Chapter 24 Exodus

On the road to Upper Heyford

Ian MacGuffin, Queen Elinor, Merida, Hiccup, Yara, Maudie, Bea, Ylva and Elisa along with twenty Royal Guard Cavalrymen rode at a quick pace heading south towards the walled village of Upper Heyford. It had been raining hard since they left Castle Delaney. Lord MacGuffin had sent four scouts ahead to try and locate a safe place to camp and dry out.

The children had been very quiet. they whimpered a little but that was all. Of course with them, being quiet isn't unusual. They "heart talked', which meant they were speaking to each other telekinetically. All the women present except Bea knew this though Maudi didn't quite believe it. After another hour one of the scouts sent ahead came back. Lord MacGuffin halted the column.

Scout: "My lord, yer majesty, we ave found a couple of caves up aboot a mile and half a mile off the road. It is large enough fer all of us through our mounts will still hata tie and hobble the horses."

Lord Ian: "Where ere the other men?"

Scout: Jenkins and Stout ere clearin oot the caves and Fergeson is tryin ta get some rabbit or a deer fer the Queen and the barrens ta eat. Ah ave little one o me own an ah canno imagine how they ere dealin with this. BLOODY RAIN!"

Lord MacGuffin: "At aboot road traffic Jones?"

Scout Jones: "Some farmers headin ta Upper Heyford an no many o them. They didno much care who we were ats fer sure. Dressed like we ere Ah think they thought we might be highwaymen."

Ian: "Good report Jones, lead on."

And so it was. Within an hour the scout had led the party to the caves. The ladies were put in the smaller of the two caves. Stout already had made a fire pit and had a nice fire going. The men used the tents for screens so the Queen and the other ladies could change and dry their clothes. Jenkins had done the same in the other cave. Ian MacGuffin's second in command was Captain Gerald Smith of the KingsGuard. A man in his mid forties who had worked his way up the ranks. A good leader and soldier who had the affection of the men. Lord MacGuffin waved him over,

Ian MacGuffin; "At du ye think Captain. Ere we safe here?"

Captain Smith: "Aye mLord. Fer the time bein anyhow. Ah would like ta send two men back a couple of miles ta keep an eye on oor back door. Ah would also like ta keep a couple up the road a ways so we're no surprised at way either. We can rotate the men every four hours. We ave a good place over there ta picket the horses. One man with a bow can cover them from the large cave. If ye dunno mind me askin sir, how long ere we stoppin fer?'

Ian Macguffin: "Ah would like ta stay the rest of today and mebbe tammara if we can. Ahm hopin the rain, (which was now coming down in sheets with a slight wind), might let up ere stop afore we keep goin. It will give the ladies a chance ta dry oot an rest. How ere we doin fer food, feed an water?"

Captain Smith: "We packed food fer three days. There is a stream farther down on the other side o the road. Fergeson is me best poacher. He will get us somethin Ahm sure. Aboot a a quarter mile south the road goes between two hills. It ad be a bonnie place fer an ambush so Ah'll ave me

men check it. We could use it ourselves if oor friends the Saxons decide ta show up."

"Very good. Ah will inform the queen at we will be stayin fer the time bein. At Viking girl needs ta rest at leg on hers too." replied Ian.

"Ah never thought Ah's see the day when I be travelin in the company o Vikings. Even pretty ans."stated Captain Smith.

Ian chuckling: "Neither did I Ger but Ah would keep at ter yerself. Them two girls would gut yer gizzard oot just as soon look at ye. Tell the men at them two are Sheildmaidens. They don't marry an they could take any of them in a fair fight!'

Towns Loch Lomond = Lord Brodie MacIntosh Stirling = Lord Lieth Dingwall Borders = Lord Ian MacGuffin Edinburgh = King Fergus

MacKenzie land mountainous village of Stirling river Cork Dingwall land mountainous the village of Inverness MacGuffin land flat lying between two Mountains village of Border Haddock land mountainous the village of Perth Loch Ness Dunbroch land moors, farmland and rivers

Brodie MacIntosh had received the rider with skepticism at first. Who in their right mind would attack the King? Who could turn traitor against his countrymen? It boggled his mind.

