Crusade

Our progress became slower by the day, the death toll escalated, and hunger and thirst killed many, especially the old and young. Disease spread, and many turned around in a vain attempt to find their way back to Constantinople, their will broken. Some just walked off to find the shade of a tree, where they curled up to await the comfort of death.

The huge destriers, the Normans’ legendary war horses so critical in battle, were unable to cope with the conditions; most died, leaving many of our knights to walk like infantry. Our beasts of burden died too, and everything that we could not carry ourselves had to be discarded. Basic campaign discipline started to be ignored. Animals and people were not kept apart, latrines were not dug, and disease and infection spread. What had once been a mighty, well-disciplined army now resembled a ragged stream of hapless humanity.

The Princes tried hard to keep up morale, but they too were wilting.

Sweyn seemed to find strength when it had deserted everyone else. With Adela always at his side, he rode up and down the long meandering lines of Crusaders, encouraging them to keep their discipline and commitment. He won many admirers, including Hereward.

‘When we found him in the forest at Bourne, he was all but dead. Now he is an example to us all, with such determination — he reminds me of my old friend Martin Lightfoot, built like a hunting dog and with the stamina to match. He and Adela make a fascinating couple, more like brother and sister than man and wife. Why have they never had children?’

As Hereward was a fellow member of our Brethren, I was tempted to reveal the true nature of Sweyn and Adela’s marriage, but thought it better that they should tell him in the course of time if they wanted him to know.

‘I’m not sure, but I suspect they’re both much more interested in living the life of a warrior — and emulating a certain Hereward of Bourne — than in having children.’

Robert asked the Brethren to gather in his tent one night after supper — which consisted of a few pieces of dried goat’s meat and one swig of wine that the heat had turned to vinegar — in order to discuss the dilemma. He had been doing some arithmetic.

‘We are dying in droves. By the time we cross Anatolia our numbers will have halved, our horses will be all but gone, and there will be no pack animals left to pull our baggage train.’

Hereward offered the wisdom of his years of service in conditions such as the ones we were now facing.

‘Qilich Arslan is your biggest enemy, not this godforsaken place. He is making you pay for Nicaea and Dorylaeum by laying waste to everything in your path. But he could also be your salvation. He must still be close by, waiting until you are weak enough for him to strike again.’

‘You make our prospects sound worse, not better.’

Sweyn suddenly got to his feet.

‘But he’s got what we need.’

Hereward looked elated; Sweyn had understood his intention.

Robert was still unsure.

‘And?’

‘We take it from him.’

‘How?’

‘A small force attacks as a diversion.’

Adela was quick to see the possibilities.

‘An even smaller force spirits away his baggage train, horses, goats and whatever else we can plunder.’

‘Exactly.’

There were smiles all round as spirits lifted for the first time in several weeks.

Robert then threw in some words of caution.

‘Everyone is in a bad way. We have to be careful; if the others hear that food and water and horses are just over the next hill, there will be a mass exodus within the hour. The Crusade will be over.’

Hereward suggested a plan.

‘For obvious reasons, Robert must stay with the army to continue his duties. Estrith will stay with the sick and wounded. The attacking feint should be undertaken by the English contingent, led by Edgar and Edwin. I will pick a hundred or so of Tacitius’s Byzantines — he can be trusted, and I know his men — and Sweyn and Adela will lead them to capture Sultan Arslan’s baggage train from under his nose.’

‘And what will you do?’ asked Adela.

‘I’ll be right behind you two, keeping an eye on you. But first, we have to find Arslan. At first light tomorrow, Adela, Sweyn and I will slip out of camp with a dozen or so Byzantines who know this land and go in search of a Seljuk sultan.’

Three days later, the hunting party returned.

At what I suspected was Hereward’s prompting, Sweyn gave the news and repeated the detail of the feint.

‘Arslan is about thirty miles away to the north-east. It looks like he’s poised to strike. Men are arriving from the east all the time. Edgar, when can you be ready to leave?’

‘This evening, under cover of darkness; we don’t want to alert too many curious eyes. I’ll tell Robert. Estrith, will you carry on with your duties with the sick?’

‘No, where my family goes, I go. Besides, I don’t want to have to answer all the questions in the morning about where the English have gone!’