Enemy at the Gate (9 page)

I wrote letters to the Empress, the Earl and my son.  They would be both my will and my legacy if the worst came to the worst. I told them what I intended and what I foresaw as the outcome. I would send them on my ship at the last possible moment. William the Mason worked every hour he could to add defences to my already impressive castle. Each extra stone would slow down the enemy.

Aiden and his two scouts arrived back two days after I had finished my visits. They looked dirty and dishevelled but they were all full of news.  "Lord, they are at Durham and encamped outside."

"Numbers?"

"More than twenty thousand but only fifteen or sixteen thousand are warriors. To be honest, my lord, I have never seen as many banners and standards."

"Did they try to reduce Durham?"

"No lord, for they were visited by two lords, De Brus and Balliol. They spent some time talking and the two knights left for the river.  I think they came by ship. I do not think the Scots will attack Durham.  They have captured all the other castles of Durham.  Wark and Hexham are the only two places which remain in the hands of our knights."

"How do you know?"

"We captured two of their scouts and before they died they told us all."

"So they are a couple of days away?"

"Yes lord."

I shouted, "Dick!"

He had placed himself within earshot as soon as my scouts had returned. "Send riders to Norton, Hartburn and Elton.  They should come here now.  Send riders to Yarm and to Thornaby.  Tell them that the Scots are two days away."

I actually felt better now that we had something to do.  The castle became a hive of activity as shelters were erected in the inner and outer baileys.  Alf and Father Henry organised the town and I fell asleep that night, exhausted.

I was summoned to the walls the next day by my sentries.  When I reached the gate I saw De Brus, Balliol and their guards.  "Yes!"

"We have to come to tell you to flee.  King David marches here to destroy you."

"I thought you were sent to discuss terms?"

De Brus said, "We failed.  He will come no matter what we offered."

I wondered what that was.  "It changes nothing for me.  I enjoy killing Scotsmen as you both know."

"Earl, this is no time for petty squabbles.  We have been enemies before but now we fight on the same side."

"No we do not for you two fight for yourselves and I fight for this land and the rightful ruler of England. Ethelred!" I pointed to the ferry. "Take the ferry and tell the Archbishop that the men of the valley still fight beneath my banner and we will die before we surrender!"

De Brus shook his head, "You are my enemy but I admire your courage.  I will see that you are buried with honour."

Ethelred looked up at me, "Take them across the river and then anchor by Sir Edward's castle until this is over."

Ethelred turned to his son.  "Take this over.  I fight with the Earl for my home! I am an Englishman and I know where my loyalty lies."

When the ferry had left and Ethelred entered my castle the doors slammed shut. With those of Hartburn, Elton and Norton within it felt, somehow final. At least we knew where we stood; alone. I walked down to the jetty with my letters and handed them to Captain William, "Take these to Anjou. If we are not here when you return or if the castle has fallen then serve my son."

"My lord, you will prevail.  This is not the end!"

It felt like the slamming of a door as the tiny ship sailed east.  My last lifeline was now gone.  We were alone. 

The last of the villagers from Norton trickled through the north gate as Dick and my archers stood watch in a protective half circle.  When they were within the gates would be slammed shut for the last time and we would hunker down to await whatever King David had to throw at us. The last time they had come to besiege us I had been in Normandy and they had almost captured the castle. That had been a weakness of the design and we now had a stone tower by the ferry and a curtain wall which joined the town wall.  The tower was strongly garrisoned. We had prepared the ground around my town and my castle. We knew what to expect. We were ready this time.

The first Scottish outriders and scouts arrived at noon the next day.  They were cautious and stayed well beyond arrow range.  My archers were respected and feared. Some watched the town walls while others went east and west along the river. My castle was calm for we had prepared as well as we could. We had enough archers and men at arms to man the castle walls, the towers, and, with the men of my town, the town walls.  Every man had a helmet; even those from the town. Every hand held a weapon, most of my men had two. Even the boys had their slingshots and a leather cap.  Below the ramparts the women were ready, under Father Henry's supervision, with bandage, cat gut and ointments.  We were a valley at war,  No one would hide from the enemy.

