Warlord of the North (6 page)

"He perished with most of our men fighting the Scots.  He held them until we could get to Gainford." She began to well up.

Wilfred, a youth of no more than fifteen years of age said, "He died well as did our men but their bodies were butchered and despoiled. Our enemies have no honour, my lord."

"Take your mother and your people to my Hall.  I will join you there soon."

I stood to one side with Sir Edward and my men at arms. "Our army grows."

Wulfric said, "The numbers will not swell our own overmuch, my lord"

Sir Edward concurred, "Wulfric is right.  It looks like they have suffered losses as grievous as my own. You have sent the Scots packing but they will return and now, my lord, we have enemies closer to home. The De Brus family control the land to the east. They can close the Tees any time they choose."

"And that is why we must improve the defences here on the river. I want ramparts erecting. We need total control and access across the river. When I have spoken with my people, Sir Edward, I want you to return with the men at arms and archers you sent over and fortify your castle and the ferry.  I will send a rider to the Archbishop and tell him of our situation."

"You said he might be forced to side with Stephen."

"I did, Edward, but I do not think either man wishes us to lose the north and have the Scots control all the land north of the Tees. We must defeat our common enemy before we face each other."

Sir Hugh and the family of Geoffrey of Piercebridge gathered in the Great Hall.  I told them my news, all of it and my decision. "I go now to speak with my people and when I return we will talk further."

Father Henry and Alf had gathered everyone in the town square by the water trough. I rode Scout so that all could see me. There was neither cheering nor shouting. This had been a narrow victory and everyone knew the danger still remained. "People of Stockton, King Henry is dead and Stephen of Blois claims the throne. King David has treacherously taken advantage of the death of King Henry to try to take our land. I swear that I will fight the Scots and bloody them until they find other lands to ravage."

That elicited a cheer.

"However we are now on a war footing.  Until we are safe I will be as a warlord. I will do all that I can to defeat the Scots and use every means at my disposal. From this time forth every male from the age of seven and up is to carry weapons with him at all times. When you are not working on your land you are practising with slingshot, war bow, with sword. We make arrows until we have enough to slaughter every Scotsman in Scotland!"

That elicited a second cheer.

I paused and glanced at Father Henry.  He nodded. "When the Scots are defeated then I will fight for the rights of the rightful heir of England, the Empress Matilda and her son, Henry. I will not swear allegiance to Stephen."

For the first time I saw doubt on the faces of my people and heard a murmur of conversation.

"I do not command any to follow my banner. This is a decision each man will make in the future but I was appointed your lord by King Henry and I will not lie to you. Each person must make their own decision." I waved a hand at the still smoking piles of bodies.  "We have defeated one enemy.  There are more.  We make our walls stronger, while winter remains, so that no one will try to breach them.  We prepare weapons and we gather food.  As Warlord I give each family permission to hunt game in my forests. What we hunt we share! The road south is still in English hands and I hope for allies and reinforcements but if we have to fight on alone then we will do so."

I turned to return to my hall and Alf shouted, "I know not about the rest of you but I follow the Earl of Cleveland.  Him I know and the man from Blois I do not!"

There was a cheer which began small but grew until, by the time I rode through my gate it was deafening."

Dick took my reins as I dismounted. He was grinning, "They have given you their decision." He nodded to his archers on the walls.  "We have decided too.  We follow you as Earl or as Warlord."

"It could mean a traitor's death."

"Aye, my lord it could but I think it will not and I also believe that what you do is right. King Henry would approve." He laughed, "I began life as an outlaw.  It is but a small jump to traitor!"

"And Wulfric?"

"He will tell you himself, my lord, but he and his men at arms did not find it a hard decision to make."

I felt better as I entered my Great Hall. The gathered knights and their families almost filled it. They stood expectantly.  I was not yet ready to ask the question for part of me feared the answer. If they did not follow me could I fight against them?

"Tell me Sir Hugh, your story."

He looked tired and more than a little shaken.

"Sir Barnard sent a message to me to visit him at his castle.  I was suspicious, my lord, and I used bad weather as an excuse not to attend. On the same day Lady Hilda and her family fled to my castle, pursued by Scots. They barely made it.  I sent a messenger to Sir Barnard asking for help.  The messenger did not return. The three ships we brought were on the river.  I thought it fortuitous that the river had not frozen and we were going to send our families to you for safety when a rider came from the east to tell us that you had been slain on the journey back from Normandy. We did not know what to do and the Scots then attacked my castle. Sir Barnard was with them, lord.  You were right.  He is a traitor."

