Free English Knight by Griff Hosker

England.” He nodded towards Harold Osbertson who rode behind Branton. “Speak with him.  He is desperate for companionship and you are of an age.” I wondered if I should.  Wulfstan added, “He would make a good squire. If he lived off his wits in the woods then he will be handy and he is young enough to train.”
    He was right, of course.  Annoyingly Wulfstan was always right. I nudged Scout to ride next to the young archer.  While most of the new men walked we had had two spare horses for Branton and Harold. The young man glanced at me as came next to him and then fixed his eyes on the back of Branton’s head.
    “Will you miss the woods and the forest?”
    He looked at me, “Would you?”
    I shrugged.  “I have never lived in the woods.  This trip is the first time I have camped under the trees.  It is summer and it is dry.  If you did not enjoy the life then why suffer it?  Surely there should have been somewhere you could have gone to make a living.”
    He shook his head, “I am sorry, my lord, but you know nothing. I was brought up to hunt and to fight.  Both are forbidden by the Normans.” He sighed, “I know not why Robert of the Wood spurned your offer. I would have followed your father anyway but as a retainer of a Baron I shall never be hungry again and I will get to hunt and to fight.  This is one of the greatest days of my life.”
    “You do not show the same pleasure I would.”
    “That is because I have had nothing in my life so far and until I have lived for two moons in this Norton I shall not believe that my luck has changed.”
    “You believe in luck then?”
    “Aye.  My father, Branton and I have had nought but bad luck.”
    “My father says that a man makes his own luck.  When he and Aelfraed left to travel through the land of the Rus and reached their Miklagård there were many times they could have turned back or given in but they were determined.”
    “Aye, I know.  My father and Uncle Branton often said that they wished they had followed the Housecarls to the east. Their lives would have been better.”
    I realised then that I was looking at myself had my father not made those decisions all those years ago.  Each day I was gaining more and more respect for the man I had taken for granted.  He was quiet and unassuming but he had a rod of steel which ran through him.
    We rode in silence.  It was comfortable. Strangely I no longer felt like the baby of the group.  Aiden did not count for he was a slave. Eventually Harold turned and asked, “What is this manor of Norton like?”
    “I have no idea.  I suspect it will be a dangerous place.  The last lord of the manor was killed and his family enslaved by the Scots.”
    He nodded, “If I cannot kill Normans then Scotsmen will do.”
    I laughed, “I like you, Harold.  You speak your mind and that is good.” He smiled at me and I risked rejection as I asked him, “Would you be my squire?”
    He looked at me and frowned, “Squire?”
    “I would have you help me to prepare for war and in return I will train you to be a knight.”
    “You would do that?  You would help me become a knight?”
    “It is not an easy route believe me. It is an easier life being a man at arms.”
    “I would rather be a knight. When the Normans came on their mighty horses and drove us into the forests I was angry for I wanted to fight back but I could not.  Even with the knight killer arrows we could not defeat them.  I would like to be able to face knights equally.”
    “But we have sworn allegiance to Henry.  We cannot fight Normans.”
    He smiled, “Who knows what the future might bring, besides it will take some time to train a bumpkin like me to be a knight but I will be your squire, Lord Alfraed of Norton, and gladly serve you.”
    I help out my hand and he clasped it.  “Then you are my squire.” I suddenly noticed that Branton and my father were watching us and they were smiling.

Chapter 7
    We skirted York for the same