The Temporal Knights (68 page)

There were a great many trainers holding hooded falcons, hawks, and gyrfalcons, and Sir Oldalf found himself wishing for Tawni, his own prize bird. She was a sharp eyed, spirited falcon; the best he’d ever owned. There was a group of noblemen gathered at the base of a large grassy hill. Most of the noblewomen were scattered about the hillside, sitting on colorful blankets since the sky was clear and the day was warming nicely. Higher up the common folk gathered among themselves, equally excited about the day’s festivities. Sir Oldalf led his daughter through the throng, greeting nearly everyone. Ellyn noticed that her father received more than his fair share of calculated smiles from the older available women. She smiled at the attention her father was getting and couldn’t blame the women a bit. Yah, he was rich, but she also believed that he truly was a handsome, older gentlemen. He was a catch for any noblewoman old or young.

They finally reached the large area that was staked out for the Lady Ealhswith and her guests, which included General Peebles and Dr. Rice. Colonel Lemay, Captain Hersey, Sergeant
Sadao, plus many of the other American soldiers were down among the trainers and noblemen, who were happy to show off their birds.

“Lady Ellyn...Sir Oldalf,” General Peebles yelled out and waved them over. He had grown to like the big, bear of a knight and his daughter. “Join us would you?” he asked and glanced over at the Lady Ealhswith to see if the invitation was acceptable. The Queen nodded and smiled, and the General found himself smiling back like a fool. The queen, though she could hardly be called a beauty, was a handsome woman and carried herself with a great deal of dignity. Her hair was blonde and probably long, though she kept it piled neatly up on her head. Her face was youthful and clear, and her skin was without blemish though her neck was showing signs of age. She had light blue eyes, a wide mouth and a long sharp nose, but all in all, the General found her to be highly attractive. Perhaps it was the fact that she wore no makeup, but of course no women of this time did so…at least as far as Peebles could tell. They were sitting next to one another, under a simple awing, each on a pair of large wooden chairs. Peebles had the uncomfortable feeling that his seat was normally reserved for the King, but once again Alfred had declined to make an appearance. The rest of the highborn men and women were crowded around on long wooden benches.

“Thank ye kindly, Sir,” Oldalf said more on pretense than anything else, since he knew his star was rising. His daughter’s invitation to court was an indication of that fact. Even still, Oldalf nervously kissed the hand of the Queen. He moved down and repeated the performance with the hand of her daughter, Æthelf
læ
d. The Lady of Mercia was sitting happily with her son Leoforic, who she missed terribly. For the most part, F
læ
d was oblivious to anything else going on around her, so intent she was on her only living son.

Sir Oldalf led his daughter to the end of the bench were Sir Gospatrick hurriedly scooted away from his friend Ædwin to make room for the Lady from Somerset. Ellyn hesitated a moment but then graciously took the seat offered and gave Gospatrick a thin, shy smile. The only place remaining for her father was on the far side of Ædwin. Oldalf coughed nervously but then Ædwin smiled and indicated the man should sit. The knight from Bridgwater obliged, wondering about the enigmatic man to his right. It was said that Master Ædwin was the best swordsman in all of Wessex and though the man did have a certain grace and balance in his movements, his shoulders were on the thin side and his wrists were so small that Oldalf would not have thought him to be good with the blade. The four chatted amiably for a time, all waiting for the first birds to be ready and Oldalf grew more confused by Ædwin. He did not have the temperament of someone truly gifted with the sword. It was Oldalf’s experience that a man who was truly deadly in the art of killing was usually a boastful, arrogant braggart, and tried to be as offensive as possible, in short a bully. Sir Helmstan, who also carried a fearsome reputation with the sword, fit the description perfectly, but Ædwin was friendly, quick to smile and laugh, and overly polite to everyone. The man was truly a surprise and a bit of a dandy, but pleasant enough.

