The Enterprise of England (15 page)

As we stood toasting ourselves, two troopers crossed the hall and I recognised one of them.

‘Andrew!’ I called.

He stopped in his tracks, spun on his heel and came over to us, his companion following.

‘Kit? What are you doing here? And looking like something fished out of the sea?’

He took my outstretched hand and shook it warmly.

‘I wondered whether we might see you here,’ I said. ‘This is Nicholas Berden.’

The two men bowed and Andrew introduced the other trooper as Paul Standish.

‘We are on our way to the
Low Countries,’ I explained, ‘carrying despatches.’

He shook his head. ‘You turn up everywhere, Kit. I never know where I will meet you, like the sprite in the fairy story. But why are you so wet? Have you been out in this storm? Why have you not been found quarters?

Berden shrugged. ‘We saw to our horses, then reported to your commander. We were just wondering where to go.’

‘Ah, the horses.’ Andrew grinned at me. ‘Hector, is it? I think you would care for that horse first if you were dying on your feet.’

‘We are not quite dying,’ I said. ‘But we are very wet. And Hector is warmly housed in your stables.’

‘Follow me,’ he said. ‘I will see you at dinner, Paul.’

We followed him up stairs and along a passage, until he threw open the door to a small corner room.

‘There is just one man in here, and he’s on duty tonight. There are two more beds.’

‘How is your head, now, Andrew?’ I asked. ‘I see your hair has grown back.’

He lifted the hair at the side of his head, revealing a small bare patch of skin. ‘Only a trace left,’ he said.

‘And the headaches?’

‘Almost gone.’

Berden looked from one to the other of us in puzzlement.

‘I was at Sluys,’ Andrew explained. ‘Kit tended me for a bad head injury at St Bartholomew’s’

‘He was shot,’ I said. ‘The bullet carved a groove along the side of his head your could put your finger in.’

‘Bad luck,’ said Berden.

‘No, good luck,’ Andrew replied. ‘The bullet passed me by and killed the man behind me.’

‘You must have been a cat in another life,’ I said.

He laughed. ‘Then I have another eight close escapes yet to go.’

‘Where is the jakes?’ Berden asked. ‘I’m bursting.’

‘Follow me. What about you, Kit?’

‘I’m fine,’ I said, turning aside. Another problem.

‘When you are ready, come down to the main hall and I’ll show you where we eat.’

The two of them went off and with frantic speed I changed into dry clothes, draping my wet ones over the single chair in the room. By the tim
e Berden came back I was at the door.

‘The jakes is further along on the left, if you want it.’

I nodded. ‘I’ll see you in the hall.’

I found the jakes and to my relief it was deserted, so I seized the chance to relieve myself before hurrying back down the stairs. Although I would be glad of the protection of Berden’s company once we were abroad, travelling always in company with him would present constant difficulties.

Andrew was waiting, with a group of other troopers, standing close to the fire. He introduced them, but fatigue was beginning to catch up with me and I forgot their names as soon as I heard them. Just as Berden joined us, also wearing dry clothes, a servant walked across the hall, clanging a large hand bell. He went to the door of the keep and pulled it open, to howls of protest from the troopers. He leaned out and rang the bell, whose sound must have been muffled by the wind for anyone more than a few feet away. One man came in, blown through the door on a blast of snow which whirled across the hall like a dancing ghost before sinking to the floor and slowly melting. The servant put his shoulder to the door, helped by the newcomer, then walked away down a corridor, still ringing his bell. The soldiers turned as one and followed him, Berden and I amongst them.

The food was such as you would expect in a military garrison. Large earthenware bowls filled with a thick mutton stew. Not elegant, but filling, and welcome after our freezing journey. Plenty of coarse bread, as much as we could eat. Good beer. To finish, an apple pie nearly two feet across for every ten soldiers. The pastry was thick enough to break teeth unless it was allowed to soak a while in the juice of the apples, but once the pastry was softened it made a satisfying end to the meal. In fact I even loosened William’s leather belt a notch, to ease this unaccustomed quantity of food.

By this time I could feel sleepiness weighing me down and knew I could not stay on my feet much longer. The soldiers were getting up games of dice and cards, but they had spent their day quietly on guard duty in the castle, or drilling in the yard. They had not ridden near forty miles, most of it through a blizzard. Not that it seemed to worry Berden, who went off to join a game of cards. I understood why. Berden was known to have some skill in that quarter. Before he retired he would almost certainly have increased the weight of his purse.

