Dyrick shook his head. ‘Buttons? What’s that about? Silly old fool.’
We turned at the sound of shouting. The carts were loaded, and the recruits were fixing the large pouches containing their possessions to their belts, beside the long knives they all carried. Two soldiers by the carts had started fighting. The rangy fellow who had dropped the tent in a cowpat the previous evening and a big man with untidy fair hair were pummelling at each other with their fists. Other recruits gathered around eagerly.
‘Come on, Pygeon. Don’t let him get away with that!’
‘What did you say to him now, Sulyard?’
The two men pulled apart, breathing hard, and circled each other. ‘Come, Pygeon, you scabby freak!’ the fair-haired fellow called out. ‘Get your balance! Don’t catch the wind with those great ears of yours or you’ll fly up like a bird!’
There was more laughter. Pygeon was one of those unfortunates with large ears that stuck out from the side of his head. He had a narrow face and receding chin. He looked no more than twenty, while his opponent was some years older, with ugly, bony features, sharp malicious eyes and the taunting expression of the born bully. I was pleased when Pygeon caught him off guard, kicking out at his knee so that he howled and staggered.
The circle of onlookers parted as the red-faced whiffler Snodin pushed through, his face furious. He crossed to Pygeon and slapped him hard across the face. ‘What the fuck’s going on?’ Snodin shouted. ‘Pygeon, it’s always you whenever there’s trouble. You useless shit!’
‘Sulyard won’t let me be,’ Pygeon shouted back. ‘All the time insults, insults. I had to take it in our village but not now.’
Some in the crowd murmured agreement, others laughed. This infuriated the whiffler even more. His face grew almost purple. ‘Shut up!’ he bawled. ‘You’re King’s men now, forget your damned village quarrels!’ He looked malevolently over the crowd. ‘This morning you can march in jacks and helmets. And Pygeon’s section can wear the brigandynes. You can blame him.’ There were groans from the men. ‘Quiet!’ Snodin shouted. ‘You need to get used to them, you’ll be wearing them when we meet the French! Front ten men, unload them!’
Ten men peeled quickly away from the crowd, ran up and unloaded the tight-fitting steel helmets from a cart, together with the jacks, and other jackets inlaid with metal plates that tinkled like coins: brigandynes, which I had heard could stop an arrow. Sulyard had got to his feet and, though limping slightly, gave Pygeon a victorious grin.
‘The men must march in those?’ I said to Barak.
‘Looks like it. Rather them than me.’
Dyrick said, ‘As the whiffler pointed out, they may have to fight in them. Look, here come Leacon and the captain. Come on, let’s get moving.’
Leacon and Sir Franklin, mounted now, rode over to the whiffler. The three conversed in low tones. Leacon seemed to be disagreeing with the whiffler but Sir Franklin said, ‘Nonsense! It’ll teach them a lesson,’ and concluded the discussion by riding back to the road.
The men donned the jacks, except for a group of twenty at the rear which included Sulyard and Pygeon as well as the young archer Llewellyn; they pulled on the brigandynes. Many of them were threadbare, like the jacks, some with the metal plates showing through. The section grumbled as they put them on; though Sulyard, who wore a new-looking brigandyne dyed bright red, the brazen studs holding the plates glinting, looked proud of what I guessed was a personal possession. The other men grumbled; the corporal, a heavy-set, keen-eyed young fellow with pleasant, mobile features, encouraged them. ‘Come on, lads, it can’t be helped. It’s only till lunchtime.’
At a command from Snodin the soldiers drew up in rows of five. Sir Franklin, Leacon and the drummer took places at the front. The drummer began a steady beat and the men marched out of the field. I noticed again how young most were, almost all under thirty and several under twenty. All wore leather shoes, some old and battered. Snodin placed himself at the rear, in a position to watch the entire company. We four civilians mounted and took our places behind him; from the horse’s back I had a view of his balding crown, with a glimpse of his blue-veined bottle nose when he turned his head. Behind us the carts creaked into position. As we made our way slowly down the empty main street of Cobham an old man leaned from the upper window of a house and called out, ‘God be with you, soldiers. God save King Harry!’
