dry down there.“ Father Hobbe seemed indecently cheerful. I've been walking the lines, Tom, and looking for your lance. It's not here.” Hardly goddamn surprising,“ Thomas said. I never thought it would be.”
Father Hobbe ignored the blasphemy. And I had a chat with Father Pryke. Do you know him?'
No,“ Thomas said curtly. The rain was pouring off the front of his helmet onto the broken bridge of his nose. How the hell would I know Father Pryke?”
Father Hobbe was not deterred by Thomas's surliness. He's con-fessor to the King and a great man. He'll be a bishop one day soon. I asked him about the Vexilles.“ Father Hobbe paused, but Thomas said nothing. He remembers the family,” the priest went on. He says they had lands in Cheshire, but they supported the Mortimers at the beginning of the King's reign so they were outlawed. He said something else. They were always reckoned pious, but their bishop suspected they had strange ideas. A touch of gnosticism.“ Cathars,” Thomas said.
It seems likely, doesn't it?'
And if it's a pious family,“ Thomas said, then I probably don't belong. Isn't that good news?”
You can't escape, Thomas,“ Father Hobbe said softly. His usually wild hair was plastered close to his skull by the rain. You promised your father. You accepted the penance.”
Thomas shook his head angrily. There are a score of bastards here, father,“ he indicated the archers crouching under the rain's lash, who've murdered more men than I have. Go and harrow their souls and leave mine alone.”
Father Hobbe shook his head. You've been chosen, Thomas, and I'm your conscience. It occurs to me, see, that if the Vexilles supported Mortimer then they can't love our king. If they'll be anywhere today, it'll be over there.“ He nodded towards the valley's far side, which was still blotted out by the pelting rain. Then they'll live for another day, won't they?” Thomas said. Father Hobbe frowned. You think we're going to lose?“ he asked sternly. No!”
Thomas shivered. It must be getting late in the afternoon, father. If they don't attack now they'll wait till morning. That'll give them a whole day to slaughter us.
Ah, Thomas! How God loves you.
Thomas said nothing to that, but he was thinking that all he wanted was to be an archer, to become Sir Thomas of Hookton as Will had just become Sir William. He was happy serving the King and did not need a heavenly lord to take him into weird battles against dark lords. Let me give you some advice, father,' he said.
It's always welcome, Tom.'
First bastard that drops, get his helmet and mail. Look after yourself.'
Father Hobbe clapped Thomas's back. God is on our side. You heard the King say as much.' He stood and went to talk with other men, and Thomas sat by himself and saw that the rain was lessening at last. He could see the far trees again, see the colours of the French banners and surcoats, and now he could see a mass of red and I green crossbowmen at the other side of the valley. They were going nowhere, he reckoned, for a crossbow string was as susceptible to the damp as any other. It'll be tomorrow, he called down to Jake. We'll do it all again tomorrow.
Let's hope the sun shines,' Jake said.
The wind brought the last drops of rain from the north. It was late. Thomas stood, stretched and stamped his feet. A day wasted, he thought, and a hungry night ahead.
And tomorrow his first real battle.
An excited group of mounted men had gathered about the French King, who was still a half-mile from the hill where the largest part of his army had gathered. There were at least two thousand men-at-arms in the rearguard who were still marching, but those who had reached the valley hugely outnumbered the waiting English.
Two to one, sire!“ Charles, the Count of Alencon and the King's younger brother, said vehemently. Like the rest of the horsemen his surcoat was soaking and the dye in its badge had run into the white linen. His helmet was beaded with water. We must kill them now!” the Count insisted.
But Philip of Valois's instinct was to wait. It would be wise, he thought, to let his whole army gather, to make a proper reconnais-sance and then attack next morning, but he was also aware that his companions, especially his brother, thought him cautious. They even believed him to be timid for he had avoided battle with the English before, and even to propose waiting a mere day might make them think he had no stomach for the highest business of kings. He still ventured the proposal, suggesting that the victory would be all the more complete if it was just delayed by one day. And if you wait,“ Alencon said scathingly, Edward will slip away in the night and tomorrow we'll face an empty hill.” They're cold, wet, hungry and ready to be slaughtered,' the Duke of Lorraine insisted.
