Chapter 24

Tom was worried. Food stocks were getting dangerously low. The rations had been reduced yet again, and they were all beginning to feel the pinch. He sat at the breakfast table with Eleanor, Judith and Rob. Paul and Janice were staying at the hospital. It was a meagre breakfast of thin porridge with water and a little milk. There was a small mug of weak beer with it.

"What's the matter, my love?" asked a concerned Eleanor.

"I'm worried. We have reduced the rations so low that they simply cannot go any lower. Even so we have enough food for what, four more days? Then what? Do we simply stand by and watch the people starve? They are hungry now. I just cannot sit and watch them starve."

"I know. I also know that it will not happen. You will not let it happen. You will find a way. You always do."

"And what if I don't? Unless relief arrives soon we will all starve."

Eleanor knelt down in front of him, took his head in her hands and kissed him.

"Everything will be fine. We all have the utmost faith in our wonderful king!"

He smiled, held her hands and kissed her back. "I just wish I had your certainty. I know if we can make it to harvest we'll be okay, but we have to get to harvest. Right now I need to see how everyone's doing."

He could see it in the faces of the people as he moved about the town. What amazed and frightened him the most was the total faith the people still had in him. When he'd had to reduce the rations even further he had personally gone out and explained why. He had been honest and truthful with them and they had accepted it.

He wandered down to where Roderick had his workshop.

"Hello, Roderick, how are things going?"

"Oh, Your Majesty! Fine, Sire. We are producing more and more machines each day. We have completed the crossbows for the guard towers and they should be installed any day."

"That's good news. It's good to know that the farmers will have all the tools they need and that the defences will be even stronger if those slavers ever try to come back"

"Yes, it is. Sire, is there any news from the captain or from Sir Rolof? It's just I feel we should have heard something by now."

"No, not yet. I, too, am concerned. It's been two weeks since they left; they should be back soon."

"I'm sure they will be fine. They can take care of themselves."

"I know they can. I just wonder what they've been up to, that's all."

He looked around the workshop and saw that he was just holding up production. He left the men to get on with their work.

He continued his walk around the town, nodding to a man here, smiling at a woman there. He was lost in thought when a young girl of six or seven came up and took his hand. He looked down at her and asked what she wanted.

"King Tom sir, when are we going to get some more food? There wasn't very much for breakfast, and I'm still hungry!"

He looked down at her and smiled. Her mother, no, she was just a child herself, about twelve or thirteen, looked mortified, and came rushing over.

Tom picked the little child up and smiled at her older sister.

"I know, I didn't have much for breakfast either. I'm afraid until the caravan arrives from Bridgetown there won't be very much. Hopefully it will be here soon, and then we can have a feast!"

"Oh yummy! I like feasts!" she squealed.

Tom looked at the older sister.

"Do you like feasts as well?"

The girl looked up at him shyly and said, "Yes sire, though we've never had a really good one."

"Tell me, where are your parents?"

"Father's working on some new fields outside the town, and mother's working in the linen shop."

"When the food arrives and we have our feast, I would like to meet your parents and tell them what wonderful children they have."

He put the child down and they wandered off, talking about the wonderful feast they were going to have when the food arrived.

He wandered through the town thinking of what he had achieved in the short time he had been here. Judith and Rob had started their school and had sixteen willing pupils. The idea of the wax-filled frame had been a complete success. They were careful to keep this quiet, so as not to alert Gethan. Sir Tony's machines were being produced and fields were being prepared. People were working, and food would be produced. It was now that they needed the food. If they could last until harvest they would be all right. He had to find more food.

He rode out to where the captured slavers were building his road.

"Good morning, Felix, how are thing progressing?"

"Morning, Your Majesty. Things are coming on fine. We're through the worst of that swamp. If things carry on as they are we should be within sight of Bridgetown within the month."

They sat in Felix's tent surrounded by the sound of swinging hammers and breaking rocks. The road's progress had been remarkable. Just by making a decent road through the swamp must have taken a week off the journey time already.

They were just discussing the perilous food situation when one of the men came over.

"Sire, there are riders approaching."

They left the tent and made their way to where they could see a column of dust rising in the distance.

"Assemble the men. We'll go and see who this is. Send a rider back to town and warn them."

"At once, Sire."

They mounted up and rode towards the approaching column. As they approached they saw that the column was flying banners. They were their own banners! They were from Bridgetown. They were saved! They spurred their horses on to the head of the column. As they drew near, four riders detached themselves and approached. They were amazed when the saw who these riders were. It was Sir Tony, Admiral Peters and a man and woman they did not recognise.

The two groups raced towards one another. They dismounted and the two friends clasped each other's arms, and hugged each other.

"What are you doing here? Did you manage to take Balirick? Who are these people with you?"

Tony threw his head back and laughed. "Bringing you supplies, yes we did, and more besides. May I present Lieutenant Hugh Blackstaff, Household Cavalry, and his lovely companion, Adrianna."

Tom stood there dumbfounded as he took in the information. He quickly recovered and greeted the newcomers.

"Welcome to Dampford" he said, shaking their hands. "It would seem as if you have a story to tell. Well, let's get this lot into town. You are all lifesavers. I don't know what we would have done if you hadn't shown up."

There were dozens of wagons containing everything they would need to see the town through to harvest. There were also nearly 100 head of cattle along with 200 sheep. Tom was amazed when he looked back and saw all the animals.

"Why have you brought so much livestock?"

"You can thank Philipmina for that. She said that by now all the game would be hunted out, and every animal would either have been killed for food or stolen by slavers or bandits," Tony explained. "She's a clever woman, that one."

"She is that. She's not wrong either. There isn't any game left, and we don't even have enough of a dairy herd to give the children a glass of milk a day, and as for making cheese — well, there just isn't any spare."

"Well there will be now. We bought up every spare cow we could find. Tell me how are things here?"

"Now that we have food they will be fine. We have beaten the slavers, and now we have supplies we can push on to Polliton. I have sent Rolof — or I should now say Sir Rolof — and Captain Simon on ahead to scout, but knowing those two they have done more than scout. I just hope they are okay." The concern was showing in Tom's voice.

"So, what have you been up to since I left, apart from totally destroying the slavers army. I saw all those men building the road; there were hundreds of them! I take it they are the vanquished foe."

"They are indeed. They attacked the walls and we beat them, simple as that. We took over 800 prisoners!"

"Eight-hundred! I didn't think we had an army that big!"

"We didn't. We were outnumbered but we were behind walls. It was a massacre. They never stood a chance. We later found out that most of them were reluctant conscripts. They had very poor leadership and no real motivation to fight. We on the other hand knew exactly why we were fighting and what we were defending. We were defending the most important thing in the world to us: our wives and children. They had no chance."