Earl (4 page)

"It sounds a risk, my lord."

"I am merely planning for the worst that could happen.  I hope that the Earl of Gloucester will reach us before that happens." I laughed, "However, Harold, think of all the booty we shall win while we await our leader."

There were finer details we had to manage.  I had learned, over the years, that failure to do so led to more confusion than was necessary.  It was another reason why I had chosen these four.  They were closer to me than any other knights.  Perhaps Hugh of Gainford would have fitted in too but I was happy with those who were with me.

We reached the Mersey on the evening of the fourth day.  We had done well. We made camp in the forests they called Wirral.  It was the lands used by the Earls of Chester for their hunting. Now that we were close to our enemies we made a defensive camp with sentries and traps to warn us of any incursion. I gave instructions to Aiden. He would leave before dawn and scout out Chester. I had confidence in him. He would bring back detailed information of who we faced and an accurate count of their numbers.

That evening, after we had eaten, the camp was filled with the sounds of swords being sharpened on whetstones.  My men were going to war and they would be ready. There was a confident air in the camp.  Success breeds success and we had been successful thus far. I did not expect to be worried by the Welsh warriors.

It was just a handful of miles from where we camped to Chester. When we rose we made ready to fight.  Those who were guarding the horses were protected by Erre and his men. Each conroi gathered around its banner.  We waited for the return of Aiden. We did not have long to wait.

"My lord, they have over two hundred men along three sides.  A further hundred are on the fourth.  They have Welsh archers and spearmen but only five knights.  I saw many Vikings and the wild Irish. They have ringed the town with a ditch."

I nodded.  That was unexpected and might cause a problem. Vikings were like dismounted knights and they were fearless. They were as tough as the Varangian Guard but, thankfully, less disciplined. They were an unexpected element in this equation. "And where are they weakest?"

"To the east of their defences they have a camp with tents and their horses. It lies outside their defensive ditch." He smiled, "I think, from the animals I saw on their fires, that the knights have been hunting in the land of the Earl of Chester."

"Good.  Then we have our opportunity.  Aiden, lead Erre and the pack animals towards the ford over the Dee.  Wait for us on the other side." I had already told Erre what he would be doing.  At first he had taken it as a slight but he now saw the wisdom. We would be using our horses as weapons.  It was not in Erre's experience and he was a professional enough warrior to realise that.

Aiden led them off.  "Dick, command the archers. When we attack I want you to shower their defences with arrows. When we have raided the camp then follow us and stop any pursuit."

"Aye, my lord."

"Wulfric, you command the men at arms. The knights and the squires will lead the attack." I patted the neck of my jet black destrier, Star.  "Let us see if they can stand against our warhorses."

Leofric brought me my lance and John unfurled my banner.

"We ride!"

We had little order as we rode through the forest.  We had been here before and we knew the way. As the trees began to thin we caught the faint whiff of wood smoke.  It became stronger and I slowed the column down. I saw the camp in the distance. We were too far to the west and I led the column of men through the trees to the east. We emerged from the trees in a small dell.  We were hidden from the camp. I lifted my lance and the other knights formed on me.  Behind me the squires formed a line with my banner in the middle and then Wulfric cajoled the men at arms into their lines. Dick had plenty of time to organise his men once we had charged.

I led the men from the forest and we trotted.  I could feel Sir Edward's foot next to mine on one side and Sir Richard's on the other. It kept us tight.  Our horses were not moving hard enough to thunder yet but when they did then the enemy would see us. We crossed over a hundred paces before a sentry spotted us as we left the hidden dell. He was pulling up his breeks having relieved himself. His shout made every head turn towards us.  It was too late for those within the camp. We were within charging range.  We were but three hundred paces from them. I spurred Star and he began to move a little faster. I kept my lance upright.

The men of Gwynedd sounded their horns and began to turn to face us.  I saw the spearmen racing for their spears and the archers stringing their bows. It would be too late for them. I had time to see that there were no Vikings in this camp.  It was the knights, the squires and perhaps thirty of their spearmen and archers who had occupied this part of the siege works.

At a hundred paces I lowered my lance and kicked Star on. He leapt forward.  I tucked my shield tightly into my body and looked for my target.  I saw a knight with a red shield.  It had a single leopard upon it and he had a war axe. I saw him shouting orders.  He would be my target. Others were gathering around him.  They were brave men. Star's hooves crashed and smashed into the skull of an unlucky spearman who did not get out of his way.  I stood in my stirrups as I pulled back my lance and, as I neared the knight I punched forward. He tried to swing his war axe at the head of my lance but my hand had been too fast. The head went into his open mouth even as he was cursing me. His head snapped back and I relaxed my hand to let his body slide from my lance.

