Cast in Time

 

       Book 3: Count

 

 

 

 

 

By Ed Nelson

 

Other books by Ed Nelson

 

The Richard Jackson Saga

 

Book 1: The Beginning

Book 2: Schooldays

Book 3: Hollywood

Book 4: In the Movies

Book 5: Star to Deckhand

Book 6: Surfing Dude

Book 7: Third Time is a Charm

Book 8: Oxford University

Book 9: Cold War

Book 10: Taking Care of Business

Book 11: Interesting Times

Book 12: Escape from Siberia

Book 13: Regicide

Book 14: What's Under, Down Under?

Book 15: The Lunar Kingdom

Book 16: First Steps

 

Stand Alone Stories

Ever and Always

Mary, Mary

The Cast in Time series

Book 1: Baron

Book 2: Baron of the Middle Counties

 

Dedication

 

 

 

This book is dedicated to my wife, Carol, for her support and help as my first reader and editor.

 

With special thanks to Ole Rotorhead for his technical insights on how things really work.

Then there are my beta readers: Ole Rotorhead, Lonelydad, Antti Huotari, and PatO'Dell.

 

And never forget the professional editor: Morgan Waddle.

 

Quotation

 

According to "M" theory, ours is not the only universe. Instead, "M" theory predicts that a great many universes were created out of nothing.

Stephen Hawking

 

Copyright © 2023

 

E. E. Nelson

All rights reserved

 

Eastern Shore Publishing

2331 West Del Webb Blvd.

Sun City Center, FL 33673

 

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

 

This story is a work of fiction. Names, characters, organizations, places, events, and incidents are either products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

 

ISBN 978-1-953395-85-6

 

Library of Congress Control Number: 2023912483

 

Table of Contents

 

Contents

Cast in Time

Other books by Ed Nelson

Dedication

Quotation

Copyright © 2023

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Backmatter

 

Chapter 1

 

The most pressing problem I faced as the new, first, and only Count of Cornwall, was being invaded by my neighbor, King Ine of Wessex.

The Welsh were to the north of me but they were contained by the three border Barons.

The Saxon King had previously taken three border Baronies from King Geraint. I would like to have taken them back, but I wasn't strong enough to go to war with the western Saxons.

If the western, eastern, and middle Saxons ever combined, they would take over most of England.

Only the Welsh and the Scots could remain independent. And King Alfred the Great would do that in a little over a hundred years.

Nothing against the great King, but his battles against the Angles allowed the Welsh to take over Cornwall, which wasn't pretty.

None of our Keeps in the area could repulse the Saxons from further encroachment. I had to invade the new Wessex possessions to take them back or build Keeps to create a new border.

It wouldn't be that hard to build a Keep. But what gave an area its strength was the associated villages and surrounding farms. And that was the problem. We weren’t a heavily populated County and didn’t have the people to move into the area.

My advisors and I talked in circles to figure out what to do. It was my scribe and note-taker, Thad, who found the answer.

"Excuse me, My Lords, but we have the people. "

I was slightly sarcastic when I asked him, "Where will you magically find these people? "

"The people from the Keeps stolen from us. "

That stopped me cold.

The villages and farms were occupied by the same families that had always lived there. And not enough time had passed for them to assimilate with the Saxons.

If we could pull those people back into Cornwall, the three Baronies taken wouldn't be economically viable for King Ine. He would have to invade us to get those people back.

While we weren't ready to invade them, I was confident we could repulse any attempts on their part.

"Thad, you are brilliant. I'm sorry for my previous tone. Your idea just might work. Well done. "

I hoped I hadn't introduced "brilliant" as a common saying. My English friends in the uptime had used it to death. Not that we didn't overuse "cool".

This idea brought up several questions. Would the people be willing to move? How could we spirit them away? How could we build three new Keeps without the Saxons knowing? These buildings didn't go up overnight.

As a result, two action items were developed. First, we would send scouts to the three Saxon villages to observe the conditions. They were not to make contact with the villagers.

Second, a surveying team was sent to identify the best locations to build new Keeps and villages. Luckily there was enough space between the taken Keeps and our existing Keeps to build new ones without taking too much territory from the existing Keeps.

Not only were good sites required for the Keeps, but we wanted to mirror the taken villages and farm fields as much as possible. It would be far from a perfect match, but the more it resembled the old areas, the better.

The first scout to return was from the closest Keep. It was the center of the three. She reported the people were being treated a little better than slaves.

If it were the same in the other Keeps, there would be few objections to their returning. Two days later, we knew it was the same at the other Keeps.

The land survey took several weeks longer, but they came up with three sites that fit our criteria.

We needed a source of lime and kilns to burn the lime. It would take too long and cost too much to haul the lime from Owen-nap. Fortunately, it was in abundance in the area.

A pit mine was developed behind our lines, And construction was started on kilns. It would take a while to bring the firebrick from Owen-nap, but it had to be done.

The lime mine was at the midpoint of the three new Keeps. Since it was a mountainous area, we would crush the rock near each Keep. Sand had to be hauled from near Tintagel. This required us to build a rough road system from Tintagel to the lime pit and to the individual Keeps.

It stretched our resources thin but had to be done. So, the master road system in Owen-nap was put on hold, and their crews moved north to work on the new road system.

Once the connections were made, the road system would be built out to the three Keeps on the Welsh border. Then, to the other nine Baronys and their villages in northern Cornwall.

The final step, would have the crews build a road from Tintagel to Bolventor on their way home. It would take at least six months to put an elementary road system in place, and two to three years for all of Cornwall to be connected.

This did not include the small farm roads like the ones in Owen-nap.

Two months into the spring, we had the infrastructure in place to start the Keeps.

Our scouts kept tabs on the Saxons on their side of the border. But the Saxons only scouted around their area.

They seemed to have no interest in Cornwall, at least this spring. They probably wouldn't invade us again this year. Allowing us to build the Keeps without their knowledge.

We got a head start on the Keeps before the infrastructure was completed. The ground was taken down to bedrock for the foundations to be poured.

