Chapter 20

Rolof set off after his meeting with King Tom. He was proud that he had been entrusted with such an important role. His men were waiting for him when he returned and he informed them of the King's request, that they return and cause as much chaos as they could. They celebrated their success but not overly well, and then retired to their camp excited at what the morning would bring.

Before he retired though, he had an idea. He made his way to see Lord Paul. He wanted his advice on something.

"Hello, Rolof, how can I help you?" Paul asked as Rolof entered the hospital.

"Lord Paul," Rolof began, "King Tom has asked me and my men to go and make mischief in the enemy camp. I was wondering if you knew of any plants or herbs I could use to do that? Things that would make their clothes itch, or give them the shits — you know, things like that? After all, a man concentrating on stopping his guts falling out through his arse is less likely to want to fight."

Paul laughed at this, and soon found some things that filled the bill.

"Now remember, two leaves in the stew will cause the runs; if it's a big cauldron, then maybe three. Any more and they'll taste it and not eat it. Now this powder here," he said, handing him a bag of grey powder, "will make it feel that they have been sleeping in a bed of nettles. It will itch like crazy and drive them mad!"

Rolof smiled. "Thank you, sir. This is just what's needed. We will do as ordered: we will make mischief."

A very happy Rolof made his way back to his men.

They set off at first light and soon had crossed the river and were making their way through the forest. They could still make out the sounds of woodcutters, so they went towards them. As they watched them from the cover of the forest, they noticed several of the men had black eyes and others had bandages around their heads and arms.

Rolof and his men smiled at this. They followed one man back toward his camp, and noticed that guards were now stationed there to protect their belongings. They continued on toward the main encampment and were soon hidden by some undergrowth watching the camp's comings and goings. They noticed a group of men carrying horse tack. They followed them until they came to where a great herd of horses was being kept. There were several hundred there, and Rolof believed that he had found where the cavalry pastured their mounts. They then moved round and found where some of the arms were stored. Rolof sent two men in, and these men managed to come out with armfuls of arrows. These they took and hid in the forest.

They made their way around the camp and soon had the layout. They discussed what to do next and decided to contaminate some of the foodstuffs in the canteen. They stole some clothes and donned them for disguise. Two leaves were dropped into the pot, and they left. They then made their way around the camp, sprinkling the powder into the men's blankets. Afterwards, they very carefully washed their hands; after all they didn't want that stuff getting on them!

It was next that Rolof had a stroke of genius. They headed back off into the forest and caught several rabbits, a wild goat and a deer. These they brought back into camp, taking them to the main cook house. The cooks thanked them profusely and then prepared the offerings. As they did so a man came over.

"What's going on here?" he asked importantly.

One of the cooks looked up and replied, "Oh, Captain, sir, err ... these men have just brought this game in."

"Good. Prepare them for the officer's tent." Then looking at Rolof and his men, he ordered, "Go and get some more. When you've done that you can go and eat!"

Rolof said nothing and the man turned and left.

"Ungrateful bastard," said the cook. "Well, I suppose I'd better get it done. There'll be trouble if I don't." He carried on preparing the food as Rolof slipped another couple of leaves into the main cook pot. Rolof then watched in amazement as the man went up to the pot, hawked a great glob of phlegm, and spat into it.

"There! That should give the bastards a little something extra, now shouldn't it?" the man said smiling evilly.

"Come on, lads. We'd better be off. We'll get something later. We don't want His Lordship getting angry with us, now do we?" Rolof declared. His men all nodded in agreement and they left.

That evening the sounds of men rushing to the latrines could be heard as their bowels evacuated time after time. Their moans and cries rang out across the camp. At the same time several of them were experiencing intense irritation as the powder in the blankets did its job. During all the confusion Rolof and his men made their way over to where the horses' tack was kept. It was here that he sprinkled the powder onto the horse blankets. After this, he and his men made their way back into the forest where they made camp.

Tom awoke and looked out over the enemy encampment. He could see the men running to and fro towards the latrines. He could only imagine what Rolof had been up to. He went down to breakfast and discussed his plans for the day. He needed to find someone who he could put in charge of the road-building program. He asked Eleanor and Judith, but neither of them had any idea. He would have asked Roger, but he was still involved with building the bridge.

He asked Eleanor to accompany him as he walked around the town. Taking his arm, they walked around the town. Judith and Rob accompanied them, for it seemed wherever one of them was, the other would not be far behind. They made their way down towards where the bridge was being built. The sound of hammering and sawing rang out as they approached. The bridge was coming along nicely; all the supports were in place and cross beams were being laid. A few planks were laid loosely across them and a precarious-looking footbridge was in place.

"Morning, Your Highnesses," called Roger from the middle of the bridge. "What brings you down here?"

"Hello, Roger. How's it going?"

"Very well. We're doing much better than I thought we would. We should have the bridge ready for foot traffic by tonight. Then we can concentrate on reinforcing it to take the weight of the wagons. Should take about another two weeks to get it finished."