Brodie: "At do ye mean mon the King was attacked? Who attacked him? The Irish, the Anglish, the Vikings, the Saxons? Was the King or any in his party injured or killed? Where ere the now?"

Scout: "Upon arrival at Castle Delaney assassins shot bolts at the King and Prince Hiccup. The King said e was pretty sure it were Saxons and Dingwalls men. The King was no hurt or any of the Royal Family. The Lady Ylva o clan Berk got hit in her right leg with a crossbow bolt but she lives an still as her leg. The King evacuated Perth and headed east along the Kings highway. E had 360 men o the Royal Guard an maybe 150 people from the village an surrounding farms."

Brodie: "E abandoned Castle Delaney then?"

Scout: "Aye Mlord, but no afore e burned the village an the castle. The Lord MacGuffin instructed me ta give ye this sealed letter."

By this time MacKEnzies four commanders were in the room and had a large map spread out on a table. Lord MacKinzie dismissed the scout then spoke to his commanders;

Brodie: "Ah told Fergus at Dingwall was fumin over him makin at wee boychild a title. Givin the lad at old Castle must a bin the last straw fer Lieth. He was always jealous of Fergus an ye got the feelin E wanted ta be king. Ye gentlemen study the map an possible attack routes while ah read this letter…..

"Brodie, the situation is bad mate. Lieth has lost his mind. He has tied in with the Saxons, ninety thousand o them. All infantry an siege equipment. No cavalry praise God! Right now Fergus is heading east

ppwith the Royal Guard, my family an the people from Perth. I am heading south to the town of Upper Heyford and the monks in at Monastery with the Queen, Princess Merida, Prince Hiccup, and a few other maids en sech. Ah know at yer thinking! Ah tried to talk him oot of it but with no luck. Ah have Sir Charles and twenty men with me. Please rally yer men an if ye can cut the road headin south and hit there flanks. It might slow em down even more an the

rain. Ah know ah donno ha ta ask but if things go badly fer me watch out for Minnie and the kids. Thanks old friend."

Ian

Brodie MacKenzie reread the message. The whole thing was insane. How did 90,000 Saxons travel through the southern part of Scotland with nary a sole noticing? No matter. He had to act and act quickly. He had to marshal his forces such as they were. He would have to leave enough men to protect the Castle and the surrounding farms and villages. He had 30,000 men including his reserves. 20,000 infantry, 1,000 trained cavalry 2,000 engineers, 1,000 catapult and Ballista men, 5,000 supplymen with wagons and 1,000 others made up of healers, blacksmiths, wheel rights, armorers, and even some pipers and drummers. of his 20,000 infantry, he had four thousand good longbowmen and about a thousand men who could use crossbows adequately. He would leave the crossbowman in the castle. That would leave the women to tend to the livestock and farms. He would leave ten healers which would leave him with fifteen. he planned to use three avenues of attack. One at Beachers Neck, one at Donner Pass and one at Mountain Home. Each were three narrow gaps that could be easily defended. The gaps were fifty miles from the castle. There was a relatively flat area at a place called Priests Knoll where he would set up his main encampment. Along the twenty miles to the passes he would set up supply points where the supplymen and the various other trades. His 2,000 Ballista and catapult men he would divide up between the supply bases as security. Each camp would keep ten horses and would keep a steady communications stream going. He would split his cavalry up into four groups. Three for reconnaissance and quick strikes. he would send 100 around the Saxon forces to the south to catch and reinforce the King. They would inform the King of his plans and act as messengers. The other 100 he would send to Upper Heyford to help Ian MacGuffin and her majesty. Hopefully Ian would already have them out of there before his men or the Saxons could show up.

Brodie MacIntosh to his leaders: "Alright men, I ken at this is a crazy plan but if we hit them hard enough and often enough, we just might divert the Saxon attention long enough for the King ta rally the Dunbroch and MacGuffin men to make a sizable threat. Ye have yer orders. Lets ave a brief moment o silence so each of us can say a prayer or two."

