'She'll be safe enough in the tree,' he said. 'The kangaroo men can't see her because of all the leaves and stuff in the way. I'm going to lie down for a while. We all need some sleep.' He ignored Cicely's cries of rage and turned away
Chapter Twelve
Sir William and his servant
There was an unspoken truce between the two sides now. Everyone kept well back from the edge out of sight of the archers below and Shani reported that most of the kangaroos were sleeping in the shade of the tree while others were out of stone throwing range. Derek decided to leave them alone.
Bedding was stored in the cave and Shani got a mattress and pillow for Derek which she made up into a bed where he lay down and went to sleep straight away. There was enough for everyone and the platform was soon dotted with people lying out in the sunshine, fast asleep.
Some hours later Thorkild shook Derek awake, it was about noon. 'There's an armored knight down in the clearing,' he said. 'And he's decided to take on the kangaroo people. Come and see.'
Derek was groggy from his short sleep but he was not going to miss seeing an armored knight in action. He threw back his opera cloak and got up.
Everyone was there looking down and throwing stones at the nearer kangaroos.
The knight was armored from head to foot and his shield was painted with a diagonal red stripe and three crescent moons.
'That's Sir William's coat of arms,' said Frederika. 'You remember, he's one of the Ockhams, a very old family.'
'Of course I remember him,' answered Ramses. 'We were pages together, and knighted together. A handy fellow to have alongside you in a battle.'
'But, like the rest of his family, he's not too bright.' said Frederika.
Some arrows had been launched at Sir William when he took the kangaroo people by surprise. They bounced off his armor but were enough to give notice that the creatures around him were hostile. He waved his sword and spurred his horse towards the nearest warrior who bounded high in the air to land some distance away its bow and arrow at the ready. It loosed the arrow at the rider, a perfect shot. The watchers heard the 'tock' of the arrow striking steel, but it bounced off and winged someone else.
The fight was going badly. The knight chased the archers and made terrific swipes at them with his sword, but they were too quick, they leaped too high, and the knight was being drawn away, out of range from the stone throwers on the cliff. After a while they would stop wasting the arrows on plate armor, instead they would bring the horse down, and the knight would be at their mercy.
Everyone was calling him to come back so they could give him some protection with their stone barrage. Either he did not hear, or ignored their shouting.
Come,' said Ramses, 'we will go down and help him.'
'You'll be killed,' objected Derek. 'They'll bring you down with those arrows.' He stared in horror at his mad companions who were ordering the rope ladder to be lowered so they could descend to almost certain death or injury.
'You can't do this to me.' He said, following them almost to the head of the ladder.' How will I get home without you two to show me the way? I don't even know how to get to Sultanopolis.'
'Let them go,' said Shani, who had rolled the ladder over the edge. 'I know the way and I'll look after you. Once my people are safe I can get you there.'
'Never fear, manager. We will be back, said Frederika. But if we don't come through just leave Cicely in her tree, she's bad news. After saying this Frederika disappeared down the ladder.
'Effendi Vortimer, we still don't understand each other,' were Ramses' parting words as he too began to climb down. 'We are dedicated knights, we cannot ignore a challenge such as this. Our code says we must come to the aid of a fellow knight in battle. Do not despair, we are not dead get.'
Then he was gone and all Derek could see was the top of his spiked helmet and the ladder shaking as they went down.
Derek went as near as he dared to the edge of the precipice; even though it made him dizzy. If nothing else he could at least throw stones. It was possible that a well aimed rock could save the life of a friend.
The kangaroo men had at least one leader who was shouting orders. Derek understood that he was ordering his followers to lure the knight further away from the rock throwers so he would be beyond any protection they could give him.
The archers who had been sheltering under the overhang of the wall now appeared in the open Frederika and Ramses had flushed them out, and they were followed by a hail of rocks as they bounded away across the clearing.
Suddenly it all changed, every kangaroo warrior disappeared, the arrows stopped coming as another figure appeared from the forest. This person trotted into the open on the back of a large boar. It was Doctor Grozny still wearing a dressing gown and pyjamas. He guided his mount round the clearing while inspecting the bodies of dead and stunned kangaroo archers.