I WAS BEGINNING to grow fond of my horse, named Oddleg for his one white foot. He was placid, walked at a steady, unvarying pace and had seemed glad to see me that morning. The company marched into the countryside to the rhythm of the drum, the tramp of marching feet accompanied by the rumble of cartwheels behind us, the hoofbeats of our horses and, immediately ahead, an odd coin-like jingling from the brigandynes. One of the soldiers began singing, and the others took up the ragged chorus of an obscene variation of ‘Greensleeves’, each verse more inventive than the last.
After a while Leacon signalled the drummer to stop. We were climbing into the Surrey Downs now, the road mostly well-drained chalk. The marching men threw up much dust, and soon we at the back were grey with it. The countryside changed, more land farmed on the old system, with huge fields divided into long strips of different crops. The wheat and vetches seemed further on here, less battered looking; the storms must not have reached this far south. Peasants stopped work to look at us, but without much interest. We would not be the first soldiers passing this way.
The singing petered out after a couple of miles. The pace flagged and the drummer sounded the marching beat again. I decided to essay another conversation with Dyrick. Despite his wide-brimmed hat, his sharp, lean face was starting to burn as those of ruddy-headed people will. ‘Poor caitiffs,’ I said, nodding at the men in brigandynes, ‘see how they sweat.’
‘They may have to do more than sweat when we get to Portsmouth,’ he replied grimly.
‘Ay. Better the King had never started this war.’
‘Maybe ’tis time for a final reckoning with the French. I just wish you hadn’t got me caught up in the middle of it all.’
I laughed suddenly. ‘Come, Brother Dyrick, there must be some topic we can agree on.’
He gave me a hostile stare. ‘I cannot think of one.’
I gave up. Although it was discourteous, I fell behind so I could converse with Barak. Feaveryear gave me a disapproving look.
WE MADE good progress; at a blast from the drummer’s trumpet several carts, and once a gang of road menders, moved to the side of the road to let us pass. After two hours we stopped by a bridge to water the horses at the stream running under it. As we led the animals down to the water, the soldiers fell out and sat breakfasting in the road or on the verge, taking bread and cheese from the large pouches at their waists. The men in the jacks and brigandynes looked utterly weary.
‘I don’t think I could have stood up to this march like them,’ Barak said. ‘Five years ago, maybe. That arsehole Goodryke, he didn’t care whether I’d make a good soldier or not. He just wanted to make an example of me.’
‘Yes, he did.’
‘That Snodin’s another one. You can see he has it in for the jug-eared fellow.’
‘He does.’ I looked behind us, up the road. ‘What’s that?’
A plume of dust had appeared in the distance, men riding fast. Snodin ordered the recruits slumped in the roadway to move. Half a dozen riders passed us, all in the King’s livery, heading south. At their head was a little man in a grey robe, his horse draped in a cloth of green and white, the royal colours. The party slowed to cross the bridge and I recognized the neat pale face of Sir Richard Rich.
Chapter Fourteen
AS THE MORNING wore on I found the journey increasingly wearying. For the marching men it was much harder, and I noticed those with old shoes were beginning to limp. In front of us dark sweat stains were visible on all the brigandynes now, outlining the metal squares sewn into the fabric. The soldiers slowed and the drum sounded to make them pick up the pace. Som
e were grousing by the time the trumpet sounded a halt just outside a village, beside a large pond fringed with willows. A couple of white-aproned old goodwives approached us and Leacon spoke to them, leaning down from his horse. Then he conferred briefly with the captain before calling back to the men.
‘We stop here for lunch! The villagers have ham and bacon to sell. Purser, get some money! And the jacks and brigandynes can come off now!’
‘Can we buy some women as well as food, sir?’ It was the young corporal from the rear section. The soldiers laughed, and Leacon smiled.
‘Ah, Stephen Carswell, never at a loss for a jest!’
‘Hillingdon men are more used to donkeys than women!’ the bully Sulyard shouted. He laughed loudly, showing a mouth half-empty of teeth.
The men fell out and sat at the roadside again, apart from a few who went to the carts and began unloading biscuit, cheese and a barrel of beer. I had to admire the smoothness of the company’s organization. Leacon and the captain led their horses to the water, and we lawyers followed.