I nodded, "Scottish and French kings hired six killers to end my life on the way back.  They failed but their plan almost succeeded and Barnard Balliol will pay a price for his treachery."

"He came to our walls on the second day of the siege. He begged me to surrender and join with the forces of King David.  He said he would fight under the Scottish banner; that was where his heart lay. We refused and he said there would be no quarter.  They attacked." He shook his head, "My castle is made of wood and it is small.  We could not hold out for long.  When night came and we counted our dead I decided to chance that Sir Edward or Sir Richard lived yet and we might find sanctuary. We slipped out after dark, boarded the three boats and managed to escape.  They chased us down the river for a while and showered us with arrows but they lost men and we did not. Now we are here."

"I will tell you now what I have told my people.  From this day forth, until we have the rightful ruler on the throne I will rule as regent for the Empress Matilda and the erstwhile Prince Henry. When I have spoke with the Bishop of Durham, who is Prince Bishop, I will know my position better.  None need make a quick decision.  We have the Scottish pox to remove but once that is done then we have a decision to make."

They nodded.  Some shouted, "I am for you now, Earl!" and the like.  Others held their counsel.

"Sir Hugh, I am sure your father in law will care for your family until we have regained your home.  Lady Hilda use my castle as your own.  Wilfred, until you are knighted, would you be my squire?"

"Aye, my lord. I would be honoured."

My banner stood in the corner.  I went to get it and handed it to him. "Then on the morrow we begin the fight back! We take what the Scots have captured and make this valley England once more!"

I went to speak with Sir Richard and Sir Edward at first light. "I need you two to take your men and ensure that you are bastions protecting the river's southern bank. With Piercebridge gone and the mouth of the Tees closed we have to keep this vital artery to York open.  If the road is cut then we will be helpless."

"But that leaves you perilous few men with which to defend the walls of Stockton, my lord."

"I know Edward but I am counting on the fact that there will be others who live and seek a lord behind whom they can fight. Train men.  We have bows and spears aplenty.  We use what we have."

"But we might be throwing their lives away."

"I rely on you to see that does not happen. I will use speed and the skill of my archers in the woods. My plan is to find those who are close to us and eliminate them first.  We keep moving out until we are joined with Durham once more."

"And what of Durham?  Surely the Prince Bishop should be fighting the Scots."

"Do not judge him yet, Richard.  He may well be fighting.  Until Aiden returns we are in the dark. Now go and keep me informed.  Any information no matter how trivial should be sent to me."

I sought out William the Mason. "My old friend.  I have need of your skills once more."

"Aye, my lord.  I will do all that I can.  This is my home and while I cannot wield a sword, I can, at least, wield a mallet and chisel."

"I need the north west town gate improving.  I would have it made of stone.  My men will deepen the ditch. I wish the wall to continue to the river wall and gate."

"You intend to make a small enclosure between the town and the castle."

"I do. We can make daub and wattle huts.  The castle is too crowded now and I do not wish it to become pestilential should we be besieged. We need somewhere for the people to live if we are attacked again."

"I will get my sons and we will start straight away.  I have stone which was intended for some houses in the town."

"Tell those for whom you would build that I will recompense them but the town takes priority!"

Alf was already hard at work making swords.  His sons were making arrow and spear heads.  I saw fletchers making arrows. "Alf, your work is all that I would wish it but I must tell you that I am using the stone that you and the others bought for your houses.  I am making a stone gate and wall.  If we are under siege then we can use it for the people.  If any complain tell them I, personally, will recompense them."

He spat into the fire and it hissed and sizzled, "If they complain they answer to me, my lord.  You purge the land of these savages and I will bang heads here if needs be." I knew I could rely on Alf.  He was the Wulfric of my town.

I gathered my men.  "Erre I leave you and the Varangians with Sir John to protect and guard my river crossing. William will work on the new gate.  Have the men deepen the ditch and use the wood the Scots gathered for their siege weapons and make a drawbridge.  We ride to find Scots.  We will return after dark. The password is Miklagård."

He laughed, "I like that.  God speed my lord."

Young Gilles had brought Scout for me and he led his palfrey. I shook my head, "No Gilles, I need you here on my walls. You must defend my home. The others who work with the hawks and the stables will be here also and Sir John will command."

