Anne and most of the household met the ship and she held the hand of Alan’s uninjured arm as he was carried home, the other arm being strapped to his chest. In the bedchamber she had him stripped and herself sponged the dirt, sweat and blood from his body. Cuthbert and Leofwine were placed on beds in the barracks and assigned a nurse, neither man being married. The corpses of Edric and Wulfnoth, wrapped in sheets, were placed in coffins in the Nave of the church ready for burial. Cuthbert died that night, finally succumbing to the massive injuries wrought by a heavy blow to the chest that had stove in most of the ribs on one side of his chest, the broken ribs piercing the lung and eventually caused him to drown in his own blood. He was placed with the others in the church.
Three days later, a week before Christmas, Alan emerged from his delirium, opening his eyes to see in the candlelight that Anne was slumped in a chair next to the bed. “My lady!” said Synne, who been sponging the sweat from Alan’s forehead. Anne woke and bent over Alan, giving him a kiss.
“Praise be to the Lord! Blessed Lord Jesu and Mary have answered my prayers! Don’t ever do that to me again!” she instructed.
“What?”
“Get carried home on a stretcher. How do you feel?”
“Better to be carried on the sheet than be wrapped in it- and with God’s good Grace I hope to avoid that and keep the leg. Mortain’s churgeon, Guy of Lyons, wanted to cut it off. By the Rood, I’m weak, tired and thirsty!” He shifted slightly on the bed and gasped in pain before adding, “And I hurt all over.” He noticed he was lying naked on the bed, a thick and absorbent cloth under him soaked with sweat and a brazier with burning charcoal stood in the corner of the room, supplementing the heat radiating from the inner brick wall that was part of the hypocaust system that took the chill off the air in the Hall during winter.
“Leof has been tending you and seems to have a real skill for it. He’s been following Brother Alwyn’s instructions regarding the dressings and the medicines and we’ve been spooning that and chicken broth into you. Here’s a cup of the herbal infusion, now turn your head and drink this while I send Synne to heat a pint of chicken broth.”
When several hours later Alan again awoke it was daylight. Brother Aldwyn, the infirmarer of St Botulph’s Abbey at Colchester, had been called to attend and he was demonstrating to Leof how to make a poultice of comfrey, ivy and yarrow, and how to very carefully make a pain-killing tincture of the boiled bark of white willow. Alan at first declined a dose of poppy-juice, aware of the dangers of addiction, but relented and swallowed a dose after Leof had unwrapped the bandage on his leg, the sharp stabbing pain each time the leg was moved proving too much for him. He called for a mirror and inspected the wound himself. “Not too bad. I may yet prove Churgeon Guy wrong and keep the leg! It has only a little inflammation, thanks be to God! Thank you, Brother Aldwyn. You’ve done a good job, Leof! Now apply this unguent and then the poultice and loosely bind the bandage. It doesn’t need to be tight because I’m not going anywhere. Erghh!”
“What caused the wound?” asked Synne.
Alan paused to allow the pain to die down and to catch his breath, wiping from his forehead the sweat caused by the pain. “A spear-thrust. I didn’t see it coming. I was too busy killing the man to my left, who’d just killed Edric, and since it was a spearman who stabbed me the man on my right couldn’t reach him. The spear came up under the tail of the right leg of the hauberk. I don’t wear mail leggings as they encumber your movements too much. It’s hard enough to move carrying forty pounds of steel on your back. As you saw, it’s eight inches long and went bone deep, the spearhead sliding up the bone. There was no major bleeding, but the muscles were sliced.” After a pause he continued, “Has Edric been buried yet? He saved my life.”
“Yes, yesterday,” replied Anne. “We had a Mass said for him, and for Cuthbert and Wulfnoth. They’re buried in the churchyard. May Jesus and Mary protect their souls.”
“Take care of Edric’s woman and child. Make sure they’re well provided for,” instructed Alan. “When I’m a little better I’ll arrange for a headstone from the master-mason at Colchester.”
