Saxon Dawn (Wolf Brethren) (27 page)

As a precaution Garth or one of the other senior warriors took to riding a twenty mile loop
around the area to look for sign of tracks.  Blackie was a quiet and reliable horse and he gave the novice warriors a gentle ride.  When I could, I would get a second horse for Garth.  Ywain and his patrol came every third day and, as the White Christ’s birthday approached, I felt sure that the Saxons had yet to make an appearance.

Once they were ready the three chosen boys could not wait to make their first journey. We ha
d made them a tabard with a wolf’s head emblazoned upon it.  It served two purposes, it told the guards at the fort where they came from and it gave them some extra protection from the biting cold. The ponies which had been a little thin when they arrived had benefited from the fine grazing on the river bank and their winter coats shone in the snow. We watched with some trepidation for the return of the first rider.  When he did there was an audible sigh of relief.  The messages were oral of course because neither the boys nor I could read. The first message was banal and yet a relief.  “No sign of the Saxons.” They soon developed a close relationship with our cleric.

Once the system worked I could return to my main job
; watching for the Saxons.  The two days when there was no patrol I would take out five of my men.  While I was away Garth or one of the other senior men would remain at the fort.  I rotated the men for I wanted to know their mettle.  I was pleased with what I saw.  They were all keen and willing to learn.  They all had bows and I combined the patrols with foraging for food and soon we were bringing game back every day.  Sometimes it was merely hares, rabbits and squirrels but it supplemented the diet; at other times we managed to bring back a deer. So far the wild boars had eluded us but I was a patient man. The community also brought their surplus; sometimes some old apples or plums or vegetables which would not last the week and sometimes surplus meals, about to go off. We learned to make sustaining stews on the pot which we kept constantly bubbling.  My mother always maintained that a truly hungry man would eat anything.

Garth and I were on patrol and I had left Blackie at the fort.  It did not seem equitable to ride while my men walked.  It was not as though we could go any faster. “Are the people pagan or Christi
an Garth?”

“They are a mixture.  Why do you ask my lord?”

“I was wondering if they celebrate the White Christ’s birthday or the winter solstice.”

“They do both but the
ir celebrations tend to be on a small scale.  The people hereabouts are poor.”

Then I had an idea. “They could come to us. The men will want to be with their families and we could hold the feast in the
fort. If we hunted on the days of Prince Ywain’s patrol, then we might bag some larger game.”

The look on Garth’s face told me that it was a good idea. “They will all bring what little they have and it will be a good way to celebrate our first winter in the fort.”

Garth was the bearer of the good tidings and I sent a message to Brother Osric asking from some wine.  I made sure the messenger boy explained why I had made the request and when he returned he was grinning. “The Brother said that if it was just for you then you would wait until hell froze over but as part of the King’s initiative he would send a wagon tomorrow.”

The days until the festival flew by.  The offer had been greeted with joy and gratitude; if only for the fact that they would have shelter and be feasting on the shortest days of the year.  Osric did more than send the wine; he sent some onions and garlic from the fort’s supplies as well as a small jug with King Rhydderch’s fiery liquid.
Brother Oswald had embraced the idea and had suggested that we make it a two day feast or they would have to leave in the dark and the wolves had been howling again. I did not mind and I made sure that the warriors had cut plenty of wood for the fires.  It had ten days to dry out and would provide a cheery atmosphere. As we went hunting, all my warriors and the three despatch riders I felt strangely sad.  I would be the only one without his family but that came with the title; my new family were my people.

We had a successful hunt.  Having so many hunters we were able to spread out further and we managed a wild boar, two small deer, a dozen rabbits and five brace of wild birds.  We would eat well
whilst we feasted on the shortest days of the year.

