Enemy at the Gate (17 page)

The sound of the hooves of the relief force drew closer and the leader of the knights said.  "We yield and ask for ransom!"

I put my shield in my scabbard as the Earl's wife Maud led in the Earl's men and a contingent of Welsh led by
Cadwalad
r
 
ap Gruffyd, the brother of the Welsh King. Maud galloped directly up to me.  She saw the body, draped in a cloak and said, fearfully, "Is that my husband? Am I too late?"

I shook my head, "Your husband and his brother are in the keep.  He is safe.  Thank you for your timely arrival."  She was too worried about her husband and she galloped off to the keep. 

Cadwaladr dismounted and took off his own helmet. He smiled, "The last time I saw you, Earl, you were chasing us from the battle field.  Things have changed for now we fight on the same side."

I laughed, "You are right for war makes strange bedfellows. Tell me why did you approach from the north?"

He shook his head, "The Earl's wife is a shrewd one. She said that the road from the west passed through a wood and we could be ambushed.  She said the north road was a better one and she was right.  We made as good a time and we arrived without hindrance."

"She is a force to be reckoned with.  The blood of the Conqueror runs through her veins." I turned to my knights and men at arms.  "Come let us bury this brave knight and his oathsworn and do them honour.  Then we will look to ourselves."

There was a small chapel next to the keep.  I saw a grave there and assumed it was his wife.  There was, as yet, no stone. I would find a stone mason and have one carved. We dug the seven graves and laid the seven men in them, with their arms and covered them with stones and then earth.  I was no priest and there was none nearby and so I gave them a warrior's farewell.

"Lord take these seven heroes and welcome them into heaven. They died on the side of right, they kept their oath and they died with honour.  Give them peace for they have earned it." I allowed a few moment's silence and then said quietly.  "You were a throwback to an earlier time, Sir John and I am glad that I met you."

We went into the keep where Maud had organised Sir John's servants and they had prepared the last of the food. She threw her arms around me in a most unexpected manner.  "My father always said that you were his rock and he could rely on you to hold against the greatest of odds.  You have saved my husband and brother in law.  I am in your debt."

I said quietly, "Your husband, my lady, is too reckless."

She nodded, "I know and he needs me. I shall stay by his side for a while. I have sent for food.  We will fortify this castle. We have retreated before this Stephen long enough.  Now we take back.  I will persuade my husband to besiege Glossop.  This Peverel needs punishing.  He has behaved without honour."

The force of nature that was Maud of Gloucester organised the whole of the forces available to the Earl. I felt that we could return to Stockton for the Empress had still to land in England and the Earl was now on the Empress' side. I decided to wait until the Earl had committed to the capture of Glossop before we returned north. The ransoms for our prisoners were paid promptly.  Despite the fact that he had done little to earn the money, honour demanded that the Earl and William received their share. I gave most of my share to my men at arms and archers.  I knew I would have had nothing without them.

Young Richard got on well with Gilles.  Once his initial shyness and fear of me wore off he began to ask me questions. "My lord, why did you not keep all of the ransom?  You are Earl and it was yours by right."

"True William but I only have that right because of the men who fight for me. Besides I have coin enough in my castle vaults. I do not fight for what I can make.  If I wanted riches then I would fight for Stephen the Usurper."

"I am glad you did not kill me.  I would like to follow you."

I smiled at the honesty of his words. "We shall see how far that service takes you.  I have need of another squire.  If you impress me then that may be you."

He looked at me so earnestly that Gilles had to hide his smile, "I swear that I will be the most diligent and hardworking of all of your men, my lord!"

It was May when we set off to besiege Glossop.  It was the strangest army with which I had travelled.  The Earl and his half brother had their wives with them and there were servants and other followers. I was used to being surrounded by warriors only. This time the Earl listened to my words and advice. He did not assault the castle with all of his men as he had planned. We surrounded it and made sure that nothing got in or out. It fell within the week and we took great quantities of arms, hauberks and ransom.

It was as we were eating one night, just the Earl and his brother, their wives and me that the Earl came up with an idea. "You have inspired me, Aelfraed."

"Have I, my lord?"

"You and my wife. You have both demonstrated that subtlety and cunning can achieve more than force of arms."

