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Page 77
man who had now seized the rein of Richard's horse and was leading it rapidly away in the direction of Monmouth keep.
The three men who had attacked the earl from the front had now fallen in behind him and were prodding him forward. Half-stunned and blinded by his own blood, Richard turned in the saddle and swept his sword around behind him so swiftly that he caught one man on the forward sweep and the other on the backstroke. Still, he was helpless to prevent himself from being drawn forward because he could neither control his horse nor reach the man who was leading it. Walter was coming up from the rear, but others in the opposing force were closing in on the pair more quickly. Walter knew he would never reach them in time. Glancing wildly around, Walter saw three men on foot, wearing tabards striped green and yellow, bearing a rampant red lion.
"Shoot! Shoot!" he screamed. "The earl is taken prisoner."
The bows came up. Instantly, Walter bitterly regretted what he had done. Crossbows are not the most of accurate of weapons. If any of the men happened to be an unusually bad shot, Richard instead of his captor might be skewered. Walter shut his eyes in terror.
The desire to shut out the sight of a disaster one has caused is natural, but under the circumstances it was also stupid. Walter opened his eyes at once and saw his action vindicated. Richard's captor had dropped the reins of the earl's horse and was failing sideways off his own mount. Walter barely caught a glimpse of a dark shaft protruding from the man's chest. The instant the reins were released, Pembroke kneed the horse he rode sharply away from the falling man. The enemies who had been closing on captor and captive to escort them abandoned the earl in favor of succoring their master, and Walter was able to overtake Richard's stumbling mount, retrieve the reins, and thrust them into the earl's fingers.
The crossbowmen were running toward them, and Walter felt an enormous relief that he would not need to try to protect Richard without help. He ached all over and felt so tired that he wondered whether he would be able to remain astride of Beau, let alone fight. To make matters worse, somewhere to the left Walter was aware of a considerable increase in the noise of battle, but he had no time to wonder what new disaster had befallen them.
They were assailed again. Although he had not believed he

 
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