We signalled Sir Edward's tower on the opposite bank of the Tees. It told them that the Scots had come. Until they crossed the river the burghers of Thornaby could continue their daily lives. Our signal merely warned them of their presence.  A rider had ridden to warn Sir Richard. The King of Scotland took two days to reach us such were the numbers of men he led.  By then the town and the castle were ringed with camp fires. There were neither cattle nor sheep for them to eat.  They had been taken south of the river or brought within our walls. I had no doubt they would hunt our deer but the army which lay without would take much feeding.

Each morning I was on my walls as dawn broke. I was cautious.  If I was King David that would be the time when I would attack. Perhaps he was confident for he did not attack at dawn.  I stood with Wulfric as he looked at the winking fires of the Scots. "How many?"

"I would guess more than twenty thousand.  I confess it is many years since I have seen such a host."

"Are you worried?"

He laughed, "Lord they are limited in where they can attack. I am guessing it will be the town walls but when they fall the enemy will have to scale these mighty battlements. My only fear is that I will need a spare axe to hew the heads as they appear.  A blunt axe is no weapon at all."

He was right.  The huge army he had brought would be better used on a battlefield. He would waste his men attacking such strong walls. I had no doubt that he would bring a ram.  That might work on the walls of the town but the ditches to the castle were double ditches. We had copied Roman design. He would need to build a bridge first.  Any attack would be expensive. My fear was for the town. Although we had a strong wall and it was manned, equally, by my men and those of the town it could be breached. The hard work of years could be undone by the vandals that were the Scots.

That August morning I heard trumpets and a rider, bearing the banner of the Scottish King rode to the gate.  He bore no helmet and he held no weapon.  My men respected the sign for truce.  "His majesty, King David of Scotland would speak with the Earl of Cleveland."

"He may approach with no more than five riders."

My knights joined me at the north gate. We looked down on the west gate of the town which abutted up to the castle wall.  I waved to Alf who was armed and armoured as well as any man at arms.  In his hand he held a war hammer.  Woe betide any Scot who came within range of his powerful right arm. Sir Harold pointed, "That looks to be Prince Henry with him. "

Sir John said, "Aye lord, and your friend Redere."

I recognised both of them.  Prince Henry had grown somewhat and he had a reputation as a good leader.  The Archbishop had told me that Stephen had allowed De Brus to offer him the title of Earl of Northumbria in exchange for peace.  I would not have done that but I could see that as the present incumbent was Gospatric, and a rebel, it made little difference.

They halted before the gates.  I had already annoyed them by making them look up to my walls.  Kings never liked that. King David spoke but I could see that his son was already angry at the disrespect shown by us. "Earl you rejected my offer of friendship and now you close your gates to me.  As my envoy told you I fight for my niece. You are her foremost supporter we are on the same side."

"You fight for Scotland.  I fight for England and I respect patriotism so do not dress it up as an offer of friendship. The Empress does not wish to give up one piece of land. You have already taken advantage of the usurper and grabbed Carlisle.  When time allows I will take that back."

Prince Henry jabbed an angry finger at me, "That land was ever Scottish!"

I laughed and saw the young man redden, "Do not believe your singers of songs.  The Romans built a wall to divide the civilised world from the barbarians of the north.  Carlisle is English!" I pointed to Redere, "And a word of warning for you, dissembler.  Come within the reach of my arm and you shall lose your head. That is fair warning."

King David raised his hand, "Enough of these threats,  Earl, do you join us or fight us?" He gestured behind him.  "I have twenty six thousand men and you are no obstacle to us.  If we attack then we give no quarter.  We will slay the men and enslave the women and children."

I shook my head, "Hypocrite! You talk of ending threats and then threaten us in the same breath.  Do no waste any more breath.  If you can take us then do so but do not insult us with the sound of your voice."

"That is the King to whom you speak! He deserves respect!"

"And, pup, I am the Warlord of the North.  There is neither King nor Emperor who commands my respect. When the real Prince Henry, the son of the Empress, is anointed, then I will bow my knee to a king, until then they are merely men and they should avoid the edge of my sword."