He rode up to the three who were in the middle of the clearing and waiting to see if the fighting would start again.
Frederika and Ramses had to help control Sir William's horse which whinnied with fear at the sight and smell of the huge boar. It tried to back away with its eyes so wide open that a circle of red showed round the whites.
The doctor's eyeglasses flashed in the sunshine. 'Have you any idea of the cost of what you are doing?' He demanded. 'Each of my kangaroos has to be imported from Australia. I pay so called taxes to aristocratic robbers to get them into the country. Their genes are altered at the cost of millions yet you fighting oafs feel free to cut them down.'
Doctor Grozny's hands had been untied since they had last seen him departing on his runaway boar, and the electric flex that bound them had disappeared. He was able to wave his hands freely while venting his anger.
'You and your boars, and your kangaroo bowmen are menace,' said Ramses. 'Whenever they attack us we will fight back.'
'There is no excuse for vandalism of this kind,' retorted the doctor. 'I will lead the survivors back to my laboratory, and I shall expect no further interference or violence from you, or anyone else in this disgusting country. And let me tell you, my man, I must seriously consider going somewhere else, as far from here as possible, to carry out my researches. Why, even the island of my great ancestor, Doctor Moreau, would be better than this.'
They were interrupted by Sir William. He had tried to join the conversation but his visor kept falling down. After a struggle he gave his helmet a half turn and was able to lift it off.
'Phew! That's better!' He was a pink faced young man with black hair and a drooping black moustache. 'It gets terribly stuffy inside there, specially when you're doing a spot of fighting. Hello Ramses old chap, and you too, Freddy. In trouble as usual, are we? You couldn't direct me to the nearest castle, could you?'
'What, you're lost again?' said Frederika. 'I've never known anyone to get lost so easily as you, William. I suppose Castle Smedhurst is the nearest and when we get Lady Cicely out of her tree she can guide you there.'
'Lady Cicely is climbing a tree??'
'It's a long story, and she can tell you all about it on the way, if you want to escort her home.'
'Gladly,' said Sir William. He seemed quite pleased. 'I'll protect her from those hopping thingummys that were shooting at me, and I thank you for your assistance, but, as you could see, I was doing pretty well on my own.'
He pointed at Doctor Grozny. 'Don't put up with any nonsense from this feller. He's my servant, you know. I found him dressed in these strange clothes and under a spell, condemned to ride for ever on the back of a magic pig. Well, I freed him from the enchantment didn't I, and in return he had to swear to serve me for a year and a day as my body servant. He's got a year to go.'
'It is true,' said the doctor, glaring at Sir William. 'He did make me go through a childish form of words, some vow of service which he seemed to consider important before he would cut the flex with which you people tied my hands. But I do not feel myself bound by any such foolish nonsense. I shall lead the kangaroo people back to my laboratory where there is important work to be done.'
'He would have turned to go but there was a whisk of steel and the flat of a sword was laid across his chest.
'Nay, nay,' said Sir William. There is a pledge between you and me. Do you not remember? You promised to serve me faithfully for a year and a day when I freed you from enchantment. In this land an oath is sacred.'
'I cannot be bound by such a ridiculous oath,' was the doctor's retort. 'My work is of great importance. Four generations of my family have been laboring on the same project and I cannot afford to lose a day, let alone a year and a day.'
'This is very sad,' said Sir William. 'In this country oath-breakers are put to death. You may have noticed that my horse is not speedy, but is faster than that enchanted pig you are riding. If you break your oath I will have the duty of following and cutting you down.'
'This is barbaric,' protested the doctor.
'Nay, it is most civilized. If we cannot have fair dealing and honest pledges honestly carried out then disorder will follow, society will collapse, but you, my friend, I will not allow you to start the rot.'
The doctor angrily wheeled his mount away from the sword and shouted to the hidden watchers, 'I am coming to lead you back to the laboratory. If these people try to stop me shoot them down.'
An arrow from the forest went through the flesh at the side of his neck, another struck the pig he was riding making it squeal and buck so that between pain and shock he fell off. The pig galloped away still squealing. The kangaroo warriors had been startled by his appearance in the clearing but were now recovered. He was not going to lead them anywhere.
