The Archers' Story: Part V: Complete books XVIII, XIX, and XX (The Company of Archers) by Martin Archer

Author:Martin Archer [Archer, Martin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-04-05T22:00:00+00:00

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The tavern at the corner of the crossroads ahead of us was not much to look at. It was just another rundown local tavern on a shabby corner where two narrow streets came together. Narrow slits fairly high on the wall along the street let in light when the large window openings all along the street were closed. Its main entrance door was on the corner where the streets came together.

It was an altogether conventional door; most neighbourhood taverns in large cities had such an entrance where two streets came together. They also usually had another smaller door in the rear.

I had already stopped the drum when I halted the column at the entrance to a narrow alley just past our shipping post and what looked to be about the four hundred paces short of the tavern where the members of the parish’s protection gang hung out.

“Lieutenant Crawford, take six men down that alley and try to find the rear door to that tavern up ahead on the starboard side of the street. Do not let anyone in or out of the tavern. Stop anyone who tries to force his way past you even if you have to kill them; otherwise just turn back anyone who tries to escape and leave them unharmed. Come back here if there is no door.”

We stood leisurely at ease in our ranks and waited a couple of minutes to give Crawford and his men enough time to get in place and for the men in the column to relieve themselves by pissing against the wall of a nearby hovel. Whilst we waited, we saw several men come out of the tavern and walk away.

After a few minutes, when I thought the men I had sent around to the rear might be in place, I ordered most of my men to tread quietly and follow me up the street to the front door of the tavern. Only a few archers were left behind to guard the prisoners and the two wagons.

I gave the men their orders before I started walking casually up the street.

“We are going to let any women and children leave and we are going to stand far enough back from the door of the tavern up there so that the men inside it can come out and look around.”

As I had hoped, the residents of the gang’s neighbourhood and the people walking in the street stopped whatever they were doing and watched as we quietly walked up the street towards the tavern. The window openings in the daub and wattle hovels along the street began to fill up with watchers.

There was an ever increasing number of people pointing and talking to each other in muted voices as my men and I quietly moved up the street towards the tavern where the gang members spent their idle hours.

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