On the road to York
The flat country after Lincoln was kind to them, the straight highway taking them past the Wash and on towards York. They had been creaking northward for several weeks now and Jared felt relief that the end was in sight.
At the same time tension grew in his bowels. If Edward’s army had achieved a victory and driven the Scots back, for a certainty it would be disbanded. And if that was the case his time of trial would have been in vain and he would have to return the gunnes and face both Rosamunde and the guild.
After they’d made sighting of the square rising towers of York Minster Jared looked about in vain for the royal camp with its thousands.
Where were they? The most reliable information came from a merchant who told him that Edward and his host had left suddenly for Durham for reasons not clear, taking most of the city’s whores with them.
It was heartbreaking: another seventy miles of hauling with the promise of rougher going as they entered the northern uplands.
And at Durham came the worst of news: the entire army had set off into the inner wilds and nothing had been heard of them since.
Was there any point in going on? In country that was near trackless, rough and steep, vainly searching for a moving army while at risk of being found by the Scots?
Surely this was the end of the venture – he had let down King Edward and would never get another hearing.
But the next morning a long column of wagons and pack animals was spotted winding towards the city. It was not the army but bafflingly only its supply train.
Had there been a disastrous defeat?
It turned out that Edward had abandoned his baggage in a bid to find the Scots by striking south directly down the middle ground from the Tyne to the Wear.
If Jared wanted to find him, he’d only need follow the Wear river trackway westwards and intercept him. It flowed through Durham and was a known highway into the remote heartland. Just a dozen or so miles would put him well into the highlands and at the point of intersection.
It was a tempting thought, for even if a battle had been concluded the King would see that he’d kept faith and suffered much in bringing the gunnes, and might well grant him his expenses.