Warlord of the North (21 page)

"And from the north?"

"Nothing! Why, Earl?"

"I have it on good authority that the Baron of Skipton intends to come south and attack my lands.  It may be that he comes this way too but he hates me and he might see us as being weak now."

"Do you need my help, lord?"

"I need you to hold the west. Unless I hear from you I will put all my defences to the north." I took a deep breath. "And now I must ask a delicate question.  What do you think Sir Richard of Yarm will do? He has not spoken to Sir Tristan for some time.  I wondered, as he has a new grandson who has his name, if he had visited or spoken to either of you."

"We wrote and told him and we had a letter from Richard's grandmother congratulating us but that was all. You cannot think that he would betray you, lord?"

"I hope not but he guards the south of my land. If you hear aught from him or of any Scots, however few, in the north of your land then let me know."

"And Normandy, how goes the war there?"

I told him all including the death of Rolf.  Like my other young knights it was a blow for they had liked him. "Then there is just you and Sir Edward left from the knights who fought together all those years ago."

"Aye and the only other knights who yet live from those times are Sir Hugh Manningham and Sir Richard of Yarm.  They are no longer true allies.  I am now in the hands of the young knights I trained."

"And we will not let you down."

As we rode back to Stockton I looked more closely at Gilles. He had grown considerably since he had joined me.  Much of that had been Alice's doing. She was fond of him. She fed him well. Wulfric had done his best to train him but that had not been a priority.  The youth was brave but did he have the skills to survive in battle? Those skills would be tested soon. I looked up and I tasted, in the air, a change in the weather. In England the seasons were unpredictable; winter could be early or late.  One year winter had lasted but a day.  The rest had been wet and damp but we had had no snow.  I could smell and feel the cold in the air.  The wind was from the north.  Perhaps the weather was an ally of the Scots. I spurred Scout on, the Scots were coming.

Perhaps it was the hard ride I gave him but whatever the reason Scout was limping when we reached Stockton. Gilles' real skill lay with horses and when he saw his limp he examined him for me. His face was sad when he turned to me. "Lord your horse is old."

"Aye, Gilles, I had him when I first came to England all those years ago."

"He cannot ride to war again. The lameness is a sign of age.  It will heal but when you need him to run hard he will not be able to. Perhaps we should...." he left unsaid the words neither of us wished to be uttered.

"No, Gilles, Scout is as much a part of me as my armour.  I will not have his life ended to save some winter feed. He stays with me in the castle.  I will ride him when there is no war but he shall be looked after with Hunter, Badger and my newly acquired horse, Rolf.  I will use Rolf from now on. He is younger than the others and has a little destrier in him." I went to Scout and rubbed his nose.  "I shall miss this nose, Scout, for it sniffed out enemies who would have slain me.  Perhaps you can teach the others how to do it." He always seemed to understand me and he raised his head and whinnied.

The first news came to us just before All Hallows Eve. The weather had been growing colder since my return from Barnard Castle . There was no snow and no frost but the viciously cold north wind scoured the land. Oswald of Hexham, one of Sir Hugh Manningham's scouts arrived at my gate after sunset. Ralph of Wales was the captain of the guard that night and he knew him.  He was admitted.

"My lord I have a message from my master.  The Scots are coming."

"Come to my hall and eat.  You can tell me all as you do so."

I had seen how he was almost blue with the cold.  The freezing ride south had been hard.  Alice laid bowls of stew and bread before him.  He wolfed them down, telling me between mouthfuls his news. "We saw signs of men gathering north of the Tweed.  There were camps towards Jedburgh.  Sir Roger of Norham reported many men moving west along the Tweed towards the border."

"When did this begin?"

"At the end of September, the start of October, lord."

I nodded.  That was about the time we had apprehended our spies. "Go on."

"Sir Hugh sent a messenger to you with the news down the Durham Road.  He did not return.  Sir Hugh knew that I would get through," he smiled, "I know the backways and green ways like your scout Aiden."

"How many men were there?"

"It was hard to estimate but Sir Hugh said expect at least forty knights."

Forty knights meant at least three hundred in the army, perhaps more. "I will send an escort back with you."

"You need not, lord."

"I do for Sir Hugh must know that I have received his news. Besides I have a message for him.  When you have told me yours I will give it to you.  It will be spoken.  We want nothing to fall into enemy hands."

"Enemies, lord?"

"The land between Hexham and Stockton is England and not Scotland.  If the other messenger died..."