While the animals drank, Dyrick went to sit under the shade of a willow, Feaveryear following. Barak and I went over to where Leacon stood alone, watching his men. Some were straggling towards the village.
‘Hard work, being in charge of a hundred men,’ I observed.
‘Ay. We have our grumblers, one or two rebellious spirits. Carswell there is our jester. A good man – I think he is one of those who will still joke as they march into battle.’
‘That straw-haired fellow seems a nasty piece of work. He started the trouble with the other man this morning, you know.’
He sighed. ‘Yes, Sulyard is a troublemaker. But Snodin dislikes poor Pygeon for his clumsy ways. Junior officers will sometimes take against a man for little reason.’
‘You are right there,’ Barak agreed feelingly.
‘I think it was unjust,’ I said.
Leacon gave me an impatient look. ‘This is the army, Master Shardlake, not a law court. Snodin’s job is to keep discipline and he may have to do that in battle, so I avoid gainsaying his decisions. Hard as he is, I need him. Sir Franklin is – well, you have met him.’
‘What was that business about buttons earlier?’
‘You may have noticed some soldiers have buttons on their shirts, while others tie them with aiglets. Sir Franklin believes only gentlemen should be allowed to wear buttons. It is, shall we say, something of an obsession.’
‘Buttons?’ Barak repeated disbelievingly.
‘Yes. Not that he is altogether wrong, the men like keeping as many as they can of the social distinctions they had before. That is part of the trouble between Sulyard and Pygeon. They come from the same village – Pygeon is a labourer’s son, Sulyard the son of a yeoman. Though only a second son.’
‘Whose inheritance was ever what the cat left on the malt heap.’
‘He was keen to join the company, and he is a good longbow-man.’
‘Would there had never been need to recruit this army,’ I said.
Leacon looked across to the village, then round to where a long field of strips crested the downland. People were hard at work weeding their rows. He spoke with sudden passion. ‘We have to protect these people, Master Shardlake. That is why this army was levied. And now I must find where the captain has wandered off to.’ He strode away.
‘I think I offended him,’ I said to Barak.
‘He must know what people think of the war.’
‘Yet in the end he is right about the need to defend ourselves. And he and his men are the ones who must do it.’
‘Come on,’ Barak said. ‘Let’s go to the village. I wouldn’t mind a piece of bacon.’
THE VILLAGE had no real centre; longhouses of various sizes were jumbled together at odd angles, paths weaving between them. In front of the bakehouse, a low square building, a table was loaded with bacon and thick slices of ham. Several soldiers were arguing with the women who had come out to us and now stood behind it. Sulyard was at the centre of the argument, shouting. More villagers were coming out of their houses.
One of the old women was waving a coin at Sulyard with just the air of outraged fury I had seen in Cheapside ten days before. ‘This is no proper coin!’ she shouted. ‘It’s not silver! Shame on you, the King’s soldiers trying to cheat us!’
Sulyard bawled back. ‘It’s one of the new coins, you doltish country mare! It’s a testoon, a shilling!’
A tall old man stepped up to him, grim-faced. ‘Don’t you insult my wife, ape!’ He gave Sulyard a little push. Another soldier stepped forward and shoved him back.
‘Don’t you push Sulyard! Ape he is, but he’s our ape!’
Carswell, the corporal, raised his hands. ‘Come, lads. Don’t make trouble, or we’ll end marching in the jacks all day.’
‘These clods don’t understand the coinage!’ Sulyard said with a mocking laugh. The growing crowd of villagers murmured ominously. Barefoot children looked on excitedly.
‘Please,’ Carswell called out, ‘be calm! Our ape speaks true, these are the new coins of the realm!’ Sulyard gave him a nasty look.
‘Then pay in the old ones!’ a young man called out.
The young archer Llewellyn stepped forward. ‘They’re all spent. Please, Goodwife, we’ve had scarce anything but bread and cheese for three days.’
The old woman folded her arms. ‘That’s your problem, my pretty.’
‘We should send that old woman against the damned French,’ Sulyard shouted. ‘They’d flee at the sight of her.’