“Lady Ellyn,” Gospatrick said with a genuine smile, happy to be with her once again. If the truth be told, he’d spent most of the morning waiting on her, while trying to appear like he didn’t care. Ædwin, of course, was not fooled, but indulged his friend, and was truly relieved when the girl finally made an appearance. Perhaps now they could all enjoy the day. Gos was worrying him. He was truly smitten this time, though from his own perspective the young lady did not quite share his enthusiasm.

But Ædwin’s attention was not wholly on the two lovebirds and their social sparring. He was consumed with a different kind of sparring, the fighting kind. Later this afternoon he had a date with a Sergeant Sadao, who was said to be the master of arms among the Americans. These
strange men had captured his heart and soul as simply as the Lady Ellyn had captured the heart of his friend. As a rule, Ædwin refrained from passing judgment on an opponent’s abilities until they were personally put to the test. It was a good rule and had kept him from underestimating any opponent and quite probably kept him alive. But despite his convictions he was truly enthusiastic about the coming confrontation. Now, in the intimate embrace of battle, he would discover the true worth of this man and perhaps the true worth of all the Americans.

He was looking forward to this afternoon eagerly. He knew of this Sadao. He was not the largest of the Americans but Ædwin took the time to study him closely as he went about his duties. The man moved like a fighting man, like a swordsman, but he had yet to see any of the Americans carry a sword, let alone fight with one. It would be very interesting, but he was confident in the outcome, after all he was the best, the very best. Over the years his innate skill had actually grown into something of a curse. Time after time his opponents were a disappointment, never living up to the promise or the challenge. In the end it got so he avoided duels altogether, feeling the mystery of another’s skill was better than the harsh reality of disillusionment. He had no true rivals, no matter the high esteem Sir Helmstan held for his own abilities. Now he would see how these Americans fought…and how they handled defeat. Hopefully they would push him to his limits.

“Here they go,” Sir Gospatrick said as the awning was pulled down and Sir Wulfhere finally removed the hood from his bird. The tent was removed because hawking was a 360 degree event and the crowd needed full visibility to enjoy it. Gospatrick scooted closer to the Lady Ellyn but their legs were not actually touching so she forced herself not to move away. She felt quite ashamed that she’d ignored the man since his return from battle; after all she did enjoy his company even if his attentions often made her uncomfortable.

They sat beneath the glare of the sun, and waited until finally Sir Wulfhere turned loose his falcon. People clapped as the graceful bird took to the sky and quickly flew higher and higher, until it was just a small dot circling over their heads. The bird circled for several long minutes and still nothing happened.

“What’s going to happen,” Rice finally asked Sir Oldalf.

Oldalf smiled, happy to show his knowledge to his new friends, who knew so much, about so many things.

“The falcon will wait above until dogs and men have flushed some waterfowl from the far grassy brook,” he explained, and Rice could make out a group of men and dogs, greyhounds by the look of them, working their way along the bank of the brook.

“They should make a scare soon,” Gospatrick added from behind them, and within minutes three ducks took to the air, one flying away from the crowd while two bolted directly over their heads. The short winged birds flew very straight and very fast. Rice, Peebles and the rest of the crowd turned their gaze upward but the falcon was already in her dive, dropping from the sky at an incredible speed. Even so, the spectators were forced to turn about as the action passed over their heads. The falcon hit the unlucky duck with a puff of feathers, and the two birds tumbled to the ground only about two hundred feet beyond them. The crowd cheered quietly, expressing their pleasure without alarming the jittery birds that were impatiently waiting their turn. A handler loosened a dog and it bolted off through the crowd, running swiftly to secure the duck. The falcon eyed the approaching beast menacingly but jumped aside at the last moment. Sir Wulfhere whistled as the greyhound trotted happily back to his master and the falcon took to the air. The bird flew no more than a few feet off the ground and glided directly
over the Lady Ellyn’s head. She giggled and clapped delightedly as it gracefully landed back on Sir Wulfhere’s waiting right arm.

