The Dunston Blade (30 page)

“Come and join us,” called Tristan.

John thought for a moment and then walked over to them and drew his sword. They practiced for a while, thrusting and cutting and comparing various moves.
John relaxed and his expertise began to show without any danger to opponents, especially when he fought both of them and disarmed them both. As Tristan
picked up his weapon he called to John.

“I said it was you and not the sword.”

They walked back to the Chateau together and after meeting Chad they shared a meal and began discussing when they should return home. Brittany was not the
most comfortable place for Englishmen as there was a movement to take it back to France. John called Monsieur Trouville and when the man arrived he said.

“I have the necessary papers here to permanently lease the Chateau and lands to you. Sir Cedric wishes a Frenchman to legally operate this property, how
say you? Is this acceptable to you?”

Monsieur Trouville said it was most acceptable and this would allow him to expand the vineyard. Having concluded the business John told him they would be
leaving in the morning.

II

The four adventurers left early to find their way to St Malo hoping to find a ship bound for England. When they arrived at the port they found it very
crowded mainly with English people trying to get back to their homeland. Alban found a reasonable Inn that could accommodate them all, including horses,
and John with Tristan went to the harbour in search of passage on a ship. No Captain wanted to take the horses and John decided to send them back to the
Chateau with Alban, he also included his suit of armour, just keeping a chain mail vest and helmet. Alban agreed that he would stay with the horses and
when everything had settled down make his way home. The three of them went from ship to ship but without success, it appeared that everyone was trying to
get to England. Eventually they returned to the Inn and ordered a meal, the Innkeeper came to them and said as it was so busy he wanted payment in advance
as he didn’t know who they were. Tristan was quite offended and stood up.

“Do you know who you are talking to?” he said. “This is Sir John Ivanson, a personal friend of Sir Cedric of Wymondham and owner of the Chateaux Vent, so
mind your manners.”

The Innkeeper said how was he to know and now he did know they were most welcome as he purchased wine from the Chateaux. After a good meal and a few
glasses of wine they were ready for their beds, John was soon soundly asleep. Suddenly he was woken by movement outside his door but before he could reach
his sword several men burst in and held him down on the bed. A tall thin man looked down on him. “Dress yourself, you are now a prisoner of King Phillip of
France.”

John’s hands were tied and he was led downstairs. At the bottom of the stairs he saw at the body of Chad who had obviously tried to stop the French but had
paid with his life. Outside in the yard he was bundled into a cart where Tristan sat also bound hand and foot.

“Did you see Chad?”said Tristan.

“Yes,” answered John, “a brave man murdered by these villains.”

“Quiet,” said the leader of the group, “we had no choice.”

The cart trundled and bumped out of the yard and in the dim morning light made its way along the coastal road on their route to who knows where.

As they passed through the towns the cart and its occupants drew many an inquisitive glance.

John wondered what had happened to his weapons and was not until the third day that he saw his scabbard, sword and bow strapped to the tall man’s horse, if
only he could free his hands. They untied him to eat but he was watched closely and when finished immediately tied up again. He managed to talk to Tristan
but when he used English they were told to keep to French. John had been trying to find out the leaders name but the other soldiers, for that is what they
were, would not tell him. At one stop, at an old Inn near the outskirts of Paris, the landlord spoke to one of the guards and called the leader
‘ Monsieur le Corbeau’
or in English
‘ The Raven’.
They trundled through the streets of Paris to an old Castle where John and Tristan
were taken to a tower that had two rooms and off the smaller room a garderobe. The larger room had table and chairs and in the smaller a large bed. The
window was barred but also high up in the tower. Their guards left and locked the large solid oak door. They were both dog tired after the journey and were
soon sharing the large bed sound asleep.

In the morning they were brought bread and cheese, water and their clothes. They washed and ate and John remarked.

“They had this planned, they have collected our clothes and weapons from the Inn. It must have been the information we gave to the Captains of the ships we
were trying to buy passage from.”

“But why bring us all the way to Paris?” asked Tristan.

“I have my suspicions from what Sir Cedric told me,” said John. “The French King needs money so he captures what he thinks are wealthy men or from wealthy
families and holds them for ransom.” Tristan moaned, “I shall be here for ever as my family has no money.”

They sat discussing this when the door was unlocked and
le Corbeau
entered the room with two guards.

“Ah my friends I hope you are comfortable and you have everything you need?”

John replied, “How long do you intend to keep us here. I was not aware that we were at war?”

“We are always at war with the English,” said
le Corbeau. “
Until you are driven from all our lands we shall be at war. However that is not why I
came. We have sent a message to Sir Cedric stating that we want a certain amount of money for your release, as is customary. Until that reaches us we ask
that you assure us you will not try to escape and for that you will be moved to more comfortable surroundings and allowed to walk in the gardens. Do I have
that assurance?”

John looked at him and said, “It is our duty to try and escape to our country and our families, you would do the same. What we will say is that we will not
kill any guards or your staff when we do escape.”

The Frenchman laughed. “Then you will never escape because you would have to kill all of them to leave this Castle. I think I will take the challenge and
you will be moved tomorrow.”

He looked straight into John’s eyes and then swept out of the room.

They were roused early the next day and escorted to a different tower where they were led to a suite of rooms that were better furnished. They now had a
large room to sit and eat with two smaller bedrooms and the usual garderobe. An old woman appeared and brought water to wash and a jug of wine.

“Not a very appetising bed companion,” said Tristan.

“That’s the idea,” said John. “You would not be able to get round her to assist you in escaping.”

That night John lay in his bed thinking of Tania and wondering if she was missing him and if she knew of his plight.