"That's great news. Now, you don't happen to have amongst your merry band anyone who knows how to build roads, do you?"

"Unfortunately, Sire, no. There is no one who springs to mind."

"Ah, well, it was worth a shot. I want to use the prisoners we took the other day to build a road between here and Bridgetown. I need an engineer to supervise the work. I'll have to see if there's anywhere else I can think of to find someone."

"I wish I could help, Sire. Unfortunately, on this occasion, I can't help you."

Eleanor gave his arm a squeeze as they walked away.

"I'm sure we'll find someone."

"No, I don't think we will. No one here has any experience in road building. I'm going to have to train someone to do this, on top of everything else," Tom said, exasperated.

"I'm sure we'll find someone. Let's go and see Lord Paul. Maybe he's got some ideas."

Tom turned to Judith and Rob and said, "Why don't you two go and find some suitable candidates for that project we discussed last night?"

They looked at each other and smiled. "Very well. We'll see you at lunchtime."

Judith took Rob by the hand and led him away.

"Will they be all right?" Eleanor asked.

"It depends. I think she'll keep him alive, though if her mother's anything to go by, it could be an even bet."

Eleanor slapped his arm, but, as they walked away she couldn't help the smile that spread across her face. They made their way over to the hospital. Paul was treating a man for a nasty skin complaint. He was just finishing up explaining to him why he had to wash regularly and was giving him some cream to apply.

"Hello! What brings you two here? Everything all right?"

Tom looked at the man and waited for him to leave before saying, "Have you got a minute?"

Paul looked at him with a worried expression on his face.

"Yes, what's the matter?" He led them into a side room and closed the door.

"I've decided that we'll attack day after tomorrow. I want to drive them back away from the river and push them back as far as we can. Another thing is I want to do is to start building a road towards Bridgetown, but I can't find anyone to supervise. You wouldn't have any ideas as to who I could ask, do you?"

"I'm afraid not. I'm not sure it's wise to attack. From what we've heard they are doing a pretty good job of eradicating themselves by sheer incompetence. They have less food out there than we have. Two more weeks and they'll have to leave anyway. They have a real problem with desertions as it is. Why give them a target to unify them? They still outnumber us at least two to one, more like three or four to one in trained fighting men.

"Remember, the farther you get from your supply base the more difficult it gets to supply your troops. The land out there has been stripped bare. You will have to feed not only your troops but a lot of the local population as well. We need to bring up a lot of supplies before we go any farther. Remember, it was Napoleon who said an army marches on its stomach. Lack of supplies was Rommel's downfall in the Western Desert as well.

"As for your road, there's only one man who really knows what he wants and how to build this road. Think: who's the only man here who truly knows the importance of a good road network, and understands how it must be built?"

"I don't know!" Tom exclaimed in exasperation. "If I knew, I wouldn't be asking you!" He could see both Paul and Eleanor grinning and said, "Well, come on you two! Don't keep it to yourselves. Spit it out!"

"It's you, you daft bugger!" Paul told him laughing. "You know exactly why it needs to be built. You know exactly how it needs to be built, and you know I'm right about staying here. It would be folly to go any farther forward until we're properly ready. If we get the barley in and get some vegetables in the ground we will have a chance to feed people. It takes three weeks to get supplies here from Bridgetown.

"We need to build up a real supply depot here. To do that we have to reduce that transport time. I reckon that if we have enough food here, within a few weeks we could just set up a field kitchen on the walls and get them to surrender just to get something to eat."

Tom sat down heavily. "I've been a bloody fool, haven't I?"

"No, mate, you haven't. You want what the rest of us want: to drive these bastards off this island. You want all our people to live in peace and freedom. You, more than anyone, have made this possible. We are so close. This is the last big river between us and the coast. They have been stopped here, and we have ensured they will go no farther. The people here are now safe. The supplies we brought with us have ensured that for a few more weeks. The hunters are bringing in food each day. Then there's the fact that we are training the men and they are improving daily. Soon, but not yet, they will be ready to take their place alongside our men. Be patient. We will win, and will drive these animals back into the sea.

"Why don't you take Felix and train him up as your engineer? He was wounded in the last attack, and I'm afraid his days as a warrior are over. He'll need a new profession now. He took a blow to the shoulder. He's lost a lot of movement in it, and I don't think he'll get it back. A supervisory role would be a dream come true, for him. I know it's something he's been worried about. We were talking about it last night, and it shows his belief in you when he said to me, 'It's all right. King Tom will sort everything out. He won't let me starve.'

"It's that kind of trust and loyalty you engender from these people. They trust you to make the right decision. All I ask is that you think things through."

"Paul's right," Eleanor agreed. "We don't need to attack. We can just sit here and watch them starve. As far as I know, they haven't planted any crops on their side of the river. An awful lot of people have come over to this side, so there can't be that many left over there. Be patient. Let them attack. We can hold them here. If they do attack, then we can counterattack, but wait until they have dashed themselves against our defences, first."