Chapter 8

It took me over three hours to get home due to the bad weather; the rain had turned the roads into streams of mud. There was no one in the stables when I got there so I tied up my horse and took off the saddle and left it on the floor. The horse was covered in mud but I had no energy to clean him down. The lads would take care of him in the morning.

I would have liked a hot bath before I headed to my bed but all the staff would already asleep I was sure of that. I slept like a log that night, and it was mid-morning before I awoke. It was a gorgeous summer day, I headed down to the dining room but it was empty and so was the kitchen. The girls must be in the dairy or picking vegetables.

I went down to the stable yard and after stripping off I washed under the pump in the yard. After drying off I went into the kitchen and poured a mug of mike before cutting myself some bread and cheese. I went out to the orchard and I ate in the shadow of an apple tree.

I heard them before I saw them, six young lads all walking down the lane toward the house. A couple of the stable lads came running into the courtyard in front of the house armed with staves, quickly followed by three of the farmworkers, armed with billhooks and scythes.

I hurdled over the orchard wall and ran to be beside my lads as the gang neared the house. They were only a hundred yards away when we heard a shout. It was Arthur Jacobs, he as running toward us over one of the paddocks.

“Squire John, it is fine they are with me “he cried as he ran towards us.

It had completely left my head that the lads Arthur had found to be part of the guard force we wanted to put together were coming to meet me We stood the estate staff down, Mary and Mrs Jacobs had come out of the dairy and we asked them to prepare ale and food for the lads.

Arthur greeted them and then introduced them to me.

The biggest two were the Pugh twins, James and John Pugh. Barney Mcgrew was the eldest and was around my age. The last three were Albert Cuthbert, Simon Dibble and Peter Grubb. They all looked like they could handle themselves in a fistfight.

We led them into the dining room, as we ate and drank I told them about my plans for my guards. I warned them it would be hard work and might be dangerous but the offer of a bed, board and a generous monthly wage seemed to make up their minds for them.

They were told to go home and pack up some clothes and return the following day.

Arthur and I went down to the village that evening and as we drank our ale we laid out our plans for the lads. They needed to be fit and needed to learn how to shoot guns and use swords.

I needed to piss so headed to the toilets around the back of the inn. I pissed and pulled up my trousers. As I headed back toward the bar I heard a wolf whistle, I turned to see who it was, Emma was standing by the kitchen door and she beckoned me inside.

She kissed me hard on the lips...

“So squire are you going swimming this week?” she said her hands resting on my chest

“Yes, Miss Treglown, perhaps midweek?” I said and cupped one of her huge tits.

She brushed my hand away with a giggle.

“Well squire, I shall meet you at noon on Wednesday and I might have a present for you, “she said and her hand cupped my cock and balls through my trousers.

“And what might that be...” I asked a noise by the kitchen door made her turn around

“Quick someone is coming, “she said and pushed me out of the door. I headed back to the bar and tried to keep my mind on the plans for training up our new band of men.

The following morning the sun was still out, I breakfasted on porridge; Mary told me that Mr Jacobs had gone into town, so I ate alone.

After eating I went down to see how Penrose and his crew had done with our new barracks. They were just adding the finishing touches. It looked amazing; each man had a bed and a cupboard to store his gear. The weapons room was fitted out with racks for the weapons and shelves for the shot and powder.

I thanked Penrose and his men and made a mental note to arrange for a little bonus to be paid out to the men. The work had been finished just in time. The Pugh lads were the first to arrive, followed by Dibble and Grubb. Barney Mcgrew and Cuthbert arrived an hour later.

As Arthur was not around I decided that the first thing to do was work on their fitness, if there was trouble on the estate they needed to get there quickly. So I led my band of men out for a walk, we walked a mile, then ran for a mile, walked a mile then we ran for a mile. To be fair the work was hard for me as well as them but I figured it would benefit us all in the long term.

As we walked I talked to each man in turn, getting to know them as I did so. I also noted we needed to buy new clothes, perhaps some sort of uniform and we needed to buy them all boots as they were all barefoot.

I also noted as we walked across my estate that although we had many cottages in good order there were lots of unlived in abodes that were in a state of ruin. Ruined cottages could be made good and would add gold coins to the estate’s coffers.

We arrived back at barracks in the early evening sun and I arranged for food and drink to be sent out to the men before I washed off the sweat and dirt of our exercise under the yards pump.

After washing I went to find Harry Penrose, during the walk I had realised I had more work for him and his carpenters. I told him I needed some targets for musket practice and some blunt wooden swords. He said it would take his lads a couple of hours but they would be ready for the morning, I ate alone that evening as Arthur Jacobs had not returned from town. Mrs Jacobs treated me to venison Pie and after that; I had a glass of brandy or two before I headed up to my bed.

The following morning after a bowl of Mrs Jacobs’s legendary porridge I asked her about Arthur. She was a little flustered but told me he sometimes stopped over in town and that he would be back by early afternoon.

She told me Harry Penrose was waiting to see me, she brought him into the dining room and he told me the targets were set up in the paddock next to the barracks and the wooden swords were in the weapons store. So I had everything I needed to start to train my men.

I thanked him and slipped him some silver coins before he left.

I went out to the barracks, the men were sat in chairs outside the doors basking in the summer sun, they had just finished their breakfast and pipes were being lit. They all got to their feet as I approached and greeted me enthusiastically.

“Good morning Lads” I replied, “So tell me have any of you fired a gun before?”

There was a chorus of no sirs, so I had them bring out the tables, I took Barney Mcgrew into the weapons room and we laid out a pistol, shot and powder for each man.

I gave them a demonstration of how to clean the gun and then how to load them. I had them load and unload the guns a dozen times. It had been my job as a petty officer to look after the ship’s armoury and I was a good shot with both musket and pistol.

Once I was happy they had done it properly I led them to the targets.

I showed them how to aim and fire, my first shot chipped the edge of the target, the second and third buried into the wood nearer the centre.

Then the lads each took their turn firing at the targets, most were average shots, Grubb was a natural, his shots all found the centre of the target. I let them fire off a dozen shots each then we returned to the tables, they cleaned the guns and then they were returned to the weapons store.

That afternoon I led them out for a walk. It was obvious to me that fitness, as well as weapons training, would be important if we were attacked by vagabonds, like Levy and his crew.

We returned in the early evening sun, Arthur Jacobs met us at the door of the barracks. He was helping Mary and Mrs Jacobs to lay out food for the men. Trays of pasties and loaves of fresh bread were laid out on the tables as well as flagons of cider.

I bade goodnight to the men and left them to their supper. Arthur walked back to the manor house with me.

We ate in the dining room that evening, and he told me he had been out trying to find new buyers for our beef and lamb. He told me he had made deals with three butchers, and that he had got good deals. That pleased me, I had plans for the estate and I knew that a good manager like Arthur was essential.

Like we did most evenings we sat in the evening’s darkness, drank brandy and smoked our pipes.

We decided that Arthur should take the men tomorrow for swordsmanship training. We parted and I headed up to my bedroom.

I was awoken the next morning by a strange noise; it was coming from outside, a constant clack, clack clack, occasionally interrupted by a curse or a moan. I opened the shutters. Arthur had the men in the orchard and they were practising with the wooden swords.

I breakfasted and then went out to see how the men were doing. Arthur was good with a sword and was obviously a good teacher. He walked around the pairs of men and gave them instructions and tips as they fought each other with the blunt weapons.

We chatted as the men hacked, parried and swiped at each other. Every half an hour he parted the men and had them change partners. He kept them fighting until the midday sun was high in the sky.