The Heart of the Lion - Plaidy Jean (читать книги бесплатно полностью без регистрации сокращений txt) 📗

He must get back quickly, and to do so he must go as far as possible by land, for who could tell when the sea was going to make progress impossible. At any time ships could be driven on to a coast if they were lucky and kept there for months waiting for favourable winds.

Time was important. His mother had made it clear that urgency was needed; and even after receiving her warning he had delayed.

He would make the journey by land and as it was going to be a dangerous one it would be folly to let it be known that the traveller was Richard of England. He must disguise himself; it was not easy for a king. He could wear the clothes of a beggar but somehow the arrogance, the dignity, the kingly air would seep through and betray him.

Such were his thoughts as he sailed away from the Holy Land and a month after leaving he reached the Island of Corfu.

Two days out from Corfu Richard sighted two vessels on the horizon.

He shouted to his friends to come and see.

‘By God’s eyes,’ he cried, ‘I know not to which country they belong. They would seem to be pirates.’

‘Better pirates, Sire,’ said one of his friends, ‘than French or German.’

‘Be ready,’ cried Richard. ‘We may have to fight them.’

One of the ships came alongside. It was well armed and Richard regretted that his fleet was not with him. He would have made short work of the impudent fellows if it had been there.

The sailors were ready with arrows and stones but Richard did not give the order to attack. He said that first he would try to parley with the pirates.

Using his trumpet he did this. It was not easy. They spoke a variation of Turkish and Arabic; but the stay in Palestine had helped him to understand something of this language and it was just possible to make himself understood.

The vessels were indeed pirates, looking for booty.

Richard had an idea. He cried: ‘If you attempt to board my ship I will have the blood of every man of you. But there is a way in which you could gain a great deal of money without fighting for it.’

The pirate leader was interested and Richard said that he would board the larger of their vessels to parley with him, accompanied by only two of his knights.

The pirate leader was astonished that he could so trust them, and said so.

‘Why, fellow,’ said Richard, ‘if you attempted treachery we would sink your two ships and your men with them. Have no doubt of that. But you have given me your word and I have given you mine. Wise men know that it is never good policy to betray a trust. If you wish to fight and take the spoils of my ship, then I will return to it and we shall battle together. But you are not so foolish.’

‘You are a great lord,’ said the pirate. ‘What is your will?’

‘I wish you to take me on board and convey me and a few of my followers to a spot I shall choose on the Adriatic coast. If you will do this you will be amply paid. If you fail you will surely die with all your sins on you – and a pirate could scarcely pursue his trade without indulging in a goodly number.’

‘You are a brave man,’ said the pirate.

‘It has been said of me.’

‘There is about you a manner different from that of other men. I would say that only great lords and kings have such manners.’

‘Then perhaps you are a discerning man.’

‘There is news around,’ said the pirate, ‘that a great king is on his way back to England.’

‘You hear news then.’

‘We pick it up here and there. It is said that many great lords are looking for the King of England.’

‘For what purpose think you?’

‘That which would brook no good to him, I trow,’ said the pirate with a laugh.

‘And if they were to find him, I trow that would brook no good to them.’

‘He is a mighty man. One ’twould be good not to cross.’

Richard nodded and the pirate smiled slyly.

‘We will do your bidding, my lord,’ he said. ‘We will take you and some of your friends to the spot you choose and if you wish to reward poor men for the trouble they have had, they will be grateful.’

‘You shall be rewarded,’ said Richard. He looked down at the clothes he had adopted soon after leaving Corfu. They were those of a Templar. ‘You see me thus garbed.’

‘My lord, it does not become you as other garbs might.’

‘Then mayhap I should change it. I shall come to your ship as a palmer. Would that fit me better?’

The pirate shook his head. ‘Mayhap ’twill pass but I see you in shining armour, my lord, with a red cross on your breast.’

‘And I see you are a man of insight,’ said Richard, ‘which if it is tempered with discretion should serve you well.’

Thus Richard, in the garb of a humble pilgrim, and a few of his most trusted men boarded the pirate ship. His own he sent off to join his fleet if possible; if not to return to England.

The pirates treated him with a respect which grew during his voyage with them. That he was a man of great courage was obvious to them, that he was Richard the Lion-Heart was almost equally so. They knew they could trust him to reward them if they landed him safely for his honesty was as renowned as his courage. He was a guileless man in many ways; he gave a straight answer and he had so often been deluded because he had trusted others to be as frank as himself. Richard Yea and Nay was a man whose word was his bond.

When one of the ships ran into trouble and was forced on to the island of Lacroma he worked with the men during the violent storm in the hope of saving the ship. As this was impossible he with the other members of the crew transferred to the remaining ship and he travelled in that to Ragusa. There he took his leave of the pirates after paying them as he had promised and still dressed as a pilgrim, accompanied by a band of followers and with rich garments, jewels and money on pack mules, he began his journey across the land.

It was ill luck which had brought him to Ragusa, for the governor of that land was related to Conrad de Montferrat who had been murdered by the Old Man of the Mountains just as he had been declared King of Jerusalem.

When he landed Richard found a lodging which was not very grand, explaining that he was a merchant who was returning from pilgrimage. There he called his followers together and decided what must be done.

‘First, my friends, we must conceal our identity. Our party must consist of Sir Baldwin de Bethune and his retinue. I shall not be of that retinue for it seems to me that if I attempted to ape a servant I should fail in some way. For myself I shall take the role of a wealthy merchant from Damascus who had joined your party for company. My name shall be Hugo . . . Hugo of Damascus.’

‘Where shall we go from here, my lord?’ asked Baldwin.

‘We must make our way to the coast, avoiding French territory, for I should not care to fall into the hands of the King of France.’

‘Nor those of Leopold of Austria, my lord,’ said Baldwin.

‘I liked him not,’ said Richard. ‘An arrogant fellow who came to the crusade in no humble spirit. He sought only gain. Do you remember how he flew his flag on the walls of Acre and refused to help us rebuild the walls of the cities?’

‘Aye, Sire, I remember it well,’ answered Baldwin, ‘and doubtless he does.’

Their host chatted with them as they sat at his table. He had been told he would not regret his hospitality.

Richard asked if they had many pilgrims passing through the land.

‘Nay,’ was the answer, ‘they do not often come this way.’

‘Any Christian country would allow pilgrims to pass through unmolested, I believe,’ said Richard.

‘Nay, Master Hugo, that is not so. Those who wish us ill could so easily hide their identity behind the pilgrim’s robe and palm.’