Fiction: Episode Three; The Rescue of a Queen

[JonPop]

As the Knights entered the courtyard of the BetterMan castle, Sir JonPop's squire ran up to him as he was dismounting and said, "Sir JonPop, King Arthur wants to see you immediately."

He handed the reins to the squire and removed his helmet. Without stopping to remove his armor he climbed the stairs and headed to the King's bedroom.
As he entered the room, Princess Susan came to him and said, "We have received a letter from my Mother and the King wants you to hear it."

Sir JonPop walked to the side of the bed and bowed to King Arthur who held out his hand and said, "Sir JonPop, I am so glad to see you back here, safe. You must tell me all that has happened while you were gone."
Sir JonPop removed his gauntlet, took the Kings hand and looked at the King. He saw a man that looked older than he remembered and frail. He said, "Your Highness, I will start at the beginning."

He recounted their journey to Sherwood forest, the meeting with Robin Hood and the ensuing battle. How it had been a total victory for Robin and his men and that none of his Knights had been injured.

The King seemed happy at the news, sighed and lay back on his pillow and said, "As My daughter has told you, we have received a letter, from Queen Guinevere." and looking lovingly at the Princess, said, "Please Susan, read the letter to Sir JonPop."

Princess Susan begin to read:

"My dear husband and King, I hope that this letter finds you well and recovering. As you know by now, I am being held in the the Tower of London, I am being treated reasonably well, although I long for a hot bath and a change of clothing. I fear that I am becoming ill as the tower is extremely cold and drafty but I will be all right. Please my husband, do not give in to the demands of King Richard, he is not an honorable man and I fear, would not release me even if his demands were met.
He only seeks to en richen himself to further his crusades.
We have spies here, that will take this letter to you and I have promised a handsome payment to them for doing so.
He has threatened me with grave punishment if I refused to write a letter to you, begging you to pay the ransom.
I told him that if he would provide me with writing materials, that I would do as he said. This is why I am able to write this letter to you. I will do as he says and you will soon receive another letter. He has told me what to write, so disregard what the words say. He is a treacherous man my King and full of evil. Be careful as he is planning a trap for you and your army."

"Your Loving wife Guinevere."

Princess Susan, finished reading and put down the letter, looked at her Father as he lay back with his his eyes closed. She saw a tear on his cheek and said, "Sir JonPop, you and your brave Knights, must do something." and with a sob, left the room.

[JonPop]

King Arthur was now able to walk, with some help, to the Round Table.
He had called a meeting of his Knights and had sent for Robin Hood who was now in attendance.

He begin by saying, "As Sir JonPop knows, I received a smuggled letter from the Queen. I have also received a letter from the Queen by courier.
This second letter is written by the Queen under duress and pleads with me to pay the ransom.
We shall not give in to the scoundrel, King Richard.
We have had many days, now to review the plan of Robin Hood and it has merits. We know that King Richard is planning to move the Queen, in four days from today and the route he will take to the waiting ship.
I mean no disrespect to you or your plan Robin, but I and my Knights have decided that too many things are left to chance with what you have laid out before us.
We have come up with an alternate plan, that I will now ask Sir JonPop to put forth to you."

The King had been standing, trembling arms braced against the table and now sat down with a pained look on his face.

Sir JonPop stood and said, "Brother Knights, since you already know of this alternate plan, I will address Robin Hood."

"Robin of Sherwood, my friend and friend to the Kingdom of BetterMan, we thank you for your service to our King and to our cause.
What we have come up with is;

We would ask that a small number of your men, hide in waiting in the last forest that the convoy must pass through. We will need a delaying tactic from your men to engage and harass the enemy while we capture the ship. We do not need them to entirely stop the convoy, just delay.
We will need the majority of your men and yourself to defend the ship after it has been captured. We will also have a number of soldiers and archers aboard, along with the BetterMan Knights and the King's daughter Princess Susan, who insists that she be allowed to take part in the rescue of her Mother.
Sir Stud will go undercover dressed as a beggar to scout out the strength guarding the ship. We will also have several men dressed as dock workers, to aid in the overpowering of the guards.

We will now review this plan and go over the timing and details."

[JonPop]

Sir Stud, shuffled across the dock, a pitiful sight in his rags and filthy hands and face. One eye had been closed with musulage and puckered to look like scaring. A small hump had been added to his back and he walked with a stoop. He saw that Sir Sonic, dressed as a stevedore was eyeing him and acknowledged with a small movement of his hand.
He approached the men guarding the ship and went into his act.

The soldiers were lounging around, playing MaJong and not very alert.

"Oh please Sir's, can you give a poor hungry man a few shillings?
One of the men picked up a board and threw it at him, laughed and said, "Get your filthy ass off of this dock you scum." Sir Stud, turned and shuffled away but he had seen much in that brief time.

Out of sight, Sir Stud, moved quickly to his horse and in full gallop, rode to where the boarding party was waiting.
He reported directly to Sir JonPop and drawing in the dirt, placed all of the men on the dock. His count was 47 men guarding the ship.
They would wait for Sir Sonic to tally those actually on board.

