Storiesonline.net ------- Surviving 2 by Scotland-the-Brave Copyright© 2007 by Scotland-the-Brave ------- Description: Scott continues to try and survive in ninth century Scotland. Codes: MF Mf Ff interr BF ------- ------- Chapter 1: Choices The young man sat on his horse looking down the long vale before him. The River Irthing gave the vale its name and normally it would have been a pleasant vista in the June sun. Today however, a pall of smoke marred the scene. He watched as mounted men ran down the little band of settlers and deliberately set fire to the thatched roofs of their houses. His face was grim and he was whispering under his breath. "Tougher to survive, tougher to survive." Scott mac Fergus had been laying waste to the countryside for miles around this area over the last two days. His eyes stung from the smoke of the many houses and fields his men had torched as part of his 'scorched earth' strategy. The High King of Scots, Constantine had promised him five hundred men to bolster his lordship of Knapdale and Jura, but he should have known not to accept gifts from Kings because this one had come with a price. Constantine had asked that Scott keep the Saxons on his southern border occupied and out of Scotland so that he could deal with the Viking threat he faced on his coasts and in the north. Scott could see this was a cheap way for Constantine to close off one possibly costly warring front. The King of Dalriada, King Fergus, had also sent for Scott, seeking his assistance in dealing with Viking raiders in his territory. Scott knew which call needed to be answered first. The High King had to see his five hundred men paid for before he could assist Fergus. And so Scott had travelled south. He had supplemented the High King's five hundred with two hundred mounted men of his own and his prize unit, one hundred and fifty long bow archers. His mounted men had been split into two flying columns of one hundred each and they had ridden ahead of the main force to despoil as much of the land as possible. Scott's thinking was that a starving enemy was a weakened enemy. He was also banking that the raising of the land would bring the major Saxon force, based at Caerlisle, out from behind its settlement walls and into the open where he could assail it. The grim look was from the memory of his winter trek through this same country as he and young Gabrain had tried to escape their Saxon pursuers. Now he had returned with some force. He was grim too because he believed the best way to help his lordship to thrive was through increased trade and economic stability yet here he was, burning, killing and seeking to force the Saxons to battle. "Lachlan, enough, call them in. I am sickened at our ruin of this fair land and the murder of these defenceless folk. Let us see if we have done enough to draw the Saxons from their den." He turned his horse and began to walk it westwards as a horn sounded to recall the mounted men. It did not take long for the one hundred men to form up and they gathered speed as they rode to meet up with the other hundred men who had been similarly burning further down this vale. Once the two groups met up, Scott wheeled half right to head northwards in the direction of Hadrian's wall. Here he expected to meet up with his main body of foot and the archers. He wanted his full force of eight hundred and fifty if he was going to take on the Caerlisle Saxon force. They met the foot just on the south side of Hadrian's wall and Scott reviewed his plans. He had hoped to strike a major blow against the Saxons and to do so quickly so that he could return to aid King Fergus. He knew well that it was a stupid lord who offended his King and he thought he only had a number of weeks to campaign here. Although a business administration graduate rather than a soldier, his experiences of the past year had been something of an education and he believed his archers and his mounted men gave him an advantage. That was why he was trying to draw out a force of perhaps three thousand or more Saxons. He fully believed his use of the archers and cavalry, if done right, would secure a victory. Cavalry was unusual for the Scots, as they didn't have a great stock of horses. The long bow was several hundred years ahead of its time and could be devastating. Presently his scouts informed him that the Saxons had indeed issued from Caerlisle and were currently marching east up the Irthing Vale. The force was described as being mainly foot but with perhaps several hundred mounted men. It was these mounted men that Scott was now fretting about. He knew he needed to try and use his archers to nullify this force so that his own cavalry could be used to roll up the Saxon foot. He had been surveying the ground in the vale while riding to Hadrian's wall, searching for some advantageous land features that would assist his archers. The best he could come up with was just to the north of a Saxon settlement at Brampton and he now bit his lip as he tried to judge whether he could move his force there quickly enough to take advantage of it. "Hurry them up Lachlan, all might depend on the positions on the field this day. Hurry them for me!" The Scots' foot were soon streaming southwards at a greater pace, trotting steadily as Scott tried to manoeuvre them as he wished. He was thankful when they reached his chosen spot without any sign of the Saxon host and he hastily gave orders for deployment. The land he had chosen had a significant dip into which he hid his archers, lining his foot just over the ridge of the dip to hopefully act as bait for the Saxon horse. His own cavalry he marshalled behind the archers, dismounted so they were hidden from view. Scott and Lachlan sat their horses behind the foot and waited for the Saxons to find them. They didn't have to wait long. The flat vale let them see the host from a long way off which of course meant that the Saxons would be able to see them too. It was a nervous wait now as the Saxons drew nearer and Scott was almost holding his breath as he watched to see whether they would take the bait and let loose their mounted men. "So, the temptation is too much for them to resist!" He said at last, as they could see several hundred horsed men surge ahead of the main host, heading directly at them. Scott knew he had to let the Saxon horse get close so that his archers would have the maximum impact. The five hundred foot were the men King Constantine had sent and he wasn't sure how experienced they were. Standing firm in the face of two hundred charging horsemen could be a daunting prospect, and he needed them to hold their nerve. "See you Lachlan, get down there and stiffen their spines for me! They haven't yet seen our archers in action and they might break before the Saxons are in range." Lachlan urged his horse forward and rode up and down the lines of foot, re-assuring them and steadying the ranks. Scott let the Saxon horse get to within a hundred yards of his foot before signalling his archers to fire. The hundred and fifty archers loosed a volley of three arrows each in double quick time and Scott watched in morbid fascination as the arrows rained down on the charging cavalry, leaving it in complete ruin. Still Scott sat his horse, letting the significantly larger Saxon host come towards him. He knew he had to judge this finely again. The foot had to be allowed close enough for one more volley from the archers to reduce their numbers, but still far enough away for him to marshal his own cavalry and get up enough speed so that they could cut through them. At last he signalled his archers to fire again and also his cavalry to mount up. He waved to Lachlan to take his group of one hundred left while he himself took one hundred around the right flank of his own foot. Scott quickly split his men into groups of twenty-five and he led four wedge formations out towards the Saxons, gathering speed as they charged. He watched as the arrows fell, causing disarray amongst the Saxon foot. Men around him levelled their spears as they swept up and through the already demoralised host, like a hot knife through butter. "mac Fergus! mac Fergus!" screamed men, as they hacked and slashed, urging their beasts forward to win through to the rear of the Saxons. Scott tried to wheel his wedge and at the same time take in developments across the battlefield. He saw that Lachlan's horse had caused as much damage and mayhem as his own. He also saw that the enterprising archers had rushed up onto the ridge and were taking advantage of the fact that his horse was presently disengaged to fire another volley of arrows into the Saxons. He led his wedge back at the charge, trusting his archers to halt their fire before he was in range. It was clear that the Saxons had little further stomach for the fight and the second cavalry charge cut through them even easier than the first. Scott signalled to his foot to charge now and waved to his captains of horse to begin to run down those Saxons who were already fleeing. "It is complete and utter victory Scott, and at little cost man!" Said Lachlan as he rode up, a wide grin on his face. "Little cost to us Lachlan, but not so for these Saxons." Scott afforded Irthing one more day to mop up the last of the Saxons then he left Lachlan to bring the foot home while he raced northwards to aid King Fergus. He had won perhaps an additional forty horses from the battle and he had horsed seventy-five of his archers to take with him, knowing they would be a distinct advantage against the Norse too. Hard riding was now the order of the day and Scott pushed his men and their horses. They passed the first night at Lochmaben, at the foot of great Annandale, but he had them up early and on the way at first light, up Tweedsdale, skirting the huge Ettrick Forest and camping for the night in the mouth of Clydesdale. The third night saw them high in the Campsie Hills, past Gleschu and not far from Dunbarton. Three more days of riding took them round the head of Loch Fyne and down its banks to Loch Gilphead. They were perhaps only two miles from Aird Driseig when they picked out a cloud of black smoke rising into the sky. Despite having made almost two hundred and fifty miles in only six days, an incredible feat, Scott and his men redoubled their efforts at this sign of alarm. It wasn't long before the settlement came into view. Fires were burning fiercely, smoke billowing black and grey, and poles were stuck into the banks of the loch, grisly severed heads stuck on top of them. The waters of the loch were still burning and many Viking bodies could be seen in the water, impaled on spikes that had been set into the loch-bed. Two longships were abandoned, obviously holed under the water. It seemed clear that the attack had been recent, within the last few hours given the degree to which the flames had taken hold. Scott didn't pause but rode at full tilt through the wrecked gates and up the hill. He slumped from his horse and groaned loudly at the sight that greeted him. It was clear the men and women of Aird Driseig had taken their last stand against their attackers outside his house. Here a mound of Viking fallen was testament to how his people had fought, fought to defend his lordship, to defend his family. Hundreds of other dead Vikings, in the water and along the loch-side, made it clear that whoever had attacked had paid a heavy price, but their numbers had at last overwhelmed the defenders. "No, no, sweet Jesu no, let it not be so, no, nooooooooooooooo!" Screamed Scott as he collapsed to the ground outside the door of the house. He cradled the bloody body of his partner, Kirsty, to his chest, his body wracked with sobs. "Oh Kirsty, Kirsty, princess what have I done to you?" It seemed that Scott was taking the blame on himself for leaving her at the mercy of the Vikings. There had been no single raid on Knapdale that year and his people boasted it was because the Danes feared the Norse-slayer. He had ridden away with little concern for Aird Driseig. "Nooooooooooooooo!" He screamed again as his eyes lit on the body of Iain mac Iain, Kirsty's father, undoubtedly killed as he tried to protect his two-month-old grand daughter. The infant lay partly beneath him, its head crushed and bloody. "Tiiiinnnnnaaaaaaa, no, no, god no, please god, noooooooooo!" Scott dragged Kirsty's body over to the dead infant and pulled both into his arms, his upper body rocking backwards and forwards over them as he wailed out his anguish. No one approached him. Men rushed round putting out fires and trying to save what they could from the carnage. Scott's greenhouse was a smashed ruin. The warehouse was destroyed along with any goods it had contained. Remnants of the first prototype wagon lay smouldering and the first brickwork for the church had been rudely thrown down. The huge field of wheat, made possible through Scott's introduction of the plough, was now merely blackened stubble. At last Scott laid the bodies of his partner and their child beside her father. Through the pain he had realised that Gabrain, Fiona and Eilean were nowhere to be seen. He began to pull bodies this way and that as he frantically searched for them. "Help me!" He screamed and men rushed to assist. "Gabrain, Fiona, Eilean help me find them." Men were wary of him as he had a wild look in his eyes, a madness even, but they tried to help him uncover the bodies he was looking for. "Here my Lord, here is Gabrain!" Shouted one, stepping back swiftly as Scott rushed over to the smaller body. "You too Gabrain, laddie, laddie." The fight, wildness, madness seemed to seep out of him as he fell to his knees once more beside the body of the boy. He lifted it and walked slowly back to where he had lain the others. As he was sinking to lower it, there was a twitch. "Scott?" Croaked the boy. "Gabrain! Saints, Gabrain! Water, bring me some water!" "Scott, I tried to save them, I tried... too many, too many." "Weesht laddie, don't weaken yourself further. I know you fought bravely, all of you." "They... they took, took mother and Fiona. Echdach and the Vikings, they took them." This last was barely a whisper as Gabrain lapsed once more into unconsciousness. Scott hurriedly examined Gabrain's body for wounds but could only find a large blood encrusted bump on his head. He wouldn't entrust care of the boy to anyone else, ministering to the cut himself and finding a quilt that wasn't too badly damaged to wrap him in. Someone brought him some cooked meat but he couldn't eat it. He sat, looking down Loch Gilp, down Loch Fyne as he often had in the past. His very soul was in despair at the loss of his love and the little girl he had helped bring into the world. At last he fell asleep, exhausted by his long ride and the emotional drain of what he had found on his return. A quilt was spread over him. Scott was a different man the next morning, businesslike but cold and withdrawn. He took control and began to set in train the first steps in rebuilding the settlement. The slain cattle he ordered butchered and stored in the icehouse, which had escaped the carnage. He sent men to Achahoish to ensure that settlement was secure. The plough had been used there too and he hoped the significantly larger crop of grain would be sufficient to provide for both Achahoish and Aird Driseig. He set men to cut thatch to repair the roofs and others to clear the many bodies, separating the Norse from the Scots. He personally dug a grave beside the foundations of the little church he had been building and wrapped his family in linen shrouds before lowering them into the grave and covering them over. Gabrain hobbled unsteadily to his side as he stood over the grave. "Goodbye Kirsty my love, I'm sorry I let you down. Goodbye my angel Tina. I will never forget you." He stopped as the tears streamed down his face and his voice caught. Scott felt a hand take his and looked sideways at Gabrain. The boy looked pale still and he too had tears in his eyes. "They were my family too Scott. I tried to save them but I wasn't big enough or strong enough. I'll miss them and Eilean and Fiona too." "We'll have to see about that Gabrain!" Scott replied, his tears drying up and a harshness coming into his tone. "Fiona and Eilean are not dead and I would have them back at the hands of those who took them, aye and who took Kirsty and Tina from us." Gabrain was shocked at the look in Scott's eyes, fathomless, deep, deep anger and hatred. He shivered under Scott's gaze but steeled himself to return the scrutiny and then nodded his agreement. They would do this together. Over the course of the next two days Scott did as much as he could to get things working again. He drove himself and everyone around him mercilessly. Gabrain tried to get him to return to his previous nature but was failing dismally. The harsh regime was beginning to tell on the lordship's men if not on their lord and the boy was already wise enough to see it. Probably no one else other than Lachlan could have this conversation with Scott and Gabrain took it upon himself to speak his mind. "Scott, I know you have suffered grievously, but so have many others in the camp. Every one of them has lost someone in this raid. You are not acting like a lord should; you're too harsh with the men when they need understanding and time to heal their own hurt. The men love you, I saw with my own eyes how both the men and the women of Aird Driseig threw themselves at the Vikings to protect your family. They deserve more than what you are currently giving them, much more. You cannot blame yourself for this. Before you came, raids like this were commonplace. Without your defences the people would have died the quicker and the Danes lost fewer men. Violent death is common." Perhaps it was this final phrase that broke through to Scott. It had been one of his mantras - 'tougher to survive' and 'death is common'. He looked at the young lord who was trying to reach him, showing maturity beyond his years and he realised that what he was saying was true. "Aye Gabrain," he sighed, "perhaps you have the right of it. By trying to act harder, more the man, perhaps instead I am in fact being less the man. Come my young teacher, let's do something to cheer this mangy band of men up, shall we?" Gabrain smiled at this first sign of the old Scott and stood to follow him down the hill. Scott sent messengers to Colmgil to rouse the Cowall and Bute men and to King Fergus to inform him of his position and to find out what plans he had. He called the Aird Driseig men together. "My thanks for your forbearance. I know you must all be grieving just as I am and perhaps dealing with it in a more manly fashion than I." Scott paused as he heard a low growl coming from his men. He smiled as he realised that they even got upset when he himself suggested he was less than a man. "The most puissant Lord Gabrain witnessed with his own eyes who led this poisonous attack. I would offer you the chance of retribution, perhaps the chance to recover some of your womenfolk. I would assail Echdach so soon as we can ride to Campbeltown. Does any wish to follow?" The resounding scream that he heard in response satisfied him that, to a man, they were behind him. He thought he had done what he could to start the recovery and now wanted to mount up with two hundred men to attack Kintyre and its treacherous lord. One and a half days riding down through Knapdale, through Tarbert, southwestwards through Kintyre, by Carradale and Torrisdale, across Glen Lussa, brought them to Campbeltown. No single man had stood against them on their ride although many had watched their passing. Beinn Ghuilean looked down over the settlement and the two hundred Knapdale riders sat grimly in front of the gates. A party of men issued forth from the settlement and came nervously out to meet them. One of the party, obviously of greater rank, bowed low and spoke up. "My Lord, we have heard the grievous news of the raid on your camp." "Aye, where is Echdach mac Aed? I have a score to settle with that treacherous lord. I have no argument with the men of Kintyre unless they assisted these Vikings. Hand over Echdach and my men and I will retire without assailing you." "We would offer him up to you my Lord, assuage your anger at us, but he is not here. He sailed with the Vikings and did not return. We saw their ships pass two nights ago but they didn't call here. Would you come within and take refreshments my Lord?" It seemed this bird had well and truly flown. Scott and some of his men entered Campbeltown to take food and drink and to find out what they could about Echdach and the Vikings. It seemed that a mighty host, twenty or thirty longships had descended but before they attacked Echdach had rowed out to speak to them. Whatever was discussed, the boat returned without Echdach and the Viking host had carried on up the Kilbrannan Sound. It was a disappointed band of Knapdale men who rode back to Aird Driseig, empty handed, unblooded. After taking care of the horses, Scott ordered supplies of the remaining oil and the like to be packed up and then marched for Achahoish to pick up the two longships that were berthed there. It was time to take the fight to the Danes! ------- Chapter 2: The Isles Two messengers caught up with Scott at Achahoish before he could set sail. One was from Colmgil to say that he was sailing with the remaining Knapdale longship, full of Cowall men, and would try to rendezvous with Scott on the western seaboard. He suggested Crinan. That fitted well with the second messenger, one of his own men who had gone to Dunadd with a message for King Fergus. It seemed King Fergus had not waited for Scott but had launched an attack on the Norse himself. The Danes, perhaps the same host that had attacked Aird Driseig, had apparently completely routed King Fergus' smaller and less powerful boats. The King had only just managed to escape with his life, his own longship bigger than the others at his disposal and able to disengage and escape. The King it was said had been injured however, and Oengus of Loarne slain. Scott recognised that this changed things strategically. He would need to go to Fergus himself and find out how badly the King was hurt before he set sail for the Isles. Half a days sailing brought him to Crinan and he commandeered horses to ride to Dunadd. Leaping from the horse's back, Scott made his way quickly up to the top of the hill-fort and found Fergus lying in a litter, his healers in attendance. Scott was appalled to see the state of the King, skin pallid and grey, eyes sunken. The King saw him and beckoned for him to come closer. "mac Fergus, I should have waited man, should have waited for you as you asked," his voice rasped. "Do not strain yourself so my Lord King." Scott replied. The King ignored him; anxious it seemed to speak. "Should have waited, thought Oengus and I could handle it, but didn't have your tricks. They used your own device against us, jars of oil, set my boats on fire. What a sorry state this Dalriada is in now." He broke off as a series of coughs shook his frame. "Oengus dead, neither he nor I have an heir. Only Echdach and yourself to support the new King when I go." "Echdach it was who conspired with the Danes to lay waste to my camp my Lord. I am sailing to the isles to find him and bring him to book for that. So he can't be relied upon. But you miss out young Gabrain, Lord of Cowall and Bute. He may be but a boy but he has the makings of a fine lord." "This of Echdach is another fell blow for Dalriada, split, leaderless, weak. Only you to support the new King." Once more he had to stop as a coughing fit consumed him. "You don't understand mac Fergus, mac Domangairt is of the seed of Boanta." Scott looked at the King, puzzled. He seemed to remember that Gabrain's mother's full name had been given as Eilean nic Malcolm mac Boanta and had thought it strange that she had both a 'daughter of' and a 'son of' in her name. He had heard no others with such a construction. "I'm sorry my Lord, I don't understand?" "The boy, he is a direct descendant of Boanta, the King who was before me. The line will pass to him on my death. He it will be that you have to support." Scott sat back, stunned at this revelation. Gabrain was next in line to be King of Dalriada? He turned his attention back to King Fergus who was seized by yet another fit of coughing. It sounded wet and chronic, perhaps pneumonia. "Look after him Scott, look after this Dalriada. She needs your strength like never before." This last was barely a whisper and Scott realised the King was fading fast in front of his eyes. The King's hand came out and gripped Scott's, a surge of strength perhaps as his last breath rattled in his throat. The King's eyes remained open but were clearly lifeless. Scott took Fergus' hand and placed it gently on his breast. He stood and looked round the chamber at the healers before striding from the room and down the hill. Gabrain saw him coming and ran forward. "Scott what is to do?" Gabrain was stunned as Scott dropped to one knee and took his hand between both of his own in the traditional gesture of fealty. "I am your man and swear my allegiance and fullest strength in your support my Lord King." Scott said. "What is this Scott? What are you at?" "King Fergus is dead my Lord, he explained the succession would pass to you through your mother's line, through Malcolm and through him, Boanta." "All know of this Scott, but why this mummery now?" "No mummery my Lord. King Fergus is dead. You are now the King of Dalriada." Gabrain gulped as the reality hit home that Scott was not fooling. Scott recognised that Gabrain would not be able to go campaigning in the near future. Fergus would need to be buried and Gabrain would need to be crowned. That would take weeks. Scott worried about the fate of Fiona and Eilean in that time, the fate of others that might have been taken too for that matter. A delay in going after them was insufferable and he knew he would have to go on without the boy. He sent word for some of the Knapdale men to return to Aird Driseig for the present to try to recover and repair the two longships that had been holed in the loch. He had another special instruction for them to carry out while they were there. He asked most of his men to remain here at Dunadd to aid Gabrain in making whatever arrangements were necessary. He himself had a couple of days to wait before he could set out, waiting for Colmgil and the Cowall and Bute men. He decided to ride up into Loarne to see whether he could convince some of Oengus' men to join him, perhaps using the lure of avenging their chief. With twenty-five men he rode past Loch Awe and the church and camp at Kilmore on route to Oban. Just past Oban was the hill fort of Dun Ollaigh and Scott made for there to try and drum up some support. Men here were very subdued, the loss of Oengus hitting them hard. It was the Loarne area that had been receiving the worst of the Viking raiding hitherto and there was almost a sense of defeat about them. Scott tried to rally the men, offering them the chance to hit back at the hated Danes, but could only raise a bare one hundred men from what was a relatively densely populated area. He returned to Dunadd and found the welcome presence of not only Colmgil but Lachlan too. "Well met Lachlan my friend! I didn't look to see you for some time yet." "I could linger no longer my Lord, fretted to be by your side, so took to horse and left the men in another's charge. They are still some ten days away from returning. When I heard the tidings at Aird Driseig I ached for your loss, for our loss, and would be at your side to repay Echdach's treachery." "I pray you'll have your chance soon Lachlan." Colmgil had brought two hundred men with him so Scott now had five hundred and fifty at his disposal, including the Loarne contingent. He fretted over the continuing delay as he waited for his men to hopefully return from Aird Driseig with the two further longships if they could be repaired. Another two days and the ships appeared at Crinan, crammed with men. It seemed the men of Kintyre had decided they needed to do something in reparation for their errant lord's behaviour and had raised three hundred men to join Scott. Gabrain had told Scott to take the royal longship too so he now had six longships and almost nine hundred men. They agreed that the crowning ceremony would take place in two weeks time so that was how long Scott had initially to take the battle to the Danes. Now that he had as many men and ships as he thought likely, Scott was determined to set out at once, he hugged his King and rode for Crinan. The six longships were fully manned and more, with around one hundred and fifty men on each. Scott had split his archers so that there were twenty-five on each ship and they had been given special orders. Other men on each ship also had special tasks to perform when battle was hopefully met. They sailed out past Mull and little Iona, swinging northwards into the Hebridean Sea and making for Skye. Past the islands of Eigg, Rum and Canna on their starboard side, Uibhist (Uist) and Beinn na Faoghla (Benbecula) on the port. Three days out of Crinan they had their first sight of the Danes, two tall masts in the distance, but these beat a hasty retreat in front of them. Scott believed they had headed in the direction of Skye and he was sure there would be a Norse stronghold there. He knew in his own time that Dunvegan was recognised as an ancient Norse haven. They made good speed and time up the Minch and rounded Dunvegan Head, into Loch Dunvegan itself. At its widest the loch was only two or three miles wide and Scott hoped that would be to their advantage as a large number of ships would find it difficult to manoeuvre easily. Even as he thought this he saw the loch open up before him and a forest of mastheads in front of him. The first two longships must have alerted the Danes and Scott estimated there were nearly thirty of them now arrayed in front of him - possibly more than three thousand Norse. "So be it," he thought to himself, "this is what we came for!" He hailed the other boats to close in on his and gave last minute instructions and words of encouragement to his men. Tightening his formation would be what the enemy expected as he was completely outnumbered but Scott surprised and delighted them when each of his ships sheared away again so that his six were spread across the loch. The Danes didn't wait for any further invitation; they were expert mariners and sea warriors. As pairs of Norse longships surged forward Scott signalled to have the specially made banners unfurled at the mastheads of his ships. The device on each was unmistakable, a black raven on its back, an arrow protruding from its chest. The message was clear - the Norse-slayer was here. Scott now had to concentrate on the two Norse ships that were rushing towards him. He saw movement on the Norse ships and quickly raised the binos to his eyes to see what was going on. The Danes were raising nets to their mastheads, in effect covering their boats like a huge mosquito net. Scott realised that word of his oil and fire trick had been passed on and the Vikings were taking precautions. He shouted to his own men to do likewise. He had ordered them to bring nets from Aird Driseig, as he had been worried that his own trick might be tried against him. King Fergus had said that oil had been thrown by the Norse in his fight with them, so better to be prepared. It was strange, he thought, that both sides had thought of this same defence. Scott was pleased to see the Danes were employing their normal tactics, one ship aiming to pass down either side of his ship. He called to steady his men and remind those with special tasks to be ready. At the last second he screamed to his men to raise their oars so that the Norse could not shear them. As they passed on either side of his ship a number of things happened. First, the Danes did indeed throw pots at his ship, men pulling back the netting to achieve this. But Scott's nets stopped them from reaching the deck and they fell harmlessly into the sea. Next, Scott's archers notched their arrows and deliberately fired at the Norse ship's leadership. While it might be difficult to be accurate when being thrown around by the sea, twenty-five arrows raced across the narrow spaces to spread death. Target the leaders! Third, Scott's men began to furiously crank the hand pumps on their jars of oil, spraying oil the length of each of the Viking longships. Scott had still not figured out whether there was a danger of flame running back into the oil jars, but as he was not lighting the oil this time, he knew it was safe. The anxious yells from the Norse ships signalled the fact that they realised the danger they were now in. Before the ships were even a cable tow away Scott's archers had sent flaming arrows into each of them, setting them furiously ablaze. The Norsemen's nets had availed them nothing. Scott signalled to his men to down their oars and to swing his ship around one hundred and eighty degrees to sail back the way they had come. He had his oars now double manned and made good time. He swept the breadth of the loch and saw that four of his other ships had successfully completed their assaults similar to his but one ship was ablaze, perhaps its nets not defending it from the Norse oil pots. He saw men were in the water, he guessed to avoid the flames. The ship had done its job however as both its Viking attackers were also alight. All of Scott's ships were zeroing in on their stricken comrades, intent on rescuing their men from the water. He was unsure how many Scots were pulled from the sea but it looked like a fair proportion of the crew. The fact that they had lost one ship to the Norse's twelve was satisfying to say the least. He hoped the remaining Viking ships had been too far away to fully appreciate what had happened with the hand pumps as he signalled his remaining craft to swing round to face the Danes once more. There were still perhaps sixteen Norse longships facing them. Scott watched, as ten more longships issued forth to take them on. He was fascinated that they didn't change their tactics at all. His men went through the exact same motions, raising their oars and firing their arrows at the Norse leadership. The oil was sprayed onto each ship and his archers set them alight with flame arrows. He saw movement out of the corner of his eye and looked up to see that the Danes were at last trying something different. The six uncommitted ships were beating up the loch, going at full speed to get behind the Scots and hem them in. Scott realised he had seriously miscalculated. He doubted whether he had enough oil left in his jars for another pass and that he was going to be trapped here in Loch Dunvegan. A quick glance right and left told him that his other ships had survived this latest assault, so the odds were roughly even, five Scots ships versus six Norse. To his amazement the six ships didn't swing round behind them but rather they continued up the loch, heading out to the open sea. They were running away! He ran his ship down the loch and onto the shore, men leaping out to search for the Aird Driseig women. A group of some twenty or so were gathered on the shore, clearly beaten and abused but still defiant and proud. Scott scanned the faces but didn't see either Fiona or Eilean. The women were helped onto the ship and Scott looked on grim-faced as he took in the ravaged state of them. Scott remembered a lesson from his battle with the Danes in Glen Almond. High King Constantine and King Fergus had told him not to be so squeamish in his slaughter of the Danes. Every dead Dane was one fewer to fight tomorrow. Perhaps there was also a residual feeling of anger and hatred from the death of Kirtsy, Tina and Iain. He hailed his ships and ordered them to pump any remaining oil into the water amongst the many Danes who were trying to stay afloat. He then ordered them to follow the six Norse ships at full speed and told his archers to send fire arrows into the oil that now floated all round the Norse survivors. In seconds they were no longer survivors, the oil making a 'whump' noise as it caught and the flames spread faster than the eye could see. The screams of the Danes were cut off very quickly. Scott forced himself to watch the whole thing. In a detached way he knew the Danes would be impressed by this more than anything else. Such ruthlessness would gain their respect like nothing else would. The sight still sickened him and he struggled to keep from retching over the side of the ship. The rescued Aird Driseig women confirmed that Fiona and Eilean had been held here with them. Several had seen them hustled aboard a longship earlier. Scott could only assume they were on one of the six ships that had escaped - they had been so close! Scott had several advantages over the Danes. He had a map. It might show the major population centres in the twenty-first century but these mainly reflected where men had settled over the years. He also had a compass. He had quickly taken a bearing on the longships as they had swept out to sea and he was now poring over his map, trying to figure out where they were headed. His gut feeling was Steornabhagh (Stornoway) on the Isle of Lewis. The entire western coast of Lewis seemed to consist of blinding white sand beaches but Scott wasn't in the mood for appreciating the scenery. He realised he had guessed wrong when his ships entered the natural harbour at Stornoway only to find a few fishing boats. He was aware that every hour might count in terms of the fate of Fiona and Eilean and he scoured the map trying to identify a possible alternative destination that the Danes might have headed for. There were no other obvious island centres that he could think of - unless the Norsemen had sailed all the way round the top of Scotland to the Shetland and Orkney Islands. Scott's school history had taught him that the Shetlands and Orkneys had been claimed by the Danish and Norwegians for some considerable time - until as late as the twelve hundreds AD he thought. He recognised that if they had made off in that direction then the womenfolk were lost to him. Not even he could lead five longships into the Northern Isles and hope to achieve anything. Instead he gambled that the Danes had doubled back on themselves, to throw any pursuers off of their trail. That would mean they would be headed for the mainland beyond Skye. His study of that area on the map suggested two possible options to him - Ullapool and Loch Torridon. Both provided sheltered anchorages and both were names that he remembered as having been significant in history somehow. He chose Loch Torridon simply because it was closest and they headed in that direction. The crossing to the mouth of Loch Torridon took two further days of sailing but at last they were there and they carefully navigated the narrows where Shielding Island thrust itself out to guard the entrance to upper Loch Torridon proper. As they crabbed there way forward the natural basin opened up and Scott breathed a sigh of almost relief when he spied the Viking ships nestled at the head of the Loch. At any other time he would have simply soaked in the beauty of the spot. The basin was ringed by a number of towering, majestic peaks - Beinn Alligin, Mullach an Rathain, Spidean á Choire Leith and Beinn Damh, all over three thousand feet high. But his eyes were instead drawn to the Norsemen as he watched to see how they would react. They were now cornered and he expected a fierce fight, particularly as he had no more oil to use against them. However, the ability of this particular group of Danes to surprise him was shown again. They obviously valued their skins very highly indeed and were keen to avoid having to fight him, their experience so far suggesting he was a formidable foe. Of course, the Vikings weren't aware that he had no oil and it is to be expected that it was the use of this that worried them more than a straight fight. Scott watched as a small carrach was lowered into the water and rowed towards them. He put his binos to his eyes and his heart leapt as he recognised Fiona and Eilean sitting side by side. It seemed an eternity before the little boat pulled alongside his longship and men helped the two women aboard. He could tell they wanted to run to him but he stopped them with a look and instead turned to the two Vikings who had rowed the boat. "I will question these two, who are dear to me, to find out whether they have been ill treated see you. If they have, I will not leave this place until each and every one of you has paid for touching them with your blood. You also have another with you that I have business with and you should hand him over!" "The women have not been harmed, as we knew they belonged to you, as to Echdach, I think not my Lord." Replied one of the Danes in passable Gaelic. "Then you should return to your ship and prepare to fight man for I will not leave here without Echdach mac Aed!" The two Norsemen in the carrach conferred and then suggested they would need to consult their leaders on this of Echdach. Scott watched as the little boat rowed once more down the upper loch and then followed the scene as it played out on one of the longships through his binos. It was clear that Echdach was not happy about the prospect of being handed over to Scott and he was gesturing wildly with his hands, no doubt pleading his case with the Norse. As Scott watched a stout Viking backhanded young Echdach in the face and he crumpled to the deck of the ship. It seemed the Danes had no further use for him and were more than willing to hand him over if that saved their own necks. Echdach's limp body was lowered into the carrach and rowed slowly back down the loch to Scott's boat. The Scots hauled his body aboard and someone tied him roughly to the foot of the mast. Scott turned to the Vikings once more. "Tell your chiefs that I have what I came for. You and your kind should think twice before coming south of the Hebridean Sea in future. I swear for every Dalriada man or woman killed I will kill twenty Norse. Tell your chiefs so. They would do better to trade with Scott mac Fergus than to fight!" With that Scott motioned to his ship's captain and the oarsmen dipped their oars with a flourish to reverse back up the loch towards the open sea. At last he could turn his attention to the two women. ------- Chapter 3: The new King Scott huddled with Fiona and Eilean, hugging them to him as they poured out their story. They recounted their horror at witnessing the carnage at Aird Driseig, in particular the deaths of Kirsty, little Tina and Iain. "I couldn't do anything to save my sister wife," cried Fiona, "and the baby, oh Scott, the baby, I'm so sorry." She wailed out her grief. "Echdach pointed us out to the Norse and they were intent on taking us alive, but Kirsty would not have it. She fought with everything she had, her dirk flashing at the Vikings when they managed to break through your men." Said Eilean. "Scott, the men and women of Aird Driseig were possessed, they threw themselves at the Danes, gave everything to stop them getting at our family. So many, so brave, brave beyond belief." They described how they had been dragged onto the longships and taken away. "They treated us differently to the other women Scott. We were treated well, felt guilty as we saw how they abused the others." Said Fiona. "We knew something was going on when we were bundled onto the ship at Dunvegan. My heart swelled when we saw your banners unfurl, I knew it had to be you. We watched as you taught the Danes a lesson. And then it was despair as we sailed past you and out to sea." Added Eilean. "We believed you would find us Scott, never stopped believing in you and now we are free once more." They sobbed through more of the details of their ordeal but it was clear the sights at Aird Driseig were the most difficult to deal with. Scott tried to comfort them as best he could, sharing his own grief too. He knew he had just enough time to return to Crinan and Dunadd for Gabrain's crowning ceremony. The crews on each of the five longships were in exuberant mood, given the success of their venture and the vengeance they had visited on the Danes. That was in sharp contrast to the mood of Scott and the girls. Still, he recognised that a good feast was just what the men needed and the King's crowning would provide a suitable opportunity for that. Their arrival at Dunadd was special. Many men had gathered for the ceremony - even High King Constantine had come south for the event - and word of Scott's success against the Danes had already spread. He rode into Dunadd with Lachlan, Fiona, Eilean and twenty or so of his main men. They were feted by crowds acclaiming their victory. "Hail the Norse-slayer! Hail the Norse-slayer!" Was chanted over and over. Gabrain himself pushed his way through the crowd to welcome Scott's return and to hug his mother and Fiona. "Well met Scott, word of your mighty deeds has already reached us. It seems that there are far fewer of the cursed Danes to worry our coast for the remainder of this summer. And you have returned those who are dear to us. It is to my sorrow that I could not be with you as we agreed. But, I am sure we will stand together in the future. Now, to feasting my Lord. You and your men have certainly earned it!" "My Lord King, wait you. Before the feasting there is one matter we need to deal with I think." Scott signalled and one of his men led a horse forward. Tied to the horse was Echdach mac Aed. "No Scott, not now. I won't have the stench of this treacherous cur spoil your return or my crowning. Away with him, hold him fast and we will deal with him later!" Scott, Fiona and Eilean sat at the same table as Gabrain for the feast that followed. The women seemed to have a need to be constantly close to Scott, almost as if they were drawing strength from his presence. Scott had once hoped that Eilean and Lachlan would get together, certainly Lachlan seemed in favour and Scott had tried to encourage it. However, Eilean had made it clear that she was not interested in Lachlan in that way and he had taken it with good grace. Now Gabrain was being very outspoken in front of his mother, perhaps his elevation having gone a little to his head. "Scott I know you mourn Kirsty and little Tina, as is proper. But you know my mother needs you also and you have been remiss for too long in meeting her needs!" Eilean bowed her head, her cheeks flushing at this. "You must know that she has wanted you for some time now Scott and it would be right that you satisfied her. I am not so crass as to suggest this is my royal wish, but I love you both dearly and would put an end to this false modesty!" Scott glanced at Fiona and she smiled broadly and nodded. He looked again at Eilean and registered that although she blushed, she was in no rush to gainsay Gabrain. She raised her eyes to meet his and he nodded once to her. Her blush seemed to deepen and she lowered her head once more. Having re-affirmed his intentions to Eilean, surreptitiously, Scott looked to change the topic of conversation onto other matters. The long hours at sea had given him time to think and as usual he had put his thinking time to good use. His thoughts this time had not been about ways to improve life for his people, not about new ideas or trade. Rather his thoughts had been focussed on what the immediate future held for Dalriada. "Gabrain, before he died, King Fergus explained the situation that Dalriada finds itself in. Oengus had no heir, Echdach has no heir and whatever we do with him I am assuming he will forfeit his lordship." "Yes Scott, and before you say it, I am a young and untried King. What is on your mind my Lord? I have seen you with that look many a time before, normally when you are just about to share another of your ideas!" Scott explained what he had been thinking and was pleased to see Gabrain smile to show that he liked this latest plan. "Scott, this all seems good and I would move to set it in train. However, there is one added little twist that I might throw in once I have had a chance to speak to some of the Loarne men you have brought back with you." Scott raised his eyebrows in query as to what Gabrain was about, but the young boy merely grinned back at him and told him he would have to wait and see. The next day the principals boarded ship and sailed to Iona for Gabrain's coronation. They took several longships with them, manning them with a mixture of men from all the four lordships of Dalriada. The crowning ceremony was thankfully brief and it wasn't long before the Abbot was placing a very simple gold circlet upon Gabrain's head. Holding the circlet above his head would have been a more accurate description, as the band was still too wide to sit on Gabrain's young head. Now Scott realised why Constantine had come. As his first act as King of Dalriada, Gabrain had to take his oath of fealty to the High King, pledging to support him and this Scotland. Then it was all back to Dunadd for Gabrain to hold his own ceremony of oath taking from his lords. Of course Dalriada lords were thin on the ground, but nonetheless the crowd turned out in great numbers to witness this important event. Gabrain climbed the hill-fort and turned to address the assembled people. "Men and women of Dalriada!" He shouted. Scott smiled to himself at the King's inclusion of women - surely a sign that he was having a positive influence on young Gabrain! "Men and women of Dalriada. You are gathered here to pay witness to the oaths of fealty from my lords for the land they hold of me. As you know, we have been sorely tested by the Danes and have lost many that we held dear. That must now be in the past, put behind us. Today as my reign begins I want it to do so on a positive note. Let it be known that I have forfeited Echdach mac Aed his lordship of Kintyre, as part of the price he must pay for his treachery." Here there was a noticeable growling from the crowd, which quickly began to increase in volume. Gabrain cut it off. "As part of the price I say. But more of that another day. Where is Colmgil mac Iain? Step forward Colmgil. You have been staunch and true, stewarding first Knapdale and most recently my own lands of Cowall and Bute. I would reward you well for your service Colmgil. Instead of steward, I now name you Lord of Cowall and Bute." A section of the crowd cheered loudly, obviously this elevation had gone down well with the men from Cowall. "Lead your lordship wisely and fairly my Lord." Said Gabrain, smiling at the positive reaction this had received. "Lachlan mac Lean, where are you man? Ah there you are Lachlan my good friend. You have been beside your Lord Scott mac Fergus whenever danger has threatened. It was your ownself who rescued Scott and me when we were being pursued by the Saxons. I would also reward you for your service. I name you Lachlan mac Lean, Lord of Kintyre." This was also well received, the Kintyre contingent knew him from his time at Campbeltown and this would help lift the stain that Echdach had brought upon them. "Lachlan, I also name you Lord of Knapdale and Jura. Be you as stout a lord as you have been a friend." The contrast at how this announcement was received and the others was marked indeed. There was not quite silence, as all around people were exclaiming and questioning, but eventually a discernible murmur of disapproval began to rise. The Knapdale men were annoyed at the apparent stripping of Scott from his lordship. Before it grew unmanageable, Gabrain shouted once more. "Come forward Scott mac Fergus, Norse-slayer! Scott, you have taught me much in the last year and I would have you close by my side for your continued support. The biggest lordship in this Dalriada is currently lordless. I have consulted the men of Loarne and, with their blessing, I now name you Scott mac Fergus Lord of Loarne!" There was some cheering from the Loarne contingent, but elsewhere people were beginning to unpick what the young King had just achieved. At a stroke he had installed strong and loyal men in each of his lordships, undoubtedly strengthening Dalriada by doing so. At last cheers of acclaim began to rise. Scott eyed Gabrain closely. His young charge had showed he had a very nimble mind indeed. The appointments of Lachlan and Colmgil to the Kintyre and Cowall lordships had been what he had discussed with the King the night before. But this of giving Knapdale to Lachlan too, while asking Scott to take on Loarne, was all Gabrain's doing. Scott decided he was happy enough. The thought of going back to Aird Driseig with the memories it held had been something that had been troubling him and the women. A complete change of location might be just what he, Fiona and Eilean needed. The three lords came forward to take their oaths of fealty and the crowd quietened for the solemnity of the moment. Scott remained at Dunadd for another week to help Gabrain establish some ways of working. It was clear that the boy couldn't take on the rule of Dalriada on his own, despite the fact that he had shown what a sharp mind he had, so advisors had to be appointed, a chamberlain put in place. A system of regular messengers was established so that Gabrain could remain with Scott when he left for Loarne. The first night they were alone, Fiona and Scott lay in bed simply hugging each other, their tears mingling as they wept for the loss of Kirsty and Tina. There was no sexual undercurrent, just two people grieving deeply and trying to comfort each other. The sound of Eilean crying too stirred the man and wife and Scott rose to check on her, helping her out of her bed and into his so that he and Fiona could comfort her too. They cried themselves to sleep that night and each night for the remainder of the week. Gabrain was for hanging Echdach out of hand but Scott tried to introduce perhaps the first ever attempt at a court of law. He convinced Gabrain a 'trial' should be held and that the men of Kintyre, Fiona, Eilean and Gabrain himself should bear witness to Echdach's deeds. Echdach should also be given a chance to speak for himself, before the people should decide his guilt or otherwise. Gabrain thought this was by far too much trouble for an obviously treacherous dog, but agreed to go along with Scott's wishes as it had been his lordship and his family and men that had suffered. A court was constituted and various witnesses were called to testify on Echdach's part in the raid on Aird Driseig. All were clear about what they had seen and the listening crowd were left in no doubt as to his treachery. Eventually, Echdach was given the chance to speak for himself. "What mummery is this? This man has come out of nowhere, given the lordship of Knapdale by King Fergus through the device of marriage to Fiona. What was he before that? Where was he before that? What did he do to deserve such elevation?" The crowd began to react badly as he talked. "What right did he have to be given the overlordship of my inheritance? I did what was required to overthrow the usurper. He, and his, deserved all that was visited upon them." At this the crowd were almost baying, a surge forward suggesting they wanted to get their own hands on Echdach to mete out their idea of justice. "He it is who should be answering for his actions, not me!" "Enough!" Shouted Gabrain. "How say you, men of Dalriada? Is he guilty of what has been laid against him?" "Aye! Aye!" Came the resounding response from the assembled crowd. "Very well. Echdach mac Aed, you have already been forfeited. I now add to that that you should be hung, drawn and quartered for the heinous treachery that you have enacted, and for which you show no remorse." The sentence caught the mood of the crowd and they pressed forward again, eager to get their hands on Echdach. Guards hustled him away to prepare him. The sentence wasn't long delayed. Once more, Scott made himself witness the barbarous event. Echdach was hung from a tree but cut down before he died. His stomach and abdomen were sliced open and a red hot metal rod used to draw out his entrails before his eyes. Each arm and leg was then tied to a separate horse and they were ridden until the limbs were torn from his body. At each stage of the execution the crowd got progressively wilder. Scott couldn't understand the mentality behind it and only felt sick to his stomach. After the sorry execution, Scott was anxious to do something, anything, to try to eradicate the images from his mind. He decided to tour his new lordship, to see and be seen. He wanted to evaluate the lordship's resources and then sit down and plan to re-start the improvements he had set in train at Aird Driseig. He had already decided he was going to make his main base at Oban, its natural harbour bay protected by the very tip of the island of Kerrera. He had agreed with Lachlan that he should keep two of the remaining longships, Gabrain should have his returned and Scott would take two with him to Loarne. So, a week after Gabrain's crowning, Scott and Gabrain rode to Crinan to board the longships. Fiona, Eilean and the one hundred Loarne men travelled with them, the men would man the oars of the two ships. A short but spectacular sea journey saw them swing round Kerrera and into Oban Bay. Scott realised he was increasingly appraising each new landscape from a strategic and defensive perspective and he was doing so now with Oban. He had already visited the hill-fort that stood just north of the port - Dun Ollaigh. He realised that a settlement built around this fort would have added advantages. As well as the usual walls and moats, the hill-fort would offer the potential for archers to fire down from on high. Currently the settlement at Oban was built close to the sea front and he believed this left it very vulnerable to Viking attack. Scott keenly examined all aspects of the bay as he thought about installing his sea defences. Although the measures had not saved Aird Driseig completely they had demonstrated their effectiveness, and he would see similar arrangements put in place here as soon as possible. Of course, messengers had been sent throughout the length and breadth of the lordship to announce Scott as their new chief. It was no surprise therefore that a small group came out of the settlement to welcome them. The ship neared a wooden jetty and both he and Gabrain leapt sprightly onto it and turned to assist the women to disembark. The steward of Oban bowed low before Gabrain and Scott and introduced himself as one Dougall mac Dougall. He led them into the camp and invited them to take refreshments in the main camp hall. Once they had eaten and had ale set in front of them, Scott began to quiz Dougall about Loarne. "How many men can the lordship raise Dougall?" He asked first. "If the harvest is already in and dealt with, perhaps as many as two thousand my Lord. It takes a while to raise them mind, as they need to travel great distances some of them." "What are their abilities?" "I'm sorry my Lord, I don't understand?" "In battle man, in battle. How many are mounted, how many archers?" "Not many of either my Lord, virtually all foot." "How many settlements does the lordship have?" "There are seven main camps my Lord. As well as this Oban there is the main settlement for the lordship which is at Inveraray. In addition we have Taynuilt which is in the shadow of Ben Cruachan, Kilchrennan and Portsonachan on Loch Awe, and the two other church linked camps at Kilmore and Kilmelford." "Why do you say 'two other church linked'? Which other camp is linked to the church?" "Forgive me Lord I am not making myself clear am I? Kilchrennan and Portsonachan are on opposite shores of Loch Awe but they really go together as a pair. Kilchrennan, it is that has the church and monastic order." "What about beasts Dougall, grain, other goods?" Scott mulled over the lordship's resources. He hoped that his victory over the Vikings might afford his new lordship some respite and time within which he could look to make some improvements - both to his defences but also to the manufacture of goods and other things like land improvement. He had set out on a tour of the lordship, surveying the settlement sites, appraising the land and making himself known to the people. Gabrain, Fiona and Eilean travelled with him and if the memory of their recent loss had not still been weighing heavily on them, it could almost have been like a vacation. The sun was shining warmly and Loarne boasted some of the most stunning scenery and views in all Scotland. Scott was in no mood to relax and enjoy nature's bounty however. He was prioritising the things that needed to be done, discussing them with Gabrain and then asking Dougall to find the men necessary to take things forward. ------- Chapter 4: Eilean and rebuilding His first priority was to find bow makers and set them to making long bows. The Yew tree was considered in some way a holy tree and it could be found in reasonable numbers around those of his camps where churches were attached. He had brought some bows with him to Oban and gave these to the bow makers as a model for what he wanted. He asked Dougall to find him four hundred men, scattered throughout the lordship, and told him of the exercise regime he wanted these men to begin. While they would not have metal dumbbells to strengthen their arms, they could make do with stone weights for the moment. His next project was to employ as many builders as possible to look at the construction of his two longships and begin to build more. He wanted another eight or ten ships as quickly as they could be built. The builders warned it would not be a quick task as wood had to be seasoned and shaped and that couldn't be done overnight. Other men were set the task of improving the drainage of the most likely looking parcels of land. Scott's estimate was that he could increase the usable land here in Loarne by two thousand percent in only a few months. Salt and soap production were also early projects that were introduced. With a significantly better position anent labour, Scott designed a purpose built work site close to the coast. It would contain two forges, two pottery/glass ovens, two seawater evaporation units and several warehouses. He chuckled to himself as he wondered whether this would qualify as the world's first industrial estate! Scott had his builders install a wooden 'rail-track' from the warehouses down to a new jetty he had made on the waterside. This would allow speedy loading and unloading of goods if and when he managed to attract merchants to come to Oban. By commandeering skilled workers from his other settlements he was able to see his work site take shape within only a few weeks. One of the warehouses was already beginning to fill up with salt and soap and he had sent word to Crinan and Aird Driseig that any merchants that called there should be sent on to Oban too. Scott and Fiona's relationship with Eilean also moved onto a new level. The nights of lying together, comforting each other gradually turned into something else. Eilean was never going to initiate this, her submissive nature ensuring she would not take the lead. Scott was now sure that Fiona was in favour of including the older woman in their family, perhaps missing the feminine aspect of lovemaking that she had shared with Kirsty, perhaps already sharing a bond with Eilean given their experience being held by the Vikings. He was still torn to a degree about this. It felt almost like a betrayal of Kirsty and Tina, barely a month after their death. Yet he knew Kirsty had been in favour of him having a relationship with Eilean when she was alive, so could take some comfort from that. Scott was still sure that part of Eilean's submissiveness was due to how she had been treated in the past. He was determined to show her that there was another side to sex, to love, and he treated her gently as he took the initiative. He began by stroking her back when they were cuddling together then raised Eilean's head so he could kiss her softly. Fiona could see that the mood was changing this night and she snuggled up behind Eilean, in part to just share the moment, share contact, and in part because she was starting to get turned on herself at the prospect of sharing with Eilean. Scott had thought Eilean one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen from the moment he first clapped eyes on her at Aird Driseig. Elfin was how he had thought of her. She was blonde, petite, with angular features - cheekbones, jawline. He raised one hand to her apple-sized breast and caressed it, feeling the nipple harden under his touch. He spent some minutes just lightly rubbing, trailing his fingers over the nipple, circling the areola and tweaking the nub. Fiona had meanwhile pulled Eilean's blonde hair aside and was caressing the back of her neck with her lips and tongue. Eilean was sighing softly at the dual attention but not reacting the way Scott had experienced with Kirsty and Fiona. Scott's mouth became more demanding, his tongue pressing between Eilean's lips to duel with hers. This brought the first real moan from her, the almost rude violation of her sensual lips by his tongue, stimulating her more than his treatment of her breast. He dropped his head to take her hard nipple between his lips and suckled on her, grazing the nub with his teeth. Again he was surprised that she didn't respond more to this. Experimenting, he took the nipple between his teeth and began to bite down on it. Eilean's response was immediate, moaning louder now as if to encourage this rougher treatment. Scot was uncomfortable with taking this any further. Keeping up this level of pressure was okay but he didn't want to use greater force, would not contemplate treating her roughly. For the first time he began to doubt whether Eilean would be able to appreciate a softer kind of loving. His hand dropped to her sex and he found that it was barely moist. He began to stimulate her labia and clitoris, hoping to increase her arousal. Again he was disappointed in her reaction, or rather, lack of it. He took her clit between his thumb and finger and nipped it, hearing Eilean sharply draw her breath in response. Scott felt Fiona move on the bed and then her head pushing his hand out of the way as she began to lick Eilean's petals. He returned his focus to her little breasts, alternately sucking, licking and, occasionally, nipping her nipple. It was clear the biting caused the most stimulation but he was determined not to go fully down that road. Fiona kept up her oral stimulation for some time but was also disappointed in Eilean's response to her. Kirsty had always enjoyed this and would have been thrashing around the bed in orgasm by now. She stopped and looked up at Scott, a slightly puzzled expression on her face. Throughout their wooing of Eilean she had not spoken a single word, seemed incapable of saying what it was she wanted, what she needed. Scott motioned Fiona out of the way and rolled between Eilean's thighs. He was already hard and the little lubrication she had produced, combined with Fiona's saliva, were