End of days

Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Rayford's chest. The castellan dispatched Geoffrey to ride to the castle to prepare them to treat Rayford. He instructed four soldiers to fashion a stretcher to carry Rayford and ordered the rest of the men to lay out the bodies of their fallen comrades. Belwick put Sir Ralph in charge of the men who remained behind, searching the enemy dead for signs of their identity and affiliation.

It was a slow journey back to the castle as the four men carefully carried the stretcher. Belwick and Matthew had managed to bind up the most serious of Rayford's wounds, but Hugh was well aware that Rayford hovered near death. In agony, Belwick silently berated himself. He should have argued with Rayford more strenuously when he had first proposed this rash plan. The thought of Rayford's death was unimaginable.

Leah Rose waited on the crenellations above the main gate, searching for any sign of Rayford's return. Geoffrey had reported the ambush and that Rayford was grievously injured. She had prepared everything she would need to treat him. Now all she could do was to pray and to wait.

"Milady, they're coming." The guard's agitated voice cut into her prayer. He pointed toward the band of men emerging from the forest, carrying a stretcher. Anguish filled her she watched their painstaking progress. When they drew closer, she could make out Belwick walking beside the litter, his attention firmly fixed on Rayford.

Dear God, keep Rayford alive. Leah Rose silently prayed. Heal his wounds. Please let him

live. She repeated the litany over and over in her mind. When the men crossed the drawbridge, Leah Rose raced down the turret steps and out

the main gate to meet them. The sight of Rayford's blood-soaked body slammed into her,

and she faltered, agony engulfing her. She raised tortured eyes to Belwick. "He is near death, milady." Belwick said in a hollow tone, the depth of his own grief apparent in his drawn, gray face.

Lord, give me strength, Leah Rose prayed. Help me know what to do. Please heal Rayford. Let him live.

She walked next to the stretcher, on the opposite side from Belwick, as the men carried Rayford through the main gate and through the outer ward. All activity in the inner ward stopped when they entered. All eyes were fixed on Rayford. The unnerving quiet was oppressive, overflowing with sorrow. Father Thomas joined the entourage as Rayford was carried through the hall and up the stairs.

When they reached the bedchamber, the four of them-Leah Rose, Belwick, Father Thomas, and Renwold-lifted Rayford's limp, unconscious body from the litter and laid him on the bed. The stretcher-bearers quietly filed out of the room. Father Thomas began to administer last rites to Rayford as Leah Rose removed the strips of cloth wrapped around Rayford's chest, revealing his most serious injury.

"We have to stop the bleeding." Alarmed, Leah Rose looked up at Belwick where he stood beside her. "We cannot cauterize this wound. 'Tis too close to his heart. What if

I sew it up? Do you think that will stop the bleeding?" ""Tis worth a try," Belwick replied.

When Renwold fetched the sewing supplies, she heated the strongest sewing needle in the brazier to clean it before she started to piece Rayford's jagged flesh back together. She inserted the needle deeply into the skin on one side of the gash and brought it up through the opposite side, knotting the individual lengths of thread.

Belwick worked closely with her, cutting the threads after she completed the stitches and handing her new pieces of thread. Father Thomas, when he had finished administering Extreme Unction to Rayford, left his bedside and went to the prie-dieu at the side of the room. The priest's muffled prayers could occasionally be heard. providing a soothing counterpoint to the tumult and commotion surrounding her as she treated her husband's injuries. After she finished sewing Rayford's chest wound, she and Belwick uncovered the deep wound on his leg. It was still bleeding freely.

""Twill have to be cauterized," Belwick stated. "Ayc," Leah Rose agreed.

She checked Rayford's pulse. He was still alive. How much more trauma could his body endure?

Belwick put his knife in the brazier. As they waited for the knife to heat, Leah Rose carefully washed Rayford's chest wound with warm water and wine. She then washed the wound on his thigh, clearing away some of the blood for the cauterization. After testing the knife, the castellan instructed Renwold to hold Rayford's lower body still while Leah Rose held his upper body, then he laid the flat side of the blade directly against the gaping wound. Even though Rayford's unconscious body arched as he instinctively recoiled from the pain, Leah Rose was easily able to hold him immobile. She almost wept when she realized the extent of his weakness.

The smell of burning flesh assaulted her nostrils before Belwick pulled the knife away and covered the wound with a cold, wet cloth. After returning his knife back into the glowing brazier, the castellan returned to the bed and lifted the cloth. "I need to do it one more time to cover all of the wound," Belwick explained, his

voice hoarse.

Leah Rose and Renwold resumed their positions holding Rayford's unconscious body still as the castellan cauterized the remainder of Rayford's wound. His battered body lay motionless under this new assault. Leah Rose determinedly blinked away her tears as she unwound the cloth that had been placed around Rayford's neck wound. Relieved to se that the bleeding from this lesion had ceased, she gently washed the laceration and applied a poultice to it to guard against infection before bandaging it securely around Rayford's neck, making sure it was not tight enough to interfere with his breathing.

Once his major injuries had been treated, she spread the poultice on the wounds on his chest as well as his thigh and bandaged them. She and Belwick then washed and treated the remaining abrasions, cuts, and gouges that covered Rayford. A long time later, the last gash and lesion treated, Leah Rose numbly sank to her knees beside the bed. She raised anguished eyes to Belwick's haggard face.

"What happened?" she asked. The mutilation that had been inflicted on Rayford staggered her. "Rayford was hunting with four of his men." Belwick responded. "A fifth man was shadowing them, to warn the castle if there was trouble. It appears that they were taken by surprise and ambushed. When we arrived, there were only five of the attackers still

standing. We killed them all. Rayford was the only one of our men still alive when we

reached them. Bernard, Roger, Gordon, Walter, Edmund...they are all dead. Every

man fought valiantly."

"Bernard is dead," Leah Rose whispered. "Clare and Ming Toy will be devastated."

"Aye. All our men perished. All were courageous and experienced fighters. They had no chance. They were ambushed by an overwhelming force. We counted over thirty attackers."

"There were six men against thirty?" Leah Rose was appalled, incredulous that Rayford had managed to survive the savage onslaught against him.

"Aye. Rayford and his men were able to kill twenty-five of their attackers before we

arrived. Milady, I have ordered that the bodies of Merclif's dead be brought back to the

castle with all reverence."