We were now like foxes in the henhouse.  We were a wall of horseflesh and metal which ploughed through the disorganised Welshmen who had barely had time to arm themselves. I was aware of arrows falling to my right.  Dick and the archers were doing as I had bid. I saw a squire brace himself against the ground with his spear.  He intended to skewer my horse. I wheeled Star to the left and struck down with the lance. The head went into his shoulder and, as he fell, it broke.  I let go of the ruined weapon and drew my sword.

I wheeled Star to the right around the wounded squire and leaned forward. An archer was aiming at Wulfric and the men at arms.  As the Welshman's arm drew back I slashed my sword across the back of his neck.  The sharpened blade bit into the flesh and the archer's head flew across the ground. It struck one of his comrades on the leg and he turned.  Before he could bring his bow to bear I had hacked into his side and he fell in a heap at my feet.

I reined in Star. He was not yet tired but I knew not what lay ahead.  I conserved his energy. I lifted my helmet and scanned the field.  The warriors who were facing Chester's walls were beginning to organise themselves. We had achieved what I wanted.  I turned and saw John, where he had been ordered to stay, close to my horse's flank.

"John, signal our men to hold."  Harold and Leofric drew up next to me. "Tell the squires to collect the horses and head for the ford."

"Aye my lord."

I saw the men at arms moving around the field finishing off the wounded and gathering the booty.  It was mainly from the dead knights. Dick and the archers had mounted up and I saw them approach. Edward and my other knights appeared at my side. "Have we lost many?"

Sir Richard said, "I saw one of Sir Edward's men fall.  They took his horse with an axe and then slew him.  The men at arms finished them off."

"Good that is less than I expected." Dick approached. "Have you thinned them?"

"Aye my lord, but there are still many remaining.  Those Vikings in their mail shirts are certainly hard to kill."

"Cover us as we withdraw."

Heavily armoured men from Dublin were now heading purposefully towards us in their classic wedge. There was no flesh to be seen and they sheltered behind their enormous shields.  There was little to be gained from trying to fight them on horses which had become tired. It was time to leave.  I was aware of men on the walls of Chester cheering and waving banners.  We had achieved our purpose. Chester would not fall any time soon and it would take a day or two for them to reorganise their camp.

"John, withdraw!"

As the banner signalled my orders I wheeled Star and headed south and east to the ford where, I hoped, that Erre and my men would be waiting.

Erre showed how reliable he was.  When we approached the ford I could see that they had their spears ready to repel any enemy who tried to take the ford.  The horses and baggage were protected by the servants further up the bank while the Varangians stood close to the water's edge. He raised his helmet and waved as he recognised us.

I dismounted next to him as the column crossed the ford.  I waved over Aiden. "Go and make sure that the hill at Broughton is unoccupied."

Erre grinned, "I see you succeeded my lord.  Perhaps we should have stayed with you and we might have relieved the siege."

"There are Vikings here, Erre, many of them.  You know their worth.  Can you imagine trying to dislodge them from behind their ditches?"

He nodded, "You need to catch them in the open."

"And we can only do that when they are hungry enough to come and seek us. And when they do so then you and your brothers will be the wall upon which they will break."

"You are a true strategos, my lord.  I can see why the Emperor tried to tempt you to his service."

As we neared the vital hill I noticed the burnt out farms which dotted the plain.  The Welsh had been busy.  I wondered how many families had been taken west to their island of their mountain as slaves. I began to be assailed by doubts as we approached Broughton.  Suppose the Welsh had fortified and defended the old hill fort?  We did not have enough men to assault it; at least not enough to assault it and then hold it.  An attack on a well defended position was always expensive on both men and horses. I was relieved when Aiden met us.  His demeanour told me that there were no problems.

"There is no one there, my lord. It looks much the same as the last time we were here."

"Well done."

He was right. The ditches had not been deepened; indeed some were still half filled with fallen leaves, rocks and broken branches. The walls which had fallen had not been repaired. The Earl of Chester had been remiss.  He had left his back door not just open but broken.  It was no wonder he had been surprised.  Had this been my land I would have rebuilt the castle and garrisoned it. I pointed to the top as the servants arrived.  "Set up the tents at the top.  Prepare food.  Our men have earned it."

Wulfric dismounted next to me.  "I will set the sentries, my lord."

"Good.  We were lucky there Wulfric.  We caught them by surprise."

He shook his head, "We make our own luck my lord. I will have the men gather the loot together."

"You will organise it into five equal piles.  On this raid we share equally."

Dick rode up to me but did not dismount. "We will scout the woods and see if there are either men or game hereabouts, my lord."