The Keeps enclosures would be oversized compared to most of the Keeps of this era. They would enclose ten acres each. This would allow for all the people and their animals to be sheltered.

Multiple wells would be dug at each Keep for a continuous water supply. An extensive sewage system was included in the plans.

The former villages would fit into the new Keep when all was said and done.

There was an incredible find at the Keep closest to the Welsh border. They exposed a gold-bearing quartz vein while clearing to bedrock for the foundation,.

But my memorized books did not mention any gold being detected in the immediate vicinity.

I chalked it up to the other changes from my timeline. I was now absolutely convinced this was a different world, or whatever you wanted to call it, than the one in my lifetime.

There was no danger of changing my old world's future. I couldn't, even if I wanted to. This world was a clean slate for me to work with.

Even the quartz was different. When it was crushed, it yielded thirty ounces per ton instead of the normal half ounce per ton at most quartz mining operations.

We chose the simplest method of separating the gold from the quartz. We placed the quartz under a trip hammer and crushed it. The resulting powder was then run through a sluice box like the forty-niners used.

All the separated quartz was kept, as it still would have gold attached to it. Later, we would use chemicals to separate the two. We weren't ready for mercury or cyanide operations just yet.

You could tell the gold was true Welsh gold, even though we found it in Cornwall. It had that distinctive reddish cast that made it unique.

The find made us enlarge the Keep, so the mining operation was inside the Fort.

Once the foundations were poured, we started on the walls. There would be two walls, fourteen feet apart.

The space in between would be filled with dirt and rubble. There would be a road laid on top of the earthen wall so troops could move easily around the Keep.

Shelters would be built along the road for the guards, and arrow slots in the outside concrete wall, which was six feet taller than the road. Allowing our people to fire from the walls without exposing themselves.

The entire operation was sped up by our new blasting powder. I had Tom Smith working on a small cannon to be used from the Keep's walls. I didn't think they would be done in time, but we would need them eventually.

These cannons were anti-personnel, designed to fire metal scrap at charging soldiers.

It was closing in on winter before the walls were complete. So, we built a longhouse to shelter the workers and a small latrine system with a bathhouse and kitchens. Now, we needed to expand it all to take the villagers and farmers from the old Keeps.

I wanted to install semaphore stations, especially between the new Keeps. We didn't have enough time or people to make it happen. My advisors pointed out the stations would be vulnerable to attack. Spoilsports.

Instead, we resorted to something that, while not as modern, was more fun. I was a fan of all of J. R. Tolkien's books, so we did what he did. Signal fires would be lit from the highest hills, lighting the countryside.

Stationed about eight miles apart on high hills, they would be seen from one to another. Permanently manned, with a stack of wood ready to light. There would be a framework of branches about five feet above the logs to keep the fuel dry. It also was intended to catch fire and, since it would be wet, give off smoke.

To ensure we had a wet roof, a water tower was built. The chain of signal towers extended from Keep to Keep.

When the signals reached Tintagel, the news would travel by semaphore. If I were in Saltash, I would know within three hours of the first fire being lit. I wanted a test of the system, but my advisors convinced me it wasn't needed. Wood burns.

I liked blowing up bridges better than building them. Big bangs were good. Eleanor told me I was worse than most kids. But whenever there was blasting to be done near us, she was always on site.

As the Keeps were completed, their granaries were filled to the brim. We didn't sell any wheat to foreign ports this year. I bought it all.

Taking all our gold and silver from London was great. But I was pouring through it like there was no tomorrow.

We did our first minting of gold coins. They were in the same denominations as the silver coins, but were worth twenty times more. Once again, they didn't reach general circulation. As soon as people got them, they kept them, spending the old coins instead.

It was now coming on winter in the second year of my taking over Cornwall. It had been a good year for us. The crops came in well.

Our trading ventures in Armorica were profitable. Tom was making progress on the small cannons. At least none of his last batches had blown up yet.

Jude Glassman had a better grade of black powder, but still not good enough for muskets.

The best news of all was that Eleanor was pregnant again.

Little Catherine was in fine health and talking up a storm. I could almost understand her. She had started walking and was running everyone ragged. I threatened to get her a puppy to play with but got shouted down by all the females around my wife.

Baron Pensilva had married Joan, and they had a bouncing baby boy. I don't know where the term bouncing baby came from, but it was used here.

The new Keeps were finally ready for us to bring the people out of Wessex and back to their new homes.

The hardest item on Cathy’s list was the spelling words. She came to us asking if she could take ten spelling tests, ten words at a time. We negotiated to fifteen words, five of them repeated from earlier tests.

Discrete questioning of the staff outed the Archbishop. He was helping her learn the words! It was easier for him to work with ten words at a time.

Our army had increased to two thousand men. The only way we could afford it was the new gold mine. Our minted coins were working their way to the rest of the world through Armorica. That would be an issue one of these days.

The Welsh gold would be recognized for its reddish hue, and people would come searching.

One project was proving to be a success was the breakwater. Stones had been hauled and dumped on the old breakwater for over a year. While a road couldn't be built on it yet, it was performing its primary function in making Tintagel a safe harbor.

That left the rest of Cornwall thinly guarded, but we only had to worry about port cities. The inland districts and Baronies were all at peace. Our improvements made believers in all the Barons.

We also had a surprise for any invading forces. Thomas Smith had made a working cannon. He had tested them enough that we had faith they wouldn't blow up if fired.

When Tom, Jude Glassman, the powder man, and I gave our first demonstration to an audience of Barons, district commanders, advisors, and religious leaders. We used a live flock of old sheep destined for the slaughterhouse.

But there wasn’t enough left to send to the butcher. The sound of one cannon being shot with a cloud of smoke was enough to make everyone cross themselves.

I made certain Archbishop Luke and Senior Priest Timothy had seen how the powder was made every step of the way. They saw it burn when it wasn't contained and what would happen if contained.

That didn't mean they liked it, but they understood it.

The first soldiers to be on the receiving end would be in for the shock of their lives. If they lived through it.