About 30 minutes later, Sir Sonic came riding into the staging area, dismounted and said to Sir JonPop and the assembled Knights, "There are, in my best count, 18 men aboard ship. I was not allowed below decks so there might be a few more." He added, remind me not to become a stevedore, my back is killing me," and laughed.

[JonPop]

Sir JonPop gathered the captain's of the archers and foot soldiers, along with the BetterMan Knights, in a circle around him.
Drawing in the dirt he said, "With the ship docked in the middle of the pier, we will be able to come at the guards from three directions, drawing the ship and the dock with a stick.
Sir Stud and Sir Sonic have both counted 8 men at the far end of the dock and 10 men at the near end. We still have 7 men posing as dock workers, that have hidden their weapons.

Captain of the Archers and Robin Hood, your men will take care of these guards. Captain of the soldiers, your men will swing wide around and enter the dock at the far end. The BetterMan knights, on horseback, will strike the middle where most of the soldiers are assembled. The soldiers dressed as dock workers will wait until the soldiers and archers enter from both ends. BetterMan Knights, since you will be wearing only chain mail, as soon as you have scattered the soldiers, you will dismount and with the 7 soldiers, storm the gangplank and seize the ship.
As this ship is rented and not part of King Richards fleet, I do not expect much fight from those on board. Robin Hood, your men will stop, by any means, those soldiers that are trying to escape."

Sir Sonic, said, "Sir JonPop, the soldiers are armed with spears and crossbow's, this will present a problem for myself and brother Knights, wearing only chain mail."
Sir Jon Pop said, "Why was this information not given to me at first?"

Sir Sonic, said "I thought Sir Stud had told you," looking at Sir Stud accusingly. Sir Stud, said, "Hell, Sonic, I was trying to get out of all this crap they had me in, I thought you told him."

Sir Stud was still digging at his eye trying to get it unstuck. The wig and beard had come off easily because it had been stuck on with spirit gum, but the musulage was giving him trouble. He said, "Sir JonPop, If I lose just one more eyelash, I'm going to be pissed,"
Sir JonPop said, "Go wash your face, that'll remove the glue." He turned to the assembled and said, "Looks like we will have a change in plans."

[JonPop]

The Captain had moved 20 of his men around behind the buildings on the wharf, to attack those guarding the ship from the far end of the pier. They quickly overpowered and killed two men that had been patrolling, before they could sound an alarm.

The knights had retrieved their armor from the wagons and were mounted and waiting between buildings, out of sight of the wharf.
Robin Hood had sent several men to the roof tops and the remainder were waiting to ambush the guards at the near end of the pier.

Several flaming arrows were sent aloft, landing in bales on the dock, quickly setting fires. This was the signal.

Sir JonPop, Sir Uberschwanz and Sir Bret, led the charge from between the buildings toward the ship.

The startled soldiers scattered as the Knights on horseback, descended in their midst. As quickly as one would grab up his weapon, he was felled by an arrow from the snipers on the roof tops or was killed with a broadsword.
The soldiers, advancing from the far end had overpowered the 8 men there and were killing any that ran their way. Robin Hood and his men made quick work of any coming towards them.

The men disguised as dock workers had grabbed their hidden weapons and charged up the gangplank. They met little resistance. In just a matter of a few minutes, the plan to capture the ship had succeeded.

Sir JonPop had painfully dismounted and was trying to dislodge a cross bolt from his arm that had penetrated his shield and the wooden lining that had been installed in all of the Knights shields. It had gone into his left arm holding the shield and his arm was pinned.
The remaining knights had boarded the ship and quickly put down any of those aboard still willing to fight.
Try as he might, Sir JonPop, couldn't release his grip on the shield strap, so as to free his arm.
Sir Loki saw him sitting on a bale and knew something was wrong. He quickly descended the gang plank and walked over to him. Sir JonPop, turned his shield so Sir Loki could see what the problem was. Sir Loki removed his dagger from it's scabbard and quickly cut the holding strap, he cut the cross bolt where it penetrated the shield and Sir JonPop pulled his arm free. A physician was called and he expertly removed the bolt from Sir JonPop's arm, washed, closed and stitched the arm.

Sir JonPop was lucky that it had missed the major artery, though he had lost some blood.
The BetterMan soldiers were removing and dressing in the uniforms of the dead soldiers of King Richard and dumping the bodies over the wharf in preparation for the next phase of the the rescue.

[JonPop]

Surprise was the key to victory. All of the soldiers guarding the ship and seven aboard ship had been killed. The remainder of the men on ship had been taken below and locked up. The loss for the BetterMan forces was 13 dead, 2 wounded. The crossbows were an unforgiving weapon.

The dock had been cleaned with buckets of water to remove the blood and the burned bales had been hidden. To the eye, everything looked as before.

