[Norman Conquest 01] Wolves in Armour (30 page)

Barfleet Creek wound north towards Thorrington, but did not reach it, the village being a mile or so beyond the navigable part of the river. As the incoming tide ceased, Alan’s crew had to get out the oars and start to row. They reached the remainder of the small fleet just as the tide had dropped so low as to prevent further progress even in the shallow-
dra
ft
ed
longboat. The boat had run aground some distance from the shore and they had to wade through thick mud to reach solid land. An anchor was dropped and two men were left aboard to attend to the ship when the water returned.

Hugh and several others were standing on the shore and managed not to laugh at the sight of Alan, mired to the thigh and having lost one shoe in the mud. With a smile on his face Hugh said, “Sorry I can’t offer you a horse, but as you know we took every animal that could be ridden when we went to Wivenhoe and they aren’t back yet. Lady Anne has taken the refugees up to the village to be tended. Fortunately the hay-making and sheep-shearing can wait a few days.”

With an irritated grunt Alan limped off to the nearly deserted Hall, where he washed off the worst of the mud, put on a fresh tunic, leggings and boots before walking down to the village green.

As at Wivenhoe, Anne had organised the refugees into small parties, each group tended to by two or three villagers. Most distressing was the group of fourteen orphans aged from eight to twelve, being supervised by two matronly women. A small group of local children had started a game of knucklebones and managed to get most of the orphans involved, although several, particularly the older girls, were sitting quietly and with a withdrawn manner.

The stories the refugees told were similar to those heard at Wivenhoe. Small communities attacked without warning, slaughter, torture and murder, rape and looting. From the stories it appeared as if parts of Lexden Hundred and Winstree Hundred had been virtually depopulated. The Danes had swept through like a plague of locusts, destroying everything, burning villages and the isolated individual holdings or places where several houses stood close together. As before, most of the captives were young women who had seen their husbands killed, and all too often also their children. Some were men too young to be married, but strong of back and suitable to work as slaves in the fields of their captors.

In small groups they were taken to the local bathing place, a deepening of the creek that supplied the village with water, located just downstream of the village, to bathe and receive fresh clothing. They were then billeted with the locals, care being taken to keep together those known to each other, particularly the children.

Although Thorrington was reasonably affluent, some of its people were not and in some cases the clothing provided literally came off the back of the provider. Alan opened his store-rooms, but not all that was needed was in store and the local villagers generously made up any shortfall from their own belongings, including clothing, shoes, brushes and combs and many other small items.

The return of the first batch of warriors from the villages further north and east, those who had been loaned the use of the Thorrington horses when the Thorrington men took to the boats, arrived at mid-morning and caused an initial stir of fear amongst the refugees. After a brief rest and quick meal the men, now without the horses, moved on towards their homes at Tendring, Bentley and beyond.

Alan turned to the youth who had been following him as faithfully as a hound. “What is your name, boy, and where do you come from?” he asked gently.

“Leof, master. I’m from a hamlet near Fingringhoe. All burnt and gone now,” he concluded sadly in a rustic accent.

“Well, Leof, let’s get you cleaned up, clothed and fed. Come up to the Hall with me,” replied Alan. The Hall had its usual bustling character and Alan placed Leof in the charge of Otha the cook, sure that the boy would need a decent meal and that Otha could do with some assistance in the kitchen. However, not long afterwards the boy reappeared, now clean and with his long hair brushed, and stood behind Alan’s chair as he sat at the table talking to Osmund, who had been drawing up a list of the refugees, first at Wivenhoe and now at Thorrington. Osmund would go to Brightlingsea to do the same job that afternoon.

Anne came hurrying in and sat at the table. Alan waved for some food and wine for her and Leof disappeared like a shot, returning moments later with a laden wooden platter and brimming cup.

