Wolf Wood (Part Two): The Dangerous years (10 page)

'To John Amend All!'

Another toast was proposed with the same air of conspiracy. Robin feigned lack of interest and listened carefully to everything that was said.

***

Harald sharpened his quill and prepared to take notes. It was usual to keep a record when an officer was delivering an intelligence report. Today the officer was Robin and he had some disturbing news.

Commander Gough waved at the writing materials.

'Put that away. We need to keep it in our heads, not leave a record. From what Robin says, we could have a mutiny on our hands.'

The commander usually referred to Robin by his family name and rank. It was not his practice to call officers by their Christian names. The lower ranks were addressed in that manner. Officers only got the treatment if they had fallen from grace or enjoyed a special relationship with him. Harald could only assume that Robin had attained that latter status.

'You say at least five of my officers cheered loudly whenever the name
Jack Cade
was aired?'

'They were not just cheering.' Robin remained at attention. 'They appeared to be in on the act.'

'In what way?'

'They exchanged glances with one another as if they were part of a select group and the rest of us were outsiders.'

'You mean as if they were part of a conspiracy?'

'Aye, Sir.'

'That was a bit clumsy, wasn't it … behaving like that with so many people around?'

'Guy Gascoigne was encouraging them, Sir. I used to serve with him. I know how his mind works. He calls his band the
Noble Company
. He wants you to feel that you are part of a family. People on the outside want to get in. When they think something is being kept from them ... that makes them all the keener to join.'

The commander turned to Harald.

'What thinks you? He's your brother. You should know about him.'

'Not as much as Robin. My relations with Guy were always strained. I was at university when he was growing up and he left for France soon after. His relationship with my young wife was a cause of great distress.'

'But, from what you know of him, would you say that Robin's assessment is in character?'

'Oh. Yes. Guy has a very calculating mind.'

'Very well. I'll now tell you what I know about Master John Cade. I first came across him ten years ago when he was in the service of the Duke of York, here in France. He is a well-educated man and comes from a prosperous family in Sussex or somewhere like that … I can't remember exactly.'

The commander reached for a tankard of weak ale and took a deep draught. He wiped his lips on the back of his hand.

'At any rate, Cade got a reputation as a bit of an agitator. Some people called him a Lollard. I thought that was going too far. His motives seemed more political than religious and he was not short of praise for York, which was embarrassing and the duke was obliged to get rid of him.'

'The Duke of York is presently in Dublin,' Harald observed.

'Aye. They made him governor to get rid of him. He is of royal blood. Some would claim that he has a strong claim to the throne. There would be many in England who would join him if he tried to assert it.'

'And here in France,' Harald said. 'The troops feel let down. The way Edmund Beaufort handled the surrender of Rouen was the last straw. If it wasn't for the loss of so much territory and equipment, we wouldn't be where we are now. York suffered in the same way. They were continually letting him down.'

The commander nodded in agreement.

'So. Can we assume that Cade is planning an insurrection in support of York? If he is, there will be no better place to find recruits than here in France.'

He turned to Robin.

'What do you think?'

'I don't think Guy Gascoigne is planning to put the House of York on the throne of England, Sir. People like Guy don't like strong government. They do best when there isn't one.'

Commander Gough went to the window and looked out over the French line. In the twilight of a warm April evening, stretcher bearers were going about their business under cover of a white flag. They were collecting up bits and pieces of men who had been alive and well a few hours earlier. They would be reassembled and given Christian burial. The French had suffered heavy casualties over the past three weeks. It was not in their interest to press on with the siege. The time had come for renewed negotiations.

'Harald, it's time to talk to the Bastard of Orleans.'

He walked back from the window.

'Draw up a communiqué for Robin to deliver. Say that I am prepared to meet him at a mutually agreed place and suggest midway between our two camps … usual protocols to be observed.'

'What title shall I use?' Harald looked up from his note block. 'I've never had occasion to address him before. I can hardly use the name by which he is best known, even if he has no objection to it.'

Commander Gough thought for a while.

'He's lord of Valbonnais. Use that. Someone should recognise it.'

Bayeux

May 16th 1450

Commander Mathew Gough climbed the steps of the church with mixed feelings. The town criers had been out and a large crowd was waiting for him to speak. He stood in the porch and surveyed the people below. Some would greet his news with joy. Others with apprehension. All but a few would be relieved. The big risk didn't come from French supporters in the crowd but from mutinous elements in his own army.