Ramses did not hesitate but hoisted the scientist to his feet supporting him under one shoulder with his arm around the man's waist and led them at a run to the rope ladder, which was still down. Frederika followed, stepping backwards with bow and arrow at the ready. Sir William followed too on his horse giving Ramses' back some cover. He slid off the horse at the foot of the ladder and held it as Ramses made the tremendous effort of climbing straight up while supporting the doctor, who was still in shock.
A kangaroo man leapt out of the bushes to get a clear shot at the departing group but a thud and a yelp reminded the attackers that the villagers were deadly accurate with stones. He fell over backwards on his tail and lay still.
Ramses was soon up and out of danger. He carried the white faced and fainting doctor straight up the ladder without stopping and handed him over to the village women to extract the arrow and bandage his wound.
Derek was concerned about Frederika and Sir William. They were still at the base of the cliff. The ladder shook from time to time but no one appeared.
'What's going on down there?' he shouted. 'Come up, you're in danger!'
'It's Sir William,' Frederika cried back. 'He's too heavy for the ladder, it's the armor.'
'Tell him to take some off!'
'He won't! He says no knight at arms would remove his armor in the face of the enemy.'
Derek sighed in exasperation as he turned to Thorkild. 'Bring the rope again, we're going to need it.' Thorkild went away and returned as before, laden with rope. Derek selected the heaviest rope of all and tied a knot on one end.
'Throw that end over the edge,' he said.
He had made a running noose which landed at Frederika's feet.
'Slip the loop over his shoulders, then fix it under his arms and haul it as tight as you can. We're going to take a lot of his weight from up here so he can climb the ladder. Tell him not to raise his arms above his head, the noose might slip upwards and we'd hang him on the way up.'
There was pause at the foot of the ladder. 'He wants to know if you can haul his horse up too.'
'Tell him no! This is no place for a horse, especially if it walks in its sleep; and anyway, we're not strong enough to hoist it. Now, Freddie, If he won't budge and wants to stay with his horse leave him there. You're to come up as quick as you can.' He turned to Ramses. Everyone can help pull him up. I hate going near the edge.'
Derek had difficulty controlling the crowd's enthusiasm as they helped to haul Sir William out of danger. They were all eager to see up close this novelty of a fully armored knight, and he dangled rather than climbed. Frederika swarmed up the ladder straight after Sir William and they were all safe on the platform, at least for a time.
ir William was not grateful, he objected to being hauled up like a sack of coal, and his mood was not improved when Derek refused his pleas to bring the horse up too.
Chapter Thirteen
Enter The Sultan and Lord Grausam
Derek's next concern was for Cicely. She had been marooned in the tree for hours.
'She's been asleep for a while,' said Shani. 'She had her arm round the trunk of the tree, and she's sitting on a branch.'
'That's dangerous, she might fall while she's asleep. I'll talk to her.'
Before Derek could speak to the girl he heard a growing din from the forest.
'What now?' He complained. Couldn't your people have found a quieter spot than this?'
Dozens of kangaroo men bounded across the clearing in flight and were sped on their way by a shower of rocks from the villagers. They must have fought someone and been defeated for they hopped past in a panic.
The doctor was shouting at the villagers and pleading with them to take care as they excitedly hurled stones at the fugitives. They knew nothing of the cost of turning kangaroos into warriors but they recognized enemies when they saw them, and kept up their barrage until the last had been brained and laid low, or else hopped out of sight.
As they disappeared into the trees some soldiers trotted into the far side of the clearing in pursuit. 'Those are Lord Grausam's men,' said Ramses, eyeing their uniforms. 'And look, there are some of the Sultan's bodyguard, what are they doing here miles from the palace? Something serious has happened.'
Derek remembered Lady Cicely. 'You can leave the tree now. Lord Grausam's men are down below.' Lady Cicely, in a black mood, ignored him and started to climb down to the lower branches though hampered by her long riding skirt, and roughly laced boots.
Frederika and Ramses dropped the rope ladder and climbed down. Sir William would have joined them but did not trust his weight to the ladder without a safety-rope.
