Lion Rampant ~ Clash at Cockham in the Wood

A fine Autumn day saw Friar Balsam, Holy Order of St. Aimless the Confused, running for his life up the Almost Great North Road. 

He'd been entrusted with a valuable copy of the Passion of St. Tibulus, a highly controversial work the existence of which had inflamed the already nasty war between King John and his Barons. The sympathetic Sir Oswald de Patton, of the Baronial Faction, is on his trail. Sir Oswald learned the King's men are abroad searching for the errant friar, and he seeks to give refuge to the holy man and peruse the naughty Passion for himself place the holy book under lock and key. 

Meanwhile, Sir Jean the Unreasonable is hot on the trail of the friar, seeking to arrest him for heresy and take the holy book for his own gratification to ensure its heretical notions are kept away from the impressionable public.

Friar Balsam reached the village of Cockham in the Wood, known as the site of an ancient battle between Romano-British Christians and pagan Saxons. A structure on the village square both commemorated the Christian victory and served as a butter market. The church of St. Onan the Blind stood the other side of the square, but the priest was away visiting his mistress a sick parishioner and couldn't offer Balsam sanctuary. It behooved Balsam to seek cover from his pursuers.

So it is both sides enter the field of battle...

Sir Oswald to the left of him, Sir Jean to the right, Balsam's stuck in the middle and blue.

The mounted men-at-arms on both sides approached along the road. Catching sight of each other caused both to draw up short to assess the situation. It appears neither want to get involved in a ruckus in the middle of the village. 

Sir Oswald's retinue begins to roll.

Sir Jean's retinue seems reluctant to budge.

Eventually both sides begin to advance. The cheeky mounted serjeants seem to fancy their chances against the better armed and equipped men-at-arms.

Sir Oswald's foot serjeants approach the village. The nearest of the two bands draws close to the barn and a copse of trees, both potential hiding places. Is Friar Balsam hiding in either?

The mounted serjeants have a point-or rather, several nasty sharp points, and the men-at-arms get the worst of the encounter.

As the mounted men square up to each other the commander of the longbowmen begins to position his troops to fire upon the mounted serjeants once they get a clear shot. 

A rustling in the byre startles a serjeant. Moments later a scruffy figure emerges into the light...

Well, waddaya know? Friar Balsam was in the second potential hiding place. Now let's see if his friends can get him to safety...

To be continued.