sufficient to allow him to press his staff into her. As with the others, she was very tight, despite having given birth, but he was able to slide fully home in one steady stroke. He began to move within her, keeping his rhythm slow and steady, determined to show her a different side to lovemaking. Fiona had slid up beside Eilean and had taken over the kissing and stimulation of her breasts. Still Eilean's response was only a steady sighing and Scott found himself having to continue his stroking into her for far longer than he ever had with either Kirsty or Fiona. Eilean made her first overt contribution by placing one of her hands on his ass and pushing down in an attempt to get Scott to drive into her harder and faster. He resisted her efforts, determined to try and bring her off his way. He began to whisper to her, endearments, encouragement. "Did you know I think of you as my lovely, little blonde elf? You are breathtakingly beautiful, everything I could want in a woman and I already love you deeply. And Fiona loves you, look how she worships your breast buds, look in her eyes and see her love, see her lust for you too." Eilean did indeed glance at Fiona and saw confirmation of what Scott was saying. "Feel how hard I am inside you, my little elf, how much I have looked at you, wanted you, wanted to feel my staff inside you like this." A this point Scott had been slowly stroking into Eilean for over twenty minutes, but now he sensed a change in her. Fiona was looking on almost anxiously at how long he had been going without Eilean climaxing. Scott was looking deeply into Eilean's eyes when he saw something change, a spark. She glanced down to where their bodies were joined, eyes beginning to widen as she felt something welling up within her. "Scott, something is happening to me. I feel a fluttering in my stomach, tingling all over. What's happening?" She spoke for the first time. Scott and Fiona both grinned. It seemed that, despite her years of experience, Eilean had never experienced an orgasm. "Let yourself go my little elf, let the feeling wash over you, consume you." He whispered. For the first time he began to speed up his strokes and was pleased when she responded immediately. "Oohhhh, uuhhhhh, Scott," she moaned. Her legs hooked behind his as she grew steadily wilder, more frantic. He felt her constrict around his staff as she crashed into a huge orgasm. Scott was determined to make it even more memorable for her and he continued to press into her, shortening his strokes and increasing his speed again. "Aaahhhhhhhhhh, Scott, Scott, yes, Scott, aaahhhhhh!" She howled. The sight and feel of his beautiful blonde elf bucking under him was enough to bring on Scott's own climax and he threw his head back as it washed over him, his seed firing deep inside Eilean. He collapsed on top of her, purposefully not sparing her his weight in an effort to fully imprint this experience in her mind. At last he rolled to the side and was immediately replaced by Fiona. She kissed Eilean softly, her eyes gleaming. "Oh Eilean, you were so beautiful, so beautiful. I wanted so much to feel what you were feeling, share it with you." "I thought I was going to die it was such a strong feeling." Eilean replied. "It is sometimes called 'the little death'." Said Scott, his breathing slowing now. "I never knew, never felt such a thing before." Eilean whispered, almost in awe. "Well now you do know and it will just keep getting better, I promise." Breathed Fiona, as she angled her head to give Eilean another passionate kiss. "If the noises I used to hear when Kirsty was with both of you are anything to go by, I'm sure he will be ready to take care of your needs soon Fifi. Will that make us sister wives?" "Yes!" Squealed Fiona. "Yes, we will be sister wives and I can't wait to taste you're sweet honey my love." Scott did indeed satisfy Fiona - a number of times - and then Eilean again. Eilean wept at the fulfilment, at experiencing orgasm and tearfully let the dam of her past experiences burst. She shared with them the brutality that passed for a sex life with her former husband, her pain and lack of enjoyment, but also how, in time, she had schooled herself to respond to his treatment, playing the dutiful wife and mother. Scott and Fiona held her close, Scott feeling absolutely no joy at his theory having been proved right. The bond between the three strengthened as they explored their new relationship and Gabrain smiled secretly to himself at the obvious change in his mother's outlook. There were still some moments of submissiveness but she was far more confident overall and much happier he thought. He knew he had been right to push them together. Back on the lordship improvements front, Scott asked Fiona and Eilean to begin to make some paper for him. He sat with the smiths to show them his design for the stamp press the girls would need to help them on that project. At the same time he talked over his designs for agricultural machinery such as ploughs and seed drills but suggested these could wait until later in the year. Of greater priority he told them was the production of a number of hand carts that would run efficiently on the wooden rails the builders had installed. Once more he described the concept of 'bearings' to the smiths and the builders and again he was pleased to see them catch onto the idea quickly and begin to modify his designs to incorporate their own knowledge. Some of the first paper produced by the girls was used to begin to sketch out what a new settlement might look like. Scott wanted it to have stone built defences and he was also keen to incorporate as many of his other improvements as possible. Each house should have water piped into it and he had discussed with his potters whether it would be possible to make basins and baths out of pottery. Another pretty basic idea had come to him while thinking about his new settlement - chimneys. He had yet to see a single chimney, and thought including them in his designs could have a number of benefits. The first was obvious - removing the smoke and soot from the air inside the houses. The second was likely to prove more difficult to build-in. He remembered his grandparents talking about something called a 'back-boiler'. He understood this to be a water tank that was built into the back of the fireplace/chimney so that there was always boiling water when the fire was lit. He had been wondering how he might design some plumbing to take advantage of that. Gabrain of course was constantly at his elbow, asking questions and offering suggestions. They were poring over Scott's designs for the camp one afternoon when they spied a small group of horsemen riding towards them. "Lachlan!" Shouted Scott, as he recognised his friend. "My Lord King, Scott how fare you this sunny day?" Lachlan enquired as he bowed slightly to the King. "What brings you to Oban my friend?" Scott asked. "I thought you might be able to use a little help in getting this poor forsaken lordship up to your standards Scott." As he said this Lachlan gestured behind him. Scott and Gabrain looked and saw drovers coming into view herding many horses, cattle and sheep. Lachlan explained that the cattle and sheep were a reasonable share of the spoils that had been brought home from Caerlisle and it was only fair that Scott enjoyed the benefits of them. There was also around one hundred horses, made up of the ones captured at Caerlisle but also some of the Knapdale stock thrown in. Scott knew it would be sufficient to begin to breed more to satisfy his needs. It might take a year or two to raise as many as he wanted, but it was a start. Lachlan looked at Scott somewhat curiously as he handed over Scott's original rucksack and gear. It seemed to have come through the Viking attack unscathed. Scott hurriedly grabbed the pack and took it inside the house he was currently using. No explanation was asked for or given. For Scott, perhaps one of the most welcome things that Lachlan had brought with him was the contents of the greenhouse. Although the structure had been destroyed, the plants had largely been unscathed in their pots and the summer weather had ensured they had survived. Scott positively beamed at this. His first crop of carrots, what looked clearly now like cabbage (he had known it was a brassica before, but not what type) and onions was always meant to be allowed to go to seed. He intended to save the seeds so that a greater volume would be available for planting as crops the following year. His vines had also largely survived. Lachlan was impressed by all that Scott had achieved in the weeks he had been in Loarne. He didn't confess to Scott that he believed most of the improvements beyond him and he hadn't reintroduced them at Aird Driseig. He had maintained the land drainage and fully intended to utilise the plough and other 'machines' but the making of bricks, glass, plumbing and the like were matters that didn't really inspire him. Fish trawling and bee keeping would continue as these had obvious benefits in terms of food. Salt production had restarted but in much less quantity. Lachlan knew the value of it for his people, but wasn't as moved by the idea of producing enough for trade as Scott was. Lachlan didn't see himself as a trader and in fact distrusted the merchants. They entertained Lachlan for several days, showing him some of the more impressive sights that Loarne had too offer. They decided to make a trip to visit Scott's settlement at Inveraray, as that would take Lachlan all but back to Aird Driseig and extend their time together. Scott stood on the banks of Loch Fyne and realised he must be close to the very point this adventure had started from. He now knew for certain that the settlement of Inveraray was on the other side of the loch from where it would eventually end up. He decided then and there that he would build a new settlement on this side as soon as possible. It would save the nuisance of having to signal and wait for a boat to cross the loch if nothing else. His experience on the last night in the twenty-first century sparked another idea in his head. He had visited the renowned Loch Fyne Oyster bar for a meal that night, and now he wondered whether there was any value in shellfish or even fish farming. So far as he was aware, such a venture wouldn't need any special gear just nets and frames. Something to think further on. The friends clasped arms and slapped each other on the back as they parted, Lachlan down Loch Fyne to Loch Gilp and Scott, Gabrain and the girls back to Oban. On their return Scott was advised that a number of merchants had called. As he had ordered, his men had offered to trade salt and soap for limestone. Apparently the merchant had been delighted as he had a full load of limestone on his ship, intended for Aird Driseig, but he had been told it wasn't wanted there. As a consequence he had traded the limestone for a very reasonable rate of exchange, perhaps relieved he didn't have to take it back whence it had come. Finding out that Scott mac Fergus was now lord in this area, the merchant confirmed that he would now call at Oban on a regular basis. Knowing Scott's fascination with seeds and plants, he had also left another pouch of seeds as a gift. Scott had thought long and hard about the raid on Aird Driseig and what he had lost there. He discussed with Gabrain how to try and avoid a repeat. The King suggested the best way to do so was to continue to beat the Vikings so that they left Scott and Dalriada alone. Scott thought there was more he could do. He had deliberately asked Dougall to select men to train as archers from settlements throughout the lordship. Now he was thinking that he needed to make sure that the lordship was not reliant on any one centre for anything but that he should make sure to disperse the production of goods, beasts and grain throughout the settlements too. He was also beginning to wonder whether making his headquarters at Oban was such a sound idea. While it was best placed for embarking into the western seas - a must for making sure the Vikings were watched and dealt with - this same proximity to the sea made it potentially vulnerable to attack. Gabrain suggested that Scott's designs for the settlement would greatly enhance its defensive capabilities. "But if you are so concerned about the safety of your family and people, why not take the same approach to them as you have been with everything else? Why not fortify more than one site so that there is always another to fall back on?" Gabrain asked. "Brilliant Gabrain!" Scott replied, wondering why he hadn't thought of that himself. The hot July was lazily slipping into August and Scott and Gabrain were overseeing the erection of a number of greenhouses at Kilchrenan. They had just managed to get the roof on a third structure and were contemplating the walls of a fourth when a messenger arrived to inform them that the High King was heading towards Oban to visit them. Both of them leapt on their horses and rode for the other settlement, hoping they would arrive before the High King so they could make some arrangements to entertain him. They arrived in Oban with no sign of King Constantine and they set men and women to prepare meats, bread, cheese and even some of the pasta that Scott had introduced here. Constantine arrived some hours later at the head of a small column of men. He greeted them warmly and was glad of the refreshments provided, washing back a large quantity of food with several beakers of ale. Once he had eaten the High King pushed himself back slightly from the table and let his considerable belly relax. "mac Fergus I have a task for you to perform." He opened. "Your Grace?" Enquired Scott. "You did a good job with the Saxons in the south and with the Danes on this western coast. I would have you undertake a similar exercise on my east coast." "But Sire, I have only just begun to try and build up this lordship. There is much to do - defences to establish, men to be trained so that they are the more effective." "Aye mac Fergus, but meantime my lands are being raped and pillaged, my people are being slaughtered. See you, your oath of allegiance was to support me with your fullest strength, both of you, and I need it now I say!" "Your Grace, give me but 'til spring and I will be able to put a much better force at your disposal, four hundred of my long bow archers, many hundred horsed men, more longships." "But meantime my people suffer!" "It is debatable, your Grace, whether I could do anything greatly to assist them in the state I am currently in. It will soon be harvest time and men will be very reluctant to leave behind the grain." Scott knew that the grain was traditionally a large part of what people subsisted on during the winter months. He was also concerned that he had not made very much progress in building the wall defences for his Dun Ollaigh/Oban settlement and he was loathe to leave Fiona and Eilean behind with things as they were. So, there were a number of good reasons for trying to delay the High King's project. "Very well mac Fergus, I will give you until the spring to raise me a host to cleanse this Fife, but no longer, mind it!" Having presumably got what he came for the High King did not linger at Oban and was off the next day. ------- Chapter 5: Autumn 873 AD There was much to do that autumn. The fact that so many materials were required for building also produced a surprising bonus for Scott. The ovens had been used to roast the limestone to make quicklime for use in making mortar. Immediately afterwards a potter had tried to fire some pots and found the lime created a glaze that turned the pots a bright white colour. When Scott was called to see this strange phenomenon he grinned hugely at what looked like vitreous china, a key prerequisite in his plans for improving sanitation and running water in his settlements. Vitreous china was non-permeable so could hold water easily and also deal with the kind of waste that sanitation would involve. Scott had thought that this material was available by the ninth century but neither he nor his potters had known how to produce it. They now knew that the presence of lime was somehow key to producing more. Scott had re-thought some of his plans for settlement defences after a stray thought had come to him. He dimly remembered a programme on the History Channel that had covered the American civil war. The 'Johnny-Rebs' had made a significant strategic move when Virginia had joined the struggle - they had moved the confederate 'capital' from Alabama to Virginia. By doing so they had, at a stroke, moved the 'front-line' over a thousand miles closer to Washington. This served to protect the rich, fertile areas to the west and south of Virginia, allowing those areas to produce much of the food that sustained the confederate army. Scott now thought that he should create a network of defences along the West Coast of the lordship so that these could protect the improvements he was putting in place behind them. It was a 'stop them on the beaches' approach and the fact that it had come from the American south pleased him, as he was sure many displaced Scots had ended up in that area. He picked out three new sites - Easdale, Barnacarry and Dunbeg. Together with the planned camp at Oban, that would establish a line of defences with only some three or four miles between each along the seaboard. The new settlements were not particularly big but were sufficient to base up to one hundred men. Work began immediately to fortify these positions with stone walls. There wasn't time to do anything too fancy with the housing inside the walls, but Scott did let his builders practice assimilating chimneys into the work. The walls would also feature protected firing points that would be used by his archers. Another feature he had designed in was a purpose-built 'armoury'. This structure was kept at a distance from the housing and would be used to store pots of oil that would be useful in dealing with Norse enemies. The construction of these camps, incorporating stone walls, was a major undertaking and Scott knew they wouldn't be completed for perhaps a year. He had concentrated efforts at Dun Ollaigh/Oban in an effort to at least have this site completed before the spring hosting season began. The men of the lordship had responded mostly positively to all that Scott was doing, could see the benefits of his ideas. The introduction of soap, boiled water and heating milk didn't go down well, the response much like it had been in the Knapdale settlements, but they went along with them. There was almost a rebellion however, when Scott instituted the use of the lordship's women to help things along. Allowing women to undertake roles traditionally carried out by men was a huge culture shock, but Scott argued his case, pointing out how much quicker things could be achieved. Fiona and Eilean also described the contribution of the women at Aird Driseig - both in labour and defending the camp. Several weeks of seeing such benefits for themselves did more to convince the men perhaps than Scott's arguments. The greenhouses helped ensure his plantings were effectively 'harvested', a significant stock of seeds secured and stored for use the following year. The meagre Loarne grain harvest was gathered in and Scott observed how this was achieved. He also studied carefully how the grain was threshed and eventually ground down to make flour. The processes were all labour intensive and, so far as he was concerned, hugely inefficient. His plans were to harness ploughs and the like in the next year to greatly increase the planting. He knew that the methods that were being used currently would never be able to cope with processing the much larger volume of grain. It occurred to him that Lachlan would be facing the same issue if he continued with the increased planting in Knapdale. The Viking raid had wiped out the Aird Driseig crop and that meant the production from other camps could be spread to Aird Driseig for processing, but the following year they would be faced with a huge volume to deal with. Autumn was a time for picking berries and Scott returned to one of his earlier ideas that had never been put into effect - the making of 'home' wines. The lordship's churchmen were best placed to take this on he thought and he visited several of the church sites to discuss methods with the monks. Brewing of ale and even cider was already commonplace so the basic concepts and processes were understood. Scott had worked with his potters to produce a number of glass objects that he thought would help with alcohol production. Part of his studies at University had included a trip to a glassworks and he had been fascinated by the early use of glass in the production of an alembic still. This still was fairly basic in design and would allow his monks to begin to produce uisge beatha in much greater quantities than had been achieved hitherto. He had also gone through a student 'home-brew' phase and now also put into production his designs for a little glass 'bubble' airlock and some demijohn jars. He explained to the monks how the fermentation of berries could be achieved using the two together, emphasising the need to maintain a constant temperature during the fermentation. The process of letting the fermented wine settle and of 'racking' were similar to what the monks were used to, so that wouldn't cause any trouble. Scott was satisfied that his monks at Kilmore and Kilchrenan would be producing wine and whisky before the winter was out. He despatched a stock of barrels to them so that the alcohol could be allowed to age before use. Gabrain was growing and filling out, his weapons practice adding muscle to his young frame. He was continuing with his studies too and Scott was impressed with the progress he was making. Gabrain had grasped the fundamentals of reading and writing and his progress and the way he was applying himself made Scott proud, almost paternal. He thought about that and realised he did almost think of the boy as his own son, despite the fact he was only some ten years his junior. The boy's natural inquisitive nature and quick wits were being moulded and expanded through his learning, all of which augured well for the Kingdom of Dalriada. The days were shortening as winter approached and Scott decided it was time to make a last tour of all of his settlements before the snow made that impossible. There was a holiday atmosphere as he rode round the camps, Gabrain and the girls with him. The people of the lordship had quickly taken to their new lord, his reputation in battle, and the energy he was putting in to improving their lot, key reasons for that. The morale in every settlement was in marked contrast to how it had been immediately after the defeat of King Fergus and the death of Oengus. Scott was pleased to see how well his trainee long bow archers were doing already, their training regime building their strength. Inveraray was already producing fish and shellfish, much to Scott's delight as he enjoyed both, although he had difficulty in convincing the men about when to harvest shellfish. He remembered well an old saying from his time. Shellfish should only be eaten in a month that had an 'R' in its name. He wasn't sure whether this was because they might be unfit to eat or whether this was the period they reproduced, but he wasn't taking any chances. The lordship's craftsmen in particular had developed a special fondness for Scott. He spent time with them and his ideas had moved their crafts on by leaps and bounds. Scott also enjoyed these occasions, developing glass working, designing simple woodworking (that he remembered from his rudimentary woodwork in school), and bouncing ideas off of his builders. He had shared better designs for mortise/tenon and dovetail joints, the construction of a hand turned lathe with metal gouges and even the simple concept of using dowels. The development of these and the forging of wood planes were a source of joy for the wood workers. The construction at Easdale, Barnacarry and Dunbeg were starting to take on definition and at Dun Ollaigh/Oban they were pretty far progressed. It was at Oban that Scott intended the family would spend the winter. The little bay was a constant centre of activity as Scott's fishermen were trawling for fish and then the catch was being distributed throughout the camps. Scott had also ordered the construction of icehouses in each of the settlements and explained how ice should be cut this winter to make them operational. Overall he was more than satisfied at how far things had come along in such a short time. The improved access to labour, bolstered by enlisting the women of the lordship, made a huge difference to what he could achieve. He spent some of his time thinking about further projects that he could set in train in the coming year and some visiting his 'shipyard', pleased to see the progress being made on the production of more longships. He pondered the idea of creating the first 'iron-clad' ship. That would certainly catch the Vikings by surprise! He had no access to welding however, and although an iron ship would certainly protect him against Norsemen throwing oil or trying to ram him, he wasn't sure about their performance, particularly on the open seas. As had happened before, one thought led to another. Although he might not look to produce ironclad ships, was there some way he could incorporate a propeller somehow to help drive his ships? Was there a way of harnessing wind power and making up a simple prop-shaft? A propeller should be something his smiths could fashion for him he was sure. What of the other elements? Could he design them, perhaps with the help of his builders and smiths? More food for thought. He also had his quiet moments of introspection, thinking deeply about what had happened to him in the last year and a half. He still mourned Kirsty and the baby, felt an empty spot in his heart that would perhaps always be there. In a way this was comforting, he didn't ever want to forget his times with her, was pleased at the idea memories of her and their angelic little Tina would remain with him. He continued to worry about his 'legacy'. What mark would he make on this Dalriada, this Scotland? Was his dream of establishing trade all a pipe dream? And, the 'biggy', what damage was he possibly doing to history as he knew it? That one was so big, so deep that he knew he was shying away from it, ducking the issue, whenever it popped into his head. Little did he know that he was going to have to face up to this issue, and sooner rather than later. Lachlan made another visit before the weather closed in, arriving at Oban in one of the Knapdale longships. Scott was unprepared for what Lachlan's visit would mean for all of them. Scott, Gabrain and Lachlan had enjoyed a day of hunting in nearby Fearnoch Forest and were sitting down with the girls to enjoy a meal of pork meat, washed down with some cider. The mood was relaxed as the family and close friends shared each other's company. That all changed with one question from Lachlan. "Scott, we have all been intrigued by the device you sometimes hold up to your eyes and also about the nature of the strange pack and the gear it contains that I brought you from Aird Driseig?" All eyes were suddenly on Scott; it becoming obvious that Gabrain, Fiona and Eilean had also been very curious about his kit. Scott was surprised at the question and looked round at his wives and friends, seeing they were not going to be denied an answer. Once more he was faced with the dilemma of how to respond. He had been here once before, with Kirsty, and on that occasion had chosen honesty. He had decided that he owed her that and that their relationship needed to be built on honesty, openness and trust. He realised, a little shamefully, that he had so far not extended the same consideration to the people who were now staring at him expectantly. He drew in a deep breath and tried to explain. "I want you all to hear me out, to let me finish my explanation before you react. Some of what I am about to say will seem beyond belief perhaps, but please let me tell you all of it." As an opener, that would have certainly have gripped their attention if they weren't already on the edges of their seats. Scott haltingly described his entry into ninth century Scotland, where he had come from and what time. He tried to describe some of the things that existed in the twenty-first century, as he had with Kirsty, and he watched as their eyes widened, their jaws dropped. "Saints preserve us!" exclaimed Gabrain, "I knew there was something more to you, something that set you apart from the rest of us, but this is beyond imagination!" Once started, the inquisitive youngster was hard to stop. He questioned Scott about every aspect of his former life, the technology that had been available to him and the contrasts with life in the Dalriada of here and now. Scott was encouraged that none of them had simply refused to accept his explanation, nor did they seem to be treating him markedly different, as some kind of alien. The girls and Lachlan also now joined in the questioning and Scott was amazed to sense that his family and friends were accepting all of this. "I can't believe you are all taking this so well, are not calling for me to be strung up as some evil spirit or something." He said. "Scott, we are not savages, although to you, this time must appear savage from what you describe of your own time." Said the young Gabrain with a laugh. "Gabrain, in the twenty-first century they have developed weapons that make this time seem almost idyllic." The scale of things was something the ninth-century Scots in the room found it hard to come to terms with. The many millions of people who populated even Scotland seemed almost impossible to them. Travelling round the world in metal planes that flew in the sky took some imagination, even cars difficult to comprehend. "The source of your never ending stream of ideas now becomes clear my friend," said Gabrain, "and your insistence that I apply myself to my studies too." Scott nodded agreement. "So, you know much of what is going to happen in the world, how this Scotland is going to develop over the next eleven hundred years?" Again, Scott was not surprised that it was the quick-witted Gabrain who had begun to zero in on this main concern, the one he was constantly trying to avoid. "Will not your introduction of all these things change that history?" This was a crucial question, Scott knew. He had ducked it; worried that it might be so and had in fact held off bringing some of his ideas out into the open because their impact would be so great it would be irreversible. His reading of SOL time-travel stories had always seemed to cover this and he remembered the protagonists in those stories had great difficulty with the issue too. Some had been explained away through devices such as parallel timelines or extra dimensions but these were just stories and he wasn't at all sure what impact he could potentially have. "I worry that it might do, Gabrain." He said. Eilean made a contribution that was at once comforting but also sobering. "But Scott, if your actions are going to change history, surely that has already happened? The fact that you have introduced even the smallest of improvements ahead of when they should appear has surely changed history. Yet you are still here, have not disappeared in a puff of smoke." That started an intense discussion and debate amongst them all. When Scott described how Scotland and England developed, the long years of warfare between them, Gabrain made his feelings perfectly clear. "Scott, if what you are doing now changes that, then I for one would support all of it. I would see our country strong and free. And it need not all be so black, man, there are many mistakes that you could help mankind avoid." Scott thought on that and shivered. He was in favour of promoting trade rather than warfare, but knew there was a deep philosophical debate to be had as to whether economics were actually the root cause of some of the worst conflicts that his history recorded. How to avoid human nature, greed, religion, polarised politics? He knew that that was too much, was beyond him. There was definitely something in what Eilean had said though - if his actions were going to change history, then perhaps that had already occurred? Perhaps that was overly fatalistic, but he decided to go with it. "My friends, I love my country dearly and anything I can do to help it prosper and grow is what I would do. If I am changing history then so be it. I have no way of returning to my own time, so must devote myself to doing everything I can to help our people in this time I think." All of them pointed out that everything he had done so far had been done from exactly that point of view. His contributions had not been selfish in nature, not for personal gain, but rather were aimed at improving the defences, the resources and the health of the Scots. "Scott, many in this time are driven by greed, by ambition, but you have been the opposite. Your ideas have been to help everyone. Your trade has been about supporting your improvements, not about your gain. And you have not actively sought the elevation in status that has come your way." Said Lachlan. Much cheered by this, Scott began to accept himself that this was the right course for him. If he changed history then he hoped it was for the better. In any event, he didn't think he could live in this time without putting the ideas he had into practice, could not stand by while people starved while he knew how to improve food production. He was now beginning to convince himself that that wasn't irresponsible. "How will this affect how you feel about me? How we treat each other? Our relationships?" He asked, a hint of concern evident in his voice. Lachlan, ever-faithful Lachlan, responded immediately. "Scott I promised to be your man once and that has not changed just because I have become a lord. Neither has it changed with what you have just shared with us. If anything my bond with you is stronger now that I know your past, how difficult this time must be for you. Your motives are pure, I think, and that elevates you even further in my eyes. Your first thoughts are always for the people of Dalriada, of this Scotland and I would stand with you in defending them. Aye and stand proudly!" Scott felt a tear in his eye as the others declared their love for him and their full agreement with Lachlan's sentiments. "My friends, this means so much to me. You know I love you all dearly and your faith in me, your understanding and acceptance of me, is a great relief. I hope, together, we can make a little difference for our people." Scott stood and raised his beaker. "Alba gu Brath!" He said proudly. The others stood and raised their beakers likewise, repeating his toast. "Alba gu Brath!" They all but shouted. Scott smiled broadly and the others did too. They hugged one another, recognising they had perhaps just shared a very important, significant, moment for ninth-century Scotland. ------- Chapter 6: Winter 873/874 AD The friends enjoyed the rest of the evening, continuing their questioning of Scott and marvelling at everything that he had had access to in his own time. They understood the difficulty in recreating most of these, due to the lack of the sophisticated materials and machinery. Gabrain jokingly reminded Lachlan that his oath of allegiance had been to himself, not Scott and so his declaration of support for Scott could be construed as treason. Lachlan paused for a moment and then detected his King's barely contained chuckling and decided to teach his young Lord a lesson. He leapt on him and began to tickle him mercilessly. "Treason! Treason! The treacherous dog attacks his King. Will not my loyal lords and men save me this affront?" Gabrain managed to squeal out. Scott, Fiona and Eilean laughed and did nothing to help him, thinking perhaps he was due this for teasing Lachlan so. Lachlan sailed south a few days later, leaving Scott, the girls and Gabrain to make their plans for getting through the winter. Scott was re-assured that all of his lordship's settlements had sufficient food for the duration and he knew things would be even better in future years as the benefits of the ice-houses allowed them to freeze some of the summer's beneficence for use in the leaner winter period. Scott was extremely pleased with himself when he helped the lordship make glue. He achieved it by substituting the concept of boiling up horses' hooves for deer hooves. Glue had a number of useful applications, including an alternative way of fixing glass into window frames, strengthening wood work joints and... toothbrushes! Scott had come up with the idea of fashioning a wooden handle, boring four lines of eight holes in the end and then threading pig's bristles in a 'U' through the holes. The bristles were then fixed in place by the application of glue and the whole allowed to set. Up until then, Scott had been brushing his teeth by chewing on twigs and flossing. Now he could brush. It took him a long time to get used to brushing with soap, laughing as he remembered how his mother had threatened to wash his mouth out with soap if he cussed when he was younger. Now here he was doing just that, washing his mouth out with soap, but by choice. The thought about his mother jolted him. He realised he hadn't dwelled very much on his past life at all since he had been in this time. He wondered whether this was a kind of defence mechanism, avoiding the pain of missing his family and everything that had been familiar. Then again, perhaps it was just that he had needed to focus all his energies on this time period. His family life had been okay, he certainly loved his parents, but he had always had a streak of independence. He had moved out of the family home into student accommodation when he had been studying at University, and had immediately enjoyed his newfound freedom. The added responsibilities he had now were somehow squeezing out his previous existence he recognised. Ninth century Scotland was beginning to consume his thoughts and energies. Another challenge that reared its head as winter approached was Gabrain's sudden interest in the opposite sex. The opposite sex in question was the thirteen-year-old daughter of one of the Oban craftsmen, a wood worker. Her name was Cáran and it was Fiona and Eilean who first noticed the growing attachment between the two youngsters. It began with them sitting quietly together, watching her father as he worked, but soon the two girls spotted the youngsters wandering round the camp together more frequently. They thought the growing friendship was cute beyond belief and that it would be good for Gabrain to spread his wings a little with someone of his own age. When Fiona told Scott of the emerging friendship he was at first a little perturbed. Was the daughter of a wood worker a proper companion for the King of Dalriada? He caught himself before he voiced such an opinion however, chiding himself for falling into the kind of value judgements, based on station, that applied in his old life. If the girl was good enough for Gabrain, the quick-witted and intelligent Gabrain, then she should be good enough for him. Another thought entered his head - sex education. He quailed at the thought of having to give Gabrain the 'birds and bees' talk, but thought there was no avoiding it. It was his responsibility. Now that he was aware of the growing relationship he began to notice Gabrain around the camp with Cáran. He wondered why he had not noticed it before, what it was about the girls that meant they had picked up on it before he had? The young girl was lively and full of fun. She was pretty rather than beautiful, brown haired, brown eyed and still developing the curves of a woman. Scott couldn't miss how well the youngsters got on together and he smiled at his young charge as he watched him begin another phase of his development. The snows were not long in arriving, covering everything in a blinding whiteness. Scott looked out of his house at the deep drifts and decided there was an opportunity to kill a number of birds with one stone. He put on his quilted clothing, Ugg boots and snow shoes and headed for the shipyard. The yard was, not surprisingly, all but deserted but he did find one wood worker who he enlisted to help him find what he was looking for. A search of the timber stacks was rewarded by the find of a number of lengths of wood that had been part warped/shaped for ship building, but which had not achieved the desired shape. They might not be any use for building ships, but Scott thought they would be perfect as skis. The chosen timber needed a few minor adjustments, one to make them equal in size and then some holes were bored in them to allow bindings to be put in for fastening the skis to the wearer's boots. Scott had the wood worker 'rebate' these holes so that the bindings wouldn't affect the ski's performance too badly. Before leaving to try and find Gabrain, he also tasked the wood worker with making a simple sled that could be used later. Gabrain looked at him curiously when he found him, the skis something of an oddity to the boy. Once Scott had explained what they were for Gabrain's curiosity changed to excitement, he was eager to try this out. Scott let him change into his warmer outdoor clothing and snowshoes while he grabbed a small pack with some food and water. Together they walked through the snow towards some of the medium sized hills that were close by, identifying some suitable branches along the way that Scott cut to act as ski poles. Scott had skied exactly once in his past existence, and not very well at that. He did have good balance but tended to find his feet going in opposite directions as soon as he gathered any pace on the skis. When they arrived at the top of one of the hills, Scott tried to explain the basics of skiing. He explained about the importance of 'edges' and how turns should be used to control speed. When Gabrain set off down the hill and swished from side to side, he was somewhat put out to realise the laddie was a natural. When Gabrain reached the bottom of the slope Scott started his own run but found that his journey through time had done nothing to improve his own abilities. He hardly managed twenty yards before he fell over and heard his young King laughing hysterically at his misfortune. They spent another couple of hours skiing down the hill; Scott gratified that the continued practice helped him improve considerably. Gabrain carried on as he had begun and declared himself a lover of skiing. They took a break to eat something and to take on some water. Scott took this opportunity of tackling the other objective he had had in mind when thinking up the skiing activity. "Gabrain, this of your friendship with Cáran, how well do you like the girl?" Gabrain paused before responding, giving Scott a measured look. "Why do you ask Scot?" "I would but guide you Gabrain, offer advice if I may. Relationships with women can be, how can I put this, can be difficult at times. I have come to believe that women think differently to us." "Aye, I have noticed this on occasion." Gabrain conceded. The boy seemed to relax, re-assured that Scott was not meaning to try and censure his involvement with Cáran in any way. "Is she just a friend or do you feel something else for her?" "She's fun to be with and I like it when we kiss and she plays with my staff." Scott choked on the drink of water he was taking. He had thought it would require sensitive questioning to try and discover whether the youngsters had been exploring their sexuality. Now Gabrain had casually offered up the information, almost as if he was discussing the making of soap. It appeared as if the discovery of sex was no big deal for the boy. While in one way Scott was pleased at what seemed a well-adjusted attitude, there was a slight concern that Gabrain might be approaching sex too casually. "Have you gone any further than kissing and touching Gabrain?" He asked as gently as he could. "Not yet Scott, but soon I think. She has been resisting going further, feels the need to have me declare my love for her before she will take the next step I think." "And do you feel love for her?" "Of course not. She is fun and pleasant, but I don't feel for her what you so obviously feel for Fiona and Eilean, what you felt for Kirsty. I see this as merely another part of my education Scott, not a prelude to marriage." "Aye, here's the rub Gabrain. Women do think differently to men, perhaps are more emotionally based. See you, Cáran might well think that you do have deep feelings for her. If you are merely using her to further your understanding of sex then you might be heading for a fall. If you have led her to believe her feelings are returned then she will feel badly let down when she finds out it's not so." "But I am the King Scott, I am entitled to do as I please." Scott was much taken aback by this comment, completely out of character for Gabrain he thought. "Gabrain, we had a discussion once about the responsibilities that come with leadership, indeed you rightly reminded me of my responsibilities at Aird Driseig when I was letting my men down. These responsibilities stretch to everything we do, all aspects of how we conduct ourselves. If you treat Cáran's feelings so casually it says much about you and your character. I would counsel you to be honest with her, even if that means you do not get what it is you are looking for." Gabrain remained silent for a few moments as he digested this. "It seems that you feel I am abusing my station, my position, Scott?" "My Lord King, I merely counsel against slipping into a way of thinking that could see you do that. I have every faith that you have the wits to avoid doing so, but this of women is tricky, more difficult for us men to navigate through. I try to offer my thoughts, my experience. It is clear you understand the mechanics of sex and are learning the emotions that underpin relationships, but if you need advice on specific issues, I hope you know that I would be there for you." "Of course I know that Scott! Now, come on you laggard, let's ski!" They ski-ed the slope a little longer and then made their way back to the camp, tired but happy, Gabrain in particular delighted with this new pastime. He couldn't stop talking about the joys of skiing and Fiona and Eilean were intrigued, intrigued enough to ask that they too be given the opportunity to try it. Eilean had blossomed since joining Scott and Fiona in their relationship. Her previous submissiveness had mellowed to allow a wonderfully sweet and gentle nature to surface and Scott found himself falling ever deeper in love with his little elf. Fiona had also changed since Eilean had joined them. She had been the more passive of the two girl lovers when she had shared Scott with Kirsty, but now she took on a more dominant role in relation to Eilean. Scott was delighted to see how the two related to each other and also how coming out of her shell had allowed Eilean to express herself more. Eilean of course doted on her son, Gabrain. Like many mothers perhaps she was unable to see him do any wrong, making allowances for any mistakes or indiscretions he was guilty of. Scott laughed quietly to himself too at Gabrain's reaction whenever his mother tried to coddle him. He humped and huffed when she would hug him to her or ruffle his hair affectionately, pushing her off and sulking moodily. Scott's amusement was that teenagers (or nearly teenagers) seemed to have the same attitudes in the ninth century as they did in the twenty-first. Eilean and Fiona had taken over the lead on Scott's project of trying to establish plumbing and sanitation. Of course, they had a vested interest in this, as such improvements stood the possibility of making life much easier for them. They had also experienced the joys of bathing in a tub full of hot water at Aird Driseig and longed for a repeat opportunity. The chimney in their house had been built around a large metal tank that could be filled with water and they discussed how they could pipe that into the inside of the house. Scott felt himself 'ganged-up' on when the girls decided things were taking too long. He worked with them, sketching out designs on paper, emphasising the importance of keeping the water tank filled up when the fire was lit. Eventually they came up with a simple design, much like the one that Scott had used for the communal piped water at Aird Driseig, with a functioning tap. He promised the girls he would speak to the smith to ensure the necessary parts were manufactured. He would also speak to the builders to enlist their help in adapting the brickwork to accommodate the pipe. The first fruits of his work with the monks on brewing were delivered to Oban/Dun Ollaigh that winter too. Scott and Gabrain were surprised to see a monk struggling through the snow, leading a packhorse, one afternoon. The poor fellow looked about out on his feet and blue with cold. Scott thought the decision of the Abbot to send the man was at best foolhardy. They bundled the monk into the house and sat him in front of the fire to thaw out, his large belly perhaps a clue that his body fat had been the thing that had saved him on his trek from Kilchrenan. After several hours the monk was able to consume some hot broth the girls had prepared for him. The broth seemed to complete his recovery and he was able to describe how the Abbot had been so pleased with the first products they had made using Scott's glass jars and airlocks, that nothing would do but that a sample should be despatched to the lord immediately. The monk explained that he had brought raspberry, blackberry and greengage wine as well as uisge beatha. Scott thanked the monk and called Dougall, his steward, giving orders to ensure the man was given more food, a bed for the night and some quilted clothing to protect him on his journey back to the monastery. While Scott had been angry at the Abbot's foolhardy decision to send one of his brethren out into the cold winter conditions, he had occasion to thank him for the gifts of the wine only a few days later. He returned to the house after having been to speak to the smith about the necessary parts for the girls' hot water project, to find the two women hugging each other and kissing joyously. At first he thought the girls were caught up in a passionate moment but their demeanour suggested something else. He strode into the room and they stopped their hugging and squealing to look at him. "Ah, the two beauties in my life, pray, what excites you both so?" The girls looked at each other and then began to dance up and down in each other's arms again. At last they calmed down and both curtsied before him. Fiona found her voice. "Scott, my most puissant of Lords!" she began solemnly, before breaking down into giggles and continuing, "Scott, I am with child! My Lord, is that not good news?" "What? Saints, a child? Are you sure?" Scott babbled a little. "Yes! Puissant Lord indeed! Eilean has experience in these things and she has confirmed what I have suspected these past few weeks. A child Scott, I hope I am carrying your son, I hope to give you a strong son you will be proud of!" As the full import of the news began to sink in Scott hastily sat himself down, a huge grin spreading across his face. "A child?" he thought, "another precious life, another Scot? God be praised!" Nothing would do but that Scott had to make a great occasion of Fiona's pregnancy. He had already been thinking about trying to establish something by way of a festival. The Dalriadan's did not celebrate Christmas, or even New Year, the way he was used to in his own time and he knew his men were somewhat at a loose end as the snow precluded any building work. He had been trying to come up with something that would keep spirits high and now this news gave him a focal point. Plans were made to mount a great feast. His trawler men even ventured out, risking the winter seas to catch some fresh fish. Beasts were slaughtered and roasting pits dug. A huge bonfire was built and entertainment designed. The men and women of the settlement were pleased at Scott's news; an heir for the lordship was an important thing they knew. Scott had noticed a cooling in the relationship between Gabrain and Cáran and he wondered if the laddie had taken his advice and opened up to the girl about his true feelings towards her. The pair still seemed friendly however, so if the boy had done so, he had handled it very well indeed, avoiding a complete breakdown in the relationship. In the days leading up to the feast, Scott and Gabrain took the girls skiing for the first time. Scott also took along the sled that the wood worker had knocked up for him. He was solicitous of Fiona's condition and wouldn't let her ski, despite her protestations. Instead he sat her in front of him on the sled and hugged her closely as they both rocketed down the slope. Gabrain had obviously spread the word about the snow play and many of the settlement's youngsters had somehow managed to put together sleds of their own. Before long the slope was awash with people, all screaming happily and enjoying the fun of playing in the snow. Scott noticed that Cáran had appeared at Gabrain's side and was sharing her sled with him. The night of the feast arrived and the girls in particular were keen to make a significant event of it. Scott had explained his thinking about keeping morale high and the girls had quietly schemed to add something to the evening. The bonfire was lit and the various meats were roasting in their pits. Scott had made the new wines available and they seemed to be well liked by all in the camp hall-house. Music and singing was in plentiful supply and everybody was enjoying themselves. Perhaps half way through the evening, a horn was blown and one of the sennachies called for silence. "For your entertainment I now introduce an epic tale dear to the hearts of those present! I give you the Triumph of Knapdale" He blew his horn once more and bowed out of the hall with a flourish. Only now Scott realised that a space had been cleared along the entire front of the hall and torches lit outside to illuminate a large area of the ground in front of the hall. The crowd inside the hall quietened as they saw shapes appearing out of the darkness, into the light. There were two groups, one group clearly Scots and the other Vikings. The Vikings hugely outnumbered the Scots and they assailed the smaller group. The crowd could see that the Scots gave a brave account of themselves, easily 'killing' vast numbers of the Vikings but slowly the numbers were beginning to tell. Scott's stomach muscles clenched, as he realised this was a stylised recreation of the raid on Aird Driseig. He had to will himself to remain seated as the Scots threw themselves in vain in front of a woman and child and as he watched the woman fight wildly to try to defend her child. He almost cried out as he watched the woman and the child killed, a young lad the last to try to defend them being easily brushed aside by a blow to the head. The Vikings then swooped to capture two other women, these very scantily clad given the winter's cold and the crowd cheered as their charms all but spilled out as they were hustled away. The Vikings faded into the darkness and Scott found himself breathing heavily. Drums heralded the arrival of eight mock longships - one-dimensional representation made with hide and dye. These again were obviously Vikings; the ships manned by men and women of Loarne dressed as Norse. On one of the ships the two captured women were tied to the mast, their outfits still barely covering them. Two other longships came into view to oppose the Norse and these unfurled banners to fly the same device Scott had flown at Dunaverty. The crowd in the hall was cheering wildly as the two Scots ships made short work of the Danes and the captain of one of the Scots ships leapt to the rescue of the captive maidens. Advice on what to do with the women was shouted by the audience, most of it ribald in nature, but everywhere men were on their feet to hail the great victory. Scott had found it quite painful in parts, but possibly therapeutic. He glanced at Fiona and Eilean and knew he had found the inspiration for the 'play'. They were watching him a little anxiously, perhaps fearing they had gone to far. But he recognised from the reaction in the hall that the girls had achieved exactly what he had been looking for. The men were uplifted by the re-enactment of the summer victory and their spirits were as high as Scott could have wanted them. He raised his beaker to toast the two women in his life for their creativity and saw them relax and hug each other. He wandered to the edge of the hall and stood staring into the bonfire. He let his mind drift to what faced him in the spring. He had promised the High King more men, more archers more mounted troops. He had known that there was no way he would be able to raise the numbers of cavalry he had indicated without help from Lachlan and Colmgil. Gabrain and he had discussed this and agreed it would be better for Scott to lead a combined Dalriada force so that each of the lordships could leave behind sufficient men to defend their lands. The lesson of Aird Driseig had been learned. That also meant he would have access to more horses and long bow archers. He spotted Gabrain and Cáran slinking off into the darkness and smiled to himself. It looked as if the young King was going to lose his virginity some five years earlier than he had managed to lose his own. "Enjoy it Gabrain, it is a great gift and not to be taken lightly." He thought. He returned his gaze to the fire and his thoughts to the spring. He hoped the Saxons and Norse in Fife were enjoying their winter because he intended to make their spring a bloody, miserable one. ------- Chapter 7: Spring 874 AD, Fife It was early spring and Scott had decided he wanted to make an early start to his campaign against the Saxons and Danes who were assailing Fife. He called a council with his lieutenants to establish his orders for the progress he expected in the lordship while he was away. His smiths had worked on ploughs and seed drills over the winter and he now set out what he wanted done by way of planting. Grain planting would be increased significantly, his land improvements and the machinery making that possible. He also explained where and how he wanted his crops of carrots, cabbage and onions planted. The vines he left in the care of his monks, as was the cultivation of the new seeds in the pouch left by his favourite merchantman. He had decided to take a much smaller force than he had suggested to the High King. He could only mount one hundred and fifty, fifty of those archers, but archers with an added surprise he hoped. In addition to that he had mustered around three hundred foot and had thought up some other tactics that he hoped might come in useful. He made one last, quick, tour of the building work at the various defensive sites and of his shipyard before giving last minute instructions for his guards to ensure his family was kept safe at all costs. He and Gabrain bid an emotional farewell to Eilean and the pregnant Fiona and rode from the camp. The Scottish spring weather was not kind as Scott led his mounted troops along part of the same trail that he had taken when heading to help the High King against the Danes at Glen Almond. Icy winds drove rain into their faces, numbing them to the core. His company met up with Lachlan and the Knapdale/Kintyre contingent just at the junction of Strath Fillan and Glen Falloch. Lachlan was at the head of a further two hundred mounted men, half of them long bow archers. He advised Scott and Gabrain that a further two hundred foot was following on behind as fast as they could. The friends greeted each other warmly, despite the weather, and rode side by side to exchange news and to discuss tactics for the coming campaign. Scott knew they risked the wrath of the High King for not committing their fullest strength but he was damned if was going to suffer the heartbreak he had the year before - High King or no High King! The friends had all agreed that leaving sufficient forces to defend their camps was something that had to be done. In any event, Scott planned a different type of campaign and he felt sure that the numbers they were mustering would suffice. The combined forces followed Glen Ogle to the head of Loch Earn then struck southwards through the Strathyre Forest, heading for Callander. Here they met up with Colmgil and a force from Cowall and Bute. Colmgil had also brought mounted men, about one hundred and fifty, as with the others he advised another one hundred and fifty foot were following behind him. They rested at Callander, Scott calculating that he had around five hundred mounted men here with a further six hundred and fifty foot probably arriving in a week or so. Scott intended to use this week to find out the lay of the land in this Fife. He had brought monks' habits with him and planned to send pairs of men out dressed as monks to bring him intelligence. He was assuming that any occupying forces here were likely to be Saxon rather than Norse, and the Saxons would not attack monks. While his monkish spies rode out, Scott had his men distribute the little gifts they had brought for their fellow Dalriadan archers - crossbows! - and gave some basic training. Lachlan and Colmgil were impressed with the crossbows that Scott had developed. He explained that he had come up with the idea after the sea battle at Dunaverty. He recognised that his long bows' extra range was no real advantage in that situation and had pondered on what else he could use. He had previously thought of crossbows but had discounted them in favour of the additional range and hitting power of the long bow. He had returned to the idea as being useful in the sea battle situation with its close-range nature. He had extended his thinking to include the idea that crossbows could be fired from horseback. One of the other drawbacks of his mounted long bow archers was that they had to dismount to fire and this was essentially tying up a good number of his horses - leaving them unavailable for mounted charges. His business training demanded that he get the most out of his assets and he had therefore sat down to try and figure out how he could get more from these horses and archers. The answer had been kind of obvious. The archers should be equipped with both long bow and crossbow. That way they could be used at range to good effect but then mount up and support the cavalry in the charge, discharging their crossbows at close range and then using their swords. Scott thought this combination made the mounted archers a very versatile and effective force. Lachlan and Colmgil were even more impressed when Scott explained all this to them. They recognised that each archer was worth two, perhaps three men, significantly increasing the impact of the Dalriadan mounted force. They had some one hundred and fifty mounted archers in their five hundred and Scott had brought enough crossbows and bolts to arm them all. The Scots moved forward, up Strath Allan towards Auchterarder, Scott's spies beginning to come in with the intelligence he so badly wanted. At Auchterarder they were met by a small band of men. The obvious leader of the group rode forward to address them. "Who are you and who gives you leave to ride through my Kingdom of Fife?" "Bold words my friend, bold I say. I would advise you to watch your tongue when addressing the King of Dalriada, lest you annoy his followers sirrah!" responded Scott, immediately trying to set the newcomer on the defensive. The reference to 'my Kingdom of Fife' alerted him to the fact that this was most likely Murdoch mac Duff, lord of this area. The man seemed to be taken aback at being spoken to in this way, certainly not used to such. Having set him back on his heels and gained the upper hand, Scott now took a more conciliatory tone. "I take it from your words that you are Murdoch of Fife, my Lord. I am Scott mac Fergus, this is my Lord Gabrain, King of Dalriada and these others are Lachlan mac Iain and Colmgil mac Lean. We are here to cleanse these lands of Saxons and Danes, have been asked to do so by High king Constantine himself." "If that is your intention, where are the men you will do it with?" He asked. "We have these," Scott gestured at the mounted host, "and a further six or seven hundred foot coming on behind." "That's all? Saints man, there are over six thousand Saxons over my lands. Fife can raise almost eight thousand and we have been unable to overcome them. What chance do you have with these?" "I don't see your eight thousand my Lord, meantime we think we will make the test of your Saxon friends and see how they like Dalriadan steel." Mac Duff was clearly doubtful as to what the Dalriadan force could achieve. He was embarrassed that his entire lordship seemed to be in dissolution but indicated that he could raise perhaps four hundred men in a few days to help Scott and Gabrain. Scott accepted his offer but told him that he should join his force with the foot, which was itself now only days away. Scott, Gabrain, Lachlan and Colmgil sat together to discuss the information their scouts had brought in. Murdoch mac Duff hadn't been far out in his estimation of the Saxon numbers. They were based at a range of sites covering almost sixty miles, mostly along the Fife coast, perhaps defending what they had against incursions from the Vikings. Scott could see his three friends were concerned at the numbers, he was more interested in where they were. There were only a small number of Saxon camps further inland, the most notable on Loch Leven and Dùn Fearam Linn (Dunfermline). Scott was astounded at the way the Saxons were dispersed. He sought out mac Duff. "My Lord, how long have these Saxons been here?" "Nigh on two years, why?" "They seem to have made themselves over comfortable my Lord and I pray that their state of readiness is as sloppy as their thinking seems to be about the strategic use of manpower!" Scott returned to his King and friends to set out what he intended they do. My friends, I always intended to try to sweep quickly through this Fife, to try and make our horsed forces work effectively for us. Now, with this information as to the Saxon's dispositions, I believe we can banish all of them within a mere three or four days!" His friends looked at him with astonishment. How could they achieve that with the much inferior numbers available to them? They had been coming round to thinking that mac Duff was right, that there was little impression they could make against the Saxons with the forces they had. Scott explained his tactics, and his friends sat back, excitement in their eyes as they appreciated Scott's tactics and really began to believe this could be done. "Scott man, remind me never to fall out with you!" Said Lachlan, impressed by Scott's ability to so quickly grasp the