The Sword Brothers (9 page)

Rudolf and Henke, now
dressed in their mail armour, though not coifs, and both with
swords in their hands, flanked the prisoner. Conrad noticed that
Rudolf had some terrible scars on his neck.

The captain wiped his
nose and eyed him.

‘Have you anything to
say?’

The sailor, nervous
and pale, clasped his hands in front of him. ‘It was just an
argument that got out of hand, captain. Nothing more. You know how
it is, sir. Nerves and tempers wear thin at sea.’

‘That they do,’ agreed
the captain, ‘which is why you should have known better. There is
nothing more to say. The punishment is well known. Brother
Rudolf.’

Rudolf turned and
nodded to one of the mercenaries who was holding a rope.

‘No, captain,’ pleaded
the sailor. ‘It was just a flash of temper.’

The mercenary grabbed
the man’s arms and yanked them back so Henke could bind them behind
his back with the cord, then bound his ankles together with another
length of rope. The sailor, suddenly aware of what was going to
happen, began to struggle violently, falling on the deck.

‘No, no! Leave me
alone.’

Two more mercenaries
grabbed the body of the dead sailor and passed Henke another length
of rope. They dragged the corpse to place it next to the thrashing
prisoner and then Henke tied the rope around the necks of the
prisoner and corpse, thus binding them together. The mercenaries
lashed the two pairs of ankles together as the prisoner began to
moan.

‘No! For the love of
God, no!’ The rope around his neck was constricting his breathing
and he had difficulty talking.

Another rope was
passed around the mid-rifts of the prisoner and corpse to tightly
secure them together. The sailor was now whimpering. Rudolf began
reciting a prayer and made the sign of the cross as Henke and two
others hauled the corpse and sailor up and tossed them over the
side of the ship. There was a splash and then silence. The captain
dismissed the assembly as Conrad and his companions looked at each
other. Rudolf came over to them.

‘That is why I forbid
gambling.’

The next day one of
the sailors explained to them that the law of the sea was severe
when it came to killing on board ship. Not that it stopped gambling
for that afternoon the same man was playing dice with another
sailor. Rudolf made sure that all the youths were given daily tasks
to stop them becoming bored and restless. Fishing over the side of
the boat was one, rather enjoyable, of these tasks. Conrad sat with
Hans on empty crates, dangling their rods over the gunwale hoping
for a fish to bite the hooks. It was another glorious spring day
and the slight breeze hardly rippled the marble-smooth waters of
the Baltic. The two ships had hugged the coast to keep the sight of
land permanently on their starboard side but the two youths were
fishing on the port side of the cog. They were only five days away
from their destination.

‘Where’s that?’ asked
Hans, who had managed to scrounge some dried biscuits and was
shoving them into his mouth.

‘A place called Riga,’
answered Conrad. ‘I asked Brother Rudolf.’

‘Is it a city?’

Conrad peered over the
gunwale at the water below to see if he could spot any fish. ‘I
don’t know. Brother Rudolf said that it had been founded by Bishop
Albert nine years ago so it can’t be a city.’

Another biscuit went
into Hans’ mouth. ‘Will we live there?’

‘I do not know.’

Hans shrugged.
‘Anywhere will be better than Lübeck.’

Conrad nodded. ‘Yes,
it will.’

Hans pointed out to
sea, towards the northwest. ‘Do you think they are from Riga?’

Conrad looked up and
stared in the direction Hans was pointing, to see four small boats
on the horizon. They appeared not to be moving but that was only
because they were so far away. Conrad went back to peering at the
sea, convinced that they would catch nothing today.

Suddenly the ship’s
bell start to ring and frantic activity broke out on the boat. The
sailors began to furl the sail and the mercenaries began donning
their mail armour and helmets, the crossbowmen unpacking their
weapons from their waterproof crates. Conrad and Hans stood up and
looked at each other in confusion. Moments later Rudolf, attired in
mail armour, surcoat and helmet in hand, was before them.

‘Store those rods and
join your comrades at the mast. Be quick!’

‘What is happening?’
asked Conrad.

Rudolf pointed to the
four ships in the distance. ‘Those are Oeselian ships.’