I dragged myself up from the bench, where I had been sitting, almost comatose, and turned to Andrew.

‘It’s no good. If I do not go to my bed I will fall asleep on the table.’ I looked around as the soldiers made for the double doors at the end of the room. At the other end the officers had been eating at a table on a dais raised about a foot above the floor.

‘Is the officer in charge of the naval squadron up there?’ I inclined my head towards the officers, who were also preparing to leave.

‘Second from the right,’ Andrew said. ‘Sir Edward Walgrave. A different man altogether from our esteemed commander. Do you want me to introduce you?’

I shook my head. ‘Not tonight. But tomorrow we will have to ask him for a ship.’

‘He’s a reasonable man and a fine commander, but if the storm continues, he may not want to let one of his ships set sail.’

I shuddered. ‘I don’t want to go to sea in this, but we may have to.’

‘We will pray it has abated by tomorrow.’

‘Thank you, Andrew,’ I said. ‘I really must go to bed.’

‘Good night, Kit.’

I found my way back to the hall easily enough, for most of the soldiers were heading that way and gathering in groups, laughing and pulling out packs of cards and boxes of dice. A servant was walking about, filling tankards with ale. It looked as though Berden would be occupied for a long time yet.

The stairs were not far way. I plodded up them as if I were asleep already and walking in a dream. As I passed a window, firmly closed with shutters, I could hear the howling of the wind, which sounded louder than ever. I put my eye to the crack between the shutters, where a little light shone through from the flaring torches down below in the open courtyard. I could see very little except a dense cloud of whirling snow that spun in the air as if reluctant to settle. Yet it certainly would settle and the lying snow would probably be knee deep by tomorrow. What would we do if a ship could not be found to take us to the Low Countries? We could not linger here. Once in our room I pulled off my spare boots, collapsed on to the cot in the furthest corner and rolled myself up in the blankets. Before I had even straightened the pillow under my head I feel into a sleep of pure exhaustion.

Chapter Seven

W
hen I woke the following morning Berden had already been and gone, at least so it seemed from the knapsack ready packed and set on top of his bed with his cloak laid over it. The third bed was now occupied, the bedclothes merely an anonymous hummock, the other soldier returned from night duty. There was a small window in the room, but I did not open the shutters for fear of waking him.

I pulled on my lightweight boots and laced them, then checked the clothes I had worn the previous day. They were mostly dry, except for the cloak, which I left spread out across the chair, so I folded them and packed them into my knapsack. Thanks to my having greased my heavy boots before setting out from
London, they had let in only the cold and not the wet. My satchel had not been opened since our meal during the previous day’s ride. There was still a heel of a stale loaf, a piece of hard cheese and two apples, large new season’s ones. I left the food untouched, in case I should need it later. Before going down in search of something to break my fast, I risked a quick visit to the jakes. I met one soldier coming out and we nodded to each other, but there was no one else about.

I found Berden in the room where we had eaten the night before, talking – or rather listening – to a group of men who had also come off night guard.

‘Nearly froze our balls off,’ one them was saying, and he spat on the floor before burying his nose in a tankard of beer.

‘Aye,’ another grumbled. ‘Don’t see much point in having us patrolling the ramparts during a blizzard. Nothing to be seen through the snow, and nobody – friend or enemy – fool enough to go out in it anyway.’

‘That’s Torrington for you,’ the first man said. ‘It isn’t him standing up there dead of the cold. Oh, no! Sir Anthony is tucked up in his warm bed, thank you very much.’

I noticed that the servants had laid out food and drink on a table against the wall, so it seemed that as the men came off or went on duty they could help themselves. I filled a plate with cold meats and bread, and poured myself a modest beaker of small ale. I would have been glad of some of Joan’s lumpy porridge on this cold morning, but I carried my food over to the table and sat down next to Berden. He grinned at me but said nothing, jerking his head to indicate the soldiers, who were still complaining.

On my way downstairs I had passed the window where I had tried to look out the previous evening. The shutters were still closed but they rattled in the wind.

When I had taken the edge off my hunger, I said to Berden, ‘Have you looked outside this morning?’

He nodded. ‘Still snowing, and still that foul wind, though perhaps not quite as bad as last night. When we’ve eaten, we’ll ask about a ship.’

‘I’ve seen the naval commander,’ I said. ‘Andrew pointed him out last night after you left. Did you do well at cards?’

He smiled blandly. ‘Not bad. Came away the richer by five shillings.’

I didn’t ask whether he cheated. Perhaps he was just skilful.