Several months went by as John and Tristan waited for news. They walked every inch of the garden looking for places to get out without being noticed. The
Castle was very near the river and they could hear boats going up and down. There was just one window that looked out over the gardens but it was heavily
barred, and the other wall had the guarderobe. All other windows faced inwards to the garden and bailey. John kept thinking and planning but with no
success. They did not see much of their captor, the old woman said he had gone north to war. The days began to get shorter and nights longer as winter
arrived, fortunately they were kept supplied with wood and there was always a large fire burning. One evening as Tristan was returning from the guarderobe
he commented.

“It’s freezing in there, the wind blows right up your arse. It’s a good job we are up this high over the river or you would get a wash at the same time.”

John spent a good deal of his time trying to find a way that they could break out of the prison. He noticed that the guards had become more relaxed around
them and there seemed to be less in number. Given time an opportunity was sure to arise. To try and break out of the garden was impossible, there were too
many guards and it only led to the Bailey. John had looked at the guarderobe as a means of reaching the river but the holes were too small and landing in
the filth below was not very appetising. A guarderobe was a small bay built out on the wall of the Castle where the normal functions of emptying your
body’s waste went through a hole and straight down the wall. That night he looked at the project again, would it be possible to widen the hole? There were
two holes and if they restricted use to just one then they could work on the remaining hole to try and widen it. No one other than themselves ever went in
there. The problem was how could they cut through the stone that the Castle was built from, then Lady Luck shined upon them. Some repairs where being done
to the battlements near their tower and the builders had to come into their part of the garden. A plan began to take form in John’s mind.

“Don’t drink all your wine tonight,” said John over their evening meal. “Put it in this bottle.”

“What’s the idea?” asked Tristan.

“We need at least three bottles for an idea I have,” answered John.

When the old woman came with their meal John complained that he was not sleeping well and would she bring an extra bottle of wine to help him. After some
grumbling the woman said she could do better than that and went out. When she came back she handed John a little leather purse and told him there was a
powder inside that her mother had taught her to make from mushrooms and that a small amount in a glass of wine would make him sleep, but not to overdo the
amount or he might sleep forever. John thanked her and pocketed the purse. The next day was one of those early autumn days that was still warm and sunny,
they prepared themselves for their usual trip to the gardens but this time taking two bottles of wine, one dosed with a small amount of the powder. They
sat on the grass and listened to the builders working on the battlements, The work finished for the day and the builders came down through the garden.

“Hot work on a day like today,” said John.

“It certainly is and working up there in the sun makes it hotter,” replied one of the two builders.

“Sit awhile and join us in a drink,” said Tristan.

“Now that’s an offer we can’t refuse,” said the second man and they both sat down. Tristan offered the dosed bottle of wine to them and John drank from the
other. It did not take long for the drug to work and the two men were soon fast asleep. John opened their bags and found there were several hammers and
chisels, taking one hammer and two chisels he closed the bags. Dusk was falling and John tried to waken the men. One of them gradually came round.

“That must have been strong wine or we were very tired, we will miss our meal if we don’t hurry. Help me rouse my mate we must go quickly.”

“We were also asleep I think it was bad wine,” replied John.

They gathered up their bags and staggered off. Mid morning the next day the builders returned, they were still groggy from the drink the previous evening
and blamed the castle servants for sending poor wine. John went back to the guarderobe while Tristan kept an eye on the builders, when they started
hammering, so did John hoping nobody would notice any difference in the direction of the noise. His luck was in as a large slab of stone fell almost
immediately and there was soon quite a large hole in one side of the guarderobe. As more stone fell so the stench rose from the piles of excrement at the
bottom and John had to stop and go outside the room to breath. At last he thought the hole was big enough and went down to the garden to join Tristan.

“I will drop the hammer and chisels in the grass and they will think they left them there,” said John.

Sure enough the builders came into the garden and one of them tripped on the hammer and said.

“I told you I hadn’t dropped it over the side, it’s here, and the chisels. Must have left them last night. Don’t offer us a drink tonight, we’re still
suffering from the last one.”

With that they left and said they would see them tomorrow. John and Tristan went back to the guarderobe and looked down the widened hole.

“Do you think we can get through there?”asked John.

“Looks all right, but I don’t fancy it much. It’s where we land worries me, in all that muck, and it’s quite a drop,” replied Tristan.

“We can dive into the river and get cleaned up, my main concern is that we have no weapons, except our daggers. I wonder what he has done with my sword, I
must get it back,” said John. “Let’s have our meal and think it over.”

After the old woman had left them John told Tristan of his idea.

”If we tie the covers together from both beds it will lower us enough to drop without hurting ourselves.” “That’s if we can get through the hole,” said
Tristan.

“I am sure we can, but we will need some food so don’t eat all the next two meals and then we will go,” said John as he put some bread in a bag.

When the old women brought their food in the morning John asked for more bread as they were hungry midday, after a lot of muttering under her breath she
came back with the bread and some cheese. They were about to go down to the garden when two guards arrived and looked around their rooms, fortunately
Tristan had just made use of the guarderobe and the smell prevented them looking in there. They stood by the door as an officer of the guards came in and
told them there had been no reply from Sir Cedric so they were to be transferred to a larger prison in two days time. When they had all gone John said to
Tristan.

“We go tonight.”

Tristan nodded and wished he had not used the guarderobe.

As the sun set that evening the two men prepared to make their escape, they tied the bed covers together and with their possessions in their bags they
moved into the guarderobe. They had changed into their oldest clothes, and put their only change of clothes into the bag. Tying the bed covers to the table
they jammed it in the doorway and lowered them through the enlarged hole.