The King said, "Then it is done.  You have consigned your people to an ignominious end."

As he turned a chant began.  I think Alf began it but all took it up.  They banged their spears on the wooden walls and on their shields.  All joined in, men, women, children; burghers and warriors.  "Warlord! Warlord! Warlord! Warlord!"

It continued until the King rejoined his men and then all began to cheer. The words of the King had not frightened my people, they had inspired them. The King had done me a favour.

"That was well done, lord."

"If you were the Scots, Wulfric, where would you attack first?"

"The town wall and their north gate.  It is stone and the walls next to it have stone foundations but it is a lower obstacle than our walls."

"I agree. Sir John, take command here with Sir Tristan and Sir Hugh.  Wulfric, fetch Erre and his Varangians as well as the Frisians.  This is their sort of work."

Philip of Selby and the Archbishop's archers manned the north gate of the town. We had identified it as a target.  There were also some of Sir Harold and Sir Tristan's men at arms there but I would take my elite warriors. Wulfric and the Varangians. King David would want a demonstration of his power and he would use his best men at arms to assault the gate. I, too, would make a statement and they would be thrown back.

Philip nodded as we ascended the gate  house.  "I see I am in elevated company this day.  The mighty Wulfric joins me."

Wulfric laughed, "Aye, for the few who survive your arrows shall be hewn as trees." Banter was a good thing it showed that my men were unworried.

I saw the Scots forming up.  The mormaer were assembling their chosen men. The ones who would attack us were the men of Lothian.  They had helmets and a few had leather hauberks.  Their shields were as large as ours. Unlike my men at arms only the front rank wore full hauberks. I saw no knights amongst them. They were making a shield wall to advance over the killing ground which lay to the north of the town.  It was grazing land. The cover was almost a mile away, north of the Ox Bridge. Behind the shield wall came men carrying ladders.  They waited and I wondered what for.  Then I saw it.  They had a ram.

Next to me Wulfric chuckled. "They are in for a shock." The ram rumbled down the track from the north towards the gate. We had taken out many of the cobbles which normally made the road surface smooth.  We had replaced them with mud.  The ground on both sides had been soaked by river water and was now spongy and soft.  There was a layer of clay not far below the surface which stopped water draining off. It was the reason we used it for grazing.  Once again the land would come to our aid. The Scots marched towards us, oblivious to the hazards. The shield wall had split in two and flanked the ram.

The soaked area was two hundred paces from my walls and Philip and his archers had marked the spot with white stones. As the shield wall stepped on to the boggy area they found themselves in difficulty.  They looked to their feet and the archers struck.  Their arrows found flesh where they should have found shields. Twenty men fell before order was restored.  Shields were raised, dead men replaced and then, when it was pushed forward, the ram found the first of the broken sections.  The front dipped alarmingly exposing the leg of one of the men within.  Philip's arrow found the leg. They righted the ram and carried on. It was the third break in the road which destroyed the ram. The constant falls had weakened the axle and the wheels. The front axle and wheel broke. It was eight paces from the walls.  The men from within tried to escape but were cut down.

I heard a mormaer shout orders and the shield walls joined once more and continued their advance. The cloying mud sapped their energy and it took forever to reach the walls.  My archers wasted not an arrow.  Their targets were the flesh they glimpsed. They did not miss.

The ditch had no water but it was filled with stakes and it was deep. It would take many bodies to fill it.  The original one had been just two paces across.  We had discovered that our enemies could bring wooden boards to cover that distance. Now it was as wide as a Roman ditch, almost four paces. The sides were steep and made with the slippery clay of the valley bottom.  Soaked by the same river water which had made their progress slow it was as deadly as ice.

The mormaer halted them at the edge of the ditch. He raised his sword and archers ran towards the rear of the shield wall. They had the same problem as the shield wall had encountered. In addition they were now close enough to be subjected to the stones and arrows hurled and loosed by the villagers.  Most of the archers did not even get to release an arrow.  The ones they did release thudded into the wooden walls. Realising that the walls could not be cleared, the Scots, no doubt emboldened by their numbers, began to descend into the ditch. They could not keep their footing and the first ones slid down the slippery slope to be impaled upon the stakes at the bottom.  Philip and his archers now joined the villagers in slaying the Scots who could not both keep their footing and their balance while holding a shield. By the time the ditch had been filled with bodies the mormaer had had enough and they withdrew.