‘He is called Sir Edward Walgrave,’ I said. ‘The commander in charge of the Dover squadron. Andrew says he is a different type from Torrington.’

‘It is men like
Torrington who will lose us the war against Spain,’ Berden said bitterly. ‘Gentlemen put in command of soldiers who have no army experience themselves.’

‘That’s not so unusual,’ I said, tearing a chunk off my bread and eating it. Freshly made this morning. The army cooks had been up betimes. I thought of Leicester, in charge of the army in the
Low Countries. He did have some experience in war, and all of it disastrous.

‘At least our sea captains are the best in the world,’ I said.

‘Aye, aye, they are, even though most of them are pirates half the time.’

‘Don’t you mean privateers?’ I asked with a laugh. When a captain was licensed by the Queen to seize Spanish ships, he was transformed by royal magic from a pirate to a privateer, and so – nominally, at least – much more respectable.

When I had finished eating, I brushed the crumbs off my doublet and we went in search of Sir Edward Walgrave. He received us courteously, but shook his head when Berden explained that we had urgent despatches for the Earl of Leicester and needed a ship to take us to the Low Countries.

‘You can see what the weather is like,’ he said, gesturing towards his window, where the shutters had been folded back. There was glass in the window and it admitted some light, but it also revealed a prospect of driving snow, which had piled up on the outer sill and rose halfway up the window. ‘I cannot risk one of my ships in this. It would be madness to attempt it.’

‘Sir Francis Walsingham has commanded us to leave England immediately,’ Berden said. He sounded remorseless, but I hoped Sir Edward would prevail. The thought of setting out on a sea voyage in that blizzard was enough to frighten a seasoned sailor, and I myself had only once travelled by sea. I had no wish to drown for the sake of a short delay.

While they argued, I walked over to the window, which looked out over the courtyard where, I was sure, the men would normally be drilling. It was deserted. I saw the head groom come out of the stables, struggle to bolt the door, and then run across to the shelter of the keep, slithering and sliding in snow up to his knees.

‘Nicholas,’ I said, without turning round, ‘you can see for yourself that we cannot sail in this blizzard. Sir Francis himself would not expect it.’

I walked back to the desk where Walgrave sat, fiddling anxiously with a quill, Walsingham’s orders lying in front of him.

Berden shrugged. He had tried, but of course he knew that it was impossible. At least he could honestly report to Sir Francis that we had done our best to leave Dover immediately. He picked up the papers from Walgrave’s desk. The commander sat back with a look of relief on his face.

‘I promise you, Master Berden,’ he said, ‘the moment I feel it is safe for you to sail, I will have one of my fast pinnaces made ready. They are much smaller than our warships, but less apt to be top heavy in rough seas, and they are newly built, sleek and fast. A pinnace will take you across to the coast swiftly and will also be able to sail up the canal to
Amsterdam, which a larger ship could not do.’

‘Will it be large enough to take our two horses?’ I asked.

‘Certainly. And it would have been madness to take horses to sea in this storm. They would have panicked and kicked the sides out of the ship.’

I thought this might be an exaggeration, but I let it go. This man understood far more of the sea than I could ever hope to know.

‘Sir Edward,’ I said, ‘I have been told that the Dutch canals freeze over in winter. When we need to return to England, is the canal running up to Amsterdam likely to have frozen?’

‘They do their best to keep the waterway open, breaking up the ice as it forms. But in a really bad winter, it will freeze, do what they will. In that case you will need to ride to the coast and take ship there.’ He looked at Berden. ‘Does Sir Francis wish my ship to wait until you are ready to return?’

‘No. Come back for us in three weeks. All the way through to Amsterdam if you can. If you cannot, we will meet you on the coast.’

When we had made what arrangements we could, we left Walgrave’s office. He told us to come back the next morning and we would take stock of the weather then.

‘Well, I suppose we must kick our heels for another day,’ Berden said, as we walked back to the great hall. ‘I realise it would not have been safe to have made the journey today.’

‘No doubt you can find another card game or two,’ I said with a grin.

‘No doubt I can. Perhaps not with the same soldiers. What will you do with yourself?’

‘I will see if Andrew is about. Perhaps he will show me more of the castle. There is little else to do. I’ve no skill with cards or dice, so I won’t bother you.’

In the hall we parted company and I did not see him for the rest of the day. After some time I found Andrew and he readily agreed to show me around the castle. It was a strange rambling place, but clearly located here for its strategic importance.

