Warlord of the North (10 page)

We made a camp behind the rise in the road.  The Scots would not see beyond our first line of knights and men at arms. We had brought servants to watch the horses.  Gilles was with them and I had given him a sword and a buckler. As I had no squire of my own Harold's squire, Ethelred, carried my banner.  He would be behind me in the second rank and he would draw the Scots to me.

Until Sir Hugh Manningham and his men arrived we were spread thinly. Ralph of Wales and twenty of my archers were hiding amongst the brambles and wasteland of the farm.  They would hide there until the enemy host had passed them. Our front rank consisted of seven knights and thirty men at arms. Our second rank was twenty five men at arms and six squires and our third rank was twenty seven mounted men at arms. It was not enough but until our allies came it would have to do.  Behind this block of iron were fifty two archers.

As darkness fell my men returned from their work.  The woods and the forests were a death trap. I knew that the Scots would not lose huge numbers.  They would soon realise that they did not represent an ambush but by then they would be channelled into one mighty block of men and I hoped to tempt them into charging our small line.  All that they would see would be eighty men. Even with wise heads to guide them the wild  Scots would charge.  It was in their nature. Our horse holders were ready with our horses.  Badger stamped impatiently, luckily he and Gilles had formed a bond. They would both be ready when the time came.

We kept sentries out beyond the farm on the Durham Road. We wanted a clear warning of their approach. I had sent Aiden north to spy out the enemy. I expected him back after dark. We heard the sound of hooves and I heard swords being unsheathed.  It was not, however, Aiden, it was Rafe.  "My lord, Sir Hugh is camped at Elwick.  He will be hear soon after dawn.  He and his men have marched hard, my lord."

I nodded, Elwick was less than eight miles away.  Had we not destroyed the De Brus garrisons at Hartness and Greatham he might have been in danger. "Good, then we can make our plans come to fruition."

Rafe had just begun to eat his meal of cold meat when we heard more hooves.  This time it was Aiden, "My lord, the Scots are camped at Bishop Middleham. They will not be here before noon tomorrow."

I was pleased.  It meant we had time to refine our defences.  The Scots would have more than ten miles to travel.  I guessed they expected to camp not far from where we were.  From here they could have launched a dawn attack on Stockton.  "Dick, I want your archers in the woods to kill any Scottish scouts.  I want them to approach this trap blind!"

"I will lead them myself.  Philip of Selby can command until I return." There was no greater compliment Dick could give. He trusted the Archbishop's kin.

I went to sleep feeling as happy as I could.  We had made our plans and now we would wait for the Scots to come.

Sir Hugh was as good as his word and the men from the north appeared from the east shortly after dawn. It was a cold, fresh day.  We would be aided by a slight breeze from the south and west. It brought scudding clouds overhead. It was a good day to fight.

"Your archer said we had an army to fight?" I told him what had happened.  He nodded, "Had I not been besieging the New Castle then I might have been able to bring the news for I would have been watching the wall."

"It matters not." I told him of our dispositions. "I would have you and your knights mounted as the third rank.  Your archers can join mine."

He nodded approvingly, "They will not see beyond me and my mounted men." He chuckled, "I like the thought of Balliol searching the woods for archers who are not there. What of your archers in the ruined land near to the farm?  They take a great risk."

"Not really. All were outlaws and the woods are just forty paces from their position.  Once they are in the woods they would vanish.  I do not fear for them."

We had all day to rest, sharpen weapons and prepare the positions to be even more deadly. We had dug pits on either side of the road and covered them with faggots and soil. We would not be outflanked.

It was early afternoon when Dick rode in.  "Their scouts are dead and soon you shall see their banners." He led his men behind our lines.

"There, lord!"

Sir Tristan had sharp eyes and he spied the banners above the hedges beyond the bend in the road. As we watched the colourful array came closer. When they neared the woods which closed along the side of the road, they stopped.  If we could see them then they could certainly see us. I watched with amusement as Scottish warriors disappeared into the woods seeking the archers who were not there.  They did find the traps. Some would never return from the woods while others would be wounded.  It took them almost an hour to discover that there were no men within the woods and then they sounded their trumpets and hurried on to get to us.  They passed the deserted and ruined farm without a second glance.

I saw that they had a block of knights at the fore.  Each one had a squire and his banner. There were forty of them and behind I saw men at arms.  Their numbers were harder to ascertain because of the banners.  They filled the road.

We had time and I turned to my host.  "We hold until I give the order.  If I fall then Sir Hugh will give the order.  Is that clear?"

"Aye!" The answer was roared out and I wondered what the enemy would make of it. 