And if they don't leave, sire,“ the Count of Flanders warned, they'll have more time to dig trenches and holes.” And the signs are good,' John of Hainault, a close companion of the King and the Lord of Beaumont, added.
The signs?' the King asked.
John of Hainault gestured for a man in a black cloak to step forward. The man, who had a long white beard, bowed low. The sun, sire,“ he said, is in conjunction with Mercury and opposite Saturn. Best of all, noble sire, Mars is in the house of Virgo. It spells victory, and could not be more propitious.”
And how much gold, Philip wondered, had been paid to the astrologer to come up with that prophecy, yet he was also tempted by it. He thought it unwise to do anything without a horoscope and wondered where his own astrologer was. Probably still on the Abbeville road.
Go now!' Alencn urged his brother.
Guy Vexille, the Count of Astarac, pushed his horse into the throng surrounding the King. He saw a green- and-red-jacketed crossbowman, evidently the commander of the Genoese, and spoke to him in Italian. Has the rain affected the strings?“ Badly,” Carlo Grimaldi, the Genoese leader, admitted. Crossbow strings could not be unstrung like the cords of ordinary bows for the tension in the cords was too great and so the men had simply tried to shelter their weapons under their inadequate coats. We should wait till tomorrow,' Grimaldi insisted, we can't advance without pavises.
What's he saying?' Alencon demanded.
The Count of Astarac translated for His Majesty's benefit, and the King, pale and long-faced, frowned when he heard that the crossbowmen's long shields that protected them from the enemy's arrows while they reloaded their cumbersome weapons had still not arrived. How long will they be?“ he asked plaintively, but no one knew. Why didn't they travel with the bowmen?” he demanded, but again no one had an answer. Who are you?' the King finally asked the Count.
Astarac, sire,' Guy Vexille said.
Ah.“ It was plain the King had no idea who or what Astarac was, nor did he recognize Vexille's shield that bore the simple symbol of the cross, but Vexille's horse and armour were both expensive and so the King did not dispute the man's right to offer advice. And you say the bows won't draw?”
Of course they'll draw!“ the Count of Alencon man interrupted. The damned Genoese don't want to fight. Bastard Genoese.” He spat. The English bows will be just as wet,“ he added. The crossbows will be weakened, sire,” Vexille explained care-fully, ignoring the hostility of the King's younger brother. The bows will draw, but they won't have their full range or force.“ It would be best to wait?” the King asked.
It would be wise to wait, sire,“ Vexille said, and it would be especially wise to wait for the pavises.”
Tomorrow's horoscope?' John of Hainault asked the astrologer. The man shook his head. Neptune approaches the bendings tomorrow, sire. It is not a hopeful conjunction.
Attack now! They're wet, tired and hungry,“ Alencon urged. Attack now!”
The King still looked dubious, but most of the great lords were confident and they hammered him with their arguments. The English were trapped and a delay of even one day might give them a chance to escape. Perhaps their fleet would come to Le Crotoy? Go now, they insisted, even though it was late in the day. Go and kill. Go and win. Show Christendom that God is on the side of the French. Just go, go now. And the King, because he was weak and because he wanted to appear strong, surrendered to their wishes.
So the oriflamme was taken from its leather tube and carried to its place of honour at the front of the men- at-arms. No other flag would be allowed to go ahead of the long plain red banner that flew from its cross-staff and was guarded by thirty picked knights who wore scarlet ribbons on their right arms. The horsemen were given their long lances, then the conrois closed together so the knights and men-at-arms were knee to knee. Drummers took the rain covers from their instruments and Grimaldi, the Genoese commander, was peremptorily told to advance and kill the English archers. The King crossed himself while a score of priests fell to their knees in the wet grass and
