Enemy at the Gate (7 page)

Sir Edward laughed, "Lord we have even more enemies to the south of us. The Baron of Skipton is no friend to us.  One of the prisoners was saying that the Earl of Chester has now allied himself with Stephen.  Our list of friends shrinks and that of our enemies grows."

"The Earl and the Empress are coming.  We have to hold on until they do. We have yet to be defeated and our losses are acceptable." I saw the scowl on Sir Edward's face. He had lost men. "Sir Edward when you were a man at arms would you have accepted such small losses as part of the victory?"

He nodded, "You are right.  We fought in some battles and only Wulfric and I survived but when men fight for you there is an unspoken bond; a responsibility."

Wulfric said, sadly, "It is good that you say that but we know lords who were not like the Earl.  They would have discarded men and not lost a moment's sleep.  We have changed old friend and it is for the better.  Sadly it will not help us to sleep at night.  We will both suffer the nightmares of lost comrades."

Not long into May I had another visitor from Scotland.  This time it was not the Scottish knight I had threatened to kill, it was the Bishop of Glasgow. There was an assumption that, as a man of God, he would be safe.  To be honest I would have lost no sleep had I had him killed but it suited my purpose to speak with him.  I found that I could learn much from what men did not say and what they assumed I knew. I made sure that Father Henry was present when I interviewed him.

"King David is less than happy that you rejected his offer of help for the claims of his niece."

"And I am disappointed that King David's men attacked without provocation."

"The King knew nothing about that, Earl."

I looked in his face for dishonesty but I saw none. "You believe that?"

"I was told by the King himself and I have no reason to doubt him."

"I might have given him the benefit of the doubt had his last emissary, Sir William Redere not been with the attacking army.  Perhaps I might see you in the next attack, your grace."

He was not put out by the insult.  "I am a man of peace, my lord. I will not be present."

"So, what does the King wish now?"

"He makes the same offer he did before.  He will support the claim of the Empress if you will help him conquer the north of England."

"And I say again that I will only do this if I command the army.  That way I can dismiss the Scottish troops when I no longer need them and send them back to Scotland."

"Some might argue that this is Scotland, my lord."

I shook my head,  "When the Roman Emperor came many years ago he put a wall between the barbarians of the north and civilisation in the south.  That wall stands yet and is the only marker between the two countries. Carlisle, the New Castle, both of those castles were treacherously taken by an opportunist king when King Henry was murdered!"

The Bishop frowned, "I thought King Henry died from eating too much?"

"Do not believe the stories of his enemies.  He was murdered. I was there and I killed the murderer."

"Then I am wasting my time."

"You are indeed and tell King David to send no more emissaries.  I tire of them.  The next one he sends will have his head decorating my walls."

"That is not the act of a civilised man."

I laughed, "I will take that from many men but not a Scot.  Leave, Bishop.  I tire of you!"

"You would not offer us hospitality?"

"You slept last night in Durham.  Leave now and you can sleep there again!"

After he had gone Father Henry said, "He was not treated as a Bishop, my lord."

"Did he come here as a bishop or an emissary of a treacherous man? I am sorry, Father, if I have offended your sensibilities.  That man is not a priest, he is a political animal. Do not confuse the two.  You are a good man.  Not all priests are as noble as you." I saw him reflect on those words as he left.

We held our sessions and collected our taxes. I had no one to answer to now and that made both tasks hard.  We needed taxes to pay for the men at arms who would defend my valley but I did not want my people to suffer. I taxed them the lowest amount I could. The Sessions were even harder for I had no one to whom I could refer those cases which I found difficult. It was where I missed Adela the most. She had a kind heart and a sharp mind. I found the taxes and the trials drained me more than a battle. I no longer kept to the usual dates for taxes and sessions.  I was Warlord and made my own rules.

I went to Ayeton and Guisborough myself to collect taxes. I made them as fair as I could.  When I was there I told the burghers of both places that I would happily offer employment to any who wished to fight for me.  Surprisingly I had many who wished to take me up on the offer.  It was known that I paid well. Seven young men came back with me.  Wulfric and Dick would assess their skills and decide how best we might use them.

