Wolf Wood (Part Two): The Dangerous years (8 page)

The relief army had been raised at colossal expense and was England's last throw of the dice. The end of English rule in Normandy was near. All that remained was to get out of an impossible situation and that meant negotiating from a position of strength.

Some of the citizens of Bayeux would welcome the French. Almost everyone would welcome an end to the fighting. Commander Gough's concern was for the English settlers and people who would be persecuted for working too closely with them.

A grunt from Harald said the message was finished. It was destined for the commander of Cherbourg Castle and gave a coded account of the defeat at Formigny. It would be up to him to pass the news to Westminster. Commander Gough didn't know how long that would take and didn't care. From now on, he would be working without interference from the nincompoops and traitors who ran things there.

Skirmish

Alice heard shouting and went to see what was happening. Their apartment was in one of the twin towers above the main City gate. On the battlements, far below, William was waving the Gascoigne standard and yelling a challenge to the Bastard of Orleans, commander in chief of the besieging French forces.

'Fight to the death!' he screamed in Norman French. 'I, William the Bastard, challenge you French Bastard to single combat.'

A crowd on the City walls was trading insults with the French. In the street below, a troop of heavily armoured men had lined up beside one of the postern gates. At first, Alice thought they were part of the regular garrison. Then she realised they were William's men.

'Will! … Will! … Will!'

They set up a chant and William ran from the battlements to join them. After that, everything happened at a mad rush. The postern gate flew open and the men sallied out. It all happened so fast, Alice had difficulty keeping pace with events.

Robin had no such problems. He dashed from his apartment, glanced over the City wall and ran towards the guardhouse, shouting to his men to sound the alarm. The bell on the tower rang, calling the garrison to action stations. Alice placed her hands over her ears and watched as the scene was transformed.

Robin was not dressed for action. Nor were many of the men streaming into the streets. Some were buckling on armour as they went, often with a member of their family hurrying alongside with breast plates and other gear.

Elsewhere, people were building barricades with materials stacked ready for that purpose. Alice saw her son, Steven, amongst them. He was now twelve and big for his age. She watched him at work with older boys, heaving beams into place.

William's band of desperados had intimidated the guards into opening the postern gate and had created a dangerous situation. The gate was there for the garrison to sally out and attack the enemy. William had left it open. It wasn't clear whether he had done so to entice the enemy into a fight or to let them in. Either way, the French were on the move.

A detachment of cavalry was galloping across the no-man's-land towards them. Alice recognised their standards. They included those of some of France's most distinguished families. The knights dismounted at fifty paces, left their horses with their squires and advanced in a solid mass.

On the other side of the wall, women were shouting, telling William's men to get the gate shut. Others were screaming hysterically. In the midst of the confusion, Robin arrived. He'd not had time to put on full armour and his only protection was a padded jacket and steel helmet. A sword hung at his side and he carried a crossbow. He advanced towards the gate, which was flanked by two of William's men.

'Shut and arm the gate.'

He barked the order and the men gestured back contemptuously. The next moment they were falling forward, clasping their bellies. Alice guessed Robin had shot them. His men knocked the pair aside, slammed the gate shut and dropped the heavy beams that held it in place.

A battle was now raging on the other side of the wall. William had not deserted to the French as she had feared. He was fighting them and his taunts had attracted some big fish. The Bastard of Orleans was not there but some leading French lords were. Alice guessed William planned to take prisoners and hold them for ransom.

She was no stranger to blood and gore. Hours tending the wounded had inured her to the horrors of severed limbs and spilt entrails. But, this was the first time she had seen carnage in action. Conflicting emotions drove her first one way then another. She didn't want to watch but wanted to see what was happening. There was something primeval and fascinating about men engaged in bloody combat. She felt guilty for wanting to look.

William's men were getting the better of the conflict. Some of their opponents lay dead. Others had fled to their horses. Three knights had been taken prisoner. In the distance, a second wave of French was preparing to charge.

William came to the gate and began to parlay with someone through an opening. Alice guessed the other person was Robin. From the way William was gesticulating, it seemed he was not getting his way. She guessed he wanted the gate opened. If it remained shut, he and his men would have to face up to a much larger force and have nowhere to flee.

Would Robin leave him to his fate?

That would solve one problem and create others. Guy would hunt down Robin if anything happened to his son. In the event, it seemed that Robin was prepared to take that risk. The gate remained shut and William returned to his men and formed them into a tight defensive arc.

On the wall above the gate, a gunnery sergeant signalled to his men. Archers crouched beside slits. Others prepared to shoot down through the embrasures at the top of the wall.

A trumpet blew and the French charged. The knights came forward in a compact mass of armoured man and armoured horse. Alice saw cannons brought forward. If the charging horsemen saw them, it was now too late. Once started, their sort of manoeuvre was impossible to reverse.