situation and come up with a plan to exploit it to the maximum. They waited at Auchterarder for two more days while their own foot and that of mac Duff arrived. Scott then gave orders for how they should be arrayed in the field and let two more days pass to allow men to get into position. He fretted that these delays would somehow allow the Saxons to become alerted to their presence. But after the two days, after the almost two weeks of waiting, it began! Their first target was the furthest north, Cupar. Scott sent three hundred of his mounted force to the south of the settlement, including all of his archers with their crossbows. He retained two hundred and rode with them to the north of the camp. When he estimated all were in position he signalled his two hundred to advance until they were on a rise, clearly visible to the settlement. He then ordered horns to be blown, alerting the Saxons to their presence. The Saxon response took a little time to manifest itself but at last they could see men streaming southwards. The Saxons were probably looking to run to the next settlement to swell their numbers. Scott signalled the advance and his two hundred began to ride forward, herding the hundreds of fleeing Saxons onto his waiting men. This was a tactic Scott had remembered from his school studies of world war two - the 'hammer and anvil'. He thought it had been used by the Germans to good effect. The Saxons were currently running towards three hundred of his men, one hundred and fifty of who were armed with crossbows. The two hundred he was leading would pound the Saxons onto the anvil of this force, causing carnage he hoped. The tactic worked perfectly, the Saxons overwhelmed in one devastating clash. Scott didn't halt his horse but instead signalled for all of the mounted men to wheel and drive southwards, leaving the remnants of the Saxons to be mopped up by two hundred of his foot who had been stationed at nearby Strath Miglo. This was the second element of Scott's plan; another borrowed from his knowledge of WWII - the 'blitzkrieg'. He planned on using his mounted force almost as the Germans had used their tanks - driving through each of the Saxon camps, smashing through them and leaving the foot soldiers to mop up and consolidate behind. The fact that the Saxons were split up and mainly based on the coast allowed him to do this. Scott's own foot had been split up and stationed slightly inland so they were close enough to quickly swing in behind the mounted men. Scott thought he remembered the original blitzkrieg had been about smashing through the allied and Russian forward defences to create havoc behind these lines, pushing ever onward, making huge territorial advances. The psychological effect had been almost as important as the physical damage that had been done. The Germans had won victories before their opponents had even known battle had been joined. He had adapted that slightly, keeping the shock, the speed and impact but targeting the tactic at rolling through all the Saxon camps rather than trying to hit into their non-existent rearguard. On that first day Scott hit four more Saxon camps, ranging from around two hundred to four hundred men in size. The hitting power of the mounted force ensured over half the Saxons in each camp were dealt with, leaving the job for the following foot manageable. The five camps had only some two or three miles between them so the foot were able to drive from one to the next to complete the job the horsed men had begun. Scott kept pickets out to make sure no stray Saxons could slip through to warn their friends further south. As dawn broke he led the mounted men on day two, a repeat of day one, smashing through camps at Balcurvie and Glen Rothes amongst others. A further detachment of foot, two hundred based at Falkland, mopped up behind them for most of the morning. The latter part of the day saw the horse swing inland towards Loch Leven, to tackle a camp at Kinross, before driving onwards to bigger camps at Lochore and Beath. A third contingent of foot, this one numbering three hundred, were ready at Carnbo to rush in behind the horse and slaughter the Saxons who had survived the hammer and anvil. The third day was the most difficult, a number of larger Saxon camps left to deal with. Scott had planned for the initial contingents of foot to hurry southwards to try to help in the consolidation on day three. He had in effect saved the 'best' for last. The settlements that remained before him were all in places he knew well from the twenty-first century - Pettycur (Kinghorn), Burntisland, Aberdour and Dùn Fearam Linn (Dunfermline). All went well at the first three settlements, no alarm having been raised amongst the Saxons and the tactics working as they had before. Scott held the assault on Dùn Fearam Linn as long as he possibly could to allow the foot to mop up and disengage so they were available to support this final assault. The last contingent of the combined Dalriadan and mac Duff forces, three hundred, were stationed in the Blairadam Forest to the north and east of this final target. At last Scott decided he could wait no longer. He sent his mounted hundreds to the rear of Dùn Fearam Linn and prepared to spring his tactics one last time. His spies had identified there were some eight hundred Saxons here at this major settlement and he knew his mounted men had to make a significant impact to allow the foot to then roll things up. As he led his horse forward he recognised that something had gone wrong. His other group of horse, instead of being in place to act as the anvil, were streaming towards him, fighting their way through the Saxons retreating from the camp. The crossbows took a heavy toll on the Saxons and helped the Scots horse to win through. Colmgil, who led the second detachment of horse, hastened to Scott's side. "Another host Scott, another Saxon host coming from my rear, many thousands, perhaps three or four thousand. Couldn't hold them, had to flee." Scott cursed their luck, at the final assault, when it seemed that his approach had worked perfectly, the appearance of a new Saxon host now looked as if it was going to thwart all their hard efforts. He marshalled his troops as he waited to see what the Saxons did. He groaned as he saw the Saxons advance in good order, their numbers lending them confidence and discipline. Scott looked around him at the forces he had at his disposal. He had perhaps still over four hundred mounted men and some hundreds of foot were straggling in. He knew without the element of surprise he was totally outnumbered and he could do nothing else but withdraw. He called for mac Duff. "My Lord, get you behind us and raise as many of your eight thousand as you can. We were but one blow away from cleansing your Fife but I'm afraid I cannot resist this new host. I need more men man and you can supply them, see you to it!" Mac duff had discovered a respect for Scott given what he had achieved in the last three days with only fifteen hundred men. He didn't respond to this command as he might have only days before, but instead nodded his agreement and gathered his close men around him and rode off quickly. Scott signalled to his men to retire and he made for the Hill O' Beath as a makeshift base from which to work. Gabrain, Lachlan and Colmgil were very positive that evening round a campfire. They congratulated Scott on how effective his tactics had been and were optimistic as to the opportunity to defeat the Saxons over the next few days. Scott remained depressed that he hadn't managed to complete the exercise. He cheered up a little when Gabrain put their achievements into words. "Scott, we have battled six thousand men with barely fifteen hundred of our own. We have scoured Saxons from an area of some sixty miles and all within three days. In doing so we have lost very few men. Never has such a thing been achieved and your reputation, the renown of the Dalriada men will ring forth after these great deeds I say." Said Gabrain. Nevertheless, Scott had a sleepless night, racking his brain to try to find another advantage that would help him defeat these Saxons. With first light he could see the Saxons advancing towards their position. With no great ideas having sprung to mind, Scott had to order his much smaller host to retire further into Fife, ceding more of the territory that he had so recently reclaimed. He was constantly surveying the land, seeking any advantage he could find but to no avail and his slow retiral lasted the entire day. Having been asleep in his plaid, Scott felt himself roughly awoken and sat up to find out what was amiss. "My Lord, the Saxons, our guards tell me they attack from our front and rear, must have outflanked us in the darkness, will soon be upon us. What should we do?" A man asked him. "How many?" "I'm not sure my Lord, but a great host on two sides I have been told." "To horse, man, we must cut through them, to horse!" All was confusion in the darkness and it was impossible to achieve any kind of order. The foot would be expected to simply melt away into the night but the horsed troops were a different matter and Scott knew he had to try to hold them together if he could - it was in numbers and with momentum that cavalry was at its most effective "On me! Form up on me, mac Fergus!" He screamed into the night. At last he had a reasonably sized group around him, including Lachlan and Gabrain and he decided they had waited long enough. If he could cut through the Saxons they could live to fight another day and hopefully disrupt the enemy sufficiently to give his foot time to get away too. "One wedge formation!" He called behind him. Of course, in the darkness, they couldn't build up any kind of momentum whatsoever; it would have been suicidal to try to even canter without being able to see where they were going. Scott worried about this as he peered forward into the gloom, consoling himself that the lack of visibility applied equally to his attackers. He heard a clanking sound followed by a curse in front of him and suddenly men appeared. He dug his heels into his horse's flanks and urged it forward, readying his sword and shield. "Alba! Mac Fergus!" He screamed and heard the men behind him take up the cry. Scott tried to maintain what little momentum he had but all too soon his horse was only moving forward at walking pace. Admittedly the fighting was minimal; it was more a case of the mass of mounted men all but trampling over their Saxon opponents. He could hear cursing and screaming all around him as men were either cut down or roughly ridden over. At last Scott's horse seemed to break free of the press of Saxon men and he thought he must be through the host and now into the clear. He turned to look back over his shoulder in an effort to see how the remainder of his wedge had held up and when he turned back to face the front he was appalled to see two Saxons lunging at him. "Scott!" Lachlan yelled, as he tried to urge his own horse forward, desperately trying to get himself between Scott and the attacker on the right hand side. Lachlan could only watch in horror as both Saxons struck Scott and then he brought his sword down with full force onto the neck of the Saxon on his side. He looked over and was surprised to see young Gabrain hacking at the other of Scott's attackers, a fierce and grim set to his face. "Help me steady him!" Lachlan yelled at Gabrain, and pulled close on either side of Scott's horse, holding his body in place. ------- Chapter 8: Still spring 874 AD, Fife First light found them on the banks of Loch Leven, at last able to see enough to stop and take stock. Men rushed forward to help Lachlan lower Scott to the ground and he began to examine the injuries his friend had sustained. A long slash on his right thigh was fairly obvious and accounted for the blow struck by the man Lachlan had cut down. The cut was still leaking blood and Lachlan hurried to attend to it. The only other injuries Lachlan could identify were severe bruising on Scott's arm and an arc of bruising under a graze on his left temple. It appeared as if Scott had taken the blow on his left side fully on his targe and the shield had cannoned into his head, knocking him unconscious. "My Lord King, he will live I think. But I worry, perhaps you should take our friend here back to his wives to nurse?" "Aye, Lachlan, perhaps I should, although they will not thank me when they see he is injured." Lachlan estimated he had around one hundred and twenty mounted men here with him. He sent out scouts to try to gather in other men who had escaped in the night, but gave Gabrain twenty as a guard so that he could set out immediately for Oban/Dun Ollaigh. He eyed the young King, the almost thirteen-year old had killed Scott's second attacker and the ride through the Saxon host was probably the closest he had been to the white-hot heat of battle. Lachlan thought he seemed to be taking the experience very well considering his age. The friends sat with Scott until he regained consciousness. He was groggy and still in considerable pain when Gabrain and Lachlan helped him onto a horse and then said their farewells. Gabrain was relieved to see his friend and mentor appear to regain his senses fully during their first day of riding. They retraced their route across Fife and Perthshire, spending the night at Callendar. The next morning Scott seemed to be in better spirits, but as the day wore on he quietened and Gabrain thought he was looking feverish. When they travelled up Strath Fillan and reached the juncture of Glen Orchy and Glen Lochy, Gabrain could see that his friend was weaving on the horse's back, struggling to stay upright. He called a halt and they camped for the night. The fact that Scott immediately fell into a fevered sleep was a further worry for the young King. Progress the next day was slow and Scott had to be supported on his horse as he was lapsing in and out of consciousness. Gabrain had wrapped an additional plaid around Scott's shoulders when his friend began to shiver and shake quite violently. It was early evening when they rode into sight of the Oban camp and Fiona and Eilean were soon running to meet them. Men rushed to help carry Scott indoors and the women became very businesslike. Fiona and Eilean stripped Scott and unwrapped the makeshift bandage around his thigh. "Gabrain! What is this, have you a death wish against my husband?!" Fiona demanded. "Of course not woman. What have I done now?" "This covering, it is filthy! What has Scott told us about cleanliness, especially when it comes to the treatment of wounds? His leg looks badly infected!" "Fiona, we were in the middle of a battle, no time to find soap and the like!" Scott groaned and opened his eyes. He tried to smile gamely at his wives when he took in their worried expressions and asked that they help him sit up so he could see his wound for himself. It was clear the wound was infected but he didn't think it was too bad as yet, still early. He described how it needed to be treated and watched Gabrain begin to look paler as he went on. "It needs to be scrubbed, scrubbed so that all the dirt and infection is removed. It would be best if it was scrubbed with soap and hot water until fresh blood only comes from it. Then you must pour uisge beatha on it and use one of the thin needles from my pack and the fishing line to sew the edges of the wound together. Be sure to boil the needle and line before you use it." Scott collapsed back on the pallet that he had been laid out on, exhausted by the exertion and speech. Fiona and Eilean wasted no time in following Scott's instructions and Gabrain thought it would be a good time to remove himself. It was probably a good thing that Scott quickly lost consciousness when the girls began to scrub his wound, scrubbing with a pig bristle brush that had been boiled in hot water. Eilean held the edges of the wound open so that Fiona could scrub deeply into the flesh. There was an awful smell and puss issued forth immediately. She did as Scott had suggested; scrubbing until a strong flow of fresh blood was streaming from the flesh. She used a clean cloth to try to mop the worst of the blood up and then poured a liberal dosage of whisky over the wound and carefully used her best stitching to sew up the edges of the wound. Some blood continued to seep from the stitching and she dabbed at this too before winding a clean bandage round Scott's leg. The change in Scott was almost immediate. His fevered looking complexion calmed down and his breathing was much steadier and level. Gabrain returned to see how things had gone, pleased when the girls indicated Scott appeared much better. Scott's recovery over the next few days was remarkable to Gabrain and the girls. From the dire state he seemed to be in when he had arrived home to being up on his feet within two days seemed almost like a miracle to them. Scott assured them that it was all down to the cleaning out of the infection and the loving care he was receiving. That got him hugs from his two wives. Gabrain had found Scott a stout stick and he was able to hobble round the camp to talk to people and to see how things were progressing with various projects. It was clear to everybody that he was unhappy about being apart from Lachlan, Colmgil and the Dalriada force in Fife. He had argued with the girls and Gabrain when they had suggested he needed to rest for the remainder of the spring at least. He was all for taking to horse after only four days back at Oban, but the fierce response to such a suggestion from his wives had him backing down relatively quickly. After two weeks he began to walk further, anxious to ensure the muscles in his right leg didn't waste too much. He was now able to visit the workshops and spent considerable time with the craftsmen, enjoying his discussions with them. He shared his design ideas with the builders, smiths and wood workers for a water wheel driven mill. He explained the volume of grain that the lordship would need to process this coming year, hence the need for a new way of dealing with it. This was another project that caught their imagination and they were soon modifying his suggestions, adding ideas of their own. He also set in train some other orders. He had many arrows and bolts made, more crossbows manufactured and sent messengers throughout Dalriada to gather in as many horses as he could. He raised another small host from Loarne, only one hundred and prepared himself for returning to Fife. He was also fit enough and needful enough to engage in some play with his wives and they were the happier for it. Since discovering the joys of orgasm, Eilean had blossomed and seemed to find achieving climax easier and easier. She was still not on such a 'hair-trigger' as either Fiona or Kirsty, but did climax reasonably quickly and readily. One particular episode had left them all satisfied. He had limped back from the workshops one afternoon and found Eilean scrubbing the floor of the house. There was something about her little elfin form on her hands and knees, her tight ass swishing from side to side in her kilt. He didn't know what came over him but simply dropped to his knees behind her, flipping her kilt up to expose her rear. Eilean squealed, but calmed when she realised it was Scott. Scott was surprised when he dropped his hand to her little pussy to find that she was already lubricating freely. It seemed that there was still an element of her submissiveness in there somewhere and she was responding to the prospect of being 'taken' on the floor. He didn't waste any further time in preliminaries but instead thrust his staff into her, ramming himself fully home. Eilean squealed anew at this treatment, pushing herself back firmly to meet him. There was no finesse in this coupling and Scott began to drive into Eilean, thrilling at her reaction to him. She was keening, dropping her head to the floor so that her ass was raised, open to him, angled so that he could penetrate her deeply. Scott was holding his little elf by her hips, looking down at where his cock was slamming in and out of her when he heard a voice behind him. "Oh, that is soooo hot, just what she needs, yes Scott, give it to her!" Said Fiona. She moved round in front of Eilean, sat on the floor and pulled Eilean's face between her thighs. Scott might have qualms about treating Eilean roughly, but Fiona didn't seem to have the same misgivings as she gripped her sister wife firmly by her hair. "Yes Scott, harder, she has told me she wanted you to take her just like this, probably planned it all. Give her what she wants, what she has yearned for!" Scott did keep driving into Eilean and was surprised but pleased to feel her coming under him very quickly, probably quicker than she had to date, her head raising out of Fiona's quim to squeal, as she let them know how much she was enjoying it. Scott held her down with an arm across her lower back and continued to slam into her, only letting up when she literally cried for mercy. As Eilean rolled to the side he dropped between Fiona's parted thighs and stroked firmly into her already well-lubricated sheath. Fiona didn't need much of Scot's attentions as she was already on the verge of climax through her sister wife's oral ministrations and soon she too was crying out her climax. Scott slowed his strokes a little and minutes later; Fiona pushed him off so she could take his staff between her lips. Eilean was not to be denied such a treat either and she joined Fiona, the two of them taking turns in bobbing up and down on Scott's cock. The sight of his little elf in particular sliding her pouting lips over his staff was very erotic and he didn't delay long in sharing his spend with them both. Later, Eilean shared an idea she had had with Scott. If some designated women were given a space, such as the settlement hall-house, they could take on responsibilities for looking after all of the camp's children thereby freeing many more women to take part in other activities. Scott recognised the worth of creating what was in effect a crèche and congratulated Eilean on suggesting it. After three and a half weeks back at Oban he managed to convince his wives that he was fit to travel back to Fife. Two hundred horses had been gathered in and each of the other lordships had provided additional men too. There were not many but Scott now had some two hundred mounted men to take with him. He had also been pondering on further things he could do to gain an edge against the Saxons and had come up with one or two new ploys. He had been surprised at the lack of flags and banners carried into battle - well aware of how stirring these could be, how they stirred the blood, from how they affected people at things like football matches in his own time. He had had the women of Oban/Dun Ollaigh make up a large number of flags. He was unsure about the timeline for the adoption of St Andrew as the patron Saint of Scotland; St Columba being the predominant Saint his people seemed to turn to. But he had numbers of Saltire (the cross of St Andrew) flags made up anyway and intended to use them to help bolster and raise morale amongst his troops. He explained the Saltire as something that was personal to him, that it meant a lot to him, and his men seemed to accept that as reason enough to carry them. Fiona and Eilean were not happy about the prospect of Scott and Gabrain going away again. They were washing clothes and talking about the imminent departure and how it would affect them as they washed some clothes with other women from the camp. "Each time he goes away I fear that he will not return." Said Fiona. "I know, I fear for them both, hate it that they need to go at all." Replied Eilean. "I know what it is you hate madam, you hate that he will not be around with his staff beast to satisfy you!" Said Fiona. "Hah! I think the pot is calling the kettle black here. You it is who can't do without the beast, although I have to admit I am beginning to crave it just as much." Fiona saw one of the other women listening attentively to them and decided to have some fun. "He is just so big, a staff beast indeed. I think he must be twice as big as any other man and sometimes I wonder whether I can take it all." "Yes, and he just seems to keep going and going, thrusting that huge monster until I think I am going to be split in two, or faint with the pleasure." Eilean added, not realising that she was being overheard. "You know his record is making Kirsty and I come five times each in one night. He was superb, loving, sensitive - in his touch and in his lovemaking - commanding! Oh, I shudder at the memory of it." "Uh, Fiona, stop it I am getting hot at the thought. His mouth on me, his magnificent staff beast, oh save us, how will we manage without him?" Fiona glanced at the woman beside them and saw she had flushed noticeably as she listened to their description. She took more notice of the woman, taking in her age, shape and looks. She was raven haired, perhaps eighteen and slightly built. "Just the size Scott seems to prefer!" She thought to herself. She nudged Eilean and indicated the other woman with a twitch of her head. Eilean caught on quickly and smiled as she realised Fiona had been deliberately teasing the woman. She too looked at the woman and took in her dark skin and doe-eyes. She could see the woman was aroused by the conversation between Fiona and herself. "Oh, Scott would love her." She thought. Fiona and Eilean both looked at each other, nodded, and then turned to engage the woman in conversation. Scott's monks brought word of intrigue in the north. He was aware that the Scotland he knew from his time had in fact only recently been brought together by Cinead (Kenneth) mac Alpin uniting the various constituent parts some twenty years before, in the 850s AD. The country was governed by the High King or 'Ard Righ', supported by seven lesser Kings or 'Ri', of which Gabrain was one. The arrangement was also unusual as the High King was 'High King of Scots', not High King of Scotland. He knew this made a significant difference as it focussed the Kingship on the people, not the land, unique as far as he knew throughout Europe. Scott's monks had commune with their monkish brethren throughout the country and now reported that one of the lesser 'Ri', one Donald mac Eoachaid, Mormaor of Fortrui, was in open conflict with the High King. Scott had no strong feelings about the High king. So far as he was concerned, Constantine did what he had to, to try and keep his Kingdom under control. Scott supported him because he supported the idea of there being a Scotland and didn't want to undermine that. He worried now that the High King could be brought down, but knew he had to put that out of his mind at present and concentrate on Fife. Another leave taking with Fiona and Eilean saw Scott and Gabrain set out once more. Three days later his party met with one of Lachlan's scouts and he gave them information on where to find the Scottish host, just to the north of Glen Rothes. He led his two hundred in that direction and before long could see a great body of men before him, far more than he had left behind some four weeks ago now. There was much curiosity about their approach, their flags fluttering proudly in the spring winds. As they drew near, sections of the host began to cheer loudly as they recognised he had returned. Scott recognised pockets of men from the various Dalriada lordships and he saluted each as he passed. Lachlan was delighted to see him return and almost forgot to salute Gabrain as his King before hugging Scott to him. "My Lord King," he bowed, before turning to Scott, "Saints be praised, Scott man. It's good to see you!" "And you Lachlan, and you. So, I leave you alone for four weeks and you find yourself an army! Where have all these come from?" Scott asked. "Murdoch mac Duff, Scott. He was as good as his word, has managed to raise over three thousand of his men. I believe our successes against the Saxons gave them some heart but already they seem ready to drift away again." "Well Lachlan, we'll have to find something to keep them busy, won't we? Come, tell me what you have been up to these past weeks." It seemed the past weeks had seen something of a stalemate between the Scots and the Saxon forces. Lachlan had managed to round up almost three hundred of their original mounted host, but only seventy-five of these archers. The foot had been largely intact so he had around nine hundred Dalriadan men to add to the two hundred that Scott had brought with him. With mac Duff's three thousand, the Scots were almost evenly matched with the Saxons but Lachlan had been using his archers and cavalry to try and wear the Saxons down, reduce their numbers, before he would commit to a full-scale battle. "I think we're going to have to change that my friend. These Fife men seem likely to simply drift back to their settlements if we don't commit them soon. See you, I would rather use them than lose them." "Aye, but the Saxons have taken up a strong position mind Scott. If we are to meet them with our full force we will be at a disadvantage given the high ground they are occupying." "Then we'll just have to get them to abandon their position Lachlan, won't we?" Scott replied, a smile on his face. Scott spent the rest of the afternoon and evening meeting with the captains and lieutenants, discussing tactics and signals. That night he sat round a campfire with Gabrain, Lachlan, Colmgil and mac Duff. He laid out his plan for the next day, mac Duff seemed sceptical but was keen to let battle commence, almost itching to pit his strength against the Saxons. Lachlan and Colmgil slipped off into the night and returned some time later with twenty men. Scott handed out robes that he had brought with him. The robes had been specially made up by the women at Oban, stained in brown and green, to almost look like modern day army camouflage. The robes also had numerous ties on them so that vegetation could be attached. Scott had thought of the Special Forces use of 'ghillie' suits to help them blend in to the terrain when on missions and this was his approximation of those suits. The men helped each other fix grass and other greenery onto the robes and then slipped off to get into position while it was still dark. "Now let's try to get some rest and pray that our good Scots weather doesn't improve any!" Scott said. The next morning dawned as windy as it had been for weeks and Scott breathed a sigh of relief. He made his way to the edge of the field his host was camped on and raised his binoculars to his eyes. He swept the Saxon host on the hill opposite him. He agreed with Lachlan that the Saxons had taken up a very strong defensive position but he hoped his plans would affect that before long. Lowering the binos slightly, he was pleased that he could detect no hint of the twenty men he knew were part way up the slope of the hill. One final discussion with his captains confirmed the order of battle for the Scots. Scott had placed his six hundred Dalriadan foot in the centre with mac Duff's Fifers on each flank. He had distributed his many flags throughout the host and these streamed out in the wind, which was at their backs. The five hundred or so cavalry he kept at the rear meantime along with a small reserve of around four hundred of mac Duff's foot. Scott signalled the advance and the host began to move forward towards the Saxons. When they were half way across the field he had horns blown and his men began to run. At the same time his twenty 'ghillies' popped up out of the grass as if from nowhere and used their dirks to slash open sacks that they had carried with them. The sacks were full of quicklime and the men turned their heads away as they shook the fine powder into the strong wind. A cloud of the dust was soon blowing its way toward the Saxon positions, its impact on them immediate. Everywhere Saxon eyes streamed and burned and as a result they hardly knew what was happening when the Scots host smashed into them. Scott had held himself, Gabrain and Lachlan back from the main charge so that he could watch how the battle developed and make fine adjustments if necessary. When he saw his forces were largely overwhelming their Saxon opponents he signalled for the four hundred reserve foot to be committed too, now only keeping his five hundred mounted men back. The Saxons had to be given credit for putting up stout resistance despite the impact of the quicklime and that first mighty Scots charge, but they had been quickly forced from their strong position. They now found themselves forced backwards and downhill, the Scots now having the advantage and the momentum. Scott rode to the crest of the hill to survey how the battle was going. Whenever it seemed that the Saxons were rallying at any point, he sent a detachment of cavalry to assist his men at that point and so kept the tide flowing in his favour. Even so, the battle was still raging after an hour or so and it is to be expected that men would be growing tired. Scott now used his last throw of the dice. He led four hundred of his cavalry back down the hill, marshalling them into four columns of one hundred each as he went. They swung northwest to circle the battle and to come up behind the Saxons main body of men. The four columns formed themselves into wedges and increased their speed to a gallop as they bore down on the Saxon rear. Of course, the thunder of their horse's hooves alerted the Saxons and all along the battlefront men turned to try and brace themselves for the impact. Once more the initial impact was terrifying for the foot, men bowled over and trampled, others hacked down by horsed Scots. Rather than drive directly through the Saxons this time, the wedges sought to turn at right angles and sweep the length of the host, causing carnage and mayhem as they went. The arrival of the mounted men signalled the end of the battle proper as the Saxons, already tired and going backwards, now began to stream away towards Dùn Fearam Linn. Scott let his cavalry harry and pick these off while he himself looked to see to his own and mac Duff's foot. The resounding victory helped re-invigorate tired muscles and sinews and the Scots were cheering loudly, the Saltire flags flying all over and being accepted as an integral part of it all. ------- Chapter 9: Summer 874 AD, Strathclyde and Moray Murdoch mac Duff was ecstatic. His lands cleared of Saxons for the first time in almost two years. He was fulsome in his praise of Scott and the Dalriada men. Despite the fact that his land had been occupied for so long, sufficient beasts were found to have a celebration that evening. Scott sat with Gabrain and his captains listening to mac Duff bemoan the sorry state of his lands. "It is probably too late for planting grain this season and the Saxons have used up all the reserves my camps would have put away. It is like to be a rough winter in Fife this year." "That need not be the case Murdoch," said Scott, deliberately adopting a more familiar tone, "perhaps we can help on the grain front - if you have something else that you could use in trade?" "I'm afraid I will need a lot of grain Scott, more than a lordship could spare I am sure. But what little you can spare me I would gladly have." "Oh, I'm sure I can supply all the grain that you'll need," replied Scott, "perhaps if you could spare me some horses and grant me something else that intrigues me, we could strike a bargain?" "How can you have such quantities of grain to spare man? I will happily trade you horses for grain. But what is this other thing that you seek?" Replied mac Duff. "As to the first, send your land stewards to Dalriada and we will show them how to improve the yield from your own soil. As to the other matter, I couldn't help notice the number of merchant ships that seem to pass up and down the great Forth Water beyond Dùn Fearam Linn. Where do they go?" "It is said that there is great trade on the far side of the Forth Water, ships bringing metals and other goods from the Low Countries across the sea. Why are you interested in these?" Asked mac Duff. "I see security and prosperity in effective trade. Alliances for times of trouble, a broader range of goods and resources available for our people." Scott replied. "I see, and what would you have of me?" "See you, by virtue of where your lands are situated, it would seem that you have the easier access to these continental merchants. Loarne is on the other side of Scotland and a great many days sailing to get to this east coast, some of it through the Norse strongholds in the Orcades and the like. Yet by land your coast is only three or four days ride from Loarne. If you would but establish a port here, on this side of the Forth Water, we could both benefit from it I say." Said Scott. "Mac Duff is no trader my Lord!" Replied Murdoch. "Aye, maybe that's the case Murdoch, but what have we just agreed with regard to the grain? Is that not trading? And done to ensure your people can eat, can survive the coming winter? What shame is there in that? Am I, mac Fergus, any less the man because I wish to trade? If you think so then perhaps we need to have a trial of strength we two?" Scott challenged the other. "Not that my Lord, be not so hot man. I meant no insult to you Scott. There is perhaps merit in what you say but I will need to think on it further." Scott was satisfied that he had at least planted the seeds of the idea in mac Duff's mind and left it there for the present. He was thinking that he would need to resurrect his construction of wagons if he was going to transport sufficient grain to Fife to see mac Duff through the winter. He had only managed to construct one prototype at Aird Driseig before the Viking raid had destroyed all. Now he would need to get his Loarne craftsmen on the job and quickly. Thinking of wagons reminded him of his plan to try and secure a supply of coal from the open cast mines of Ayrshire. Perhaps it was also time to return to that project too. He believed the land where coal could be found easily was under the control of Eochaid, Prince of Strathclyde and he knew that he would be passing close to his capital of Dun Barton on his way back to Oban. Perhaps he should pay a visit to Eochaid? Before leaving Fife Scott shared his ideas for sea defences with Murdoch. He explained how a string of coastal fortresses could mutually support each other and how stakes and booms could help defeat the Norse from ever getting ashore to harry the land. He also explained how oil could be used to set the very sea on fire and how effective that had proven against the Vikings in the past. Murdoch was much impressed with these ideas and declared he would set his men to constructing such defences at once. Scott had already sent the majority of his men back to their lordships, along with Lachlan and Colmgil. By the time his remaining mounted force was ready to leave Fife, Scott and mac Duff had become good friends and Murdoch was disappointed they were finally leaving. "Be not long in coming back to visit Scott, you will always find a welcome in Fife." He said as they were parting. "My thanks Murdoch. I will send word as to the shipping of grain later in the year. In the meantime, don't forget my suggestion about building a port here." Replied Scott as he swung himself up onto his horse. At the head of just over one hundred horsed men, Scott and Gabrain waved their last farewells and headed for home. As they rode, Scott outlined his suggestion that they pay a call on Strathclyde and why. Gabrain agreed such a move could be useful and was all for it. They varied their line of travel therefore, passing through Strath Allan and making for Stirling. They picked a careful passage across the River Forth and the marshland, or 'carse', that surrounded it and rode southwest, over the Campsie Hills and directly towards Dun Barton. They were met as the neared the great Dun Barton rock itself, a company of men riding out to enquire who they were and what their business was. The men eyed them suspiciously until they explained that they were new come from cleansing Fife of Saxons and that they were in fact the King of Dalriada and the Lord of Loarne. Scott's reputation and fame had spread here too and he was immediately acclaimed as the Norse-slayer. Thereafter they were taken up the rock, to the hill-fort on its summit and here met Eochaid himself. He explained that he was preparing to ride to the aid of the High King, messages having been received that one of his own sons, Donald, was trying to unseat Constantine from his throne. He hoped he could intercede and avoid battle between them, bringing his warlike son to heel. Eochaid suggested that if they had matters to discuss with him that perhaps they should join him on his journey up into Moray? The presence of another of the Ri and the Norse-slayer might be helpful he thought in sobering his son and turning him from his foolish path. Scott and Gabrain readily agreed and sent most of their force on to Oban to take messages. They kept a small group of twenty or so as guards and set out with Eochaid for the journey north. Their route was awe-inspiring but difficult. Up through Strath Tay and across Atholl before winding their way through the Grampian and Cairngorm Mountains. Scott revelled in the early summer weather and the glorious, if daunting mountain scenery. As they rode he raised the subject of securing coal from Ayrshire. Eochaid was very offhand in his response - indicating that the area was largely lawless and if Scott felt the need to visit it and could defend himself then he was welcome to do so. Scott found the older man somewhat blunt and just a little too direct for his liking but managed to remain civil enough as they followed the River Garry northwards across Atholl and then the River Spey through the mountains. With his objective achieved Scott simply enjoyed the rest of the journey with Gabrain. At the foot of Strat Spey they forked slightly northwest and eventually crossed the miles of Drummossie Muir, now nearing Inver Ness. Here on the banks of the River Ness, winding its way down to the great Moray Firth, they found the High King with a host of around four thousand men. As they rode up Constantine recognised Eochaid and he made directly for them. "Strathclyde! Your brat has gone too far this time. I mean to teach the pup a lesson he won't forget in a hurry, teach him who is master in this Scotland!" Eochaid paled under this verbal onslaught, but to his credit he responded firmly enough. "Your Grace, I am sorrowed that one of my own should be in open rebellion. If you will but give me a few days I am sure I can talk some sense into the boy." "Talk some sense into him? Are you mad man, I want his head for this, will never again be able to turn my back on the man without waiting for him to stick a dirk in it!" Just then a small band of mounted men came galloping along the riverbank. They drew to a halt and their leader made a rushed report to the High King. "Your Grace, he is dead, Donald mac Eochaid, dead, slain by one of his own captains!" "What foolishness is this man, do you dare cozen me? Is this some ploy of the pup to escape my wrath?" "Not so your Grace, we have it from the mouth of the man who struck the blow, have seen the body ourselves." The man broke off as he heard the strangled cry escaping from Eochaid's lips. Eochaid's face had turned pale and haunted as he whipped his horse's head around and galloped off, presumably to investigate his son's death. Constantine questioned the messenger further but it seemed definite enough. Donald had apparently started a drunken argument with one of his captains and, in a rage, the man had pulled a dirk from his belt and stabbed Donald once in the chest, killing him. For the High King it almost seemed as if this was an anticlimax, as if he had been looking forward to testing his strength against the other. Scott tried to give him an update on all that had transpired in Fife but Constantine hardly seemed interested. Another sign of Kingly fickleness perhaps? When Scott suggested that there was little reason for Gabrain and himself to long remain at Inver Ness, Constantine agreed and all but dismissed them. The pair re-joined their little party of horsemen and set off for Oban, glad to be out of the rancorous atmosphere. On this leg of their journey they crossed over the River Ness and followed the banks of Loch Ness south-westwards. The loch ran for over twenty miles before it narrowed and only a thin strip connected it to Loch Lochy. The crossed here and rode via Kinlochleven, and down the length of Loch Etive until they reached Loarne once more. Scott spent the next few days simply relaxing after so much travel. He visited the shipyard and was delighted to see the finishing touches were now being applied to the last of the ten new longships. He told his shipwrights to launch eight but to hold two back as he might want to play with their design a little. He immediately tasked one of the new ships with taking six handpicked men north to try to gain intelligence on what the Vikings might be up to. He was amused when he went to look out over a field of grain and found that little groups of Loarne people were coming to look on it too, but with amazement, amazement at seeing so much grain being grown in the one place at the one time. To them this represented vast wealth, food for many years and this more than anything perhaps raised Scott's standing as a worthy lord indeed. He was also delighted to see the, admittedly much smaller, crops of carrot, onion and cabbage doing well. He knew that he would be able to gradually increase the amount he grew as his seed store improved year on year. He had also encouraged his monks to cultivate the berry canes that up until now had grown wild on the edges of woodland. Now there were neat serried rows of raspberry and blackberry, well tended and beginning to flower. The monks were keen to show him how well his vines were flourishing too, but he was dismayed to see monks toiling up the terraced hill with buckets of water to keep the plants watered. He reminded himself that he had planned to harness the Archimedes Screw to help with this and promised that he would set that in train as soon as possible, to spare these churchmen the hard labour they were currently experiencing. He had chosen waterways close to Taynuilt as the site for his flourmill and he was impressed by how well his builders had done, harnessing the power of the water as it rushed down from mighty Ben Cruachan itself. The water-wheel was turning steadily and when he looked inside the mill he could see the huge mill-stone already operating, a newly appointed miller gearing himself up for the autumn's harvest. Scott met with his craftsmen and went over the designs for building a wagon. They had already produced basic wagons/trolleys for transporting goods to and from his warehouse so this was merely an extension of that, incorporating the facility to harness horses to pull it. Following his own experience after being wounded in Fife, Scott discussed the possibility of setting up a 'medical corps' with Fiona and Eilean. Some basic form of field hospital could have a significant benefit and the girls were enthusiastic - both about the benefits such an innovation would bring but also at the prospect of perhaps being able to go campaigning with Scott. He could tell by their manner that the girls were up to something but they wouldn't divulge what it was, simply telling him that they were sure he was eventually going to enjoy it. He knew it was pointless trying to persuade them to share whatever it was, experience had told him he would just have to wait and take what was coming to him. Scott had another set of issues he was trying to address. He had recovered most of the horses he had lost during the night time attack in Fife but he had lost men and now he was determined to make sure that the wives and families of those affected were looked after by the lordship. He knew that women in this time were almost inured to loss and harsh treatment but he was damned if it was going to happen when he was in charge. He designated a number of houses as quarters for these people and ensured sufficient food was allocated to them. Men were also appointed to see to the needs of this group. The arrangements had the added advantage of establishing the women as a recognisable group of available women for single men to woo, all in all a significant improvement over what had happened before. Two other areas consumed his discussion time with Gabrain: the possibility of developing armour - for both personal and ship/wagon use; and power. He knew he could produce armour but also that his horses were not big or strong enough to carry armour clad men. He had already considered ironclad ships and had ruled them out. He was racking his brains for a way to exploit armour - some kind of armoured car? He also knew the rudiments of steam, how difficult could that be? You heated water and produced steam and then used it to drive things. His main problems here were the absence of instrumentation to allow him to measure and control pressure and the ratio of weight involved in terms of a tank of water, the necessary fuel and the method of converting the steam to kinetic energy. He had already harnessed hydropower for his mill and had considered wind power too. He had been toying with the idea of propellers and was trying to find some simple way of putting some of these ideas together, so far without success. "Fuck!" He said out loud. The level of frustration he was feeling was growing. He had all kinds of ideas in his head, knew of many everyday objects from his time that would have enormous benefits here, but he couldn't recreate them due to the limitations in his knowledge or of the available technology. No rubber - fuck! No plastics - crap! What wouldn't he give for a fucking tomato or a potato? Fries! Shit, he dreamed about them sometimes! Antibiotics - yes, please! It was difficult to deal with. And he knew that at every step, if he made a wrong move, it could have disastrous consequences. Gabrain had helped to explore the various ideas, probing what could be done and sympathising with Scott when restrictions became obvious. He tried to cheer himself up and compensate for this by throwing himself into the work to build defences along the Loarne coast. The four chosen sites were now well developed and Scott looked to establish towers in each that would facilitate signalling between the units. He had worked with his craftsmen, adapting the same technology he had developed to produce a hand turned lathe, to develop a grinding stone. This was being used to help develop lenses. Scott had a number of uses in mind for lenses. The first was signalling, helping his men pass messages from the towers to help warn and direct his manpower. The second was the development of telescopes that could be used in many situations. The appearance of Saltire flags around the lordship both surprised and delighted him. The people seemed to have accepted and adopted this device and his heart swelled at such a well-recognised emblem of his nation from his time, stirring, uplifting, proud. There were other smaller improvements that Scott looked to introduce. The fact that horses didn't have recognisable saddles and tack like stirrups were obvious areas to address. He knew that better saddles would also help with cavalry manoeuvres, acting as bolsters to things like lance and spear attacks. Scott spotted his wives around the camp with another woman and began to develop an idea of what they might be up to. The woman was highly desirable he thought, but he was not interested, despite what his wives might be thinking up. The summer proved quiet and allowed his craftsmen to get on with their projects. When autumn and harvest time rolled round, he had already tested the machines that would help him harvest the significantly increased grain crop and a huge crowd gathered to see the flourmill begin operations. The first produce of the mill was packed in sacks and loaded onto the first wagon that had been developed. This was the produce that Scott had promised Murdoch to sustain Fife. Instead of raw grain, Scott would deliver flour as an added bonus for Murdoch. The people of Loarne scratched their heads as they witnessed how much easier it was to grind the grain using the mill. At this rate the vastly increased quantity would be processed in a shorter time than had ever been achieved in the past. The new vegetables were also harvested and once again the Loarne people came in their droves to witness this. Scott had of course explained that these were new food crops but none of these people had ever seen, let alone tasted, a carrot. Scott had squads ready to wash all the vegetables as they were harvested and then set up an operation to crate and store the vast majority of them for use over the ensuing months. Some he had cooked immediately so that all could have a taste. The people were delighted in this simple pleasure and Scott explained how broths and stews could be improved by using these new ingredients. Fiona's pregnancy was progressing without complication and everyone could see that Scott was growing increasingly protective and solicitous of her. He was saddened by the memory of his involvement in the birth of little Tina, the feeling of heart bursting pride as he had helped her into the world. He had decided he wanted to be present for the birth once more in the hope that some measure of that feeling could be recreated. Scott had returned to brick making too and he was thinking of embarking on perhaps his most ambitious project yet - the building of a sewer under the Oban/Dun Ollaigh camp all the way down to the sea. He had seen documentaries on TV of the Victorian sewers in London and knew that they were brick built. He thought that it might take a number of years to complete but was in favour of giving it a try. He was quite sure that the level of human waste generated by the camp would have no impact on the sea so didn't worry about an environmental disaster. His wagon returned from Fife, trailed by a herd of some seventy-five horses, payment for the load of flour that Scott had despatched. There was also a message of thanks from Murdoch to Scott and a promise that he would indeed open up a port so that merchants would begin to call. He suggested that Scott might want to help by advising in the design and in discussing what would be traded. This news delighted Scott. The possibility of opening up a continental trade route was very attractive to him. As autumn progressed peacefully, Scott began to drill his people to make sure that the new defences were working effectively. The signalling was very basic in nature but nonetheless it achieved what it needed to achieve, which was alerting men and moving them quickly to where they would be most needed. The new lenses helped focus and magnify his signal lanterns or mirrors when it was sunny, and the strategic placement of the towers now meant his whole western seaboard was watched over. Scott was sure this was a huge leap forward in safeguarding against future Norse raiding. He could see that the Loarne people also appreciated the difference the defences represented. September was almost over when Scott heard his name being called by a woman of the settlement. He was in discussions with his builders about the proposal to build a sewer, but immediately broke off, realising this could be only one thing - Fiona had gone into labour. He rushed towards the house, hoping that he would not be too late, and once more experienced the conflicting emotions of concern over the pain his wife was going through and awe at what was taking place. Eilean was calm and in control - something about these kinds of situation perhaps that women responded to in a different way to men. Fiona's labour was much longer than Kirsty's had been, all through the afternoon and into the evening. Scott really began to worry as he saw how exhausted she was becoming. Eilean was soothing her and trying to stop her from giving in to her natural inclination to push, she kept telling Fiona that it wasn't time yet. Scott simply held Fiona's hand and whispered support. "I can see the baby's head," said Eilean, "now Fiona, now is the time to push." Scott moved to the foot of the bed but this time Eilean was all business and didn't allow him to assist with the baby's entry into the world. He still felt his heart almost stopping as the head and one shoulder slowly emerged and then the remainder of the body in something of a rush. Eilean wrapped the infant in clean linen and handed it to Fiona, returning to her task of dealing with the umbilical cord and the placenta. Scott walked round the bed, his eyes large and unblinking as he looked down on his wife and new child. Fiona's hair was plastered to her forehead with the exertion of birth and she was clearly very tired. She flicked the linen aside and smiled weakly up at Scott. "A son my Lord, I have given you a son." She looked at Scott who was standing there, struck dumb, tears rolling down his cheeks but a smile playing on his lips. ------- Chapter 10: autumn/winter 874 AD "David mac Scott mac Fergus. I like it, he already sounds like a man with something about him." Said Fiona. They had both agreed on the name David for the boy. Scott thought he could remember his biblical studies suggested the name meant 'beloved' and had been the name of the second King of Israel - a noted warrior and poet. The baby appeared lively and healthy, certainly had nothing wrong with his lungs if the squalling was anything to go by, and he was feeding greedily from his mother's breast. Scott was continually trying to get him from Fiona so he could simply hold the tot, but Fiona scolded him that feeding came before any male bonding! Scott caught sight of Eilean smiling at mother, father and child before turning away, a trace of tears in her eyes he thought. Perhaps his senses were returning to normal because he had an inkling as to what might be wrong with his other 'wife'. Gabrain's birth had been a difficult one and Eilean had bled quite a bit. She was now sure that she couldn't have any further children. Scott sensed that the birth of David was a bitter sweet experience for her, joy for him and Fiona but pain as she was reminded that she wouldn't have the chance to experience the same joy in providing him, them, with a child. Scott hugged Fiona and stood to go to Eilean. He wrapped his arms around from behind, pulling her body to him and dropping his head to whisper in her ear. "I know you are happy for us, and once more you did a fantastic job at the birth. You know we both love you little elf. I also sense your pain. You believe that you and I will not be able to share this same joy together don't you?" Eilean's initial response was a loud sob, and then she nodded her head slightly, confirming what Scott had suspected. "I would love to have a child with you, and if it inherited its mother's looks it would be a beautiful child indeed. What will be, will be. At least we can have the fun of trying, and I will never tire of that with such a sweet elfin lovely. And remember, Fiona won't be able to do anything for weeks so we will have plenty of time together!" This made Eilean giggle and she turned in his arms to return his embrace and kiss him gratefully. Scott and Gabrain made another trip to Fife to discuss the establishment of a port with Murdoch. A site was chosen, the coastline offering many natural anchorages, and Scott worked with Murdoch's craftsmen to design a harbour and warehousing etc. Scott also discussed with Murdoch the kinds of things that could be traded. He suggested that Murdoch could do worse than begin to cut timber, as he believed there would a market for the many hardwoods that Fife had access to. Murdoch was doubtful but knew Scott seemed to have a knack for this kind of thing so agreed he would give it a try. Back at Oban some of Scott's 'spies' had returned from the north with ominous news. It seemed that a fresh influx of Danes had taken on and defeated the remnants of the force that Scott had himself defeated the year before. This could mean that Scott would be faced with renewed raiding, these newcomers not having the same experiences of Scott's abilities as a commander and not so wary of attacking Dalriada. Scott and Gabrain immediately set to work with his shipwrights and other craftsmen to add touches to his new longships in readiness for possible battle. Scott also exercised his coastal defences once more to ensure they were vigilant, well prepared and ready. Messengers were despatched to Lachlan and Colmgil to alert them to the possibility of a new Viking threat. With the harvest already in, Scott had the full manpower of the lordship at his disposal and he established greater numbers at each of his four coastal sites. Two weeks after sending the messengers, Lachlan and Colmgil arrived at Oban with four fully manned longships. Scott had his craftsmen fit the new touches to these ships too so that his good friends would have the same advantages as himself. It wasn't long before his lookout towers were reporting sightings of what appeared to be Norse ships off the coast, a lot of activity. Scott decided that it would be a good idea to send out some patrols to gauge the level of Norse activity and to better appraise their numbers. Gabrain suggested that it might be a better idea to put on a show of force, as this might be enough in itself to deter any planned raids. "Another great idea my Lord King!" Said Scott. So, fourteen Scots longships sailed out of Oban and beat down the Firth of Loarne and out into the open seas around Mull. No sooner had they passed between the foot of Mull and the island of Colonsay and they saw a cloud of smoke off to the northwest. Scott's face grew grim as he estimated that the smoke was coming from the direction of Iona. The made good speed in that direction and confirmed that it was Iona that had been attacked. "No," breathed Scott, "please let it not be so, not 'I Challuim Chille', not Iona again, please no!" The devastation was awful. The monk's bodies were hacked and dismembered, blood and filth strewn over the sacred buildings, the standing stone thrown down. It seemed the Norse had shown themselves wise to the defences that Scott had set up, landing elsewhere on the island and then rampaging through the populace. He could feel the strength of anger amongst the men with him, their love of and devotion to this sacred island giving rise to deep resentment. Once back aboard their ships it was clear that the Scots were desperate for retribution. This was no longer a show of strength, but rather all were now focussed on trying to track down the culprits. Scott split his force into seven pairs and sent them out looking for the Danes. He had ordered them not to engage but to rendezvous again with each other so that their total numbers could be brought to bear to make a telling contribution. Scott took one other ship and headed in the direction of Tiree, but before he had gone two miles one of his men urgently gestured to another pall of black smoke in the sky behind them. They turned about and made the best speed they could back the way they had come. Scott nervously chewed the flesh on the inside of his cheek as it began to look as if the smoke was coming from the Loarne coast. "Please god no, not again." He whispered to himself. All around him men redoubled their efforts as they too began to realise where the smoke was coming from. Two other pairs of boats came into sight, four more of his own boats he could tell by their banners, also heading back to Loarne. As darkness fell they continued to row having identified that the smoke had been coming from the area of Crinan. Tired men drew near to Crinan as the day dawned and they could identify that the smoke had indeed been from there but not from burning buildings, rather from burning oil that had covered the water of the bay. It seemed that the port had felt the need to light their defences so the odds were that the Vikings had been here. Frantic signalling ashore elicited the information that there had been eight longships and that they had headed northwards once the oil was fired. Scott guessed that they must have passed them returning to Crinan, perhaps the Norse had been sheltered for the night behind the islands of Scarba or Luing. He led his six ships back northwards along the coast, sending three into Asknish Bay and on into Loch Melfort, while he himself sailed on towards Oban. His coastal defence site at Easdale was alert and spotted his approach, signalling that eight Viking ships had passed them heading north only hours before and they had passed this information to the next site at Barrnacarry. His men advised that the Vikings had sailed close to take a look at the Easdale camp but had apparently decided it was not worth attacking or that it looked too heavily defended. The sense of frustration and anxiety was growing as they passed up the coast and signals from Barrnacarry confirmed that the Danes had passed here also. The tower at Oban had signalled back to inform them that they had probed into Oban bay a little way, before turning about and heading up the Sound of Mull. Scott followed cautiously; knowing he was outnumbered eight to three and knowing his men were tired. They passed the landmass of Morvern and continued on towards Ardnamurchan, swinging west around the tip of Mull. The island of Coll was directly ahead of them and so were twenty Viking ships, the eight he had been chasing now looking to join up with others. He ordered his three ships to hug the Mull shoreline, hoping this would stop the Vikings from spotting them, their masts harder to pick out with the land behind them. He ordered the men manning the oil pots with the hand pumps to prepare themselves and for the nets to be strung up to protect them from any Norse oil pots. This approach had worked before and he didn't see how the Danes could guard against it. He watched as the Norse forces converged and chose this moment to try and gain an advantage. He exhorted his already tired men to seek to close the gap with the nearest group of eight Viking ships as quickly as possible. It was clear that they had been spotted while they were still over a mile away because the Viking ships turned to face them. Scott thought eight against three were acceptable odds in the circumstances, certainly better than he had faced at Dunaverty the year before. He called for the captains of the other two vessels to close up on him, the three of them forming a longship version of his favourite cavalry wedge. As the Danes closed, Scott called for all three ships to begin to use another of his new additions to his ships - ballistas. These were in effect scaled up crossbows set on a stand to improve their stability; their torsion springs made from animal sinew. Their range was up to five hundred yards but only really effective at perhaps half of that. They fired bolts of around six to eight inches in length. The first few shots from each of