Gisborne: Book of Pawns (12 page)

‘Can you man
age?’ Gisborne
moved in next to me as I closed my eyes and lay my for
ehead on the horse’s shoulder.
His hand reache
d around my waist as I sagged.
‘Ysabe
l,’ he whispered. ‘Alright
?’

A soldier dressed in the unknown black livery
walked past
looking for trees aga
inst which to relieve himself.
He glanced at us with open c
uriosity, his gaze fixing on Gisborne
’s enclosing hand.

‘It’s too loose,’ said Guy as his finge
rs slipped behind Monty’s girth.
‘Make sure you tigh
ten it before we mount again.’
He muttered to
the soldier as he turned away.
‘Can’t find a decent squire for love
n
or money.’

Love nor money.

The soldier nodded and proceeded to piss
in full view
aga
inst the trunk of an oak. Gisborne
turned to me whilst the soldier
had his hands full and lifted his eyebrows.
His mood seemed lighter to be sure and I wondered if it was because each league we covered we were one league closer to England.

I gave passing thought to the way his moods shifted and whether I could cope with his tortuo
us mindsets in the long term.
But then I cast my mind back to the many kindnesses he had shown me as he was forced to reveal my fami
ly’s straitened circumstances.
I decided that despite his dour and withdrawn moments,
despite
his callous philosophy of status being power,
he
had
shown me respect. And in all honesty, there remained in me
the faintest
hope th
at I would find Moncrieff safe and
my father happy to have his da
ughter once again in the fold.

Chapter
Five

Monty’s coat became slick with lather
despite
his
astonishing stamina a
nd as I looked between his ears
I marveled at
the campaign animals in front of me.
I could only imagine the courage and steadfastness that rushed through their veins.

We stopped twice more for short rests until
the
final longed-for
halt
was called.
In flat
,
tussocky
land that spread for miles
we stopped to make camp.
To our right flank was an immense coppice
of spindly birches, their leaves the acid green of spring, most in bud
a
nd summer not far away.
A stream sketched a lang
uid line from its distant source
,
trickling
past our feet
to flow to the coast far off.
It barely ran and I wondered if every horse would suck it dry.

Guy was close and o
ur eyes met and I could see he felt sympathy for me and what he had put me through with this subterfuge.
And yet I u
nderstood. The merchant
s had told of our dangers; that there were brigands and lawless barons all across this
moorland who would think
no
thing of picking we dozen off.
I would have loved to make mention of our own fa
tal run-in earlier in our travels
but Guy’s eyes barel
y flickered to warn
me to maintain my charade.

As I looked around, I began
to feel s
ome awkwardness, even concern. Clustered in myriad bunches
unsaddling horses, tethering, lighting fires, and doing any number of other such necessary things were
one hundred and sixty one men.
Whilst I might resemble a youth, my skin prickled at the thought that I was the only woman amongst such lusty
and perhaps unbridled company.
I kept my head down, unsaddling Monty, tethering him close to the stream where he
could drink his fill and eat.
I knotted up some tussocks and dragged them over his body to remove the sweat, concentrating on his spine and girth where he might suffer
friction galls on the morrow. I was conscious of Gisborne
watching me, knowing
he could do nothing to help
because
I was after all a mere squire. My job was to serve my master and such scrutiny made me blush but
I lif
ted my eyes to his.
His mouth twitched, nothing more.

I walked over to his mount and began strapping him, wiping with a smooth m
otion and settling the animal.
I picked up his giant hooves and checked them for stones caught on the edges of the shoes and then retired to sort out the saddlery and mak
e some sort of bedding for us.
We had saddles for pillows and our cloaks for warmth and a large saddlecloth eac
h that could be another layer.
For the rest, we should have to sleep close to the fire and hope we would be warm because we could hardly lie curled against each ot
her the way we had previously.

I fished in the saddlebags and found bread that had been sliced into thick piec
es, some salted pork
and a slab of cheese
,
and was surprised to find my stomach rumbling
. The forced pace of the ride had pushed such thoughts far from my head earlier and so I crispened
the bread
near the coals of the fire, placing slices of the meat
with
crudely cut cheese onto i
t
so
the c
heese began to bubble and run. I passed part of the meal to Gisborne
as he sat beside me and I began to chew on the other.

One of the merchants,
a smart, loud chap with an eye to his own good looks
,
spoke to Guy.

‘You say h
e’s a pretty ordinary squire.’ M
y
eyebrows lifted at the comment.
‘But the meal smells good enough and your horses are comfortable and your
sleeping arrangements settled.’

He passed Gisborne
a wine bladder and a swig was
taken as the fellow continued.
‘Pretty enough fellow too,’ his ga
ze slid over me and it was obvious
he couldn’t see a woman beneath the clothes, only the body of a youth
that he might desire
.

