Enemy at the Gate by Griff Hosker Page A

York for it had been when King Henry still lived. Gilles spread it out.
    I jabbed my finger at the map.  "We are mounted and we will be faster than any enemy. We concentrate at Bowes.  We know that the King of Scotland is in Carlisle. If we are threatened then he must come through Bowes.  It is his only route east. We can cover both roads and delay an army long enough to fetch our people within our walls.  It will buy time to sow the fields and tend animals. Life has to go on."
    Dick nodded, "I agree with you, lord. The land is perfect for my archers.  There are forests aplenty.  We can ambush and delay an army.  If the Scots send their men into the forests then the beasts will feast well on their corpses. We have spent the winter laying in a great store of arrows. We have good fletchers in Stockton."
    "Then we leave but we will not take warhorses.  I would travel light. Philip of Selby may well need every man to man the walls; even horse holders and carters."
    My counsel of war ended and I think that all were satisfied with the plan.  They would have to be for I had no second in case it went wrong.
    When we left for Bowes we could only take one long spear each. We were travelling light/  When that spear shattered we would have to rely on our swords. We would use Barnard Castle for food.  It was by a few miles away from Bowes. The battle I led was mainly my men. However my three knights had chosen their best three men at arms and best three archers to accompany us.  We would have no peer in combat. The five banners, for Sir Hugh of Gainford would join us, might confuse an enemy and suggest a larger force of men.  Scouts tended to count banners and make assumptions about numbers.
    Sir Hugh, when he joined us, brought more news about the Scottish force, "It is led by the King's nephew, William Fitz Duncan."
    "Do we know anything about him?"
    "Nothing lord."
    We reached Bowes by the end of the first week of June. The old Roman fort was just a ruin but I saw that it would make a good site for a castle.  If we had the men I would build one but this was not the time for building.  We needed Matilda or young Henry on the throne first. I kept that information in my head. I had to remember that there would be a future when this anarchy was but a distant memory. If I did not have that hope then I would go mad.
    Dick and his archers hunted the land around the deserted fort. It allowed them to spy out the terrain and watch for the enemy whilst filling my men's bellies. We had been there for some days when a handful returned earlier than expected. Will Red Legs led them.  "My lord there are men at arms fleeing this way."
    "Fleeing?"
    "Aye, lord, Dick and the others are watching. They are coming from the west up the old track way from the southwest. They are five miles from us."
    I turned to Edward, "The southwest?  That makes no sense." I closed my eyes and saw the map in my head.  "Unless William Fitz Duncan has headed south towards Chester."
    "Then he would meet Sir Edgar Mandeville."
    Sir Edgar was the new Baron of Skipton.  An unpleasant and treacherous man he had been appointed by Stephen the Usurper.  The men who were fleeing towards us might be his men.  "That is fifty miles south of here.  Why would they head north?  This may be a trap. Come, we will head south to the track from the south and west."
    We rode in a column of fours.  We found Dick and his archers dismounted by the edge of the thinning trees. Ahead of us the moors and rocks rose to the highest point on the long ridge which ran down England's spine.  I saw, in the distance, standards and mounted men as they hastened towards us. Dick pointed a half mile ahead.  There were ten men, four of them mounted and the rest on foot.  They were hurrying towards us. 
    "These were the men we saw, lord.  Since I sent Will Red Legs we saw more of them." He pointed further up the slope.  I saw another ten mounted men.  They kept turned to charge those with