Beyard was about to interrogate him further but Blackstone raised a hand, not wishing his captain to press him. ‘No more questions, Beyard. We rode hard today. Let’s get our sleep. Lázaro, I know you understand enough of what is said. You are safe with us. You’re under my protection, but there are men who wish to cause you harm. We have stopped them once but – although we will not press you for answers – it would help if you tell us why you are important to them. When you wake tomorrow, look at the meadow flowers around us. Watch how their petals open to welcome the sunlight. Open your heart to us so you may feel the warmth of our friendship.’

Then, without another word, he bade goodnight to his captain and the boy as he saw Will Longdon and three of his Welsh archers approach the camp. They brought no fresh meat and came at the run. The look on their faces told him they had found trouble.

Longdon drew breath and spat phlegm. ‘Horsemen. About six or seven. They looked like a scouting party.’

‘Show me where.’

Will Longdon went down on one knee and made a crude model with stones and grass. ‘This is us. The forest goes down into the meadows here.’ He scraped his knife blade in the ground. ‘Tracks through the forest here and here. We saw them ride across the valley floor. I think they’re camped in the trees here.’

‘How far?’

Will Longdon grimaced. ‘No more than two miles over that ridge beyond this forest.’

Blackstone looked at the camp’s cooking fires. By now most were deep-bedded embers heating cooking pots. The breeze tugged at the treetops. ‘We’re downwind from them so they won’t catch our woodsmoke or smell our food. Do you have room to shoot where they are?’

Will Longdon saw the distance from one edge of forest to the other in his mind’s eye. ‘Too far for accuracy.’ He stabbed his knife point into the model. ‘Here. If I have a couple of bowmen at the very end of the forest and if they make a run for it, we could bring them down. The open ground narrows there.’

‘Pick three men, then take us to where you saw their tracks. I’ll take three others with me. Any more and there’s a risk we’ll be heard on our approach. If we flush them out you kill them. The moon will be up. You’ll have light.’ Blackstone left Will Longdon and strode to Killbere and John Jacob.

‘Will’s seen riders.’

‘De Hayle’s men?’ said Killbere, getting to his feet.