Dick and half of his archers were Sherwood woodsmen. It was second nature for them to forage first and rest later.  They knew the value of a full stomach. The labour was a fair division.  The men at arms would make the camp defensible and the archers would provide food.

We barely had time to set up the camp before darkness fell.  Dick returned with two deer and a report that the land close by was clear of all signs of the Welsh. His grim face spoke of the dead he had found.  The farmers of Cheshire had paid for the indolence of the Earl. “There is no one alive for many miles, my lord.  There were few bodies.  I am guessing the rest of the people and their animals have been taken.”

Next morning my four small conroi each left the camp to head north, south, east and west.  They would find the Welsh and cause havoc. The camp seemed emptier when almost two thirds of our men left. "Wulfric let us make this a harder nut to crack."

"Aye my lord." He shook his head.  "The men feel slighted that they have to work in the camp while others go to war."

"Then tell them that tomorrow will be our turn. Our four conroi today will disturb the enemy and tomorrow they will look for us.  We have the biggest conroi." I wagged a finger at him, "Let me do the planning, Wulfric and the men will all profit."

"It was not me, my lord but…"

"I know. Now clear the ditches and replace the fallen stones.  We will not build a Miklagård but we will make it harder for them to dislodge us."

I waved Aiden and my squires over. "Aiden I want you and Leofric to ride and find the Earl of Gloucester.  He needs to know where we are and my plans. Keep hidden.  Once you pass our men and the Welsh lines it should be easier." I smiled, "I would tell you where to go but I am certain that you know how to suck eggs!"

Aiden grinned, "Aye my lord.” He turned to Leofric who had once been one of the boys who held his falcons.  "Come Leofric let us see just how well and swiftly you can ride."

My men worked hard and as the morning turned to afternoon you could see the difference they had made.  The walls were remade so that we could fight from behind them.  It was an ancient fort and so there were no towers for my archers but Dick and his men improvised a step to give them some height.  The ancients had used twists and turns in the ditch to guard their entrance and Erre and his Varangians made that into a death trap. We did not have the tools to deepen the ditch but by clearing it we made it into an obstacle once more. We also fired some sharpened stakes and put them in the ditch.  I had men dig another ditch directly in front of the open gateway so that any enemy could not run directly in.  They would have to turn. It was only a small ditch but it would slow down an enemy.

Harold was the first to return. It was in the late afternoon. He had been to the west and the road to Anglesey.  His small conroi had been augmented by five pack animals.  Two of his men bore wounds; one of them looked serious enough for the attention of our priest.

"Father John, would you see to the wounded?" Harold dismounted.  I felt like a proud father as I saw the look of joy upon his face.  He had fought alongside others before but this was the first time he had been entrusted with a solitary command. I clasped his arm, "It went well?"

"Aye, my lord.  My time in Sherwood stood me in good stead. I found a bank and some trees which overlooked the road and we waited.  This column of horses was escorted by ten men.  There were but five warriors.  We slew two quickly with arrows but the other three fought hard.  The servants fled west; they will know we are here."

"And what were the rewards?"

"A sumpter with arrows, a second with spears and the other three contained grain." He held up a small bag. "We found some coins.  I will give them to my men.  They fought well. It was intended for Chester. Your strategy has paid off my lord.  We are choking them."

I noticed his squire talking animatedly to John.  "And how did your squire?"

"He was calm and doughty.  He never wavered when we attacked."

"Good.  This is all good experience for them."

As the day turned to dusk the others returned with varying degrees of success.  We had suffered wounds and slight losses but our sudden appearance had caught the Welsh napping. Their losses far outweighed our own. We had another six horses as well as many swords, shields and coins.  My men had not sighted any knights.  These had been small groups of foragers looking for settlements which had survived the initial raid. I was pleased that young Harold had had the most success. The successful conroi was the centre of everyone's attention.  Dick was delighted with the arrows for although they were not of the same quality as the ones our fletcher made, they would enable our archers to be more profligate with their precious missiles.

After we had eaten I gathered my knights, Wulfric and Dick, to give them the instructions and orders for the next day. "Some men escaped Harold's ambush and headed west.  I will head there tomorrow with my conroi. They will have a better idea of our position and I would prefer to meet them on my terms.  The rest of you will continue to fortify the camp.  I will leave Erre and the Varangians here."

Wulfric shook his head, "He will not like that, my lord!"

"He will obey orders!" Wulfric nodded.  "I want you to send out your archers tomorrow but they should stay hidden.  I want this Owain to waste time tomorrow seeking us.  They will find us eventually, but each day they don't brings the Earl closer to us."