Oswald nodded, "Aye lord. Then it means that we cannot trust those who live in Durham. I will give you the rest of my news. Sir Hugh sent men to identify those who were camped.  They are led by the Earl Gospatric.  It is largely those who rebelled against King Henry."

Even as he said it I wondered why they had not thrown their lot in with Stephen. It seemed obvious to me that he would have given them back their lands if only to keep me in check. If they did not want to serve Stephen then that meant they were working for King David.  He would not be breaking the peace but, if he could capture Stockton then Cleveland would be his and he would have a toehold in England.  The Baron of Skipton could retake his castle and the land between Stockton and Skipton would be a dagger held at the heart of the north. Even York would be threatened.

"Here is my message for your master, Oswald: the Empress now controls more than half of Normandy. There will come a day when he can choose once more to either serve the usurper or the rightful ruler of England.  Tell him I understand his decision but I know his heart."

"Aye lord and I would rather serve you than the Bishop of Durham."

When Oswald was led to his quarters I summoned Aiden. "I wish you to escort Oswald back to Hexham. How many archers will you need with you?"

"None, I take Edgar the falconer and Edward.  It will help their skills and they are silent in the forest."

"Are you certain for when you have done that I would have you find the army which is camped close to Jedburgh? They are coming here."

"Then I will definitely take my two falconers. We will be invisible."

They left before dawn. The four of them, by riding hard, could reach Hexham by nightfall. We would then seek out our enemies. Even as they were galloping from my gate I was speaking with Dick, Wulfric and John.

"War has come. It is days and not weeks away. Dick, have riders go to my knights.  Sir Hugh should be warned.  The others should prepare to bring half of their retinue to serve with me.  I want them here in three days."

"Aye lord."

"Wulfric, we need a garrison leaving here but I want our best men ready to ride.  I want to meet this army far from our borders.  I fear this is just the start. We will have a winter war."

"Do not fear, lord, we are prepared."

I visited Alf and warned him of the dangers. "We have improved our walls, lord, and built, as you have, both granaries and pens.  We keep what we have."

"I will leave a small garrison but I am happy now that we have enough men in the town to defend the walls."

Alf nodded,  proudly, "Thanks to Dick and his archers every man in the town can now use a war bow. We have made plenty of arrows.  We are not as skilled or as quick as your archers but we can give a good account of ourselves.  All of our boys have slings.  If the Scots come they will find us a hard morsel to digest."

We had a healthy population in Stockton.  There were a hundred and eight men who could use bows and fifty boys who could use slings.  If you kept an enemy from your walls then you had almost won the battle. I was satisfied.

We had a flurry of snow on All Hallows Day.  It was followed by an icy blast which made the snow a deadly place upon which to step.  When my men began to arrive they led their horses rather than risk them slipping on the slippery stones. When all were gathered I spoke with the knights and the sergeant at arms.

"We ride tomorrow for the  north road. I have information that a band of Scots intend to use the chaos that is England to capture Stockton and begin to reclaim the land south of the Tees.  We will stop them. Remember, when we fight, that we are the last true Englishmen.  It may seem daunting that we, alone, must fight for King Henry's heirs but we are just the first stones which are rolling down the hill.  They will gather pace and then we will become the avalanche which sweeps away the usurper and restores England's crown to its rightful place!"

I had deliberately chosen my words and they had the desired effect.  There were just twelve of us in the hall and we had had greater gatherings but the crescendo of noise which arose had never been equalled.  We might be alone but we had the heart to take on anybody. When we passed through our northern gate the next day we received an even greater cheer from my townspeople.  The men lined the walls, showing the world that they were armed and ready to defend their homes.

Once we reached the Norton Road, Dick sent out his scouts.  I hoped they would meet Aiden and give us a better idea of the whereabouts of our enemies.  If we heard nothing else from our three advance scouts we would head up to Jedburgh. We had passed Segges' Field when Mark rode in with Edgar.  "My lord, Aiden sent me.  The Scots are moving south.  He and Edward will keep watch on them.  If Edward does not come south it means they have kept to the old Roman Road." I nodded. That meant they were skirting the Palatinate and coming through the emptier lands to the west between us and Barnard Castle. "They have taken Otterburn and put the garrison to the sword. It held them for a day."

Phillip of Elsdon had fallen. The Bishop of Durham had neither stirred nor raised his voice in their defence. They were his people and yet they had died. William Cumin had much to answer for. "How many did you count?"

"Aiden said he counted forty two banners and half of the army were horsed. He estimated four hundred men in total but some were just farmers.  They wore no mail and they had crude weapons."