I led my men and we headed to Norton. All that we knew was Sir Henry and his men were dead. We knew nothing else. We went defensively towards Norton. I doubted it was still occupied but it did not do to take chances. Dick and the combined archers spread out and we moved along the Hartness Road. The burned walls had long since stopped smoking but they stood bleakly like the teeth in an old woman's mouth.  The gate my father and his men had built was thrown down.  The dead still lay where they fell. No one was left alive. Although they had not despoiled the church, even the Scots would not dare do that, they had killed the priests.

"Should we bury them, lord?"

I shook my head. "We will do that when we have scoured this side of the land of Scots." I did not like the decision and it was not taken lightly but I had to take it. We headed towards Hartness. We passed burnt out farms where the carrion had picked over the bodies. There had been no treasure to take.  They were killing those who lived and then moving on.

We were approaching the hamlet of Cowpen when we saw our first sign of life. Dick rode up to us, "My lord, there is a band of Scots.  They are attacking Cowpen. The large house is being assaulted.  There are men within still fighting."

"Take your archers and cut them off.  They will try to retreat to Hartness."

I knew what the village looked like. There was a circle of huts around a green. Although there was no lord of the manor, Aethelred, the headman, had been one of my father's men at arms and he knew how to fight. 

I turned to my knights and men at arms. "We ride in hard with neither trumpet nor shout. We give no quarter.  I want no ransom! I want them dead!"

I drew my sword and spurred Scout. Wilfred, my new squire, could barely keep up with me. Sir Harold and Sir Tristan flanked me.  Both had been my squire and knew how to stay close.  Sir Hugh was behind me so that we made a diamond and like a diamond I hoped that we would be as sharp. As we burst between the first rude houses I saw flames licking at the large hut. I could hear the clamour of battle.  Even as we charged I saw arrows loosed from within. Men defended their homes. The Scots were commanded by a knight and they had a ram to batter down the sturdy door.

I led the charge and I saw a Scot with his breeks around his knees as he tried to rape a woman. Two of his fellows held her down.  I charged towards them and, at the last moment, lifted Scout's head as I swung my sword at the man on the right. He leapt over them. Scout's hooves smashed the skulls of the rapist and his accomplice.  The woman was showered in brains and blood but she lived. I did not rein in my horse but I ploughed into the backs of those at the door.  The four of us and our squires were a mass of mail and horseflesh.  Even had we been without swords many would have died.  With swords it was carnage.

Some of the Scots stood, or tried to stand.  They were the oathsworn of the knight who wielded a double handed axe.  I turned Scout's head to take on this knight.  He did as I expected; he swung the axe at Scout's head.  I anticipated the move and jerked Scout to the side. I almost miscalculated for the axe took some hair from Scout's mane. I brought my sword down and it bit into the arm of the knight.  I broke through the mail and into his elbow. As soon as the tendons were severed the axe fell from his hand. Sir Harold took his head with a single stroke of his sword.

I heard a roar from my left as Aethelred rushed from the burning house with the remnants of the villagers.  They fell upon the Scots; they hacked and chopped them apart. It was a wild fury I had rarely seen.  My father had often spoken of berserkers who would fight with similar fury. I dismounted and handed my reins to Wilfred. The villagers were hacking at bodies already dead.

I sheathed my sword and put my arm on Aethelred's back, "Aethelred!"

He turned and there was wildness in his eyes.

"It is me, the Earl.  They are slain."

He began to breathe more slowly, "I am sorry, lord.  They are savages." He pointed to the slaughtered children whose bodies lay in the track which ran through the village. "I was a soldier; there is no need for this."

I nodded, "The Scots have taken much,  Hartness and Greatham belong to our enemies.  Norton and Wulfestun have fallen.  None remain.  Believe it or not you have been lucky." I took a deep breath. "It will be too dangerous for you to stay here."

I wondered if he had heard me for he said, "Is it true that the King is dead?"

"Aye, he is."

"Then who will drive the Scots hence?"

"I will."

"With these men only?"

"If I have to then yes but we will have more. Take your people to Stockton.  There you will be safe.  When we have reclaimed our land you can farm here once more or take Norton for it is a graveyard now."

"And you, my lord, where do you go?"

"I go to leave a message at Greatham." I mounted my horse. "Aethelred, take the knight's head.  That will speak for me. The weapons you should take for your people. This is a fight to the death. Let us make them pay dearly for each sod they stand upon."

