‘Which is it to be? Do I shout come on, or do I shout go on and shoot the first coward who hesitates?’

Red Sandy flushed. ‘’Tis only business...’

‘No, it’s theft.’ Carey’s lip curled. ‘Christ, I knew you were dishonest and I knew you were sloppy. God as my witness, I never thought you were scared...’

Red Sandy darkened to ruby. He backed his horse into the group of men, put his lance in rest.

‘All right,’ said Carey, taking a deep breath, ‘let’s have the bastards.’ He spurred his horse to the gallop. Dodd thought of Lowther’s gratitude and then decided he didn’t care and kicked his hobby till it ran and caught up to Carey in a shower of mud. There were horsemen on the Longtownmoor.

‘Elliots?’ he yelled, pointing at them.

Carey laughed. ‘Who knows?’ he shouted back.

They had been spotted. Carey put a gun under his arm, winded his own horn three times, dropped it and took the gun again. The strange horsemen shimmered and shifted down the slope in the distance. The raiders put a shot in among the cattle to scatter them and bent low over their horses’ necks as they rode hard for Liddesdale. They seemed to think the other group were their friends the Elliots. In the last few seconds Dodd saw the Grahams suddenly haul their horses up short. At that moment, Dodd, Carey and the men were amongst them. Carey shot one Graham in the face, misfired with his other dag from the wet. Ducking a lance, he thrust his guns back in the saddle case and drew his sword which was the long slender article that Dodd had seen him draw on Lowther. He wielded it more with his forearm than his shoulder. Unexpectedly, he managed to run at least one man through under the arm with it: the blade flickered in and out again like a needle. Dodd with his broadsword was mournfully and methodically cutting and kicking his way through the press of men, and Archie Give-it-Them successfully ran a Graham through the thigh with his lance, which broke off.

By which time Thomas Carleton and a number of Musgraves and Fenwicks had surrounded the mêlée and when the Elliots came swarming out of the valley a few seconds later, the reivers had all either run or surrendered, except for the three of them that were dead and one badly wounded. Seeing the situation, the Elliots swung round and rode away back into Liddesdale again as fast as they could, with a few Carletons whooping dangerously after them.

Dodd came upon Carey wiping sweat and rain off his face with a handkerchief while he stood by his horse to let it catch its breath. He was glaring disgustedly at his pretty rapier which had broken off on somebody’s jack.

‘Five prisoners,’ Dodd reported, ‘Young Jock Graham, Young Wattie, Sim’s Sim, Henharrow Geordie and... er... Ekie Graham.’ Pray that Carey didn’t know Ekie Graham was Bangtail’s half-brother.

‘Where are the horses?’ demanded Carey.

‘Well, they’re here, sir...’

‘Not the ones we rode, Sergeant, the ones they stole. It’s all cattle here.’

Dodd looked about. ‘Ahh,’ he groaned. Carey’s lips were pressed tight together as he strode over to where the prisoners were being tied in a line by Long George and Captain Carleton’s younger brother.

‘You,’ he snapped to Young Jock, who was the tallest and the spottiest and had the best jack and helmet, ‘where’s your father?’

Young Jock grinned impudently. ‘Wouldn’t you like to know, eh, Courtier?’

Long George slapped him across the face. ‘Speak civil to the Deputy Warden,’ he said.

Young Jock spat on the ground. Carey looked at him narrow-eyed for a moment, suddenly not seeming angry any more. He turned to Red Sandy who was bustling up with ropes over his shoulder.

‘Take a list of the Fenwicks, Musgraves and Carletons that helped us,’ said Carey, ‘see they get their share for backing a hot trod.’

Long George was amused. ‘Och sir, Captain Carleton’ll see to that, never fear.’

Captain Carleton was overseeing the gathering up of the Graham weapons and horses. His voice boomed over the moor, saying that the wounded man could bide there until his friends came back for him.

‘The prisoners, sir? Shall I find some trees?’ asked Red Sandy.

‘Trees?’

‘To hang them on.’ Dodd gestured with his thumb. ‘We caught them red-hand on a lawful hot trod, we have the right.’

He sent the prisoners off with ten men and with the remaining nine he set about recapturing the cattle. These were long experienced in being raided and had settled down out of their stampede to munch at what fodder they could find.

Dodd and his men urged their weary horses round about the cattle to gather them again, with the dogs darting and nipping among the legs to help them. It took a while, but they had the cattle running in a stream southwards when Dodd cantered up to the Deputy Warden and asked if he wanted them brought through the Waste again.

‘No,’ said Carey, ‘we’ll bring them through Lanercost valley and through the pass, and not too fast or the milch cows will take sick.’

Dodd privately objected to being told something he had known before he was eight, but only turned his horse and yipped angrily at an enterprising calf.

WEDNESDAY, 21ST JUNE, 2 A.M.

At the same time as Dodd was hearing his neck-verse in his dream, Janet Dodd was shaken awake by one of her women, a young cousin by the name of Rowan Armstrong.

‘Mistress, mistress,’ she hissed, ‘Topped Hobbie’s ridden in, there’s reivers coming.’

Janet was instantly awake. She pulled her stays over her head and her petticoat, while Rowan fumbled her kirtle off the chest. ‘How far?’

‘A few miles away. He could hear them but not see them. I told him to fetch up Geordie.’

‘Good girl.’ A horn sounded from the barnekin, loud and urgent. Janet disappeared in the midst of her kirtle, reappeared, her fingers flying among the lacings. She went to the narrow window, opened the shutter and leaned out into the muggy darkness—cloud and no moon, a fine soaking rain. ‘Did Topped Hobbie say who it was coming?’

‘He thought it was Grahams, but he doesn’t know. He thought he heard Jock of the Peartree’s voice, mistress.’

Janet pulled her lip through the gap in her teeth. ‘You go and wake the other maids, get yourself dressed and booted, then go help them bring in the cattle and the sheep nearby.’

‘What about the horses, mistress?’

‘Shilling and Courtier are both in the lower room of the tower already.’

The horn stopped blowing, there were torches being lit in the barnekin. She peered out into the blackness as she pulled on her boots. ‘Geordie,’ she shrieked.

‘Yes, Janet.’ Her brother’s voice sounded strained.

‘Is the beacon lit?’

‘As soon as we can get the kindling to catch, Janet. There are other beacons alight already, the March is up.’

‘Are the men in harness?’

‘They will be. We’ll ride out and fight them in...’

‘You will not. You will bring in every beast we have and bar the gate, then get on the wall with your bows.’

‘We canna catch them all in the time.’

‘Bring in what you can.’

‘But if he fires us...’

‘Every roof is wet through. Do as I say.’