"What of Sir Hugh Manningham?"

"We did not see his patrols once we had left Oswald with him but there was a message from Sir Roger of Norham that Scots were massing on the Tweed."

I turned to Sir Edward, "They have drawn Sir Hugh away to the north.  It is understandable for he is the defender of the north now that I am restrained to our valley.  It means they will put as much distance between themselves and Hexham as possible."

We turned to the west.  I would head for Wolsingham. If we could reach it before they did then we would use the two rivers, the Wear and the Waskerley Beck to stop them. Dick said, "Lord if we head north by west along the old greenway we can reach the confluence of the rivers in four hours."

We headed through Auckland and we passed the old Roman fort at Binchester. Knowing that they were within two day's march of us gave added urgency to our journey. I rode Rolf, the mount I had taken from Baron Thierry.  He seemed to enjoy leading the cavalcade of knights.  He almost pranced.  He was a different beast to Scout.  We would have to get used to each other. Badger and Gilles were with the baggage train.  We had spears, lances and arrows in great supply.  We would use the wagons, when we emptied them, as barricades.  I had no doubt we would be outnumbered.

It was late afternoon when we reached the village of Wolsingham. St Godric had long departed and the famous Erik the Hermit had either died or simply disappeared.  The village served one purpose only, to feed the Bishop of Durham. I had been hunting there before with Bishop Flambard in the forests close by the village. It was not a large place and had no defences. Dick had established sentries north of the bridge across the Wear. He had left a couple of men close to the ford which was half a mile east of the bridge.

"Sir Edward.  Have your sergeant at arms take your archers and ten of your men at arms.  Stop the enemy from crossing the ford to the east."

"That will leave us thirty men short, lord.  Can we afford it?"

"Can we afford being outflanked? We will have to use the cloth we have been given."

We made camp south of the river.  Dick had some of our archers in the forests to hunt game. We were defending the Bishop's land.  The least he could do was to feed us. I sent Edgar the falconer back north to find Aiden.  I needed to know exactly where our enemies were.

The few houses in the village were to the north of the river. The beck joined the river just after the ford.  Its course mean that we had the right flank of any line we chose well protected. The Roman Road was well maintained. This was the Bishop's land and, as such, cared for. An ambush from the forest would be difficult. The only place I could see which suited an ambush was just where the road crossed the ford on the Waskerley Beck. The two fords would prove crucial. Edward still worried about our division of men. "Earl what if they do not come through Wolsingham? If they head further east then we will miss them."

I spread my arm out.  "This is a good place to camp for them. They can reach Segges' field in one day if they ride hard.  The alternative is to camp in the open.  Here they can do as they will have done at Otterburn, they can live off the villagers but if I am wrong then we attack them from behind when they take the other road south and that they will not expect."

"It is well that you lead for I would have waited on the road to the east."

"And you may well be right.  It is why I have yet to unpack the wagons. I have plans for them but only when I know for certain that they will come this way.
"

We spent a nervous night awaiting news from our scouts.  I was awake before dawn. It had been a bitterly cold night and, despite our fires and our furs, we had not been warm.  Up here, in the uplands, the covering of frozen snow was thicker than at Stockton. It would affect the battle. Gilles helped me to dress.  "Will we fight this day, Earl?"

"Perhaps but we must be ready to in any case. Remember to keep lances and spears ready for me in case we do charge."

"Against so many knights?  Would that not be suicide?"

"It depends upon the worth of our enemies.  If they are as good as we are then yes but if they are not then their superior numbers will mean nothing. At least here, if we lose, our people at home will be able to prepare their defence."

"You think we may lose?"

"No but we have rarely fought against such great odds.  Perhaps I should have stayed behind my walls."

I had not heard him approach and almost jumped when Edward spoke, "Had you done that, Earl, then the door to Yorkshire would have been open. All your work and that of King Henry would have been undone.  We are outnumbered but yours is the right decision, as ever!"

An hour or so later, when the sun was already up, Edgar the falconer galloped across the beck.  His horse was lathered.  "They come this way, lord.  Aiden found one of their scouts.  Before he died Aiden persuaded him to divulge their route.  They march here and intend to camp in the village this night.  They will reach here in four or five hours.  Aiden and Edward follow them still."

I clapped my hand against my sword and turned to Edward, "Good! Then I want the wagons emptying. Take one to your men at the ford.  It can become a wall behind which they can fight.  The other should be placed across the bridge in Wolsingham. The servants and grooms can hold that.  Gilles tell Sir Edward's squires to gather their squires.  The squires can defend the bridge and deny the enemy the crossing."