"Sometimes."

"You are right, Aelfraed, sometimes.  I have a plan to take Lincoln castle without losing a man."

He had even me interested now. "Lincoln Castle? It controls the heart of England and Stephen would have it well defended."

"Normally he would but I have learned from the garrison here that some of the garrison of Lincoln are still with Prince Henry in Scotland and there is just a small garrison commanded by the constable."

His half brother said, "Even so, brother, it is still one of the most powerful castles in England.  How would we gain entry?"

"Through our wives.  Hawise, is not your cousin, Agnes, the wife of the constable?"

His sister in law said, "She is but I have not seen her for some time."

"I have heard that she had a son six months since.  It would seem a timely opportunity for you to visit. If, after a few days, three knights were sent by your husband to fetch you home it would not arouse any suspicion would it? The three knights would be us, in disguise, of course. Once inside we could capture the gates and the castle would be ours.  Your men could wait by the river and the castle would be taken."

I was dubious.  There are many 'ifs' in there.  However it was the ghost of an idea which I had had myself. However I disliked using women to such an end. "Ranulf and you would be putting your wife and Lady Hawise at risk."

Maud of Gloucester put her hand on mine, "I do not think there is a risk.  We are women and the Constable will not be suspicious." She looked at Lady Hawise, "Are you willing?"

"Of course. It is exciting and I crave such excitement."

I shook my head, "Is there madness in the air?  Tell me, Earl, who would go with the ladies?"

"They would have to be your men.  I thought your two squires for they showed great courage at Merpel and perhaps your two older men at arms, Edgar and Raymond of Le Mans."

"My men?"

"Do not forget, Aelfraed that I lost the men I would have sent when I recklessly pursued the Prince.  I have paid the price. And to be honest your men are the best I have ever seen.  I know that I would be more confident with four of your men watching over our wives than any other.  They are loyal and, more importantly, they are good at this sort of thing. Did you not capture Durham with such men?"

I could not argue with that. "I will ask them, Ranulf.  I will not send my men into such danger without giving them the chance to back out."

"I do not understand that but they are your men.  Ask them now for we must strike while the garrison is depleted.  If we leave then we leave tomorrow."

"Whom will we take?" 

"It will have to be your conroi for I want the world to think that I remain here.  My new squire will parade in my hauberk and we will leave my standard here at Glossop.  Cadwaladr can command in my absence."

"You have thought all this through then?"

"You did not think that when we waited to take Glossop my mind was idle did you?  You are right about my nature, Aelfraed, it is restless and I put that restlessness to good use. We will keep this secret.  I have learned my lesson and my tongue will no longer be so loose.  William Peverel was a harsh lesson to learn for it cost me good men!"

"Then if you are determined I will speak with my men."

I went to find my knights and the four men and boys who would be used for the ruse. I explained what it would entail and asked, "Well?  Shall I tell the Earl that you will have none of this foolish and madcap idea?"

Edgar smiled, "To be honest, my lord, I thought that this was one of your ideas.  It sounds like one to me. Besides I like the Lady Maud; she has courage and if she is willing to go into this lion's den then I would be honoured to protect her."

Raymond said, "And I agree. I cannot wait to tell Wulfric what he missed.  He will be madder than a shaken wasp's nest!"

I looked at Gilles and Richard, "And you two?" Their faces gave me the answer and I shook my head,  "I blame myself for all this madness. You need to shed my livery. Find livery from the garrison here. As escorts to Lady Hawise you will need to be well armed.  That will be expected." They nodded. I turned to my knights.  "We ride tomorrow but this will be a secret.  The Earl will not tell others what we are about. Tell the men to spread the word that we return to Stockton.  I do not think there are spies here but if there are then this will put them off our trail."

It was a two day ride to Lincoln. My men could have made it in one but we had ladies with us and they were riding as though at their leisure. We kept them in sight but they appeared to be travelling alone. They spent the night at Sheffield. In those days it was still a motte and bailey built of wood and the lord of the manor and his wife were honoured to be offering hospitality to two such honoured guests. We slept in the fields. 

We parted with the ladies and their escort a mile and a half from the castle which we saw on the hill. There was a wood to the south and west of the large area of common land used by the town to graze cattle. It was a good place for us to wait.