The villagers cheered as though we had won the war.  We had not even won the battle. Erre spat, "We have not even dented their numbers!"

"I know Erre but it will give the people heart.  They are not used to this as you are. They now know that numbers alone will not win this battle."

"But lord, the ditch is almost filled.  When next they come they can walked across their own dead!"

Wulfric said, "And you have walked on corpses before now, Erre, they shift and they move." He pointed to the stones we had removed from the track and placed on the rampart by the gate.  "Any who survive arrows will have their heads crushed."

Erre nodded and stroked his axe, "True, my friend and the lucky ones to survive will meet me and my lady friend here!" Most of the Varangians liked to name their weapons.  Erre's was Medusa's Blade! His time in Miklagård had not been wasted and he knew classical allusions.

I saw the Scottish leaders, half a mile away, as they gathered to discuss what to do.  I saw Prince Henry gesticulating, angrily, in our direction. I looked at the sun. It would soon begin to dip into the west.

I turned to Wulfric, "A night attack?"

"Aye and here. They know the ground and they have filled the ditch.  They will use it."

"Then have the men eat in shifts. Philip, have fire brought for we will need fire arrows this night.  I will go and speak with Alf and the townsfolk. Come Gilles.  I may have errands for you.  Leave the banner here on the walls.  Let the Scots know where I shall be."

I climbed down the stairs.  At the bottom I was cheered by people who thought the retreat of the Scots meant victory.  Alf descended from his section of the wall too. "Do not blame them, lord.  To them it seems like we have won."

"But you know we have not." He nodded.  "They will come and probably this night.  Have your men on the walls eat and rest; I would suggest one in two.  The ones who attack us will have been resting.  They will be fresh and they will be angry."

"Aye my lord but the people are angry too.  They know what privations the Scots inflict upon their enemies.  There will be no surrender.  The King's words just stiffened their resolve."

As I went back to my castle I knew that he was right. "Aiden!"

My forester ran towards me.  "Yes lord."

"Slip out this evening and take a boat upstream. See if you and your two hawkers can upset the sentries of the Scots.  Make them fear the woods."

"Aye lord.  I do not like sitting on my backside doing nothing."

"If you can hear aught of their plans then so much the better but take no risks."

"I hear your words, lord."

My three knights and Dick descended to meet me.  "We have beaten off one attack but Wulfric and I fear a night time assault. Rest one man in two. I believe their main attack will be on the north gate of the town I would expect them to probe for weaknesses all around our defences.  They have the men to do so."

"Do not put yourself in danger, lord. We have our best men guarding the gate from the town.  Leave yourself enough time to escape."

"I will escape only when the townspeople are safe.  But I do not fear this night attack.  It is what King David does next which has me worried."

Alice ran up to me.  She had a wooden platter. There were thick slices of ham, cheese and some bread which was still warm.  A servant girl held a jug of beer. "Here lord, eat now before you return to the walls.  If you fail then we are lost.  You must keep up your strength."  She looked at a grinning Gilles, "And you too!"

I smiled, Alice had no family of her own and God had not blessed her with children and so she regarded me and Sir John and Gilles as her family.

"We had better do as she says, Gilles." I was hungrier than I had thought and the warm rye and oat bread was smothered in butter.  Washed down with freshly brewed black beer I was ready to face whatever the Scots threw at us. The sun was slowly dipping in the west when I reached the walls again.  I had sent Gilles for my cloak.  It would be colder later, but, more importantly, it would hide me from view.  When the Scots came they would be greeted by dark apparitions which rose like wraiths from the walls.  It would add to their fear and their apprehension. I saw that only four of my men stood on the walls.  The rest sat, hidden from view.  I wished the Scots to think we had all retired.

