Chapter 31: Panic and Preparation
Denes and Yozef arrived at the abbey within seconds of each other, with Denes’s horse coming within inches of knocking Yozef down as they both hit the main gate. That’s where the two men’s actions differed. Denes knew exactly what he must do—create order out of the chaos and prepare to defend the abbey. Yozef had no idea what he was supposed to do. In fact, now that he was there, his immediate thought was that he wanted to be somewhere else. Anyplace else. What good was he going to be? Lacking a task or any idea of what to do, he instinctively followed Denes.
The available armed men gathered in the center of the courtyard, surrounding Denes and the abbot. Yozef edged closer through the group to better hear.
“How bad is it?” asked a grim abbot.
“Bad. Very bad,” replied an even grimmer Denes. “At full fighting men strength, we could hold off a raiding party of this size. That was what the defense plan was designed for. Unfortunately, we are not at full strength. One Third is away on a scheduled patrol in northern Keelan. Even with them gone, we should have been able to hold, but now a second Third is away to Gwillamer.”
“What does that mean for us now?”
Denes shook his head. “We can’t hold with fifty men. This is a nightmare. If we’d known we’d have so few men, it would’ve been better for all of the people to run or ride as far inland as fast as they could. Most would’ve gotten out of reach of the raiders. We told them to come here because this was the safest place. Instead, it’s turning into a trap,” Denes ended bitterly.
“We have the walls,” protested the desperate abbot.
“The walls are not tall enough!” Denes snarled. “I’ve told you and the district boyerman that several times! They’ll come right at them. If I was them, I’d fake at the main gate to force us to defend it and then attack the walls in at least two places. With the few men we have, the raiders will take casualties and then be over the wall, and it’ll be the end for us.”
Yozef elbowed his way near the two men in time to hear the last exchanges. They couldn’t defend the walls with the number of men available? Denes was saying the raiders would overwhelm the defenders on the wall?
Oh, shit! What am I doing here?
He’d come all this way from Earth and made a life here, and now to die during a pirate raid?!
How about a fucking break now and then!!
Yozef cast around over the heads of the gathered men, looking for a way out. They were in the courtyard between the main gate and the cathedral. The hospital building and one of the residence buildings flanked the courtyard, with the main gate and wall forming the fourth side. Then … he had an idea, and without thought, he said in normal voice, “Don’t fight them on the walls.”
No one paid any attention. He stepped closer to Denes and Sistian and yelled, “Don’t fight them on the walls!”
The two men stopped facing each other and turned to Yozef. Sistian’s expression was blank, because he didn’t understand what Yozef had said.
Denes snapped, “What did you say?”
Yozef swallowed and tucked his shaking hands under his armpits. “If you can’t hold them off at the walls and they’ll come over, let them in the courtyard.”
“Quiet, Yozef,” Sistian admonished. “Let Denes—”
“Shut up!” Denes growled at the abbot, who jerked his head back, not used to being so ordered.
Denes swiveled his head from the front gate at the courtyard to Yozef, to the courtyard. He licked his lips. “It’s risky. There isn’t much time to get ready, but it may be our only chance.”
“What are you talking about?” asked the bewildered abbot.
Denes grabbed the abbot’s arm and leaned closer to him. “If we can’t keep them outside the walls, our one chance might be to make the courtyard a trap. Turn the trap for us into a trap for them. We lure them here, so they’re clustered together while we surround them. Then we can fight them from all sides, while they can’t use all of their weapons at the same time. It’ll help balance their number advantage.”
“Let them in the gate!” Sistian shrieked. “That’s insane! How can we not hold them at the walls, then let them inside the complex?!”
“Not inside the complex, inside our trap.”
“But—”
“I’m in charge, Abbot. We have to do something, and it’s my decision.” With that, Denes quit paying attention to the abbot, who stood white-faced and confused when Denes turned again to Yozef.
“We’ll give a good account of ourselves, but they’ll still probably win. We just don’t have enough men.”
Yozef’s mind was split. One part wanted to run and not stand and give advice he had no qualifications to give, but the part controlling his babbling was ascendant. “Maybe not fighting out in the open, but there are plenty of people here who can fight behind barricades.”
Denes whirled back to the abbot. “Abbot, you and your staff get all the oldest people and children into the farthest and most secure rooms in the basements. Then everyone able enough to stand and fight in place, get to the courtyard.”
The abbot stood and stared glassy-eyed at Denes.
“NOW, ABBOT!!” Denes screamed.
Sistian blinked twice, then hitched his cassock and took off running, yelling for other brothers and sisters.
Denes shouted for the clustered men to shut up and listen. “If we try to hold the walls, they’ll break through easily. Even if every adult, man and woman, joins us on the wall, there’s too much of the wall to defend and react to their attacking at different places. Once they’re over the wall in even one place, it’ll be over. We need to get them where they’re at a disadvantage.
“Here’s what we’ll do—build a continuous barricade around the edges of the courtyard, then leave the main gate open and let them pour through. They might not be able to resist if they see we haven’t closed the gate. When they enter the courtyard, we can fire at them from behind the barricade. If they reach the barricade, they’ll have to climb over and be vulnerable.”
“What if they don’t take the bait?” asked a rough-looking man toward the rear of the group.
“Then we’re back to defending the walls as best we can, with everyone who can hold a weapon,” Denes replied grimly. “I think we’re dead in that case. We’re also dead if we try to lure them into a trap and they don’t take the bait. We’re dead if they take the bait, and we can’t hold them in the trap. The only way we’re not dead is if the trap works and we hold them, so that’s what we’ll do.”
Neither the questioner nor any of the other men were happy with Denes’s reply, but no one offered another option.
“Filtin, Seflux, Wilfwin—” Denes named seven or eight men, “split up everyone and go into the building and bring out everything that moves and might provide some protection. Build a barricade in front of all the buildings. Grab every able-bodied adult to do the same. Gather everything. Tables, chests of drawers, chairs, boxes, pews from the cathedral, beds, mattresses—anything. Carnigan, you take ten men and head for the barns. There are wagons and carts there. Bring hay bales and anything else useful. Once the wagons are unloaded, turn them on their sides as part of the barricade. And Carnigan, is the armory open?”
Carnigan nodded toward the steps of the cathedral, where lay piles of weapons. “Most of the weapons are there.”
“Send people to bring the rest out and tools from the garden sheds and barns, anything that can be used as a weapon.”
Denes stopped speaking. The men stared at him, some waiting for more instructions, some confused by the plan, and some stunned at the events.
“NOW, PEOPLE!!” Denes screamed again. “WE MIGHT ONLY HAVE FIFTEEN TO TWENTY MINUTES BEFORE THEY GET HERE!!”