his ships missed their mark but as the range shortened more and more were impacting on the Vikings with noticeable discomfort amongst their ranks. Scott's formation didn't allow the Danes to use their normal tactics and this time all eight ships came on line abreast. As both sides sought to raise their oars to avoid collision, Scott's ship, at the centre of his wedge, was not in danger of having its oars sheared and could therefore continue to row. He took advantage of this now by surging forward and swinging hard to port to ram the Viking ship on that side as it passed. Another of Scott's adaptations now came into play. He had had the prow of his ships re-inforced with metal plates and these now helped to bite through the timbers of the Norse vessel. All the while his men were raining crossbow bolts across the short gap between the ships and these were taking a terrible toll on the Vikings. A party of his men now jumped from the prow of his ship to finish off the Norse and then returned as Scott disengaged from the side of the stricken craft. The speed of his attack and the firepower he had brought to bear ensured that none of the seven remaining Norse ships could turn in time to help their friends. Scott's two other ships had not engaged either and so now it was seven Norse ships versus three Scots. Having tipped his hand with the ramming manoeuvre, Scott now signalled to his other ships to separate and begin to fight independently of each other. He signalled to his own captain to aim their ship at one of the Viking ships in the centre of the seven and they beat towards it. This time Scott and the captain ensured their boat ran as close along the side of the Viking boat as the raised oars would allow. As they passed, the oil pumps sprayed oil onto the Norse ships and a flaming arrow set it on fire. Crossbows once more poured dart after dart into the Danes too and by the time they had passed Scott felt this ship was all but out of the fight. He looked round anxiously to see how his other two ships had fared and could see they had achieved similar results. That meant that only four of the original eight Viking ships remained fully effective and he watched as they hastily retreated towards the other twelve Viking ships that had been sailing towards them. Scott was now faced with a difficult decision. There were sixteen Viking longships facing him and he had three. Even he decided these odds were too much and he signalled to his captains to head south and run towards where he hoped his other ships might be located. A spurt and their angled direction took them past the Danes and south towards Iona. The fact that they had watched him deal with four ships so easily possibly made the Norse pause and that helped him pass them and into the open sea beyond. He had now completed a complete circuit of Mull and was passing the sacred isle that had been the scene of the recent Viking atrocity. Night was again falling as they passed Iona and Scott had been taking the opportunity of 'spelling' his rowers but he still knew his men were at the edges of their endurance. Still, he couldn't afford to let them rest and he used his compass to guide them eastwards towards the coast of Dalriada. After several more hours he knew he had to allow his heroic oarsmen rest and he called the other ships in close for mutual protection. Only a few hours later dawn broke and Scott was alarmed to see the Vikings close behind them. He angled towards the Sound of Loarne, still hopeful that some of his other ships would appear. He was frantically thinking about how he could deal with the situation - his first instinct was to head for his defences in Loarne, but then he grew concerned that he would be leading this large number of Norse towards his people, putting them in harms way. He swung south again and headed for the gap between the island of Scarba and the tip of Jura. His men quailed as they recognised where he was headed - the straight of Corrievrechan. The Norse followed closely behind and Scott urged his men to keep their pace up. He had them hug the Jura side of the straight and had a man throw small rags of cloth into the water in an attempt to gauge the pull of the infamous Corrievrechan whirlpool. As they rounded a headland Scott signalled frantically for his ship captains to cast their anchors into the shallows and rocks here while the Vikings couldn't see them. The carried on forward after the anchors had been dropped. Very soon his oarsmen began to exclaim about the pull of the whirlpool. Scott let them continue on for a few hundreds yards before screaming to them to reverse their sweeps. The Norse saw an opportunity to bring the Scots to battle and six of the longships surged forward. They closed the gap quickly and didn't seem to recognise the added pull that was helping them. The ropes attached to the Scots' anchors were now taut and raised above the water level and the Vikings could now see what they had done. Scott's men looked anxiously toward the anchors, knowing that if they failed or the ropes snapped they would almost certainly be doomed. The Danes were perhaps two hundred yards from the Scots, when noises of alarm began to sound from their oarsmen. Scott watched as the Vikings desperately tried to reverse their rowing, frantic to try and escape the pull of the whirlpool. He could see the two furthest away make some headway, backing up the straight, while the other four were slowly, inexorably, drawn past them and in towards the centre of the whirlpool. The Loarne men watched quietly, perhaps thinking of their own potential fate, as the Vikings were sucked into the vortex. It was eerie to watch as the ships slowly dipped below the sea level, drawn down into the whirlpool, all attempts to row now abandoned. Some of the Danes leapt overboard in a vain attempt to save themselves but they perished quickly. The remaining Norse ships held off, watching their friends swirl to their deaths. Once all four ships had disappeared the remaining Norsemen sailed back towards the open seas. Scott urged his men to pull on the anchor ropes to get out of the pull of the whirlpool. It seemed to take a long time before they made any impression on the surge, no gain evident. But at last they could see that they were hauling in the rope, inch by inch. The men were still extremely tired but the fact that they were making an impression, the spectacle of the fate the Vikings had suffered, seemed to lend additional strength to those manning the rope and almost snail like they began to edge back towards the Jura shoreline. The oarsmen were pulling with all their might on their oars as the spare men were pulling on the ropes and gradually they managed to pull out of the current. Scott led his three ships through the remainder of the straight, hugging the Jura coastline until they were through and into the Sound of Jura. Scott could see his men breathe a sigh of relief. There were no lingering thoughts of revenge for the Iona despoliation, the men too tired, exhausted by three days of almost continual rowing. They made their way the short distance to Crinan and anchored to rest and recuperate. The twelve Viking ships made their way northwards, stunned by the losses they had suffered. Scott's other ships encountered them, shepherding them north and out of Dalriadan waters. Two days later all of the Scots ships had re-gathered at Oban and Scott, Gabrain, Lachlan and Colmgil met ashore. They debated whether they should follow the Danes north to fully avenge the raid on Iona, the Norse surely now weakened and ripe for finishing off. Scott sensed the mood of the men and knew if they didn't follow up there would be a feeling of resentment, almost a feeling of being denied their due. Fiona and Eilean also pitched in and demanded retribution for the attack on the sacred isle. Scott was quite taken aback by how vehement they were, more so than the men! The ships were re-stocked with bolts and oil and Scott led them out once more, up the Sound of Mull and north, aiming for Dunaverty. They sailed up the Hebridean Sea; squalls of rain making the trip uncomfortable. There was a real sense of disappointment when they found the loch completely empty. They sailed round Skye and then the islands of Harris and Uist but couldn't find any concentration of Norse at all. It looked as if they had removed themselves even further north and the Dalriada ships had to return to Oban, their bloodlust unsatisfied. Scott's first priority on his return was to set in train work to establish better defences for Iona. His coastal settlements in Loarne seemed to have worked well and he determined that he would extend them to the large island of Mull and little Iona to try and make sure this would be the last time the sacred isle suffered in this way. He also discussed another project with Fiona and Eilean. His recollection from his own time was that females seemed to do better at school than males, seemed to be able to apply themselves to their studies better somehow. He had come to the growing conclusion that trade wasn't necessarily going to be the ultimate legacy he could leave his people - rather it could be education. His experiences so far had shown trade was a difficult concept for some of the Scots to get excited about and he now realised that his history had shown it was actually education that made the greatest impact. He discussed with the girls whether it would be possible to use the widowed women to create schools for the children in each of his settlements. Of course, the women themselves would first of all have to learn to read and write; something that had been denied them up until now. Fiona and Eilean were very enthusiastic about this and greatly encouraged him to make it happen. Scott was walking through the area that housed his craftsmen, Gabrain at his side, when another idea crystallised in his head. This was a big one and he couldn't believe how slow he had been. "Doh!!" He said out loud, "for fuck's sake how stupid can you be!" "What is it Scott, what's wrong?" Asked Gabrain, surprised by the force of Scott's outburst. "Concrete Gabrain, concrete! I should have thought of it when we used mortar to floor the store shed in Aird Driseig. We can make concrete, have steel too, so we could harness re-inforced concrete. My plans for building a sewer could be greatly accelerated if we could make moulds and create concrete pipes! Housing, defensive walls! How fucking slow am I!" "Scott, you rant man, what are you talking about?" Scott explained the concept of concrete - basic shuttering to help shape the poured concrete, how steel rods and rebars could be used to strengthen the concrete and what all this could mean in terms of the speed of build and the durability of structures. Gabrain caught on quickly and he too became excited at what they could achieve with this advance. They both recognised they would need access to a significantly increased amount of limestone to realise the plans that they were already dreaming up. Scott also had other ideas that he didn't try to advance - like the bikini and sexy underwear! But others that occurred to him held out real promise. While trying to come up with a way to use steam he had randomly thought of a pressure cooker. The weighted 'knob' on top of the old types of pressure cooker used the simple concept of weight versus the steam pressure so that a given level of pressure could raise the weight and let steam release to ensure the pot didn't explode. Scott thought that pressure cookers would be a useful addition to the lordship but extended his thinking further to think about scaling the same concept up so that he could use a greater volume of water/steam, but still do so safely. He knew what he was working towards with this. The hand pumps and oil had proven very effective with the Vikings but he wanted to try and substitute steam for the oil. He could flay the skin off of the Danes, kill them with steam, and then use their ships afterwards. His business administration training was once more raising its head - the burnt ships were a waste and he wanted to correct that. He made for the house to spend some time with the girls and little David, mulling over how he could put these latest ideas into practice and berating himself for not progressing the idea of the underwear! ------- Chapter 11: autumn/winter 874/875 AD Scott and Gabrain arrived back at the house to find the girls had a guest. Scott recognised her as the girl they had been walking around the camp with for some weeks and months. He was immediately on his guard, suspicious of the girls' motives. Nonetheless he couldn't help look the girl over now that he was up close. She was slim, almost boyish, had dark skin and doe-like eyes. He had to admit to himself that she was a stunning girl. Eilean introduced the girl as Hella, smiling knowingly at Scott as she did so. Hella proved to be bright and full of fun, much taken with little David and clearly already good friends with Fiona and Eilean. They shared a meal of stew and bread, Fiona letting the baby suckle at her breasts. Gabrain excitedly explained the new idea Scott had come up with for concrete and what they believed they could achieve with it. Scott caught Hella give him a curious look but thought nothing of it. The girls were volunteering ideas on what should be built using the concrete, what the priorities should be. Fiona encouraged Scott to start with school buildings so that he could advance the notion of education for all. Eilean thought that a new house for them all should be first. Scott opened a jar of wine and poured beakers for all of them. The wine led to a lowering of the girls' inhibitions and they began to allude to Scott spending time with Hella quite openly. Gabrain was grinning at Scott's obvious discomfort, especially when Hella began to make it clear that she was by no means averse to the girls' suggestions. Scott managed to remain calm throughout the teasing and tried to bring the episode to an end suggesting it was time they all turned in. Fiona tried one last time to suggest that Hella should 'turn in' with them, but quietened when she saw the look on Scott's face. They said their goodbyes to Hella and Scott saw her to the door. She paused in the doorway and turned to kiss him quickly on the lips. He ushered her out of the door and returned to his place in front of the fire. "What do you know of this girl?" He asked Fiona and Eilean. "We know that she is interested in trying out your staff-beast and your bedroom skills!" Replied Fiona with a leer. "And we know that you are interested in her!" Added Eilean. "Why have you taken against her so Scott? Asked Fiona. "I have nothing against little Hella, but I have no wish to be intimate with her, beautiful though she may be. My cup is more than full with both of you!" "But Scott..." "No, wait! I don't know what I'm doing. Okay, she is beautiful; you both clearly know my tastes. I will stop denying you because in the end I know you will get your own way anyway. But see you, I need to feel something for her before I will make love to her. It has been that way with Kirsty and with both of you and I will not have it any different now." The girls clapped their hands and jumped up and down, excited by the fact that Scott had capitulated. The next day Scott decided that he should take his son and show him round the lordship, cementing his position with the population. He had them stay over at Kilchrenan for several days while he reviewed progress on bringing on the various plant species with the monks. He was shown the plants that had been grown from the second pouch of seeds that the merchants had left behind. Scott clearly recognised the foliage of turnip and the classic red veined leaves of what looked like beetroot. The monks also showed him a sprawling mass of plants that he identified as peas. He explained to the monks how these should be trained to grow up stakes rather than allowed to trail along the ground. He also visited the terraced hill where his vines were planted. He had followed through on his promise to save the monks the need to carry water up the hill by developing the Archimedes Screw. This involved a single metal 'screw' that was housed within a pottery sheath. The top end of the screw had a handle and the bottom was housed in a socket within a basin of water. When the handle was turned the screw carried water up its length and deposited it into a second basin. A further screw assembly carried the water yet further up the hill to another unit until eventually it was allowed to irrigate down the terrace, watering the vines as it went. Scott was delighted that the whole concept worked exactly as he had imagined it. The monks showed him the growing stock of barrels containing various wines and whisky as they matured. He was allowed to sample a taste of mead that had been made from the honey collected by the monks. It was a little too sweet for his taste but he complimented the monks nonetheless. This stop had let Scott know that his production of alcoholic drinks was progressing well and also that future years would have the prospect of even more additions to the diet of his people. It had also given the people of Kilchrenan the opportunity of seeing young David and recognising their lord had a healthy heir. They moved on to spend some time at Taynuilt, visiting the miller and his water wheel mill. A further idea occurred to Scott when he visited the mill and saw the flour particles floating in the air. He remembered an experiment he had undertaken in school chemistry, which involved a syringe and flour. When the flour was ejected out of the syringe and set alight it was impressive to say the least, highly flammable. He seemed to recall that part of the lesson was that this had made mills dangerous places to work in, prone to fires. He filed this away for possible future exploitation. Hella was a single woman and they had brought her with them on their tour. Scott found himself becoming increasingly fond of the girl, her lively personality, intelligence and looks making that quite easy indeed. The next stop was Inveraray. Inveraray had always been one of Scott's favourite places in his own time and nothing about the ninth century had changed that. He and Gabrain met with the settlement's builders and sketched out a design for a house using concrete. He had decided that he wanted his main house to be here and with some irony he chose the site that would end up being where the Duke of Argyll's castle would eventually end up. All around people were astounded at how quickly the structure took shape. Within a week the foundation and concrete pillars leading up to what would be the second floor were in place, the re-inforcing steel rods protruding to give the base for tying the concrete in for the second floor. Scott also worked with the builders and the potters to create moulds for roof tiles, aiming to make this Inveraray house solid indeed. He explained to the builders how they should use shuttering, supported from below by a phalanx of wooden props, to create the base for pouring the concrete for the floor of the upper storey. He explained how they should use a lattice of steel to re-inforce the floor. The extended stay at Inveraray while the building was going on allowed them to enjoy the various shellfish delicacies that were now being nurtured in the loch. Perhaps it was the diet of oysters or maybe it was just that his close proximity to Hella was beginning to tell on him, but Scott felt himself increasingly drawn to the young girl. He spent time with her and began to build a relationship, finding her quick wit a delight. Of course, Fiona and Eilean encouraged him, indeed thought he was taking things far too slowly. Scott's idea of starting schools had caught Hella's imagination. Surprisingly, she alone amongst the women Scott had so far come across could already read and write, having convinced the monks to teach her. He now thought she would be an ideal candidate to run his first school and set his builders to work erecting a simple concrete structure that would act as a school hall. Hella was excited and overjoyed at Scott's confidence in her and she was looking forward to taking on her new role. She threw herself into papermaking so that a good stock was available for her first pupils. Once again Gabrain showed his own increasing ability to think the way that Scott had been trying to teach him. He remembered how Scott had suggested looking at patterns of things, of putting existing ideas together and perhaps extending them as a way of making improvements and advancements. One afternoon he was sitting with Scott when he came up with a suggestion. "Scott, this of schools and teaching all of the children to read and write, couldn't we use the same idea in another way?" "How so Gabrain?" Replied Scott. "I was thinking that we could perhaps have some of the older children who show an aptitude, work with the craftsmen to learn their craft. By so doing we could significantly increase the numbers of skilled men we would have access to. That could help speed up how quickly we could make things would it not?" "Gabrain, that's an excellent idea - apprentices! You're right, we have no shortage of labour here and that would greatly increase our capacity." Gabrain always smiled hugely when he received praise from Scott and now was no different; he wore a grin for hours afterwards, pleased that his idea had met with such approval. He was even happier when he realised that Scott intended to see the idea put into practice immediately, going amongst his craftsmen and discussing the proposal with each. The suggestion was met with unanimous agreement and each craftsman said they would take on two apprentices as soon as they could identify suitable candidates. Scott and Gabrain also spent a great deal of time working with the builders on the new house, making sure everything that could be built-in was. Given how close the site was to the loch, it didn't take a huge number of concrete pipes to reach the water's edge and Scott had had his sewer plan put into action. Smaller bore pottery pipes were used to direct waste water from different areas of the ground floor of the house into the sewer and the pouring of the first level of concrete had allowed for this. The ground floor had a sunken bath area and two toilets designed in, some of the porcelain pottery used to make actual toilets and basins. Scott incorporated his 'back-boiler' technology behind the fireplaces to provide hot water and by limiting the number of points that used the hot water, he was able to minimise the degree of piping required. He also established cold water feeds that would be necessary for the basins and toilets. His potters were asked to make some coloured ceramics and use mortar to tile the sunken bath. Another innovation he had come up with was a very simple cooking range and he had his smiths cast a double freestanding range that would burn wood. The range would provide heat as well as being used for cooking. With a built-in oven, it could also be used for bread making and the like. The girls were delighted with it, almost as much as they were delighted at the prospect of using the sunken bath. Fiona had been making a special batch of scented soap, this one more liquid, and Scott could see a bubble bath was in the planning. With the house and school well on the way to completion they continued their tour, riding westwards to skirt the foot of Loch Awe and then northwards to Kilmelford. Hella was so gripped with her project that she elected to stay behind at Inveraray to oversee the School's completion. Once again Scott let the people of the settlement see little David and he reviewed how his improvements were progressing. While sitting down to an evening meal, Eilean made an interesting observation. "I think that Hella is going to have her work cut out. I don't know if it's true, but there seems to be a lot more children than normal. Is it just my imagination?" Scott realised she was right. The combination of better food, greater security, cleanliness and simple public health techniques such as boiling water and using soap looked to be having an impact on the mortality rates, particularly the child mortality rates. He found great pleasure in that. Surely if he achieved nothing else this was something to be proud of? After several more days of reviewing things at Kilmelford they returned to Oban/Dun Ollaigh. It had been a very worthwhile tour from Scott's perspective. He had shown his people his heir and had set in train several new improvements that could increase the lordship's capacity and capability tremendously. There was one thing that sounded a sour note however; the people had still not put the raid on Iona behind them. Scott could sense the strength of feeling that was still there, barely below the surface. He knew that it would fester over the winter if he didn't do something to address it before then. It was heading towards the end of autumn and therefore late for campaigning, but he decided he would have to mount one last attempt to bring the Vikings to book for their attack on Iona. When he saw the faces of his men as they began to gather at Oban over the next few days, he knew he had made the right decision. If it is at all possible to look grim and yet happy at the same time, then that would be how he would describe the men, grimly determined and happy at the prospect of running the Danes to ground. The ships were stocked with bolts; oil and adaptations were made to the ballistas. Scott's men were also now equipped with modified crossbows and they were delighted at the new design Scott had come up with. Scott and Gabrain kissed the girls goodbye and boarded their ship for the voyage north. They had only the ten Loarne ships this time and followed the same route as before, twenty miles up the Sound of Mull and into the Hebridean Sea. They investigated the islands of Eigg, Rum and Canna but found no signs of Norsemen, only local fishermen who likewise had had no sightings of the Danes. The next day found them sailing up Loch Dunaverty only to find that it too was still empty of Vikings. It seemed that this second trip was also going to disappoint the simmering Loarne men. Scott ordered several ships to remain on patrol, searching the surrounding islands and investigating the mainland too. Then, with little else to do, he set sail for Oban. His quick return was unlooked for and he found that the girls had taken the opportunity of his campaign to ride to Inveraray, to visit Hella and, to see how the house and school were coming along. Scott had been planning on spending the winter at Inveraray this year anyway so, after checking to make sure his coastal defences were alert and ready, he and Gabrain also rode for Loch Fyne. Of course, the girls were not expecting Scott to return so quickly, and certainly didn't expect him to appear at Inveraray. That most definitely contributed to Scott catching them in the act. On their arrival at Inveraray, Gabrain set off for the craftsmen's workshops to see how his apprentice idea was working. In the gathering afternoon gloom, Scott could see there were lights on in the new house and he made directly for it. He dismounted and had just opened the door when he heard voices. "Oh, it's so big, I can feel it, please put it in me, please, put it in" "Give it to her, can't you hear her, she's desperate for it, put it all in her!" He was sure the first voice had been Hella's but the second one was certainly Eilean's. His jaw dropped as he considered what was going on. Should he enter the house and confront them or back away? "Yes, oh yes, all the way in, give it to her, harder, harder. She loves it give her the whole length, she can take it!" Urged Eilean. He could hear flesh slap on flesh, the wet slurping sounds that obviously signified sexual intercourse. He could even gauge the frequency of the strokes she was receiving. "Uh, uh, yeeesssssss, harder, oh it's so big, so big, soooo goooodd!" Squealed Hella. "Look at her, she's taking all of it and she loves it! Harder, do it harder and then it's my turn. Oh, I need it, I need it too." Came Eilean's voice. Scott felt as if a hand had gripped his heart, as he pictured his little elf within. He could even picture the look that would be on her face. He couldn't take it any longer and stepped into the house. He took in the entire scene. The house was warm, fires burning in the fireplaces. Furniture had been made to his specifications and had been installed. One such piece was a huge bed, big enough for three or four people and it was on the bed that the action was taking place. Eilean caught movement out of the corner of her eye and she turned to see Scott in the doorway. Her eyes widened in surprise. Scott advanced slowly into the room; the entire ground floor was open plan apart from those areas where the toilets had been installed so he had a clear view of everything. On the bed, on her hands and knees facing away from him, was Hella. Behind her was Fiona and it was she who Eilean was exhorting to greater effort. Scott could see that she was naked apart from a harness, almost like a leather jock strap he thought, round her hips and upper thighs. As he got closer to the bed he could see that the harness held in place a highly polished wooden cock that Fiona was using to service Hella. The wooden dildo must have been about the same size as his own staff, just over seven inches, and Fiona was ramming it into Hella for all she was worth. Hella was clearly enjoying the treatment she was receiving. Fiona turned her head and spotted Scott but he held his finger to his lips to quieten both her and Eilean. He found the sight hugely erotic and his relief that his girls had not been 'cheating' on him was almost tangible. The combination of emotions was powerful and he could feel his staff hard as a rock, pushing his kilt up at the front. Fiona was always the most wicked of them in terms of fun and she now took the opportunity of tricking Hella. "You're imagining it's Scott, aren't you, admit it. You lust to have his huge staff in you, don't you!" She panted. "Yes, oh yes, I want him, want him badly." Replied Hella, faintly, her head buried in the quilt on the bed. "You've been dreaming about him doing exactly this to you, haven't you? Feeling him fill you up, your juices running from you as you imagine what it would feel like to have him for real." "Yes, uh, uh, harder Scott, fill me up, harder, I'm so close." Scott quickly stripped and tapped Fiona on the shoulder, indicating he wanted to take her place. He watched the wooden staff being withdrawn, the wood dark and stained by Hella's juices. "No, don't take it out, please, I'm so close!" Wailed Hella. Before she had time to realise what was happening, Scott quickly knelt behind her and pushed his hard staff all the way into her. "Aahhhhhhhhhhh!" She wailed, turning, wide eyed, to see Scott behind her. He dropped into the same kind of rhythm that Eilean had been using and Hella didn't take long to reach her orgasm, her tight sheath almost vice-like as it constricted around him. By now completely inflamed himself, he withdrew from Hella and turned to pull Eilean towards him, getting her on her knees too. "So, you need it too do you? You need it too, how badly my little elf?" He put the head of his staff against her pussy lips and could feel just how aroused she was. He slid home easily and began to pump quickly into her, reaching round with one hand to begin to stimulate her clitoris bud at the same time. He could feel and hear his heavy balls smack against her flesh on each stroke and he didn't let up, if anything starting to increase the pace and strength of his thrusts. "Oh Scott, yes, yes, I need you my love, yes, harder, please!" Scott looked to his left and he could see Fiona lapping at Hella's opening, her tongue quite clearly thrusting into the other girl and then laving her clit. Hella was responding to the oral stimulation and to the sight of Scott's hard staff thrusting into Eilean. The signs were that she wasn't far from coming again. The combined effects of her earlier arousal and Scott's staff and fingers soon had Eilean climaxing powerfully. "Aaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, yeeeeeeeeeessssssss, Scott," she cried. "Yeessss my love, yeeesssssssssss!" Scott had not climaxed himself yet and turned to Fiona now. She rolled onto her back, legs spread invitingly, as she anticipated what was coming. He knee walked between her thighs, lifting them as he inched closer and closer to her opening and feeling the silky smoothness as he entered her. Fiona started mewling immediately, pushing herself up to meet his thrusts. Scott took in the sight of Hella wriggling into the leather harness and positioning Eilean on her hands and knees in front of them. He could see Eilean's eyes widen as the wooden staff entered her, her head going back as she felt it slide up inside her. There was a wonderfully tender moment in the midst of all this wantonness, as Eilean dipped her head and shared a loving kiss with her sister wife as they both felt their respective partners stroking into them. It was this more than anything else that finally sent Scott over the edge. He plunged fully into Fiona, holding himself tightly against her as he felt himself spurt again and again. Hella was still driving into Eilean hard and fast and eventually Eilean keened out her second orgasm, the girls both then falling limply onto the bed. When Gabrain arrived at this house he took in the sight of all four of them sleeping together and smiled knowingly. Scott questioned the girls later about the contrived 'strap-on' and discovered that Fiona had designed it some time ago. She and Eilean had been using it regularly to amuse themselves while he was away from home, telling him that she had modelled it on his own staff. He told them he had found it exciting to see them use it, hot, very hot. The next idea that Scott and Gabrain came up with was an obvious one. It came to them quite by accident however. The snows had begun to fall in Inveraray as winter started to bite. There had been reports of wolves attacking stock and they had rounded up a group of men to go out and hunt them down. The snows made it relatively easy to find and follow wolf tracks and they were soon able to find where the pack was holed up. The combined firepower of twenty odd crossbows soon took care of wolves and they were preparing to return to camp when they heard a faint yapping. Gabrain and Scott went forward to investigate, their crossbows at the ready. They found a litter of wolf cubs, six of them. It was Gabrain who formulated the thought first. "Scott, why don't we take the cubs and try to rear them?" Scott didn't know why the idea of domesticating the wolves hadn't occurred to him before. The Saxons had used dogs he knew, but they were not common here in Dalriada. He agreed with Gabrain that they could prove useful. If they proved trainable they could be harnessed for hunting, herding stock and even as guard dogs. The thought of dogs sparked the thought of cats in Scott's head. He had noticed that rodents were already being attracted to his grain stores and he wondered whether they could domesticate some of the wild cats he had seen, to help control this. The wildcats were slightly larger than the domestic cats he knew from his own time. Their colouring was ideal for camouflage in the wild and they had little tufts of hair on their ears, quite cute really. The cubs were carefully caught up and taken back to Inveraray, split between a number of families who volunteered to try and train them, Gabrain claiming the largest for himself. No one was sure whether the cubs were old enough to be weaned and they had to be fed milk at first, raw meat proving difficult for them to digest. They remained the centre of attention in the otherwise dull winter weeks, the only other diversion being skiing and sledding, until a group of riders was reported as approaching the camp. The visitors were quickly identified as friendly from the Saltire flag they had flying with them and Scott came out to meet them. It seemed that his longships at Oban had been unwilling to give up the search for the Vikings and they had at last traced them to a place on the mainland, Loch Carron. Two of the riders had actually been on the longships that had come across the Danes and Scott questioned them closely as to the terrain and features of the location. Scott knew he was faced with a difficult decision. To lead an attack in the middle of winter would be very risky indeed, but his men would accept nothing less. He ordered a muster of as many men as they could horse and bade a hasty farewell to the girls, smiling as he thought they might be resorting to the use of their wooden friend again soon. Messengers were set out to raise men from the other settlements too and by the time Scott and Gabrain reached Oban there were some five hundred men available to them. Scott tasked his craftsmen with quickly building a large number of basic wooden floats and had these loaded onto the ships. Winter clothing was the order of the day and they also loaded enough skis to equip two hundred men. The weather was likely to be as big a problem as beating the Vikings, but Scott knew the attempt had to be made, so, he led four longships out to sea and headed once more for the Hebrides. It took four days of battling through heavy seas and high winds before they turned into the relative shelter of the inner Sound of Raasay on the far side of Skye. The sailed south down the Sound and then northeast up towards Loch Carron. When they were under the height of a hill called 'Bad á Chreamha' he halted the ships. They were at the very foot of Loch Carron and here the land pinched in so that the waterway was only a few hundred yards wide. Scott now had his men launch the floats and join them together to form a boom. Men were landed with oil pots and hand pumps to climb part way up 'Bad á Chreamha'. The ships were anchored out of sight and Scott led two hundred men on skis along the loch side. Each man was armed with one of Scott's adapted crossbows. They made good time through the snow and approached the Viking camp at Strath Carron carefully. Scott surveyed the tented camp through his binoculars and estimated there were somewhere in the region of fifteen hundred Norse, the fourteen longships anchored in the loch suggesting these were indeed the Norse they had been looking for. Scott had already worked out signals for controlling his men and he now led them forward, horns sounding as they ski-ed towards the Danes. The horns alerted the Norse and they began to pile out of their tents, blades and axes at the ready. Scott halted his men and arranged them in two ranks, one kneeling, and one standing. The Vikings could see there were only several hundred of the Scots and they were emboldened, beginning to charge towards them. The deep snow hampered the Norse and slowed their charge to a mere walking, stumbling pace. Scott let them get to within a hundred yards before he gave his men the order to fire. Now the nature of the crossbow adaptation became clear. Scott had fitted a simple lever action that made cocking the bow much faster and easier. He had also added a magazine on top of the crossbow that held ten bolts. His men were able to fire bolts very rapidly indeed and the short range and slow movement of the Vikings made them easy targets. For the Scots, this was easier than shooting apples in a barrel and the Norse soon recognised the heavy losses they were taking. The Danes retreated, but not before losing somewhere in the region of five hundred, dead or wounded. They now made for their ships and scrambled aboard. Scott signalled for his men to race back towards the foot of the loch, urging them to try and at least keep pace with the Norse ships. The Vikings reached the boom at Stromemore and were trying to figure out how it had got there and how to get past it when the Scots on the hill above began to pump and spray oil down on top of them. More crossbow bolts flew from the hill too and arrows set the oil alight. Scott's two hundred arrived back at their starting point and quickly loaded new bolts into their magazines, picking off any Norse who tried to use their side of the loch as an escape point. The killing was indiscriminate. The fire consumed all and any that emerged from the funeral pyre was immediately taken down by crossbow fire. After less than twenty minutes, no further activity was evident amongst the burning longships and Scott was satisfied that all the Danes were dead - a great slaughter he knew. Although quiet, Scott could tell his men were at last satisfied; sacred Iona had been avenged! ------- Chapter 12 There was a definite feeling of satisfaction amongst people on their return to Dalriada, a feeling of a job completed, unfinished business dealt with. Scott and Gabrain made their way slowly through the snow back to Inveraray and to the girls' welcome home. Scott and the two girls celebrated by christening the sunken bath, which had been finished in his absence. As he had suspected, Fiona had planned a bubble bath and her liquid soap worked perfectly. They had great fun playing around in the tub, water splashing everywhere. Gabrain took to training his wolf cub with great application. He had discussed how to approach it with Scott and had listened attentively to the tips he was given. He carried a supply of treats for the cub and kept his commands short and clear, rewarding him when he got things right. With the imagination of youth he had named the cub - Wolf! The pair became a common sight as they trooped round the camp; the cub bouncing playfully through the snow that was almost deeper than it was high. His first task had been to house-train the cub and everybody was pleased when he achieved that and the girls could escape having to clean up after him. The Inveraray cold store provided variety to their winter diet and shellfish and fish from Loch Fyne augmented that. There were plenty of vegetables and grain/flour and the people in the camp knew they had never had it so good. Scott experimented making various different types of pasta, some of it utilising the shellfish. Gabrain and the girls were quick to complement him on his culinary skills. All this of course meant that they didn't need to slaughter any of their valuable livestock unnecessarily. As has been his practice during previous winters, Scott also took time out to review what had been achieved in the past year and to think about new ideas that could be taken forward in the next one. He and Gabrain spent some evenings looking out over Loch Fyne. The house had a balcony designed into it especially for this purpose and they huddled round a glowing brazier as they chatted about where they would take Dalriada next. Scott spoke about crop rotation, helping to replenish the nutrients in the soil and keep it productive. He also remembered other techniques for preserving food such as bottling. Gabrain wondered about trying to develop better protection for horsemen, his memories of Scott's wound still clear in his mind. Scott thought about this and discussed armour with the young man, now nearly fourteen. He explained the weight of armour and why their horses weren't strong enough to cope with that. He did think they could do something with metal shields however, perhaps a different design that allowed the shield to protect the upper legs as well as the body. As they sat in companionable silence Scott stared vacantly into the fire in the brazier, daydreaming, as motes of ash rose into the night air. His focus slowly returned and he realised he was watching the ash particles, fascinated by the way they floated upwards. There was something about the motion that tickled at his thoughts, suggested something he should be aware of. "Convection!" He said. "Scott?" "Hot air rises Gabrain, see the way the ash from the fire rises? It's to do with a phenomenon called convection. Hot air rises above cooler air." "And what does that make you think of Scott?" "Hot air balloons Gabrain, hot air balloons." "Explain Scott, what is a hot air balloon?" Scott explained how an envelope of material could be used to capture hot air and that this could be used to lift the envelope up into the air. If the balloon was big enough it could carry several men high up into the sky. "Why would that be of benefit Scott? We're not birds." "No, but if we could raise men in a balloon we could see what our enemies are up to or even drop things on them from above." Gabrain had great difficulty in picturing what Scott was trying to describe, the concept completely alien to him. He could see that Scott was very excited however. Wolf yipped in his sleep at Gabrain's feet, never far away from his young master. Hella's school was a busy place during the remainder of the winter. The structure was heated at both ends by large fireplaces and all of the children of Inveraray were sent to study, no other gainful use for them being available during the snows. At first the children were resentful that they weren't being allowed to spend all of their time playing in the snow, but eventually they were bitten by the education bug. Hella's bright and fun approach to teaching helped enormously, as the children began to view the lessons as a new form of play. As the snows began to melt, Scott was busy setting new projects in motion. He had some of the women sew together a double thickness of linen into the shape of a balloon and had his woodworkers make a basket to sit under it. He tried various methods of heating air to raise the balloon but without any real success. Once more the people of the camp thought this was one of his crazier ideas. He also started strengthening of all his camps through the erection of concrete ramparts, limestone proving to be in short supply however. Scott next began to think of trade again. He had persuaded Murdoch in Fife to open up a port there and he had been working with him to build up exchange with various merchants. He felt there should be something more however, and racked his brains to think of a way of accelerating things. Eventually he decided that if the goods he needed wouldn't come to him, he would have to go to them. He would need to go to where the merchants picked up their cargo himself, see what was available and try to establish a demand for his own goods. He talked such a venture over with Gabrain and the girls and was surprised at how positive they were about it. He believed this year was less likely to see much by way of Norse raiding and it could be a good time to venture across the seas to Europe. His knowledge suggested that a visit to the Mediterranean would be worthwhile, the convergence of Arabic and African cultures surely giving access to resources that he didn't currently have? Plans were made for an early departure. Scott decided he would take five longships, loading them up with trade goods and armaments for defence. He was doubtful about taking the girls with him but it was clear they were not going to be denied and once more he knew it was pointless arguing. He called a conference with Lachlan and Colmgil to tell them of his plans and agree arrangements for the Kingdom in their absence. Both thought the planned trip was foolhardy in the extreme, but agreed to make sure that they maintained the necessary defences. Towards the end of April they set out from Oban, five ships loaded down with wine, whisky, salt and soap. They even took a dismantled wagon. Also loaded was a supply of oil pots and thousands of spare bolts for their crossbows. They sailed out to sea and then headed down the coast of what Scott knew as England and Wales, navigating the Irish Sea. All he had to go on now was his compass and a general knowledge of European geography. He set course in a southeast direction once they had passed the isles of Scilly, in the general direction of Spain he hoped. The winds were favourable and they made good distance, sighting land three days later. They followed the coastline south until they arrived at what Scott thought must be the narrow entrance to the Mediterranean, then headed east. They spotted signs of people, fishing boats, merchant ships and also began to notice the weather was becoming noticeably hotter. One area looked like it was a centre of activity, along what Scott knew as the Spanish 'Costas' from his own time. They decided to investigate. Scott had been on vacation in Spain many times and he had picked up quite a bit of the language, enough to make himself understood he hoped. When they pulled into the bay and up to a man-made harbour they created quite a stir, the locals no doubt thinking they were about to be attacked. When it became clear that no attack was going to be forthcoming, people began to approach their ships at the dockside. Scott was surprised to see that most of the locals were actually black in colour, not at all like the Spaniards he had known. It hit him then that Spain's history had been just as violent as that of Scotland, this far back in time much of the country would have been in control of the Moors. He was not surprised therefore when he couldn't make out any of the local language nor make himself understood. He fell back on that age-old remedy - sign language. It transpired they had docked in the shadows of the Sierra Nevada mountain range and nothing would do but that a small party of them had to climb one of the peaks to view the Mediterranean from on high. The view was magnificent, the sunbaked, brown land giving way to the dazzlingly turquoise sea. Flat roofed houses dotted the landscape, presumably made from mud or clay bricks and brightly coloured. The trade however, was not quite so magnificent! They did manage to conduct some, but not very much, surprisingly the soap proving to be in most demand with these Muslims. In return Scott received some fantastic bolts of cloth, silk if he wasn't mistaken. They also traded for fresh food and were soon on their way once more. They passed the Balearic Islands and sailed on towards Sardinia and Italy, landing for a while at Civitavecchia. Here Scott hired some horses and twenty of them rode the twenty or so miles to Rome itself. All agreed that Rome was an impressive sight, historic buildings existing even in the ninth century. Of course, the locals looked at them with great curiosity given their 'strange' garb and everywhere they went they attracted crowds. Too much of this made them feel extremely uncomfortable however, and they weren't long in returning to the ships. Two more weeks of sailing in the Mediterranean and calling at various ports allowed them to trade a little but to be honest, Scott was very disappointed. His own goods were not much in demand and he didn't see a lot that would progress Dalriada much. His biggest discovery was books. He had brought several churchmen, one who had studied Latin and this stood him in good stead. This was, he discovered, the period of Charlemagne and the nobility had access to schools of learning. He traded hard in Rome for a small stock of books covering what were being described as the seven 'liberal arts', all written in Latin. He felt this was his most significant find of the trip so far. The 'arts' were rhetoric, grammar, argument, music, geometry, arithmetic and astronomy. His monk assured him that the books could be translated for use back in Dalriada and Scott knew this would be a huge step forward for his education plans. Other small things were secured too. He found a source of rice and of herbs - sage, rosemary, thyme and oregano. He also found some chickens and thought these would be a useful addition to the food chain at home. Scott re-discovered the joy of eating prawns cooked in wine and garlic - delicious. He set up a range of barrels on each ship, filling them with seawater and live varieties of prawn - from the small shrimps to the larger langoustine. He was determined to try and keep them alive to see whether he could establish a stock in Loch Fyne. The girls also found other varieties of cloth and persuaded Scott to trade for them, but all in all he was disappointed. The sights and the scenery of the Mediterranean had been fantastic and the weather very warm. The richness of the varied cultures, colours, languages, tastes and smells were fantastic but he had been looking for more and they all felt out of place. After five weeks away from Scotland he decided they should head for home. There were a number of moments of drama on their return journey. The first was while they were still in the Mediterranean, when a fleet of fifteen or so dhows descended upon them. Each dhow was packed with wild looking Arabs, large, curved blades in their hands. Unfortunately for the Arabs of course, Scott's men were veterans of quite a few sea battles by now and hardly had to resort to the use of oil at all, using their crossbows to beat the pirates off. Scott had the beaten dhows searched for anything of value and then scuttled. The second incident was off the south coast of what Scott knew as England in his time. It was night time and his crews were resting, mostly asleep. Out of the darkness two ships appeared in front of them and arrows began to fly in their direction. These two however, had obviously thought they were attacking some dozy merchantmen and received a huge shock when they found themselves confronted by five war ships, crammed with war veterans armed to the teeth. The two vessels retreated very quickly indeed. Scott made one last attempt to trade the remaining wines and uisge beatha he had on board his ships and called in to what he thought must be Swansea Bay, Wales. Here they were able to make themselves understood although the Welshmen spoke a somewhat different Gaelic to their own. Once more there was little to trade for but the Welsh did have some gold and Scott eventually agreed to hand over the last of his barrels of liquor for ten large, but thin, gold coins. He also spotted some hens that looked somewhat more rugged than those he had picked up in the Mediterranean and asked for some of these to be added in to the bargain. They had been away from home for almost two months now but Scott had one final stop to make on the way. He had been planning to visit Ayrshire in search of coal and knew he would have to pass that coast enroute to Loch Fyne. This was the reason for packing a dismantled wagon. He thought with his current manpower he could easily fill one wagon with coal and haul it across country to the coast. He had also brought tools that his smith had cast for the purpose - picks and shovels. Landfall was made at Girvan. Scott left three hundred men with the ships and took two hundred and the wagon on the fifteen-mile trek inland to Dalmellington. He had wondered how he was going to be able to find the coal. He knew that this area was known for open cast mining but wasn't sure what that entailed - would he need to dig down to find the coal or not? In the event he didn't have to worry, as there were some clearly identifiable outcroppings of the black rock, sticking up out of the landscape. His men attacked these, swinging picks and using their shovels and soon had the wagon loaded up. The journey back to the longships was of course more arduous with the wagon full, but with two hundred men they managed it well enough. The coal was emptied onto two of the longships and the wagon dismantled, men grumbling at how dirty the black rock made them. They had just turned into the Kilbrannan Sound when they spied two longships coming to meet them. Even at a distance they could see each ship flew a Saltire banner from its mast, so they knew these were friendly. Scott grinned as the ships closed the gap between them and he recognised Lachlan on one ship and Colmgil on the other. Lachlan and Colmgil leapt nimbly from their own ships onto Scott's and the friends exchanged grips. "Hail and well met my Lord King." Said both Lachlan and Colmgil, remembering to maintain due order of precedence. "It is good to see you my friends, we have been too long away perhaps?" "Aye Lachlan, Colmgil, yours are the first really friendly faces we have seen for two months now. We have seen some strange sights, see you!" Added Scott. Lachlan and Colmgil returned to their ships, and all seven longships sailed up the remainder of the Kilbrannan Sound and the Sound of Bute, before turning into Loch Fyne proper. Scott's men were amazed when they turned in at Inveraray and he passed from ship to ship, emptying his barrels of prawns into the loch. Most had survived the trip, but it was unsure how long they would survive the colder Scottish waters and the men thought their Lord was crazy for wasting the delicacies. People were chosen to look after the hens/chickens and the roosters that Scott had brought back with him. He explained that he wanted to see a significant number of additional birds bred as soon as possible so that they could be distributed around the various camps. Fresh eggs and poultry meat would be another welcome addition to their diet. On their first night back they had a small feast at their house, Scott and the girls sharing the cooking duties on the double range. The new dining table was pressed into action for the first time - it had been made in four parts by Scott's woodworkers and fit together perfectly to support the banquet. The men contented themselves with drinking beakers of ale so that they could remain sober enough to share news of what had happened abroad and here at home. The next few weeks were spent touring the lordship to see how various things were progressing. Scott handed over the remaining seeds for herbs to the monks at Kilchrenan, having already planted some at Inveraray to establish his own herb garden for cooking purposes. He also discussed growing rice with the monks and shared what little knowledge he had of paddy fields - a way of making sure that weeds didn't choke the young rice growth. He suggested some bigger greenhouses should be constructed and the rice tried 'under glass' in the first instance, as he wasn't sure how hardy it would be. Gabrain was delighted to be re-united with Wolf and was startled at the growth he had already achieved. The cub for its part certainly recognised its young master and was jumping up to lick him as soon as he appeared, his tail wagging madly. At Taynuilt, Scott suggested his idea of capturing some wild cat kittens and trying to domesticate them to help keep the numbers of rodents under control. The Miller agreed that this would be a sound idea and said that he would get onto it right away. Scott indicated that more than one litter should be found so that they could institute a breeding programme that would supply cats for the other camps too. Visits to the four coastal defence sites showed significant progress in using concrete to make these even stronger. Ramparts now rose ten feet from the ground with walkways and firing positions placed at strategic points. Scott and Gabrain spent a number of days with the craftsmen at Oban/Dun Ollaigh, this still their biggest concentration of skilled workers. Gabrain was delighted at the seeming progress of his apprentice idea and Scott had some further plans he wanted to discuss, in particular with his shipwrights. He called a mini council and introduced the idea of building larger ships, ships big enough to be able to easily accommodate ovens and water tanks that could generate steam. He explained the concept of steam and how it could be used, at least in theory, to power ships. His craftsmen discussed propellers and ways of harnessing the steam. They had grasped the idea of bearings quickly enough and Scott was now trying to get them to envisage a simple prop-shaft that could be driven by steam and which would in turn drive a propeller. There was much scratching of heads as they threw ideas around. Scott also exhorted his potters to work with the monks at Kilchrenan to make more and bigger greenhouses. He had discussed the idea of hydroponics with the monks and raised the same idea now with his craftsmen. He explained the possibility of being able to perhaps grow two crops in one year or of at least significantly extending the growing season if they could achieve this. Having got them started, and excited by the ideas, Scott was content to leave them to it. He was pleased to see that more limestone had arrived but noticed that his store sheds were groaning at the seams with trade goods. He really did need to establish markets for these, the Mediterranean having proved disappointing. He made a mental note to visit Murdoch in Fife soon to see whether the trade route with the Low Countries was showing any better prospects. His duty done in Loarne, Scott travelled with Gabrain to Dunadd to review how things were going there too. Everything seemed to be well in hand, the chamberlain doing an effective job. All were delighted to see their young King again, to see how he was growing and maturing. Then it was back to Inveraray, to spend a quiet summer Scott hoped. He realised that there had been very few periods of relative peace since he had arrived in this time and mentally took a step back to fully appreciate how completely immersed in the harsh way of life he had become. Scott visited the school to see how education in the camp was getting on. He was surprised to find Hella in the large classroom on her own but she explained that lessons only took place in the evenings now. Apparently there was plenty of work for the children to help with now that spring and summer were here. She explained to Scott the startling process that had been made already, how bright the children were and how eager to learn. Scott explained the trade he had made for the books covering the seven liberal arts and Hella grew even more excited, only slightly tempering her joy when she heard that the books would all need to be translated from Latin before they would be of use. It was clear she couldn't wait to get her hands on the new material, both for her own advancement, but also for the children of the lordship. Over the next few days Scot worked with his craftsmen to develop an enclosed brazier that could have air pumped over it to increase the temperature of the flames. He used some of the newfound coal in the apparatus with the pump and was pleased to see that this combination filled his balloon with hot air. The people of Inveraray watched in amazement as it began to rise up into the air. Fortunately, Scott had remembered to tie the balloon down so it wouldn't just float off. He knew he would need to work over the summer to master the art of ballooning and to fine tune his approach to using his brazier. ------- Chapter 13: autumn 875 AD The autumn harvest was in full swing and it had remained peaceful in Dalriada. Scott decided that he and Gabrain could afford to take a trip to visit Murdoch in Fife to see how trade was going there. He had been sending wagonload after wagonload of trade goods over to Fife, in part to free space in his warehouses but also because Murdoch had been urging him to do so, his goods apparently doing well with the Low Country merchants. So far Scott wasn't clear what Murdoch was actually trading his goods for and he thought it was time to find out. What Scott found when he reached the Fife coast surprised him. There in front of him was a bustling port. The dock had been extended and Murdoch had constructed his own warehousing to accommodate the goods that were coming and going. Scott was particularly moved when he saw the Saltire flying from some of the buildings. "Once again you were right Scott. There is indeed a strong need for timber of the type that we have here in Fife. Apparently it is far harder wearing than other woods and a favourite for ship masts and furniture. Fife is doing very well out of it." "Good Murdoch, you needed something to help you get your lands back on their feet after years of Saxon oppression. It also seems that you've managed to drum up some interest in my goods?" "Yes, and I must say the demand is growing, particularly for uisge beatha and some of your wines. I could also trade all the grain and salt you can send me." "Excellent Murdoch, excellent. I will see to dispatching as much as I can afford to spare. But, I would like to see what it is that you have been getting for me in return!" Murdoch led Scott and Gabrain to a warehouse set immediately in front of the dock. "We use this warehouse for your goods Scott, as they represent the highest volume of our transactions. It pays to have them close to where the ships dock." Inside the warehouse Scott could see barrels of the Loarne produce and stacks of soap piled up in bricks. He let Murdoch lead him to the far corner of the store until they stood in front of several piles of what looked like metal ingots. "I am assured by my smiths that this represents a vast fortune Scott. That is why I have these men guarding it day and night." He gestured at a small group of armed men who were loitering nearby. The ingots turned out to be a mixture. There were a number of pure copper ingots, a smaller number of tin and nickel, but by far and away the greatest quantity was lead. Scott was delighted. This was real progress. He didn't know very much about metallurgy but he reckoned his smiths would be able to produce any number of alloys using these metals and the iron they already had access too. Bronze, pewter, even stainless steel perhaps? His basic school chemistry also told him that there was something he could do to stop the oxidation of iron using strips of some of these metals. He declared himself satisfied with what Murdoch had achieved for him, congratulating Murdoch on his own conversion to the world of trade. Scott's first suggestion that Murdoch build a port had been met with almost disdain but now his friend seemed almost zealous in his embracing of the benefits. "I'm not stupid Scott, I can see the benefits of trade for Fife and god knows she needs it." They spent a few weeks with Murdoch, sharing their tales of the journey to the Mediterranean and generally just enjoying themselves. He introduced them to one of his favourite pastimes - hawking, and they also went out hunting boar and deer. It was a pleasant way to spend a few weeks but soon Scott was yearning to see his wives, little David and his own people. They took their leave and urged Murdoch to visit them in Loarne before the winter snows came. He assured them he would be delighted to partake of their hospitality. The pleasant ride back across the country through the mountains, down Glen Dochart and Strath Fillan, basking in the autumn sunshine, was rudely interrupted by the appearance of a swarm of armed men issuing forth from Glen Orchy. Scott's little party of mounted men halted and eyed the men cautiously. Some moments later it seemed they had been noticed because a small number of riders came galloping towards them. The leader of these men obviously recognised Scott and it was to him he spoke. "The High King orders you to attend him mac Fergus!" The man said, almost arrogantly. Scott didn't like the tone that was used and liked even less the