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    The Hoodsman: The Second Invasion
    The Hoodsman: The Second Invasion
    The Hoodsman: The Second Invasion
    Ebook358 pages7 hours

    The Hoodsman: The Second Invasion

    By Skye Smith

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    About this ebook

    The twelfth book in this series.

    In the early 1080’s all of the English, including Raynar, are lulled into a false sense of security by the peace and fat times of the anarchy caused by a power vacuum. False because when the Norman duke of southern Italy unexpectedly dies in 1085, warriors return to Normandy and King William uses them to invade England for the second time.

    The largest army that William has ever raised sweeps across England like the Black Death. Raynar sets out to hunt Norman nobility with a wolfpack of men who have nothing left to loose.

    * * * * *

    King Henry’s invasion of Normandy in 1105 fails because of the treachery of French knights. In 1106 he launches a second invasion, this time using English infantry, including bowmen recruited by Raynar.

    * * * * *

    About The Author

    Skye Smith is my pen name. My ancestors were miners and shepherds near Castleton in the Peaks District of Derbyshire. I have been told by some readers that this series reminds them of Bernard Cornwell’s historical novels, and have always been delighted by the comparison.

    This is the twelfth of my Hoodsman series of books, and the last book set in the era of the Conqueror. Please read the first book, “Killing Kings” before you read this book. All of the books contain two timelines linked by characters and places. The “current” story is set in the era of King Henry I in the 1100’s, while the longer “flashback” story is set in the era of King William I after 1066.

    I have self-published twelve "The Hoodsman ..." books and they are:
    1. Killing Kings
    2. Hunting Kings
    3. Frisians of the Fens
    4. Saving Princesses
    5. Blackstone Edge
    6. Ely Wakes
    7. Courtesans and Exiles
    8. The Revolt of the Earls
    9. Forest Law
    10. Queens and Widows
    11. Popes and Emperors
    12. The Second Invasion

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSkye Smith
    Release dateJul 4, 2013
    ISBN9781927699119
    The Hoodsman: The Second Invasion

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      Book preview

      The Hoodsman - Skye Smith

      THE HOODSMAN

      The Second Invasion

      (Book 12 of the Series)

      By Skye Smith

      Copyright (C) 2010-2013 Skye Smith

      All rights reserved including all rights of authorship.

      Cover Illustration is The Battle of Svolder

      by Nils Bergslien (1900)

      Smashwords Edition, License Notes

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      Revision 2 . . . . . ISBN: 978-1-927699-11-9

      Cover Flap

      In the early 1080’s all of the English, including Raynar, are lulled into a false sense of security by the peace and fat times of the anarchy caused by a power vacuum. False because when the Norman duke of southern Italy unexpectedly dies in 1085, warriors return to Normandy and King William uses them to invade England for the second time.

      The largest army that William has ever raised sweeps across England like the Black Death. Raynar sets out to hunt Norman nobility with a wolfpack of men who have nothing left to loose.

      * * * * *

      King Henry’s invasion of Normandy in 1105 fails because of the treachery of French knights. In 1106 he launches a second invasion, this time using English infantry, including bowmen recruited by Raynar.

      * * * * *

      * * * * *

      The Hoodsman - The Second Invasion by Skye Smith Copyright 2010-13

      About The Author

      Skye Smith is my pen name. My ancestors were miners and shepherds near Castleton in the Peaks District of Derbyshire. I have been told by some readers that this series reminds them of Bernard Cornwell’s historical novels, and have always been delighted by the comparison.

      This is the twelfth of my Hoodsman series of books, and the last book set in the era of the Conqueror. Please read the first book, Killing Kings before you read this book. All of the books contain two timelines linked by characters and places. The current story is set in the era of King Henry I in the 1100’s, while the longer flashback story is set in the era of King William I after 1066.

      I have self-published twelve The Hoodsman ... books and they are:

      # - SubTitle

      . . . . . . . . . . . . William I Timeline

      . . . . . . . . . . . . Henry I Timeline

      1. Killing Kings

      . . . . . . . . . . . . 1066 killing King Harald of Norway (Battle of Stamford Bridge)

      . . . . . . . . . . . . 1100 killing King William II of England. Henry claims the throne.