After giving the boy a brief nod of thanks Anne began to talk urgently to Alan in Latin, knowing that only he and his trusted scribe Osmund would be able to understand. “I’ve had a look through the ships, the two longboats and the four trading cogs. I’ve had a few things taken off and either put in your wine store or in a bundle in the room you use as your office. Now there’s no doubt that all those items belong to you by right of salvage. But most of them were seized by the Danes at Colchester, including the cogs. The previous owners are nearby and no doubt anxious to recover their property. To avoid any disputes, and any legal court cases that would drag on for months- and who knows what the outcome would be once the lawyers get involved- I strongly suggest that you get rid of them as soon as possible. I’ve taken a rough inventory and from what I’ve seen you’ve gone from being a man of substance to one of significant wealth in a couple of days. As long as nobody takes it away from you.”

Alan inclined his head. “And you have a suggestion as to how to do this?” he asked.

“Of course,” replied Anne. “As I have told you, my father is a merchant at Ipswich. I’ve taken the liberty of penning him a note instructing him to sell at Ipswich what is in the longboats and to send the cogs to Lubeck, Haarlem, Hamburg and Oslo to sell both the cargo and the ships. You should buy four different ships and then have them return to Ipswich with a return cargo. Father’s factors will know what to buy. I’ve told him that he can only keep ten percent of the gross, which no doubt will really upset him as he usually doesn’t work for less than fifty percent. Now, how many of the longboats do you want to keep? You have fourteen and that seems a bit greedy.”

“I’d like to keep six, maybe eight, and use them to provide some protection for the estuaries of both the Colne and Orwell. I’ll probably put a ballista on the bows of each one, which should make up for any lack of numbers,” said Alan with some confusion. “I hadn’t really thought about it.”

“Fine. Send six up to Ipswich and my father will sell them back to the Danes or the Norwegians. You should get a good price for them.”

Alan shook his head in bemusement. “This really doesn’t make sense. Why would I sell ships to the Danes for them to send back here to raid us again? And why would I want four trading ships? I’m a soldier, not a merchant. Not that I have anything against merchants,” he added quickly.

“The Danes and the Norwegians will build as many ships as they think they need for whatever purpose they want them, including raiding or trading. If you’re worried about trading with the Danes, we can sell them to the Norwegians- who will use them to raid the Scots, the Russians and the Danes. They don’t come down here. Hopefully that’ll satisfy your conscience. I’ll send off the trading cogs with the two longboats that still have plunder in them, with the best crews, with the next high tide. The boats still at Wivenhoe can be brought up here when you have the crews- that’s something else I’ve asked my father to attend to. You need reliable and knowledgeable captains and a few extra seamen. For ten percent of the gross I expect him to do some work.”

Alan shook his head again in confusion. “What is this all about?” he asked plaintively.

Anne reined in her enthusiasm, “I’ll explain in more detail later, but until this week you have been a prosperous and respected landowner in a small and remote corner of England. This Danish raid has delivered to you the means to be very wealthy and you can then do what you want with your wealth. Clearly you have designs to improve the local military. That will cost a lot. If you operate eight longships with their crews, that will also cost a lot- after all you can’t turn pirate and subsidise the cost by taking local shipping, although you could turn the tables on the Danes and go and raid them. Trust me.”

Alan gave in and shrugged. “Whatever you like! Select the six crews for the boats you’re most interested in and I’ll have the other boats at Wivenhoe brought here. After all, in six days we’ll be dividing up the rest of the captured booty with the other thegns who took part.”

“But not what you took last night. Those were your forces and that booty is yours,” instructed Anne. “Today is Friday the 31st of May,
the Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
” she continued. “Sunday is Trinity Sunday. Would you care to come and share it at my Hall?”

“Certainly, with pleasure! We’ll leave in the morning,” replied Alan. “Meanwhile, come and have a look at my new Hall at the fort. It’s basically finished and the workers are just completing putting on the last of the wood shingles on the roof. I still haven’t got the chimney working properly yet, though.”

Anne patiently withstood the detailed tour of the fort, showing genuine interest in the innovations such as the under-floor heating system; water piped in from a nearby spring to the stables and kitchen; the bathing house with a hot tub big enough for four; and, the piece de resistance, flushing latrines. Alan had opted not to use the Roman system of continuous flushing, as it would cause problems with needing too big a cesspit outside the walls in the low-lying land, but would use a flush-on-demand system where periodically a sluice would be opened to allow water stored in a tank to wash away the waste.