But these were to be a last-ditch reserve. We wanted to keep them secret as long as possible.

Chapter 2

 

We made contact with the farms and villages around the conquered Keeps. The people were more than ready to come home to Cornwall. Their new masters treated them badly and took everything they had. They didn't even bother to call it a tax. They just took it.

The people would have starved if we hadn't smuggled food to them.

Several youngsters left the conquered villages on their own. We talked them into going back as guides for their people. As the time got nearer, people began packing their belongings.

To make it go faster, we promised to replace all tools, cutlery, dishes, and kitchenware. Anything with special significance they were allowed to keep and bring, but they had to carry it for the first five miles.

After that, we cut rough roads for wagons. The objective was to move everyone out of the three Keeps on the same night.

Anyone who worked inside the Keep would have to come up with an excuse for not working that day. There weren't many of them, but they were our biggest worry. Things would not go well for them if they were left behind.

One of the guide's jobs was to ensure no one was left behind. It wouldn't do to have Uncle Henry in the outhouse when everyone was leaving.

The guides also needed to help those who weren't physically able.

On the big night, the departure started at dark. An average of two hundred people were at each of the three Keeps. Dawn broke as the last person was put on a wagon at the five-mile mark.

I wanted to be there, but my advisors wouldn't let me. If things went south, it would be up to me to make the decisions.

To make a long story short. All the people from the three Keeps were accounted for and made it safely to their new homes.

I would have loved to have been there when the Saxons realized all the people were gone. I wondered how those Keep commanders would report this to King Ine.

It wouldn't take them long to find the trail two hundred people left in the woods. From there, they would find the new Keeps.

They actually had the nerve to send messengers under a flag of truce demanding "their" people back. We sent them on their way. Soon after that, we were attacked.

The Saxons brought their soldiers from all three of their Keeps attacking our middle Keep. Our scouts saw them coming, and the warning fires were lit. I wish I had been there to see it.

I was in Tintagel. Administrative work was taking more and more of my time.

As soon as I was told of the attack, I headed to the center Keep. It would be all over when I arrived, but I needed to know how my forces did.

They did well. The Saxon soldiers were concentrated on the one Keep. So, each of our other Keeps was able to send one hundred of their defenders to the center Keep.

The roads between the Keeps were in good enough condition, and the soldiers made excellent time getting there.

When six hundred Saxons showed up, they were met by five hundred Britons. Not that my troops went outside of the Keep to meet them.

They remained on the walls and picked off the first wave of Saxons.

The Saxons had ladders and planned to climb our walls. But they didn't count on the field being a clear field of fire. Or that it would have thousands of man-sized caltrops scattered throughout it. A true killing ground.

Between the rapid firing of the crossbows and the caltrops crippling their troops, they never made it to the wall. The charging troops broke and ran.

It took two hours for them to reassemble. Then, huddled under a white flag, they requested to gather their wounded.

They left the dead for us to dispose of.

The day after the battle, our scouts reported the Saxons had retreated to their Keeps. So our gates were opened to collect their dead. They were buried in a common grave after our soldiers had searched the bodies, as was their right.

When I arrived at the Keep, their Commander, one of my old Senior Sergeants, was considering attacking the old Keeps. I told him not to. I didn't want war with King Ine.

But I forgot about our free press. They had held the story of our building, the Keeps, for over a year.

Now that they were freed, they published the whole story of how we built the Keeps under Ine's nose and pulled the people out in one night. It was a great story, but unfortunately, King Ine read our newspaper.

That or he had someone read it for him and present a summary. For all I knew, he secretly read romances. More likely, he was given that specific story to read.

It mattered not. He was not amused. I didn't think Kings or Queens had a sense of humor. Even the Queen Elizabeth of my day was quoted as not being amused.

Maybe he thought all the other Kings read the paper and laughed at him. More likely, he didn't want to appear weak to his Noblemen.

No matter the reason, he was assembling an army of five thousand men and heading my way.

King Ine and his generals were no fools. He had a heavy scout screen in front of his army. So we couldn't get an exact idea of what was coming for us or what the target was.

It would be best for us if he split his army in three to go against our Keeps all at once. He had no idea how strong they were.

He didn't cooperate and sent his entire army against the center Keep. I learned a long time ago the enemy rarely cooperates.

I felt pretty good about New Hayle being able to hold. Since we were opposite of the Keep King Ine had taken named Hayle, we took the easy way out and named it New Hayle. The same with Zennor and New Zennor. And Rame, and New Rame.

We may have had advance warning of his attacks. But it wasn't possible to gather that many men quickly.

Stretched thin as it was, we were able to move troops around, so we had a thousand men manning our ramparts. All of our spearmen had been cross-trained in the use of crossbows. They weren't as proficient as the regulars, but they could send bolts into a charge.

The food supply was topped off, and many children were sent further inland to safety. The rest of the people and their animals were ready to move into the Keep on short notice.

King Ine's force was aware of our signal fires, he sent men to capture them before they could be lit. We pulled the staff out before he got there. No sense in getting people killed for no reason.

When his army arrived, it was like the unfolding of a ballet. A light screen of troops was the first unit spotted. We lit the signal fire to let our people know it was time to come to the Keep.

Next came the engineers to prepare a campsite for the army. They weren't very good ones. Their latrines were too close to their water supply.

The engineers laid out a pattern for where the various units would be set up. Each unit went to its assigned spot and set up a reasonably competent tent arrangement. All in a circle around their cooking fire.

The poor latrine arrangement didn't matter. People were relieving themselves all over the place. If this became a siege, he would lose most of his army to dysentery.

Last, a large tent was put up in the center, obviously for King Ine and his senior staff.

They also made another almost fatal mistake. They setup within five hundred yards of our walls. Our crossbows could reach out to about five hundred and fifty yards.

I held the crossbowmen off until the entire camp was set up. It took them all of one day and until noon on the second.

Once they were done, I gave the signal, and every person fired a shot. Most of them fell short, a few were direct hits to kill, and they all lacked the force to penetrate any armor.

