Deerrunner turned from the window. “You best hurry. Wulfhere has ridden out to meet Guthrum. He has his men primed to stop you from leaving the fort, but our people have secured one gate.”

“My wife, Ealhswith, and the children.” Alfred looked worried.

“My son, Pinoak and the ladies that came into the fort to help Wulfhere entertain the king.” Pinewood explained. “They are all our ladies, and they have your wife and children well in hand. They will meet us at the gate. You just need to decide which men you can truly trust so they can escape with us.”

“Only those you are sure of,” Deerrunner said. “And if there is anything you need to fetch from your rooms.”

“My books,” Alfred said.

“Already packed,” Deerrunner assured him.

Two ox drawn wagons with women and children, and two dozen men rode out from the southern gate as the sun set. They followed good paths so the wagons had no trouble, and by sunrise they reached the River Avon. Alfred looked back.

“That’s not possible,” he said. “We can’t have traveled all that distance in one night, especially with ox-drawn wagons.”

“There are ways,” Pinewood told him. “Hidden ways, like the ways you went to escape Reading and the Danes sent after you.”

“Oh, yes,” Alfred remembered, and he helped load his wife and children on the rafts that were conveniently stationed by the riverside. He decided it was best not to question too much, but one thing he wanted to know. “Where are you taking me? Are we going to Bath?” He imagined from Bath he could keep a watch on the events in Wiltshire and find a way to drive out Guthrum and Wulfhere with him.

“No majesty,” Pinewood answered him. “Bath is already overrun with Danes. They gathered at Pucklechurch and waited until they got the signal, then they fell on the city before the city could prepare to defend themselves. There is still some fighting going on around the town, but it is minor. The Danes own that place.”

“What of Chisbury?” Alfred wondered how close to Winchester this conspiracy of his ealdorman went.

“Still Free, but probably not for long. I imagine Wallingford and Oxford will not be far behind and then the better half of Wiltshire and Berkshire will be in Danish hands. Once the line between Bath, Chisbury and Wallingford on the Thames is solid, he can raid as far away as Shaftsey, Eashing, Winchester, Wilton, and Axebridge. He may be able to push into Somerset as far as Glastonbury.”

“Meanwhile, the coast from Exeter to Hastings is continually raided by a whole fleet of ships, mostly out of East Anglia, Essex, and the Thames in Eastern Kent, but some also from York and Northumbria. The coastal watch is fighting back, but they lose the battles as many as they win.” Alfred tried not to mope.

When they reached the point in the river where the water flowed west toward the Severn Estuary, they found their horses mysteriously waiting for them. They rode down into the Selwood forest hoping to escape whatever patrols or foraging parties the Danes might send out from Bath. They almost did not make it.

Deerrunner, Pinewood, Alfred and his Thegans with plenty of men in green had to fight off one group so the women and children could be taken to safety. The dark came on soon enough and the fighting had to break off, but then some of the men got separated in the dark. Too bad for the Danes. The dark elves, that is, the goblins that gave Selwood a bit of a reputation routinely got left out when the fighting happened. They had plenty of pent up aggression that just waited for a Dane to be alone.

Alfred was also one that got separated and lost but he soon came to a cabin in the woods. That was fortunate because the goblins were not always the best at telling the difference between Saxons and Danes. Alfred hoped it was one of Elgar’s people. If not, then maybe a young woodcutter and his family. He hoped it was not a witch. It turned out to be an old Crone who let him in but warned him not to touch anything.

“My husband is out on escort duty. No telling how long that will last.”

“My name is Alfred,” Alfred admitted, trying to be friendly despite the heavy weight of worry that surrounded his thoughts.

“Oh? Good to meet you I suppose. My name is May, and I have an errand to run.” She looked him over and decided she had no choice. “I have wheat cakes in the oven, there. Try not to let them burn and don’t break anything while I am gone.” She left abruptly.

Alfred went to the door. He went out to his horse but left the door open. He unsaddled his horse and tied the animal by a trough he found that had water in it. He looked out into the dark, not having dared to move beyond the door light. There were too many strange sounds. He swore he saw two bright eyes staring at him from out of the dark.

“You have been a good horse,” he told his horse and patted him before he rushed back indoors to the firelight. He sat down at the table and wondered if there were any lamps or candles around that he could also light, but it was just a passing thought. Once he sat, all the tension from battle poured out of him and his muscles relaxed all at once. It was a wonder that he did not fall instantly asleep. Only his worry remained. He thought all might be lost.

The Channel coast was under constant assault. two hundred to five hundred to as many as eight hundred men in ships showed up almost anywhere, any time. The Bishop of Selsey in Sussex abandoned his post, and now the whole coast there has burned. Kent, Sussex, Hampshire, Dorset, and Devon are all on fire, and Alfred did not have a fleet of ships to stop them. He needed ships, and forts, strong points built around the countryside where people could flee in time of trouble. He also needed a good night’s sleep.

To Alfred’s credit, he woke up when he smelled something burning. He remembered and got the wheat cakes out of the oven when they were still salvageable, for the most part. Naturally, that was when May returned, with Pinewood. Pinewood stood back and let May upbraid the poor man. May eventually ran out of things to say and kissed Pinewood and slipped into the back room.

“My wife,” Pinewood said. “She said she found you wandering in the dark and called to you to save you from the spookies. She thought I might like to get you back in one piece.”

“Spookies?” Alfred asked, remembering the eyes staring at him in the dark.

“The goblins are out tonight but come. We will be safe enough to take you to the others.”

Alfred followed Pinewood outside and found his horse saddled and several men in green mounted and ready to ride. When they arrived in the elf camp, Alfred hugged and kissed his wife and two children before he fell over on the nearest bed. He did not stay awake long, but he did try to decide what was worse, being caught by goblins or Missus May’s scolding.  He decided the Danes were worse and he tried not to hope the goblins caught them.