      2. Hunting Kings

      . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1066 hunting the Conqueror (Battle of Hastings Road)

      . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1100 hunting Henry I (Coronation Charter)

      3. Frisians of the Fens

      . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1067/68 rebellions. Edgar Aetheling flees north with Margaret.

      . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1100 amnesty and peace. Henry recruits English bowmen.

      4. Saving Princesses

      . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1068/69 rebellions. Margaret weds Scotland (Battle of Durham)

      . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1100/01 Edith of Scotland weds Henry (Battle of Alton)

      5. Blackstone Edge

      . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1069/70 rebellions (The Harrowing of the North)

      . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1101 peace while the economy is saved from the bankers

      6. Ely Wakes

      . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1070/71 Frisian rebellion (Battles of Ely and Cassel)

      . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1101 Henry collects allies. Mary of Scotland weds Boulogne.

      7. Courtesans and Exiles

      . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1072/74 English lords flee abroad (Battle of Montreuil, Edgar surrenders)

      . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1102 Henry collects allies (the Honor of Boulogne)

      8. The Revolt of the Earls

      . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1075/76 Earls revolt (Battles of Worchester and Fagaduna)

      . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1102 Earls revolt (Battles of Arundel, Bridgnorth, Shropshire)

      9. Forest Law

      . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1076/79 fighting Normans in France (London Burned, Battle of Gerberoi)

      . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1103 fighting Normans in Cornwall (Battle of Tamara Sound)

      10. Queens and Widows

      . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1079/81 rebellions (Gateshead, Judith of Lens)

      . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1103 Edith made Regent (Force 5 Hurricane)

      11. Popes and Emperors

      . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1081 Normans slaughter English exiles (Battle of Dyrrhachium)

      . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1104 Henry visits Normandy (Duchy run by warlords)

      12. The Second Invasion

      . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1082/85 power vacuum, peaceful anarchy (Regent Odo arrested enroute to Rome)

      . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1085/87 Re-invasion and Harrowing of all England (Battle of Mantes, Conqueror dies)

      . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1104/05 Henry invades Normandy twice (Battle of Tinchebray).

      * * * * *

      * * * * *

      The Hoodsman - The Second Invasion by Skye Smith Copyright 2010-13

      Prologue

      In the early 1080's there were three huge armies pushing at each other on many fronts in Western Europe. The army of the Holy Roman Emperor Henry was ranging from the borders of Saxony, across the Germanies, and through Alps to Rome. The Normans of Duke Guiscard and Duke William were ranging between the South of England and Southern Italy. The North Sea league was ranging between the North of England and the borders of the Holy Roman Empire.

      The North Sea league was an alliance of Flanders, Holland, Frisia, Saxony, Denmark and Norway, and a precursor to the Hanseatic League of two centuries later. Its figurehead was the new King Canute of Denmark, but their brain was Robert the Frisian, Count of Flanders. The glue that bound them together was that all feared Emperor Henry, and that all were related in some way to Robert's wife Gertrude.

      English peasants were thriving because England had once again become a peaceful backwater. The Norman lords and knights were all deserting England and Duke William to seek fame and fortune with Duke Guiscard in the Italies. After all, the North Sea fleet would eventually put Canute on the throne of England, whereas Guiscard was successfully looting the rich cities of the Byzantine, so why would Norman warriors stay in England.

      Since both of these vicious Norman conquerors drew from the same pool of warcraft, warriors, and wealth, the size of their two armies were inversely linked. Both Dukes were from the same mold. Guiscards proud epitaph reads terror of the world while William's reads invincible conqueror. When a man slaughters a man, he is a murderer, but when he slaughters an entire people, he is a conqueror.

      Canute never did claim the throne of England. When Guiscard beat Henry in Italy, Henry moved his armies north and so Canute was fully busy protecting the eastern borders of Saxony and so the great North Sea fleet sat idle or went back to trading. Canute was eventually assassinated. Of course, if you read history texts, the only thing of importance that happened in England in 1085-86 was the creation of the tax role, the Domesday Book. Such is the fiction of history texts.

      By 1084 every Norman warrior was earning his salt by beating Henry's army, and was paid off by the sack and burning Rome, but in 1085 Guiscard died. The leaderless Normans drifted back to Normandy and to William. In 1085 William made his second invasion of England to re-establish his rule. It was one and a half times larger than his first invasion, and there was no army in England to stop him from landing. To the contrary he had brought such a huge army to stop the North Sea fleet from landing anywhere in England. To do this he repeated his most successful tactic from the first invasion. He harrowed the English coastline of all its succor.

