Chapter 17

The following morning there were some thick heads. The party had gone on well into the early morning. Donald and Isabella rose, and Brianna helped her dress. They went down for breakfast. It was here they were brought up to date with the state of the town. Bishop Rathbone explained about the state of the church, and Father Jonas.

“Get some people, and get it cleaned up. I would like to have a service of thanksgiving, as soon as possible. Ask around if folk have things they’d like to donate, even if it’s only on loan.”

Bishop Rathbone nodded. Nathaniel was next. He told them of Jeremiah and his reports of plague in Wykefield.

“That’s disturbing. People will flee. They will bring the plague with them. That’s how it spreads. We will need to set up a quarantine area, downstream of the town.”

This was agreed. After they had finished breakfast they set up a room as a study. Demitris reported on the state of the town.

“Well, sir, apart from the sore heads this morning, most of the populace seem overjoyed with the situation they find themselves in. Most of the storehouses are fairly full. We seem to have sufficient stocks to see us through to harvest. There are several places where we were not allowed to go. Guthrum forbade it. One of them is the basement, here in this building.”

“Very well. Let’s go and have a look and see what we have down there, shall we?”

Donald went and fetched an axe. Demitris looked at him.

“Excuse me sire, but why the axe?”

“The door might be locked. Do you have the key?”

“Well, no sire, I don’t.”

Donald smiled and waved the axe. “I do!”

They made their way down to the cellars. The door was, of course, locked. They searched through some keys they had found on Guthrum’s body. None of them fit. A few swift blows of Donald’s axe soon removed the problem. They stepped inside to discover a veritable treasure trove. The room was stacked from floor to ceiling with valuables. There was boxes filled with coins, bolts of fine silks and cottons. There was jewellery stacked from floor to ceiling.

“Well, it looks like the town treasury won’t have a problem for the foreseeable future.”

Demitris looked at him. “Sire, this treasure is yours. Are you not going to claim it?”

“Why should I? I have enough to last me for many years, why would I want more? Tell me, what am I going to do with it? Lock it in a room and come down once in a while to look at it?”

Demitris laughed and said, “I never though of it in that way. You are right, of course. Once a man has enough to live on, why hoard more? He cannot spend it, all he can do is lie in bed worrying about someone trying to steal it.”

Donald went over to a box of coins. He pulled out a bag and filled it. He gave it to Demitris.

“Go and pay for the clothes and shoes my wife wishes to order for the children. Make sure each one has a good pair of boots, a good shirt and trousers ... or a dress for the girls ... and a good coat. Also ask about any craftsman that had his tools stolen or damaged. Make sure he has enough to replace them. I have plans for this place. We’ll need all the skilled craftsmen we can lay our hands on.”

As they were about to leave, Donald spotted a pair of multi-socket silver candlesticks. He went over to retrieve them.

“I think I know someone who’ll be glad to see these.”

“They’re from the church! Father Jonas was beside himself when they were stolen. I’ve never seen him more upset.”

“Well, I think I know just the person to return them. Come on, there’s someone I want you to meet. By the way, don’t mention what we’ve found will you?”

They went off to fine Bishop Rathbone. They found him over at the church. He, along with several others, were busy cleaning.

“Bishop, I have found something that you might be able to use,” Donald said as he held up the candlesticks.

Father Jonas saw them and exclaimed, “The candlesticks! How? Where? It’s a miracle!”

“We found them at the residence. These and a few other things were left behind in their rush to leave.”

Father Jonas fell to his knees giving thanks, and praising God for the miraculous return of the candlesticks.

Donald pulled the Bishop to one side and asked, “Is he alright?”

“Yes, he’s had a very traumatic experience. Finding these, I think, will be the first step on his recovery.”

“Good, now there’s someone here I’d like you to meet. Bishop Rathbone, this is Demitris, my steward,” Donald said.

“Pleased to meet you, my good man,” The Bishop told him, shaking him by his hand.

“Errr, likewise Bishop. I very pleased to meet you, very pleased indeed!”

“I think we’ll be working together a lot. We wish to hold a service of celebration, to mark the defeat of Guthrum. As you can see, much of the church’s decoration has been taken. If you could find some tapestries or paintings that would be suitable then we would be eternally grateful.”

Demitris racked his brain. He knew of a weaver in town, perhaps he had something. He certainly had enough money at his disposal. There was also Gerard, the painter. He’d ask him if he could paint something. He knew that Gerard could certainly use the money.

“I’ll go and have a word with a few people, and see what I can do. No promises, now, but I’ll certainly try my best.”

“We cannot ask more than that. Thank you, my son,” the Bishop said, and held out his hand. Demitris kissed his ring.

Donald nodded to the Bishop who smiled back. He and Demitris continued with the tour of the town. They visited the weaver. They told him of the Bishop’s request.

“My Lord, I do not have anything, at present. It would take me at least three months to have something like that ready.”

“I see. Could you have it ready for harvest?” Donald enquired.

“Possibly, but it would mean putting all my other work on hold.”

“If you took on some helpers to do the less difficult or complicated work? Would that help?”

“Yes, but where am I going to get these workers?”

“The women of the bandits. They are going to need work. If they don’t work, then they will starve. If they don’t have food then they will steal. If they steal, then I will kill them. Do you wish to see women hanging in the square just because they and their children were hungry?”

The man looked horrified. “No! No I would not! That would make you no better than the people you replaced!”