As Frederika and Ramses reached the ground some mounted men appeared. They were clad in chain mail and helmets.
Lord Grausam's device was a black bear walking on all fours and each of his soldiers had this symbol on the left breast. One of the riders wore decorated armor and a model of the bear on his helmet, it was the man himself.
He spurred his horse forward and confronted the two warriors. 'Where the hell have you been, Lord Ramses?' he asked, in his grating voice. 'We sent you off with an escort and half of them came back riding as though the devil was behind and babbling nonsense about being attacked by great, hairy monsters riding boars as big as elephants. Then those that could say anything sensible told us that you and Lady Frederika rode off into the forest looking for that manager fellow. God knows why! We could have used you and the escort if you had held them together. There's been hell's delight back at the capital. Those poxy rebels struck; they had hundreds of men outside the walls and others opened the gate from the inside the night you left.'
'Is the Sultan safe?'
'Yes, he's safe enough, but he's not happy. He was nearly captured, but we got him away just in time.'
`Another troop of soldiers now appeared. A representation of a silver palm tree had been worked into their coats and they were guarding a palanquin, a sort of covered bed, carried on poles on the shoulders of four black slaves, with another four in reserve. The soldiers were the Sultan's personal guard and the palanquin contained blankets, cushions and the Sultan himself, but he was hidden. The curtains had been drawn shut.
'We should have cut the throats of those rebels while we had them in the council hall,' said Lord Grausam
'This is a bad business,' said Ramses, shaking his head. 'It is a pity about the escort, they may have made all the difference, but the captain was in command, not me. We left him because our first duty was to the Commission of Enquiry and we could not have that without the manager. Unhappily he had been kidnapped by apes riding huge boars which you don't believe in.'
He turned away. Come Frederika, we must pay our respects to the Sultan.'
They approached the palanquin. The guards knew them and the officer in charge gestured for it to be lowered to the ground. Where it rested on stumpy legs. The curtains were drawn back to reveal an obese figure reclining on heaped up cushions.
'We missed you, Lord Ramses?' said the Sultan in a squeaky voice. 'We had need of your strong right arm when the rebels attempted to capture our royal person. If our trusty Lord Grausam had not acted quickly we would have been taken by those dogs of mutineers. However, with ones such as you and the Lady Frederika who, we are told, will one day be a warrior of renown in spite of her sex, we will smash this uprising ----'
The Sultan would have said more but stopped and looked over their heads in astonishment.
They turned to see a furious Lady Cicely holding on to the lowest branch of the tree in which she had been trapped. She had slipped and almost fallen but had managed to hang on and was now clutching a branch about twelve feet from the ground.
'That is the Lady Cicely Smedhurst, is it not?' enquired the Sultan. 'Her father brought her to court last month but we thought she was too old for such foolishness. Tell her to come down at once before she does herself an injury.'
Lord Grausam rode under the branch just as Cicely fell. She landed on top of Grausam and shrieked because of a painful fall on his suit of armor.
'Bring her here at once!' ordered the Sultan. Lord Grausam rode over and dumped the girl alongside the palanquin where she also had to kneel, trembling with rage.
'These are serious times,' said the Sultan. 'The rebels have risen; we have been driven from our palace and every loyal subject must unite to restore us to the throne of our ancestors. There is no time to climb trees and play childish games; you must come with us to your father. His men are out searching for you when they could have been better employed protecting us and our throne.'
'Your Majesty,' said Lady Cicely, 'They have been horrible to me. A girl cut my bootlaces, pushed me off the edge of that cliff up there and I would be dead now if I hadn't landed in the tree. Then they wouldn't rescue me and they didn't give me any breakfast and made fun of me and I want the man hanged and the girl flogged to death.
The Sultan looked troubled and glanced at Frederika and Ramses 'Surely you do not mean it, our good friends will be needed to put down the rebellion.'
'Not them!' She said in a rage. 'It is the man they call the manager, and a cheeky slut of a village girl; they're the ones I want punished.'
