and then Talon waited. The dawn was about to break and still they could not move until they knew who was there to intercept them. He fretted as the light grew, wishing that he had taken a chance on getting to the gate before the enemy knew they were there. But he also knew that sharp eyes were watching the green swath before the fort and they would have been run down by the horsemen before they got there and the men on the walls were able to get the gates open.
He heard the faintest rustle and Drudwas was by his side. “There are four horsemen and five others who look like archers, but they have the crossbow.”
The odds were not good. The two moved slowly and silently back to join the group. There they had a whispered council of war.
“We cannot just flee for the walls. They will run us down before we can get anywhere near,” Talon said.
“We are three archers; could we not shoot them down before they come for us?” Devonalt asked.
“Too dangerous,” Drudwas stated. “Remember there are four horsemen and five archers, and all are mercenaries; they will not be intimidated by us three.”
“You're right, Drudwas, but can we even the odds with your long range before we make a run for it?” Talon asked.
“We are better in the woods than them, I am sure... you mean we try to kill some before we try to make a run for it?” Devonalt asked, realization dawning.
“Can you and I get close enough to kill some before the others run for safety?”
Devonalt nodded but Drudwas interjected, “I should go with Devonalt, m’lord. We two know each other and can run rings around them while you take the lady and your brother to the walls.”
Talon thought about this. “Very well, both of you go to a position where you can kill without being threatened by the crossbows. Remember, they are only accurate up to forty paces while you can kill at one hundred and more. When you are in position, make the call of a nightjar. When you do, I shall fire an arrow at the fort to alert them. If they are awake, as I think they are, they will sound the alarm and then we will start to run for the gates. Do you kill as many as you can and then get out of there as they will hunt for you. We can then cover you from the walls.”
The two Welshmen gave tense nods and disappeared into the darkness of the woods, heading toward the enemy positions.
Talon turned to Aicelina, who had been listening, and they moved very carefully toward the edge of the forest. It would all go very
badly if they were seen now.
Minutes later they heard a distant bird call. Talon immediately stood up and shot an arrow high into the air toward the gates of the fort. He knew it was a long way for his bow, but his aim was good. The arrow landed with a hard thump on the top of the gates. There was a sharp exclamation on the walls and then a shout. Men peered down at the arrow and there were more shouts.
Talon seized Aicelina by the wrist, pulled Guillaume onto his back and they ran. The grass was wet from the dew which made it slippery but their strides were long and they ran for their lives.
Talon began to yell as they neared the gates. “Open the gates! We are Talon and Aicelina. Open the gates!”
They were about eighty yards off by then and the men on the wall were pointing toward them and shouting. Others turned and ran to open the gates but then other men pointed at the south end where some men were coming out of the woods; these men were about a hundred and fifty yards off when they emerged from the cover of the woods. Talon glanced off to where the men on the battlements were pointing, there were only two horsemen now but they were galloping hard and were followed by others on foot, crossbow men who ran very fast in spite of their cumbersome weapons.
Talon saw Belth on the walls and then heard his father’s roar from within the fort and the gates began to open. Aicelina was running hard now just in front of him while he was beginning to feel the weight of his brother.
Panting now, Talon dropped his brother to his feet. “Run for your life, brother.”
Guillaume squeaked something but then scampered after Aicelina, who paused to grab his hand and run as fast as she could toward the open gates, her skirts flying. Talon glimpsed her as she glanced back at him, but then the urgency of his own situation took all his attention.
He hurriedly notched an arrow and turned to face the oncoming horsemen. The nearest was only forty yards away by now and looked enormous on his huge horse. He was tucked deep into the saddle and well protected by his shield. He had a fearsome-looking lance aimed directly at Talon. The ground seemed to shake as the horseman came toward him.
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