The
farmers and villagers began to arrive with their families just after dawn on the shortest day of the year.  Some must have begun walking in the middle of the night and they were grateful for the blazing fire my men had lit.  Every family which arrived brought something, either food, or a bowl they had made or something they had woven.  Some even brought their animals.  I did not mind.  There was room a plenty in the fort. Soon the smell of the roasting meat wafted across the land and the community began hurrying in.  It was an emotional time for some of them lived ten or more miles from the fort and had not seen their sons and brothers that were my warriors.  The mothers of the despatch riders wept openly when they saw how much their bairns had grown. As the sun began to dip behind the western hills we began to eat.  Brother Oswald and the Christians all said prayers to their God while we pagans saluted the gods who had delivered the bounty. I had watered down the wine to make it go further but added a small amount of King Rhydderch’s fire and we all drank a toast to King Urien. Before I could start to eat Garth stood, “And a special toast to our lord, Lord Lann the Wolf Warrior and the Saxon Slayer.”

I was touched by the response which was as warm as the fire
which blazed merrily away. I sat back and watched the scene, happy and sad at the same time; this was the time I missed my family. I listened to their songs after the food had disappeared and we had eaten the puddings and treats that the women had brought.  I knew some of them but others were strange to me.  Some were so funny that I wept with laughter while others evoked a sad memory of my mother and father and I wept with remembrance. Most had never had wine and they all fell asleep as the fire slowly slumbered to a glowing pile of ash. Like me Brother Oswald had not had too much to drink and we walked the fort, making sure that the gates were secured. “It was a good day Brother Oswald.”

“Aye my
lord, and it is a good thing that you have done.” He looked at me with a mischievous look upon his face, “And a very Christian thing too, my lord.”

I peered out at the stone covered land and listened to the wolves howling. “I will ride out just after dawn and do the patrol alone. The men will appreciate the time with their families.”

Garth had been dozing next to us and he had heard me.  He slurred, sleepily, “I will come with you my lord.”

“You have a family too besides I can cover more of the land on horseback than you can on foot.”

There was a warm fug in the hall and huddles of bodies beneath blankets.  The snores and flatulent noises spoke of people who had enjoyed themselves. I led Blackie from his stable.  Garth stirred himself. “You could have slept on.”

“No my lord, I will bar the gate after you have gone and I will light the fire.  We have more feasting to
day before they depart.”

I shook my head.  They certainly knew how to enjoy themselves.  I had my bow with me and I looked towards the river as I crossed the bridge
; it was bubbling away well which suggested there was rain or melting snow on the hills. Any kind of game would come in useful but, more than that, it kept up my skill with a bow for I did not want to lose the skill I once had. I saw little and the fresh snow covered the ground completely.  I could see no tracks which boded well for that meant the wolves were not close to the fort.  I swept south for a few miles and still saw nothing and then I spied a dirty patch of snow.  From a distance it looked like a herd or a pack had crossed that way and I urged Blackie on to investigate; if I could get a couple of deer then we would eat well for a week. His ears pricked and that told me that the smell in his nostrils was either wolf or man! When I saw the tracks I knew what it was; man! The Saxons were here. I could see from a quick look that there were many of them for the snow was quite deep and they had marched three or four abreast. The ground was visible as a muddy morass. They were heading for the road. 

I jerked Blackie’s head around and rode back the way I had come. I did not want to come across them while I was alone and before I could warn my people. When I judged I had travelled far enough north I turned west and really gave Blackie his head.  The soft snow made life easy for him and he flew.  I felt relief
when I saw the walls of the fort still stood. Garth had posted sentries and they waved cheerily as they opened the gates for me. “Bar the gates and stand to. Saxons!”

I dismounted and called over one the despatch riders. “Ride to the capital and tell them there are Saxons near to the fort.”

He looked terrified but he gritted his teeth and went for his horse. I regretted their youth for I would have loved to send one to Aelle to warn him but it was too dangerous. The trail south ran perilously close to the place I had seen the tracks. As a second boy took care of Blackie, Garth strode up and he looked concerned too. “Is it true my lord? Saxons?”