Harald Gascoigne stood beside him, in a dark gown, with the written agreement, signed in the presence of church leaders and bearing the seals of both parties. It was the best he could get and in many ways generous. The French had agreed that anyone wishing to leave Bayeux would be given safe-conduct as far as Cherbourg, which was still in English hands. Wounded soldiers would be allowed a month's grace before being obliged to leave. All property must be left behind.

About four hundred women would wish to accompany the men together with a much larger number of children. The French had charitably agreed to provide them with all necessary transport. Everyone else, including himself, would have to march on foot, carrying a stick in his fist as a sign that he was unarmed. The stick was the recognised symbol of a person travelling under safe-conduct.

Matthew Gough read the proclamation in English then in Norman French. Down below, Robin stood by with a detachment of the guard, ready to take strong action if there was a disturbance. There was none. Hostile stares were traded but no blows struck. The women in the crowd looked relieved. The men talked amongst themselves.

***

The cart swayed back and forth, slipping from one rutted puddle to the next. The fine weather had given way to rain. It swept along in gusts and blew through the tarpaulins covering the hooped frame above the wagons. Alice wondered how long it would last. The men were soaking wet and catching cold. Officers had been given accommodation in a barn the night before. Harald and Commander Gough had slept there. Robin had chosen to stay with his men and had passed the night in the shelter of a hedge. To her relief, Steven had been obliged to travel in the cart with her. He had wanted to march with the men but his father had refused him permission and had been supported by officers in the French guard.

They were not allowed to speak to the men but were able to convey messages. Some of the women were prostitutes and had no scruples about buying favours with their charms. They supplied a steady flow of information but it was difficult to judge its accuracy. Some of the men were said to have signed contracts to fight with the French.

There was talk of a visit by a Welsh gunnery sergeant who was serving with the French. The man certainly existed and Alice was prepared to believe the tales about him. He was alleged to have recruited a score or more of his countrymen to the French side. That made sense and so did the tales about the irregulars. The Spanish and the Flemish companies had gone over to the French but the English had refused.

That was what Robin thought would happen. He was still pretending to be on the side of the mutinous English troops. That was why he was sleeping rough with his men. The commander would normally have done the same. Alice guessed he had taken up the offer of a night in the barn because he feared a knife in the back. She was thankful that Harald had gone with him.

Harald had spoken with the commander about the warrant for his arrest in England and the charges of witchcraft that had been brought against her. Gough had vowed to look after their interests. He thought the people in Westminster would be desperately short of friends and ready to pardon anyone who would come in on their side.

On the previous day, a group of people had hurled insults at the English and thrown stones. Their venom had been directed at the Gascoignes. Now they were back.

'Loup … Loup … Loup!'

They shouted the French for wolf and waved a captured Gascoigne banner, torn and muddy but still showing the three-headed beast.

Their numbers were swollen by some hysterical women, screaming that the Gascoignes had murdered their husbands and raped their daughters. They were out for blood and the troops guarding the English showed little inclination to intervene.

An officer arrived and ordered the guard to be strengthened around William and Guy. William ignored the guard and stared icily at the mob. Alice knew the stare and had been intimidated by it on occasions. It told you that William never forgot an insult and would exact revenge one day.

A stone hit him and his demeanour changed. The cold, statue-like posture was transformed. Words were one thing for William. Actions were another. Something inside him snapped and he threw himself at the mob.

The guard tried to restrain him and he grabbed a sword from one of them. Heavily-armed men pounced. Archers with crossbows prepared to fire at the prisoners. Alice saw the sword yanked from William's hand and watched as one of the guard prepared to deliver a fatal blow. Summary execution was the penalty for a prisoner who attacked a guard.

It didn't happen. A cry went out and the executioner froze. An officer appeared. Guy was summoned and a discussion ensued. An agreement was soon reached. William's life was spared but he wouldn't go unpunished. Chains were brought and his feet shackled. From now on he would have to shuffle his way to freedom.

Earlier in the day, a prisoner had been executed for trying to escape. William's offence was far more serious. Alice wondered why he had been spared. The most likely explanation was that the French regarded him as an asset. Harald's nephew was like a cannon ready to explode. She guessed they wanted to deliver him to their enemies in England, where he would create havoc.

Blackheath

June 10th 1450

Robin marched his men into the rebel camp and was greeted with applause. The welcome was totally different from anything he expected. His vision of Jack Cade's army was of an unruly mob of peasants supported by mutineers from the French war. Instead of men sleeping rough, he found neat rows of tents. Ablution pits had been dug and supplies of clean water laid on. It was a well-planned military operation.