‘It was the Romans who built here first,’ Andrew said. ‘The lighthouse
near the church is part of their original fortress.’

‘I can understand why they would want this vantage point,’ I said. After our tour of the castle we had donned our cloaks and boots and stepped out on to the ramparts overlooking the sea. Snow was still drifting down, but not as heavily as yesterday, though the wind whipped our cloaks so that they cracked like ship’s canvas.

‘The Romans would have been able to keep watch over all the sea traffic moving up and down the Channel, wouldn’t they?’ I said. ‘Particularly when the Saxons started to come sniffing round the shores of Kent.’

‘Aye,’ Andrew said, ‘and it would have been important in the later days of the Empire, when everything was falling apart. Whoever was in command in
Britain would be able to guard against rivals preparing an attack from over there.’ He waved a hand out in the direction of the sea. ‘On a clear day you can see France from here.’

It was hard to believe. The sea and the sky merged together in a blurring of snow and grey cloud, which seemed no more than a few miles away.

‘I think it is snowing even harder over in France,’ I said.

‘It could be. I hope you will not have too hard a time of it over in the
Low Countries.’

‘I have been well forewarned. We should be back in
England before Christmas.’

‘Do you . . .’ he hesitated, looking embarrassed, ‘do you celebrate Christmas, Kit?’

‘You mean, because I am a Marrano? I am a baptised Christian, Andrew.’

‘I’m sorry. I do not altogether understand these matters.’

‘I am not certain I even understand myself who and what I am. My family is part Jewish by descent, but also part Christian. My grandfather is one of the ancient Christian Portuguese nobility. And although my family attended the synagogue in Coimbra, we also attended church, as my father and I do here in England. I take communion.’

‘I did not mean to pry into your private affairs.’

‘It does not matter. But it is confusing, when you are a child, and even now . . . But after all, it must have been the same, for people here. Your parents and grandparents. Thirty years ago, everyone in England was supposed to be Catholic. Before that, Protestant. Again before that Catholic. And now Protestant again.’

‘You are right. Too complicated for a simple soldier like me!’ He laughed. ‘I am happy to be a Protestant and a loyal subject of the Queen.’

‘As I am,’ I said, not specifying which I meant. ‘And I will indeed be celebrating Christmas. Last year I had a high time with the players in James Burbage’s company.’

I might have said more, but it was growing very cold. Before we turned back to the warmth of the keep, Andrew pointed down to the port which lay almost at our feet, sheltered by a massive harbour wall.

‘There you can see our Dover squadron of ships assembling,’ he said, ‘ready for the invasion. You will be crossing in one of the pinnaces. Over there, do you see?’

Through the thin curtain of snow I saw half a dozen small ships at anchor on one side of the harbour. They were slim and elegant, but they looked overly fragile to me, to confront the dark grey and angry waters of the Channel which lay beyond the harbour wall.

We made our way back to the keep, for it was growing dark as well as cold by now. Coming in to the hall I was momentarily dazzled by the light, for the sconces on the walls had already been lit and a fire was blazing in the enormous fireplace. There were even candles in standing candelabra placed here and there about the floor. Someone (not Torrington, I was sure) had decided that the barracks needed to fend off the winter dark. Andrew and I shook the snow from our cloaks and stamped our boots, as the men gathered near the fire looked up in astonishment at anyone so mad as to venture outside unnecessarily.

That evening we dined as before with the soldiers and before retiring for the night I opened one of the shutters of the window in the corridor outside our room. The snow had almost stopped falling and although a strong wind rushed in through the opening, I thought it was perhaps a little less than it had been at the height of the storm. I hastened to close the shutter before the cold air brought protests from anyone. I was glad to wrap myself up in my blankets and have one more night of rest.

The next morning a silvery winter sun lay slantwise across the mounded snow. During the night all the outdoor surfaces had been sprinkled with frost, as if a prodigal hand had broadcast diamonds like barley seed across the face of the world. So intense was the sparkle reflected off the snow that I had to screw up my eyes and look away.

When we had eaten, Berden and I made our way once again to Sir Edward Walgrave’s office. It was clear that he was not only expecting us but knew what Berden would say as soon as he was through the door.

‘Aye,’ Walgrave said, before Berden could open his mouth. ‘The storm is much slackened. I have sent word for one of the pinnaces to be prepared, the
Silver Swan
. It will be ready for you in an hour, and you can leave on the ebb tide.’

‘I thank you, sir,’ Berden said. ‘We will make ready, then take the horses down to the port.’