"They just watch, my lord?"

"No Dick, they can ambush but I want them to remain hidden. I want them as the outlaws of Sherwood, invisible. Their job is to be our eyes and ears."

Edward threw the bone he had just gnawed into the fire.  "Should we not be finding where their leader is?  It was obvious that he was not at the siege."

"I do not wish to spread us too thin.  Our first instruction was to relieve Chester.  Our presence here has done that already.  If we do not find whoever leads their army today then I will raid their lines again tomorrow and see if we can force them away.  If they have not reinforced them then that may be possible."

Sir Richard stroked his beard; a sure sign that he was thinking, "Who is it that leads them?"

"The Earl thought it was Owain the son of their king. I know nothing of him save that he has two brothers. If the Earl is coming north then he must think him a formidable foe else he would have left the Earl of Chester to deal with him."

The next morning we rose early.  I did not take Star; I took Scout instead. I did not think I would need a warhorse. I was also a little mindful of facing Vikings with their axes and savage disdain for horses. I used Dick and his archers as scouts. We headed west along what must have been a Roman road many years ago.  It had not been maintained.  It had a reasonable surface for horses and men but wagons would have struggled to cover long distances upon it for there were many of the cobbles missing and the ditches had not been cleared.

We headed just ten miles down the road.  We used the remaining Roman marker stones as guides. The Dee lay to the north of us.  I wondered if they might use the river to supply their men. I knew the Welsh did not but Vikings used their drekar the way we used horses. As we watched for signs of movement along the road I sent Griff of Gwent and Wilson to see if there were any ships in the river. I had not wanted to go too far down the road in case we were needed back at our improvised camp. Griff of Gwent and Wilson were only away a short time.

"My lord, there are ships coming up the river but they are the Viking dragon ships. There are three of them."

My immediate reaction was one of dismay.  They were being reinforced and then I realised I was looking at this the wrong way.  They now had more mouths to feed. I could not see them having spare food in their own lands in Ireland at this time of year.  It was Anglesey which was the bread basket of Wales.  They would be using their valuable source of supplies for their allies.  Cheshire had not been conquered yet.  The Welsh king was gambling on taking the fertile land for his own. "How many oars on each one?"

"One had thirteen and two of them nine."

"Were they heavily laden?"

"No, my lord, there were high in the water.  I saw weed."

"You have done well."

Griff of Gwent asked, "Why is it good, my lord, that they ride high out of the water?"

"It means they only have one man per oar. They only have sixty men aboard the boats.  We killed almost that many the day before yesterday. These must have been summoned before our attack."

"My lord, riders! They come from the west."

John's voice made me turn and spur Scout back into the trees.  The place we had chosen for an ambush had a dip on our side of the road. I now used that to our advantage. I nudged Scout forward so that I could peer through the thin foliage. There were two knights on horses.  They were followed by ten armoured men at arms leading a column of marching men.  They were armed with spears.  I saw the light glinting off some helmets.  This was not the fyrd. I tried to remember the maps of the area.  They could have come from St. Asaph.  I knew there was a castle there but more likely it was from Flint which was just ten miles down the road. I could not make out the numbers but it mattered not.  We had surprise on our side.

"Dick, have your archers ready.  I will take the men at arms and charge up the road.  You attack them in the rear with arrows."

"Aye my lord."

"Wulfric follow me."

I rode back down the road to a point about forty paces from the line of trees.  I formed up with Wulfric, Roger of Lincoln and Jack son of John. With John my squire behind me the other ten men at arms made a solid wall of iron.

We had long spears, captured from the Welsh, with us. Our lances I would keep for the day we met a large body of knights. I estimated when the Welsh would appear and, when I judged the moment right, I spurred Scout.  We trotted forward and then cantered. I saw the banners appear above the skyline and knew that they were within twenty paces of the rise. I lowered my spear and the other three followed suit. We saw each other at the same time.  The difference was that we were going at a canter while they were moving at the speed of a walking man.

As soon as we were seen I heard the Welsh voice give the alarm.  Dick's arrows began to descend upon those at the rear of the column. I later found that the men there were leading pack horses with fresh supplies to replace the ones we had taken. Although Dick only had nine bows they could release almost as fast as they could blink. I pulled back my arm, aware that I was not riding Star and Scout was not as big a mount. I punched upwards at the knight on my right. He, too, had pulled back his arm to strike me with his spear but I was faster, Scout was faster, and my spear was deadly.  It struck him in his right side and tore through his mail links. As I withdrew it the head came away bloody.  Roger of Lincoln, riding to my right, pulled him from the saddle and I heard his scream as my men at arms rode over his body.