Warwolfe (de Wolfe Pack Book 0)(62)
Ghislaine looked at him. “Because it would have taken us much longer to reach the only other road that leads to the north,” she said. “You wanted to parallel Alary and that is exactly what we are doing, but it does not come easily. I warned you the day we left the army back at Westerham. Do you not recall?”
Gaetan did. He remembered saying something about the fact that they would be heavily armed, so he couldn’t blame Ghislaine for taking them down a dangerous path. She had, indeed, warned them. Rather than admit that, however, he simply brushed it aside.
“Is there a town or somewhere to stay the night?” he asked. “Dusk will be upon at some point and I am not entirely sure I wish to sleep in the open tonight if there are men waiting to harvest my flesh.”
Ghislaine pointed down the road, northward. “Evesham is not too far away and Worcester beyond that,” she said. “We could make it to Evesham but it would be after dark. There is an abbey there where we could seek shelter.”
Over near Gaetan, Wellesbourne snorted. “The abbey is a beacon in a sea of darkness,” he said as the knights turned in his direction. “Remember that I am from the Marches between Mercia and Wales. I have been about these lands before with my father and what she says is true. It is a cursed land but it is also our only option if we want to make north before Alary does. I would strongly suggest we make it to Evesham, as the lady has suggested, as quickly as we can. Legends and ghost stories abound in this land. Some say it is not only cursed, but haunted.”
Jathan crossed himself fearfully as the other knights looked at Wellesbourne with varied levels of amusement. “Since when did you become so superstitious,” St. Hèver wanted to know. “Ghosts do not exist.”
Wellesbourne looked at him, pointedly. “Have you ever seen one?”
Kye shook his head. “I have not. Show me one and I will believe. In fact, I’d rather like to see one.”
Wellesbourne shook his head, a gesture of regret. “If we do not make it out of this land, then you may become one. Gate, I suggest we get moving. There is no time to waste.”
There was some urgency to Wellesbourne’s statement, which spurred the other knights forward. The man didn’t show concern for no reason at all, which meant he must have, indeed, been wary about their surroundings. No one wanted to discount that. As the group began to move out, Camulos suddenly began barking.
The lazy sweet dog of their liege wasn’t one to bark, which immediately put everyone on edge. He was trotting up ahead of them, into an area that was fairly dense with trees. They could see the end of the tree line beyond where the road opened up again into fields, but in order to get to that open space, they had to pass through a thicket of trees that lined both sides of the road. The dog was wandering up into that sheltered area, barking at the trees.
Gaetan didn’t like that in the least. Camulos may have been a lazy, good-for-nothing dog, but he was nonetheless alert and, at times, had been an excellent warning system. Silently, he lifted a balled fist and immediately, every knight unsheathed his broadsword or at least put a hand to the hilt of their weapon. Up towards the front of their group, Denis de Winter already had l’Espada out, the metal blade gleaming in the weak light.
They were ready for a fight.
But Ghislaine was very suspicious about what was going on. The tribes around here were unorganized and rough, but they were cunning in that they used the land to their advantage. The Normans did not; heavily armed, they believed they could withstand anything because of their superior weapons and armor and tactics. They didn’t even try to hide themselves. Perhaps their superiority was true in an open battle, but in covert warfare, it might not be so effective.
Ghislaine couldn’t stand the thought of Gaetan being cut down because he fought one way while the caro comdenti fought another. He hadn’t seemed to be apt to really listen to her on this journey, instead, relying on his men or on Wellesbourne who, it seemed, hadn’t been home in almost twenty years. Times changed, as did areas and towns in that time. Gaetan and his men were entering this land like warriors on a quest when what they needed to do was be as unobtrusive as possible.
That arrogance was going to cost them if they weren’t careful.
The dog was milling around up on the road, sniffing the ground, but he’d stopped barking. He even stopped to look back at the knights behind him, men who had slowed their forward progression considerably. But Ghislaine’s warrior instincts were taking over; she had little doubt that there was someone, or something, waiting for them up in those trees. She could feel it. Men with arrows, perhaps, or axes, both of them sharp projectiles that would come sailing out at the Normans as they passed through. A glance at Gaetan and the others showed that they were ready for a fight, tensed up and prepared. They were waiting for it to come to them.
But Ghislaine couldn’t wait. Better to draw out what was lying in wait and remove the element of surprise to give the Normans targets to strike at. If there was, indeed, someone waiting in the trees, then it would take away their advantage if she was able to draw them out. And if there was no one waiting… well, she would look like a fool. But it was better than permitting Gaetan and his men to be cut down.
She had brought them along this road. Perhaps, in a sense, she needed to protect them from it.
When the dog began barking again, Ghislaine kicked her mare as hard as she could and the horse bolted, tearing up the road and into the collection of trees. She could hear someone shouting behind her, men shouting out her name, but she ignored them. She was about halfway down the shaded path when the arrows suddenly began flying from the trees and she heard men in the foliage, barking like dogs. They were howling and hooting, and an arrow zinged by her head. Gasping with fright, she lay down on the mare, putting her head next to the horse’s neck for protection. More arrows, more barking, and then sounds of a fight behind her.