"Aye lord."

Sir Harold said, "And us lord?"

"We make the ford a death trap. Philip, Dick, I want your archers to bury spears in the bank of the ford and use that as a barrier.  Your task is to hold it as long as you can.  Wulfric. I want a second barrier close to the bridge.  You and your men will prepare that. When all is done and we have eaten I will give you my plan." As they hurried off I turned to my former squires. "And we will create a little mischief at the ford."

After finding my saddlebags I led the three knights down to the ford.  The water was knee deep.  When winter took hold and the rains came then it would be much deeper; passable but deeper. I took out the caltrops I had brought. "Spread them out across the ford. Put some under the water at the far side, Sir Harold and Sir Tristan. Sir John and I will do this side."

I had had Alf make me fifty of these deadly weapons.  My horse would be glad that he no longer had to carry them.  They were heavy. They were so designed that they always landed with one painful spike sticking up.  They would maim a man or lame a horse. Whatever the result it would slow down our enemies as they crossed the ford and it would cause a bottle neck.   I took the last ten or so and spread them on either side of the ford in case any knight thought to go around the trap. When we had finished we returned to our horses.

Fires were burning and the meat which our archers had hunted was being cooked.  As the outside was cooked men sliced hunks from it. A man with a full stomach who was rested was more alert and better equipped to fight than a man who had marched in the cold all day and eaten oats. Not long after noon my scouts rode in. Luckily we were at the ford and I shouted.  "Ride down the beck a hundred paces and cross there.  We have seeded the river with caltrops."

Soon they joined us. "They are five miles down the road.  They are not turning at the crossroads.  They come here to Wolsingham."

"You have done well, the three of you.  Eat for we shall need your bows!"

With the squires guarding the bridge we had just sixty five of us guarding the ford.  We were forty paces back.  The hard frozen ground meant that the enemy horses would not sink into the mud but if they were the slightest bit careless they might slip. Our sixty six archers were spread out on the flanks using whatever cover they could manage to find. With their horses nearby they would be able to flee quickly enough and take up their position on the other side of the wagon and the River Wear. The mounted men in the middle were in three ranks of twenty men.  As we knights were in the front rank as well as Wulfric and my most experienced men at arms, that was the force which would do the most damage.

We saw their scouts appear. They appeared over the brow of the road and skittered to a halt when they saw our spears and horses. Two watched us while the other two hurtled back down the road.  It was tempting to loose arrows at them but it would have been a waste.  My archers could be seen but not their true numbers.

We saw the banners appear over the skyline.  It was now heading towards dusk and the light was fading.  I wondered if they would camp and attack in the morning or risk an immediate attack. Their leaders gathered and then I saw their army fill the horizon behind them. There was a debate going on.  It became heated for I saw arms waved and fingers pointed. 

Wulfric laughed, "My lord, they have been beaten by you too many times.  They are looking for the trap."

Eventually two knights peeled off and led men to the  east.  They would try the other ford. While their leaders waited for the report they formed four lines of warriors.  It looked like they had eighty mounted men there.  Thirty others had headed east. That meant that the great mass of warriors whom we faced were on foot. From our right we heard the whinnies of horses and the shouts as men died at the ford.  There was a clash of steel.  The skirmish lasted no more than the time it takes to ride around my castle and then twenty two riders and two riderless horses came back.

Another debate ensued.  This time is was brief and, with the sound of a trumpet, the six leaders pulled their horses to one side and the lines advanced.  They had learned their lessons and they kept a healthy gap between the lines.  Dick and Philip of Selby had measured the range. As soon as the first line trotted down the bank to the ford and were twenty paces from the water their sixty arrows, augmented by my three scouts, were released.  They did not release high in the air to create a deadly arc; instead they used a flat trajectory. They had more chance of a hit for the helmets were all open faced. Eight men fell, mortally stricken, but horses were also struck. An arrow in the centre of a horse's head kills immediately and three riders were flung over the heads of their mounts.

The charging riders pulled up their shields to protect their faces.  They could not see the water.  As they splashed across some lost their footing on the loose and slippery stones and then others found the caltrops. Horses reared and as they did so their riders became easy targets.  Arrows found parts of the body not protected by mail and they also struck the chests of rearing, wounded horses. Had we had more archers we would have slaughtered them all but, even so none of their front rank made our shore.  The second rank fared little better but the third made the other side having only lost eight men.