The name meant nothing
to Conrad. ‘Oeselians?’

‘Pirates who desire to
kill us and take our ships. Now move.’

Conrad and Hans took
the rods below deck and then re-emerged to stand beside the other
youths at the mast. The sails of both ships had now been furled and
the vessels were being lashed together so that they would be side
by side. The boys looked at each other nervously. No one spoke but
they all knew that danger was approaching fast. Walter, now dressed
in his full war gear, was kneeling on deck deep in prayer, his
helmet resting on the deck beside him. Rudolf had been organising
the transfer of some of the spearmen and crossbowmen from their own
cog to the other vessel but now he strode over the boys, Henke
following him.

‘Can any of you use a
crossbow?’

Conrad looked at Hans
and then at the others. He certainly had no knowledge of the weapon
but Anton raised his hand.

‘I do,’ he said
nervously.

Henke walked forward
and handed him one.

‘Good. Take this.’

He passed Anton a
crossbow and then a quiver filled with bolts made of seasoned yew
measuring around a foot in length. Each one was winged with thin
strips of leather. Henke watched more of the spearmen and
crossbowmen scramble over the gunwale onto the deck on the other
boat.

‘You denude our
numbers, Rudolf.’

Rudolf smiled at his
friend. ‘I have to protect the stonemasons and their families. They
will be no use to us if their loved ones are butchered and we need
enthusiastic stonemasons in Livonia.’

He looked at the
youths grouped before him. ‘Stonemasons are more valuable than
urchins.’

Conrad was hardly
fortified by Rudolf’s words and became decidedly queasy when he was
handed a shield and a spear from those brought from below deck by
the mercenaries who had remained on their cog. The captain and
sailors had also equipped themselves with an assortment of
weaponry, including swords, spears and short axes, and stood ready
at the stern. The defence of the prow was left to Rudolf, Henke,
half a dozen spearmen, the same number of crossbowmen and Conrad
and his companions. The spearmen formed a line as the crossbowmen
advanced to the bow and knelt down, resting the stock of their
weapons on the side of the boat. Their quivers were slung over
their shoulders by means of a leather strap, their faces covered my
mail coifs and their bodies protected by thick padded coats called
gambesons that reached down to below their knees.

While Anton clutched
his crossbow Henke showed Conrad and the others how to hold their
shields: passing their left arms through two leather straps on the
back and grasping a pair of cross-straps further along with the
hand, the back of which rested on a stuffed pad. Though large,
having a height of around four and half feet and being two feet
wide, the wooden shield faced with hide was surprising light,
Conrad thought. He gripped the iron-headed spear tightly, hoping
that he would not have to use it.

The shields of Rudolf
and Henke were shorter and curved to better fit the contours of
their bodies, each sporting a red cross over a red sword. Their
helmets had flat tops with the face-guards joined to the
neck-guards to produce a completely enclosed helmet. Walter also
had a similar helmet and as he finished his prayers he picked it up
and then strolled over to stand beside the two Sword Brothers, his
face a mask of steely determination.

The enemy was close
now and Conrad could hear the shouts of the Oeselian rowers as they
pulled on their oars to get their longboats nearer to the now
stationary cogs. Slim, fast with pointed bows and sterns, each
longship had forty pairs of oars to propel it through the water.
Two men pulled on each oar and another man held the side-mounted
rudder at the rear. Oeselian tactics were simple but effective:
board an enemy ship, kill its crew and take it as plunder, along
with anything in its hold. Because they were rowed into battle the
longships had to approach their target head-on to prevent their
oars being smashed against the side of the enemy vessel. This meant
that the raiders had only a narrow point of access onto the
lashed-together cogs, which sat higher in the water. The oars
could, if necessary, be retracted to allow a longship to lie
alongside an enemy vessel, but this meant that it could not be
withdrawn speedily if things did not go according to plan.
Longships were too valuable to risk this. Its crew was expendable;
the vessel was not.

Conrad felt his heart
pounding in his chest as Rudolf spoke to him and his
companions.