On Christmas Day, despite his busy schedule, Brother Wacian the priest attended to shrive Alan as he lay abed. Alan, sins forgiven, felt renewed and determined to recover and overcome his injury.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Thorrington January 1070
Alan winced as the Jewish doctor used his fingers to probe the wound in Alan’s leg, using firm pressure. The old man pursed his lips and nodded to himself. Alan was lying in a semi-raised position on his bed in the bed chamber.
“A bad wound, but healing as well as could be expected. When were the stitches removed?” he asked.
“Brother Aldwyn removed them a week ago,” replied Alan.
The Jew nodded again. “You seem to have avoided serious infection. The wound was deep and will take more time to heal. Keep applying the poultices. What medicines are you taking?”
“Willow-bark, comfrey, ivy, horseradish and yarrow in the poultice. Thyme, camomile, aloe and garlic juice in the unguent. An infusion of herbs to drink- willow-bark, camomile, lemon balm, comfrey. Raw garlic cloves to eat.”
The doctor, whose name was David and who had at Anne’s request accompanied her business manager Jacob from London on his current journey to report progress of her businesses, inclined his head in acknowledgment of the anti-septic, anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory, anti-fungal and analgesic nature of the various herbs. “Personally, I also like fresh ground liquorice root and I can provide you with some of that. It’s imported for Eastern Europe. Brother Aldwyn certainly knows his herbs. Do you like the taste of raw garlic?” He smiled when Alan shuddered and shook his head. “No, not many do! I have some capsules of the essence, which you may take instead. One capsule in the morning and one in the evening. Now let’s have a look at the ribs.”
Here David gently prodded Alan’s chest. “They seem well enough. Now it’s what, six weeks since the injury? Let us unbind your left forearm and see how the break has resolved. I do hope that it has set straight, as I hate having to re-break and reset limbs. Good. That’s quite good- it’s not quite straight and with a slight bump, but well enough. We can leave the binding off.” The doctor felt the wasted muscles of the left arm. “I’ll give you some exercises to strengthen the muscles. Don’t do anything excessive or place too much strain on it for the next month at least or you’ll cause the join to break again.” The doctor paused for a few moments of reflection before continuing, “I’d say that you can now get out of bed and with assistance go downstairs to the Hall and to the privy. Don’t do too much too soon. You were very lucky to keep that leg. You’ll probably be able to put some weight on it in about another two weeks and then walk with a crutch for at least a month.”
“And the final outcome?” asked Alan.
David’s left hand unconsciously smoothed his short grey goatee beard before he replied. “I would expect that in probably six months you’ll be able to ride a horse again, with some discomfort. You’ll always walk with a limp. Even after the muscles are built up again you won’t be able to walk very far or very fast. I’d say that your campaigning and hunting days are over. Even riding to London will be difficult and you should take two days for the journey.”
Alan commented with a smile. “At least I won’t have to dance again! It’s worth it just for that!”
Anne gave him a gentle clip to the side of the head and commented, “Idiot!”
Having received permission from the doctor, Alan rose and with the assistance of two men made his way gingerly down to the Hall. There he sat for several minutes to allow the pain to subside before proceeding outside to the privy. On his return to the Hall the servants began to set a table for the mid-day meal, Alan being provided with a chair at the corner of the table where he was able to sit with his injured leg stretched out and supported by a padded stool. With deference to the dietary requirements of their guests, the meal consisted of mutton and vegetable soup, roasted beef with boiled vegetables in a spicy sauce, cheese and fresh wheaten bread. Over the meal Alan quizzed David about his medical training, as the old man had in his youth studied medicine with the Moors in Iberia and had some interesting stories to relate.
After the meal Alan and Anne had Jacob impart the news from the outside world. “You may know that instead of the usual Crown-wearing ceremony held in the south, King William ordered the royal regalia to be sent