“No, they would be criminals. They would be thieves. The fact that hunger drove them to it is of no relevance to the victims. If they had work, well then there is no need. So. I ask again, would you be willing to employ some of these women and children?”

“Well, if you put it like that of course I will. Send them along. I could use three.”

“Good. Now then, I don’t expect you to pay their wages at first. I will pay the first month. Tell me how much.”

The man’s jaw dropped. He was going to get the biggest commission of his life, also he was getting helpers and their wages would be paid for the first month! He liked this new ruler! He thought quickly, two shilling a week, three workers, four week ... He added it up quickly in his head.

“Thank you, Sire. That is most generous, most generous in deed! The wages will be twenty four shillings. It will be two silver crowns for the tapestry.”

Donald nodded at Demitris. He retrieved the money from his pouch. He handed it over to the astonished man.

“If you need any more, or if it takes longer to do the work, or you need more workers, just let me know. Remember, if you are fair with me then I’ll be fair with you. What you have charged for the tapestry is very reasonable, so are the wages for your workers. I like that.”

“I’ll send some women to you. Choose those you need. Let me know if there are any problems,” Demitris told him.

“I will, you can count on me Sirs, yes indeed,” The man told them, shaking their hands for all he was worth.

Next they visited the painter, Gerard. They told him what they were after. He looked at them thoughtfully.

“I may just have something. Please wait here.”

He disappeared into his studio. He returned a few minutes later with a magnificent painting of the last supper.

“Will this do?”

“It’s magnificent! It will look resplendent up behind the altar,” exclaimed Demitris.

“Yes, it’s wonderful. The Bishop will be pleased. I’ll let them know. We can dedicate it during the celebration service they are planning,” Donald explained. “How much are you asking for it?”

“I cannot accept less that two gold crowns for it,” Gerard told them.

“That is a lot of money. I can see how much time and effort you have put into it. We’ll take it. Demitris, pay the man.”

Gerard stood dumbfounded as Demitris pulled two gold crowns from his pouch. Never had he seen so much money. He could now settle his debts and he and his family could enjoy life again.

They returned to what he now found himself considering his home for lunch. He found Isabella there. He asked her how her morning had gone. She told him how she had, along with Lieutenant Alan, David and Henry, been touring the town. She had been speaking to the women of the town and had found that now that the ever pervading threat of molestation and rape had been lifted, spirits were much higher. Their main priority now was feeding their families, especially the families of those killed. Donald told her of the weaver and how he had paid him to take on three women. She turned to him and smiled.

“I knew you would come up with something.”

“The thing is, those bandits stole everything they could lay their hands on, but for the most part it’s still here! Once they had stolen it there was nothing they could do with it! We’ve even found the candlesticks that were stolen from the church. There’s a whole room in the cellars that is full of treasure. We’ll use it to fund the rebuilding of this place. The thing that concerns me is the reports of plague in Wykefield. There is war in the north, and plague in the south. We are caught in the middle. We will need to prepare. We will need to build granaries, build up the stores and grow as many crops as possible. We need to build up our defences, who knows what or who we might have to deal with.”

“What are you talking about?” Isabella asked him

“If you have war, there are always displaced people. They are desperate, frightened and hungry. It’s the same when you have plague. People are terrified, and then they flee. They bring the disease with them. An area needs to be set aside for them. They need to kept there until we know they are disease free so they don’t spread it to everyone else in the town. It needs to be downstream from the town, so as not to spread their taint to the water that supplies the town.”

“I suppose you have already thought of where you are going to get the labour you need for these projects haven’t you?”

“Oh, that’s easy. We have the prisoners and their families. The prisoners will be given a simple choice, work or die. If they do not work I will simply remove their heads. Their families will be given a similar choice, work or starve. If the women have work, they can feed their families and won’t have to whore themselves. I’m sure they will be glad of the choice. When the refugees arrive, they will be given the same choice: work, or move on. I have few doubts which they will chose.”

“I’m sure they will! Well, you seemed to have taken care of most of our problems, what do you intend to do this afternoon?” she teased him.

He smiled at her. “This afternoon we are going to have a tour of this town. I want to get a real feel for the place. So far I feel I have only just scratched the surface. There is a lot more that needs doing.”

“I’ll get everyone together and we’ll get going then.”

It was quite a crowd that accompanied them that afternoon. They included Gordon and Henrietta as well as Nathaniel, Paul and Peter. Samuel also accompanied them along with Demitris. They first went through what was left of the merchant’s quarter. There were still merchants there despite the deprivations of Guthrum and his men. They reassured them that they would be left in peace to trade and that taxes would be reasonable. He also promised to keep accounts of how the taxes were spent, and every year the accounts would be made available to any who wished to see them.

The merchant’s were amazed at this. Usually the taxes were paid in order for the rulers to live a life of luxury. To actually see where the money was being spent was unheard of!

Next they went to inspect the defences. They consisted of a wooden palisade than ran around three sides of the town. The forth was defended by the river which was not only wide and deep but also had steep banks. Donald inspected the palisades. They were broken down and badly in need of repair and/or replacement.

“We’ll need to replace most of these, however what I would like to do is to have a trench dug around the town to provide a moat. We could have have drawbridges with gatehouses to start with, and then build a new wall behind it. This would give us a cleared killing field between the two walls. We would be able to have drawbridges connecting the two walls enabling us to effectively trap any attacker who managed to scale the first wall.”