High wooded bluffs sheltered them to the east, and the bow of the river formed an effective perimeter barrier on the other three sides. Any would-be thieves thinking to liberate the treasure would have to come at them on the road, and Guy positioned sentries in each direction, changed through the night, to prevent intruders from disturbing their peace.
They passed an uneventful night and the next morning moved on. Around midday they stopped to eat and to feed and rest the animals before beginning the long, winding ascent up out of the Vale of Wye. The first wagon gained the heights a little before sunset, and Guy ordered camp to be made in a grove of beech trees near an English farming settlement. Other than a herdsman leading a few muddy brown cows home to be milked, no one else was seen on the road, and the second night passed beneath a fair, star-seeded sky with serenity undisturbed.
The third day passed much the same as the previous day. Before climbing into their saddles on the fourth day, Guy assembled the men and addressed them, saying, “Today we enter the forest of the March. We will be wary. If thieves try to attack us, they will do so here, compris? Everyone is to remain alert for any sign of an ambush.” He gazed at the ring of faces gathered around him: as solemn, earnest, and determined as he was himself. “If there are no questions, then—”
“What of the phantom?”
“Ah,” replied Guy, “yes.” He had anticipated such a question and was ready with an answer. “Many of you will have heard some gossip of this phantom, non?” He paused, trying to appear severe and dauntless for his men. “It is but a tale to frighten infants, nothing more. We are men, not children, so we will give this rumour the contempt it deserves.” He offered a grimace of ridicule to show his scorn, adding, “It would take a whole forest full of phantoms to daunt Baron de Braose’s soldiers, n’est-ce pas?”
He commanded the treasure train to move out. The soldiers took their mounts and fell into line: a rank of knights, three abreast to lead the train, followed by men-at-arms alongside and between each of the wagons, with four knights serving as outriders patrolling the road ahead and behind on each side. At the head of this impressive procession rode Guy himself on his fine grey stallion; directly behind him rode his sergeant to relay any commands to those behind.
By morning’s end the money train had reached the forest edge. The road was wide, though rutted, and the wagon drivers were forced to slow their pace to keep from jolting the wheels to pieces. The soldiers clopped along, passing through patches of sunlight and shadow, alert to the smallest movement around them. It was cool in the shade of the trees, and the air was thick with birdsong and the sounds of insects. All remained peaceful and serene, and they met no one else on the road.
A little past midday, however, they came to a place where the road dipped low into a dell, at the bottom of which trickled a sluggish rill. Despite the fine dry weather, the shallow fording place was a churned mass of mud and muck.
Apparently, herders using the road had allowed their animals to use it for a watering hole, and the beasts had transformed the road into a wallow.
Stuck in the middle of the ford was a wagon full of manure sunk up to its axles. A ragged farmer was snapping the reins of his two-ox team, and the creatures were bawling as they strained against the yoke, but to no avail. The farmer’s wife stood off to one side, hands on hips, shouting at the man, who appeared to be taking no heed of her. Both the man and his wife were filthy to their knees.
The road narrowed at the ford, and the surrounding ground was so soft and chewed up that Guy could see there would be no going around. Wary, senses prickling to danger, Guy halted the train. He rode ahead alone to see what had happened. “Pax vobiscum,” he said, reining up behind the wagon. “What goes here?”
The farmer ceased swatting his team and turned to address the knight. “Good day, sire,” the man said in rough Latin, removing his shapeless straw hat. “You see how it is.”