It didn't matter. In moments, Ine's army was in disarray. It took the rest of the day for them to reassemble the men. They recovered well. They had men with shields to protect the men retrieving their equipment.

It took them another two days to set up a camp further away. We didn't kill very many soldiers, but there were a lot of walking wounded. Many of them would become infected because of the lack of cleanliness in their camp. Their morale must be low. They were losing a significant number of men and hadn't even attacked yet.

In the meantime, our people were settling in. Our soldiers were giving tours on the battlement to watch King Ine's army in disarray.

It was good for our people to know we could defend them. But I wasn’t sure about the tours. Things can change quickly. So I sent word that the tours were to end until the war was settled. I didn't know the soldiers were charging pennies for a tour. They didn't like me interrupting their extra income, but tough.

 

Chapter 3

 

It took King Ine's army another day to sort itself out and set up their camp beyond our crossbow range. I didn't want to reveal it if I didn't have to, but our cannons would fire out to one thousand yards and still do damage.

We had also prepared the field in front of the Keep's western wall facing Wessex. It had holes about a foot in diameter and three feet deep, covered with cloth and a light coating of dirt. The leg-breakers and caltrops were strewn across the field.

These two devices would stop the Wessex troop's first attempt at our walls. They would be cautious after that, slowing down, acting as targets for our crossbowmen a little longer.

On the fourth day, the Wessex troops lined up for battle. It took them hours to line up in position. This was good for us. The troops were getting tired standing around waiting for the formations to come together.

In the meantime, my people were lounging about and having a hot meal.

When the Saxons were in formation, a man on horseback gave a speech to each of the five blocks of troops. I think it was the same speech repeated. I will have to ask prisoners after the battle.

He then had a rider with a white flag ride out.

King Ine's challenge for individual battle was passed to me. I thought he was nuts but asked Barons Lewanniet and Bolventor what that was all about.

"King Ine is hoping you will accept and come out yourself. He can have his champion represent him in a winner-take-all-all battle. "

If I had my M1911A1 Colt .45 automatic, I would have considered it. But I wasn't a notorious swordsman, so I passed.

I wish my wife would stop baring her buttocks at the enemy. The soldiers loved it, they cheered her. Why they loved it was the question.

Four hours later, they finally began to move forward in rows. King Ine wasn't completely incompetent.

The first row had shields in front of them, forming a shield wall. The next two rows were carrying their shields over their heads. Together the shields would prevent our crossbows from doing a lot of damage.

Sheltered by the shield wall were troops carrying ladders. Their intention was obvious, get the laddermen safely to the wall, then overwhelm us.

Whoever devised that plan relied on us following the normal Keep wall construction scheme with fifteen feet tall walls. Ours were twenty-five feet. When you only have to pour concrete, you can do much more than having to haul stone into place.

The advance went just like I thought it would. The Saxon soldiers were safe under their shields as long as they held them in place. But the leg-breakers and caltrops ruined that plan.

As the soldiers stepped on the obstacles, they would go down dropping their shields. When the shields were down, the rain of bolts was deadly.

The Saxons kept advancing even through the heavy losses. They reached the walls, and laid the ladders against them. Realizing they couldn't get to the top, some soldiers started to turn back, others joined them. Soon it was a rout.

Several hundred Saxons remained on the field, dead or wounded. After a time, an officer with a white flag rode out from the Saxon lines.

King Ine was asking for a truce to remove their dead and wounded. We gave them two hours to accomplish the task. I didn't want the dead decaying on the field and being a host to disease, and the wounded would be another strain on their resources. It was almost dark before they finished. It took almost three hours, but I didn't disturb them.

That ended the battle for the day. I became concerned my troops were being light-hearted about the whole thing. If they thought it would continue to be this easy, they had another guess coming.

I went from campfire to campfire, checking on the troops, trying to calm them down. I told them the story of the Army Captain who ordered his servant to lay out a red shirt to wear into battle.

His soldier asked him why it was always a red shirt.

"If I'm wounded, I don't want you soldiers to be disheartened."

The morning of the battle, they saw how outnumbered they were. The same soldier asked if the Captain was going to wear his red shirt.

"No, I will wear my brown pants."

The soldiers all loved it. It was the macabre humor soldiers used before a battle.

At daylight the next morning, small flags marked all the leg-breaking holes. They also picked up all the caltrops they could find. King Ine’s men had used their access to the battlefield well.

The Saxon troops were once again lined up waiting for the King's speech. If I were one of his soldiers, I would consider killing him.

Like clockwork, the battle started like yesterday's fight. The shield wall was the same. Only this time it didn't fall apart as the soldiers avoided the leg-breakers. New ladders that would reach the top of our wall had been made overnight.

They had some losses due to shields wavering, but nothing like the last time. When they reached the wall, the ladders were placed, and they were indeed tall enough. We pushed most of them off with long poles that had a fork at the end to use against the ladders.

They kept coming. We had vats of boiling oil to dump on them, and they still kept coming. Some reached the top of the wall only to be cut down. And still they kept coming.

I told my signalman to blow his horn. Bringing our fresh troops forward and letting those who had been fighting to have a rest. As men were replaced, some were found to be wounded.

In the heat of battle, a man may not know he has been injured and will keep fighting until shock sets in. We had fifteen men killed so far.

The Saxon forces were tiring. They were coming up the ladders slower, making them better targets.

Finally, they stopped. Their leaders signaled them to retreat accepting they wouldn't make it over the wall.

We had twenty-seven dead and fifty-two wounded.

The Saxons left about two hundred and fifty men at the base of our walls. This wasn't good. Their army was larger than ours and could absorb the losses better.

Lady Agnes had a MASH unit working throughout the night to save the wounded. It reminded me that I had to 'invent' penicillin.

The next day King Ine changed his tactics. His troops, who had stayed on the western side of our Keep, now surrounded it. He would starve us out. Or so he thought.

We had enough food for everyone for a year. And there was enough open space in the Keep's fields to plant crops. Four wells secured our water supply. All part of our contingency planning.