      This time however, he did not just harrow the North. This time he harrowed everything from Southampton to Dover and from Dover to the Scottish border. Eventually every roof in the kingdom burned, including the Norman's roofs. In the years 1085-86 the Biblical four horsemen savaged the English. The conqueror, mass slaughter, famine and pestilence, and then a long and brutal winter rode across the kingdom on a pale horse. The effect was death on such a widespread and massive scale that it was worse than the black plagues of a few centuries later.

      In 1087 the Normans fled the famine and pestilence they had caused in England and returned to Normandy where William had promised them the sack of a rich city as payment. Rome had already been sacked, so he marched the still huge army towards Paris. He was injured enroute while harrowing the French town of Mantes, and two weeks later died.

      * * * * * * * * *

      By 1105, the incompetent reign of Robert, Duke of Normandy could no longer survive the combined powers of Baron Belleme and Baron Mortain. Henry of England was forced to lead Anglo-Norman lords to Normandy to help do something about the out of control barons. He had to be satisfied with enforcing a peace in Normandy because his French allies proved untrustworthy.

      In 1106 Henry mounted a second invasion, a much larger invasion that included English infantry so that he would not be forced to count on the French. By this time, Belleme and Mortain had control of Duke Robert, but Henry beat them on the battlefield of Tinchebray. By imprisoning his brother Robert for the rest of his life, Henry took over the rule of Normandy but not the title.

      * * * * *

      * * * * *

      The Hoodsman - The Second Invasion by Skye Smith Copyright 2010-13

      Table of Contents

      Title Page

      Cover Flap

      About the Author

      Prologue

      Table of Contents

      Chapter 1 - The conference at Northampton in December 1104

      Chapter 2 - The Popes messenger in Normandy in March 1082

      Chapter 3 - A message through John in Winchester in March 1082

      Chapter 4 - Odo's messenger in Flanders and Frisia in April 1082

      Chapter 5 - Odo's messenger in Denmark and Rome in May 1082

      Chapter 6 - The Pope's messenger in Normandy in June 1082

      Chapter 7 - Arresting Odo on the Isle of Wight in September 1082

      Chapter 8 - Peaceful anarchy in England in 1082

      Chapter 9 - The first invasion of Normandy in April 1105

      Chapter 10 - Home again in Huntingdon in spring 1083

      Chapter 11 - Finding John in Peaks Arse in June 1083

      Chapter 12 - Spy master of England in the summer of 1083

      Chapter 13 - Longbows come to Wessex in summer 1084

      Chapter 14 - Hobbling Normans in Wessex in summer 1084

      Chapter 15 - Saving a Duke at Mount Saint Michelle in April 1105

      Chapter 16 - Ferrying Normans on the South Coast in 1085

      Chapter 17 - The second Norman invasion of England, August 1085

      Chapter 18 - Capturing a fleet off Cherbourg in August 1085

      Chapter 19 - The great harrowing of England, Harvest 1085

      Chapter 20 - The last men rescued from Yorkshire in December 1085

      Chapter 21 - The last earl's wife is murdered in Huntingdon, April 1086

      Chapter 22 - Siege of Bayeux in April 1105

      Chapter 23 - Hunting the Conqueror along the Seine in August 1087

      Chapter 24 - Ambushing the Conqueror on the Seine in August 1087

      Chapter 25 - The Harrowing of Mantes in August 1087

      Chapter 26 - The great fire of Bayeux in April 1105

      Chapter 27 - The surrender of Caen in May 1105

      Chapter 28 - The second invasion of Normandy in September 1106

      Chapter 29 - Dancing with wolves in Mantes in August 1087

      Chapter 30 - The aftermath of Mantes in August 1087

      Chapter 31 - The Conqueror dies in Normandy, September 1087

      Chapter 32 - Battle of Tinchebray in September 1106

      * * * * *

      * * * * *

      The Hoodsman - The Second Invasion by Skye Smith Copyright 2010-13

      Chapter 1 - The conference at Northampton in December 1104

      But why did he choose Northampton for a conference, of all places? Henry asked. We could have met anywhere along the two coasts of the Manche. What was wrong with Southampton, just up the road from Winchester.

