With his growing insight into Lady Anne, Alan was not surprised at the fierce answer. “Yes! Kill them all and bring their heads here for me to see!” Alan raised a cup of mead in a silent salute.
Late that afternoon Alan, Hugh, Baldwin and the his now twenty Saxon men-at-arms rode out towards Alresford, together with the archers Roger and Warren and their twenty archer proteges. There they met Alric, Edwold, Aelfric, Godwin, Alstan, Harold, Edward, Leofstan, Withgar, Ketal, Ednoth and Leofson- the senior thegns of the Hundred. Each thegn had brought at least half a dozen men. Alan intended the manhunt the next day to go well and had no intention of waiting until the next Hundred court in two weeks time to mete out justice.
Edwold had questioned all the swine-herders who took their beasts into the forest to eat the fallen acorns, the hunters and the poachers. They had indicated five places as being bases for the outlaws. There were close on 100 men ready to hunt early the next morning.
There was a bright moon shining when the men set out at three in the morning to all be in position at first light. The men wore no armour other than the padded jerkins of the archers. Alan felt that a body of men moving through the forest in full armour would make too much noise and alert their targets. Based on his previous experience of the brigand’s lack of ability with arms and the fact that they expected to achieve total surprise, Alan felt that armour was superfluous.
He had chosen what he felt was one of the more promising locations, which was also one of the closest. It was an abandoned and derelict woodcutter’s hut a little over a mile into the forest and he was shown the way by one of the swine-herders. They arrived well before time and surrounded the hut, although as the swine-herder commented it appeared they were wasting their time as there was no smoke rising from a fire within and no signs of recent habitation. They sat huddled in their cloaks, their breath freezing before their faces in the bitterly cold night.
At first light Alan waved to the ten-strong assault party. They rushed forward and Hugh kicked in the door- although Alan was sure that it would have opened to a more conventional approach. After a few moments Alan slipped his sword back into its scabbard and lit a rush torch to have a look around. Clearly the hut had been used recently by a number of men, but not for the last few days. After a few moments debate with himself he decided not to burn the hut down but leave it there in case the brigands returned at some time in the future. This was one place that they could come back to check again if needed in the future.
They were the first troop back at Alresford, and were sitting close to an open fire in the yard outside the Hall eating a second breakfast of cold meat, fresh bread and cheese washed down with ale when Edwold returned with a coffle of four prisoners chained together at the ankles. These prisoners had been taken at a cave to which Edwold had been directed by a poacher. Edward’s party returned empty-handed, but Alric finally arrived with five prisoners from a rough cabin on the far side of the forest, and told of another three who had been shot down and killed by the archers as they tried to flee.
Alan clasped each of the thegns by the arm. “A job well done!” he enthused. “Nine decorations for your gallows tree, Edwold. After you’ve eaten and drunk, let us give them a quick and fair trial. Then we can hang them and be on the way home by noon. Oh! By the way, I’ll need the heads for Lady Anne. Do you still have the heads from last week? Good!”
The trial was held in the tithe-barn, a door placed horizontally on boxes acting as the judges’ bench. Alan was sitting as Chief-Judge, with all the twelve local thegns present to give judgment. The barn was nearly empty of produce with just a few sacks of grain and bundles of hay sitting on the dirt floor, but was packed with every one of the villagers. The smell of unwashed bodies hit Alan in the face as he walked in and saw the nine prisoners, filthy and in tattered clothing, lined up against the far wall with their hands and ankles manacled.
This was an easy case. The accused had been apprehended living in the forest clearly as outlaws and in each location there had been items that were clearly stolen. Most of the men were already resigned to their fate and stood apathetically, many failing even to give their names when questioned. Edwold and Alric gave sworn evidence about finding the men, the location of the hideouts and the goods recovered. When asked, none of the accused had any witnesses to call and Alan ruled that in the circumstances none were oath-worthy. One, a small thin boy of about twelve, with a dirty face and lousy torn clothes, was sobbing quietly.
“You, boy!” demanded Alan gruffly. “What are you doing here with these men?”
“Please, master,” came the hesitant reply in a thin voice. “My father brought me to the forest when he joined these men before Christmastide.”
“Which one is he?” asked Alan.
“He went out and didn’t return a week or so ago, along with a number of other men from our camp. Three returned and said the others had been killed in an attack.”
“Are those three here?” said Alan continuing the interrogation.
“Those two,” said the boy pointing. “The other one died this morning when he tried to run away.”
Alan laughed. “He was good at that, but not good enough this time when we were ready for him! Now did you ever take part in any robbery?”
“No, master! I was just used as a camp servant,” said the boy.
“Do any of you others gainsay what the boy has said? No? Well, perhaps you won’t hang with the others, but your case is difficult. You have no kin to give frankpledge on your behalf. The law permits me only to execute, fine or mutilate felons. Now, the twelve ealdormen, how say you on the guilt of the accused?”
Each of the thegns replied in turn, “Guilty!”
“Even the boy?” asked Alan.
All twelve nodded and Alric replied, “Even the boy.”
“I’m not supposed to pass sentence of death on any person not yet sixteen years of age,” said Alan thoughtfully.
“Well, that’s why you have your job as judge and I say you’re welcome to it,” replied Alric. “It’s your problem, not mine. You can always just cut off his right hand and tell him to abjure the county.”
“Excuse me, Sir” said one of the prisoners, who had been looking quietly confident during the proceedings. “May I have a private word with you before you pass sentence?” Alan noted that the man’s voice was somewhat less rustic than the churlish tones of the others and that he was slightly better dressed. “No, but you may speak before sentence is carried out. Now, I sentence each of you, except the boy…” Alan looked at the list in front of him “…Linn… to hang by the neck until dead, and to be buried in unconsecrated ground. Those of you who give your names to Edwold may be shriven by the priest. You have twenty minutes to make your peace with God. Now clear the Hall except for the ealdormen, Linn- and I think your name is Pearce, is it not?” The prisoner nodded.
The barn emptied quickly and Alan said to Pearce, “Speak quickly! You have an appointment with the hangman in a few minutes.”
Pearce inclined his head. “Perhaps. Perhaps not. This is not just a simple matter of a band of outlaws. Atelic, the leader who you killed last week, was given this area as his own, just as you were given your demesne. You’ve cleaned out the forest for now, but another band will be here within a few months. There’s a man from up Lexden way who is coordinating the outlaws. You’ll have noticed an increase in attacks in your Hundred. In Lexden Hundred they’re already starting to attack and sack villages. I can provide you or the sheriff with information that is well worth my life, and perhaps more.”
“Edwold, have these two manacled to the wall and set a man as guard. We’ll see the others hang and then discuss this further,” instructed Alan.
At the edge of the village was an oak tree with a particularly long horizontal branch- the hanging tree. When Alan and the ealdormen walked slowly up to the tree each of the seven men to be executed had a noose about their neck attached to a length of rope. Each stood in turn on a wooden box, which was then kicked away leaving the victim swinging in the air. There was only one box, so the process took some time. The hangman had not done a good job and only two of the seven died of a broken neck. The others hung gasping, legs thrashing as they slowly strangled. The villagers laughed and pointed, and some were taking bets on how long it would take individuals to die. The last took more than 45 minutes.