We were also recruiting more soldiers in Armorica, and sent negotiators to the Welsh. We paid a large amount of silver to one of their leaders to raid Wessex once their armies were engaged with us.

I hoped he would and not just take the money and leave the Saxons alone. I didn't think he would pass on such a tempting target.

We had a continuous watch on the Saxon troops with telescopes. A month later, we saw signs of sickness in the Wessex ranks. They were losing dozens of men a day on top of the desertions they were having.

King Ine would have to do something soon or lose his army.

They started moving mangonels to fire at our walls. Unlike the catapults, they operated on manpower-pulled cords attached to a lever to launch projectiles. While needing more men to operate, they fired larger missiles more frequently. Or smaller missiles further.

As expected, they used different-sized stones to find the range of the walls. Once they found the largest stone that would reach the wall, they quit for the day. They would have men out collecting stones of that size. His mangonels were so accurate they hit the wall every time.

It worked well against a stone block wall, breaking and moving the individual stones that made up the wall. But all they could do to our reinforced concrete was chip away at it. It would take a year or more to break the wall's surface.

Plus, the earthen rubble behind the wall would be acting as a shock absorber. His army would dissolve before it got through.

They would have been better off firing over the wall and damaging our internal infrastructure.

Another two months passed, and Ine was losing more troops every day. We estimated he was down to three thousand men out of the five thousand he started with.

One morning, his troops began pulling down their tents and moving out. Two days later, there wasn't a Saxon in sight. The King must have figured out he wouldn't be taking our Keep.

We had been doing after-action sessions on every type of attack they made. We decided our biggest mistake was not having our own mangonels. It would have moved things a lot faster if we had taken theirs out of action.

Our scouts found they had left their machines. So we moved them inside to use the next time we were attacked. The other Border Keeps would be getting them as well, including the Keeps facing the Welsh.

We found out later the Welsh Baron had taken my silver and did nothing.

The scouts advanced as far as Hayle, Zennor, and Rame. They found the Keeps Geraint had lost sitting empty.

We dialed back the number of troops at each of our Keeps facing the border. I didn't think we had enough troops to man the three Keeps the Saxons had left empty. Some of the people wanted to go back to their old farms, but I told them I couldn't defend them yet.

Yes, we had stood off King Ine, but in a well-defended Keep. In open battle, he would tear us up. I would need to have field artillery and muskets before I would try those odds.

King Ine made very few mistakes in his attempt to conquer the Keep. Most of those were due to ignorance, not stupidity. He was a pretty good tactician.

A month after the Saxons left, five hundred troops we recruited from Armorica landed in Tintagel. We spread them throughout all the Keeps in Cornwall so they wouldn't get into mischief.

So, my goal to fend off King Ine without having a major war was successful.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 4

 

We found out later we may not have been as great as we thought we were. It seemed when King Ine was attacking us, King Coenred of the Middle Saxons decided it was a good time to attack him.

King Ine had to withdraw from the former Cornwall Baronies to defend his own Kingdom. It didn't matter. The result was the same. We had Ine off our backs without having to fight him directly.

Using troops freed up by the soldiers from Armorica, we moved into Hayle, Zennor, and Rame. Now that we had troops stationed there, I told the former residents they could go back home. About half of them went. I informed the Sergeants in charge of each of those Keeps if they kept them well for the next six months, I would formally declare them Barons. They were highly motivated.

My advisors and I had thoroughly vetted them to make certain they wouldn't try to declare independence.

This left us with a total of six Baronies needing further development. We would be giving tax breaks to encourage people to start farms and businesses in these areas.

We were able to start the road and semaphore systems to all the Keeps shortly after.

I had to laugh when complaints came in from all over Cornwall that their roads weren't being completed fast enough. It sounded like the growth of the American road system. At least we were doing it by need rather than politics dictating who got what first.

This part of Cornwall appeared to be under control, so Eleanor and I returned to Owen-nap and our daughter Catherine Elizabeth Saltash Owen-nap. But we only called her that when she knew she was in trouble.

After spending several days getting reacquainted with our precocious three-year-old, we visited Saltash, taking her with us. I say she is precocious because she was learning to read and write. I suspected she had a memory like mine.

She also could get anything she wanted out of me. I thought that showed superior intelligence. Eleanor informed me she was a normal little girl with Daddy wrapped tightly around her finger.

We stayed at the Saltash Keep with the late Baron's wife, Catherine. She was young enough that she could get remarried. Eleanor told me that when having girl talk with Catherine, she wasn't hesitant to talk about the merits of various men in town.

I told Eleanor I didn't want any part of it. Leave me out of these discussions. Catherine was free to follow her heart without my help. I suspect my attitude led to some giggles in their next girl talk.

We visited John Chandler while in town. John was my chief trading partner and a good friend.

His daughter and grandson had been killed in my carriage while coming to Saltash by soldiers from Pirthtowan. I conquered that Barony, killing the Baron in the process. You could tell John still missed them.

He did have one ray of light, his granddaughter. She hadn't been on a fateful trip and was now ten years old and was going to be beautiful. John told me he was already chasing the boys away.

As far as he was concerned, none would be allowed near her until she was fourteen and eligible for marriage. I laughed at his naivete but quit in the middle of a chuckle, realizing I would have the same problem.

John informed me of problems brewing in Armorica. The Franks were becoming aware of how much trade flowed through there and wanted it. They didn't realize that it was our trade creating the wealth, and if they invaded the area, we would go elsewhere.

I didn't want that and had a long discussion about what could be done. We didn't reach any conclusions but agreed we had to take some sort of action.

I needed to talk to my advisors, but John and I thought the first thing we should try was to talk to the Franks. Let them know we were the golden goose and if they invaded Armorica, they would be killing it.

With everything settled, Eleanor and I, followed by our ever-larger entourage of guards, nurses, and the logistics train for all these people, returned to Owen-nap. It wasn't a journey anymore; it was a parade.

Once home, we spent several days relaxing. Eleanor's pregnancy was easier on her this time, so she wasn't as moody. I teased her about not even exposing herself from our Keeps walls. She didn't think I was funny. That is a husband's lot in life.