I sent my ship back to my manor in Anjou with letters for the Empress, the Earl, my castellan and my son.  I had waited to write them as I wanted a considered reply to them all. I asked Captain William to see if he could hire any men when he was in Anjou.  Gilles had told me that my name still commanded respect. Sir John thought I should use that to my advantage.  It was not my way but I conceded.

By the end of May we had added thirty men to our garrison. The Scots had not attacked again and the allies of the Earl of Gloucester were succeeding in their Kentish rebellion. It was June when we heard of movements in the west.  Sir Hugh's scouts had grown bold and using the fine weather had travelled as far as Carlisle to spy upon the Scots.  There they saw the royal banner and an army gathering.  Sir Hugh knew that it did not bode well and he sent a messenger to me.

I sent for Sir Edward and we sat with Wulfric and Dick to discuss the problem. John, my Steward was also present. I began. "We do not need to hasten to Barnard Castle this time for Sir Hugh has made it stronger but we still need to prepare for a campaign."

"The problem, lord is that it is summer.  Farmers are in their fields and all else are working from sunrise to sunset."

Sir Edward shook his head, "We will not take the fyrd.  We will leave them at home! We pay men at arms and archers to fight."

"But lord, if you take the men then we have to man the walls of our castles with those who live in the borough. They cannot do both and we need them as sentries.  With the Earl's men away we are vulnerable."

I saw the dilemma. "You are saying that the twelve men of my garrison are not enough." John, nodded.  "I daresay that Sir Edward, Sir Tristan and Sir Harold will be even worse off for many of their men at arms had farms too."

Sir Edward looked glum. "The book keeper is right, lord.  I had forgotten."

I smiled, "Do not berate yourself. I have a plan. If I take the knights from your three castles, your squires and half of your men at arms and archers I will have enough men to slow an enemy up and ascertain the danger."

John looked flustered, "But lord what about Stockton?"

"I am coming to Stockton. I will take Sir John but leave eight men at arms and Philip of Selby's archers.  That is enough to defend the White Tower!" He looked relieved, "What say you Wulfric?  Will that work?"

"Aye lord although if it is the whole Scottish army we may be outmatched."

"Gilles, go to my chamber and fetch me the parchment with the map upon it."

He quickly returned with the calfskin vellum.  John, my Steward, had a fine hand. He had copied the map from an ancient one we had see in York.  He had not copied all of the detail for we had not had time but it had sufficient for my purposes. At the time I had been welcome in York for it had been when King Henry still lived. Gilles spread it out.

I jabbed my finger at the map.  "We are mounted and we will be faster than any enemy. We concentrate at Bowes.  We know that the King of Scotland is in Carlisle. If we are threatened then he must come through Bowes.  It is his only route east. We can cover both roads and delay an army long enough to fetch our people within our walls.  It will buy time to sow the fields and tend animals. Life has to go on."

Dick nodded, "I agree with you, lord. The land is perfect for my archers.  There are forests aplenty.  We can ambush and delay an army.  If the Scots send their men into the forests then the beasts will feast well on their corpses. We have spent the winter laying in a great store of arrows. We have good fletchers in Stockton."

"Then we leave but we will not take warhorses.  I would travel light. Philip of Selby may well need every man to man the walls; even horse holders and carters."

My counsel of war ended and I think that all were satisfied with the plan.  They would have to be for I had no second in case it went wrong.

When we left for Bowes we could only take one long spear each. We were travelling light/  When that spear shattered we would have to rely on our swords. We would use Barnard Castle for food.  It was by a few miles away from Bowes. The battle I led was mainly my men. However my three knights had chosen their best three men at arms and best three archers to accompany us.  We would have no peer in combat. The five banners, for Sir Hugh of Gainford would join us, might confuse an enemy and suggest a larger force of men.  Scouts tended to count banners and make assumptions about numbers.

Sir Hugh, when he joined us, brought more news about the Scottish force, "It is led by the King's nephew, William Fitz Duncan."

"Do we know anything about him?"

"Nothing lord."