implications of anyone from the High King's camp talking to him so on the very edges of his own lordship. He decided he needed to keep his cool at all costs. Dealing with Kings took a lot of patience, guile and sensitivity he had found. "Certainly, King Gabrain and I would be delighted to meet with his Grace once again." He replied. They were ushered into the High King's presence, gazing at the mighty host that stretched as far back up Glen Orchy as their eyes could see. "Hah! Mac Fergus and his pup. You have saved me the rest of the journey man. See you, I am not so old that I have lost my wits. I can see your horse there, its fancy saddle and other gear. I can see the size of your belly man, your rude health. I have come to accept my due from you, that which you have been withholding from me for long enough!" Scott unobtrusively gripped Gabrain's arm as he sensed the young man bristle at being called Scott's 'pup'. Wolf must also have sensed his young master's agitation because his hackles rose and a low growl issued from his throat. Scott gazed at Constantine, thinking furiously as to what the High King meant by his bizarre statement. He had withheld nothing from Constantine, had ridden off with his men whenever he had been asked, always supported him. What was he getting at now? "Your Grace, I am sure that I have held nothing back from you, have always supported your cause and answered your call. What is it that you deem me to have been withholding from you?" Her asked. "Do not take me for a witless dolt, sirrah! You know well what I mean. Your lands grow fat with my grain, my beasts, aye, and many other goods that you keep for yourself I hear!" So that was it. Surely it couldn't be as simple as that? It seemed that the High King had come south in huge numbers because he was jealous of the wealth Scott and Gabrain were generating for Dalriada. All these men for that? It couldn't be. "I'm sure there must be some mistake your Grace. I have taken none of your beasts, none of your grain. What we have here in Dalriada we have grown and raised by our own hands." He stalled, testing his understanding of the situation. "Don't bandy words with me man, all know that it is mine, mine alone, all of it. Yet you have sent no tributes, kept all for yourself to grow fat on. So, I have come to take what I am due." Scott looked once more at the many thousands of men the High King had brought with him. It was clear that this was deadly serious. For some reason Constantine had taken real slight at Scott's progress. He was still finding it hard to believe that it was only a matter of jealousy. "And what do you consider your due, your Grace?" He asked politely. "All of it man, all of it! But I am not a harsh master, not an ungracious monarch. I will settle for half of what you have squirreled away here. Half I say, to be delivered up within a week!" Scott was thunderstruck. He realised the High King was indeed serious and that failure to hand over what he was asking for was likely to result in his host descending on Dalriada in full measure. He glanced at Gabrain and could see that young man's face was slowly turning purple. Once more he squeezed the boy's arm, seeking to calm him before any outburst could make things even more difficult. "But, your Grace, we have no great stock of gear. Most is sent away for trade, the rest is required to feed the people here." "Enough! You have one week mac Fergus. See you to it!" With that the High King turned on his heel and it was clear that they had been dismissed. All around them men were looking at them, hostile. They mounted their horses and rode forward; passing the tip of Loch Awe and riding round the foot of Ben Cruachan. Gabrain hardly waited until he was out of earshot before he let his temper flood from him. "How dare he! Just who does he think he is that he can come here and demand half of our food and wealth? After all that you have done for him Scott, how dare he! It is not to be borne, High King or no High King, what he proposes is simple robbery! He proclaims himself a tyrant. And what does 'all know it is mine' mean? Where does that come from? Who says it's all his? Not me, not the people of Dalriada, that's for sure!" "We must try to remain calm Gabrain. Our people will be looking to us for leadership and we owe it to them to have cool heads, to do what is best for them in this pass." "Say you so Scott? I can assure you, to a man, they will expect us to tell Constantine to go paddle in his River Ness! Rather he should go and demand goods by force from the Saxons or the Danes, not his own loyal Scots." "In their anger the people might think just that, but we need to see beyond that. I for one am not eager to see Scot fighting Scot. My objectives are to make Scotland strong, to defend her against those who would assail her, not to do the job of our real enemies by fighting their battles for them. See you Gabrain, I know that this has ever been one of the curses of the Scots down through the ages, even all through the centuries of history I know from my time. Scot against Scot. Treachery, division, always at each other's throats, one against another, riddled with internal strife. Rather we should be united, united against all those who covet our lands." They rode through the Pass of Brander, Scott already assessing its strategic worth in case things turned out for the worst. He sent messages out urgently to alert Lachlan and Colmgil in the other lordships. As they made their way to Oban/Dun Ollaigh Scott tried to weigh up the situation from all sides, all angles. He had no doubt, given the High King's words, that failure to hand over a significant tribute would indeed result in Constantine unleashing as many as ten thousand men on Dalriada. It might be possible to buy him off with a smaller tribute than he had asked for and that might be worth a try. His common sense and experience told him however, that that would only be the start of it. Constantine, once successful, would be back again, demanding more. Still, if the only other option was civil war? He also had to consider Gabrain's assessment of how the people of Dalriada would react. How might they respond to a sign of weakness on his part? Three days later Lachlan arrived at Oban at the head of five hundred men; clearly ready for conflict if that was what was required. He advised Scott that he expected a further one thousand five hundred from Knapdale and Kintyre within the next three or four days, those furthest away being transported by Longship. The next again day, Colmgil also arrived, seven hundred men with him and a further eight hundred promised. Scott and Gabrain sat down with their two friends to go over the position they found themselves in. Scott's messengers had passed on the fundamentals, which was why Lachlan and Colmgil had begun to raise their levies in readiness, but now Scott told all. When Scott described the High King's words, behaviour and attitude, his friends reacted much as Gabrain had, outraged and defiant. Scott repeated his assertions that he wanted to avoid conflict with Constantine if at all possible. He offered the suggestion that they seek to offer him a smaller tribute but Lachlan declared that that would only encourage him; he would keep coming back for more. Scott couldn't disagree given this matched his own assessment. Constantine had also made it clear that he was in no mood for talking, so an attempt to try and get him to discuss things, to see reason seemed to be out of the question. "Well my friends we have barely three days to meet the High King's demands. Do any of you have any other ideas of how we might get ourselves out of this position?" Scott asked. "We could sneak into his camp and kill the arrogant lord while he sleeps." Suggested Gabrain. It was perhaps a measure of how deeply affected Scott had become by his few years in the ninth century that he didn't just dismiss this suggestion out of hand. His companions paused as they could see he was considering the merits of such an approach. "No Gabrain, I would not have it that Dalriada struck the first blow against their High King, not that. I have made the mistake of being too honourable in the past and learned that lesson, but this is different I think. We must stand for the unity of Scotland and would have no credibility under such a banner if we murdered the High King. Besides, such a move could simply precipitate a fight with his host, despite his death. I ask you my friends, is any of this - gear, grain, beasts - worth killing our countrymen for?" "But Scott, don't you see? It's not the gear; it's the overbearing challenge of the man! His host might be poorly led, ill-advised in following the High King in this, but the blame most certainly lies with Constantine." "If you give in on this Scott, our people will think much the less of you. The wealth of food, of beasts, the improvements in how we live might all be down to you. It could even be argued that that being the case, you are within your rights to decide what to do with it all. The people love you, love you dearly and would follow you even unto death. But, they will not understand your actions if you simply hand over Dalriada's resources." Said Lachlan. Scott thought about what Lachlan had just said. Did it bother him that the price of avoiding killing fellow Scots, of avoiding his own people being slaughtered, was the possible loss of some of the respect that the people had for him? No. The cost could possibly be high, but he knew the price of civil war would be higher still. Gabrain and his friends paled as they read his expression, could see him resigning himself to the reaction of the Dalriada people. "Do the people have a say in this Scott? Isn't it right that they should know what is going on and have the chance to express themselves? You have tried to explain this concept you have of democracy, doesn't that exist on the basis of the people having a right to - how did you describe it? - a right to vote?" Said Lachlan in a last ditch attempt to turn Scott from his chosen course. Probably no other argument would have held any sway over Scott at that moment, but now he paused once more. Gabrain, sensing his inner conflict, moved quickly to press home Lachlan's point. "Indeed. We have nearly two thousand men gathered here from all parts of Dalriada. Would you not give them a chance to speak? They have spilled their blood for you Scott, for Dalriada, aye and for Scotland. Have they not bought the right to a voice by spilling that blood? You cannot deny them my friend. I know you too well by now." Scott looked deeply into the eyes of each of his companions. This issue was so important to him and he searched their faces, looking for signs that it was perhaps greed that was motivating them rather than a desire to do what was right. He saw steely determination but nothing else and privately chided himself for even momentarily entertaining such an unworthy thought about his staunch and true friends. Gabrain, Lachlan and Colmgil felt the intensity of his scrutiny, but didn't flinch under it. Finally, Scott nodded and stood to go in search of the people of Dalriada. His friends were right; the people had to be allowed to make their voice heard. He only prayed that he could make them see sense. It was late and Scott could see that many of the men were already drink-taken. He decided that late the next morning might be a better time to try and have a rational exchange, after the worst of the hang-overs had worn off. His sleep that night was fitful to say the least. The prospect of fellow Scots, on both sides, dying over one man's apparent greed for material wealth all but made him physically sick. Feeling tired and still somewhat nauseous, he searched out Gabrain and his two fellow lords the next morning, sending messengers to tell the men to rally within the hour on the open ground outside the camp's ramparts. The four friends stood on the ramparts watching not only the men, but the women of Oban too, gather as asked. At last Scott addressed them. "My friends, aye, friends I name you all, for that is what you have become." He was interrupted by a chorus of resounding cheers, many in the crowd waving Saltire flags. Once relative calm was restored, he started again. "My friends, I must speak to you on a very serious matter. You will by now be aware that the High King is camped but ten miles away with a mighty host, possibly as many as ten thousand men. His Grace has marched south with force to demand a tribute from Dalriada, feeling it is his right as the High King to receive such." Once more he was interrupted, but this time by a babble of comment from the crowd, the High King's demand obviously stirring debate amongst them. "A tribute I say. A tribute amounting to half of Dalriada's grain, food, beasts and other gear." This time the he couldn't hear himself for the howls of anger that rose up as if coming from one mighty voice. "Hear me! Our choice is a stark one. Agree to the High King's demands or..." He got no further. "No! Never!" Screamed the crowd, their anger if anything growing. "My friends, think about the alternative. It would be war, Scot pitted against Scot. I for one have no stomach for that. These ten thousand men are only being loyal to the High King, are not at fault. I would not have their lives, your lives, at risk for the greed of one man." A lone voice rose from the crowd. "My Lord, if you hand over these goods, who will be next on the High King's list to bully and rob? These men might only be showing loyalty, but they show it to the wrong man and in doing so will have to pay for their poor judgement! We must make a stand, a stand that teaches the High King a lesson it may be." There was a chorus of agreement with this sentiment. "What if we take a stand and lose? What will that have achieved? What lesson then for the High King? My friends, I too am unhappy at what Constantine is doing but I stand for a united Scotland, not one that is at war with itself. I would avoid bloodshed in this pass at all costs, even if that cost is half of what we have." "My Lord, Scotland under such a High King can never be united. We must make the stand I say." Came perhaps the same lone voice from the mass. Once again the assembled men and women screamed their agreement, leaving Scott in no doubt what they thought. "Very well. It is your own blood to spill, your own choice to make, not mine. I will not lord it over you. Are you saying that we should take up arms if need be to defend our lands?" "Yes!" Came the loudest response of the morning so far. "So be it my friends. I do not like it, but my place must be with you. God forgive all of us." Scott turned without another word and strode from the ramparts, his face grim, almost black with anger at the outcome. His friends perhaps wisely chose to let him go alone. ------- 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. "I must insist that I come with you my Lord!" Said Gabrain stoutly. "And I must insist otherwise my Lord king. Colmgil must stay here and maintain the defence of the Pass. You and Lachlan need to muster the three thousand here and march them with all speed down to the foot of Loch Awe. That way at least you can defend Knapdale and Kintyre. If needs be I will retire down the other side of the loch until we meet up and take a stand before Kilmartin. Now, no time to lose my friends, let us be off and try and make up for my stupidity!" Scott rushed to gather a small troop of men and saw to it that the balloon was loaded up. He then galloped off for Kilchrenan so he could be ferried across the loch to the other side. The small ferry at Kilchrenan coped with his party, making two trips to get them and the balloon to the other side and a further three trips to carry the horses over. They mounted up and went looking for the second Dalriada host. Scott found the two thousand men in a strong defensive position west of Portsonachan at a place called Accurrach. The position had a fast flowing river in front and the height of Beinn Ghlas behind and to their right. The left flank was protected by the thick wood that Scott and his little party had just ridden through. He wasted no time in having the balloon set up so that he could ascend and try and identify what Constantine was doing. He let the Balloon rise to almost its full height, picking out Lochan Sron Mor, Lochan Shira and eventually Beinn Bhalgairean some five miles distant. Using his binos he could see a few miles further north to the head of Glen Orchy itself. Here he could make out the dark mass of Constantine's host. Apparently they had not yet decided what their next move was going to be. Scott knew that it was unlikely that they would have to face battle that day and signalled for his men to winch the balloon down to the ground. The twenty or so men Scott had brought with him included those who had been hand picked for their Special Forces 'scouting' skills. He now sent these out to try and gather intelligence on what Constantine's plans were. With little else to do for the rest of the day he met with his captains to discuss their planned battle array and the signals they would use if they had to retire down Loch Awe. Exhausted, Scott wrapped himself in his plaid and lay down to try and get some sleep. He must have been asleep for some hours, the sleepless nights before catching up with him, when he was shaken awake by one of his men. His scouts had returned with news of the High King's camp. "My Lord, there is great unrest within the host, many unhappy at being here at all. The High King was in such a hot temper that we didn't even have to get in close to hear what he said. He berates them all for being cowardly knaves, much offending his men." Said the first. "Aye, it was bad my Lord, bad for them, yet good for us I think. After darkness we near got caught due to the numbers of men leaving the host, slipping off into the night. We do believe that many are deserting the High King's cause." Said another. Scott was much cheered by this but couldn't hold out too strong a hope that this would seriously weaken the High King. He looked up to see the dawn beginning to break over Beinn Ghlas and roused himself fully, preparing himself for whatever the day might bring. At midday he rose once more in the balloon to take a look at what Constantine was up to. Again he could see that his enemy had not moved from Glen Orchy and he returned to the ground, almost disappointed that it began to look as if today would not be the day of reckoning either. Still, at least this was giving Gabrain and Lachlan time to march their men down the loch on the other side. Another day and they could almost reach him here where he was. Of course, Gabrain and Lachlan wouldn't know that the High King hadn't yet committed his men to the attack and there was no reason for them to hurry up this side of Loch Awe. Scott recognised that his two thousand men here didn't seem nervous or afraid in the least. He wandered amongst them and found them in good heart and wondered at this. His captains assured him it was because they had such faith in the Norse-slayer, in his past record, and they believed they could win no matter what the odds. Scott gulped at this, feeling the weight of responsibility sitting heavily on his shoulders and wishing he felt as confident. That afternoon he decided to go up in the balloon again to keep an eye on the High King. He was immediately appalled to see that Constantine's host was already half way to closing the gap between them, only three or four miles away. He signalled frantically to have the balloon winched down to the ground and told his captains to have the men stand to. Two hours later the opposing forces came into view and his men began to realise the scale of what it was they were facing. Scott looked round at them. To a man they were standing straight-backed, the many flags Scott had distributed fluttering proudly. Such bravery almost brought a tear to his eye. He remembered his own first conflict - the piss running down his leg on the beach at Iona. Constantine advanced openly and slowly across the flat open ground in front of them, arrogant in his superior numbers. When he was but a mile away he stopped and let his men tighten their formations. After they had done so, horns were sounded and they began their march once more. Scott was estimating the numbers through his binos, believing that the High King could have lost as many as fifteen hundred men to desertion, but that still left him with eight and a half thousand against Scott's two. The High King's forces halted once more when they were only half a mile away. Scott couldn't understand why until he saw movement in the trees on his left. He watched in amazement as men began to stream from the woods and kept on streaming until he realised that the entire three thousand Dalriada men he had left behind had somehow crossed Loch Awe. It was a sight to lift his heart, three thousand additional men, hundreds of Saltires and tartan banners flying in the afternoon breeze. It was clear the appearance of this new host was wiping the smile off of Constantine's face and bringing fresh doubts to many of the men that were behind him. Scott's attention was drawn to his front right when he heard a great many horns blowing and was surprised to see another great host streaming towards him. Here were many more thousands, perhaps three or four. Scott groaned as he realised these must be more of Constantine's levies, perhaps those who had been slipping away in the night had been going to round up additional men, not deserting after all. He could only stand impotently as this new host drew nearer, surprised that Constantine had not yet committed to the attack given his vastly superior numbers. The new host was perhaps a mile off when Scott remembered his binos. He raised them to his eyes and then lowered them again quickly. He blinked and raised the binos again and a huge smile appeared on his lips. "Oh Murdoch my friend, saints be praised, your timing couldn't be better!" It was Murdoch with four thousand of his Fifers. Many of them were flying Saltires so that as they came closer it was obvious on what side they were going to be fighting. Scott's reputation as a strategist and tactician was already legendary among the Scots. The show in the Pass of Brander had added to that reputation - it seemed he could conjure up fire from thin air. Now the appearance of three thousand additional troops on one side and four thousand on the other made it appear as if Scott was putting another master plan into operation. For a host that was already in significant doubt as to why they were here in the first place, this was just too much. Scott watched in amazement as first one group and then another of the High King's men about turned and began to march away. Very soon the few groups turned into many and the Dalriada men waved their flags as the High Kings mighty host literally faded away. At last Constantine himself recognised the inevitable. He shook his fist in Scott's direction and turned his own horse to ride away. Scott slumped down to sit on the grass, the relief enormous. Somehow, god knew how, he had managed to turn back the High King with ten thousand men - not a single casualty on either side and not a grain of wheat handed over to Constantine. He knew that it wouldn't end here, but for now he was content. Gabrain and Lachlan came rushing up, pulling him to his feet and hugging him unashamedly. "How did you manage this my friends? Can you now walk on water?" "Your own device Scott, wooden floats! We worked through the night by torchlight to construct many floats and built a bridge across the loch!" Said Gabrain. "Another excellent idea my Lord King. You have learned well." Replied Scott. ------- Chapter 15: autumn/winter 875 AD When Murdoch joined them, Scott clasped his arm, slapping his back in appreciation. "You were unlooked for my friend, but never have a I seen a more welcome sight I think, Fife's timing couldn't have been better! By what miracle are you here, and with all these at your back?" Scott gestured at the many thousands of men Murdoch had brought with him. "My scouts brought me word of the High King passing south and east with a great host not long after you left Fife. I know the High King well and it wasn't hard to guess who it was he was moving against. I certainly value and appreciate the help that Dalriada has given Fife, even if Constantine doesn't, and I couldn't sit back and let you face him alone man. Besides, I have a debt to pay and this should have been my chance to do so. Alas, the fact that he has fled the field, my sword un-blooded, means that I am still beholden to you my friend." Despite what had happened, or perhaps as a result of it, there was something of a holiday atmosphere now in Dalriada. The men had been dispersed for the most part and Murdoch had dispatched his thousands back to Fife. The harvest was in full swing and Scott gave Murdoch a tour of the various products that were being gathered in. There was now a significant volume of the various vegetables Scott had started growing - carrots, onions, cabbage, turnip, peas and beetroot. Many fields now flourished with the crops and Murdoch exclaimed at both the variety and the quantity. Scott promised to supply Murdoch with seeds so that he could start his own programme of vegetable growing if he so desired. The scale of the greenhouses was another eye-opener for Murdoch, and when he was shown the sprawling glass structures that covered the crop of rice, he could only scratch his head in wonder. Scott discussed with the monks how the rice should be harvested and processed. They were puzzled when Scott indicated that he did not want the rice ground down into flour as they had assumed this was just another form of grain, to be treated like all the other types. Scott had no real idea how rice should be ground or bleached to make it white, but was content that brown rice would do well enough for his people. He knew that storing sacks of rice would mean another valuable food staple would be available to his people through the cold winter. A high point of the next few weeks was the main grape harvest. Scott and all his friends and family pitched-in to help. Although there were a relatively small number of vines, only one slope being covered by them, the quantity of grapes gathered in was still quite respectable. They had been left late and had turned a deep, dark red colour. Scott fully intended most of the wine he would produce would be red wine. He had allowed a small quantity of green grapes to be picked weeks earlier so that a limited amount of white wine could also be made. The wood workers had made a large wooden vat and the grapes were tipped into it. Scott and the rest enjoyed themselves trampling the grapes in their bare feet, the grapes turning to mush and the juice staining their feet purple. If the mood of those trampling the grapes in any way contributed to the taste of the final wine then this year's vintage would be worth drinking. The little party made their way to Inveraray to prepare themselves for the coming winter, Murdoch still with them, enjoying himself immensely and discussing with Scott how Fife could be developed to begin producing the wealth of food that Dalriada was achieving. Scott knew that Fife had far better soil and much more of it, so he believed his friend would soon be out-producing them. For some reason that made him happy. Murdoch also discussed the continuing threat to his lands posed by the ever-warlike Saxons and Vikings. His adoption of Scott's sea defences had helped enormously against the Danes but they were still enjoying some successes up and down his coast. The Saxon's had suffered significant losses but his intelligence suggested the Vikings in the south were forcing Saxons northwards and Murdoch feared there would soon be another attempt to take over his territory. Scott could see that Murdoch's military position had probably played a part in his decision to come to Dalriada's aid. With little help coming from the High King, Murdoch had to take decisions, form alliances; on the basis of what would strengthen his own position and safeguard his people. Scott could also see that the success of trade in Fife and the growing agricultural developments that he was helping Murdoch take forward would only make attacks on Fife more likely. This needed a great deal of thought. While Scott had grown to like Murdoch, his first duty was to Dalriada and he had to ensure Fife did not become a drain on the Dalriada strength. Scott and Gabrain were sitting on the balcony of the house sipping beakers of ale and just enjoying each other's company when Gabrain raised something that had obviously been playing on his mind. "Scott, this 'democracy' you have mentioned, you seem to set great store by it. Does not asking the people to take decisions mean that there is less need for Lords and Kings?" Scott was unsurprised that the sharp-witted young man had zoned in on the important implications of giving the people power could have for his own position. "This is difficult Gabrain. In my time there are still Kings and Queens but they have much less power than you do. Over the years people came to see that leaving the rule of a land and its people in the hands of fate - the bloodline of one family - didn't make sense and could lead to great tyranny and hardship. Take Constantine as an example. Were his demands reasonable? Obviously our people - and yourself Gabrain - thought not. Kingship is fine when there is a strong, intelligent, and fair King. But when a small-minded, greedy, and jealous King rules, then many suffer." "I can see the sense of that Scott, but if not Lords and Kings, then what? How would we ever get anything organised? Get things done? Who would lead us into battle against our enemies?" "There are a number of different ways of leading a country see you Gabrain. The people with certain skills can be put in the right positions to do the most good. So, if there are those amongst us that have a natural ability for strategy and tactics then they could be put in charge of training and leading our men. Others might have an aptitude for trade and could be put in charge of that. Democracy is simply put 'government of the people, by the people'. It means that the people have the right to consider the important issues and have their say in the direction, the 'policy' a country should take. After all the outcomes will affect all of them. It is as you and Lachlan said, the people of Dalriada have spilled their blood for this land, it's also their sweat and labour that see things built, things grown. Do they not deserve a share in the riches, a share in determining where Dalriada should go next?" "I can see there is a lot to think on in relation to this concept of 'government' Scott. For my ownself I am content with many of the things you say. I do not believe I have a God-given right to rule just because of who my father was, but I have a sense that many of the lordly ones would take a great deal of convincing before they would ever consider giving up the power and privilege they have." "Aye Gabrain, you have the rights of it. But believe me, it will come, in time it will come. The greater the numbers of poor people, the harsher they are treated, the quicker they will turn on the small number, the privileged few, who lord it over them. They will demand that people are valued for what they can do, not who their parents were. Every man must have a dream, should have the opportunity to better himself and to make a life and place for his family. I for one would like to see this Scotland be such a place." "You haven't been wrong too many times so far Scott - of course having the benefit of knowing how history plays out must help in that. Still, I think you offer a vision of a land worthy of a name, worthy of the love of its people, worthy of a place in the world. I would like to live in such a country too." Scott smiled at his young friend. He really was proud of how he was developing as a man and this conversation just added to that. To be able to see past the ingrained sense of status, and willingly embrace the rights of others to improve their own position in life, was a giant leap for this time. Scott's feelings about young Gabrain were brought into sharp focus two days later when he was walking through the Inveraray camp with Murdoch. They were discussing the possibilities for further trade with the Low Countries when Wolf came bounding up, barking loudly. Wolf tried to grab Scott by the arm but he shrugged the beast off, concerned that he seemed over excited. His first thoughts were that he might be reverting to his natural wild state but when he looked at him closely he could see there was no 'killing' look in his eyes. Wolf continued to try and take his arm then run forward, away towards the camp gates. Scott realised he was trying to lead him somewhere and at last began to follow. Once Wolf saw that he was following he began to run towards the loch. Scott and Murdoch struggled to match the wolf's pace and Wolf had to continually stop so they could keep him in sight. Perhaps a quarter of a mile further along the loch side they saw four men standing and kneeling around a body lying on a small patch of sandy beach. They backed away from the body as Wolf bounded up to them, barking and pawing at the body. As Scott drew closer he recognised the form as Gabrain and he groaned deep in his chest. "We are sorry my Lord, the boat, capsized, we couldn't reach him." Said one of the Inveraray fishermen. "The wolf dragged him to the shore but he was dead by the time he reached this beach. We watched it all my Lord, could do nothing to help." Scott didn't even pause to answer. He ran straight to Gabrain's body and turned him over on his back. He had been taught emergency first aid as part of his training at school, particularly for swimming lessons, and he now began CPR. He alternated blowing air into Gabrain's lungs, pumping his arms and massaging his chest. All the while Wolf was prancing around, barking excitedly and keeping everyone back from his young master. After a minute or so there was an explosion of water and bile from Gabrain's mouth as his lungs expelled the water that had filled them. He began coughing and spewing and Scott now moved him into the recovery position, thanking his school for the training that had perhaps saved his young friend's life. He commandeered two plaids from the fishermen and wrapped Gabrain in them before Murdoch helped to carry him back to the house. As they walked through the camp many people lined the path to the house, the sad, worried looks on their faces evidence of how much the people loved Gabrain too. They got him into the house and lay him in front of the fire. Scott was dragging a bed over, closer to the fire, when the door flew open and Eilean and Fiona burst in, having just heard the news. Another girl was with them too, someone Scott had not seen before. She obviously knew Gabrain if the look on her face was anything to go by. She pushed forward and dropped to the floor, cradling Gabrain's head in her lap. Scott was surprised that Eilean and Fiona seemed to be taking a secondary role in relation to the boy, allowing this girl to see to his needs first. Here was a puzzle that he would need to get to the bottom of, but for now Gabrain needed attention. The next day Gabrain was up and about almost as if nothing had happened. He was teasing Scott that everybody now thought he could bring people back from the dead and indeed some of the people in the camp were looking at Scott very strangely. Scott explained to Gabrain what he had done and how he had learned it and the young man suggested that he should hold a class for some of the settlement's people. Scott could see the wisdom in this idea. Not only would there be more people able to give emergency treatment, but also the nature of what he had done would lose its mystique and perhaps people would stop looking at him the way they were. He put his arm around the young man, silently expressing just how much he meant to him and how badly he would have felt the loss. Gabrain instinctively knew what was being expressed without words and he felt the love deep in his heart. "Now my young friend, next on your list for education is learning how to swim. I can't believe I didn't know you have never learned, but we will put that to rights quickly." "Perhaps this is another area where lessons should be made more freely available Scott. I know of many who are like me, adults even, who cannot swim." "Aye Gabrain, it sounds like we need a programme. Now, you have avoided it long enough by the looks of things. Who was the girl who was so upset by your accident yesterday, the one who was taking on the nursing role, pushing your own mother into the background?" "Ah, mmm, that would be Esta." Said Gabrain. "And who pray tell is Esta my Lord King?" Teased Scott. "I'm not sure yet Scott. She is beautiful, she is kind, and she is intelligent. The sun kisses her hair and makes her eyes sparkle and shine. Her voice is silver sweet, musical. When I hear her speak, the hairs on my arms and neck stand up and I always feel happier. But I don't know who she is as of yet. Oh, I know she if the daughter of Killip mac Dougall, your master builder. What I mean is that I don't know who she is/what she means, to me yet." Scott smiled knowingly to himself, turning his head lest Gabrain see him. With a description like that, Scott had no doubt what she meant to Gabrain, even if the boy couldn't yet see it himself. He was obviously badly smitten. "Does your heart beat faster when you see her?" "Yeees." Gabrain replied hesitantly. "Do you think about her first thing in the morning, last thing at night before you sleep and as often as possible in between?" "How do you know this Scott?" Asked Gabrain, genuinely surprised. "It's only a secret to you yourself Gabrain. Anybody else speaking to you would see it immediately, you are in love with the girl I think." Gabrain stopped walking and looked at Scott, a look of shock but growing realisation growing on his face. Now that Scott had spoken the words it was as if a curtain, a veil had been lifted from his thinking and his eyes. A smile began to twitch at the corners of his mouth until at last he was wearing a huge grin. Without another word he turned and ran off, no doubt looking for Esta Scott thought to himself. He continued walking down towards where his craftsmen were based as he had a number of ideas he wanted to consult them on. The conversation with Gabrain about armour and shields, together with the vivid recollection of the wound he had suffered, had started him thinking about better ways of protecting his people. One idea had sprung into his mind - chain mail. He was hoping that access to the new metals he was receiving as part of his trade with the Low Countries would help his smiths develop their skills and capabilities. Scott explained the idea of chain mail to the smiths. He knew it involved metal links joined together but didn't know the details of how this was achieved or how the chain mail was designed so that it could deflect blows from sharp weapons. He supposed there would need to be some special way of designing the links so that they were effective in spreading the force of a blow. The smiths agreed that this would take some trial and error work on their part to identify the best 'weave' of links. He also discussed with the smiths how various metals could be mixed together to form various alloys - the most important one he wanted them to try and create was stainless steel. If they managed it, Scott was determined to rename this part of the settlement 'Sheffield'. The joke would of course be lost on his people, but in his own way he was trying to ensure history held true and that the best stainless steel could be stamped 'made in Sheffield'. After speaking to the smiths he stopped off to talk with his wood workers. They were hard at work making a dovecote that Scott had asked for previously and furniture, Scott having determined that all the families in the camp should have access to better gear for their homes. The dovecote was finished and work on the furniture stopped when he arrived as the craftsmen always enjoyed his visits. They shared with him the improvements they were taking forward and displayed their work for his critique. Now Scott wanted to share two more ideas with them, two linked ideas to be sure, but two ideas nonetheless. When he described what he wanted he could see their grins and knew they had cottoned on to why he wanted them. All agreed these two together would make a huge impact on the camp and by mutual consent they began to work on them immediately. Finally, Scott called on his master potter. This man it was who had worked on producing the lenses for the signal towers along the coast. Scott explained to him that he wanted him to produce smaller lenses. He extracted a piece of paper from his shirt and shared his very basic design for a telescope. The 'barrel' was made of stiffened leather with a highly polished metal centre. He wasn't sure what the focal lengths would be or even of the required shapes for the lenses but he could see his man had caught on to the general idea so he left him to work on the details. Scott had noticed one of the men who had taken in one of the other wolf pups seemed to have a natural ability, an affinity almost, with animals. He hefted the dovecote onto his shoulder and made his way to where he thought the man lived. He explained that he wanted pigeons tamed so that they lived in the dovecote all year round but didn't explain his reasoning just in case his latest idea fell flat. He had realised that sending mounted messengers to Lachlan and Colmgil was a slow business and he had wondered whether it might be possible to train some carrier pigeons. He laughed out loud as, unbidden, a picture of the cartoon characters Dick Dastardly and Muttley appeared in his head in the old cartoons called 'stop the pigeon'. True to his word, the next day Scott had Gabrain down to the loch to teach him how to swim. He had contrived a wooden float and started out by teaching the young man how to use his legs to kick. He had him practising the leg action for the crawl and for the breaststroke - up and down, up and down the loch. Some of the Inveraray people came down to the loch side to watch, intrigued by what was going on. At the front of the crowd, gazing on Gabrain with undisguised admiration, was Esta. Scott realised that learning to swim was almost unheard of amongst these people. He shivered as he concluded that the vast majority of the men who manned his longships probably couldn't swim either. He decided then and there that he would institute a programme to make sure that all were trained. A few days later Murdoch decided he had been away from Fife overlong, particularly given the danger that could arise at any time from the Vikings or the Saxons. He was upbeat as he took his farewell having agreed with Scott that some of his own craftsmen would visit Inveraray to learn some of the things that Scott already had underway. Gabrain worked hard on his swimming lessons. Scott secretly believed that Gabrain's offhand attitude towards his narrow escape had all been for show and that he really had had a big fright. The way he was working on the swimming tended to confirm that view. Another little benefit for Scott was the appearance on the third day of Esta. She was determined that she too would learn how to swim. This caused some momentary difficulties for Scott as of course there was no such thing as a swimsuit - for either men or women. He had jokingly thought of introducing the bikini but discarded the idea. Now he had to work with Fiona and Eilean to quickly fit Esta and Gabrain with suits. He could see that Fiona and Eilean immediately started to get ideas when they saw how good the young girl looked in her outfit. The two youngsters applied themselves well to their lessons but also took the opportunity to play with each other in the water too. Scott found it difficult to keep his eyes off of the body inside the bikini as Esta was a bonny looking girl. The next big event in Scott's life happened while he and Gabrain were out hunting. Autumn was running out and the snows would soon be on their way so they were trying to bag some deer to go into the cold store for eating over the winter months. They had been riding around for a number of hours without success when Scott suggested they stop for something to eat. They had packed some bread and meat to keep them going throughout the day and Gabrain indicated it might be an idea to climb a nearby hill to prospect for any deer in the area. They tied their horses to a tree and climbed up the hill to its summit, resting awhile to eat and drink some water. After they had rested and refreshed themselves, Scott took out his binoculars and surveyed the area all round. He spotted a small herd of deer and indicated this to Gabrain, handing over the binos so the young man could also have a look. While Gabrain was looking at the deer, Scott took out his compass to take a bearing on where they were. He looked at the compass but was perplexed to see the pointer spinning round and round rather than pointing in any one direction. He took several strides forward and checked the compass again, but got the same result. "What's wrong Scott?" Asked Gabrain. "I'm not sure. Something funny seems to be going on." Scott looked closely at the ground beneath his feet. It was rocky with some loose fragments. He knelt and began to pick up individual pieces of rock, holding them up to scrutinise them. While he couldn't be sure, he thought this rock looked similar in colour and make up to the iron ore they used in such vast quantities back at the camp. The presence of iron could explain why his compass was acting so strangely. The idea that he might have found a source of iron so close to his camp was a matter of great excitement and he babbled a little as he tried to explain to Gabrain what he thought he had stumbled on. They marked the spot carefully and rushed back to their horses and thereafter back to the camp. They sought out a senior smith to discuss their possible find and he shouted on one of the other smiths, one who seemed to have a knack for picking the best iron bearing ore when they were trading. Scott and Gabrain rode back to the hill with the smith and took him to their spot on the summit. He examined the rocks closely and began to make his way southwards down the slope. He stopped at a broad expanse of loose rock and pointed, a wide smile on his face. "There my Lord. There is your iron ore and by the looks of it, a rich ore indeed." By now it was nearing the end of November and Scott was beginning to tire of the grey skies and cold, biting wind. There was little to do other than visit his craftsmen and spend time with his wives and little David. While these were enjoyable things to do he was longing for something else, some wider excitement. "A feast! That's what we need to cheer everybody up. A great feast, a feast throughout the length and breadth of Loarne." He thought to himself. He racked his brain to think of a good enough reason for such a big event, then it came to him - St Andrew's Day. The eventual patron Saint of Scotland had his day celebrated on the thirtieth of November, only weeks away. The people had already happily adopted the St Andrew's cross or Saltire flag. Could he now establish the first 'public holiday'? ------- Chapter 16: winter 875/876 AD Scott discussed his idea for a St Andrew's day holiday with Gabrain, he was after all, the King! Gabrain thought it was a great idea and he grew excited himself at the thought of a feast throughout his Kingdom of Dalriada. The girls, now including Esta, were behind the idea too and immediately began making plans. Scott explained the feast as being dedicated to the Saint behind the Saltire flag and was surprised that all accepted that as reason enough. The monks in particular were impressed by the notion of a feast for a Saint - albeit that it wasn't dedicated to their blessed Columba - and they threw themselves into preparing also. Messengers were sent out far and wide to alert every settlement of the plan for a mighty celebration. The grain silos were full, as were the cold stores and for once it was accepted that some of the Dalriada livestock could be slaughtered for the occasion too. Scott and Gabrain undertook a flying tour of the various lordships, a one and a half-week trip in near winter, to see how things were shaping up and to encourage everyone to really push the boat out. The Saltire flag was being flown over virtually every house in every settlement and the feast and holiday had really caught the mood of the people. Of course, every settlement wanted the King and the Norse-slayer to stay and celebrate St Andrew's day with them but they understood the need for them to return to their family. By the time the pair returned to Inveraray they were well pleased at how the idea had been picked up throughout Dalriada. There was real enthusiasm and the fact that the feast and holiday were happening at all, combined with the growing use of the Saltire, strangely had the Dalriada people beginning to adopt St Andrew as their own special Saint, along with Columba to be sure. Scott had explained the origins of the Saltire as the 'X' shaped cross that St Andrew had been crucified on, the apostle thinking himself unworthy to be crucified on a cross in the same shape as that Jesus himself had been crucified on. The day of the holiday and feast at last arrived and Inveraray was astir. The weather was kind, a weak winter sun shining down and no great wind in evidence. The fishermen took the opportunity to go out and catch some final fresh morsels for the planned feast and in the camp all was geared to entertaining the younger children during the day. Hella played a large part in this as the schoolteacher and had organised games of every description. Scott recognised something that looked like a treasure hunt where the children were running all over the camp trying to find items. There was also junior jousting, with smaller children on the shoulders of older ones fighting in their pairs with sacks of down feathers. Honeyed apples, sweet fruits and cream were in great supply and were devoured by the youngsters. There were also slightly more serious games - archery with short bows and schoolwork quizzes, the latter an element of Hella not being able to stop her educational crusade. Scott thought it was all designed to tire the children out so they would be in bed early, leaving the adults to enjoy the later activities unbridled. He was walking round with little David on his hip, the tot laughing happily at everything that was going on around him. Scott played his part later on, cooking up a number of dishes for the people to enjoy. He made a range of pasta dishes and a huge pot of chicken cooked in wine and herbs from his herb garden. After darkness fell and the younger children were in bed the adults began to gorge themselves on the wide range of food available and the vast quantities of ale, cider, wines and uisge beatha. Bonfires were lit and music and song entertained the happy people of Inveraray. Scott noticed this time that a space had been left in front of the Inveraray hall-house and assumed the girls had dreamed up another play. The people here had not been party to their last efforts and Scott wondered what they would have in store. He didn't have long to wait. A steady beating of drums heralded the show and the noise in the hall died down as people realised something was afoot. Out of the darkness on the left of the hall marched a group of twenty or so men, a flag bearing the silver boar on a light blue background flying above them. Immediately the crowd started booing - this was the standard of the High King of Scots. From the darkness on the right came a smaller band of perhaps ten. This group was led by none other than Gabrain, the young King looking noble and handsome, clad in a robe made from the Saltire, the cross on both front and back. Behind Gabrain were his 'troops' - nine nubile young lassies, dressed in very short Saltire 'togas'. The garments were loose and it has to be said that many a breast was wont to slip into view, much to the enjoyment of the men in the audience. The High King's men wasted little time in launching an attack on Gabrain and his lovelies, many of the men taking outrageous liberties in manhandling the young flesh under the Saltire robes. The crowd jeered the High King and shouted their support for Gabrain but it was clear that they were losing this particular fight. Some in the crowd, perhaps having supped too much, began to stagger forward, intent on aiding Gabrain against his attackers. The girls had planned well however and these were intercepted and guided back to their seats. A rousing blast of horns signalled a new stage in the play and out of the darkness came a third band of 'troops'. This band was also made up of young girls in Saltire robes; their shapely legs and breasts well displayed. Leading them was Esta, and into the fray they dashed, their swords flashing in the bonfire light. Somehow the girls had also worked out how to safely use the flour trick that Scott had employed in the Pass of Brander because suddenly a cloud of flame flared up into the air, vividly and dramatically illuminating the 'battle' that was underway. The crowd was now cheering for St Andrew and Gabrain as Esta and her girls laid about them left and right, driving a wedge through the High King's men to relieve Gabrain. The vigorous movement kept the men happy as the many breasts on display swayed from side to side as swords were swung. At last Esta won through to Gabrain and she stood over him as the combined forces of the two groups of girls made short work of the High King and his men. Esta helped Gabrain to his feet and the King ran forward to symbolically sheer the pole holding the High King's standard, the flag falling to ground. At this point the crowd were cheering and baying their approval, especially when the High King's flag was lowered. Gabrain returned and pulled Esta to him, landing a passionate kiss on her lips before bowing to the crowd and leading the Saltire clad girls from the battlefield. The crowd erupted, satisfied that Constantine had been defeated and the Dalriada Scots had been victorious. The scantily clad 'troops' had certainly added to their entertainment too. Scott watched as Gabrain and Esta disappeared into the darkness arm in arm. He looked round for his wives but couldn't spot them anywhere. Scott knew that the play had been the high point of the holiday celebration and from this point on it would be heavy drinking and no doubt chasing after the 'prize' of one of the Saltire clad girls. He thought it was perhaps a good point to absent himself from the wild revelry and he headed for the house, hoping he wasn't about to cramp Gabrain's space. When he entered the house, the ground floor was empty. Fires blazed in the fireplaces but no one was around. He climbed the concrete staircase to the upper floor and stopped at the top, his eyes almost popping out of their sockets. There before him were his wives and Hella, naked apart from some alluring silk underwear. Fiona had fashioned a pair of green panties; they looked like French knickers, flaring out from her hips and the colour matching that of her eyes. The sheen of the material, where it gathered tightly at the juncture of her legs, caught his eye, drawing it in to the cameltoe that was evident. The waist of the panties was cinched tightly with a thin leather thong. His little elf, Eilean, had also fashioned a pair of French knickers, but her were in blue, also matching her eyes. She was standing side on to Scott and he could see her perfectly formed butt cheeks beautifully framed by the silk, the flare of the hem gaping invitingly, as if it was specially made to allow his hands access. Hella's panties were more bikini style, cut high on the hip and also cinched in tightly at her waist. Hers were white, contrasting with her dark skin and hair. Scott realised his mouth was hanging open and his tongue was about to flop out. He closed his mouth and stepped forward, finding himself wrapped up in warm female flesh. His hands automatically dropped to run over the silk, the sensuous feel and touch exciting him beyond belief. The girls led him towards the bed and he saw that it was covered in silk sheets. For Scott it was something of a sensory overload and he let himself sink it to the sensations of it all. His clothes were soon stripped from him and Fiona was sliding herself over his hard staff, the silk of her panties pressed into her slit as she teased him mercilessly. Eilean moved to remove her panties but Scott stopped her and pulled her over his face, raising his mouth to suck her juices from the silk garment. Fiona pulled the gusset of her panties to the side and let her already sopping slit drop onto Scott's raging cock, bottoming out in one thrust. She began to bounce herself up and down, her head thrown back, leaning against Hella who had come up behind her. Hella cupped Fiona's little breasts, pinching her nipples and rubbing her own titties on Fiona's back. Eilean also pulled her panties to the side so that Scott's tongue could have access to her bare pussy, his tongue running the length of her lips and dipping into the opening of her passage. Scott tried to concentrate on her clit, lapping at it, rolling his tongue over the nub. He felt Fiona flinch and stiffen on his cock. "Slowly Hella, please, take it slowly!" She said urgently. Scott couldn't see anything with Eilean perched on his face but he felt something pressing down on his cock and realised that Hella must be using the wooden strap-on to ream Fiona's butt. The feeling was incredible as he felt the object press Fiona's flesh even tighter against him. She didn't last long with the double penetration and soon she was screaming out her pleasure. Scott tried to focus on Eilean to take his mind off of the pleasurable constriction around his staff and heard and felt his little elf succumb to her orgasm not long after Fiona. Fiona fell to her side on the bed, her eyes rolling back into their sockets. Hella pushed Eilean down onto the bed and thrust herself into her too, Eilean gasping at the rough treatment. Scott moved round behind Hella but the harness from the strap-on stopped him from entering her. He was not to be denied however and he unbuckled the harness and pulled it aside, sliding his cock into her and beginning to stroke quickly, holding her hips to anchor himself. He heard little David cry and sensed Fiona getting off of the bed to go and see to him. Eilean also moved out from under him and he watched as she now used the un-harnessed wooden dildo herself, ramming it in and out, searching for another release. Hella threw her head back as she keened through an orgasm but he continued to drive into her, stroking through her climax and taking her to another level. Hella shook as her orgasm continued, washing over her with great intensity until she could take no more. She slumped onto the bed and Scott recognised she had had enough. He withdrew his still hard cock and looked into his little elf's eyes, willing her to remove the piece of wood she was using to pleasure herself. Eilean didn't need any encouragement as she pulled the wooden 'Scott shaped' cock out of her sheath and lay waiting for him to fill her up with the real thing. His staff was slick with juices and her pussy was also running over with excitement but still he felt how tight she was as he pushed himself into her. Eilean wrapped her legs around him, seeking to pull him in as deep as she could. Once more he slowed down, making love to her, making her slow down too and revelling in the feel of her. He lowered himself and looked deeply into her eyes, kissing her softly as he tenderly stroked into her. This time the gentleness, the obvious love behind the act, got to Eilean and she began to spasm as she climaxed. Scott felt her react to his lovemaking and he buried himself to the hilt, letting himself go, grunting as his seed erupted deep inside her, pouring out what felt like gallons. He kept his eyes locked with hers as they both experienced the extreme pleasure, a smile on his lips and his love for her shining from his eyes. She reached up, pulling him down to her so they could share one more searing kiss. Scott rolled off of Eilean and lay on his back only to feel a mouth cover his cock. He looked down to see that Fiona had returned and she was now savouring the combined juices of his union with Eilean. She cleaned his staff thoroughly and then dived between the legs of her sister wife to tongue and suck his spend from her engorged lips. Eilean began moaning anew and Scott felt his cock harden at the erotic sight of his two wives together. The rest of the night passed in something of a blur as they shared each other, Fiona using her dirk to cut a slit in the harness for the dildo so that Scott could have access to the wearer in future. They collapsed together, exhausted but well satisfied and the girls smiled to themselves at what they thought had been a well planned and successful St Andrew's day all round. Scott arose late the next day and smiled as he saw the many hungover men wandering round the camp. He found Gabrain and smiled even wider when he recognised the self-satisfied look his young friend was also wearing. It would appear as if Gabrain and Esta had enjoyed themselves the night before. The pair wandered round, helping to clear up the mess from the night before, just happy to share quiet companionship, happy at what life held for them currently. It seemed that everyone thought the St Andrew's day celebration had been a great success and Scott and Gabrain agreed that they should make it an annual event. Two days later Scott's designs had been turned into reality by the woodworkers and he surprised the girls at home. While they were out he had the two items installed and waited for their return. When Fiona and Eilean entered the house they stared at the strange apparatus and questioned Scott as to what it was for. "This my loves is the first ever washing machine and wringer." "What does it do Scott?" Asked Eilean. "Dirty clothes go in here. You add hot water and soap and then turn this handle. The fins inside this drum help churn the clothes and beat the dirt from them. When the clothes are clean they are fed between these two rollers to squeeze the water from them so they can then be hung up to dry." Scott would swear that the looks on the girls' faces were at least as excited as they had been several nights before when they had all made love together. They crowded round the washing tub and wringer, turning the handle and basically getting an understanding of how the simple mechanics worked. Scott received a torrent of kisses as a thank you for thinking up such an arrangement; the girls recognising this would make life much easier indeed. He explained his plans to build a communal facility so that all in the camp could have access to this labour saving improvement. The smiths called for Scott to show him their first attempt at making chain mail. Scott thought it was too heavy and discussed how that could be addressed without weakening the defensive qualities of the mail. The smiths agreed to try another design for the links. Early December brought heavy snow and the children spent their time between Hella's lessons and skiing and sledding. Gabrain fashioned a harness for Wolf and had him pull little David round on a sled, the baby screaming his delight at it all and the people of the camp smiling at their Lord's young son and their King playing in the snow. Wolf barked as he pulled, obviously revelling in his starring role. Gabrain thought that this could be a useful idea in the future. With more tame wolves available to them, they could probably put together teams that could pull loaded sleds some distance in the snow. That could be useful he thought. Scott visited the school hall to see how the youngsters were progressing. Hella was delighted to see him and gave him a loving kiss in front of her pupils. This raised a hoot from them and not a few doe-eyed looks from the older girls. Scott was after all the Norse-slayer and everyone recognised how important he was in terms of the many improvements that were being taken forward in Dalriada. His status made him something of a magnet to the young girls and he was embarrassed at the attention he was given. Hella giggled at how flustered Scott got. He sat at the back of the class, trying not to disrupt the lesson while he watched how the children were doing. Several things came to mind as he watched. There was a great wastage of paper in the course of the lesson and there was a shortage of texts from which to work. He tried to ignore the adulation of the young girls, many of them budding beauties and keen for him to notice their developing bodies. Ideas were on the edge of his consciousness but the nubile forms being displayed for him were very distracting. Several of the girls, perhaps only twelve or thirteen-years old, openly flashed themselves at him, turning in their seats, thighs apart to let him see all the way up their kilts. He swallowed and tried to bring his ideas into focus. Hella let the torment of Scott continue at the end of the lesson, the young girls gathering round him, rubbing themselves suggestively against him. The girls seemed to naturally realise they had some kind of power even against someone as old as Scott and he was close to being a gibbering wreck when Hella at last stepped in to save him, ushering the girls out of the classroom. No sooner had they departed than Scott extracted his form of retribution, pushing Hella forward over her table, lifting her kilt and thrusting his staff between her lips. Fortunately, the sight of all of the young girls flirting and lusting after Scott had turned Hella on and she was already well lubricated, taking his cock easily and pushing herself back against him eagerly. Their coupling was frantic and vigorous as both got off on the images of the girls teasing Scott and it didn't take long before Scott was coming, his juice firing forcefully and triggering Hella's orgasm. Once they had both calmed down and re-arranged their dress, Scott discussed what he had seen during the lesson. He had finally managed to get his brain working and suggested to Hella that there were a couple of things they could introduce to help with the schoolwork. The first thing he suggested was dropping paper in favour of slate and chalk. He remembered his grandparents talking about using these as a medium when they were at school and he certainly thought they would be more economical than using paper. The second idea was possibly of far greater import - he suggested they look into the potential for developing a printing press. At first Hella didn't understand what he was talking about but when he