I held my long spear braced on the ground.  The long strap on my shield allowed me to hold it in two hands. The men at arms behind us held their spears so that they were resting on our shoulders. To get to us they had to get through over fifty spears.  It was a solid wall and we were uphill.

I had Sir Edward on one side of me and Wulfric on the other.  None of my knights took offence at the position my Sergeant at Arms took. They knew his worth. Sir Harold shouted, "Now, Dick!" Harold was an archer who was the equal of Dick and he knew the range better than any. The sky darkened as the arrows flew and they kept flying as shower after shower was released. It was the enemy horses which suffered the most.  Although some of the knights were struck none was a mortal blow but the horses, without armour, did die.  When they died their riders were thrown from their backs.  The ranks were so tightly packed that a fallen knight was trampled by those behind.  Some of those who came on were tripped by their own dead and dying horses and still the arrows flew.

The better riders managed to jump the obstacles.  It meant that the line of spears which approached us was not knee to knee nor was it dense.  It was a few riders who had succeeded in escaping the arrow storm.  Their rewards was a wall of fifty spears.  The horses baulked at the barrier.  I jabbed at the nearest knight.  He was trying to wrench his horse's head around and my spear sank through his mail, through his gambeson and into his middle.  I pulled it out of the side and his entrails were torn out.

Someone was in command of this army and I heard trumpets sound and orders were given. The horsemen withdrew and dismounted.  They did this under an aerial onslaught.  The arrows fell and so did the men at arms whose armour was not as good as the knights'.  Their losses slowed when they locked shields and advanced.  Most had lost their spears and they drew swords and axes.  They were confident.  They outnumbered us.  They pressed more men into the solid wall which advanced. Inevitably some of those on the periphery were forced into the ditches.  The traps ate them and their screams made those in the middle bunch even more. Soon they were unable to swing their weapons.  They advanced with their weapons held before them. I waited until they were ten paces from us and I shouted, "Charge!"

The front two ranks all moved as one. We all stepped off with our right leg and those in the front rank all thrust with their spears at the same time. It worked.  The enemy could not move their arms and our spears found faces and found flesh.  As they fell the second rank advanced and my rank turned and slipped through gaps to come behind them.  The second rank punched their spears and the effect was the same.  The enemy line was now reeling.  Those in the front had been their best warriors. As the second rank slipped back behind us I drew my sword for my spear had shattered. We had room to move and they did not. The hands which my mentor Athelstan had said were the fastest he had ever seen darted in and out like a serpent's tongue.  My enemies could not block my blows and soon my sword was red with Scottish blood.

We worked together.  We had fought in such a manner often enough. We had a rhythm to our movements.  Our shields seem to be raised as one.  The effect mesmerized our opponents.  When we struck our well sharpened steel went through poorly made mail and found flesh. Our feet moved in unison so that we were able to push forward.  The spears over our shoulders were used to great effect.  Our enemies needed more eyes than they possessed.  They had to watch for our swords and for the spears which came over towards them.  In contrast to our unified attack they fought as individuals; it mattered not how brave they were. They looked for honour and glory. Fine and skilful knights stepped forward to take on either me or one of my knights and paid the price when they were easily slain. We faced an individual; they faced a band of brothers.

The press of men before us meant that we were tiring.  They were wearing us out with their men. I saw two of our men at arms fall and knew that the time had come for the second part of my plan. "Fall back! Now!" The line behind made gaps though which we stepped. We had practised this. I had read of Roman legions doing this and Erre and his Varangians had been taught the manoeuvre. We all stepped and turned as one and the movement was seamless. As the enemy charged they were hacked, stabbed and chopped by my men at arms. They were facing fresh men and they were tired.

"Fall back!" This time we made the gap. Those in the front rank moved back and as the enemy ran to catch them we stepped to meet them.  We kept moving back, interchanging warriors, until we were in our original positions. Before us was a wall of bodies.  I observed that there was no longer a wall of knights and men at arms. The ranks were intertwined and there were some unarmoured men amongst those before us.  It was no longer a wall of mail.  It was the time to use Sir Hugh Manningham and his men.  They were fresh and they were mounted.  They were eager to get amongst men who were tired and had blunted weapons.

"Hexham! Now!" This was our trickiest manoeuvre.  There were no traps in the ditches next to us and we all stepped to the side as Sir Hugh Manningham led his fresh knights and his forty men at arms to charge down the road.  The charge was also the signal for Ralph of Wales and his archers, hidden in the ruined farmstead, to loose arrows into the unprotected rear of the column.  There the men had no armour and few had helmets.  I could not see but I knew that it would be carnage.