The Sultan's brow cleared instantly. 'My dear child, what a small favor to ask to avenge these terrible wrongs. We will have the man hanged and the girl flogged to death within the hour. Just point out to my soldiers who has done these dreadful things you speak of and they will attend to the matter straight away. There is nothing like a hanging or a good flogging to lift everyone's spirits and we need some diversion to take our mind off problems of state.'
Before Ramses and Frederika could protest at this terrible sentence there was another interruption. The rest of the Sultan's harem had been straggling through the bushes and a fat woman in tattered clothes appeared and flung herself at full length on the ground with her head towards the palanquin. The Sultan sniffed and looked at her unfavorably.
'Oh Mighty Sultan, Live for Ever!' she cried, 'how much longer must your wives continue this journey that has no end and no rest? We are weary and footsore; we stumble and fall; the bushes tear at our clothes; what sins have we committed in past lives to bring such terrors on us?'
'They must have indeed been vile,' retorted the Sultan, shaking his head and looking over his other wives who had appeared and fallen to their knees behind the fat woman.
'We are hungry, my lord, hungry! Give us something to eat or we shall starve and die.'
'There is little enough for us,' retorted the Sultan severely,' and nothing for you and the others. When we get to the castle you may be given something to eat, but it does not concern us, we have matters of state to deal with. Now, Lady Cicely, if you will be good enough to point out this man and the girl justice will be done, but we cannot linger; we must try to reach your father's castle before dark, even if it means leaving these wretched women behind.'
Ramses had been trying to attract the attention of the Sultan during this drama; now he burst out, - 'Sire, I cannot let you commit this great injustice on my friends. The Lady Cicely is mad and spoiled. Neither the manager, nor the village girl have done anything to deserve this cruel punishment. All that happened to the Lady Cicely she brought on to herself by stupidity, pride, arrogance, ignorance, and childish behavior. You cannot put loyal subjects to death on the word of a bad tempered child.'
'She has always been spoiled, your gracious majesty,' added Frederika. 'What she really needed was a good kick on the bum from time to time but no one dared to give it to her because she would have run to daddy with a pack of lies, and that would have been the end of them. You needn't expect us to stand by and see anything happen to the manager. He will be more use to this country than Cis ever was.'
Lady Cicely was aghast at these words. 'That's the last time you come to our castle, either of you! Just wait until father hears about this, he will know what to do to protect me. As for you Frederika, you always were a low, common, nasty girl and everyone laughed at you. You should have been born a peasant, and that's the truth.' Her agitation became too much and she started to cry.
'Peace, peace!' cried the Sultan. 'You mean this man doesn't deserve to be hanged, nor the girl flogged?' He shook his head. 'How unfortunate; we consider this most sad, but you know the ancient law that governs our realm. Once the word of the Sultan has been given it cannot be changed or drawn back. We regret to inform you my friends these persons must die.'
He caught Frederika's eye. 'No, my dear Lady Frederika, not even in memory of your family's long service to The Sultanate can we alter this decree. The two must die because if we alter one jot or tittle of the sentence our word will no longer mean anything and the authority of the Sultans will be gone forever.'
There was a pause and Frederika's hand dropped to the hilt of her sword but Ramses reached out and caught it without looking so she could not draw.
'Lady Cicely,' he said, 'do you mean this? Do you want those two to die because you got into a rage? Have you considered the justice of what you are saying and of the sentence you want imposed?'
Lady Cicely was whimpering. 'They shouldn't have treated me like that; they made me look so foolish in front of everyone, and she threw my breakfast away. Daddy would know how to deal with them.'
'Perhaps so,' said the Sultan, brightening a little. 'Perhaps this is a minor matter that does not require a royal decree and if we are on Lord Smedhurst's land I could pass the matter of judgment over to him; after all it is Lady Cicely Smedhurst who has been wronged.'
Lord Grausam had been fretting in the background waiting for the Sultan to stop quarrelling with his wives and handing out death sentences.
You cannot change,' he said, barely concealing his contempt for his weak sovereign. 'I have heard you make your decree and it must be carried out. My men will administer the sentence. Lady Cicely will point out the persons responsible. I can leave four men behind to see that your justice is done; then they can catch up, but we cannot delay any longer. Now, Lady Cicely, who are these people? Speak up!'