described the ability to reproduce texts en masse so that every child could have their own copy, she began to realise what an impact such a development could have. The remainder of the winter passed as other winters had passed, short days, long nights and lots of snow. The children played and went to school and Scott enjoyed the companionship of his wives and Hella, Gabrain also growing ever closer to Esta. As always, Scott took time to review the events of the past year and thought about plans for the year to come. Scott and Gabrain had a number of conversations out on the balcony of the house, Gabrain returning to the idea of democracy again and again. "Scott, I have decided that I would like to explore this idea of democracy here in Dalriada, I have a feeling in my heart for a land that works that way. How should we go about it?" "I think we have already started down that path my Lord King. The key might well be education and we have invested in that. We need to take things slowly, expand the education and see that your apprenticeship idea is broadened so that people have access to training in other disciplines other than just the crafts we are working on now." "What else can we do Scott?" "I can think of a number of things Gabrain. Our friend the smith with an eye for geology - we can send him abroad to learn more about different rock structures and how to find other minerals. We can begin to hold classes of a different nature to those Hella is giving, train men in tactics and the strategy of battle, train them in the way of thinking that you yourself have been training, the way of searching for new ideas, new improvements." "And this will be enough?" "It will be a sound start Gabrain, if you are serious we need to start somewhere." They also discussed what they might expect from Constantine in the spring/summer. Neither of them thought the High King would quickly forget his humiliation and he would no doubt have other plans to make Dalriada pay. They shared ideas on how they could defend their lands against a vindictive and greedy King. Scott suggested they should look to build better defences, perhaps using concrete on this side of Loch Awe. He had been exercised by how open they seemed to be in this area. He also pointed out the gains they were still making in terms of settlers who were moving to Dalriada and the increased vigour of their men (and women) due to the improvements in their diet - both during the summer and winter months. Improved health and diet were adding something to the effectiveness of their men. Scott also discussed the incorporation of some of the tactics and approaches he remembered from history. Things like schiltroms and phalanxes, troop manoeuvres that would make them more effective, interlocking shields and the use of pikestaffs. There were a number of tactics that Scott felt they had yet to exploit. Whatever tactics they employed, they both knew that it was going to be a difficult year ahead. ------- Chapter 17: spring/summer 876 AD The spring of 876 AD started with a momentous discovery for Scott. It was perhaps momentous for him alone in Dalriada, none other recognising at the time what the find meant. The first merchant ship of the year called in at Inveraray, loaded with iron ore and limestone as usual - these being the staple things that Dalriada traded for normally. The captain of the merchantman was put out when Scott explained they would no longer need a supply of iron ore, as this had been a major trade item for him. The merchantman panicked at the prospect of losing access to Scott's goods and offered just about everything he had on his ship as an alternative to the ore. He brought out furniture and wines but Scott explained they already had goods of a better quality than what was being offered. He offered gold and Scott accepted some in return for salt and some of the steel weapons his smiths were making. It was clear that the merchantman was still much put out at the loss of his trade. Scott boarded his ship and walked amongst the goods that were stocked there. He pointed to some fabric and suggested he could trade some goods in return for some of it. His eyes lit up as he passed a barrel filled with brown beans. He was sure he knew what they were, but kept the excitement he felt from showing on his face. "You have nothing of any interest amongst your cargo my friend. It seems you will need to find other goods if you wish to continue trading with us this year." "But my Lord, surely there is something here that you need?" "I'm afraid not my friend. I will show you the standard of the goods my craftsmen are making, to be sure, it may be that you will want to trade for my furniture in future for it far outdoes that which you are currently carrying." "It will be a sore blow to lose access to your goods my Lord, so I will be on the look out for things that you might need." "Try finding me some bigger horses my friend! In the meantime I see that you have some seeds on board your ship. All know that I am ever on the look out for seeds. Why have you not offered me some of these as you normally do?" The merchantman sighed. These 'seeds' were in fact coffee beans that he had secured in trade from Ethiopia, but so far he had not found anyone who could stand the bitter taste of the brew they made. He knew of Scott's interest in plants and seeds and thought to offload the barrel to make space in his hold. Scott couldn't believe his luck at getting the coffee beans for nothing! No sooner had the merchant left than Scott had the barrel carried up to the house and he was using a small mortar and pestle to grind down some of the beans. Gabrain was amused at how excited Scott was and he looked on as his friend ground away. "Scott why are you so excited by these seeds? And why are you grinding them instead of planting them?" "Ah Gabrain, what we have here is liquid gold, a great treasure that I have not tasted in some four years, since I came to this time in fact. In my own time business empires have been built on this stuff." Scott put the ground up coffee into a pot and set it on the range to boil. Gabrain was impressed by the smell that came from the pot and the aroma brought the girls in to see what was happening too. Scott let the pot boil for a few minutes more and then used some linen to help strain some of the liquid into a beaker. He raised the beaker to his lips and drank, letting out a groan of appreciation as the hot, bitter coffee hit his taste buds. Gabrain and the girls tasted the coffee and screwed their faces up, stumped as to why Scott was so excited about something that to them tasted vile. "It is a taste that grows on you my friends, believe me. Here, try it with some milk added." They accepted that the taste was slightly better with milk but couldn't believe that they would ever develop a liking for it. Scott and Gabrain surveyed the land between Loch Awe and Loch Lomond, looking for ways to strengthen their defences against possible attack. They recognised that there was just too much land to cover, too many approaches that an enemy host could take. Scott suggested that they had to re-think their approach. If they couldn't build effective static defences then they had to develop better mobile ones. If they could fortify the other side of Loch Awe so that they could use the majority of their forces on this side then that would be a start. While they were prospecting the land at the head of Loch Lomond a messenger arrived from Murdoch with startling news. It seemed that Constantine and his forces had been badly beaten by a massive Viking host as they had been retiring northwards the previous autumn. A mighty battle had been fought around Dollar and the High King had been routed, many men killed, thousands it was said. The Vikings apparently had switched their attentions from Murdoch's Fife and had gone looking for easier pickings. Scott and Gabrain discussed what this might mean for their own position. If the High King had been seriously weakened and now had a significant threat from the Danes to deal with, would that mean they were safe from assault meantime? Both agreed that they couldn't plan on the basis that Constantine would not return this year, they needed to make sure they were ready for anything. Scott had been thinking about infantry formations and had discussed two of these with Gabrain previously. He remembered the Greek phalanx and the later schiltrom as being formations that had had some success. The phalanx was the weaker he thought because it could be relatively easily assaulted from the sides and rear by a more mobile force. Schiltroms on the other hand were regarded as being too static to be used as an attacking force; rather they were a defensive formation, effective against cavalry. But he recalled that Robert the Bruce had turned this on its head and had used schiltroms offensively to good effect. Now that they had a rich source of iron within the Kingdom, Scott set his craftsmen to making large numbers of shields that would cover the whole body. He also ordered many thousands of spears to be manufactured. They argued over the optimum size for a schiltrom, Scott keen to keep them small and fast moving, Gabrain insisting that there needed to be a minimum number else the formation would be overrun quickly. The backwards and forwards debate settled on a square of men, three deep and ten to each side. So, a total of one hundred and twenty men per schiltrom. The front ranks would lock their shields together while those behind would use their spears to engage the enemy. Scott and Gabrain now split up and rode throughout Dalriada to set these plans in motion and ensure that men were equipped and drilled in the new tactics. Gabrain headed east for his old lordship of Cowall and Bute to meet up with Colmgil and Scott headed south for Knapdale and Kintyre to get Lachlan and his men on board. Scott stopped off at Inveraray on his way to Aird Driseig to pick up a number of things. He secured one of the pigeons from the dovecote in a small wicker basket and discussed with Hella who her brightest prospects were for becoming teachers in other settlements. He met with several older girls and agreed to take one of them with him to begin educating the Knapdale children. Then it was off southwards to Knapdale. His arrival at Aird Driseig was a bittersweet moment. He was delighted to see his good friend Lachlan once more but his memories of the camp, of Kirsty and little Tina, swamped him from the moment he set eyes on it. He felt uncomfortable just being there and accordingly he conducted his business with Lachlan quickly so that he could leave. Scott wrote a short note to Hella and carefully tied it to the leg of the Inveraray pigeon, letting the bird fly and hoping that this would work. Lachlan enquired what he was doing and he explained, underlining the fact that it was far from certain the bird would find its way back to the Inveraray dovecote. Lachlan laughed at first but then sobered as he realised the potential of much quicker communications. He found himself hoping that Scott's latest idea would work too. Lachlan was impressed with the plans for the new infantry formations and immediately set his own craftsmen to making the necessary shields and spears. He assured Scott that he would have men practising as soon as the first gear was ready. He also agreed to set up a school and see to it that the children began their education. Scott didn't travel anywhere these days without his trusty billycan and a sack of ground coffee. Surprisingly, Lachlan was the first person in this time that liked the brew from the first taste and the friends enjoyed a drink as Scott brought Lachlan up to date with everything that was going on. For his part, Lachlan updated Scott on the numbers of men he thought he now had available and also on how well his horse breeding programme was coming along. He suggested he would be able to send one hundred and fifty additional horses to Scott for his use. Scott was pleased to see that Lachlan had been using concrete to fortify the camp and there was also a signalling tower, which suggested he had set up his own chain of defences throughout Knapdale and Kintyre. The continued warmth of the people of Aird Driseig towards Scott was tangible and he regretted the sad feelings the camp stirred in him, as he would have liked to spend more time with them. Before he left to ride north, Lachlan introduced him to a pretty woman by the name of Diane. "Scott this is Diane, we plan to wed in the near future, as you can see, she already carries our child." Scott hugged Diane and congratulated them both, pleased that his friend had found his mate and that they had already been blessed with a child. He asked what the plans were and promised that he and Gabrain would certainly attend the wedding ceremony, the girls too wouldn't be kept away. He stopped off at Kilmelford on his way north, making sure that his lieutenants here were overseeing the manufacture of arms and the drilling of men in the new schiltrom formation. He also called in at his coastal defence sites, arriving at Easdale in time to see a fleet of twelve Viking longships heading south along the coast. The Danes were only a few hundred yards away from the camp but made no move to challenge them and Scott wondered where they were headed. As he rode into Oban/Dun Ollaigh he spotted two young boys creeping slowly through the tough grass that grew just above the beach. While he watched them they both rose and whirled slings above their heads, casting stones at a little group of ducks at the water's edge. One of them looked to have been successful if the cloud of feathers that went up was anything to go by and Scott smiled as they both ran to pick up their kill, no doubt arguing as to whose stone had been the accurate one. Scott had only ridden a few yards further on when the boy's weapons brought something to mind - catapults! He knew large catapults or trebuchet had been used in warfare, mostly as siege machines he thought. The Viking longships he had just watched could easily have been in range of a trebuchet though and he wondered if there was something in this. Even using such machines against massed infantry would surely have a marked impact? If he used concrete blocks as ammunition he could have a consistent load and perhaps would be able to calibrate the trebuchet so that it was more accurate than the original users had managed? From memory the design of these things was fairly crude. If he remembered correctly a trebuchet was basically a lever mounted on an axle. The axle was positioned so that there was a long arm and a short arm to the lever. The short arm had a weight attached to it and the long arm a sling. When the short arm was raised and then dropped, the pendulum motion swung the long arm forward, catapulting whatever was in the sling forward. He recalled that the dead bodies of men and animals had been fired into cities that were under siege in the hope of starting an outbreak of sickness. He supposed these were the first examples of biological warfare. He had a growing supply of lead and that could be used as the weight on the short lever, but thought he would try stone first - metal was after all a valuable commodity. Scott was so excited by where this idea was going that he made straight for the Oban craftsmen rather than calling on Dougall, his steward here. Word had obviously reached the Oban smiths because shield and spear production were in full flow. Scott gathered some of the woodworkers together and sketched out his idea for a trebuchet for them on a piece of paper. They grasped the concept immediately but were dubious as to how useful such a machine would be. He encouraged them to build him one quickly and he would demonstrate it for them. He called on his builders and asked them to make up a number of concrete blocks, he opted for a size about twice that of a human head and left them to cut the shuttering and pour the concrete. Having set this latest plan in motion he now called on Dougall and was satisfied that his orders with regard to the development of schiltroms was well in hand. The spring planting was over with and plenty of men were available for training. He also urged Dougall to have the builders put up a school hall and he would send him a teacher so that the children here could start their education. Dougall informed him that a messenger had appeared at Oban looking for Scott some days before. He searched for a scrap of paper and handed it over. Scott grinned as he saw it was a note from Hella confirming the arrival at Inveraray of his carrier pigeon. Scott asked Dougall to establish a dovecote here at the Oban camp and sent word to Lachlan and Colmgil to do likewise at Aird Driseig and in Cowall. He would need to make sure that Cowall was sent someone who could read and write so that the new communication system would work. Two days later word reached him that his first trebuchet had been built. He rushed down to the craftsmen's area to see it for himself. The test firing of the trebuchet left his craftsmen with no doubt that it was a worthy weapon and they chided themselves for ever having doubted their Lord. The concrete blocks easily flew three hundred yards when the weight was dropped. Scott asked the men to fix wooden wheels on the machine so that it could be moved and ordered it taken to Easdale. He fancied having a shot at the next Vikings that happened by. He waited at Easdale for four days before he had the chance to try out his new toy. Four longships were beating up the coast, heading north but when they came closer the suddenly veered out to sea and passed by at a safe distance. Scott concluded that the Vikings had recognised his trebuchet and knew what it was used for. While disappointed that he hadn't had the chance to fire the machine, he consoled himself with the knowledge that the Vikings would be even more wary about approaching his coast from now on. Scott had been away from Inveraray for four weeks now and he decided it was time to return. He made his way via Taynuilt to check on his mill, pleased to see there were a number of scrawny cats walking and lying around the camp. He also called in at Kilchrenan and the monks showed him a new greenhouse that had been specially built for an attempt at growing his precious coffee. Scott could see a number of bushes growing well. They were up to six or seven feet high and had a mass of long white flower stems - almost like a white buddlea he thought. He hadn't been sure what to expect but the fact the plants were growing at all was encouraging. He arrived back at Inveraray to find Gabrain had been back for some weeks. He confirmed that their plans were well underway in Cowall, Colmgil enthusiastic about the new formations. Scott had been thinking during his spells of riding and he now shared with Gabrain his latest weapon, the trebuchet, and explained how he thought they might be able to build some fortified positions at strategic places on this side of Loch Awe. He suggested these could be garrisoned and would act as a first line of defence if the Dásachtach (madman), Constantine came south. Gabrain was keen to see the trebuchet in action but Scott suggested his builders should build them in situ rather than here at Inveraray, as the job of transporting them would be a difficult one. He relented however, on the basis that the camp could use a trebuchet itself, a further defence should the Vikings ever come raiding up Loch Fyne. He had learned a harsh lesson from Aird Driseig. Once built the trebuchet impressed Gabrain and the people of the settlement. Its range and sheer ruinous impact, the very ground shaking when the concrete block fell to earth, were enough to convince them that it was a worthy weapon and could have a role to play if, more probably when, Constantine returned. Hella's class had been reduced in numbers, once to find teachers for the other settlements and a second time when Scott had persuaded some of the older boys to go north as spies to keep an eye on what the High King was up to. She had pushed ahead with the ideas that he had come up with and added some of her own. Every child in the school now had their own slate and chalk and she had had the builders put together a much larger version for her at the front of the class - so she now had her own blackboard. The smiths and woodworkers had also worked with her to develop Scott's concept of a printing press. Although still on a small scale, it was more than sufficient for Hella to be able to reproduce the few texts that she was currently using for her lessons. This again meant that each child had their own copy and that helped speed up the rate of learning. There had been an unlooked for side effect of the children's learning however, and this served to keep Hella busy. While most of the adults were unconvinced of the benefits of education, a fair number had observed the development in their children and had asked if they too could start to learn to read and write. Hella was happy to oblige them and soon had put in place a system of evening classes so the adults could study after they had completed their days work. The summer months were full of hard work as Scott oversaw the building of four different concrete defensive sites, all placed on high ground and all furnished with a number of his new trebuchets and a supply of concrete blocks for ammunition. Other preparations were also underway, these mostly in the hands of the girls. When Scott had informed Gabrain, Fiona and Eilean of Lachlan's wedding plans, Gabrain had announced that he and Esta had also decided to marry. A messenger to Lachlan had confirmed that he would be delighted to make it a double wedding and the girls were making arrangements for a ceremony and feast for later in the summer. All agreed that the venue would be Iona but the exact timing couldn't be settled while the threat of Constantine was hanging over them. Scott and Gabrain were at Inveraray resting for a few days when two messengers appeared almost at the same time. The first was a wandering monk and he carried a hand-written note from one of Scott's intelligence gatherers in the north. The message made it clear that Constantine still fumed about Dalriada and was bent on raising it to the ground. His hands were tied at present however, as the Vikings were assaulting him in numbers never before seen. His defeat in the autumn had already weakened him and now he was stretched trying to defend his heartlands. The second messenger was from Murdoch and was a plea for assistance, the Saxon threat that Murdoch had talked about before now apparently having materialised and the Fifers also coming under attack on their northern and western borders from the same Vikings that had attacked Constantine in the autumn. It seemed clear that they were to be spared the attentions of the High King this year and Scott and Gabrain discussed what, if any, assistance they should give Murdoch. Both agreed that they could well be next if these threats were not dealt with. Scott had no doubt that the Saxons in particular would still bear them a grudge after their defeat in Cowall several years before. The friends decided that a force should be raised as soon as possible and they would ride to their Murdoch's aid. Dalriada could probably now raise over six thousand men. They had built up over fifteen hundred cavalry; half of those trained longbow archers and all of them armed with crossbows. The remaining four and a half thousand men were all trained by now as schiltrom infantry. Scott also wanted to try out his trebuchets in battle and he had a hankering to use his balloon and his fire/flour technology in anger against a foe that he wanted to kill, not simply frighten. Between them they agreed to take one thousand mounted men and two thousand infantry, the remainder defending Dalriada while they were away. Scott selected builders to go with them too so that trebuchets could be constructed closer to the point of battle and for the first time they also planned on taking some of the women and Scott's girls as a field hospital. The muster didn't take long as the Kingdom had been at a high state of readiness for weeks, so it was only four days later that they rode out. Scott aimed to take the mounted men on ahead of the foot. He wasn't sure of the numbers Murdoch might be facing but if the Vikings had managed to beat the High King with his ten thousand, they must be ashore in significant numbers. He planned to make a pass at the Danes with his cavalry while his infantry made directly for Fife. He had some other surprises for the Danes and he was anxious to put them to the test. Lachlan joined Scott and Gabrain, Colmgil staying behind to run things in their absence. Their route took them across country to pick a way through the carse at Stirling and further west along the foot of the Ochil Hills. His scouts reported large numbers of Norsemen some twenty-five miles further northeast of Dollar, in the area of Earn, close to the Firth of Tay. That sounded about right to Scott, he didn't expect the Danes to stray too far from the water and their ships. He continued in that direction, his screens out to make sure they were not ambushed. Two days later they camped at Glen Earn, the Danes only a few miles ahead of them. They were only some ten miles away from the same Glen Almond where he had fought the Vikings once before. Scott had his craftsmen set to work immediately to build a number of trebuchets while his men were tasked with finding suitable rocks to act as both weights and ammunition. His scouts suggested the Norse numbered about five thousand, some of them presumably elsewhere, as Scott couldn't believe these numbers could have defeated Constantine. Of course, they may have suffered significant casualties themselves in that battle. His aim wasn't to bring the five thousand to battle against his one thousand but rather to give the Norse some cause for concern, to try and make them think twice about their raids into Fife. But, whatever his plans, the Danes had ideas of their own. They obviously had their own scouts and they were alerted to Scott's presence, his numbers perhaps encouraging them to go on the offensive. Scott had plenty of warning and wasn't overly concerned. If things started to go badly his men were mounted and could easily withdraw before any real damage was done. He took in the lie of the land in this Glen Earn and thought it would suit his purposes just fine. There was sufficient room for his horse to manoeuvre and the ground was firm. There was no real advantage at any point in the glen for foot so the Vikings would be relying on their numbers alone; hoping that would be enough to win the day. The builders had thrown together four trebuchets and these were loaded and ready to go. Scott called together the elite one hundred horsemen he had chosen to put another of his ideas into practice and had them fit the specially made harnesses to their horses and fit blades they carried with them. He also had his Norse-slayer banner run aloft on a pole to fly above them. It wouldn't do any harm to let the Danes know who they were facing. His men stood ready, watching as the Danes came running down the glen towards them. When they were still at extreme range the trebuchets fired their loads of rock, three out of the four dropping short but the stones bouncing forward, ripping through the ranks of the Vikings. The fourth landed amongst the leading group and Scott watched as bodies went down like skittles. At the impact of the stones, the Viking charge faltered slightly but still came on. Scott ordered the trebuchets to fire again. This time, instead of rocks, the trebuchets were loaded with clay pots. The pots were filled with a mixture of oil and soap, the top jammed with oil soaked rags which had been lit. All four of the trebuchets fired and the Dalriada men watched the pots sail towards the Norsemen. To be sure the Danes were watching the burning pots too but they were so tightly packed that there was no avoiding the falling objects. When the pots smashed the mixture of oil and soap sprayed over the men in the immediate area, the sticky substance clinging to them and catching fire. Those affected screamed in agony as the burning jelly roasted their flesh. Mercifully perhaps they were trampled over by their neighbours, suffocating rather than burning to death. Scott now signalled for his one hundred horse to charge. They formed a very loose wedge, the reason for this quickly obvious when the harnesses grew taut and the contraptions attached to them began to roll and turn. Scott had adapted the machines he had designed for harvesting grain, adding weight to them for stability and additional blades. In effect each horseman had a revolving pair of scythes attached to him and they were riding directly at the Danes. Scott knew this wasn't a new idea, he had seen chariots on old movies on TV that had similar arrangements, but these were relatively lightweight and therefore easy to transport. The Vikings were brave men but even the bravest of men would find it difficult to run towards these bladed horsemen. If they had stood their ground they might have blunted the charge. If they had used their spears they might have made an impact, although Scott's horsemen now carried tear-shaped metal shields that afforded them a great deal of protection. If they had used their spears to target the horses they might have quickly killed off Scott's one hundred, but they did none of these. Already dismayed at the effects of the trebuchets and the sticky, burning oil pots, they turned and did the worst thing possible. They ran. Seeing the Danes running before them, Scott's men split the wedge and advanced in two columns of fifty, literally scything through the Danes, leaving them in bloody ruin. Scott now unleashed his remaining horsemen, throwing them forward in squads of one hundred to mop up the running Norse, running them down as they were fleeing, swords hacking into Viking flesh. At last he gave his hornblower the signal to sound the retiral, allowing some hundreds to escape and take the news of this latest Norse-slayer victory against the odds to their friends and countrymen. With barely a pause to set fire to the trebuchets, Scott ordered his men to head for Fife and the waiting Saxons. ------- Chapter 18: Autumn/winter 876 AD Scott's two thousand foot had already arrived in Fife and were camped to the north and east of Dùn Fearam Linn. There was something of a stir in the camp; an atmosphere and Scott called for his lieutenants to discover what was going on. It seemed that the men had been here for several nights and some had been drinking heavily. The night before one of the women with the host, one of those brought to serve in a field hospital, had been raped by two men. Scott was furious. Perhaps the possibility that it could have been one of his wives raised his response to the rape, but whatever; he was in a towering rage. He confirmed that all knew who the two men were and ordered that they be taken and bound. Meanwhile he went in search of the poor woman who had been attacked. He found her in the care of Fiona and Eilean. Her face was bruised, her lips cut and she cowered as he approached her. Fiona led him to the side and away from the woman, explaining that she was still suffering the aftershocks of the attack and any male presence was like to start her screaming. She explained that the woman's physical injuries were relatively light but the mental anguish she was suffering was severe. Fiona suggested that if this had happened only a few years ago the woman would probably have been able to bear it better, rape being not uncommon. The years of 'peace' within the settlements of Dalriada and Scott's encouragement of the liberalisation of women had perhaps softened them all a little. With further food for thought as to the changes he was making, Scott called for the men to be brought before him. "Does any here bear witness to what happened last night?" He asked those around him. Several men stepped forward and described what they had seen. "Do you deny that you raped this woman?" He asked the two men. "My Lord, we were only having a little fun." Whined one of the men. "Fun!" Thundered Scott. "As the commander of this host it is my duty to maintain discipline. These women have been brought with us to care for the injured and wounded and you thought you could use them to have some fun?" All round men lowered their eyes from his gaze, the anger blazing there. "Take them away and hang them from the tallest tree you can find. Hang them as an example of what happens when men think that women can be their playthings, particularly women whose only thought was to be here to comfort and care for all of you!" The entire episode left Scott feeling black. He avoided Gabrain, Lachlan and his wives for the remainder of the day and didn't seek out Murdoch either. All in his camp sought to avoid him when he was in this kind of mood. He sat alone atop a hill, looking out over Fife and questioning the position. Had things not progressed to the point where the women of Dalriada had earned the right to better treatment? They had been performing the jobs of men for a number of years and their contribution to the development of the lordships was significant. Why then were they still regarded by some as objects for men's gratification? Was he wrong to have changed their role? Fiona had suggested the changes had somehow left them more vulnerable, more affected by such treatment. Was he at fault here? He shook himself mentally. Was it better to have more of a chance of being raped but not to be so badly affected by it, accepting it as normal? Or to have rape less common but women badly traumatised? He decided firmly that rape wasn't acceptable and he was in the right. Happier in himself, he descended the hill and tried to get back to organising his men to do what he had come for. Murdoch rode into his camp the next morning and they clasped arms in a warm greeting. He brought Scott up to speed with the situation he faced. "My scouts tell me there are perhaps five thousand Vikings to the north, based around the Tay but raiding south with growing frequency. The Saxons landed further down this coast, at a place called Limeford and they have perhaps as many as eight thousand moving slowly towards us." "Your information is a little out of date my friend. There are now only a few hundred Norsemen on your northern borders. These brave men of Dalriada put more than four thousand to the sword less than a week ago on our way to join you." Scott told him. "But I visited this camp two days ago and none knew of this." Murdoch replied. "I let the foot come directly here Murdoch, I went north with one thousand cavalry and it was these that defeated the Vikings." "So many with only one thousand? What are you Scott, some kind of magician? Norse-slayer they name you and with good reason it seems!" Murdoch was delighted and not a little relieved that at least one of the threats facing him had been removed. The friends discussed tactics for dealing with the Saxons, Murdoch sending messengers to draw in some of the men he had stationed in the north of Fife to guard against Norse attacks. The fact that they could now concentrate on the Saxons meant that they had the overall advantage in numbers for a change, perhaps eleven thousand to the Saxons eight. Despite that, Scott was keen that they bring matters to a head sooner rather than later, he would like to return to Dalriada in plenty of time for the harvest. He was also determined to strike a hammer blow that would make it clear to the Saxons once and for all that Fife was not an option for their land grabbing tactics. He questioned Murdoch as to the lay of the land the Saxons would need to cross as they came further north, trying to find any further advantage he could. It seemed the Saxons were following the coastline in their advance and Murdoch indicated that Dùn Fearam Linn was the most strategic point they would have to pass. He already had several thousand of his men holding this higher ground and the Saxons were testing his defences there. Scott told Murdoch that he had brought his balloon with him in one of his wagons and he explained what he had done with it in the Pass of Brander. Murdoch's face lit up at the prospect of this same ploy being used against the Saxons and he was also interested in Scott's description of the trebuchets, more of which were being built even as they spoke. Murdoch had described the coastal lands as being somewhat boggy and Scott realised he would be unable to use his cavalry to any great effect with such footing. This was like to be a significant loss to him as his recent battle with the Vikings had proved. He thought hard about how he might still use his horses to positively sway the odds in their favour. Gabrain asked Murdoch whether there were any firmer areas along this coast and Murdoch informed them that there was a spit of higher ground around one of his camps - Inverkeithing. Scott clapped Gabrain on the back for his smart thinking and they mounted up to go and survey what they had to work with. Scott moved his infantry forward to join Murdoch's on the hillside around Dùn Fearam Linn. There were now perhaps five thousand stationed here, with another four thousand of Murdoch's men hurrying south to join them. Murdoch exclaimed when he saw the tightly marshalled groups of one hundred and twenty Dalriada men in their schiltroms and Scott explained the reasoning behind the new formation. They left the men and rode east before swinging south to prospect this Inverkeithing that Murdoch had mentioned. Inverkeithing was perched on quite a high rocky promontory that rose up right on the coast. They rode to the top and could see the hordes of Saxons only a few miles off their front turned towards Dùn Fearam Linn. Scott believed he could make the land work for them here and explained how he intended to use his cavalry if the Saxons would only be so polite as to assist him! Gabrain and Murdoch smiled broadly at the plan Scott laid out, sure it would work. Scott now urged Murdoch to press forward onto the attack, not waiting for his additional troops to arrive. Murdoch was more cautious but bowed to Scott's greater experience. With no other great preparations to be made, Scott sent his one thousand mounted men east and south to Inverkeithing and once more he and Gabrain jumped aboard the balloon and heated it so they rose up into the air. He recognised fairly quickly that the wind on the ground had been misleading and up higher it was blowing off of the Forth Water and up the hill towards Dùn Fearam Linn. It was clear he wouldn't be able to drift over the Saxons and that meant he wouldn't be able to use his burning oil and flour trick after all. Nonetheless the view from several hundred yards up gave him some greater intelligence on the Saxon forces and how they were deployed which was useful in itself. Satisfied he had seen all there was to see, Scott signalled to have the balloon winched in. Eight trebuchets were wheeled forward and they marked the start of the battle, firing concrete blocks and pots filled with oil and soap. The Saxons realised they couldn't just stand idly waiting for these machines to decimate their numbers and quickly began streaming forward, forced to take the battle to the Scots and having to do so uphill. Murdoch's men ran forward to meet them and Scott's schiltroms moved forward too but at a much slower, disciplined pace. With the added momentum of running downhill, Murdoch's troops had the more marked effect, crashing into the Saxons with a mighty ringing of steel. The schiltroms were more ordered and gained less immediate ground, but what they lost in momentum they made up for in remaining tightly grouped and co-ordinated in their assault. Scott's one thousand mounted men had hidden their horses behind the hill at Inverkeithing and now crept forward so that the longbow archers amongst them were within range of the rearmost ranks of the Saxons. They began to fire volley after volley of their arrows into the enemy, to great effect. The Saxon leadership recognised this new threat and detached a great company of their men, as many as two thousand, to plowter through the marshy ground towards the archers. The archers kept up their volleys at the main host until their attackers came within crossbow range. Then all one thousand began to fire their crossbows rapidly, the 'magazine' attachments dropping new bolts into the slots on their bows as fast as they could work the lever action. The Saxons leadership recognised things were going badly for them, the fact that they had to attack uphill a significant disadvantage. Murdoch's men were involved in bloody hand to hand fighting, the Saxons having halted their forward charge and all on that right hand side of the battlefront was somewhat static. Scott's schiltroms had practised their manoeuvres well, intended to make sure that they didn't become static, and the commanders in each square continually ordered their men to move forward, back or sideways as the situation determined. Each square was supporting the others immediately around them, the front ranks locking shields and protecting the square while those behind thrust their spears over their shoulders and heads to skewer the enemy. The tactics were working to an extent but progress was still slow given the numbers of Saxons they were matched against. The Saxon foot managed to reach firmer ground and began to charge at the archers. Their numbers were much depleted; perhaps as many as a thousand having gone down under the hail of crossbow bolts. Both sides were now evenly matched in this little battle within a battle but the Saxons were surprised to see the Scots, to a man, turn and run away at full speed. The Saxon leadership saw the archers run and figured here was their chance of moving their troops away from the uphill struggle they were currently involved in. Horns were blown to signal a general retiral and all across the front men tried to disengage. Such a manoeuvre in the heat of battle is of course easier said than done and it took some minutes before any semblance of order appeared out of the Saxon withdrawal. Scott, Gabrain, Murdoch and Lachlan sat their horses on the hill, watching developments below them. When they were satisfied that the Saxons were indeed going to try and move their entire force through the marshy land towards Inverkeithing they grinned and urged their horses in that direction themselves, racing to get ahead of their foes. The Scots infantry chased after the retreating Saxons, harrying and giving no time for them to regroup. There were still some five or six thousand Saxons however and these were now streaming eastwards. Scott and his friends rode up behind the great hill at Inverkeithing just as his archers raced over the hill and began to mount up. Scott now had one thousand cavalry and firmer ground for them to work in and he and his friends joined the ranks as they wheeled their horses and began to charge back the way they had just come. Perhaps one third of the Saxons had reached firmer ground and were running forward when the Scots horse appeared over the top of the hill and began to thunder down towards them. As always, the Scots were in squads of around a hundred each, formed up into wedges and they smashed through the Saxons, their longer swords, height and momentum bowling the Saxons over easily. The Saxons remaining in the marsh were now faced with a dilemma, push forward and face the cavalry or remain where they were and deal with the infantry who were close on their heels. In the boggy ground the schiltroms now came into their own and their disciplined ranks were cutting through the Saxons very effectively indeed. Scott withdrew most of his cavalry, leaving two squads to sweep backwards and forwards to pick off any further Saxons who ventured onto the firmer soil. The remainder were sufficiently screened to dismount and use their crossbows once more. Their first target was the Saxon leadership and these began to fall under a hail of bolts. The press of the schiltroms and the fear of the horse and crossbows naturally forced the Saxons to turn towards the Forth Water and there was a gradual drift in that direction. By this stage there was perhaps still three thousand Saxons but the Scots casualties were relatively light and they heavily outnumbered their opponents. It looked likely that the Saxons would take their chances in the water but before they could two ships from Murdoch's port sailed into view and began pouring oil on the waters, retreating before setting fire to it and turning the Forth Water into an inferno. Now with no avenue of retreat, the Saxons fought more desperately. Scott had anticipated this when he had orchestrated the various elements of his plan, but thought the risk was worth it to truly smash the Saxon force with maximum casualties. He had one more 'trick' up his sleeve in his planning that could possibly minimise the losses the Scots would suffer. The trebuchets had been rolled down the hill from Dùn Fearam Linn and these were now ready to fire again. The Scots infantry disengaged at the sound of blowing horns and retreated to leave a gap between themselves and the Saxons. The trebuchets now fired, their payloads mixed. Several pots contained a mixture of oil and soap, their tops jammed with flaming rags, others were filled with clay balls filled with smaller stones - almost like a shotgun shell - and finally others were loaded with bags of flour, their sides rent open so that the flour would shower over the Saxons. The oil pots were nearly as successful as they had been against the Vikings but the fact the Saxons were static meant that men burned for longer. The marshy underfoot conditions absorbed some of the 'shotgun' loads and the flour was only partially successful, either losing most of the load before it was over the burning Saxons of landing mostly intact before a cloud of flour rose up. Nonetheless the Saxons still suffered significant losses under the barrage, with no avenue of escape. Scott steeled himself to allow the slaughter to continue, wave after wave of projectiles arcing towards their enemies. He wanted this to be a demonstration, a lesson to any others that might have similar ideas - don't mess with the Scots! He let the trebuchets continue to fire until he could see even his own men were groaning at the wanton destruction before calling a halt. He signalled to move his infantry back yet further, leaving the remaining Saxons, now perhaps only a thousand or so still on their feet, a route to run back along the coast the way they had come. Scott also realised he had missed a trick in previous battles and set his men to recover all of the discarded weapons and other valuable objects from the battlefield. He ordered his cavalry to mount up and race to where the Saxons ships were berthed to grab any worthwhile gear there too, ordering men to ride two to a horse so that there would be sufficient men to commandeer most of the Saxons ships. He made it clear that a reasonable number of ships should be left to allow the Saxons to return to the other side of Forth Water, once more recognising the value of letting survivors spread word of their defeat. With all now largely settled, he also asked that his cavalry return to Earn and perform a similar task in that area, although he wondered whether there would be anything left to forage. Lachlan was leading the cavalry and was therefore away but Scott, Gabrain and Murdoch gathered to rake over the position after the battle. Murdoch was once more very appreciative of Dalriada's help and was fulsome in his praise of Scott's well thought out plan for the entire encounter. He was amazed at how Scott seemed to have been able to forecast every step the Saxons would take. As before there was feasting to celebrate the victory and Murdoch did not stint on the number of beasts that were slaughtered and the number of barrels of ale that were made available. Scott however, was anxious to return to Inveraray as quickly as possible. While his wives knew he was in one piece, Esta and Diane, the brides in waiting, would be waiting for word of their men and of their wedding plans. Before they left Murdoch made sure that Scott was in possession of the 'profits' from the recent trade. Most of this was in the form of metal ingots but also a significant number of gold coins were handed over too. Scott's wives had to travel with the wagons containing the wounded from the two battles while he rode ahead with Gabrain and Lachlan. It was strange therefore to arrive back at Inveraray and not have the girls there to give him his usual welcome home. Esta was there to welcome Gabrain and Hella was keen to do likewise for Scott. In the absence of his wives Scott was a little reticent in that regard. They had to wait for a further two weeks for the return of the infantry and the wagons before the wedding plans could be finalised. A further delay was required, as the harvest was ready to be taken in. Scott was pleased at this as he had some plans he wanted to see put in place before the ceremony. At last the two wedding parties and guests embarked on a longship and headed for Iona. Scott had been conspiring with the girls and had some surprises up his sleeve for Gabrain in particular. The Abbot on Iona was delighted to see Scott and Gabrain, the new island defences and watchtowers having proved effective in safeguarding Iona from further Viking attack. The Columban church was far less materialistic than the Roman Catholic Church in Scott's time, and there was therefore plenty for them to appreciate in what Dalriada was doing and none of the grasping aggrandisement that might have been expected. They rested overnight in cells allotted to them and prepared for the double wedding the next day. As Gabrain was getting ready, Scott slipped into his cell and presented him with some additional items to wear. The guests were in the abbey, waiting for the two couples to arrive for the ceremony. A choir supplied musical accompaniment to the proceedings and the guests in the Abbey gasped as first Lachlan and most especially Gabrain made their way to the altar. Both were dressed in a tabard with a Saltire back and front but Gabrain also had a purple cloak, trimmed in white fur that the girls had devised. On his head was a new crown Scott had had made by his smiths, melting down the majority of his gold coins and incorporating a range of crystals that the children of Inveraray had been out searching for for weeks. Gabrain looked every inch the King but Lachlan had also been bedecked to make him stand out, by no means overshadowed too much by his Kingly fellow 'victim'. The brides were beautiful, dressed in white with seed pearls sewn into their dresses. The vows were taken and kisses exchanged to seal the bonds between the couples and the atmosphere was heady indeed. The guests trooped out of the Abbey and headed for the wedding feast that had been prepared, the two couples the centre of attention and much love. Scott looked at his wives, smiling at their pleasure over the way their additions had been well received. He had one further surprise to play out that they weren't prepared for and he now showed his hand. He pulled Fiona and Eilean to one side, away from the adulation for the two bridal parties and held their hands tightly. He dropped to one knee and addressed them both. "I pledge myself to both of you for as long as I live. This very Scotland is the only thing that I hold dearer than both of you. My love for you is the first thing I think of each morning and the last thing on my mind every single night before I sleep. I would mark my love in some way and hope you both will accept these tokens as a lasting symbol of my commitment to you and I hope a statement of your commitment to me. In saying this, Scott produced two gold bands that he presented to the girls and placed them on their fingers. The girls squealed at this surprise from Scott. They had worked together on the joint wedding but had not foreseen Scott's additional plans to bind them even closer than they had been up 'til now. While the new brides were radiant, Scott's wives were even more so at this re-inforcement of their bond. He held up one additional ring, the import obvious and his wives nodded at the prospect that Hella would be joining their union. ------- Chapter 19: Autumn 876 AD - winter/spring 877AD Scott's girls admitted they had found the experience of the battle in Fife traumatic, particularly watching the Saxons being bombarded by the trebuchets when they had nowhere to run. They had also badly missed little David who had been left behind with Hella. Scott thought to re-assure them by telling them they wouldn't have to go again, only to find himself under attack, the girls adamant that they would set an example to the other Dalriada women. It seemed to be a case of 'it's a tough job, but somebody's got to do it'. A house was under construction for Gabrain and his new wife but in the meantime they continued to live with Scott and the girls. Gabrain and Esta had undertaken a tour of the various lordships so the people of Dalriada could see their new Queen. Esta seemed to be enjoying her new status but it didn't change her personality or how she treated people. Scott received word from his spies in the north that Constantine was having a very hard time with the Vikings. There had been continuous raids all along the Moray coast and Inver Ness itself, Constantine's main base, had been attacked on several occasions. The Norsemen seemed to be abroad in significantly increased numbers this year and Scott next heard from Murdoch that a new contingent had landed at the head of the Tay. These must have heard of the fate of their predecessors though, and struck north rather than south into Fife. So, Constantine was being assailed on two fronts. Scott thought it was ironic that he would have been happy to ride to the High King's aid if Constantine hadn't turned on him. Even now he thought he would be duty bound to support Constantine against the Danes if he was asked, but he couldn't imagine the High King thinking of such a course of action. The rapes in Fife had started Scott thinking. While this might have appeared an isolated incident, he wondered what other kinds of crime might still be going on in Dalriada. He discussed with Gabrain the possibility of taking a further step towards establishing greater power for the ordinary people. His plan was to establish 'burghs' with some limited powers, a concept he didn't think came along in Scotland until around the eleventh century. He explained what he meant to Gabrain, each settlement appointing twelve men (and women!) to consider and deal with wrongdoing. Where disputes arose between settlements, Gabrain and the lords would step in. Gabrain agreed that this sounded like a useful step. The remainder of that year passed peaceably, the food stores were full to overflowing, the children's education was coming on apace and the burghs were set up. Scott had visited Oban to investigate progress in the development of his ideas for a steam driven ship. He found that his craftsmen had constructed the basic parts for producing and controlling the steam - the boiler - much as he had envisaged it. The development of a prop-shaft assembly to turn a propeller was proving more difficult though. Small scale versions had been made and shown to work but scaling this up brought a whole range of problems that the craftsmen were struggling to overcome. Stability was one problem - how to get a shaft that was long enough to run from the steam tank to the propeller to turn smoothly so that it didn't just rip itself from the assembly. Scott realised that some of this required precision engineering, engineering that he didn't have access to. The shaft could be shortened, but only by siting the boiler at the very rear of the ship and that would lead to issues with the trim of the ship. He left them to continue working on the issues. His 'geologist' had been shipped over to the Low Countries and he now returned having had the opportunity to examine the different types of rock that bore various metals. Scott now had him travelling the length and breadth of Dalriada in the hope that he would find other sources to mine. He had also let his Business Administration training rear its head again too. He had focussed on what kinds of investment made for successful companies, trying to find any angles that would help Dalriada in the ninth century. He had come up with another idea that he thought had merit - R&D, Research and Development. He planned to try and bring together particular people with particular skills and see whether they could spark off of each other to develop further innovations. As a starting point he thought he would list the various things he thought might be achievable from his own time. This was not a million miles away from what Leonardo Da Vinci had done after all. Da Vinci had produced drawings for tanks, a helicopter and who knows what else, centuries ahead of their time. If he gave his R&D people some direction; perhaps they would be able to make breakthroughs that he couldn't with his limited range of knowledge. With no warfare to worry about, Scott threw himself into the other developments he had begun but had not progressed fully. Builders were tasked to begin to link other Inveraray houses to the sewer system and to set in train the building of a communal bathing facility and laundry for the settlement. Porcelain toilets were installed in all houses and the readily available supply of iron now also allowed him to have his smiths manufacture cooking ranges for all too. Gabrain's apprenticeship idea was beginning to bear fruit, as more skilled labour was becoming available. More wagons had been produced and Scott had a shuttle system of longships sailing to Ayrshire to load up with coal before bringing it back to Loarne. The increasing use of wagons caused Scott to wonder about road building. The Romans had invested heavily in road building he believed and there was certainly a parallel from his own time in terms of the importance of infrastructure to the profitability of industry. He recognised road building would require a significant investment of labour and decided to begin small and see how things went. He would use hard-core and gravel in the first instance, as he had not managed to develop bitumen and asphalt yet. He remembered the trick of using a hollow metal roller that could be filled with water to increase its weight. While empty it was relatively light and easily transported but when full it would do a good job of levelling the new road. The first road would be between Inveraray and Aird Driseig. The last merchant ship to call at Inveraray before the snow set in brought a welcome surprise. The merchant, concerned at the potential loss of Scott's goods had gone to the trouble of making some temporary adaptations to his ship and he had transported twenty large horses, much larger than those Scott was currently using. The merchant described them as Rounceys and indicated he had traded for them in the Mediterranean. The horses were alive but looked as if they might not be for much longer - the journey and the conditions aboard ship having taken their toll. Scott knew he could have driven a hard bargain given the state of the stock, but he wanted to encourage this merchant to try similar things in future so he didn't push as hard as he might have. In any event, he had a healthy supply of trade goods in his warehouses. He was pleased to see that it only took a week of being on dry land and some quality feeding to see the Rouncey horses regain their condition. There were two stallions and eighteen mares, a good start for a breeding herd he thought. The beasts were magnificent; he estimated at least fifteen hands high and so big that they certainly frightened the children, and even some of the men. Scott believed they would be capable of carrying an armoured man into battle and he set his smiths to making armour for himself and for the biggest and strongest of the Rounceys. He named the horse 'Albannach' - Scotsman - and began to ride him every day so they grew accustomed to each other. As autumn turned to winter Scott still had plenty of time to supervise the improvement projects in Inveraray. He was pleased also to have lots of time to spend with the girls and little David. The little one was now on his feet and walking, eager to investigate everything and liable to injure himself if not kept closely watched. The girls had taken to removing everything that could even be remotely dangerous out of his reach and Scott had had a simple stair gate made to stop him from climbing the stairs - or more importantly, from rolling down the stairs from the top. David also spoke his first words just as the snows started to fall. He was walking hand in hand with Fiona when the flakes started to fall heavily and the toddler immediately started to trot towards the house, urgently pulling his mother behind him. He was obviously excited by this phenomenon and had decided he had to share it with his father. Scott was sitting at the dining table, a stack of paper in front of him as he was preparing to put some of his ideas down in readiness for sharing with an R&D group. David rushed into the room and shouted at him excitedly. "Dada, Dada!" Scott turned, astonished by the words. He looked at Fiona and they both grinned widely. He stood up and let the boy take his hand and drag him out of the door to stand and let the snow fall on them. David began dancing around in glee - there must just be something about snow that appeals to children. Fiona joined them and Scott put his arm around her, both of them sharing a special moment in their child's development. Scott had set up a system of regularly exchanging pigeons with the other main settlements. He knew that a pigeon would reasonably quickly come to accept its new dovecote as its home so it really only had a shelf life of a few months before it would become useless as a messenger. Regularly changing them meant that he and Gabrain would always have this communication option open to them. There were three further things of note that winter. The first two involved the carrier pigeons. Scott was sitting on his balcony, well wrapped up against the cold weather and sipping a cup of coffee. Gabrain was with him but he had opted for a beaker of hot wine rather than the bitter brew, which he could still not develop a taste for. One of the men came rushing towards the house waving something in his hand above his head. It was clear that the man thought there was something that needed their urgent attention and Scott and Gabrain made their way downstairs to the door. It transpired that the man carried a note that had been attached to a carrier pigeon. The note was from Aird Driseig and in clipped words told Scott that Lachlan's grain store had caught fire, destroying his entire stock of grain for the winter. Scott realised this was a heavy blow for the Aird Driseig camp and immediately started to consider whether it would be possible to get a ship to Lachlan with sufficient grain to see him through. Gabrain interrupted his thinking by suggesting they try to make it to Aird Driseig using a sled pulled by some of the domesticated wolves they had in the camp. Scott was doubtful about this, still sure making an attempt by ship would be an easier, and quicker, option. The waters on Loch Fyne were rough in the high winds of winter but he thought he could persuade a crew to venture out. Gabrain was insistent however, sure that a trip by sled would actually be fun and would help break up the boring winter days for them. Scott eventually agreed to give it a try. It became obvious that Gabrain had been planning something of this nature for some time. He already had harnesses made up and other wolves materialised quickly. Scott could see that the animals had run together previously, as they seemed well co-ordinated as a team, Wolf the clear leader. A sled was loaded up with sacks of grain and food to keep the two friends going on the trip. They loaded snowshoes and skis and dressed themselves in warm quilted clothing and Ugg boots. Many from the camp gathered to watch them set off, recognising the importance of the grain to their neighbours further down the loch. It took Scott and Gabrain three days to reach Lachlan, their friend wide-eyed at the manner of their arrival. Indeed the whole of the Aird Driseig camp came out to watch Scott and Gabrain drive the sled through the gates and up the hill to the hall-house. Lachlan greeted them warmly, and the men and women cheered loudly, thankful for the supply of grain. Lachlan was also pleased for the unlooked for opportunity to see his friends again - while he had sent for help, he had not expected Scott and Gabrain to deliver it personally. Hot food and drinks were called for as men began to unload the sled of the precious cargo. The signs of the fire were obvious, the grain silo all but destroyed. Lachlan had no explanation for what had happened, assuming that some stray spark from a fire had somehow ignited the structure. They stayed for two days but once more Scott began to get morose and withdrawn, Aird Driseig and its memories crowding in on him. The journey back was much faster as the sled was unburdened. Gabrain really enjoyed himself, urging Wolf to lead the team at the run and expertly guiding the sled through the best of the snow. Scott had to admit that this was fun and he was glad Gabrain had talked him into making the trip this way. The third thing of note was shared with the pair the night they arrived back in Inveraray - Esta informed Gabrain that she was already with child. The young King was delighted at this news and immediately demanded a feast be organised in celebration. Scott suggested they just build on this additional celebration to the St Andrew's day holiday and Gabrain thought that was a fine idea. The St Andrew's day celebration was therefore even bigger and better than the previous year's affair, observed throughout Dalriada, despite the snow this year, and the people gave special thanks for the fact that their King looked to have an heir on the way. The girls designed another play, this one depicting the defeat of the Vikings and the Saxons in the summer - even managing to include a scene where two men were hanged. This was no doubt to make a point to the men of the lordship that the women hadn't forgotten this crime and neither should the men. Scott spent many of the long dark nights writing down his thoughts on future improvements that could be worked on. He started with the things he remembered from school, basic chemistry, physics and maths, hoping these would be useful groundwork for whoever formed the R&D group. He then described many of the everyday things he imagined would be useful covering medicine, technology, warfare, building and the like. He even began to set down separately his thoughts on government, justice and religion - thinking