      Henry, for someone who must know all of your family's secrets, sometimes you are just thick, Raynar said. Few other men in England could speak to the king with such open honesty.

      Do tell, Edith said leaning forward in her seat to hear more. She had always suspected it, but had never heard it said. She poured Raynar some more heated wine, and pushed at the old pirate's shoulder to urge him to tell what he knew about the Conqueror's family.

      Well, said Henry, eyeing his wife's eagerness. Perhaps it was a secret that should be spoken of. After all, Maud was one of his wife's closest allies in court. No. He would not say it. He must play thick, and taunt Raynar to voice the secret. Could it be because Simon St. Liz is the Earl there, and is trusted by me because he signed my Coronation Charter.

      Oh Henry, Raynar spoke in exasperation. Maud is your brother Robert's secret daughter. Judith was carrying her before she was ever married to Waltheof. He knows, she knows, Simon knows. Now even Edith knows. He watched a warm smile spread over Edith's face. She was also a secret daughter, so she could empathize. Northampton is the one fortress in England where Robert feels safe from you. Maud would never turn him over to you, and Simon dotes on Maud and would support her in anything, and hope for your forgiveness afterwards.

      I would never hurt Robert, Henry said defensively. Yes, he was a pig to me when we were children, but not without cause. I was a sneak and a tattle tail to him. My only complaint with Robert today is that he is too incompetent to be the Duke of Normandy. He should have stayed in the Holy Land with his dancing girls.

      Ah, you would not hurt him but you would lock him up. Put him under house arrest, and keep him supplied with mistresses, Edith's words were not a question. Admit it.

      Henry's silence spoke volumes.

      Well, he is incompetent, Raynar whispered. Always has been. Even in the Holy Land. My complaint with him has always been that he never thinks things through, and for a leader of men, that often causes great harm. He was quick to add, worse, he tends to follow rather than lead. If you don't help him in Normandy then Belleme will frighten him into becoming his lap dog.

      Edith shivered at the mere mention of the name Belleme. So did her two favourite men. Belleme the Devil, Belleme the Cruel, Belleme the Impaler. He was infamous on both sides of the Manche. Henry had battled him for a year before the folk of Mercia rose up and helped him to defeat the Devil. Now Belleme was banished to Normandy, along with his brothers and that vicious bugger Mortain. They had been the scourge of Normandy ever since.

      Twice last year Henry had made surprise visits to the coast of Normandy on his new galley the Mora, a gift from Raynar. Twice he had put the run on Mortain's raiders. Now Duke Robert was waiting in Northampton to discuss the situation with Henry. Well now Robert was safe in the care of Maud and Simon, so would Henry be safe. It was actually a good place to meet. It had a navigable river, the Neme, that connected Northampton through Peterburgh and the Fens and into the Wash.

      The Fens. Edith suddenly tasted her stomach in her throat. The Fens was where Raynar’s ships were based. That was the English side of his Flanders trade. He had ships and men all over the Fens. Raynar's men. Frisians. Bowmen. Hoodsmen. Men who had lived outside of Norman law, since, well, always. Men who had joined Raynar's wolfpacks during the Ely Rebellion against Henry's father, the Conqueror.

      Ray, she said putting a hand on his. Henry and Robert will be safe when they travel through the Fens, won't they? Please.

      I take it you want me to go there too. Raynar grumbled. The Fens were not his favourite place in December. Cold and damp and foggy. Very damp. Very well, so long as we go by ship, and not by horse. I just can't do those long horse rides anymore.

      When could you ever, she teased. For a man who has spent so much time on a horse, you are a terrible rider.

      Just like every sea captain. The movement of a horse is different from a ship.

      Should we take the Mora? Henry asked.

      No. It's not a ship for a small river, not with those outrigger oar decks. Besides, it is in Southampton. We'll take one of my coastal cogs. There should be a few at the London docks at Queenhithe.

      May I come? Edith asked brightly.

      No, the men both chimed together. A coastal cog was no place for a queen, and besides, someone had to run the English court while Henry was away.

      * * * * *

      The rugged little ship rowed past the grand Abbey at Peterburgh without stopping. If Henry wanted to visit it, he could do so on the way back. Going upstream the king was more secure if no one knew he was traveling along this narrow winding river.