‘I know that you are
frightened and have not been trained in the arts of war. But you
are not alone and it is better to stand here on deck and face your
attackers side by side with your brothers rather than hiding in the
hold. Have faith in God and He will protect you, his chosen
warriors. God with us!’

Henke and Walter
shouted ‘God with us!’ and the youths tried to be brave. Hans
looked even more gaunt and pale while Bruno and Johann were
shaking. Only Anton seemed calm, though the truth was that he was
preoccupied with ensuring his crossbow was armed and ready rather
that thinking about the enemy.

Henke nodded at the
stern-faced Walter who put on his helmet and drew his sword, his
shield bearing a black lion on a white background, his white
surcoat bearing the same coat of arms. He looked at Rudolf.

‘A fine speech. Let us
hope that the Oeselians show these lads some mercy.’

‘Have faith in our
crossbowmen, Henke,’ replied Rudolf, slapping his friend on the arm
before placing his helmet on his head. Henke did the same and then
they waited for the enemy.

The longships had now
divided into two groups; the two vessels on either end circling
round the cogs so they could direct their bows at the boat
containing the civilian workers and their families. The other two
attacked Conrad’s vessel. He could hear no grunting now as the
longships’ momentum carried them towards their targets and their
crews prepared to board the cogs.

Conrad’s heart missed
a beat as he heard cracks coming from the crossbowmen kneeling by
the starboard gunwale as they shot their weapons and knew that the
battle had begun. The spearmen held their shields over the gunwale
to provide cover for the crossbowmen who were loosing bolts at the
enemy. Their targets were those warriors on the longship who were
throwing grappling irons attached to ropes to enable other men to
scale the side of the cog.

Conrad heard shouts
and screams as Oeselians were felled by quarrels and relief swept
through him. This was not so bad after all. Then the air was filled
with spears and axes as the Oeselians threw a deluge of missiles
against the shields of the spearmen in an effort to clear the
crossbowmen from the gunwale. Conrad watched in horror as a spear
came over the row of shields towards him, raising his own shield at
the last moment to deflect it away from him.

‘Use your shields,’
Rudolf screamed at them as a single-handed axe thudded into the
mast above Hans. Another axe thudded into Johann’s shield,
splintering the top edge though missing his head. The boys
instinctively huddled together and locked their shields as the
missiles clattered into them, above them and around them. Conrad’s
mouth was dry and his breathing was heavy as fear coursed through
him. He thought he would foul his leggings as his stomach turned to
mush, but then his attention was drawn to the right of the line of
mercenaries where a grapping iron suddenly bit into the gunwale.
Rudolf, Henke and Walter were preoccupied with dodging the rain of
spears and axes that were still coming on to the boat and did not
see it. But Conrad did.

‘Hans, look!’ he
shouted.

He looked at Hans and
then at the grappling iron and then saw two hands and a helmet
appear. They had been boarded. The captain and sailors at the stern
had also been under a deluge of missiles from the second longship
alongside and had taken shelter beneath the gunwale. The Oeselians
in the first ship had been held back by the crossbowmen and had
taken refuge behind their shields but the men of the second ship
were free to scale the rope attached to the grappling iron.

Walter saw it too and
now ran forward to thrust the point of his sword into the eye
socket of the first Oeselian. The man screamed and fell back onto
the others behind him, temporarily halting the boarders. But then
another grappling iron appeared and then another, and suddenly two
Oeselians jumped on deck. Both were bearded brutes, one wearing a
mail corselet that extended to below his knees and armed with a
great two-handed axe, a round shield strapped to his back. The
other wore a short-sleeved mail tunic and was armed with a shorter
axe, carrying a large, round shield painted red and yellow in his
other hand. Walter did not hesitate but immediately attacked them,
jumping to the side to avoid a great scything blow from the larger
axe and catching a blow from the smaller axe on his shield. Rudolf
and Henke also spotted the boarders, who had been joined by two
more of their comrades, and went to assist Walter, Henke bringing
his sword above his head and then whipping it down to slice the
calf of an enemy warrior armed with a spear and shield. The man
yelped in pain and then fell silent as Henke thrust his sword point
into the man’s neck, before falling in beside Rudolf who was
fighting on the left side of Walter.