'I've changed my mind,' said Lady Cicely still sobbing. I don't think I want anyone killed. Can't you punish them some other way?'
'It is too late, You know the ancient law of the Sultanate. When the Sultan has spoken, he has spoken. Neither he nor anyone else can retract that word.'
'We are the only ones that heard him,' said Frederika. 'I think just this once he could let the matter drop.'
The Sultan nodded eagerly. He had realized, perhaps too late, that he could not afford to offend two noted warriors such as Frederika and Ramses; besides, they represented powerful and warlike clans. The von Hohenbergers, Frederika's family, were particularly numerous and fearsome in battle.
Lord Grausam did not care, and the chance to humiliate Ramses and hang a manager at the same time was one not to be passed over. 'The Sultan cannot show weakness at this serious moment in the history of our country,' he said. 'Lady Cicely will point out the guilty persons and my men will carry out the order.' He turned fiercely on the Sultan. 'Is this not so, your majesty?'
The Sultan cleared his throat and said at last, 'Unhappily we must agree with our noble Lord Grausam. It is unfortunate that this has to happen but we trust it will be a lesson to the Lady Cicely to be, in future, more guarded in her remarks to her sovereign.'
Cicely was upset again at these words and to Lord Grausam's disgust was unable to answer his questions because of her crying.
'Leave the girl,' said Ramses. 'I will lead your men and point out the condemned persons, but they will have to act quickly or there will be trouble with the villagers.'
Neither the Sultan nor Lord Grausam had expected this sudden surrender. The Sultan was relieved but Lord Grausam stared suspiciously.
'We had better get on,' he said. 'There is a long way to go and it's getting too late in the day to fight anyone else.' He shifted impatiently on his horse causing it to move a little. 'I will detail three men and a sergeant for the execution party. That should be enough, but they will get the job over as quickly as possible and then rejoin us. If it wasn't a matter of royal principle I wouldn't do it. I don't like detaching any of my force in this forest with those hopping things around that are so good with a bow and arrow.'
He called to a sergeant. 'Follow Lord Ramses with three of your men. He will point out to you two persons who are to be executed. Do it straight away. I will wait here ten minutes, no longer. If there is any delay catch up as quick as you can.'
Ramses looked up at Lord Grausam. 'Lady Frederika and I will join you as soon as the sentences have been carried out.' Grausam nodded as they turned away to lead the soldiers to the ladder. Lady Cicely cried out something, but she was ignored.
Ramses had kept a firm grip on Frederika's sword arm the whole time so she would not do anything rash, and he led her without letting go.
'You first,' he ordered. Frederika climbed the ladder and was out of sight in a moment. Ramses heard her sword being drawn from its sheath, but said nothing. 'Wait here!' he ordered as he put his foot on the first rung. 'We will bring them down.'
The sergeant shook his head. 'No, we come too. Lord Grausam said no tricks or he would have my guts for garters. We'll come up, do the job quickly and go.' He looked round cautiously. 'We don't want to get left behind in the forest, that's no good.'
Ramses climbed the ladder with the file of soldiers following close behind. When his head was above the level of the top rung he saw that Frederika was waiting crouched in the rock cleft, sword in hand. Ramses glanced down and shoved the sergeant in the face with his foot.
'Cut the ropes!' he cried and swung himself up and off the ladder in a single movement.
The sergeant had not lost his footing or his head. He roared and swarmed up the ladder to grasp Frederika's arm as she leaned down to slash one of the ropes. Ramses leaned perilously far out from the cliff edge and, saving himself with one hand, grasped the sergeant's throat with the other.
'Let go, go back!' he ordered as the little group clutched each other at the head of the ladder. The sergeant shook his head again and hung on.
They scarcely heard feet running down the rock cleft until a tree branch appeared over Frederika's shoulder and, after slipping twice it lodged in the breast plate of the sergeant and began to force him back and outwards away from the cliff.
One side of the ladder gave way. Frederika had nicked the rope with her sword and the side collapsed so that all the rungs hung vertically from the other rope. The patrol was scarcely able to hang on and several weapons fell to the ground as the soldiers grabbed at the remaining rope.
'Go down now or we will cut the other rope,' ordered Rams