      Raynar had chosen a cog that frequently traded with Northampton. A known ship, even out of the trading season, would cause less of a stir amongst the half wild men who made their life along this river and in the marsh land on either side of it. He wanted no stray arrows snuffing out Henry's future.

      He had worked hard for four years to keep Henry on the throne. Though a Norman, Henry was the best chance that English folk had for peace and a good life. His Coronation Charter had been despised and vilified by the Norman barons, which was as good a reference as any king could have as far as most Englishmen were concerned. It had promised a return to rule by law, and a law that reverted to English in-common law, administered by moot courts of elders. It had promised a winding down of serfdom and slavery. It had promised protection for women.

      It had promised a lot of things, and so far Henry had delivered on those promises, despite his Norman feudal barons who all thought of themselves as the master race. The worst of the barons had now been banished from England. It was a good start, but it had been a lot of hard work. Finally the finances of the kingdom were getting better. Finally there was food for all.

      Not so in Normandy. Normandy was now a disaster area. Instead of four years of Henry's enlightened rule, often softened by Edith's caring hand, Normandy had suffered under four years of Robert's incompetence and now was ruled by local warlords and robber barons. Vicious, greedy buggers every one. The master race.

      Raynar had been sitting on the bow gunnels of the ship, and one of the river men must have recognized him because a call came from the bank, Yo, Ray. Whassup.

      Visitin' Maud, he yelled back.

      Watchit, the call came back. There's nobs about.

      He waved that he had understood the warning. Yes, he chuckled, and a king dressed as an oarsman on his ship. Henry had even taken a turn on the oars. There was no better exercise to build backs, shoulders and arms than a few hours on an oar.

      The heavy fog of the damp fens became a light fog as the river valley became dryer, and then a mist, and then no mist at all just before they reached Northampton. There was already a small ship tied up at the river bank near the river gate of the stone castle. Simon's castle. The other ship was flying Robert's colors, so the Duke had already arrived.

      Raynar did not escort Henry into the castle. He had no desire to be introduced, yet again, to Robert. No matter how many times he had been introduced to the man over the past thirty years, the man never remembered his name. It was if he had a mental block that allowed only the names of nobles to be marked to his memory. This despite both he and Robert having shared the affections of Maud's mother Judith for ten years.

      In his place the captain of the ship led the oarsmen as the king's guard into the castle. Raynar meanwhile went for a walk into the town. He noticed that the earthenwork and pale burgh wall around the town had now been almost completely replaced by a stone wall, while the castle had yet to be finished. He climbed up onto the wall to have a better view. There were hundreds of houses within the wall, so the town must be thriving.

      An old man on crutches limped along the wall towards him and called out, Raynar, is that you?

      Oh Simon, what have you done to yourself?

      Same injury, just older.

      Your town is thriving.

      It's the burgh wall. I started it when King Rufus was killed so that the merchants would feel safe during the expected civil war of succession. It was Maud's idea, you know, because of what happened at Huntingdon back in '86.

      How is the conference going? Raynar asked preferring not to talk about Huntingdon in '86. Too many bad memories. He expected that there was nothing to report from the conference else Simon would not be out here checking on his masons.

      Same, same. Robert wants Henry to give him gold so that he can hire mercenaries to bring the warlords of Normandy to heel. Henry doesn't trust him not to waste the gold. Henry has offered to cross to Normandy with an English army to help defeat the warlords. Robert doesn't trust Henry not to use them to claim the Ducal throne.

      So, brother against brother, with closely tied fates but a lack of trust in each other. Reminds me of the Conqueror and his half brother, the Bishop Odo back in '82.

      Ah yes. I rode for William during that um, confrontation.

      I rode for the Pope, Raynar replied. Simon's eyes went wide because the aging hoodsman who was telling him this was not even a Christian.

      * * * * *

      * * * * *

      The Hoodsman - The Second Invasion by Skye Smith

      Chapter 2 - The Popes messenger in Normandy in March 1082

      Yes, you are less than ten miles from Le Mans now, the carter told Raynar, begrudgingly, in the way of a typical French serf. It didn't help that Raynar was dressed as a monk, and all the male serfs hated the greedy churchmen who preyed on the women as they prayed for their men. Take the next fork to the right.

      But I don't want to go to Le Mans, Raynar clarified. It is under siege. I need a way safely around the armies and their foragers. One that joins back with the road to Caen.