these might be texts that Gabrain might find of interest, possibly even discussion pieces for the two of them. He had been mulling over in his mind who should be chosen to form the R&D group. His chief smith, potter, woodworker and builder would probably be useful but he needed something more than that. His new 'geologist' had the kind of inquiring mind that would make him another good addition but still there was something missing he knew. He wondered whether there were people on the continent that were already more advanced in their thinking than anyone here in Dalriada. The texts on the seven liberal arts that he had brought back from the Mediterranean suggested there was and he wondered whether there was something he could do to attract some of these people to Scotland. Perhaps his 'geologist' friend could go on another trip to Europe, to talent spot this time? Spring had only just begun and Scott had had little time to put any of his winter thinking into practice before a message was received from one of his northern spies. The message was obviously written in haste and sent with great urgency. Constantine was on the move! It seemed the High King was gambling that he had some months before the Vikings re-started their raiding and he was intent on using that time to teach both Dalriada and Fife a lesson. His spy advised that Murdoch was to be dealt with first on the way south and thereafter Constantine would be knocking on the doors of Dalriada, fifteen thousand men behind him. The intelligence suggested that Constantine had mobilised the 'Ri' in the north by telling them that Murdoch and Scott were in league with the Norsemen, behind much of the previous year's mayhem in Moray. He had elaborated on the lie by pointing out how prosperous Dalriada was and Fife was fast becoming the same - even twisting the facts of the campaigns in Fife the previous year by suggesting the Vikings had helped Scott and Murdoch defeat the Saxons. He pointed to the fact that there had been no reports of a single Viking raid on Scott's lands for the entire year and used his lies as a way of recruiting men to join him in coming south. Scott and Gabrain agreed that full mobilisation was required and pigeons were sent out to all of the major settlements to urge haste. Scott had also set up his 'pigeon-post' with Murdoch but wasn't sure the Fife pigeons would still fly having been at Inveraray for almost six months over the winter. He tried anyway and had to hope the message got through. As a back up he sent a mounted messenger too although he knew that would take three of four days longer to get the news of Constantine's plans to his friend. That time could be vital he knew. It only took four days for Scott and Gabrain to gather in their cavalry and they set out, leaving the four and a half thousand infantry to follow on as fast as they could manage. With fifteen hundred mounted troops they galloped across the country, Scott hoping his friend had received his warning. They were passing Loch Katrine when a messenger from Murdoch met them, the pigeon apparently having done its job. The messenger advised that the Fife levies were mobilising quickly and Murdoch suggested they meet up at a point not far from Glen Almond. Scott recognised the wisdom of this in that he knew this area and there was scope to take up a strong position. Another day and a half of hard riding took the Dalriada contingent through Strath Earn, past the foot of Glen Turret and on towards Glen Almond. Murdoch awaited them there, only some three thousand of his Fife levies gathered so far. His scouts had been out shadowing the new band of Vikings that he had alerted Scott to before winter set in and he now reported that this host had apparently been re-inforced significantly. It was currently reported as being in the area of the Dun Keledei abbey on the River Tay. The scouts' reports put the Norse numbers at somewhere in the region of ten thousand men. After a brief rest, Scott and Gabrain decided they would ride on to take a look at the Vikings and prospect for any sign of Constantine. They rode northwards, Scott recognising that the Danes were near what he knew as Dunkeld, close to the Birnham Wood of Shakespeare's MacBeth fame. He had to do a double take as he realised that MacBeth hadn't actually been King of Scotland yet, history put that at around the middle of the eleventh century, still one hundred and fifty years in the future! They had screens out and moved forward cautiously as they neared Birnham. Scott's scouts couldn't locate the Vikings immediately and he began to get a little concerned, particularly given the reported numbers of the Norse. Accordingly, he kept his cavalry as much to open ground as possible, so they could retire at the first sign of trouble. They made a loop towards Aberfeldy and immediately came across Scots troops streaming towards them, obviously in flight. Scott's men stopped some of these to find out what was afoot and was told that Constantine's men had been brought to battle by the Vikings and been defeated. These men were running from the fray. Further questions elicited the knowledge that the battle had taken place at Strathtay itself. Scott and Gabrain continued forward cautiously with their men, picking up more of the retreating Scots forces as they went. By the time they reached Strathtay they had amassed almost four thousand infantry who had rallied to Scott and Gabrain's Saltire flags. The Vikings seemed to be dispersed, perhaps chasing down the fleeing Scots and Scott could see that the Norse leadership only had around two thousand men surrounding them. He couldn't resist the temptation and signalled to his captains to marshall the cavalry for an immediate charge. Scott's men formed up into their squadrons of one hundred and they charged towards the Vikings. The Scots infantry gained new heart from the positive approach of Scott, Gabrain and their men, and they also charged forward. The Norse were caught completely unawares, complacent, thinking their troops were out mopping up the routed Scots. Scott headed his squad of one hundred directly at the Viking leaders and felt exultant as they carved through the knot of Danes easily, cutting down the leaders in one fell swoop. This was easy, mounted men against foot, the Vikings with their guard down. Incredibly, one thousand cavalry had re-invigorated the fleeing Scots and had turned a rout into a potential victory in minutes. Scott ordered his mounted squadrons to ride out and tackle the remaining thousands of Norse who must be chasing down other Scotsmen. Scott and Gabrain were sitting their horses, watching their men bringing bloody order out of the chaos they had found, when a number of Scots made their way towards them. "God be raised my Lord, you have turned this rank defeat into a glorious victory. Who are you?" Asked one of the men. Scott glanced towards the banners that were streaming above him. "We are Scots like you my friend, our Saltires proclaim us so I hope! This is Gabrain, King of Dalriada and scourge of Scotland's enemies." "But we were told you were in league with the Norse, how comes it that you are fighting them?" Scott pointed to the other banner, the one with the raven and the arrow. "Don't believe all that you hear my friend. I am sometimes called the Norse-slayer - that is my banner. Never would I join the Vikings in their cause against this Scotland! King Gabrain and I would fight any who have designs on our country." "But Constantine told us you were working with the Norse!" "Does this look like the work of someone who is working with the Danes?" "No my Lord." "We will have words with Constantine when we see him. Never has Dalriada shirked its duty to defend Scotland." "You will do well to have this out with Constantine my Lord, for he was slain, aye and early in the battle it was too, cut down by the Vikings." This was a momentous revelation. The High King was dead. This could possibly change all in terms of the position of Dalriada in this Scotland, the need to fight for their survival. They waited for their men to return, bringing further Scots forces with them. All told Scott and Gabrain now had some six thousand five hundred of the High King's original host. They also had word that a number of the 'Ri' had survived the battle and were close by with groups of their own men still with them. It seemed as if more than ten thousand of the Scots were still alive after the battle, it being clear that they must have broken and run early in the affair, the High King's death probably a big factor in that. Murdoch also now arrived with over six thousand Fife men and the three friends conferred as to what would most likely happen now. Without a High King, Scotland would need to appoint Constantine' successor quickly. All of the northern 'Ri' had been caught up in the defeat by the Norse and were therefore now present. That meant that the only one of the seven lesser Kings not here was Eoachaid of Strathclyde. That being the case it was agreed that a council should be held to confirm the next High king. At first Scott was being excluded from the council, but when Murdoch pointed put that more than half of the attendees wouldn't be here if it hadn't been for Scott and his cavalry, would perhaps have been killed, he was allowed to attend. There were seven sub-Kings of Scotland, seven 'Ri', and each had a vote to decide who the next High King of Scots would be. The obvious candidate was Aed mac Cinaed (Kenneth). Constantine had been a son of Cinaed mac Alpin, to Scott, the founder of the Kingdom of Scotland. Aed was his brother and another son of Cinaed. Scott looked around the gathering and tried to factor the votes. Aed could probably rely on Giric, a son of one of Cinaed mac Alpin's daughters and therefore related to Aed. He would also probably have the backing of Domnaill of Buchan. Gabrain, Murdoch and presumably Eoachaid - given the incident with his son and Constantine before - would normally be against Constantine's brother. One of the lesser Kingships lay vacant so only six votes would count. The absence of Eochaid made all the difference and Aed was confirmed as the next High King, the vote three to two in his favour. There was no delay in taking forward the confirmation of the High Kingship, all moving to the traditional coronation site, Scone, and a hasty crowning ceremony was staged. Aed was brought forward and placed on the coronation stone. It was a solid oblong block of dark stone, almost black, with a glazed texture, decorated with intricate carving in typical Celtic designs of interlacing herringbone with elaborate spirals and raised bosses. It was two feet in length with a shallow hollow in the centre for holy water. Scott held his breath in absolute awe. This was mythical, beyond his imagination. He couldn't quite believe that he was standing beside Saint Columba's altar, Lia Faill, Scotland's 'stone of destiny'. Legend had it that the stone was somehow linked to the biblical tale of Jacob's ladder - that the stone had in fact been Jacob's pillow. Scott could clearly see it was different to the stone of destiny as represented in his own time, the stone that had sat below the throne of British monarchs for centuries before only recently being returned to Scotland when a new parliament was opened in the year two thousand AD. This stone before him truly was an awesome thing to see, to touch, to think of as a touchstone for Scotland's fortunes through the ages. As the 'Ri' moved forward to take their oaths of allegiance to Aed, Scott could see that the new High King was looking at him, the nature of the look obvious, he was going to continue in relation to Dalriada where Constantine had left off. Scott could see the same look given to both Gabrain and Murdoch when they stepped forward to take their oaths to the new monarch. It seemed that little had changed after all and Fife and Dalriada would have to remain on their guard. ------- Chapter 20: 877 AD Scott, Gabrain and Murdoch remained close to their men for the remainder of their time at Scone. Aed made no overt moves against them. It was unlikely, given the recent events that the northern Scots would have taken up arms against the Dalriada men anyway. The Dalriada forces intervention had saved many of them from the hands of the Norse. On the surface Aed was also full of praise for them, but the friends weren't taken in by the oily words from the new High King. Giric seemed to be altogether different. While he had voted for Aed as the new High King, it was clear he didn't hold him in high esteem at all. It was possibly only the fact that they were related that had swayed his vote, or perhaps it was something rather more sinister Scott thought. He watched Giric and noticed how offhand he was with Aed, showing no real deference towards the High King. Scott thought through the position and realised that Aed's appointment re-inforced the line of Cinaed mac Alpin as having right to the High Kingship. First Cinaed's son Constantine and now another Cinaed son, Aed, had been the next in line to the throne. Of course, if Aed was somehow to fall... remaining with Cinaed's bloodline would put Giric in with a chance of the succession. Scott shared his thinking with his friends and they agreed that there could be some sense to this. Giric supporting Aed might only be about strengthening his own claim on the Scots crown at some future date. Certainly Giric's manner towards Aed didn't suggest he thought of himself as in anyway Aed's subject. The position was further confused by the fact that the recently slain Constantine had left a son behind, still a mere boy, Donald mac Constantine. In an attempt to consolidate his position, Aed had appointed his own son and heir, also called Constantine, as sub-King for the vacant lands of Fortrenn. The son was also still a minor. He also named Donald as the new sub-King in his own lands of Angus and the Mearns, following his assumption of the throne. In effect Aed would rule over both of these young boys' lands, controlling two of the sub-Kingdoms. If Giric did have designs on the throne then Aed and these boys could all be in danger. Giric was friendly towards Scott and Gabrain, engaging them in conversation, clearly respecting Scott's reputation and achievements. They discussed tactics and various engagements with the Vikings and the Saxons. Giric had no real experience of fighting the Saxons and was keen to know whether they used different tactics or methods. He had plenty of experience with the Norse, not all of it good he had to admit, as the past year in particular had not been a happy one for the Scots in the north. Giric's sub-Kingdom, that of Atholl, was in the very centre of the country and not normally subject to Viking raiding. The Norse success against Constantine and their growing numbers however, had meant they were increasingly penetrating his borders and he had been supporting Constantine as a way of keeping the Norse from his own door. Strong neighbours were the best safeguard anyone could get in these bloody, savage, violent times he believed, and now he seemed to be wooing Gabrain and especially Scott. Scotland in the ninth century was made up of the land to the north of the Forth Water and the Clyde. The seven sub-Kingdoms were: Fortrenn (Moray and Ross) - in the far north; Buchan and Mar - in the northeast; Angus and the Mearns - on the east coast below Buchan and Mar Fife and Forthrith - Murdoch's lands; Strathearn and Mentieth - bordering Murdoch's Fife and encompassing the territory across to Dalriada's borders; Atholl - Giric's sub-Kingdom, in the centre of the land and to the north of Strathearn; and Dalriada The territory immediately north of Dalriada, encompassing the northwestern seaboard, were debatable lands, home to Norse and other wild men. Domnaill held the lands of Buchan and Mar and Scott now learned that Eochaid, who was the Prince of Strathclyde (not yet part of Scotland), also held the sub-Kingdom of Strathearn and Mentieth. Eochaid apparently was paying his sub-Kingdom little heed, one of the reasons perhaps that the Vikings were making repeated landings in this area. Giric now discussed with Scott and Gabrain the absenteeism of Eochaid and how that was encouraging the Norsemen to penetrate deeper inland. "Can you not prevail upon this Prince of Strathclyde to take his responsibilities as one of the Ri of Scotland more seriously?" He asked. "I think this might have something to do with the death of his son. Perhaps it has soured his attitude towards this Scotland, he perhaps looks to keep himself to his lands in Strathclyde, keeping himself at arms reach of the High King of Scots, as Strathclyde is outwith Scotland. It may be that Constantine's death will change that but perhaps not, as Aed is of course Constantine's brother." Replied Scott. "It may be that I would be well advised to pay the man a visit then, for I would have greater security if a strong hand held sway over my eastern borders!" Scott caught a gleam in Giric's eye and wondered if he was making the connection between Eochaid's son's death and the possibility that the Prince of Strathclyde might be a future ally against Aed. The fact that Giric had lands bordering Eochaid's Strathearn, and that the Norse were encroaching from there, provided an absolutely valid reason for him to call on Eochaid, but Scott didn't think that would be all that was discussed. Scott hadn't known about Eochaid's position with regard to the Strathearn sub-Kingdom, the same area he had just led the Dalriada forces through and the same area that held Glen Almond where he had fought the Danes previously. He began to accept that Giric perhaps had a point and agreed that Eochaid needed to take action to better defend this territory. That would greatly improve Murdoch's security too. Not surprisingly, Murdoch also agreed this point. Gabrain and Scott agreed to accompany Giric on a visit to Eochaid and they weren't long in taking their leave of Scone and Aed. Scott was a little surprised, but delighted, to see a number of Saltire flags flying amongst the northern Scots they were leaving behind. The spread of this symbol was hugely satisfying to him. He also still held the awe of having seen and touched the stone of destiny. The majority of the Dalriada forces were sent back home, Gabrain and Scott keeping barely one hundred mounted men for the ride south, back to the Carse at Stirling and then southwest towards Dun Barton. They found Eochaid perched atop his rock, inside his fort there. Scott decided to allow Gabrain and Giric make the running on this visit, his young prodigy now maturing into his position and better able to play his kingly role without Scott's open support. Scott was also better able to observe the by-play between Eochaid and Giric in this way and he watched for any signs that Giric was trying to enlist the other man's support for anything more than just the defence of his territories. "To what do I owe the pleasure of a visit of not one, but two of the Ri of Alba?" Eochaid asked, almost contemptuously. "We come to discuss your absenteeism from Strathearn my Lord, and the consequences of that on others in Scotland!" Gabrain replied firmly. "I need no pup to tell me my duty, certainly not in my own keep!" Scott was pleased to see that Gabrain didn't let this slight anger him. "You say so my Lord, yet it is through your lands of Strathearn that much of the Viking raiding in the past year has been launched. Maybe this pup has the rights of it!" Gabrain responded, holding his ground. "My Lord of Dalriada has a point Eochaid, my own lands suffer much due to the lack of a strong hand in Strathearn. I would have you take your responsibilities there more seriously." Giric added, but moderately. "So, you would have me fight your battles for you then?" Eochaid responded. "Not so my friend, I would but share the burden. See you, if properly marshalled, your lands there should be able to raise many men. I would stand by you in defeating the Norse, with you much the richer for getting the most out of a fertile and secure lordship." Eochaid paused to look closely at Giric, measuring him. "Aye that may well be, but see you, Giric, I want nothing to do with the poisonous seed of Cinaed mac Alpin, already I have suffered much at their hands!" "Yet you seem to forget cousin, we are both stock of the same seed. Both of us had a daughter of Cinaed mac Alpin as our mothers I would remind you. Perhaps we could have more in common than blood in the future?" Giric's use of 'cousin', and his reference to both his own and Eochaid's mothers was in fact accurate and Eochaid paused once more to think on that. Scott had also caught the exchange and Giric's reference to the possibility of sharing something other than blood - a common cause perhaps, he thought? Was this Giric hinting at some bond, some compact between the two against Aed? "Perhaps, but I have more to occupy my time than worrying about Norsemen in your savage north Giric, my own Strathclyde is increasingly assailed by Saxons, aye and Danes. The lands to the south, Ayr, Carrick, even Galloway, are broken lands and seem a breeding ground for trouble. My attention needs to be there, not distracted in Strathearn." Scott sensed an opportunity here. His own knowledge of history told him that the lands Eochaid had just referred to would become part of Scotland, along with Eochaid's Strathclyde. He wondered whether this was a chance to hasten such an annexation. He spoke up for the first time. "My Lords, perhaps there is an accommodation here that could suit all." "Ah, the Norse-slayer has a tongue after all, I was beginning to wonder. All know your habit of hatching schemes. What would you have us at now?" Asked Eochaid. Scott noticed that Gabrain and Giric were both looking at him expectantly too. "What if I was to lead a force into these wild lands my Lord? What if Gabrain and I looked to subdue these - Ayr, Carrick and Galloway? Would you then be more disposed to dealing with your Strathearn lands?" Asked Scott. "Why would you take that on mac Fergus?" Asked Eochaid. "For a number of reasons, my Lord. Dalriada could well do without a breeding ground for more Vikings so close to our coasts. The Saxons too seem ever willing to expand their lands. Into the bargain, these are potentially rich lands, could offer much." Scott replied. He didn't add that annexing these lands would sandwich Eochaid's Strathclyde, making it more likely that it would be swallowed up within Scotland at some point. Eochaid accepted his explanation and, already stretched himself, was nothing loath to allow Scott to take control of these lands. Gabrain had total trust in Scott and could also see the benefits of the plan he was outlining. Between them they discussed more of the details of who would do what, but essentially there seemed to be agreement that Eochaid would concentrate on reclaiming his Strathearn sub-Kingdom, with Giric's and Murdoch's assistance. Scott and Gabrain would look to cleanse the lands to the south of the Viking and Saxon threats. Quickly thereafter they split up, Scott and Gabrain heading back to Dalriada. Pigeons were sent out to call Lachlan and Colmgil for a meeting to plan a campaign. All agreed that the first priority was to get the harvest in and dealt with before any adventuring, so that was where the effort was directed. While the priceless crops were being brought in, the friends discussed how best to approach the task Scott had set them. His own thoughts were that there was no single concentration of opponents and that a fluid, horsed force would be ideally suited to the job. Intelligence suggested that the indigenous population was basically enslaved by either Saxon or Viking masters and Scott hoped that they would be able to enlist the support of those they freed. To that end they would take a stock of spare weapons with them too. Scott and Gabrain also took the opportunity of re-acquainting themselves with their wives over the summer, having been gone for some time. Esta was beginning to show the significant signs of childbirth but was still keen to keep her kingly husband satisfied. Fiona and Eilean were always keen to try and keep Scott satisfied, mostly failing to keep up with his sexual stamina and often calling for help from Hella. Scott still had the third gold ring he had had made and his two wives had already indicated their willingness for Hella to join their union. He planned an elaborate set up with his two wives, creating a setting for making the offer to Hella. Hella was invited for a meal and Scott cooked. His wives made an elaborate show of comparing their rings, making a big thing of their significance. It was clear that Hella was growing more and more upset by their display but she bit her tongue at the unusual treatment from the girls and tried to remain lively and happy through the meal. Scott had taken the opportunity of enclosing the third ring within two squares of pasta and had made sure this portion was on Hella's plate. He waited and waited, as it seemed Hella picked every piece of pasta to eat but the one containing the ring. At last she shovelled that particular piece into her mouth and bit down on it, exclaiming as her teeth made contact with the metal. Her face lit up with joy when she removed the ring from her mouth and discovered what it was. She realised the uncharacteristic teasing by the girls had all been a set up and she squealed as she jumped up to hug each of them in turn. Scott waited patiently for all three of them to calm down a little and for Hella to approach him. "Will you join us? Will you be part of what we have? Will you commit yourself to each of us just as we would commit to you?" He asked. "Of course!" She breathed as he took her in his arms. Fiona and Eilean moved to encircle both of them and together they somehow managed to make their way upstairs to the bed. Scott was paying most attention to Hella, this was her moment. He wasted no time in flipping up her kilt and seeking out her little pussy, kissing and licking it as he heard her begin to moan insistently. He felt rather than saw the girls bracket Hella and add their own touches to this union. The combined attention and the excitement of the rings was too much for Hella and she was soon thrashing through her first orgasm, pulling Scott's mouth tightly to her, her fingers tightly in his hair. "Uh, Scott, yes, right there, yes, uh, uh." She moaned. His tongue was running repeatedly over her clit, two of his fingers hooked up inside her to rub that spot behind her pubic bone that seemed to drive all women wild. "Uh, uh, Ahhhhhhh, yeeessssss, Scotttttt!" She screamed as she climaxed. Scott left her sensitive nub for the moment and kneeled between her legs, slipping his already iron hard staff between the well-lubricated lips of her pussy. He began slowly, building up his tempo and rhythm as Hella recovered from her orgasm and began to thrust upwards against him. Fiona and Eilean had let the eroticism of Hella's first climax get to them and Scott could see they were both engaged in a heated mutual sucking and licking session. He let himself hover over Hella, leaning down to kiss her lovingly as he stroked into her over and over. Hella was no different to other women in this time and it didn't take Scott long to bring her off again, her squeals doing serious damage to his right ear as she came, twitching continuously under him for some minutes before going limp. Scott withdrew from Hella and eyed up his other two wives. Of the two, Eilean was on top and he quickly sidled up behind her, rudely using his staff to force Fiona to back off, disengaging her tongue from her sister wife's nether lips. At first Eilean groaned her disappointment, not realising why Fiona had stopped her attention, then she felt the head of Scott's cock pushing into her opening, demanding entrance to her tight sheath. They were both already very excited and Scott showed little finesse as he started to piston into his little elf with real purpose. Eilean somehow managed to keep her mouth on Fiona's sex and with each of Scott's thrusts she was forced forward, her tongue alternatively spearing up Fiona's channel and then across her little nub. It was clear that all three were enjoying the rhythm of this and when Scott could hold back no longer, the blasts of his cum drenching her womb triggered first Eilean's and by extension, Fiona's climax too. All four of them lay on the bed, recovering from their exertions. The food, wine and sex combined to send Scott off to sleep. His wives had other ideas though and Fiona dropped to take his, for once, soft staff into her mouth, hungrily sucking and cleaning him off, coaxing him to hardness once more. Scott roused himself as he felt Fiona mounting him. "Oooohhhhhh, you owe me one my Lord, I'm sorry but I wasn't going to be denied my turn with this wonderful beast." Another squeal caused Scott to turn his head and he saw that Hella was using the strap-on to service Eilean. He never tired of watching his little elf enjoy herself and he basked in the sight of her as Fiona rammed herself firmly onto his now fully hard cock. After a further round with each of the girls, Scott was completely exhausted and even Fiona could not raise him for any further action. They cuddled up to him as closely as they could and joined him in slumber. As usual everyone wore satisfied smiles the next morning. Scott indicated he had to visit Oban to check up on a number of things, but even this didn't take the grins from the faces of the girls. Gabrain accompanied him on the trip, taking the opportunity to discuss the forthcoming campaign. "Scott, what are your plans for these lands once we have cleansed them?" Scott thought he detected a hint of concern in Gabrain's voice. He wondered if his King was anxious at the thought that Scott might conquer these areas and choose to remain there. "As I said to Eochaid, Dalriada will be much safer if we clear these lands of Vikings and Saxons. It would be foolhardy to leave them open to further incursions if we are successful, so we will need to think about how we guard against that." "Do you plan to make yourself King, to rule over these?" "My place is with you my Lord King, here in Dalriada. If we can win these lands perhaps it would be wise to claim them however, and strengthen this Scotland by doing so." "I rejoice to hear you say that my good friend, but if any deserves Kingship and displays the very qualities needed of a good King then surely that would be yourself. I would sorely miss you if you were to leave, but I would understand." Said Gabrain. Scott appreciated the inherent sacrifice that he knew this offer represented for Gabrain. But what he had just said was true. He couldn't see himself leaving Argyll, loved it too much to abandon it for elsewhere. "No Gabrain, you're not getting rid of me that easy. If we win this territory we can appoint another as Prince there, not King, owing fealty to yourself as King." "Thank you my friend, for myself I don't want vast new lands but want less to lose your services. Reward for you there should be however, I propose that if we are successful it should be young David who is invested as Prince!" Scott looked thoughtfully at his young King. He knew that there would be no hidden motives in this, it was purely a sign of his love for Scott and he nodded his grateful acceptance of what was a significant gift indeed. When they arrived at Oban Scott immediately made his way to the shipyards. Two of the much bigger ships had now been completed but still no real progress had been made with the prop-shaft problem. Instead, he ordered his men to begin to fit masts to the ships to help power them. He knew the quickest way to get troops where he wanted them was by ship. If he were taking a purely mounted force he would need much more ship space to embark horses as well as men. The combination of his longships and these larger ships would allow him to transport all he needed in two trips. Satisfied, the friends went to inspect the men they would be taking south. ------- Chapter 21: Autumn/winter 877/878 AD It took some weeks to have the masts fitted to the new ships. Scott and Gabrain took the opportunity to review how other things were progressing in Oban. Further shipments of Rouncey horses had been traded here and Scott now found he had over sixty of the huge beasts with breeding underway. Work had been ongoing at the Oban camp to install a similar sewer system to that achieved at Inveraray and the local craftsmen were working flat out to install toilets in all of the accommodation. Inveraray had supplied a schoolteacher and Oban now had a thriving school for its children. As with all the other Dalriada settlements, the food stores and grain silos were full to bursting, never had the people had such an abundance of food and beasts. Scott discussed the need to start building roads from Oban outwards, the first being targeted at linking the camp with that at Taynuilt where the mill was based. A message arrived to confirm that the ships were all now ready for their campaign. Ten longships and the two larger ships were at their disposal. Scott decided to use the larger ships in the main for the horses, ensuring that they had sufficient room and some greater stability while at sea. Hoists and slings were used to lift the horses aboard, only one or two accidents occurring. Five of the longships were eventually also pressed into service to carry horses and the first wave at last set off. They sailed down the Sound of Jura, down the length of Knapdale and Kintyre before swinging east round the foot of Kintyre and past the Isle of Arran. Two days later they made landfall at Aird Rosain (modern day Ardrossan) and took a further day to unload the horses. Scott and Gabrain remained with the men and horses while the ships returned to Oban to load the second wave. While they waited Scott sent out scouts to identify the prevailing circumstances. He made sure to prospect both inland and down the coast, assuming Saxons would be mainly away from the seaboard and any Vikings would remain close to their ships. Intelligence was soon coming in to confirm that there were concentrations of both Saxon and Viking throughout this area of Coineagan (modern day Cunninghame). Scott and Gabrain grew impatient waiting for the second wave of Dalriada to arrive, knowing that targets were all around them, ripe for overrunning if they had but their full one thousand cavalry to command. There was no inland camp or site with more than five hundred in it and that suggested easy pickings. Some of the Viking camps touched on one thousand or more and would be more difficult to take on. The real challenge was perhaps the fact that there were ten settlements and camps in this Cunninghame alone, and who knows how many others further south through Coila (modern day Kyle), Carraig (modern day Carrick) and finally Gallobha (Galloway). A further five days of kicking their heels and the second wave arrived at Aird Rosain. Another day was required to unload the second batch of horses and then another day to allow the horses to regain their land legs. At last Scott and Gabrain had their force ready to begin their campaign. Scott had brought several wagons with him and these had been re-assembled, their cargo loaded up. He also ordered five of the longships to remain on station and agreed a set of signals with their captains. The first targets Scott chose were the inland ones. He hoped he would be able to free some of the locals and have them help with future targets. His plan involved a repeat of the 'blitkreig' and 'hammer and anvil' tactics he had used in Fife. His thinking was that this would lead to the Saxons running and leaving behind their local slaves. The last thing he wanted was to have his men needing to try to differentiate between foe and possible ally. They made their way carefully towards Kilwinning, splitting their force; seven hundred heading below the camp to act as the anvil while three hundred rode on to run the Saxons towards them. Scott led the three hundred and he held them out of sight of the camp to allow Gabrain to get into position and to set up a little surprise he had for the Saxons. He gave Gabrain half an hour or so and then led his men forward. As before they advanced line abreast and at a slow trot so the Saxons would have plenty of time to see them and react. The Saxons duly obliged Scott by taking to their heels and running. There were perhaps three hundred and fifty of them and they ran unknowingly towards their deaths. As they ran, looking over their shoulders at Scott and his men pursuing them, they didn't initially see Gabrain and his seven hundred in front of them. They were perhaps only two hundred yards from Gabrain when it became obvious they had spotted the additional threat. The Saxons just about came to a standstill as they were caught between the two Scots forces. At that moment, men rose on either side of them, throwing burning torches to the ground. It now became apparent that Gabrain had taken the time to soak a swathe of ground in oil and it was this ground that the Saxons were standing on. Screams shrieked out from the inferno as men were consumed by the flames. Gabrain's men moved forward to fire volleys of crossbow bolts into the fire, mercifully killing some of those who were being burned alive. A retiral to the Kilwinning settlement found that all of the 'locals' had vanished, Scott's plan to try to use them something of a moot point now. They didn't waste too much time at Kilwinning, the blitzkrieg tactic demanding they drive on to the next camp. Two more settlements were dealt with using the same treatment, the Saxons falling in numbers and the 'locals' vanishing like mist. Two more days of similar tactics had rid Cunninghame of Saxons and brought Scott and Gabrain to the River Irbhinn (modern day Irvine). This marked the boundary of Cunninghame and they were now faced with a choice of carrying on with their blitzkrieg against the Saxons or backtracking to deal with the Vikings on the coast. The Dalriada forces were still fresh, little actual fighting having taken place and Scott decided it was time to spill some Norse blood. His original plan of enlisting locals was not working, so he thought it wise now to take on the Danes while he still had a force that was fighting fit and eager to engage. The Viking campsite here was at Irvine itself and Scott and Gabrain agreed this should be their next target. Scott sent messengers to Aird Rosain to his ships' captains with instructions on how to proceed. The last inland camp they had 'cleansed' had been Kil Mhearnaigh (modern day Kilmarnock) and they rested there to allow the ships to get in position. Scott's instructions had involved the Scots longships stealing into Irvine by night. There was a natural, sheltered anchorage here and the Scots slipped in close, swimmers crossing to deal with sentries on the eleven Viking longships before they were then towed out to the mouth of the bay. Just as dawn was breaking several of the longships were doused with oil and set alight. Scott and Gabrain had gathered their men out of sight behind the sand dunes and waited to see what the Vikings would do. The conflagration out at sea was quickly identified and the alarm was raised throughout the Norse camp. As the sky brightened, the Danes made their way down onto the sands to watch their ships burn. With the Norse concentrated on the sands, Scott now unleashed several squads of his cavalry. These were trailing the 'scythe' contraptions behind their horses and the wet; soft, sand deadened the sound of their hooves until they were close to the enemy. By the time the Vikings turned away from their burning ships they found themselves under the rotating blades of Scott's cavalry. The two squads rode through the massed Norse and continued several hundred yards down the sands. Scott let the Danes have a minute or two to focus on his first two squads, their backs to him, before unleashing another two squads with scythe attachments. The first wave were shouting and jeering at the Danes, distracting them from the threat that was charging at their rear. The second wave of Scots cavalry also cut through the Danes, mowing down many of them as the passed to join the first wave on the sands. Scott now signalled his ships' captains to sail into the bay, right up to the beach, men on each ship firing crossbows into the completely disorganised Norse, the ship ballistas also firing as rapidly as they could. The two cavalry charges and the crossbow assault from the longships had grievously weakened the Danes and largely broken their spirit. Scott now led a final charge of his remaining cavalry, sweeping across the sands to engulf the last of the Vikings. The victory was absolute, Scots casualties minimal and nine of the original longships still intact and now available to the Dalriada force. Gabrain called for a halt and spoke to Scott about a possible next step. "Scott, these locals, they have been in thrall for some time and understandably run when they have the chance. They don't know who we are and if we ever hope to win their support in this campaign, we have to do something more to win their confidence." Scott considered this and remembered the British army's 'hearts and minds' approach whenever they operated. He sent messengers out to his ship captains and ordered them to sail back to Dalriada to pick up as much foodstuff as could be spared. While they were waiting for the ships to return, Scott and Gabrain crossed the River Irvine and began their assault on Kyle. They achieved similar results using the same tactics there and now had control of two thirds of the Ayrshire lands. After having watched Scott's men for some days, some of the locals ventured from their hiding places to find out who they were. When they found fellow Gaelic speakers, evinced enemies of the Saxons and Danes, they warmed to them and passed word to others that it was safe to come out into the open. By the time food arrived back on the ships, there were more than enough mouths to feed. The fact that Scott and Gabrain were willing to share their food spoke volumes to the locals and they began to trust them more. A move was made to husband the food each settlement had and to recover the weapons left behind by the fleeing Saxons and Danes. Scott was relieved that each of the camps had a significant store of grain and the like given the numbers of locals that now came out of the wilds. He was amazed to find the numbers he was dealing with. His reckoning had been based on his scout's observations at Kilwinning. If there had been five hundred in the camp and three hundred and fifty turned out to be Saxons, he had assumed that there were some one hundred and fifty locals. At ten settlements each in Cunninghame and Kyle, he had assumed there would be around fifteen hundred locals in each area in total. What he hadn't bargained for was that for every man enslaved in each camp, there was two or three more hiding in the hills and the wilds. He was now faced with the prospect of some nine thousand additional locals to deal with, to feed. Perhaps half of these were made up of the women and children, a mix of locals, Saxons and Vikings. Welcome as this would be in terms of additional fighting men, the remaining food in each camp would need to be supplemented by additional rations from Dalriada. They crossed the River Dhuin into Carrick and it was two more weeks of grinding, unrelenting scourging of the Saxons and Danes before it to was freed of invaders. The population was even more numerous here and Scott and Gabrain quickly found themselves with another six thousand mouths to feed, again, half of these potential fighting men. Scott knew that winter wasn't far off, the snows might be only weeks away, and that he had miscalculated the scale of what he and Gabrain had set out to do. He discussed things with his young King and they agreed that any assault on Galloway would need to wait for the spring. All their energies would now be directed to improving the defences of the lands they had freed thus far. Gabrain's apprenticeship programme now proved itself even more useful as trained craftsmen were shipped from Dalriada to help establish workshops at each of the liberated camps. Raw materials for building were basic for the present time but they made do with what they had. From the outset the lessons Dalriada had learned were shared with the new people - washing, boiling water, draining land in readiness for spring planting etc. There was no shortage of weapons to be had and Scott also set the craftsmen to make crossbows over the winter months. The gratitude for liberation and the provision of food and shelter before the winter set in was immense amongst these Ayrshire folk. Scott and Gabrain were held in awe and everywhere the Saltire flag was flying proudly. It hadn't taken much to convince them to adopt Scotland as their own. Strange how a warm bed, food in his belly, revenge against those who have stolen his land, women and freedom will do that to a man! Many families were re-united that had thought themselves split forever, the emotional meetings giving Scott a lump in his throat. With no shortage of labour, Scott gave orders for the building of ovens and furnaces. Ayrshire had a vast supply of coal too and he explained to the locals how this could be used, turning it into coke to make it more effective and smoke/sulphur free. He drew up a list of essential items that should be made, in addition to crossbows. He included farm machinery so Ayrshire would be ready to plant a major increase in its grain for the coming year. There were many beasts still alive and Scott cautioned against killing these for food, the value of them as breeding stock much more important for the future prosperity of the area. Scott and Gabrain spread seven hundred of their cavalry throughout Cunninghame, Kyle and Carrick, twenty to each settlement. These took on the role of training the new men in warfare and the friends had no doubt they would have an effective infantry force, highly motivated, come the spring. Having set as much as they could think of in train they gave one final command to make sure everyone observed the St Andrew's day holiday when it came and boarded ship to return to Inveraray for the winter. Before sailing up Loch Fyne they took the opportunity of sailing up the Clyde Water to Dun Barton so they could call on Eochaid and find out what progress had been made in Strathearn. The Prince of Strathclyde was not at home in his hill fort and the friends assumed he was still taking care of things in his northern sub-Kingdom. They planned their journey back home so they could call in on both Colmgil and Lachlan, both of these determined to join them this year for the winter at Inveraray, Lachlan bringing his wife and new son, Lean mac Lachlan. Further joy awaited them when their ship arrived at Inveraray. Esta stood on the shore, Scott's girls behind her, and in her arms she cradled a new-born baby, wrapped up well in a blanket. Scott could see Gabrain was bursting to get off the ship to hold his child and indeed the young King leapt over the side before the ship shoaled, wading through the water to his wife. "A son my Lord King. We have a son." Said Esta. "God be praised, and you Esta, you are well enough? No difficulties with the birth? I am sorry that I wasn't here with you, would have wished to have comforted you and welcomed the boy into the world." "I am better than well my Lord, I feel much... fulfilled, I think is the word! Have you a name for this squealing bundle?" "Aye, I have a name, a proud name it is too. I would like us to call him Scott. Scott mac Gabrain." Gabrain looked at Scott as he suggested this and was pleased to see his friend puff out his chest a little more, obviously flattered that the King wished to name his son after him. The next few weeks were spent catching up with things at Inveraray and beyond. Scott was amazed at the quantities of metals that Murdoch had shipped from Fife, the 'profit' from Dalriada's trade with the Low Countries. A significant quantity of gold coins was also waiting for him. Progress on road building was steady, a link almost completed between Inveraray and Aird Driseig. His 'geologist' had returned from the Low Countries with two families in tow, the men of the families both alchemists, which gave Scott the added ingredient he had been looking for for his R&D unit. The geologist also had another surprise for Scott, one he was struggling to keep to himself, but he managed to tell Scott only that he had to show him rather than simply tell the tale. After reviewing things at Kilchrenan - savouring some of that year's wine - they made for Oban and spent a number of days there with the craftsmen. The geologist was almost bursting by this point and at last Scott gave in to his demands that they had to take ship so he could show Scott his discovery. Gabrain, Lachlan and Colmgil joined him on a longship and the geologist gave the captain directions on where to go. Their ship sailed up the Sound of Mull, but instead of swinging west into the open Seas, it swung north and east, between Ardnamurchan and Morvern. This took them into Loch Sunnart and the ship sailed on until they almost reached the head of this sea loch. The geologist signalled the captain to pull into a shallow bay and Scott and his friends had to hurry to keep up with him as he set off almost at a run as soon as his feet touched dry land. The geologist didn't go far, perhaps just as well given the pace he had set off at, and they caught up with him standing on the edge of a great rift in the ground. The sides of the rift were made up of rock walls, dull grey in colour, but glinting vividly where the weak autumn/winter sunlight managed to peak its way in. As they drew alongside him, the geologist looked at Scott expectantly. Scott and the others looked into the great chasm, puzzled at the geologist's clear excitement. "Okay my friend, you have brought us on a long journey to this place. I can see that there is something here that greatly excites you, but you will have to forgive us in that we don't have your skills or knowledge. Please, share with us what you have found." "Aye my Lord, I forget myself. I have seen rock similar to this only once and then not in its natural setting. I am certain that what you are looking at is silver bearing ore, a source of silver!" "Saints, are you sure man? Can it really be? Silver, here in this remote place?" Exclaimed Scott. Despite the fact that the man's words hadn't changed the rock, it had changed the way the friends looked at it and their own excitement now grew to match that of the geologist. The man had spent months exploring the remote and mountainous lands of Dalriada and, as well as perhaps being the fittest man in the sub-Kingdom, he had apparently identified other sources too - copper deposits, more iron ore and even some isolated pockets of limestone. Scott recognised the significant wealth these represented as they descended to their ship. He discovered this little place was called Strontian and he marked it as possibly now one of the most important places in the sub-Kingdom. Arrangements would need to be made to defend and protect it, as was well as to extract the precious ore that the geologist had found. They returned to Oban, Scott and Gabrain congratulating the geologist and promising him more resources to train assistants. He could now expand his searches and indeed there was the whole of Ayrshire to prospect now too. Snow began to fall as they rode towards Inveraray, a sure sign that winter was almost upon them and they had timed things perfectly in terms of returning to their winter base. Two things demanded Scott's attention immediately at the settlement. A message had been received from Murdoch, setting out the position on his borders and beyond. Scott shared the intelligence with Gabrain, Lachlan and Colmgil. It seemed that Murdoch had lent his support to Eochaid in clearing the remnants of the Vikings from Strathearn. He described this as a relatively easy task, Scott's own victory over the Norse earlier in the year having broken their spirit. Murdoch advised that Eochaid and Giric were much in each other's company now, he believed something was afoot beyond the improved security of Eochaid's sub-Kingdom, but he had no proof. He promised to keep a close eye on the pair and to let Scott and Gabrain know of any developments. The second demand came from the alchemists that had arrived at Inveraray. They had been reviewing Scott's hand-written notes and these had them highly excited. They requested meetings with Scott so they could quiz him further, explore the ideas he had set down, have him explain his thinking. The alchemists were particularly interested in Scott's notes on acids - the fact he had written down that they interacted with some metals vigorously had caught their attention. His memories of the importance of petrochemicals were also an area where they probed his understanding significantly. They probed him on how he was producing oil from animal fats and by pressing oil from plants like flax. One episode left him laughing internally - when he tried to explain electricity and its importance. The alchemists referred to it as 'elastic trickery', picking up his pronunciation incorrectly. He left these sessions exhausted and feeling as if he hadn't helped very much, but time would tell he supposed. The St Andrew's day celebrations were as successful as previous years and the people of Inveraray enjoyed themselves to the full. Scott's wives had kept a surprise for him and produced it during the feast - prawns! Whether Scott's introduction of the Mediterranean prawns to Loch Fyne had worked, or whether there had always been a natural stock of the delicacies in the waters wasn't clear. What was clear was that he had a huge bowl of prawns cooked in garlic and butter in front of him and he made a pig of himself working through them. Gabrain waited for a suitable moment in the celebrations to make an announcement to the people. After another play devised by the girls - this one depicting the glorious Dalriada victory that saved Scotland from the Norse - he stood up and called for order. "My friends, my friends, hear me! There were many ribald comments, the populace already beginning to succumb to the effects of the available alcohol. "Hear me I say! Many of you know that my Lord of Loarne and I have been campaigning in Ayrshire this autumn. Many Saxons and Danes have been cleansed from those lands, much gained for Scotland." There was a chorus of cheering at this, anything that led to Saxon and Viking deaths seen as a good thing. "Having secured these lands it is my pleasure to announce, with my friends agreement, that they shall become a Princedom of this Dalriada. My Lord of Loarne has refused to take this Princedom as his own, re-affirming his love for Argyll and assuring me he could not see himself based anywhere else." Once more this statement raised huge cheers, Scott's love for Dalriada endearing him even more to the people if that was possible. "Instead my friends, I have decided to invest Scott mac Fergus's son, David as the first Prince of Ayrshire, and Prince of Galloway hereafter when we have cleansed our enemies from those lands too!" This announcement met with all round approval and beakers were slammed onto tables in approbation. The crowd quietened when Scott rose to his feet. "On behalf of my son I thank the most gracious King Gabrain and you my friends. It is said a man should never disagree openly with his Lord but you all know that that is not my way. Often I make mistakes and expect all of you to point these out to me when it happens. I now make bold in suggesting to my Lord King that he makes a mistake here." He had the crowd now, they eyed Gabrain and Gabrain himself was looking at Scott curiously. "A mistake I say, but hopefully he will accept that even he can on occasion make one. This of Galloway should not stand. I accept Ayrshire for my son, but I say that the mighty province that is Galloway should rather be a Princedom for the King's own son, Scott mac Gabrain!" His proposal obviously met with acclaim, as once more beakers were slammed onto tables. Gabrain also wore a huge grin, indicating that he too thought this a fair amendment to his plan. He stood and embraced Scott, sealing the compact. ------- Chapter 22: Spring 878AD Scott spent a lot of time with his R&D group that winter, allowing them to drag every little piece of information they could from him on the topics that most interested them. He tried to refrain from making suggestions, not wanting to stifle their creativity, instead just submitting to the interrogation with good grace. So far they had been subjecting a number of materials to the tried and tested forms of processing - dissolving in water, evaporation, roasting at high temperatures - but Scott wasn't aware of any startling new discoveries as of yet. He however, had introduced another idea to Inveraray, and one that he knew the people were going to love. He had been walking down by the loch side when the sound of a herdsman playing a simple wooden pipe reached his ears. The idea was so obvious and so big it almost blasted into his mind - if a mental process can end with an exclamation mark, then this was it. Bagpipes! Given the association with the great highland regiments of his own time he couldn't believe it had taken him almost six years to think of introducing them. The skirl of the pipes was enough to stir any Scotsman's blood and they apparently hadn't been introduced to ninth century Scotland as of yet. How could he have overlooked this? How pathetic! "Call yourself a Scotsman?" He thought to himself in disgust. This idea was so important to him that Scott immediately broke into a run back to the camp, calling for craftsmen and musicians both to attend on him at the hall-house. Gabrain also came running when he heard Scott's raised voice. Men stood around as Scott produced paper and began to sketch out the basic design for a set of pipes. They were mystified by Scott's drawings but couldn't help be caught up in his obvious excitement and urgency. He knew some of how they worked - the basic bag, probably leather or pigskin he thought, drones with reeds in them for tone and the chanter to play the melody on. He began to explain what he wanted to the craftsmen, pulling in his musicians to help him with the dimensions and materials. He explained the basic principles and ordered everything else to be dropped until they had a working set of pipes for him to hear. It took the craftsmen some time to manufacture the pipes and some trial and error to get the various pieces the right size and shape so that the whole sounded right. There was no shortage of reeds and no shortage of people who could play a tune on a simple pipe. No one however, had any experience of the technique required to inflate the bag and use it as a bellows to produce the continuous stream of air required for bagpipe playing. Several months of practising fixed that though and one morning Scott awoke to the stirring sounds of pipers playing underneath the balcony of the house. Normally he might have been upset at being woken up but not this morning, not with that sound. He hastily put on his kilt and ran to the balcony. Down below there were a dozen pipers, making an almighty din as they played together, putting a huge smile on Scott's face. He was almost jumping up and down like a little boy he was so pleased. The noise was so loud that no one could have slept through it and soon people began to emerge to stand around and appreciate the pipe playing. "Now all we need is some massed drums to go with the pipes and we'll have a marching band." Thought Scott. Drums were easier to make; sheep hides being stretched over wooden frames to create a drum 'head'. Scott asked for volunteers and explained the idea of the drummers creating the marching cadence through their beat. Some additional practice with the pipers soon had them working effectively together. Gabrain and Scott now made their preparations for the spring offensive in Galloway. They had an additional twenty-six longships at their disposal following the defeat of various groups of Norse in Ayrshire the previous autumn. A total of thirty-six longships and the two larger ships made a mighty fleet indeed, more than had ever before been gathered together in Scotland perhaps. Most of the ships had been left in Ayrshire over the winter, Scott using their own original ships to return to Inveraray. Scott met with his shipwrights and shared some thoughts he had had over the winter. Two ideas had manifested themselves with regard to powering the ships. The first was basically to take the design for his water-wheel mill and reverse it. The same kind of assembly, linked to the steam boiler could perhaps create a paddle steamer? One wheel on either side of a ship, amidships for balance and trim, might do the trick. The second had come to him while he had been absently staring at a pressure cooker as the steam escaped from the valve on the lid. If they could generate sufficient steam and maintain a high level of pressure, would it be possible to use the release of the pressurised steam into the water almost like a jet propulsion unit? He had watched Sean Connery in the 'Hunt for Red October' countless times and remembered the 'caterpillar drive'. Could he create something similar? He left the shipwrights and craftsmen to argue excitedly over these new suggestions. Sufficient seeds for crop planting in the new lands were loaded aboard ships and the small force of three hundred cavalry were embarked once more. For the first time Scott took Albannach, his huge horse, for use in the fighting. The herds of Rouncey horses were growing slowly but surely and Scott hoped to be able to horse more and more of his men on the bigger beasts in years to come. He also had chain mail for himself and Gabrain too, so they would be a little better protected on this campaign, something all the wives were happy about. Scott was keen to try to capture Galloway as quickly as possible. His knowledge of the area told him that it could well become the 'garden' of Scotland as it was excellent farming country in his own time. The 'Machair', or Machars as he knew them, were flat lands and the Gulf Stream in this area also made for very good, temperate, growing conditions. If they could clear the Saxons and Danes quickly enough there could still be time to plant major crops. The made landfall again at Ardrossan and made their way south through Cunninghame and Kyle, making sure seeds were planted using the new farm machinery. There was plenty of labour and the machinery helped them make short work of the planting, the Ayrshire folk astounded at the scale of it all. Then they marshalled the now trained troops and marched into Carrick. Once more a halt was made while crops were sown and then a full muster was undertaken. The little bands of cavalry had done well over the winter in training up their new friends and the Ayrshire folk looked the better for having had a good, well-fed, winter too. The craftsmen had worked hard and virtually all of the men were armed with crossbows and either spears or swords. With his cavalry all now re-united, Scott had one thousand horsed men and some seven and a half thousand infantry, a formidable force for the time, particularly given how they were armed. Gabrain had been gathering intelligence from the many scouts that had been out over the past weeks. It was clear that there were even greater numbers of Vikings and Saxons in Galloway, and these were now warned that they could come under threat. He discussed things with Scott and the friends agreed that they wouldn't have things as easy as they had in the autumn. One thing they had in their favour was that their enemies probably wouldn't know their tactics. Once more Scott suggested they tackle the Saxons first. He gave two reasons for this - one, defeating the Saxons might increase the numbers of infantry they could attract from the Galloway lands, word having no doubt spread as to the happenings in Ayrshire. The second reason was that they could pause to plant crops before then taking on the Vikings. The Vikings were said to be based in three main concentrations, on the seaboard as usual. These were An t-Sròn Reamhar (modern day Stranraer) at the head of Loch Ryan, Clachan Ghlinn Lus (modern day Glen Luce), which was barely ten miles from Stranraer and at the head of the bowl-like Luce Bay and finally Siorrachd Bhaile na h-Uige (modern day Wigtown), high up in Wigtown Bay. The Saxons were virtually all based in one place, Taigh Mhàrtainn (modern day Whithorn). This was a special place Scott knew. It was the site of the oldest known Christian church in Scotland, the candida casa or 'shining white house'. The church dated back to around 400 AD Scott thought and was reputed to have been established by St Ninian. The numbers of Vikings in Galloway seemed to have led to nearly all of the Saxons keeping together for their own safety. Scouts described a major site, what to Scott sounded like a cathedral almost, a priory and hundreds and hundreds of other buildings. The description came as close to a major village as Scott had heard. As to numbers, the scouts estimated there could be as many as three thousand Saxons all in this one place, unheard of in these times. It would appear as if this Whithorn was a major pilgrimage site for them. This would be their first target then. As they marched south they cleaned up the small number of outlying camps easily. Scott discussed deployment with Gabrain. An important consideration was that the Ayrshire levies were untried in battle. While they had been trained, their years of enslavement were bound to have taken something out of them. He knew that the first sign of stiff resistance could have them running and racked his brains for ways to make sure that didn't happen. They had overwhelming numerical advantage and he needed to make that work for them. Scott opted to send fifteen hundred infantry forward in an effort to try and lure the Saxons out of Whithorn. They marched forward, Scott's pipes and drums marching with them making sure the Saxons would not fail to notice them. It took some time before the Saxons made their intentions known, no doubt their leadership urgently trying to bring their influence to bear. But soon they began to stream out from the built up area, shape and form beginning to appear in their ranks. Scott watched through his trusty binos as they began to move forward in disciplined, orderly fashion. The Ayrshire infantry let them advance to within crossbow range and then began to fire. Their volleys were not as experienced as those of the Dalriada men might have been and as a result they didn't have the impact they might have had. Once the Saxons got to within twenty yards of them, they turned and retreated, streaming away with the Saxons on their heels. The Saxons needed little encouragement to race after the retreating