The barracks and stables were already occupied, the barns and granary were full and Gimm and his assistant were going through the armour and weapons stored in the armoury to see if any equipment needed repair after the recent battles. Stable-master Teon had boys at work in the tack room checking and oiling all the horse harnesses.

As promised, the Hall itself was virtually complete, with only a small section of roofing needing to be completed. Anne admired the paved floor, sturdy construction, private apartments and guest quarters. “And after this week I’ll be able to afford to put glass in the windows, instead of just using shutters or oiled cloth,” enthused Alan with what Anne felt was not unwarranted pride. He also proudly showed her his workroom, where there were three ballistae in various stages of completion, diagrams drawn in chalk on a large piece of slate attached to the wall.

That night Alan enjoyed his own bedchamber, and Edyth. Anne slept on the mattress in the Solar, lying awake drumming her fingers on the bedclothes in annoyance at the sounds of pleasure coming from next door.

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Next morning Alan gave Anne a hand-up into the side-saddle on the quiet horse that had been found for her. As the escort of six mounted men-at-arms was falling in behind them Alan saw Leof looking dejected and called for Teon to fetch a quiet pony. “Do you know how to ride, boy?” asked Alan as Leof mounted clumsily. When Leof shook his head Alan gave a kind laugh and said, “Well, now is as good a time to learn as any! You have a nice patient pony and Lady Anne and I will give you some tips as we ride. You should be an expert by the time we reach Wivenhoe!”

Alan was content to leave the hosting of the Trinity Sunday feast to his new steward Faran and his scribe Osmund. As instructed by Anne, Alan had arranged for the six boats containing the majority of the Dane’s booty to sail on the high tide that night. Alan had also dispatched Owain on horseback to Cardiff with an order for 50 longbows, a large purse of 200 shillings and four trusted armed guards- nobody in his right mind would let somebody he hardly knew carry £10 in cash 200 miles all the way across the country and into hostile territory. Alan sincerely hoped that his trust was not misplaced and that Owain and the bows would return. £10 was more than most men earned in a lifetime.

Anne rode alongside Alan, on his right so that she faced him in her side-saddle. After some idle chatter she paused and said, “Alan, there is an ulterior motive behind this invitation.” Alan gave a polite look of enquiry but kept his silence, allowing Anne to continue. “You were, as usual, correct. It’s one of your annoying habits. When you were away in April, Robert fitzWymarc’s clerk came to see me, a little weasel of a man called Foucoud. His breath stank of garlic and obviously hadn’t had a bath since winter began.

“As you said was likely, he claimed that Aelfric had only taken up the land in laen for his lifetime and that I have to vacate. I told him that it was landboc owned by Aelfric. He demanded to see the ownership books, which of course I don’t have. I don’t have the charter to prove that and I don’t know if that is true or not, but presumably they wouldn’t be able to prove it wasn’t true. He then said that this caused no problems. Aelfric, my former husband is dead, there is no heir and as a widow fitzWymarc would be kind enough to find me a suitable husband. Indeed he had already found a suitor. An elderly knight, a Breton like fitzWymarc, who has been married three times before. Geoffrey of Rennes is his name.

“I asked Foucoud’s English assistant about this Sir Geoffrey and was told he is 45 years old, drinks heavily and beat at least one of his previous wives to death.” Anne paused but continued before Alan could interrupt. “I declined, and remembering your kind previous offers presumed to tell him that I already had an arrangement with a local knight of some renown. Foucoud told me that such an arrangement wouldn’t allow me to keep my manor. I told him that it would as both my former husband and my betrothed were both tenants-in-chief, holding directly from the Crown, so my lands aren’t in the gift of the local lord. That seemed to confuse him. He departed and I’ve heard nothing since.” Anne paused again “So I thought I’d better tell you that you are betrothed, before you heard it from somebody else,” she said with a small smile.