At a hundred paces, the gunners stood poised with their smouldering cords. All now depended on the powder. A batch had deteriorated and Robin had expressed concern about it. If the present batch was defective, William was doomed and Guy's fury would know no mercy.

At fifty paces, the gunners applied their cords and the cannons fired. A hail of grapeshot cut through the air and reduced the charging ranks to a mess of flaying hooves and shattered bodies. The archers on the walls let fly with a few shots but were not needed. The first wave of attackers had been devastated.

But the fighting was not over. As a few survivors limped back to the French lines, another wave of attackers was unleashed. This time, the postern gate was opened and the captives were bundled through. The archers on the wall put down a hail of fire. More French fell and the whole bloody episode finally came to an end when William's men retreated into the City.

On the other side of the wall, a French horseman approached under a white flag. Alice saw the postern gate open and a similar flag emerge. It was carried by Robin. He advanced towards the Frenchman and they began to parley. Robin returned and stretcher bearers came out from the French lines to care for their dead and injured.

***

Harald waited for Commander Gough to return from the guardhouse. He wondered if he was under suspicion. William was his nephew and he had flaunted Gough's authority. Footsteps on the stairs caused him to stiffen. The commander entered and slumped on a bench with his back to the wall. He looked tired. Over twenty years campaigning had taken a toll on his health. He waited to catch his breath before speaking.

'He's a fine young man you brought here.'

Harald could hardly believe his ears. His mind was on William. It was the last thing he expected to hear. Then he realised the commander was talking about Robin.

'Perry restored order with two shots. If it had not been for him, the situation would have got completely out of hand.'

'You mean when he shot those men?'

'Aye. He took decisive action when others were too scared to challenge those upstarts. But for him we could have lost control. I've questioned witnesses and they all give the same account.'

'There was a confrontation with my nephew.'

'Aye. Perry told him he would have to stay out there as bait for the French. There were cannon waiting to slice them up. He said they'd have to hold out as best they could.'

'That would not have ingratiated him with William.'

'No. It did not,' the commander chuckled. 'He was foaming at the mouth when I questioned him. I've rarely seen such rage in a human being.'

Commander Gough paused, waiting for a response. Harald hated to speak about his family. For a while he had been free of them. Now they had invaded his life again. Mercifully, his father had died of his wounds. But Guy and William were still hanging around. Eventually, he found words.

'My ... my nephew is possessed by devils.' His stutter returned. 'It is the curse of my family. We lived in a place called Wolf Wood and have come to behave like the beast.'

'You are surly not speaking about yourself.'

'I don't know.' Harald placed his head in his hands. 'My whole life has been spent trying to get away from them. No matter what I do ... I cannot shake them off.'

'You stand to inherit a lot of money now that your father is dead. He owns property in Bordeaux and you are his eldest son and heir.'

'Aye,' Harald sighed. 'That is my curse.'

'In what way?'

'As eldest son, I stand in the way of my younger brother.'

'You mean Guy?'

'Aye. He has lost a fortune in England. He will have his eyes on the Bordeaux estate.'

The commander nodded thoughtfully then seemed to change the subject. 'Before your father died, he asked to speak to me. I went to his bed and found him quite lucid. He told the others to go then began to talk about the future. Do you know what he said?'

Harald shook his head.'

'When the time comes to put down those traitors in Westminster, use the army. Don't let the common people get involved or it will work out like last time.'

Harald nodded. 'That sounds like him. He would have been referring to the Wat Tyler rebellion.'

'I think he was encouraging me to join the Duke of York in Dublin and bring pressure on Council. I think that was what he intended to do. What do you think?'

'It's the sort of way his mind worked.'

Harald guessed the commander was sounding out his views. Since the subject was the overthrow of the government, he felt cautious about expressing any firm opinion. He sensed the commanded felt the same way.

His next question was equally searching.

'Don't you think it would be better to increase the powers of parliament and give it more say in the running of the country, like in the Hansa cities? They are run by an elected mayor and corporation. It could perhaps be possible to run an entire country like that.'

'I've no problem with increasing the powers of parliament and making it more representative,' Harald replied guardedly. 'But England is not a Hansa city and cannot be run as if it were. I know people who believe that such a thing is possible. They think that power would devolve into the hands of merchants, masons, lawyers and other people of skill and education … and they are mistaken.'

'What do you think would happen?'

'Power would be seized by people like my brother Guy.'

'We think alike, Harald.'

Matthew Gough rose to his feet. Harald concluded that he had got the answer he expected and was merely checking to see that they were of the same mind. His next question came as a surprise.

'What does Robin Perry think?'

'His views are the same as mine. Indeed, I have been influenced by him. Robin was forced to serve with my brother and saw what the irregular bands can do. They are a law unto themselves when government brakes down. They carve out fiefdoms and set themselves up as lords. Cities that were once administered by a mayor and corporation are now ruled by illiterate cut-throats who can barely speak the language of the people.'

'Is this what Robin Perry says?'

'Aye. They could be his very words.'