      Le Mans isn't under siege. Not any more. They have upheld the treaty. The armies will soon be disbanded. The serf's face brightened, always happiest when misfortune touched another more than himself. You'd better be well beyond Le Mans before that happens. There are no worse thieves than disbanded knights. As I speak I am on my way to hide my cart from them.

      So there is peace? How is this possible? I thought that Fulk had arrived with the French army and there would be war. Nothing was ever easy, was it. He had been counting on the Conqueror being entangled in a costly war so that his own scheming plan could come to fruition. Despite that, he couldn't be angry or sad at the news. War was hard on real folk. This peace would mean that a lot of women and children would be spared a lot of tears and hardship.

      It was William's son Robert who made the peace, the carter told him. He arrived not three days ago from Paris with his fancy tart. He has agreed to be the Count of Maine, but with fealty to Fulk of Anjou rather than to his own father. He has also agreed that Le Mans will continue to be run as a commune. Good that. Towns are best run as communes.

      Robert and his tart?

      Saw them, didn't I, the carter replied. He's a short twerp, but he must be hung like a horse to keep that lass with him. That or he crosses her palm with gold every night. Fair she is, and tall. They say that she is the Queen's own witch, but I'd shag her. Who wouldn't.

      When she refused your kind offer of a shag, did she mention her name?

      The carter was silent for a moment, until he got the jest, and then he laughed until he coughed. Gesa. Fulk's men call her the wonderful Gesa, and swear that they would die for her. She's got that Robert twisted around her finger.

      So it was she who brought you peace, then. It certainly wouldn't be Robert's idea. He said it as another jest, but as soon as the words left his mouth he knew they were true. Gesa would not want the commune of Le Mans to be trampled by armies of knights. She had seen too much of that as a child in the Fens.

      The question crossed his mind of whether she was with Robert by Queen Gertrude's order, or by King Philip's, or as part of Fulk's strategy? No, not Fulk. He brought an army here to kill the Conqueror, not to make peace with him. Fulk hated William.

      Until Robert had been named, Raynar had half decided to go to Le Mans and visit with Fulk. Fulk and he had shared some times, and some battles. Now he dismissed the thought. It may put Gesa in danger if Robert recognized him. The carter was speaking again, and he had to pay attention to understand the local dialect of Manseaux French.

      I said, the carter repeated, If you take the left fork to La Fleche and then head west of north until you are well north of Le Mans, you will find a road to Alencon. That will put you back on the road to Caen.

      He thanked the man. Carters everywhere were a glum and secretive lot, but once you got a laugh from them they were usually willing to help. Before the carter could start his team, Raynar ripped apart the cooked pheasant that he had bought at the last village and passed half of it to him, and then they each went their own ways.

      * * * * *

      By the beaten look in the eyes of the serfs, and by the number of grand and fortified stone manors, he knew he was close to the border of Normandy. He did not enter the walled town of Alencon, because he had been warned that the Conqueror and his nobles were spending the night there. Instead he kept moving north towards Caen to stay ahead of the royal party.

      He stopped for an hour in one village because it was market day. An hour was all it took to eat and to find and buy the things he needed, including filling his wineskins, and then he climbed back into the saddle for the short ride north of town to the forest that the farmer with the wine had told him about. A forest where he could camp in secret, and therefore safety.

      He was inside the Forêt d'Écouves within the hour. It was a large and ancient forest of mostly birch trees, but the forest floor was a tangle of broom bushes. Perfect cover for a man sleeping alone. He followed a cart track until he found the eastern edge of the forest, which was bordered by the main road from Alencon to Caen. The birches were younger and smaller here, but they grew so close together that his mare Sylvie could travel only on the larger game trails, despite her being small and tough. He made camp beside a clean pool of water, a favourite of the game, which was only about two hundred paces from the main road but completely hidden.

      After a short rest and a long swig of wine, he unpacked his purchases from the market. First he tried the bow. It was a peasant's tool and small. A bow for hunting rabbits and quail, and therefore small enough to swing about in the bush. The five small arrows were not tipped with metal points, but with chips of flint.

      His other purchase was some powdered leaves, that the market woman had sworn to him contained a black dye. Just mix it with water she had told him, and then use it to turn any smock into a widows smock. She had warned him that it would rinse out quickly once the grieving was finished. Perfect. He had bought all the leaves she had. Also in a bundle were his new clothes,

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