A couple of villagers, older men, stepped forward. Carswell looked round desperately, then saw me. He pointed. ‘See, we have a gentleman with us, a lawyer. He’ll confirm what we say.’
The villagers gave me hostile looks. I hesitated, then said, ‘There is indeed a new coinage.’
‘So soldiers take hunchback lawyers with them now to cheat folks!’ Nothing could mollify the old woman. The villagers growled agreement.
I stepped forward. ‘See, the coins have the King’s head on them.’
‘It’s not silver!’ the old woman shrieked in my face. ‘I know how silver looks and feels!’
‘It’s mixed with copper. They are worth eightpence of the old money in London.’
‘Ninepence!’ one of the soldiers called out hopefully.
‘Eightpence,’ I repeated firmly.
The old woman shook her head. ‘Don’t care. Don’t want that rubbish!’
‘Come, Margaret,’ one of the old men said. ‘We killed Martin’s pig to get this meat, we need to sell it.’
I took my purse. ‘I’ll pay, in the old money. Then the soldiers can repay me, eightpence for a new testoon.’
There was a murmur of agreement among the villagers. The old woman still looked suspicious, but said, ‘You can have the lot for four shillings in proper silver. It should be five given the insults I’ve had, but we’ll say four.’
It was a hard bargain, but I nodded agreement. The tension, which had been singing in the hot midday air, relaxed as I handed over a dozen silver groats, which the old woman examined ostentatiously before nodding and waving a hand at the meat. The soldiers took portions. The villagers returned to their houses, giving us hostile looks over their shoulders.
Carswell collected money from the recruits, then approached me. ‘Thank you, sir, on behalf of the men. Here is their money. If we’d got into a fight we’d have been in the shit with the officers.’ He hesitated, then added, ‘It would be a favour if you did not mention this to Captain Leacon.’
‘Ay,’ Tom Llewellyn added. ‘We know you are his friend.’
I smiled. ‘Word has travelled fast.’
Sulyard swaggered by, giving us a dirty look. I noticed he wore pearl buttons on his jerkin, and remembered what Leacon said about the differences in the soldiers’ clothes. He said, ‘You stopped a promising fight brewing there, Carswell, you dog-hearted scut.’
‘With old people and children?’ Carswell asked. S
ulyard was now attracting hostile looks from some of the other soldiers. He turned and swaggered away.
‘Sorry about him, sir,’ Carswell said. ‘Come on, Welshy, let’s get back.’
I looked at Llewellyn curiously. ‘You are not Welsh, by your voice?’
‘No, sir. But my father is. He trained me to the warbow,’ he added proudly. A shadow crossed his face. ‘Though I like my work at the forge too.’
Carswell nudged him. ‘And your girly, eh? He’s to be married at Christmas.’
‘I congratulate you.’
‘But where shall we be at Christmas?’ Llewellyn asked sadly.
‘We’ll beat those Frenchies,’ Carswell said confidently. ‘You’ll be happily in bed with your Tessy come Twelfth Night. If they have beds in Yiewsley village: I’ve heard you all still sleep with the cows.’
‘No, that’s Harefield men, like Sulyard.’ Llewellyn looked at me. ‘There are four of us here from our village.’ He shook his head sadly. ‘When we left, the girls garlanded us with flowers, everyone stood cheering as a lute player led us down the road. A far cry from our reception here.’
‘Come on,’ Carswell said. ‘Let’s get this bacon back to camp, before I start drooling.’
They walked away. ‘That’s got us well in with the troops,’ Barak said.
‘Jesu knows we need some friends on this journey.’
He looked at me. ‘That was Richard Rich back there on the road, wasn’t it?’
‘Yes. Probably on his way to Portsmouth. The sooner we get to Hoyland Priory and back again, the better.’
AFTER LUNCH the company rested for an hour, sitting out the hottest part of the day. Then the soldiers were called back into line.
We marched on steadily. By the time we reached Guildford, late in the afternoon, some of the recruits were drooping with exhaustion. We marched through the town without stopping, a few small boys running alongside and cheering, but most of the townsfolk barely looking at us; many companies of soldiers would have passed through these last weeks.