Robin and his men were on the rooftops overlooking the wharf. The Knights had removed their armor and were on board the ship along with the archers and remainder of the soldiers.
The cannon of the ship were wheeled around to face the dock, loaded with grape shot and ready to fire.

Sir JonPop was dressed in the Captains long coat to hide the bandage on his arm. Princess Susan, who had been forbidden to take part in the seizing of the ship, was now aboard with several quivers of arrows.
A rider had reported to Robin Hood, that the delaying tactic had been a success but with great loss to his men. They had delayed and killed many soldiers. He reported that the convoy was fast approaching and the remainder of Robin's men were still following behind and beside, killing those that were slow to catch up.
The BetterMan soldiers were all armed with the captured crossbows and the longbows of Robin Hood's men and the archers were equipped with steel tipped arrows that would penetrate armor. The stage was set.

[JonPop]

-------A runner hurriedly ran up the gang plank and said, "Sir JonPop, the convoy is within 30 minutes of the ship. I was sent ahead to bring you this message." "Sir JonPop said, "Thank you my good man, please join Robin and his archers on the rooftops and prepare yourself for the signal."

Sir JonPop again, reviewed the plan with his men and that the cannoneers were to be very careful to not hit the carriage with the Queen.
He looked over everyone, crouched down behind the gunwales and thinking that there was no more he could do to prepare. He scanned the roof tops and there was not one head showing. Robin Hood was ready. Sir JonPop, rubbed his sore arm and said a prayer that the battle would go well.

The caravan arrived and with soldiers on horseback leading the way, begin to enter the pier. The Captain of the BetterMan soldiers, had his men form into ranks as he would have been expected.

As the carriage containing the Queen, rolled to a stop, by the gangplank, the soldiers scattered and took cover behind bales and begin to fire their crossbows into the mounted soldiers.
The roof tops came alive with Robin's archers raining arrows down on the soldiers on foot. The soldiers with nowhere to hide, started running to the far end of the pier in large groups. This was what the cannoneers had been waiting for and lit their fuses.
The roar of the cannons was deafening and grape shot was cutting men down in bunches. The soldiers that tried to run the other way were felled by the archers aboard the ship or by Robin's men that had been following the convoy.

Several men had tried to board the ship, only to be met by the BetterMan Knights and their fate was swift.

The battle was over, almost before it had started. There were dead and wounded soldiers littering the dock in piles. The soldiers of BetterMan, were poking in the masses, killing those that couldn't be saved and tending to those that could.

All the while, the chariot with the Queen had sat, untouched.

Sir JonPop and the Knights descended the gangplank, and walked to the chariot.
Opening the door, Sir JonPop, saw that the Duke that had been riding with the Queen, had his dagger to her throat. He said in a desperate voice, "I Will kill the Queen if you don't let me go,unharmed."
Sir Jon Pop looked at the Queen, who looked very frightened and said, "My Queen, are you injured?" She replied, "No, but I believe the Duke." Sir JonPop said, "Release the Queen, and you will have safe passage back to London."
The Duke lowered his knife and gave a sigh, just then, Princess Susan, stepped into the doorway and placed an arrow through the heart of the hapless Duke. Sir JonPop said, "I guess you had to do that, Princess and shook his head."

[JonPop]

EPILOGUE


King Arthur was getting around pretty well with the use of a walking stick and Queen Gunievere had recovered from the cold she had caught in the Tower of London. There had been a big celebration at the castle of King Arthur with musicians, court jesters, acrobats and many dancing girls. The party had been for the BetterMan Knights, Robin Hood, his men and the soldiers and their families. The festive event had filled the great hall and spilled over into the courtyard.
There had been much food with pit cooked beef, pork, lamb and chickens. The wine and mead flowed like water and many of the party goers had lain around in a drunken stupor. During the celebration, King Arthur had called for Robin Hood to come before him and had granted him Knighthood, with his sword to each shoulder, dubbing him Sir Robin Hood of Naughtingham.

At the conclusion of the event, King Arthur call a meeting of the Round Table.
King Arthur waited until everyone was seated and said, "Sir Robin Hood, I cannot begin to thank you enough for your service to this kingdom in the rescue of my beloved Queen Guinievere. I will now pay you the agreed upon sum of 125,000 pounds sterling and 125,000 gold coins. This should go far in helping to further your cause of caring for the poor people of Naughtingham. You are also awarded a seat at the Round Table.
To my trusted friend and general of the Knights, Sir JonPop, I present the BetterMan Cross for gallantry and for your brilliant plan that resulted in such a small loss of men.
To All of you Knights that fought bravely in the rescue, I present the Legion of Merit, Medal and 5,000 gold coins.

King Arthur continued;

"As I have recently heard; It was while besieging the castle at Chalus France, that King Richard was shot by an arrow in the shoulder. Gangrene set in and he died at the age of 41. God rest his soul, but I believe in my heart that the world is rid of an evil man."

The End.

(Writers Note: The name Jennifer, is derived from the name, Guinievere.)