Being well-rested, I decided to look at what it would take to produce penicillin. While there were many steps, it wasn't that complicated. The best thing of all, we had the chemistry of all the components worked out.

I looked it up in the library in my mind, and wrote out the pertinent steps.

First, I needed to expose a slice of bread to the air in a dark, warm place with normal humidity until a bluish-green mold developed. This took eleven days.

The mold started out gray but turned a bright blue-green as it developed. I then cut the bread into pieces and put it in a sterilized flask. Next, the flask was incubated for a week in the same conditions.

Once I had the mold, the penicillin had to be separated out.

To do that, I dissolved the following ingredients, in the order listed, into 500ml of cold tap water:

Lactose Monohydrate – 44.0 grams – I had to expose alpha-lactose from cow's milk to low temperatures until crystals formed, then dry off any excess moisture. The result is a dry, white, or pale-yellow powder with a slightly sweet taste and smells similar to milk.

Cornstarch – 25.0 grams – Corn is steeped for 30 to 48 hours, which ferments it slightly. The germ is separated from the endosperm. I ground those two components separately while still wet. Then, I removed the starch from each by washing.

The starch is separated from the corn steep liquor, the cereal germ, the fibers, and the corn gluten with hand-cranked centrifuges and then dried. This process is called wet milling.

Sodium Nitrate – 3.0 grams – I used ammonia to produce the sodium nitrate. This was the most difficult step. Using iron as the catalyst, I could reach the temperatures required. It was the pressure container that gave me the most problems. Thankfully, Tom Smith was finally able to make a large pressure cooker.

Magnesium Sulfate – 0.25 grams – simply Epsom Salts, which we import in a roundabout way. The salts were shipped to London, from there to Armorica, then to Saltash. It kept the Saxons from knowing anything was going on.

Glucose Monohydrate – 2.75 grams - I prepared a 1-mole glucose stock solution by dissolving 18g of glucose from honey in distilled water to a final volume of 100ml.

The working glucose solution is prepared by diluting this stock solution. 

Potassium Phosphate Mono – 0.50 grams – I produced it using phosphoric acid on potassium carbonate, which I could easily do.

Zinc Sulfate – 0.044 grams – Zinc Sulfate is a white crystalline, water-soluble compound. I prepared it by reacting zinc with aqueous sulfuric acid.

Manganese Sulfate – 0.044 grams –I mixed manganese dioxide with water, and an excess of sulfur dioxide bubbled through. The reaction produced manganese dioxide directly.

Then, I added enough cold tap water to make one liter. I used Hydrochloric Acid to adjust the pHbetween 5.0 and 5.5.

After all those steps, I had to separate the penicillin from the liquid. I poured the solution into sterilized stoppered containers. I used only enough so the media didn't reach the stopper when the container was tilted slightly. Then, I added approximately one tablespoon of the spores I'd grown.

Next, I incubated the bottles at 70 degrees Fahrenheit for seven days.

If the culture produced penicillin, you would see it in the liquid portion of the solution following this incubation period. It was a success.

I filtered the media using a thick canvas, plugged the bottles, and refrigerated them immediately.

After a few hours, I used the hydrochloric acid again to adjust the solution to 2.2 Ph. Then I mixed it with cold Ethyl Acetate in a separatory funneland shook it well.

Later, I drained the Ethyl Acetate from the bottom into a beaker, placed it in an ice bath, and repeated the process. Then I added 1% potassium acetate and mixed it. Now, I had to wait until the Ethyl Acetate evaporated off. This takes a while, depending on atmospheric conditions.

When it finally dried, the remaining powder contained penicillin.

Lady Agnes with me, I tested it on bacteria under a microscope. It worked there so we asked a lumberjack if we could test it on him. We couldn’t promise it would work, but he was near death's door from an infection gained when he almost sliced his leg off. The penicillin worked wonderfully, fighting off the infection.

It was gone within two days of taking the pills, and the lumberjack’s leg was healing.

I had never told my story to Lady Agnes, but she suspected something. She was beginning to expect miracles like this from me.

I explained penicillin is an antibiotic that fights bacteria, fungi, or microbes in our body.

It’s used to treat serious diseases like Typhoid Fever, Syphilis, Pneumonia, Meningitis, Anthrax, Tetanus Tuberculosis, Chlamydia, Abscesses, and Leptospirosis. By only talking about serious diseases, I wanted the population to not become resistant.

The most important thing was it treats infections. Simple cuts can begin to show infection very fast. And without an antibiotic, you can develop blood poisoning or gangrene. Both are deadly without very powerful antibiotics or surgery.

Lady Agnes and I continued the testing while I taught Peter Owen-nap how to make penicillin. I didn't reveal the many failures. I recorded fifty-seven of them and bet I didn't write everyone down.

As I taught him, we documented the successful process so it could be repeated. There were more side notes than steps. I wanted it tested and documented as much as possible because I wouldn't keep this a secret from the world. This could relieve a lot of pain and suffering.

Peter and I put together a dog and pony show. Since the process took so long, we had a series of steps finished so we could show the results of our process immediately. He had done enough of these for me that he was getting good at it.

It took a month, but I got all the senior players in Cornwall together for the show. The grand finale was the curing of a blood infection in two days. We saved a little boy's life.

I was surprised by Father Timothy’s objections.

"God had a plan for this boy, and you interfered with it."

"How do you know my making penicillin isn't part of God's plan?" I replied.

"We should ask the Pope if this is allowed."

Lady Agnes said, "What do your Popes know about pain and suffering? All three Popes live the high life; which one are you going to ask? Only one can be infallible. Which one?"

Father Timothy, like many a man before him, knew when he was outmatched.

"I will pray on the issue."

I told him, "The answer to your prayer should be less pain and suffering. I don't remember it saying in the Bible that people should suffer. Suffer for their sins but nothing else."

He replied, "Then sailors who catch the disease between their legs should suffer?"

I rebutted with, "Maybe they should, but should their wives have the same fate?