‘Indeed,’ said Gisborne.
‘Pret
ty enough if you like his sort, and capable with it a
nd tied to a maid as beautiful as he in my demesnes.’

My eyebrows rose further and I coughed, reaching for some water. The merchant seem
ed disappointed and I thanked
God for Gisborne’s quick thinking.

‘Yes,’
said Gisborne.
‘He’s to accoun
t for himself to me on this journey
as he got his maid with child befor
e we left, and them both unwed.
She’ll be dropping the
babe just as we are due back.
He has a lot to prove apart fro
m how well his oats are sown.’

Stunned at Guy’s little hi
story
, I shook my head, seeking a way to leave these men for the privacy a woman needs. I moved
fir
st to the horses to check them, hoping I could move behind and cross
to the birch coppice witho
ut attracting attention from Gisborne
or his dainty merchant friend.

The shadows were long and n
ight barely a breath away.
The moon had risen and was lighting the sky to the east whilst the sun had set in the west cas
ting a bronze glow heavenward.
What little light there was lit a path amongst the spindle-thin trunks and my feet crunched
older leaf fall occasioning a swift scuttle of forest creatures. Ahead was a shrubbery, waist high
with dense e
nough growth to offer a woman privacy and
I heard the chuntering of the stream over pebbles
and a desperate urge to cool leg aches and wash away dust
led
me close to the running water.

I stripped off my boots and hose and stepped in, the level reaching my knees, the cold water
biting into the inflamed skin, strips of red chafing indicated where the stirrup leathers had rubbed.
I splashed my face and drew off
the hood
, un
knotting my hair
, feeling the smallest night-breeze finger the strands.

All around
crickets and frogs
whirred and croaked
and the occasiona
l flutter
of wings
battered the air
as a small bir
d or some insect dipped past.
Ab
ove the nocturnal sounds,
the army
vibrated –
shouting and laughter, the burble of men’s voices, the whinny of hors
es, the crackle of many fires. I pulled the hose and
boots back on and sto
od to walk back to the camp, hood tugged through belt,
twisting and knotting unwilling hair into a t
ight roll. My mind was far away, thinking on my home and a weak father who had forgotten that trust is all
and as I turned past a birch, a hand grabbed me and another covered my m
outh so that I was pinioned. A powerful arm encircled
my chest like a ring of iron.

‘Why, what a hard flat chest you hav
e … my l
ady.’

I struggled against the hand and a
familiar voice
whispere
d in my ear. ‘Now then, my lady, don’t struggle.
What do you think the army out there woul
d say if they knew we had a woman
of such godly gifts as yours
in our midst.’

He laughed softly and I hated him as much again as I
did the first time I met him.
My hair had fallen down and covered my shoulders and
I could hear him sniffing it.

‘Your hai
r smells so fine, Lady Ysabel.
So much nicer than the horse and man sweat that has beleaguered me these last days.’

He nuzzled under my hair and kissed my neck and I squirmed and tried to kick but his
grip tightened and he laughed –
a sni
cker colder than a winter wind.

‘I think we could be suc
h loving friends, Lady Ysabel, don’t you?
Especially if you don’t want your
little secret revealed
.’

I thrashed my head about but he held me more grimly, his grip over m
y mouth almost suffocating.
I tried to open my jaw to bite his fingers but he clamped
ever stronger
.

‘Don’t fight, Lady Ysabel. If you deny me
then I shall contrive something terrible aga
inst Gisborne out there, maybe even against your father. Yo
u wouldn’t want that, would you?’

I froze.
The man
had his own kind of influence
and I knew
it was no idle threat
.

‘There, what
a goo
d girl you are. That’s better.
Now, if you move or make a noise when I take my hands away, rest assured I shall
indeed
cause much suffer
ing to those closest to you.
That’s it, just hold still whilst I put this here,’ he placed a gag across my mouth and pulled it tight as he talked as if to a recalcit
rant child. ‘Oh what a lovely neck you have. See? That’s not so bad, is it?
If I just tie your hands like so, we can get down to business.’

He stayed behind me all the time but in my mind I could see his face as he rubbed
himself against me and I wanted to scream but could barely articulate a moan.

‘Now, now…
’ he ra
n a hand down over my shoulder. ‘It’s going to be…’

The words choked off
.

‘
Halsham,’ Gisborne
’s voice wh
ispered. ‘A move and you’re dead.’

Another movement behind me and a flick a
nd then
Gisborne saying, ‘Step away, Ysabel,’ as
the
bonds at my wrists fell apart.
With a stroke of a knife in one hand, Gisborne had freed me wh
ilst with the other he held a
misericorde
against Halsham’s throat.
Moonlight fell between the trees and perhaps
it coloured Halsham’s face with
pallor
or maybe he was actually frightened
.
Whatever the case, I could see a trickle of blood and would not have been adverse t
o
the repulsive throat
being slit, ear to ear
.