Chapter 14: Constantine

Scott shook off his black mood. He knew it wouldn't do him or Dalriada any good and in any event, the people had made their wishes clear. His first order of business was to see to their defences so that they could hold the High King long enough to allow the full muster of his men. He knew the Pass of Brander was the key to stopping anyone overrunning the main part of Loarne and he now marshalled archers and crossbows onto the high ground above the narrow pass. Even a small number of men could defend this route he knew and the long length of Loch Awe would stop Constantine from easily outflanking them.

Messengers were sent to collect the balloon from Inveraray as he had plans for using that too. The messenger was told to ensure that Fiona, Eilean and little David were brought back to the relative safety of Oban.

The approaches to the rest of Loarne and the other lordships of Cowall, Knapdale and Kintyre were much more wide open and he knew he would have to divert men onto the other side of Loch Awe to try to defend these. Additional messengers were dispatched to divert the remaining levies from Lachlan and Colmgil to that side of the loch. Together with the men his own lordship could raise on that side, he would have some two thousand men there.

Three thousand men behind the Pass of Brander and two thousand on the other side of Loch Awe. Five thousand men in total, he knew he had faced worse odds but perhaps not worse circumstances.

His craftsmen were working flat out to produce additional arrows and bolts and pots of oil were being prepared in the hope that these could be brought to bear. Scott also had all the available women make up flags. He wanted as many Saltires and tartan flags as could be made in the next two or three days.

He almost kicked himself the next day when he thought of putting up a concrete rampart to fully block off the Pass of Brander. A day wasted! If he had only thought of this the day before the concrete would have had an extra day to set. He still thought it was worth the effort, perhaps if his men on the heights could hold the High King for a day or two it would still be ready.

Shuttering was erected quickly and concrete mixed and poured. It wasn't the neatest of constructions but it would have to do.

Sacks of flour were carried up onto the slopes of the pass too, Scot thinking that his previous idea of the fine dust being flammable might just come in handy at some point.

Eventually, everything that he thought could be done in advance was done and there was nothing left for it but to wait for the High King to make his move. He had scouts out of course to warn of any movements Constantine made, so knew he would have plenty of notice before any attack was forthcoming.

Two days later and the girls arrived from Inveraray, bringing little David with them. Scott hugged the girls but couldn't afford to spend a lot of time with them. They had been appraised of what the High King was doing and fully understood his preoccupation. Scott explained his plan to have them evacuated by longship if the position became too dangerous.

The balloon had also arrived and Scott now spent what time he had left in practising with it to try and master the hot air. A large 'reel' was constructed with a handle and four hundred yards of rope wound round it. Scott planned to allow the hot air to raise the balloon but the rope would allow it to be reeled in and lowered at his command.

Some last minute ideas led to metal plates being installed all round the balloon's basket to protect anyone in there from arrows that might be fired from below.

At last, two further days later, his scouts came in to advise that Constantine was advancing towards the Pass with his full strength. Scott rushed additional archers with crossbows up onto the heights so that he now had four hundred lining a fair stretch of the narrow passage. He reviewed progress with the concrete rampart and was pleased to see it was all but fully set, certainly strong enough to station men with crossbows along its length.

He agreed a set of signals with Lachlan and Colmgil and prepared himself to ascend in the balloon. Gabrain insisted that he go up too but Scott tried to convince him it was better if only one of them went up. Gabrain was having none of it, going so far as to make it a royal order, something he had never done before. Wolf set to barking loudly as Gabrain leapt into the basket and Scott fired the brazier, rapidly working the bellows to increase the heat. Slowly the balloon filled up and rose above the basket until they could both feel the basket strain to rise from the ground.

Pots of oil and two hand pumps were now loaded into the basket beside them and the reel was slowly turned to allow the balloon to rise up into the air. Gabrain kept his fingers crossed that the rope would not snap at any point, leaving them at the mercy of the winds.

Despite the situation both Scott and Gabrain were a little awe-struck as they began to rise higher and higher. Soon they were above the archers on the slopes and Scott stopped heating the air for the moment. As the rope was still being played out this meant they were now drifting down the length of the pass rather than rising higher. The High King's men were soon in sight.

The pair looked at each other and then back at the advancing host. The narrowness of the Pass meant that men could march up it only ten or so abreast and this mean that the line of advance was strung out for a long distance. They could also see that virtually the whole host was looking upwards at them, trying to figure out what they were seeing.

Perhaps the fact that the High King's men were so astonished by the balloon or perhaps because they were so well hidden, meant the archers on the ridge escaped detection. Scott allowed the long line of men pass below them and almost reach the concrete rampart before he gave his first signal. He waved a tartan flag and the archers rose as one, crossbows letting fly again and again. The sound of four hundred crossbows firing simultaneously in the tight confines of the pass was impressive and the High King's men could feel the passage of the wall of bolts close above their heads.

Everywhere men tried to drop to the ground, realising quickly what it was that was whistling over their heads.

Scott waved a Saltire flag and his men on the ground began to winch the balloon back along the Pass. Now both Scott and Gabrain began to pump oil out of the basket at a steady rate on both sides, creating a river of oil down the sides of the Pass below where the archers were stationed. Once they had passed over the concrete rampart Scott waved the tartan flag once more.

Longbow archers now fired flaming arrows all along the lines of oil, setting them alight. Once the oil was well lit the men on the slopes slashed sacks of flour and tipped them down into the flames. The fine dust increased the conflagration ten-fold and to the men lying on the floor of the Pass it seemed as if the very sky above them was afire.

Those further down the Pass stared in shock and horror at what was happening to their colleagues up ahead. They began to stream back down the Pass, determined to get out of reach of whatever devils had been conjured up. The searing heat was too much for the men under the flames and they stood to run backwards too, mindless of the risk that crossbows could present in their terror and urgency to escape.

Scott's men on the heights and on the ramparts stood and cheered, waving their own flags now at the fact that they had turned back the High King's first advance without killing a single man.

When Scott and Gabrain returned to the ground they were mobbed and thrown up in the air, all around men were ecstatic that Scott's first plan had succeeded. Scott however was looking pale and not at all overjoyed.

"Scott, why so grim man? Your plan worked perfectly and not a single Scot had to perish!"

"I have made a grave error Gabrain. Have miscalculated and many could yet perish this day because of my stupidity! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!"

Lachlan and Colmgil came running up just at this point, their grinning faces growing more sober as they recognised something was apparently wrong.

"What is amiss Scott? Everything worked perfectly." Asked Lachlan.

"A mistake Lachlan, a huge mistake! I have shown how effective the Pass is at holding back many thousands of men with relatively few."

"Aye, they'll no' be trying that again anytime soon Scott!"

"See you Lachlan, if they can't get past us, neither can we get past them! We have three thousand men here who we cannot bring to bear against Constantine, I have trapped them here, wasted them. He has ten thousand men to rampage through the lands on the other side of Loch Awe, ten thousand against the two thousand we have stationed there. Those men are in dire danger, I must go to them, stand with them."

Gabrain and the others recognised the truth of Scott's words and now understood why he was so upset with himself.