It was pitch black when we heard the first cry.  It was away to the west close by the willows which dipped to the river. Philip of Selby whipped his head around, "What was that, lord?"

"That is Aiden and his men upsetting the Scots. It will distract them as well as alarming them.  It is hard to sleep when you think you might have your throat cut."

The sporadic cries lasted for some time.  I could not see them but I knew what they would be doing.  They knew the woods as well as any and they would lead any pursuers a merry dance. They would approach the fires and loose arrows into the air. When hunters came for them they would have their throats cut.

"Lord, I see something." Gilles had young eyes and they were sharp.  I peered into the dark and could see nothing. 

Philip of Selby said, "I saw movement too. They come."

Wulfric hissed, "Stand to! Pass it on!" The whisper slid down the wall and, unseen by the enemy, men rose to stand at the walls. All were well wrapped up in cloaks.

I picked up the throwing javelin.  We had placed thirty of them by the walls along with the stones from the track.  They would be our first defence.  Thereafter it would be swords and axes. It is hard to climb a ladder and hold both a sword and a shield.

Turning to Philip of Selby I said, "Prepare fire arrows. Use your own judgement when to release."

"Aye lord."

We had pig fat to use but that would not be yet. Boiling water and pig fat were for the final assault. That would be many days off yet. I could now see the darker shadows of the Scots as they moved cautiously across the ground.  No matter how silent they were they could not avoid the squelching of their feet in the mud. We heard them as they crossed the muddy ground.

Philip said quietly, "Release!"

The fire arrows had been hidden from view by the bodies of the twenty archers.  As they turned the walls were illuminated as well as the sky.  As the fiery arrows descended we saw the Scots frozen in the light.  The men and boys of the town saw the targets and they needed no urging to slay the Scots. Arrows and stones were loosed and thrown as fast as they could be reloaded. The loosely advancing line became a shield wall but the littered bodies told the tale.  They had been hurt. Darkness descended again as the arrows were extinguished. Two had struck the Scots and they were the last to go out as they burned out on the two dead men.

There was no need for secrecy now and we heard a shout and a roar as the Scots advanced from every direction. They even attacked the castle walls. I had no worries about those.  The ditches had water within and traps and stakes would take a heavy toll.  The attack would bleed to a halt there but in front of this gate there was danger.  We had had no opportunity to clear the corpses from the ditch and the Scots had a bridge of bodies. My eyes were now accustomed to the dark and I watched the mormaer as he led his warriors across the ditch.  As I had expected they found the footing was less than stable.  As the mormaer's arms flailed to keep his balance I threw my javelin. It struck him in the chest, penetrating the mail he wore.  He was thrown back to add to the dead in the ditch.

The night had aided the Scots and more of them were able to reach the ditch unharmed. I heard the smack of wood on wood as the ladders were thrown up. The gate house was higher than the walls.  My archers were able to pick off the Scots from the side. My Frisians and men of Copeland hacked and hewed the Scots as they tried to clamber over the walls. The numbers were so great that, inevitably, some Scots found a foothold. I saw Alf sweep three of them from the wall with one strike of his hammer.  "Wulfric, take Erre and his men. Clear the wall to the west. Gilles, come with me and we will clear the wall to the east.  Leave the banner here.  This is sword work." I drew my dagger which was more like a short sword.  A shield might encumber me.

We left the gatehouse by the small sally port. There were dead townsfolk close by the door and we stepped over their bodies. A head appeared over the wall.  I swung my sword and it smashed into the helmet and the skull.  The Scot fell, his dead hands still grasping the ladder, his body pulled the ladder and his companion to the ditch of dead below. I knew that Gilles would guard my back and I went towards the last Scots who had made my walls, confidently.  One must have sensed me for he turned around.  He swung his sword.  I blocked it with my own and then rammed my dagger under his arm.  I tore it sideways as I withdrew it.  The limb was almost severed from his body and he tumbled into the town. I stabbed forward at the mormaer who was raising his axe to strike Alf.  My sword went through his mail and grated along his spine. His arm froze in mid air as he died. His body fell from my sword as it dropped to the town below.