We had a whole day and a night to wait and to worry. I did not fear for the ladies.  Chivalry demanded that they be treated well but my men were a different matter.  When we approached the castle the next day would we see their heads atop the gate? As much as I wanted to get there as early as possible we had to make our arrival as plausible as possible.  We would arrive towards dusk.  That would allow Dick, my knights and my men to close with the gate and await my signal. We wore the cloaks we had taken from Glossop. I left my shield with my men and took a plain one. We headed towards the gate before it was closed for sunset.

When we reached the gate we allowed Sir William to do the talking.  He was the eldest of us and his greybeard made him seem less threatening somehow.

"What is your business, my lords?"

There were just two guards at the gate and had we wanted to we could have disposed of them easily but this was a well made castle.  There were four more sentries in the two towers above the gate.  There would be more sentries on the walls.  We had to be subtle. I saw that all of the guards wore the royal livery.  This was a royal castle.  The Constable was a royal appointee. Stephen had appointed Eustace de Aumale to the castle.

"We have been sent by William Roumare to escort his wife home.  She is visiting here with the wife of the Constable."

"Just three of you?"

"We are enough, believe me."

The Sergeant at Arms said, "I would want a bigger escort, my lord.  We have heard that the Wolf of the North is loose in these parts.  There are rumours that he is sacking castles to the west of us.  He has taken Glossop and Buxton or so the story goes."

"We saw him not but thank you for your concern." William spurred his horse through the gate.  I was not certain we had been given permission but they did not try to stop us.  We were in. The hardest part of our plan had succeeded. When we entered the outer bailey we dismounted.  The two guards there directed us to the stable. The two stable boys unsaddled our horses and we headed for the gate leading to the inner bailey.  As we did I saw, by the burning braziers, that there were just ten sentries on the outer walls. We had decided that we had two tasks: take the armoury and inner bailey and then secure the gate.

As we approached the gate at the inner bailey there were just two guards. We strolled towards them and as we did so we heard the watch announce that the gates were closed.  The two men crossed their spears.  "I am sorry, my lords but the watch has sounded the closure of the gates.  You will have to spend the night in the barracks yonder. There is a kitchen there and beds aplenty." He pointed to a stone building attached to the outer wall. Darkness had now fallen and only the lights from the braziers showed where men stood.  In the recesses of the inner gate we were hidden from view.

I moved to the left of the Earl as William said, reasonably, "We need to tell my Lady Hawise and Lady Maud that their escorts are here to take them home."

The guard turned, "Alan, go tell the Constable that the escorts for the ladies are here and they will spend the night in the barracks."

As Alan turned I grabbed the other sentry and hit his head against the stone wall of the gate. He slumped to the ground, unconscious. The Earl had his dagger at Alan's throat.  "One word and you die!"

I had short lengths of rope concealed about me and I trussed up the unconscious guard and handed some to William to do the same to the second.  The Earl said, "We will not gag you but if you raise the alarm then I will kill you." The man looked defiantly at the Earl who smiled as he said, "This the Wolf of the North, the Earl of Cleveland!"

The man shrank back in terror. "I will say nothing.  Spare me, my lord!"

"Then remain silent!" I hissed at him.

We finished tying them up and entered the inner bailey.  We had little time to delay.  We hurried to the Great Hall in the keep for that would be where we would find the Constable. As we entered the keep Edgar and Leopold appeared. Edgar got directly to business, "There are just six guards in the keep along with the Constable.  The two squires are with the ladies and acting as page boys. Two of the guards are at the armoury. The other four are on the battlements."

"Then that is where we will go.  Earl go with your brother to the Great Hall.  Hold the Constable.  We will deal with the other guards."

Drawing my sword I followed Edgar down a corridor to a chamber at the rear of the Keep. I heard the two guards.  They were playing dice.  Edgar and I stepped into the ante chamber and our swords were at their throats before they even knew we were there.  "No heroics! The castle is taken!" They might have thought of resisting had not Leopold appeared. "Tie them up and meet me at the Great Hall. Leopold you guard the armoury."

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 frequently but our numbers prevented any from interfering with us and we now moved quickly for Wallingford was close.