“I cross
ed the trail of a warband.  Arm as many of the men as we are able, and man the walls.  Get the women to bring food to the men on the wall.  It will keep them busy and it will help keep up the men’s strength.” Not all the people round about had come to the fort and we had fifty men only. There were boys who could help but only thirty five of the men had been trained as warriors.  Until we could count them we were blind. “Keep watch.  I will go and arm. Unfurl the standard above the tower.” I wanted the Saxons to know who they fought.

Brother Oswald came over.  “I will prepare hot water and get the women to make bandages.” He cocked his head to one side, just as Brother Osric did, “It will keep them busy and stop them fretting.” He was young but he was wise beyond his years.

When I returned Garth pointed to the south. “Look my lord.” There was a plume of smoke from the south.  They had raided a farm.

“Who lives there?”

I breathed a sigh of relief when he pointed to a greybeard on the wall, “Tan.” He saw the question on my face. “And his family and animals are within.”

“Good then the Saxons will be
disappointed.” I looked to the skies.  Whoever had put the thought of the feast in my fort had had the gift of prophecy for there would be at least one dead family had I not done so. The villagers and farmers soon heard of the danger from the busy scurrying of my warriors and the arming of the men.

“Over there my lord.
  Another fire.” Further to the north and east of us another plume of smoke arose.

I turned to Garth who anticipated my question. “They are here too my lord.”

“Good.  Go around and make sure our warriors are evenly spread out with the farmers and others between them.  Put the boys with slings around evenly and make sure that everyone is armed. Even if is just a hatchet or a knife.”  We would die hard if that was our fate.

I stood on the top of the tower closest to the bridge.  The Saxons might be making for the fort but the bridge would make just as good a target. One of the women climbed up the ladder with a hunk of cold boar meat
in a wooden bowl and a beaker of river water.  “Here you are my lord; Brother Oswald thought you might be hungry.”

I was not hungry and I needed to focus but this woman had been kind enough to bring it to me.  “Thank you, I am ready for this.”

I took them from her and she bobbed her head. “Will they come for us my lord?”

“They might come for us but so long as I wield Saxon Slayer they will go away empty handed, that I promise you.”

Her smile beamed like a flame in the night and she descended.  Some other women must have been below for I heard her say, “We will be safe Lord Lann has promised me.”

I shook my head.  How could they have so much confidence in
me?  I was much younger than the old woman who had brought me food and the greybeards around me knew much more of life. I glanced down into the fort and saw the woman and her friends watching me.  I bit into the pork.  Surprisingly, I was ready for it and I wolfed it down quickly and drank the water.  I must have pleased them for they all smiled and went about their business. As I watched another spiral of smoke climbed out of the grey sky to the north east. It looked to be close to the river. I knew why they had confidence in me, I was a warrior, I was a killer and I would kill for them.

Garth came running down the ramparts.”That is the home of Scanlan and his wife.  They are old and chose not to come in. She sent the apple pudding you enjoyed.” The look on his face told me that he knew them w
ell.  They would have died but, they would, if they had been captured, have told the Saxons of the fort and the warriors; if King Ida wanted my death, he now had the means.

“Prepare the men it will not be long now.” I hoped the despatch rider had made good time but it was a long ride to the king and the two men might be out on patrol.  I just
prayed that they were celebrating the White Christ’s birthday. 

I saw some movement in the trees to the east
and one of my warriors at the far corner yelled, “Saxons!”

I strode down the rampart to see with my own eyes how many men we faced. By the time I reached the corner they were streaming from the
woods. It was a large warband but it did not look to be an army.  The leader wore a helmet similar to mine but more plainly decorated and I saw a torc around his neck. They halted three hundred paces from the walls. At first I wondered why and then I saw them pointing at the standard above the tower and then at me. They knew who they fought and they remembered my arrows.  This was good.  It would buy us time. What I did not want was a night attack for that would only serve them and not us.