We reached Bowes by the end of the first week of June. The old Roman fort was just a ruin but I saw that it would make a good site for a castle.  If we had the men I would build one but this was not the time for building.  We needed Matilda or young Henry on the throne first. I kept that information in my head. I had to remember that there would be a future when this anarchy was but a distant memory. If I did not have that hope then I would go mad.

Dick and his archers hunted the land around the deserted fort. It allowed them to spy out the terrain and watch for the enemy whilst filling my men's bellies. We had been there for some days when a handful returned earlier than expected. Will Red Legs led them.  "My lord there are men at arms fleeing this way."

"Fleeing?"

"Aye, lord, Dick and the others are watching. They are coming from the west up the old track way from the southwest. They are five miles from us."

I turned to Edward, "The southwest?  That makes no sense." I closed my eyes and saw the map in my head.  "Unless William Fitz Duncan has headed south towards Chester."

"Then he would meet Sir Edgar Mandeville."

Sir Edgar was the new Baron of Skipton.  An unpleasant and treacherous man he had been appointed by Stephen the Usurper.  The men who were fleeing towards us might be his men.  "That is fifty miles south of here.  Why would they head north?  This may be a trap. Come, we will head south to the track from the south and west."

We rode in a column of fours.  We found Dick and his archers dismounted by the edge of the thinning trees. Ahead of us the moors and rocks rose to the highest point on the long ridge which ran down England's spine.  I saw, in the distance, standards and mounted men as they hastened towards us. Dick pointed a half mile ahead.  There were ten men, four of them mounted and the rest on foot.  They were hurrying towards us. 

"These were the men we saw, lord.  Since I sent Will Red Legs we saw more of them." He pointed further up the slope.  I saw another ten mounted men.  They kept turned to charge those with standards and banners behind them.  Even as we watched I saw one of them fall.

"You have good eyes. Do you see the banners?"

He peered, "The ones chasing are Scots."

"Then they are our enemies. Whoever they chase we will aid. We ride.  Dick, mount your archers and sweep to the west.  We will charge them head on."

We galloped south.  The ten we had first seen cowered as we galloped by. They looked stunned to see our horses and banners. If we were to save the others then we had no time for pleasantries. However, as we rode by I recognised that two of them wore the livery of Sir Edgar Mandeville.  I was helping a supporter of Stephen the Usurper!

The dips and folds in the land aided us.  We disappeared from the view of the Scots as they concentrated upon the men they were chasing. We knew where they were. The track was little better than the moors around it and we rode in one long line.  We burst over the crest and the nine men who were fleeing towards us on horses already close to death, stopped and hung their heads as though they expected death. The thirty Scots who were pursuing must have been confident of catching their foes for they rode in a single column of twos.  We saw each other when we were but fifty paces apart.  Instead of charging us, which was the only option I would have taken, they halted.

Sir Edward and I rode at the two leading men, a knight and a man at arms. I punched my spear at the knight and, although be brought up his shield, he could not prevent my spear striking and penetrating his shoulder.  He chopped through my spear with his sword and I drew my own. He rode a palfrey and Rolf was bigger and more fierce. I swung my sword at his shield and his weakened left arm could not stop the blow.  It hacked down across his neck and he fell from his horse. 

His standard bearer lowered the standard and screaming, "Scotland!" charged at me with the standard held like a lance. I jerked Rolf's head to the left and hacked at the standard. Holding my own banner in his left hand Gilles brought his sword sideways to take the head of the brave young standard bearer. The rest were all quickly slain.  Dick and his archers appeared from the south.

"We found four Scots who were on foot.  They are dead. My archers are fetching their possessions."

I dismounted and picked up the standard.  I recognised it.  It belonged to Redere. I returned to the knight I had slain.  Lifting his helmet I saw that he looked to be of an age with William my son. The seal he bore marked him as a knight.  "He must be a son or brother of William Redere. Our lives, it seems, keep touching."

"Aye lord."

"Wulfric, collect the horses and the booty."

"And the bodies, lord?"

The moorland was dry for it was summer.  I did not want a fire which might destroy this land.  "Put them together and cover them with rocks." Wulfric scowled, "Wulfric, they fought well enough."