I could see the enemy as Sir Hugh and his horsemen battered their way through them. They reeled from the ferocious attack of fresh men on huge horses. As soon as the last horseman had passed we climbed on the horses that were brought to us. We followed Sir Hugh and his men so that we were a tidal wave rushing down the hill.  Dick and his archers followed us.  They would no longer operate as one but as individuals.  They would target leaders and knights. I am not certain what broke them the knights or the archers in their rear.  Perhaps it was a combination of both. Whatever the reason the enemy host was broken in that last charge.  All that was left for us to do was to kill and to chase.  To chase and to kill. We pursued as long as it was light. As darkness fell there was nothing left for us to chase. We had won.

We camped where we had fought. Huge piles of arms, armour and helmets were gathered from the dead.  We burned their bodies and the heat from the fire kept us warm that chilly night. I sat with my knights. There were wounds: William of Warkworth had a broken arm and Ralph of Morpeth had had his leg mail pierced by a spear but other than that they had survived.  Our tactics and our discipline had overcome our wild and impetuous enemies.

"Should I return to the siege, lord?"

"No, Sir Hugh.  If we close the road to the north at Morpeth then they will be cut off anyway.  It will not take them long to realise that they are alone. Now that it is spring our farmers will need to see to their crops and their animals. Our markets will need to be open once more. I hope that with peace restored the merchants will use our roads again.  That is what we protect."

Riding back to Stockton the next day, Wulfric said.  "You know, lord, we could rid the whole of the north of this Scottish threat. These warriors from the north are not well led."

"You may be right, Wulfric, but I am loath to lose men I cannot replace to fight another's battle. Until the Empress returns I need to keep as many of our men alive as I can.  That will be a war where we travel further afield. We have gained much in the way of arms.  Let us use that to build up our armies and the gold to buy what we cannot produce."

There was both relief and jubilation when we returned to Stockton. I sent one of Philip's archers to the Archbishop with a report of our success. Harold and Sir Tristan went back to their manors.  They would make them both good and strong.  It was too early for either the now knighted Sir Wilfred or Sir Hugh to return to their homes.  Balliol was still ensconced behind the mighty walls of Barnard. There would be time enough to take them but we had much work to do in my town. We went back to the walls and our further work on the defences.  I used some of the gold we had taken to pay William the Mason.

"But lord the work I do is for me and my family."

"I pay my men at arms and I pay Alf the Smith.  You are a stonemason and you deserve the financial rewards too."

As my men toiled on the walls I saw Alan of Osmotherley. I waved him to me, "Lord?"

"Are you glad you came north with me or do you wish you had stayed in the vale?"

He smiled, "I was meant to come here.  My brother and I always wanted to be men at arms and to serve a great lord but with Sir Ralph in the Holy Land we did not want to leave our mother and father alone.  We feared for their safety." He shook his head, "And yet even being there we could not save them.  Had we left then Alfraed might still be alive and they would have suffered the same fate."

"Not quite. Your mother died saving your life.  She will be in heaven now, satisfied.  No parent wants their child to die before them."

When I was satisfied that the work was coming on apace I spent time with John, my steward. We had the finances of the manor and the valley to reorganise.  He was surprisingly philosophical about it all. "If we do not pay taxes either to the King or the Bishop then we can choose what to do with them.  You can have your wish to have a larger conroi and retinue while I have other ideas."

"Yes?"

"We need our own vessel.  I have spoken with both Ethelred and Alf about this. They have goods they wish to sell. We could send them by road to York but that is the expensive way to do it. A ship can carry more and travel further. You have a manor in Maine my lord and the ship could transport goods from here to there.  I daresay the wine you drink would be cheaper from your own estate?"

I smiled, "One would think so."

He nodded, "With your permission I will have the boat builders begin work on a cog.  It need not be overly large.  We have sailors already in the borough.  All that we need is a captain who knows the seas."

I liked the plan.  "Go ahead then John and I will ask the Archbishop if there are any such captains in York."

"I will get it started and then, my lord, there are the sessions.  We have many cases waiting to be heard.  Some are serious."

"Then arrange them for this peace will be but temporary.  Of that I am certain."

March did not come in like a lion and go out like a lamb.  It was a wild and windy month. It delayed work on our ship.  Its hull, as it was being constructed, looked like a huge fish skeleton. I did not see it being ready for sea before autumn. The messenger to the Archbishop had still to return and I began to worry as did Philip of Selby. "It is not like Jack.  He is reliable.  I pray naught has happened to him."

"Perhaps, Philip, with the peace you and I may take your archers and ride down to visit with the Archbishop.  I feel blind and deaf for I know not what goes on in the outside world. We will give your man one more day and then go."