Archbishop Luke said, "I favor anything that reduces pain and suffering."

That ended that.

Chapter 5

 

Now that we could successfully make penicillin, production had to be scaled up. Peter and I spent hours discussing and mapping out a production facility. It was actually more like a campus.

I had to introduce Peter to the concept of bottlenecks in production. He caught on quickly. I made a mental note that he would be an excellent candidate to engineer different manufacturing processes.

The main production building was to be fifty thousand square feet, which was large for this era. The production and packaging of penicillin and storage for finished goods would be here. A lab for quality testing was included.

All the raw ingredients would be produced or processed in separate buildings. Then, there was warehousing for packaging and such items.

We needed a dining hall for the workers. A small exercise facility, a medical facility, and offices for accounting, HR, and management. I even got carried away and added a childcare center since most workers would be women.

Then there was the problem of creating an oral tablet. We had been using the powder in its loose form, but that wouldn't work for most situations.

In tablet-pressing, all ingredients must be dry, powdered, or granular, uniform in particle size, and freely flowing. Mixed particle-sized powders segregate during manufacturing operations due to different densities. This results in tablets with poor drug or content uniformity. Granulation by grinding the components to the same size prevents this. Content uniformity ensures the same dose is delivered with each tablet.

Corn starch was used as the binder to hold the tablet or pill together and provide strength while the pill was being compressed.

We added talc as a slip agent so the different powders wouldn't rub and make dust.

Our pills or tablets were being made in 250mg and 500mg doses. The commonly prescribed dosages. I gave Lady Agnes a list of what dosages and how long the pills should be taken for the major diseases.

The Tablet diameter and its shape are determined by the machine tooling used to produce them. We chose a six mm size for the pills. This required station tooling consisting of a die set plus an upper and a lower punch.

Thickness was determined by the amount of tablet material, placement of the punches, and their alignment with one another during compression.

Once set up, we varied the pressure applied during compression. The shorter the distance between the punches, the greater the pressure applied during compression. By trial and error, we established a setting that would compress a tablet and not fracture in the compression process.

Pills have always been difficult to swallow, and efforts have been made to make them go down easier. The book I had read recommended a simple sugar coating. I think there was a song about that.

The tablets needed to be hard enough so they did not break up in the container yet brittle enough that they disintegrated in the gastric tract. A final touch to the tablets was to impress a 'P' with the die set to indicate penicillin.

While it took three months to develop penicillin, it took another six months to develop a useable pill. During that period, we were able to erect our factory complex. It cost a bundle but would be worth every copper crow.

We could process one ten-pound batch daily. There would be no issue with scaling up to one hundred pounds a day.

We didn't let people suffer in the meantime. As soon as we had penicillin in powdered form, we provided it to Lady Agnes for distribution to the health centers in all the villages in Cornwall.

At first packaging was hand folding the powder in parchment. But when we were in full production of tablets, we used glass vials. They weren't childproof, but since they were only dispensed by hand at the clinics, it wasn't a concern at this time.

Our penicillin had a six-month shelf life. So there would always be a supply on hand if it was stored in a cool, dry place.

The new pills were also distributed to all the health centers in Cornwall. Soon stories were coming back of people on death's door being cured.

Father Timothy relented in his doubt. He concluded if the Lord didn't want it, he would have prevented us from making penicillin. I accepted his change without comment.

An unanticipated side effect was noticed about six months into the introduction of the pill.

There was a higher incidence of sailors with syphilis coming ashore. All sailors were required to undergo a small arm inspection before being allowed to enter Saltash or now Tintagel.

When a sailor was found to have the symptoms, they were given a seven-day course of penicillin. They were held in quarantine until they were pronounced cured. Ships sailed without them, but the newly released sailors would sign on with the next ship that had lost crew for the same reason.

It seemed sailors talked, and the word of our cure was spreading fast. I didn't doubt more than sailors would be showing up at our door. Those people I would charge an arm and a leg.

Our road system, as originally designed, was now complete. That being said, no road system is ever complete, they have to be maintained and new roads added for new ventures.

We also had a working semaphore system connecting all major points in the County. No one was going hungry because of our farming methods. And thanks to our medical and sewage systems, the populace was the healthiest in the world.

We had the most educated people in the world. People from neighboring Wessex and Wales were sneaking over their borders to join our County.

What could be better?

To top it all off Frank Goldman was returning from Rome. He arrived in Armorica with over one hundred armed guards, escorting ten heavily laden wagons. We were to become the repository of the Jewish merchant's wealth.

From Armorica, he had sent messages for us to expect him and arrange transportation of a heavy load of 'merchandise'. Needless to say, Miriam was joyous to have him come home.

She and Eleanor had become fast friends.

Frank arrived with plans for their repository. It reminded me of Fort Knox.

While in the US Army, I was privileged to tour the facility. It looked like your normal friendly state penitentiary. While there, I was told a story. At least, I think it was a story. The most hated job there was mowing the grass. Before starting the riding mower, you had to be certain to turn off the electronic minefield.

Anyway, Frank had the building plans, and I approved the erection of the building. Most of it would be underground, just as the vaults in Fort Knox were.

The vault would have many separate areas. Each reserved for the gold and silver of a specific merchant. As trades were made and fortunes waxed and waned, the coins would be moved to another merchant's fenced-in area. The fencing was iron bars from floor to ceiling so no one could climb over or through the cages.

Messengers would bring word of exchanges to be made, and clerks would enter the changes in a ledger maintained for each merchant.

We knew word would get out and that an army would come knocking.

But It wasn't an army. It was Viking Raiders. They tried to come ashore near Wendon, the shortest route to Owen-nap without attacking a port. They had solid information, so there was a spy amongst us.

Their information did them little good as our soldiers rallied quickly with our road system. Before they could march from Wendon to Owen-nap, we had an overwhelming force fronting them. The Vikings charged our troops, but they couldn't cover the ground between them before they were cut down.