Within four hours Clan MacIntosh gathered their men and moved out. Olivia MacIntosh, her children Scarlet, Rayden, and Phoebe, along with the rest of the wives, said their tear filled goodbyes and hoped they would see their men again. Brodie had told her what had happened. She dard believe it. The Dingwall clan had always been a bit daft in her opinion. She would pray that Queen Elinor and the children somehow survived to make it back to Castle Dunbroch. She had no doubt as to the outcome. Her uneasiness was over how long it was going to take and what the final butchers bill would be.

King Fergus with his force of 380 soldiers and 150 refugees had stopped for the night. The horses and men needed to dry out and be fed. So too the civilians that accompanied them south. The stinking rain still coming down in buckets. He had burned every bridge behind him. He acquiesced at burning the villages like he had done to Perth. The people had to have hope there would be something to come back to. Good fortune shined down on them in that, it looked like the reports of the Saxons having no cavalry was true. Dingwall had a few hundred but they hadn't seen anything behind them.

The men were quickly setting up tents and wooden lean to's to get everyone dry. He had twenty of the male farmers out looking for any type of game. A few boars and deer and nice fires would go a long way to rejuvenate the people. He was proud of the fact that so far the people and soldiers fgot along and were sharing what limited resources they had. The men had finished his tent and he stepped inside. He would do his best to

dry his clothing as were his men. It was 150 miles from Castle Delaney to Castle Dunbroch and so far they had only traveled about seven miles. He took solace in the comfort that the weather and roads worked against the Saxons even more. Another blessing was that they had enough wagons to carry the women and children as well as the meger supplies and tentage. As the news spread, every person from every farm and village would head east to Castle Dunbroch or south to hide in the forests. Each bridge they destroyed slowed the Saxons down even more.

Castle Dunbroch

Riders sent from King Fergus arrived at Castle Dunbroch. The riders were the sons of Lord Dingwall and Lord MacGuffin. The had delivered a letter to Sir Gawain MacGuffin with the kings seal. He read the letter then proceeded to sound the general alarm which brought the Kings army to alert and called in the civilian reserves. Freya Haddock had been in her room that morning waking up the children and getting them readyt for the day when she heard the horns blair and the bells in the towers ringing followed by what sounded like a stampede of yaks just outside her door. Celta (2) was frightened whereas Herg was excited wanting to know what was going on. Freya wanted to know too so she opened the door a little and asked the guard Niles what was going on.

Freya: "Niles, what the bloody hell is going on. What is the commotion all about?"

"Ah dunno me lady. Not fer sure anyhow. The general alarm as been sounded. Canno be anything good." said the middle aged sentry.

The sentry could see that the beautiful blonde Viking Chieftess hadn't a clue as to what he was saying. He looked around quickly then made a motion indicating he would like to come in. Freya opened the door and let the man of forty in. Unbeknownst to Niles she had a very sharp dagger

hidden in her leather skirt which she was prepared to use should the Scot wish to forget his manners.

Niles, (who was able to speak Norse), "Ah gots ta be quick mlady. Ifn ah get caught off me post, ere will be hell ta pay. That general alarm means there is trouble somewhere. All the Dunbroch soldiers are forming up with their units and all the civilian men who ere trained in soldierin ere heading towards the Castle to report. It also means anyone who canno fight ere is no allowed ta as ta come inside the castle defenses. At means the people o the town and farms are comin ere mum. Now ah got ta go. Ahm sure Sir Gawayne and is lady will come an tell ye ats goin on. Donno be warried aboot yerself an ye wee ans. Me an the lads ere afully fond a Lord Hiccup. Bein yer is mum, me lady, me an the boys will take care of ye. Ats a promise!" The soldier saluted and left.

It amazed Freya that Hiccup was so well liked by everyone whom he had met. What the Scots said about the boy and how Stoic described him were polar opposites. It just didn't make sense. She needed to meet her new step son and bring him home where she could decide for herself what the truth was. First, however, she would have to find out what was going on and whatever it was, it wasn't good.