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Authors: Griff Hosker
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attack them there.” He stared at me, a veiled anger and frustration in his eyes, “Agreed? Or do you have a death wish about you?”
“Lann is right Raibeart. We cannot attack the fort.” It was unusual for Aelle not to support Raibeart and it took my brother aback.
“We need to hit them when they are not in the hill fort. What do you think they will do there?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. Raise animals, hunt.”
I could see his mind working as he reached the same conclusion I did. “All of which means that they will be outside the hill fort and in the lands which we know far better than they do.” I tapped my armour. “We will not need shields or swords or armour. We can ambush them and trap them in ground of our choosing. We can hit and run. When we are all stronger,” I tapped my chest, “me included, then we will try to find the king and join him.”
Raibeart grinned as he saw the sense in my words and Aelle looked pleased that we were not arguing. “We had better get the forge going then and make the arrows.”
I shook my head. We wait for a day when the wind is blowing from the south for that.” He looked puzzled. “It will blow the smoke away from the Angles. We do not want them curious about our presence besides we have a saddle to make for Aelle and nails to put into our shields. The more nails we use the stronger they will become.”
Eight days later and we had completed our preparations. We now had thirty arrows each and our shields were far stronger than they had been. It would be easier to hit a nail than the wood. We had eaten a second sheep and I knew that soon we would need to hunt but first we would hunt Angles.
As we were not mounted we used the south gate and I mad e the other two walk in my footsteps. We left early and, this time, took Wolf with us; he would make an excellent sentry. We had spent the evenings discussing what the Angles might do. If they wished to hunt then they would head to the forests and woods to the west. If they were seeking meadows for their animals then they would go south and west. By heading south we hoped to cut across their trail. We each had a sword strapped to our belts. I had left the magnificent sword in our home. I needed more practice with it and I had the shorter Roman sword which I found easier to use. All three blades were wickedly sharp and their points honed to perfection.
Once again it was Wolf who saved us from disaster. We had been making our way along a trail which led through woods and scrubby bushes. Wolf suddenly dropped on all fours and gave a low growl, his ears back. The three of us dropped like stones and lay beneath the elder bushes and rowan trees. I began to wonder what he had smelled and then I caught a glimpse of them. They were hunters; there were six of them. Two looked to be younger than Raibeart while the other four were older than me. They halted and sniffed the air. I was not worried for the wind was coming from the east and helped neither party. Satisfied that there was nothing amiss they headed west. I waited until they were out of sight. “We know that they must return by this trail for the woods and undergrowth is too thick further south. We will make a trap for them.”
I left Wolf up the trail as a sentry and the three of us made some deadfalls using the springy young trees and lengths of leather binding. “We take out the four men first. They have swords as well as spears. From what I saw the boys only had bows.” I sent Aelle up a tree, partly to act as a lookout and partly to give us the advantage of height. When the attack started the men would not look up and that might just make the difference. I took the point with Raibeart ten paces behind me. I found this much harder than either previous encounter for we had to wait and that filled my head with doubts. What if I had made a mistake and they did not return this way? What if other Angles came up the
“Lann is right Raibeart. We cannot attack the fort.” It was unusual for Aelle not to support Raibeart and it took my brother aback.
“We need to hit them when they are not in the hill fort. What do you think they will do there?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. Raise animals, hunt.”
I could see his mind working as he reached the same conclusion I did. “All of which means that they will be outside the hill fort and in the lands which we know far better than they do.” I tapped my armour. “We will not need shields or swords or armour. We can ambush them and trap them in ground of our choosing. We can hit and run. When we are all stronger,” I tapped my chest, “me included, then we will try to find the king and join him.”
Raibeart grinned as he saw the sense in my words and Aelle looked pleased that we were not arguing. “We had better get the forge going then and make the arrows.”
I shook my head. We wait for a day when the wind is blowing from the south for that.” He looked puzzled. “It will blow the smoke away from the Angles. We do not want them curious about our presence besides we have a saddle to make for Aelle and nails to put into our shields. The more nails we use the stronger they will become.”
Eight days later and we had completed our preparations. We now had thirty arrows each and our shields were far stronger than they had been. It would be easier to hit a nail than the wood. We had eaten a second sheep and I knew that soon we would need to hunt but first we would hunt Angles.
As we were not mounted we used the south gate and I mad e the other two walk in my footsteps. We left early and, this time, took Wolf with us; he would make an excellent sentry. We had spent the evenings discussing what the Angles might do. If they wished to hunt then they would head to the forests and woods to the west. If they were seeking meadows for their animals then they would go south and west. By heading south we hoped to cut across their trail. We each had a sword strapped to our belts. I had left the magnificent sword in our home. I needed more practice with it and I had the shorter Roman sword which I found easier to use. All three blades were wickedly sharp and their points honed to perfection.
Once again it was Wolf who saved us from disaster. We had been making our way along a trail which led through woods and scrubby bushes. Wolf suddenly dropped on all fours and gave a low growl, his ears back. The three of us dropped like stones and lay beneath the elder bushes and rowan trees. I began to wonder what he had smelled and then I caught a glimpse of them. They were hunters; there were six of them. Two looked to be younger than Raibeart while the other four were older than me. They halted and sniffed the air. I was not worried for the wind was coming from the east and helped neither party. Satisfied that there was nothing amiss they headed west. I waited until they were out of sight. “We know that they must return by this trail for the woods and undergrowth is too thick further south. We will make a trap for them.”
I left Wolf up the trail as a sentry and the three of us made some deadfalls using the springy young trees and lengths of leather binding. “We take out the four men first. They have swords as well as spears. From what I saw the boys only had bows.” I sent Aelle up a tree, partly to act as a lookout and partly to give us the advantage of height. When the attack started the men would not look up and that might just make the difference. I took the point with Raibeart ten paces behind me. I found this much harder than either previous encounter for we had to wait and that filled my head with doubts. What if I had made a mistake and they did not return this way? What if other Angles came up the
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