He took the axe from the dead knight and swung it high.  He took the helmet from the skull and handed it to me. I rammed the gory trophy in my saddle bag. "Keep together.  We will escort you when we have done this."

Greatham was just a few miles up the road.  Like Cowpen there was no castle but there was a ditch and a wall. We found Dick and his archers.  They had slain the ones who had escaped the wrath of the Cowpen villagers. "We have taken their weapons but they are poorly made."

"We need all the weapons we can muster. Beggars cannot be choosers."

We rode hard and reached Greatham quickly.  The gate was barred and the standard of the De Brus family fluttered from its wall. Armed men appeared on the walls. I turned to Dick. "Clear the walls!"

"With pleasure." He dismounted. Dick had twenty eight archers with him and they were all well trained. They pulled back, their war bows straining.  Those on the walls, some one hundred and fifty paces away, looked and wondered.  When the arrows fell my men released a second and a third volley. The arrows came down almost vertically.  I saw one crossbowman pinned through his skull to the ramparts. Dick shouted, "Hold!"

I spurred Scout to the gate and threw over the skull. "De Brus! Whoever commands here know this.  I will return and I will burn this manor to the ground and slaughter all who lie within. If you wish to live then go to Hartness and take ship for Hartness burns tomorrow too!"

I turned and rode away. Sir Hugh said, "Is that wise, lord, to warn them?"

"I intend to terrify them. Fear not Sir Hugh.  I will not waste men and both manors will be in our hands by the end of tomorrow. We return to Stockton merely to use Erre and his Varangians." I paused, "And now we can bury Norton's dead."

We caught up with Aethelred and his people at Norton.  They helped us to bury the fallen and then we made our way home. It was just becoming dark when we reached the safety of my walls. My men had done well and the ditch had been deepened.  In addition they had finished an eight feet section of the wall in stone.

"Aethelred, you can build homes here. There is willow aplenty by the river and the people of Stockton will help." I turned and shouted, "These were driven from their homes in Cowpen. I would you made them welcome.  Here they will build homes and they will fight alongside us on these walls!"

Alf shouted, "Come on! You heard the Earl! We are English and know how to share!"

I dismounted and gave my reins to Gilles who had run up to me as soon as we had entered the town. I shouted to the walls, "Erre!"

"Aye lord." He made his way down to me.

"We ride again tonight.  We leave at midnight and we go to Hartness.  I need you and your Varangians.  I want you to break down the gates of the town."

He rubbed his hands, "And then kill the Scots my lord?"

"And then kill the Scots."

He rubbed his hands, "Good!"

"Dick, have your men rest.  I want you to attack Greatham with fire arrows this night."

He nodded, "And drive them to Hartness, where you will be waiting."

"Exactly! I gave them fair warning.  I believe they will send a boat to Guisborough. They will want their women away from my wrath and they will summon help. Perhaps they too believe I am dead. When they return north I want them to see the blackened remains of the two manors they captured.  If we cannot have them then no one shall."

It was but twelve miles to Hartness and even less to Greatham. We could be there in under two hours. We rested and we sharpened weapons. It was a sharp cold night and the moon rose early.  That was unlucky.  We would not be hidden by the dark. On the other hand my archers would have easy targets. We parted close to Greatham and I headed for the dunes and the sand.  We would approach the walls of Hartness from the sea.  It would also enable us to catch any who fled Greatham.

Despite the temperature our horses and our speed kept us warm. As I saw the buildings, rising above the sea, I thought about this town which was so close to mine own. Hartness had always been the bane of my life.  It was from here that Scottish knights had raided Norton and slain my father. When I had rid myself of the lord of the manor I had thought it secure but when my lord was killed it proved to be another weight about my neck and now I had lost it. I had meant what I said. I wanted the town rendered useless to the Scots. It would be one less thing for me to worry about.

What was on my mind as we headed along the track which bordered the sea was Aiden.  Where was my scout? I had expected him back before we had left Stockton. Had I asked him to do too much?  I now felt the weight of the world upon my shoulders. Things had happened so quickly that, since the King's death, I  had just reacted to problems.  Perhaps I needed to sit down and plan my strategy. I had not even given thought to my son, William, nor to my knight in Anjou, Leofric.  I prayed that they were safe on the Angevin border, however I was powerless to help them.