Scots, screaming their own war cries as they looked to close the gap. The chase continued for perhaps a quarter of a mile before Scott sprung the trap that he had set. He had tried to factor in the 'green' nature of his Ayrshire men and turn it into an advantage. He had read the famous 'Art of war' written by Sun Tzu, as part of his business administration degree at university and that was one of the lessons he remembered. He had instructed the fifteen hundred to retreat once the Saxons closed with them, close enough to ensure the Saxons would follow. Now three thousand rose from the grass to bracket the Saxons and crossbows began to fire, the Englishry caught between the two groups, Scott's veteran cavalry dismounted and spread out to stiffen the ranks of the Ayrshire men. Scott looked on, as this time the bolts had maximum impact and Saxons began to fall in numbers. His fears about the battle readiness of his Ayrshire levies proved to be misplaced. To a man they now dropped their crossbows and descended on the Saxons with a roar. This was of course the wrong course of action, much more damage possible from range with the crossbows, but the years of pent up hate seemed to have possessed them and they needed the satisfaction of dealing with their enemies 'up close and personal'. The violence of the Scots assault as it crashed into the Saxons seemed to almost create a wave in the very air around Scott and he shuddered as he watched. The Saxons, already depleted by the crossbow assault, and now heavily outnumbered, fell like wheat to one of Scott's harvesting machines. The entire battle lasted perhaps forty minutes and the Saxons had been completely annihilated. Scott was more than satisfied; believing this success would help to quickly harden the Ayrshire men. They now advanced on Whithorn itself, Scott keeping a tight rein on his forces. Bloodlust could do strange things to men he knew and the remaining populace was likely to be women, children and locals. He didn't want his host running amok. Scott and Gabrain halted the force on the outskirts of the built up area and moved forward with only a small guard. It was as Scott suspected and they were able to re-assure those left in the 'village' that they were in no danger. He demanded that a feast be prepared to reward his men and went with Gabrain to look upon the candida casa. It was a smallish structure, unprepossessing given its importance Scott thought, but certainly an eye hurting bright white. They dismounted and entered the little building, Scott undoubtedly more impressed than his young King. Scott's plan to sow crops was now put into practice, farm machinery and seed having been brought with them on wagons. The pause at Whithorn allowed more of the locals to come out of hiding and Scott and Gabrain soon found themselves with another two thousand men, success proving to be a great recruitment tool. Scots losses had been light and they now had over nine thousand infantry and one thousand cavalry at their disposal. The Galloway locals looked on with amazement as the victorious fighting men turned almost immediately to planting crops, well recognising the potential benefit they would gain from this and awed by the scale of what was being attempted. Scott and Gabrain held a council to decide what their next target should be. Both agreed that Wigtown should be their next goal, as it more isolated than the other two Viking camps. Wigtown was perhaps eighteen miles to the north and slightly east from their current position. The march north took them the best part of two days given the size of the force they now had to marshal. They rested by the banks of the River Bladnoch and scouts went forward to try to gather vital intelligence. Scott and Gabrain had agreed that the Vikings had to be assaulted while on the land, as they had done in Ayrshire. Their reasoning for this was an assumption that the Norse would be using some of the locals to man their ships' oars and a sea battle would greatly increase the risk of killing Galloway men as well as Danes. The returning scouts informed the two friends that there were perhaps twenty longships in Wigtown Bay, so between two and three thousand Norsemen, less than what they had been expecting. Scott and Gabrain wasted no more time and ordered a full advance, their men fording the river and marching directly for Wigtown. The Norse had obviously been warned of their advance, surely having had their own scouts on the look-out and when the settlement came into view they could see the Danes were formed up, ready to meet them. Scott rode Albannach up and down the Scots array, calling last minute instructions and encouragement to them. "Remember what these people have done to your families, your homes! This day you can make the arrogant Norsemen pay for the years of misery you have suffered. This day you can strike such a blow as will give them cause to remember Galloway, remember its very name with dread! This day, together, we can free and secure these lands once and for all for Scotland!" A rousing roar was the response, a roar that made the hair on Scott's neck stand on end. Along the line his pipers began to blow and they played the tune he had taught them - Alba gu Brath. Scott could see men stand prouder as the noise washed over them, he could swear each man grew several inches in height as he watched. Turning his horse he began to trot slowly down the line, meeting the eyes of individuals as he went, reading the steely determination there. A flash of movement caught his eye and he turned to look at the Danes. A solitary figure had broken from the little knot of Norse leadership and was running directly towards him. Scott recognised this for what it was, a personal challenge, one brave or foolish man daring him to engage in single combat. As battle had not yet commenced, he was riding without shield or lance, his sword his only weapon. The Dane was carrying a long spear, perhaps nine or even ten-foot in length and Scott would be seriously disadvantaged as to reach. Despite the fact that his forces vastly outnumbered the Danes, Scott didn't for a second consider ignoring this challenge, could not back down in front of all his men. He turned Albannach's head and spurred him forward. Behind him he heard a faint cry coming from Gabrain, perhaps to call him back, but it was quickly drowned by the roar of the entire Scots force as they watched him ride forward, men leaning forward as if to lend him their strength and support. As his horse picked up speed Scott felt that strange sensation he had felt once or twice before where everything actually seemed to slow down. His senses were all focussed on the Norseman and his spear, nothing else apparent to him, his vision tunnelling and his hearing oblivious to the screaming all around. He could see the expression on the Norseman's face, wild, almost mad looking and the tip of the spear glinted menacingly as it came towards him. The length of the spear would allow the Dane to strike first and Scott had no shield to ward off the blow. He analysed the Norseman's speed and direction and could already read where the strike would come, along Albannach's left flank at his unprotected left side. Seconds before impact Scott did two things. He urged Albannach to surge forward in one burst of even greater speed so that his body wasn't quite where the Dane had expected it to be, and he also tossed his sword from his right hand to his left, warding off the spear with the blade. As he swept past the Norseman, Scott pulled savagely on Albannach's reins, the horse almost seemed to be expecting this though and he rose on his hinds legs, wheeling himself round to face the back of the Dane. The Norseman was struggling to turn himself with the nine/ten foot spear and he just wasn't quick enough. Scott almost stood upright in his stirrups as he brought his sword flashing down; biting deeply into the Dane's neck, his head all but severed from his shoulders. The brave or foolish Norseman dropped nerve-lessly to the ground and Scott and Albannach stood, both gulping for breath after this short but explosive exchange. Gradually the outside world managed to impinge once more on Scott's senses. He looked up to see the Scots forces screaming their approval and rushing headlong forward in a great charge towards the Danes. Scott admitted to himself that this had been utter foolishness on his part, but as a rallying call to battle he didn't think he could have come up with anything better if he had planned it. Infantry eddied all round him as they charged the smaller Norse force and Scott found himself unable to move. At last he saw Gabrain forcing his horse towards him and the young King reached over to take his arm, a look of relief and respect in his eyes. The crash of steel told them that the two forces had met and they turned to see the Scots virtually roll right over the top of the Vikings, superior numbers and the momentum of the charge irresistible. Again the duration of the battle was relatively short, some few Norse managing to make it into the water and out to their longships. One solitary ship set off down Wigtown Bay and Scott and Gabrain found themselves masters of the settlement, with its beaten down Galloway men and an assortment of women and children. The two friends took a quiet few moments to eat and drink in what passed as a hall-house in the camp. "Scott, I don't often do this, but it is my royal command that you never, ever, do anything like that again. You acted like a witless child and we could have paid dearly if that Norseman had found his mark!" "Aye my Lord King, but I could not refuse such an obvious personal challenge, not with more than ten thousand Scots looking on." "I say none would have blamed you if you had Scott, a fools odds man. See you, death is common in these savage times, we don't have to go looking for it. I would have the Norse-slayer by my side awhile yet. My very heart was in my mouth man!" "I will try my best to behave more responsibly from now on my Lord, but I cannot promise! It may be that Albannach will continue to look after me, what a magnificent beast." "Aye, I have to admit that when you struck the Norseman down I felt my blood rise, almost boil and the very earth seemed to tremble as our Scots charged the Viking front." "Unfortunately, that single longship that escaped will warn the other Norse and I fear we will not have things our own way from here on in my Lord." Said Scott. The two friends began to discuss how they would approach the remaining Viking forces at Glen Luce and Stranraer. It was probable that they would still have the ascendancy in terms of numbers, but that they would have to come up with another set of tactics if they wanted to avoid the loss of many men. Scott had been thinking about this and now shared his ideas with Gabrain. The young King smiled as Scott lay out how he thought they should approach the final two stains on Galloway's shores. ------- Chapter 23: Summer/autumn 878 AD Scott and Gabrain made a flying visit back to Dalriada to set some of their plans in motion. They set a general muster of men in train, picking up Lachlan and Colmgil on their way to Inveraray. Scott received the most wonderful news when they landed and made their way up to the house. He could see right away that Eilean had put on weight, her small frame unable to conceal even a slight variation. He looked at her and watched a huge grin spread over her face. His own face must have looked questioning because without any words between them she nodded as if to confirm his unspoken suspicions. "Can it be? My little elf, with child? After all this time?" "Mommy Eilean is having a new baby Dadda." Said baby David. "I had given up all hope Scott, but now... it is good is it not?" "Good she says, it is way better than good. It is like a miracle! You will give me a daughter almost as beautiful as her mother, I swear it. God be praised!" Scott hugged each of his wives, Fiona and Hella obviously as excited as he and Eilean were. He stooped and picked up David, realising from the weight that the boy was already growing apace. They shared a celebration dinner that evening, prawns in abundance to keep Scott happy. Thereafter his wives kept him up late as they demanded attention after his weeks away campaigning, their use of the wooden replica only a poor imitation of the real thing. The next day messenger pigeons were sent out to the various camps in Loarne to begin mustering these men too. Everything was frenetic as the lords tried to have everything in place as quickly as possible. Scott and Gabrain discussed their plans with Lachlan and Colmgil and the part they wanted their friends to play. One interlude in all their activity was a special one - the Dalriada geologist presenting Scott and Gabrain with little ingots of silver, the first of the metal refined from the Strontian ore. Scott asked how the man had progressed in training up assistants, keen to begin assaying the lands in Ayrshire and Galloway. The geologist assured Scott that he had men available to begin this work immediately. Scott had one final favour to ask the geologist, Donald was his name Scott now discovered. "Donald, the alchemists are not making the progress I had hoped for. I have it in mind that you could serve Dalriada well once more my friend. I am aware from my travels that the men in Arabia and Persia seem to be more advanced in these matters than elsewhere. Would you be willing to take ship there and seek to recruit a master?" Scott concealed the fact that he knew this about the Arabs from his own time, history recording the fact that the Persians in particular had made great strides. Donald looked happy at the prospect of a trip to such exotic lands and agreed to go, happy when Scott explained he would make sure several longships travelled with him to provide escort. Less than a week later all the necessary arrangements were in place and Scott and Gabrain took leave of their womenfolk once more, embarking for what they hoped would be the final cleansing of Galloway. The victory at Wigtown had added a further twenty longships to Dalriada's already large fleet, now more than fifty ships at their disposal. The full muster of the Dalriada lordships had raised seven thousand men this year and they were all crowded onto twenty-five longships. Scott had sent word ahead as to how the ten thousand already in Galloway should proceed. He spoke to Gabrain, suggesting the King should land at Carrick and go with Colmgil to lead the larger host. Gabrain was certainly now old enough and experienced enough to lead such force and that would leave Scott and Lachlan with the Dalriada contingent. The plan was elegantly simple. Gabrain would put skeleton crews on twenty-five longships and have them beat up the length of Luce Bay, forcing any Norsemen there onto the land at Glen Luce. Scott would likewise have skeleton crews sail his twenty five ships up Loch Ryan to force any Danes there ashore at Stranraer. Gabrain would lead the remaining Galloway force of some eight thousand, one thousand of them cavalry, towards Glen Luce, taking his time to allow the Danes to merge their forces from both Glen Luce and Stranraer to face him. Scott would have the majority of the Dalriada force landed at Port Phàdraig (modern day Port Patrick) and advance behind the Norse so that the two Scots forces would have the Danes between them. Scott planned to march to Dùn Reicheit (modern day Dunragit) and launch any assault from there. Scott and Lachlan led their ships to Port Patrick. There was a natural cove here; a sandy beach, surrounded on their right hand side by rocks while on their left rose a steep cliff-face. Fifteen hundred men were left to man the ships and they watched them sail northwards again, preparing to sweep up Loch Ryan. The five thousand five hundred remaining Dalriada men helped re-assemble the wagon that had been brought with them to hold Scott's balloon. He was still determined to see the balloon effectively used in battle and one of the benefits of landing on Na Rannaibh (modern day The Rhinns of Galloway) on this side of the Norse was that he would have the prevailing winds behind him hopefully. They took their time marching eastwards, giving Gabrain and the Norse time to move into the positions Scott hoped they would. Spring was turning to summer and the low growing Gorse bushes were in full bloom, their yellow flowers brightening the landscape as they followed the path of the Pitanton Burn. The pipes were kept silent meantime, as they tried to conceal their presence from any Vikings in the area. There was only ten or so miles to march to Dunragit and Scott had to call a halt as they were making good time. Scouts at last brought back intelligence to confirm the Danes from Stranraer and Glen Luce had joined forces and were now facing Gabrain's host across the flat plains of Dunragit Moor. Scott had guessed this might be the site the Danes would choose, as it would limit the impact of Gabrain's horse, the conditions underfoot not good for them. The scouts indicated that the two forces seemed evenly matched as to numbers, the Norsemen numbering perhaps seven thousand. Between them though the two Scots forces numbered over thirteen thousand so when Scott's force showed themselves the Danes would recognise they were at a serious disadvantage. Scott decided he shouldn't delay the point where that happened any longer and ordered the Dalriada men to now hurry forward, pipers at last permitted to blow for all they were worth. An hour later Scott could clearly see the Norsemen, spread over a front perhaps half a mile wide, Gabrain's force visible beyond them. Scott had the balloon readied and leapt into the basket with one of his lieutenants to go aloft. He had prepared another little surprise for the Norse; his raven and arrow device was now painted large on the balloon for them to see who it was they were facing. The arrival of Scott's force took the Danes completely by surprise and they were bemused as the balloon began to rise into the air, the wind drifting it towards them. Gabrain chose this moment to unleash his first attacks on the Vikings, a number of hastily built trebuchets beginning to fire various loads towards them. Scott and his lieutenant began to use the hand pumps to spray oil over the Norse below, the oil pots that had been fired by Gabrain's trebuchets having already started fires at certain points within the body of Viking men and the new flow of oil feeding these. A sudden surge in their forward movement shook Scott. "My Lord, we are adrift!" Called his lieutenant beside him in alarm. "Ignore that man, continue to pump the oil while we are over the bastards. Come on, quick as you can!" Scott looked out and could see two additional forces hastening to join the fray. He had planned that the crews on the longships should beach their ships at Loch Ryan and Luce Bay and rush to swell their numbers. A further fifteen hundred men rushed from the north and two thousand from the south and it was clear the Norse were also now becoming aware of that - they were boxed in on four sides. As the balloon drifted beyond the Norse, Scott and his friend stopped their pumping and looked down on the battle. Swathes of the Viking front were now engulfed in flames and Lachlan and Gabrain had advanced their men to begin firing volleys of crossbow bolts into them from front and rear. Scott could clearly see Gabrain looking up at him as he drifted away on the breeze. The man beside Scott was clearly terrified, more terrified perhaps than if he had been on the ground in hand to hand combat. Scott simply reached under the brazier and turned off the stream of hot air that was feeding the balloon. Slowly it became clear that they were descending, the battle long since out of sight. Scott glared impatiently at the ground as it slowly came closer, too slowly for his liking. Scott tried to take his mind off of the delay by explaining to the man beside him what they would have to do when the basket hit terra firma. At last the basket crashed down and Scott and his friend leapt from the basket, rolling over as they landed and watching as the balloon collapsed and the wind dragged the basket for some distance before it was snagged in a stand of trees. Scott didn't even look at his comrade, he scrambled to his feet and began to run back the way they had come, the cloud of grey/black smoke in the sky a clear indicator of the direction he needed to go. Before long he could see a small knot of horsemen galloping towards him. As they neared he could see there were six horsemen, Scots, and they were leading Albannach behind them, or at least trying to lead the great horse as it seemed to be straining to outrun them. Scott's heart leaped at the sight of the horse, already carrying its horse armour. He would forever afterwards swear that the horse recognised him and it tore itself from the grip of the man holding his reins, his speed increasing immediately to leave the others behind. He pulled up in front of Scott, rearing on his hind legs before pawing the ground in anticipation of what was to come. Scott realised that the quick-witted Gabrain must have been aware enough to order these men to follow the balloon. Scott waited for the other riders to catch up before flinging on the top armour and helmet they carried and grabbing the tear-drop shield and lance, couching the lance as he urged Albannach to return to the fray as quickly as he could. Once more the great horse carried Scott swiftly and surely. As he neared the battle site he could see that little actual fighting was still going on, the majority of the Norse dealt with. There was one tightly packed group however, which was clearly making better progress than their friends. Scott could see this group was hacking its way steadily to where young Gabrain was sitting on his horse, the Ayrshire men around him less experienced and proving less than effective against their Norse opponents. "To me men of Dalriada, to me!" Screamed Scott as he aimed Albannach at the centre of the group of Danes. "LAAACCCHHHLLLAAANNN!" He cried. Scott could actually see his friend's head snap round at the sound of his scream, taking in the position at once, his face falling in horror as he tried desperately to disengage and head in the same direction as Scott. Scott could see the Norse reach Gabrain's position and he watched as the young King defended himself bravely. He almost stopped breathing as he saw Gabrain go down, his horse struck from under him only to see him re-appear moments later, striking out with his sword. By now other cavalrymen had rallied to Scott's cries of 'Dalriada' and 'Alba' and they saw their young King's predicament, falling in behind Scott, trying to keep pace with Albannach. Scott saw one mighty Norseman slash his sword at Gabrain's back and saw his young friend drop once more. As the Norse giant raised his sword to strike again, Scott skewered him on the end of his lance, Albannach's momentum and power driving the lance home, the shaft shattering at the force of the blow. Scott leapt from Albannach' back, standing over the prone body of his young King, smiting Norsemen left and right as he tried to keep them away from him. "To me men of Alba!" He cried again, the additional cavalry only now arriving on the scene, as Albannach had outstripped them. The huge horse was not done either, as it continued to rear up, striking out with his hooves at those who were now assailing Scott. But there were too many around Scott and the blows of six or seven Norse drove him to his knees before support arrived. "Sweet Jesu! Hold the bastards back, hold them I say!!" Scott dimly heard Lachlan scream before everything went dark. The next thing Scott was aware of was Colmgil's voice. He thought he was either dreaming or perhaps in the life hereafter. "He wakes Lachlan, thank god, he wakes." Scott felt his hand squeezed strongly and his eyes fluttered open to see Lachlan leaning over him. "Saints preserve us, Scott, thank god." His friend whispered and Scott was much moved to see a tear in Lachlan's eye. Scott groaned as he tried to raise himself, his head swimming and his entire body feeling as if it had been hammered. He let himself fall back. "Lachlan, the King..." he managed to get out. "Right here my good friend, no thanks to that devil of a horse of yours. He all but trampled anything that moved around you!" Scott heard Gabrain's voice and felt a hand on his shoulder. "I seem to be in better condition than you are too, my Lord of Loarne. Perhaps you grow too old for battle Scott?" Scott heard Gabrain and his other friends chuckle at this, using humour to gloss over how serious the situation on the battlefield had been. "I seemed to be doing well enough until I had to ride to the aid of some young puppy." Responded Scott weakly. "Oh, my Lord, that could be considered a treasonous statement." "Seriously Scott, this of chain mail and armour, we have to produce more of it. You have no single cut to your body, despite the number of blows that were struck. Perhaps your ribs are cracked, but overall you have been fortunate indeed." He heard Colmgil say. "And seriously Scott, I once again owe my life to you it seems." Gabrain now said more softly. "And I my ability to sleep easy at night. I was derelict in my duty to the King, was completely unmindful of his safety. If he had been killed I would have been to blame. And I nearly lost you too my friend." Added Lachlan. "Enough all of you! I swear I will spew if you keep up such maudlin talk!" Scott managed to croak before letting himself slip off to sleep once more. It took several days before Scott was able to rise from the couch he had been lying on. His upper body was almost a single bruise, already turning dark blue. There was a great deal of stiffness but he was able to walk easily enough. Gabrain and Lachlan spent many hours with him, describing what he had missed in terms of the battle and the aftermath as well as progress on bringing improvements already to Ayrshire and Galloway. Gabrain's health had been maintained due to his wearing chain mail it seemed and Scott once more thanked god he had had his craftsmen make it. Gabrain also had a request to make. "Scott, would you please go and deal with your devil horse? It will let none approach it, seems quite mad indeed!" Scott made his way to where Albannach was being held. It was clear the huge beast was very agitated but magically it stilled as he approached, its head dropping and its hooves pawing the turf. Albannach butted his head into Scott's chest as he got close enough and Scott clasped the great head in both hands, planting a kiss on Albannach's long nose. The horse snickered as he scratched behind its ears; its large brown eyes fixed on him. "My thanks Albannach, your spirit and great heart have served me and Scotland very well my friend. We have a bond now you and I, and my trust in you will never be misplaced I know." The little group of friends reviewed their position. All told they now had close to twenty thousand men at their disposal, many more men in Galloway having come out of the wilds. His friends assured Scott that they had recovered his balloon and it had been repaired so that it was usable again. They also confirmed that a start had been made on a system of coastal defences for Ayrshire and Galloway to ward off any future Norse assaults. Scott was starting to move more freely and they were considering a return to Inveraray when a messenger arrived from there carrying a message from Murdoch. Incredibly, it seemed that Aed, the High King was dead, Murdoch believing Giric had murdered him. The friends now agreed that they should delay their return to Dalriada, if this news was true a new High King would need to be appointed and crowned. If the manner of Aed's death was as Murdoch suspected then there could be much unrest in Scotland - and what had happened to the two boy sub-Kings? They loaded horses and men onto a longship and sailed up the Clyde Water, making landfall at Eochaid's Dun Barton. Once more that Prince was not at home and they mounted up, a little party of forty of them, and rode hard for Fife. They climbed up over the Campsie Hills and made their way by Stirling and along the foot of the Ochils, meeting up with Murdoch and a troop of his mounted supporters coming the other way. He explained that a council had been called at Scone, no doubt to choose the next 'Ard Righ' or High King. The friends shared their news of the past winter and spring, Murdoch increasingly amazed as he listened to how they had cleared Ayrshire and Galloway, gaining over thirteen thousand men and much valuable land in the process. He had always deeply appreciated Scott and his abilities but now he looked on him with even greater respect. Now almost one hundred strong, they made good time through Eochaid's Strathearn, past the battlefield at Earn itself where Scott and Gabrain had defeated a force of Norsemen in the past. They forded the Tay Water at Peairt (modern day Perth) and rode northeast the few remaining miles to Scone. At Scone there were armed parties supporting a number of the Ri. Despite Aed's death there were still seven of the lesser Kings, two of them minors who wouldn't be allowed to vote on the succession. That left Giric, Eochaid, Murdoch, Gabrain and Domnaill from Buchan and Mar. They searched out a suitable place to set up camp and then sent men to find out what the plans were for the council meeting. It seemed as if Giric and Eochaid had banked on Gabrain not being present as the council meeting was scheduled for the next day, a timing that would have certainly excluded Gabrain if he had been back in Dalriada waiting for a messenger. The friends discussed this and how the vote might go the next day. "The choices are obvious." Said Gabrain. "Aye, and it is obvious that they are worried about how Murdoch and you might vote my Lord." Said Scott. "Well it cannot be Giric. Such treachery cannot be rewarded with the High Kingship of all Scotland." Said Murdoch. "If we are correct in our guesswork then Eochaid cannot be completely innocent in all this either." Added Gabrain. "Well that leaves Domnaill, Murdoch and Yourself Gabrain." Said Lachlan. Both Gabrain and Murdoch hastily moved to rule themselves out, having no aspirations to this lofty position. "Domnaill would be a mistake too. He is weak, no standing in the country. Couldn't it be one of the young Ri - perhaps with a guardianship over them?" Asked Gabrain. "No, that wouldn't do at all. A strong man it must be." Chipped in Murdoch. "Why can't it be the Norse-slayer?" "Never! Not only am I not one of the Ri, I am doing my bit for Scotland quietly. Holding such high office might give the illusion of being in a position to have more influence over Scotland's development, but the reality would be otherwise. No, I refused the offer of Ayrshire and Galloway to remain in Dalriada and I would feel even more strongly if it were even remotely possible I could be the High King." "Well we are left with little choice then. It must be either Giric of Eochaid, much though it pains me to say it." Concluded Murdoch. They continued to debate the possible variations, but by the time they attended the council meeting there was still no consensus between them. There was less quibbling about who could attend the meeting this time and Scott and Lachlan joined their friends. Gabrain set the tone for the meeting, his growing maturity and self-confidence evident. "Perhaps we could begin this council by investigating the reason we are here?" He said, throwing down a gauntlet to Giric. "Hah, the puppy yaps!" Giric responded arrogantly. "This puppy has spent the past nine months slaying Saxons and Danes my Lord of Atholl, not murdering those to whom I gave an oath of fealty!" "Enough of this, I didn't come here to listen to babes hardly weaned pretending they have a bark." "A loud enough bark Giric, and a bigger bite! I can now field more than twenty thousand battle hardened men and I can promise you that I will do so, particularly if anything untoward befalls either young Constantine or Young Donald. You would do well to mind it man!" "Aye, and a further eight thousand from Fife will stand beside my Lord of Dalriada." Added Murdoch. Giric recognised these were no empty threats and he looked at Gabrain with new respect, the young King's battlefield experience evident. "Enough my Lords, to business." Interjected Eochaid. "We know why we are here. I propose Giric mac Dúngail for the High Kingship. How say you?" Eochaid and Giric looked into the eyes of their fellow Ri, realising that theirs were the only hands raised. They glanced at each other, now concerned probably that their plot was about to go off the rails. "I propose a joint High Kingship, Giric and Eochaid together. They are welcome to each other, but god help this poor Scotland." Gabrain now suggested. When he raised his hand Murdoch followed suit and they were both a little surprised to see that Domnaill did too. Both Giric and Eochaid looked less than happy at this move, highly unusual and almost certainly never had such an arrangement applied in the past. But, given the vote, it looked like there was little either could do. ------- Chapter 24: summer/autumn/winter 878 AD The friends met with Domnaill separately after the council meeting given the fact he had supported Gabrain and Murdoch in the vote. Gabrain in particular was keen to establish a method of communicating with Domnaill in future, the welfare of the two young sub-Kings something that seemed to have gripped him. It might have been that he could see echoes of his own childhood without a father and was determined that these two should be protected if at all possible. Giric and Eochaid had sworn they would not move against the lads but Gabrain was not going to simply accept their word. Domnaill's lands in Buchan and Mar were sandwiched in between the sub-Kingdoms of the boys and he agreed to maintain his vigilance. The use of pigeons for sending messages was shared with him and he confirmed he would send some of the monks from Buchan to Inveraray to learn how this could be achieved. Satisfied they had done all they could; the friends took their leave of Scone and returned south. As they rode they continued their discussions, agreeing they would all have to maintain a high state of awareness and readiness in case Giric or Eochaid, or both, decided to move against them or the boy Kings. Murdoch was well placed to gather intelligence from Strathearn and Atholl and Scott and Gabrain could keep a close eye on Eochaid's Strathclyde from their Ayrshire lands. Agreeing to send regular updates to each other by pigeon, they parted at Perth, Scott and his friends riding south west for Dalriada. ------- When they arrived at Inveraray it was to find messengers from Ayrshire and Galloway. It seemed that trouble had broken out between the womenfolk there, resentment remaining between the Scots women and those of the Saxons and Danes. Already there had been a number of incidents, one Norse woman had been slain and fights had broken out between different groups of children. Scott advised Gabrain that he should go to settle these personally and that he should do so quickly before the situation had a chance to escalate. This was not something he had foreseen although he chided himself that he should have, as it was clearly an accident waiting to happen. They took ship again and sailed for Ayrshire, barely two days after returning to Inveraray. Three days of sailing brought them to Irvine, where the Norse woman had been reported slain. They landed and immediately started to try and get to the root of the problems. A number of things were obvious. There were far more women than available men and this was heightening the tensions. Scott and Gabrain sought to alleviate some of this by replicating the arrangements for single women they had put in place in Dalriada. Some of the men were trying to do their bit to help the situation too, following Scott's lead in having multiple wives. As if often the case, the message they had received at Inveraray had been somewhat muddled in the telling. They now found out that it wasn't exactly resentment on the part of Scots women that was the real cause of the problems, rather it was the reaction of the Scots women to some of the Saxons and Danes. It seemed that the Saxon/Dane families of those who had been leaders amongst these groups had had so many years of lording it over others that they couldn't change their ways. With their menfolk now dead and no status at all in any of the camps, the widows and children were continuing to act as if they still had some prominence and it was this that the Scots women were reacting to. Scott was mightily relieved as this meant the problem was restricted to a very small number of people. He sat beside Gabrain as the young King interviewed some of the widows. Both of them were dismayed at the arrogant attitude of these women and they began to see how others might be violent towards them. Travelling round the other Ayrshire and Galloway camps they found that most were progressing well with no problems amongst the populace. Only at the bigger of the former Saxon and Norse camps were there issues. After two weeks Scott and Gabrain had all of the disaffected Saxon and Norse women and children gathered before them at Stranraer. Gabrain addressed them. "It is clear to me that you all resent the fact that you have lost your station in the camps you have been living in. I would remind you once more that you have been part of an invading force and have enslaved the very people you are still trying to lord it over. Some might be surprised that you are not simply grateful to be alive, to have a roof over your heads, food in your bellies. But no, that's not enough for you. I have asked each of you individually whether you are willing to change your ways, to try to fit in and to do your share of the work that all must do. I ask you all again." "Never!" Came the resounding response. "These Scots are no better than savages, brute beasts," shrilled one woman, "we could never lower ourselves to be on a par with them!" There were shouts of agreement from many of those gathered. "It is as I suspected then. You are so stiff necked that you cannot see how well off you might be here. This then is my decision. You will be taken by ship to a point close to where there are people of your own kind. You are welcome to return amongst them, cause your strife within their camps, but no longer will you create dissension in my lands." There was a loud outcry at this, many shouting that he couldn't do this, that they wouldn't accept it. Perhaps the vision of what they might expect from their own people was breaking through their arrogance. "Enough!" Gabrain out-shouted them, "either you willingly go by ship to those of your own kind or you will go unwillingly and I will have the Saxons dropped off close by the Norse and vice versa. Which is it to be?" Of course this was no choice at all and all quite quickly accepted Gabrain's offer of being taken back to their own people. Scott questioned Gabrain later on his decision. "Do you not think your judgement today was a little harsh Gabrain. Wasn't there any hope that we could have helped these people to see the error of their ways in time?" "It may be so Scott, but see you, the people of Ayrshire and Galloway have known years of misery at the hands of these people. I will not have them reminded of that on a daily basis through the arrogance of these women. Life is too short for that. I gave them ample opportunity to rethink their behaviour but you have seen there is no remorse, not a flicker of it. You have taught me well my friend, I would see a place in this Scotland for any who want to play their part but these stiff-necked, unbending harpies will never agree to that. At least we will see them safely to their own kind. I think then they will find out the meaning of harsh treatment." The tour of Ayrshire and Galloway had not all been unpleasant, as Scott and Gabrain had also taken the time to review how each settlement was progressing. Defences were significantly improved and other Dalriada innovations had been adopted. Schools had been set up, the apprenticeship scheme was in operation, mills were being constructed to deal with the vast harvest that the autumn would bring and burghs had been established to deal with day to day decision making. Donald the geologist's assistants were already demonstrating their worth, having identified sources of limestone and metal ores for the Ayrshire and Galloway craftsmen to work with. After several weeks the friends were satisfied that order had been restored and progress could be left to run its course. The returned to Irvine and watched the Saxon and Norse women and children board longships for their onward journeys. Scott and Gabrain boarded their own ship and returned to Inveraray. ------- It was still the height of summer and the friends determined they would teach their young offspring how to swim. Gabrain had taken to swimming and regularly took to the water still. He remembered his narrow escape in the past however, and was determined his son would not be left at risk. Both young Scott and the slightly older David took to the water like ducks, at home immediately. Even Eilean, her belly now swelling obscenely, joined in, the water helping her aching limbs to relax she claimed. The harvest was brought in and it proved to be as good as previous years, Scott's crop rotation system helping to replenish the soil and reduce the risk of crop failure. He journeyed to Ayrshire and Galloway once more, this time taking young David with him, to see for himself how the harvest had gone there. Scott found the Ayrshire and Galloway people in high spirits. The harvest had gone well here too and the increased security the people felt combined with the abundance of food could do nothing else but make them content. The fact that they were free for the first harvest for years also contributed. Young David was well received in Ayrshire, the people coming out to cheer him as their young Lord, and Scott was pleased he had brought him on the trip. Back in Dalriada progress was being made on road building, many of the camps now joined up and travel time between them reduced accordingly. Scott was still frustrated that his shipwrights and craftsmen had not been able to contrive a powered ship but he tried to remain calm and encouraging with all concerned, urging them to greater efforts. Three significant events happened before the snows came that year. The first event was the return of Donald the geologist from his trip through the Mediterranean and into Arabia. Scott's wives 'oohed and aahed' at the bolts of silk that he had brought back with him, but for Scott the greater excitement was that Donald had managed to secure the services of a Persian alchemist. Scott was introduced to Mushtaq ibn Haleed, the exchanges in Latin and interpreted by one of the monks. Mushtaq was obviously a learned man; hence his knowledge of Latin, and Donald explained to Scott that he was already far advanced in his alchemy abilities than any other he had met. Mushtaq had brought his family with him, two wives and one daughter. Scott couldn't tell much about the women as they were covered in robes from head to foot, only their eyes visible. Mushtaq all but ignored his wives but did introduce his daughter as Deyna. Deyna was another small woman and Scott found her almond shaped, cinnamon coloured, eyes absolutely beguiling. Deyna also had a black African slave; Donald explaining this was quite common for the Persian people. Again, the slave girl was ignored by Mushtaq, but Scott was taken by her dark ebony skin. The girl was not robed as the Persian women were and he could see that she was slim, willowy almost with small breasts, high up on her frame. She had the same submissive habit of dropping her eyes that Eilean had had when he had first met her. Scott found himself immediately attracted to her. The second event was that Gabrain announced that he felt it was time he took up his royal residence at Dunadd. Scott felt almost like a father who was listening to his child tell him it was time to leave home. He recognised that the young King truly was an adult now and needed his own space. This was nothing more than the time honoured declaration of independence. In any event he wouldn't be far away and Scott knew he would still see plenty of him. The third event was possibly the one of greatest significance. Scott was sitting discussing Gabrain's move and arrangements for keeping in touch when he simply stopped talking. "Scott, what is it? Is something wrong?" Asked Gabrain. "The Birds of Prey," whispered Scott, "after all this time, the Birds of Prey." "What do you mean Scott? What birds of prey? Have you a notion to take up hawking?" "Oh, it's nothing Gabrain, ignore me, I but daydream." But Scott was not daydreaming. What had just sprung into his head had taken more than six years for his brain to dredge up. He could remember clearly the day he had thought of gunpowder. He was sure he had read about how to make it in a Wilbur Smith novel but couldn't remember the details. As was his usual custom he had allowed the thought to recede into his consciousness, sure that eventually his brain would spit out what he wanted. Now, over six years later, it had finally done so. The Wilbur Smith book was called Birds of Prey and had been about a young English naval Captain in seventeenth century Africa. Hal Courtney had been the lad's name and he had been on the run in the African bush with a mix of English seamen and natives. His dusky lover had been mixing up a brew to help treat his wounds and fever and Hal had recognised the smell of Sulphur. Scott recalled now how he had once been given a drink of ale and some yellow powder to cure a hangover while he was living at Aird Driseig. The reason for the familiarity of the smell of the powder now came back to him - it had been Sulphur. He wondered if Deyna's slave girl's black skin had helped stir his memories of the Wilbur Smith book, reminiscent of Hal Courtney's native lover? The details of how Hal had made gunpowder in the book all came back to him. The Sulphur had come from rock surrounding a hot spring. Saltpetre had been extracted from animal urine by evaporation until it crystallised. The Sulphur and saltpetre had been mixed with charcoal. All three ingredients had been ground down and the charcoal and Sulphur mixed together first, adding the saltpetre being the most dangerous part. If he remembered correctly, dampening the mix so that it bound better and then drying it out again improved its performance. The only thing that the book hadn't covered was what proportions of each ingredient was required. Scott assumed with some careful trial and error he would be able to establish that. He realised for the first time he hadn't shared his idea with Gabrain and questioned himself why this was? He admitted to himself that introducing gunpowder to ninth century Scotland frightened him. It was an awesome responsibility. The potential impact of gunpowder was huge and Scott felt an internal struggle begin in his head as to whether he wanted to let this cat out of the bag. ------- Gabrain's leave taking from Inveraray when it came was quite emotional, Scott's wives and Esta in tears as they hugged each other. Gabrain and Scott contented themselves with a manly clasping of arms and a hug, promising they would keep in touch and see each other soon. The entire Inveraray settlement came out to see the young King off, their affection for him clear for all to see. Scott rode some way along the road with Gabrain, Esta and little Scott, at last waving to the little group of men and wagons. ------- Mushtaq had gained access to Scott's notes and had worked with the monks to have them translated. He was now demanding the opportunity to do what the original R&D group had done, interrogate Scott to ask for further details. If anything the Persian was even more excited than the previous alchemists had been but the language barrier made such sessions very difficult indeed. Mushtaq was very insecure about his womenfolk being around other men. His Muslim faith was central to all that he did and it was apparently forbidden for the women to go uncovered in public. The people of the settlement looked on the Persian with curiosity. His daughter Deyna had taken to being around Scott's house frequently, a need to use the sunken bath on a daily basis seemingly essential. Mushtaq had at first been very concerned about this. Scott had suggested the Persian and his family move into the house Gabrain had just vacated and he ordered his builders to put in a sunken bath there too. The short-term nature of Deyna having to use Scott's bath, Scott's status as a lord and the presence of his wives in the house, all combined until Mushtaq gradually came to accept his daughter being there. In an attempt to improve his work with the Persian, Scott arranged for Hella to begin teaching him Gaelic. Hella suggested that she might as well teach all of the Persian family and he agreed. Scott knew his wives were scheming again by the little comments they made to him about Deyna and her black servant. The black girl's name was Ariana he discovered from one of these comments and all his wives regarded her as a beauty. Still, Ariana was nothing compared to Deyna they told him, the young Persian girl exquisite beyond belief. "Her skin is flawless Scott, honey coloured. And she has the kind of figure that makes your staff rise, slim, athletic, with curves in all the right places." Said Fiona, the normal schemer-in-chief. "And she has shining black hair that frames her face just right, highlighting her deep brown eyes." Added Hella, slightly less explicit in her teasing. "They go so well together Scott, an exotic pair of young, petite lovelies who can't stop chattering together in that language of theirs. We have all seen how they both look at you as you walk around. I think they must be talking about you when they're in that bath, naked and covered in bubbles." Eilean put in. "Enough all of you. That just isn't going to happen, believe me." Scott managed to keep out of the house whenever Deyna was there until at last Gabrain's old house was ready for Mushtaq and his family to move in. He relaxed then, as he wouldn't have to be so careful in coming and going. He spent some time with Albannach, feeding the big horse a carrot as he turned the pros and cons of gunpowder over and over in his head. It had been some time since he had suffered such a crisis of conscience he realised. His old catch phrases - 'tougher to survive' and 'death is common' - came back to him and they seemed as if from another world, another Scott. He had experienced so much since those early days of his first arrival in this time, days when he really was just trying to survive. He smiled as he remembered the excitement of catching his first fish. "Okay," he thought, "someone is going to introduce gunpowder sooner or later. Why shouldn't it be the Scots? At least we could quickly establish domination over the English, perhaps even change the course of several world wars? But that's going a little further than just helping Scotland to defend herself, to remain free, isn't it?" The raging internal debate carried on over a number of days. His wives knew something important was troubling him, as he was strangely withdrawn, not reacting as he normally would to their teasing. They watched him sitting on the floor of the house playing with little David, sometimes pausing to look at the tot as if the baby was somehow the key to what was on his mind. Scott in fact was looking at his child and trying to gauge what the future would hold for him if his father introduced gunpowder. Would the future be better or worse? Scott was wandering aimlessly through the camp, lost in his thoughts, when one of the craftsmen came to him with a message asking that he meet with the Persian at his house. Scott made his way to Mushtaq's house and wandered in. He stopped, realising he had obviously misinterpreted the message to mean Mushtaq's house when it must have meant his own. He knew that because there in front of him were Deyna and Ariana, frolicking in their new sunken bath. Mushtaq would never have invited him here with these two in such a state of undress. He stared at the two naked beauties, only able to see them from the waist up. From what he could see his wives had undersold the girls' charms if anything and he let himself drink in the sight. His cock was already pushing out the front of his kilt and his heart was beating fast. Perhaps a draft from the door alerted the girls because at last they turned and looked at Scott, untroubled it seemed by his presence. The dropped their gaze to look at the lump in the front of his kilt and both giggled. Deyna whispered something to the black girl and Scott watched Ariana climb out of the bath and walk towards him. She took his arm and tugged him towards the tub and the waiting Deyna. Walking slightly behind the black girl, Scott took in the taut, peach shaped cheeks of her tight, oh so tight butt. When they reached the edge of the tub Deyna waded forward and said something to Ariana. The black girl reached down and lifted the front of Scott's kilt to expose his hard staff. Both girls gasped at the size of it and Deyna's delicate little hand rose to try to encircle its girth. She tugged the skin on his shaft back, a curious look on her face. Scott imagined that this was perhaps the first time she had touched a cock. Ariana now lowered her hand to grip him too and the girls exchanged some words that he couldn't understand. Between them they began to stroke his cock, Deyna moving closer yet, her face only inches away from him, fascinated by what was in front of her. After some minutes of this Scott felt himself reach his climax and watched as his white cum shot repeatedly, hitting Deyna on the forehead, nose, chin and then chest. He stared as his cum dripped down her chest, two perfect little honey globes, the nipples a smoky brown colour. She dropped his now limp staff and ducked under the water to rinse herself off. Scott looked round and took in Ariana's predatory grin. She allowed his kilt to drop back into place and rejoined Deyna in the bath, both of them chattering away as he turned and left the house. While he had certainly enjoyed the whole thing, the inability to speak with each other somehow left him feeling cheated. ------- Chapter 25: Winter 878 AD Gabrain had sent messages to tell Scott that he wanted to return to Inveraray for the St Andrew's day celebration. As a surprise, Scott ordered his builders to build a new house for Gabrain's use, already missing his young friend badly. He designed this house to be bigger than his own and to include the whole range of improvements that he had introduced so far. He spent a lot of his time with the craftsmen during the construction, suggesting refinements to his original designs and sharing the work with them. It was a mighty task to try and get the structure finished in time but everyone was throwing themselves into it with a will. The building was finished and ready only a few days before Gabrain returned with Esta and young Scott. He was delighted with his new accommodation, as was Esta and they settled in quickly. The day of the holiday arrived but the attention of Scott and his wives was distracted by the fact that the little elf went into labour. Gabrain told Scott to stay with Eilean and leave the celebrations up to him to lead. Fiona was attending Eilean and Hella was assisting. Th weather outside was unkind for St Andrew's day, strong winds and driving rain and the labour was the longest Scott had been party to yet. Eilean suffered contractions for most of the day and, night had fallen before Fiona said that she thought it was at last time. Scott was in his customary position, beside his pregnant wife, holding her hand and trying to support her through the pain. He could see that his little elf was exhausted from her daylong ordeal and he was praying it would come to an end soon. "I can see the baby's head Eilean, push with the contractions my love, push, it's nearly over." Fiona encouraged. Scott moved to the foot of the bed, between Eilean's open thighs. He could see the top of the baby's head and it reminded him of the birth of little Tina, his first child. Tears burst from his eyes as his memories of Kirsty and Tina welled up within him and he found himself blubbing and struggling to breathe. Eilean squealed as another contraction hit her and Scott could see her try to concentrate on pushing down on the baby. He noticed three little fingers beside the baby's head and as Eilean pushed, more of the head emerged and along with it a hand and arm. He looked on amazed as it almost looked like the baby had extended an arm with which to pull itself out to help its mother, the arm raised like superman in flight. Another push by Eilean and the baby's neck and one shoulder appeared. Scott tried to blink away the tears and compose himself, but the emotion was huge, like a massive ball expanding inside his chest. He stretched out his hands to catch the child, holding it as he had little Tina some years before, pulling gently to help the birth. The little arm extended and he felt the fingers of the baby's hand grip his forearm tightly. Scott's assistance, and the apparent determination of the baby to deliver itself, helped speed up the final moments. Scott felt the full weight of the infant drop into his hands and he looked down at it, marvelling anew at the wonder of nature. Perfectly formed little fingers and toes, fingernails, matted hair on its head, its chest expanding as it breathed in its first tastes of air. Fiona struggled to try and prise the baby from him as he stared into its little face. He could swear the eyes were open and staring back at him, a twinkle evident there. Once more the emotion washed over him and he felt so protective of this little bundle, perhaps Tina's death weighing heavily on his conscience. He shrugged Fiona off and walked round the bed to hand the tot over to the washed-out Eilean. She couldn't even raise her head but natural instincts made her take the baby and bring it directly to her breast where it began to feed hungrily immediately. "It's a boy my little elf, a boy. I was so positive we would have a daughter, was sure. I have not thought of a boy's name." "Crinan, Scott. He should be called Crinan. Always I have loved Dunadd's little port, the place and the name. Please, let him be called Crinan." Even these few words completely exhausted Eilean and she dropped off to sleep, Crinan still feeding happily at her breast. Scott could hear the sounds of 'Amazing Grace' on the pipes coming in through the balcony. He had taught the pipers this only a few weeks before and now it seemed very appropriate. Fiona and Hella shooed Scott from the room, keen to finish off the work of delivering the baby. He staggered almost from the house, into the wild night, and made his way to the hall-house. The weather had subdued the celebrations somewhat but there were still people drinking and singing. Pipes were playing. He told Gabrain that Eilean had given birth to a boy and managed to get his hands on a drink. The birth had really affected him and he felt the need to find somewhere to be alone for a little while, but everywhere seemed to have some kind of revelry going on. He had a thought and returned to the house to grab his original rucksack. It weighed far heavier than it had before because it was now his hiding place for the Gold coins and silver ingots he was slowly amassing. He grabbed a jug of wine and a beaker and left the house, making his way behind it to find a spot under a couple of large trees and quickly pitching his tent to get out of the rain and wind. He poured himself some wine and sat thinking. The wonder of childbirth was incredible and it was still with him, the warm glow of thinking that you had played a part in producing a new life, a little human an amazing 'high'. As well as bringing tears to his eyes once more the birth of little Crinan had done one other thing; it had made up his mind about the issue of gunpowder. He had decided that he had to do everything he could to defend those around him and if that meant developing gunpowder then so be it, it had to be. At mental peace on this issue at last, he allowed himself to simply enjoy the pleasure of creating a new baby with his little elf. He drank more wine and listened to the weather howl outside. Thunder crashed and lightning flashed, illuminating the inside of the tent. Draining the wine from the beaker, he crawled into his original sleeping bag and lay down. He could hear the storm coming closer and tried to focus on it as he dropped off to sleep. The loud crack and bright light that lit up the tent passed him by as he snored gently. ------- Scott awoke the next morning, remembering the birth the night before and grinning hugely at the knowledge that he had another son. He crawled out of the sleeping bag and unzipped the tent flap but then stopped and pulled his head back inside the tent. He gasped and tried to get control of himself. '"Noooooooooooo!!!!!!"' he screamed in anguish. He had once cycled into a wall at full speed as a child and had been completely disorientated by the collision, a ringing noise in his ears and a kind of hollow, echoing quality to everything around him. It had taken some minutes before all of his senses had gradually returned to him. He felt like that now only ten times worse. He couldn't believe that outside the tent was a row of caravans! At last he knew he had to leave the tent. Crawling outside he took in the monkey puzzle trees and the little cairn of stones. He pushed the stones over and scrabbled around before pulling out his Satnav unit. He turned it on and was dismayed to see it power up and give him a reading. There seemed little doubt he was back in his own timeline. Incongruously, he looked down at himself; at the kilt and other gear he was wearing, and worried that he would look like something from a battle re-enactment. Tears were once more streaming down his face. No more elf, no more Fiona, Hella, Gabrain. No little David, no Crinan. What of trusty Lachlan, Murdoch, faithful Albannach? No more Dalriada. What had he done to history? He packed up as quickly as his streaming eyes and aching heart would allow and hefted the rucksack onto his back. Feeling its weight, he dropped it again to go through the contents. There inside was his stock of gold coins and silver ingots. Beside them were his bankcards in their little wallet. Scott walked down to the road and turned left towards Inveraray town. Nothing looked different to how he remembered it. He withdrew some money from an autoteller and went into a newsagents to purchase a paper. The date on the paper suggested he had returned to two thousand and seven AD, his adventure of over six years seeming to have passed in something like six months. He purchased a ticket for the bus, almost working on autopilot, and took a seat when it arrived. He passed the time on the journey scouring the newspaper for any hint that things in Scotland were different as a result of his trip - and found nothing, not a thing. When he returned back at his flat he had a struggle getting in the door due to the mail that had accumulated behind it. Another pile of mail was stacked on the table in the hallway, suggesting that someone had been visiting the flat in his absence - his parents he guessed. He realised he would need to deal with them and explain his six month absence, but right now he had other things on his mind. He fired up his computer and began to search on Google for Scottish history sites. Three hours later he had managed to come up with - nothing! For perhaps the fourth time he typed in 'wikipedia Kings of Alba' and looked at the search results. One was highlighted as he had visited it already - 'Chronicles of the Kings of Alba'. He clicked on it and saw the entry in the second paragraph for 'Poppleton Manuscript'. He clicked again and then saw another phrase highlighted under paragraph 5 - 'Kings of Dal Riatan'. He clicked on this too. It seemed that there was plenty of historical information about Dalriada until right about the time that he had been there. It seemed weird. Why all that info before the mid ninth century and then nothing? Surely historical records got better as time went on? Something didn't add up. He gave up for a bit and sat on his couch. He had to admit to himself that nothing had changed. If his improvements had stuck, especially his schools, then there should be plenty of evidence of that. The next day he contacted his parents and made up an excuse about needing to get away for a bit after his studies. They were unforgiving that he hadn't warned them or kept in touch while he had been away. Over the course of the next few months Scott managed to convert his silver ingots into currency and purchased a 4x4 and some other kit. He spent several weeks travelling round all the sites he had been familiar with, but found no trace of his previous existence. He sat in his flat, depressed as hell at his loss, a whole life gone and for what? He had never really dwelt on how he had been thrown back in time and he now wondered whether his decision on that last night to develop gunpowder had somehow contributed to his being returned to his own time? That thought agonised him. Could it have all been different if he had decided against gunpowder? He sat at his computer once more and went through the same ritual that he had followed many times now. 'Wikipedia Kings of Alba' then 'Chronicles of the Kings of Alba', and 'Poppleton Manuscript'. He sat staring at the screen. Just before he clicked on the final 'Kings of Dal Riatan' he noticed the next link along was 'Scottish monarchs'. He realised that he had completely written off all his noble thoughts about Scotland as a whole while he looked into trying to recover something about Dalriada and his friends. He clicked on the Scottish monarchs link now and scrolled down to look at it. He saw Constantine and Aed, followed by Giric and Eochaid. So even Gabrain's vote hadn't in any way changed anything. He did manage a weak smile when he saw that both of the boy sub-Kings, Donald and Constantine, had eventually become High King. So they had survived at least. He let his eyes scroll down further until they came to the entry for the House of Dunkeld. He looked at the entry for Duncan I - 1034-1040. The entry gave his name as Donnchad mac Crínáin. Son of Crinan? Surely not, it couldn't be. Besides there was almost one hundred and fifty years between them. A grandson perhaps? Was his sole purpose in going back, to ensure that this little piece of Scottish history happened as it should? "Fuck me!" said Scott; "surely it's not possible?" ------- The End ------- Posted: 2007-03-04 Last Modified: 2007-04-04 / 01:17:47 pm ------- http://storiesonline.net/ -------