The Ealdorman crooned to his bird and sprinkled it lightly with water from his mouth to calm it from the excitement of the hunt, and within minutes he had his prize possession hooded so another bird could be let loose. This time it was a hawk, a much larger bird, belonging to Sir Guthlac of Surrey, and the wait was not nearly as long for the bird only flew up and perched high in a nearby tree. Once the hawk was in position a large, fat rabbit was set loose from its wicker cage. The frightened animal tore away from the nearby men and dogs, smelling freedom. The hawk immediately launched into the air with a shrill cry and quickly dove lower, flying fast after the running animal. The hawk flew low, somehow following the rabbit as it twisted one way and then the other. How the bird ever followed the winding path was a mystery but it closed on the animal as if a string connected the two. Then just as the bird was about to sink its claws into its prey, the rabbit stopped on a dime and turned to the right, and the hawk missed. But instead of landing the hawk did a complete loop in midair and this time hit the rabbit squarely behind the head. It struck the animal almost directly in front of the Lady Ealhswith’s group. The trapped animal gave a single terrified scream and then fell silent. The bird looked nervously about when the crowd broke into a enthusiastic but relatively quiet applause, then it ignored its surroundings and began to tear at its meal; the hawk’s sharp beak making quick work of the rabbit carcass.

“Did you see that loop?” Peebles asked Ealhswith excitedly. “I wasn’t aware they could do that.”

The Queen nodded, also impressed, but less enthusiastic than the General. She’d learned long ago that all men were impressed by the ability to kill, whether the skill
be in another man, an army, or a bird. She did not always understand the fascination, but she understood it was a thing common to men.

“I wish Major Thane was here to see that flying,” Rice added as the crowd buzzed with excitement. Peebles nodded and glanced about to see if his other two pilots were in the audience. He looked around for several minutes but did not spot either Gardner or Goode. 

The morning continued on with many more impressive displays of falconry, then an extravagant picnic lunch served with several large casts of wine. A small group of musicians entertained the masses with bells and small round flute like instruments made from hardened clay. After eating, targets were set up on the far side of the field and an impromptu archery demonstration took place. The archers were good, very good, and it wasn’t long before Peebles, Lemay and Rice were coaxed out to show their skill at the sport.

Many of the locals were disappointed to find that of the Americans, only Lemay was serviceable. The Colonel was an avid bow hunter for most of his life, but even he was no match for the accuracy the Englishmen. But just so they didn’t get too uppity, Lemay asked for permission to show them his skill with a rifle. Peebles agreed and had other soldiers in the crowd set up a variety of targets, some over a hundred yards away. Lemay however, was an expert shot, and quickly peppered
them all and the crowd quickly came back around. Next, they allowed Sir Oldalf and Sir Ceorl to try their hand with an M18. After carefully warning them of the dangers and supervising them very closely, the two men were allowed to take the weapon off safety and shoot at a pair of distant targets. Sir Ceorl turned out to be an excellent shot, but Sir Oldalf, who could not see the distant objects clearly, did not fare so well. Still both were impressed and exhilarated by the power of the weapon. Soon nearly every male nobleman including Sir Gospatrick, Sir Wulfhere and Ædwin crowded around the area. And again with close supervision, Peebles allowed them all a turn.

The ladies watched with some interest and a few even moved down closer to the action, but Ellyn found her attention waning. In her mind, computers were far more impressive than guns in any case. Plus she was missing Matt terribly so she decided to walk back up to the castle and call him on the radio. Surprisingly, she was growing very accustomed to speaking with him every day and no longer considered it such a wonder.After saying her goodbyes, she left her father to his fun and began walking the mile or so back to Maiden Castle. She followed the path she and her father had taken earlier that morning, topping the rise and then moving into the thin wooded area next to the brook which flowed to the west of Winchester. She moved alone, everyone else was enthralled by the Americans and their weapons. But it was a very lovely walk; even so her thoughts dwelled on Matt and their coming conversation and not on her surroundings.

“Hallo, M’lady,” a voice said from just off the path, startling her out of her daydreams. Sir Helmstan stepped from behind a large moss covered boulder which sat near the water. “Are ye leavin’ the games?”

“Yah…yah,” she stammered, surprised but not overly concerned. Helmstan looked behind her and then all around.