None of the Vikings tried to surrender, and it would have done them no good. I had a standing order. They were all to be killed. There would be no Danegeld from us. My troops marched on the Viking longboats and burned them to the ground while hanging the crew left to tend the ships.

I would have loved to read the message sent by our traitor about the Viking's rapid demise. I doubt we would see them again anytime soon.

Soon after, another joyous event occurred. The birth of my first son, James Douglas Fletcher Owen-nap. Eleanor's labor was quicker and easier this time. She contracted an infection during childbirth, but a course of penicillin stopped it.

Three-year-old Catherine loved her baby brother and wanted to hold him. She had to be watched. She would be stroking his head and singing a mindless lullaby then suddenly decide she wanted to poke his eyes out.

I was told this was standard behavior for children, but I had to wonder if I was raising a psychopath. I was informed that all three-year-olds are psychopaths.

It was our job to teach the children acceptable behavior. This parenting stuff is hard. I'm sure it will be easier when they are teens.

Thankfully, I didn't have to worry about my daughter's homicidal tendencies as a more serious issue came up. Rome was being visited by a plague sent by God for their sins.

From the description, I suspected Pneumonic plague. It is caused by contact with an infected animal, spreading person-to-person through coughing. It attacks the lungs, rapidly multiplying, which triggers an immuno-response. Eventually shutting the lungs down and leaving the person to die of respiratory failure.

The symptoms included fever, sneezing, sore throat, extremely bad breath, violent coughing, chest pains, insomnia, and convulsions.

Many people were in good health when the plague struck but succumbed within ten days after the first symptom of the fever. This fever persisted to such a degree that people could not tolerate clothing. Constantly needing water, they could not hold it down.

It was reported that those who tried to help died so quickly others began abandoning the ill. Looking after their own interests instead.

Those who caught the disease died or recovered within two weeks. From the books I read, the plague was thought to have originated in China and spread westward along the Silk Road. Thankfully in my past day and age, we didn't have to worry about diseases coming out of China.

I hastily called a meeting with all my advisors. The most important attendees were Lady Agnes, Archbishop Luke, and Senior Priest Timothy. Agnes because of how it would affect health care and the religious men because of the belief that the plague was God's will.

I very carefully worded my explanation to the group.

"There is a plague in Rome right now. It is coming from the east along the Silk Road."

Baron Bolventor spoke up.

"I have heard of this Silk Road but know nothing about it. Is it a road covered in silk?"

"It is a trade route in which silk is brought from some country far to the east of us. The silk is mysterious, and we don't know how it is produced. But it is the finest cloth in the world and worth a fortune."

The Archbishop who knew my secret asked.

"Have you ever heard of a way to defend against the disease?"

"It is spread by a person coughing. Even if they don't cough on you, if you touch a surface that has their spit, you can contract it. The only real defense is to not let those people into our County. The only problem is that while we can quarantine ships, we can't quarantine people who sneak across our borders."

Lady Agnes asked, "Will penicillin work?"

"Sadly, no. Things will be bad."

Chapter 6

 

Lady Agnes and the others that knew my secret wanted to know what would work if penicillin wouldn't and could we make it. I had broken down and let all my advisors know of my background some time ago.

I told them of streptomycin, gentamicin, tetracyclines, and chloramphenicol. All discovered in soil samples in a part of the world we couldn't get to.

Even if we had the samples, we didn't have the knowledge or the equipment to identify them, much less make them.

The only way we could prevent it from coming to Cornwall was to declare a Madagascar.

Lady Agnes asked, "What is a Madagascar?"

"In my world, there was a plague that affected the whole world. One island nation, Samoa, allowed trade to continue, and suffered, losing twenty-five percent of its population.

"Another island nation, Madagascar, closed its ports. Allowing no one in or out. They had no known losses."

Baron Lewanniet, a proud new grandfather, stated, "Then let's close our ports."

"We can, but we aren't an island nation. Once the plague is on our land, people will be fleeing in all directions. Some will come here after they have been infected with the disease."

The Baron asked, "What can we do?"

"I read a story once that had a similar situation. They built walls to close off their border. They would allow people to enter their gates and spend time in quarantine. Once it was obvious they weren't infected, they were allowed into the valley."

Archbishop Luke asked, "Can you dictate a copy of that book? I would love to read it."

"I could, but I won't. It is a work of fiction, and things were made up, but there were many real things as well. It would only confuse everyone."

"I don't believe people would fail to understand it isn't real."

"Do you want to take a chance that people might think immortality is real and that they may never have to face their maker?"

"What!"

"As I said, I won't allow that book out."

"Thank you. I must ask. Are there many works like that?"

"More than you can imagine."

"Then we should leave well enough alone."

"That is why I get your permission to release each book."

"Thank you again."

I changed the subject, regretting ever getting involved with that conversation.

"We can close our ports, but we will have to build a wall to separate us from Wales and Middle Wessex. Then have gates leading to quarantine areas."

"When do we close our ports?"

"Since the disease is being carried from Rome, it will arrive in Armorica first. As soon as we hear of a case there, we must close the ports. Even then, it might be too late."

Eleanor said, "Maybe we should bring our people home from Armorica and close our ports now."

"That would be the safest thing to do."

"How long do you think we have?"

"Thirty days before it gets to Armorica. That is how long it takes merchants to make the trip."

"What about individuals on horseback?"

"They would die before they could get here. Since they are traveling alone, they are less likely to infect someone. This is true of any small group."

I continued, "A group of merchants could start out with one infected member who would die along the way. Before he died, he would infect others who would die. In turn, they would pass it on until all were dead. If any of the infected dealt with the local population along the way, they would pass it on."

"Have no doubt the plague will reach Armorica and us if we do nothing."

"How many die from this plague?"

"Almost all."

Baron Bolventor wanted to know, "When can we call our people home and start on the wall?"

"Today isn't too soon."

We set the surveying teams in motion, finding the best path for a wall between us, Wales, and Wessex. It was to be on the far side of our Keeps but remain on our territory. Gates would be near each Keep as that was the path most people followed.

That was a preview of Cast in Time Book 3: Count. To read the rest purchase the book.

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