Bretwalda, Part 5

 

cover art by Marshall Frantz

Read/Watch 'em In Order #138

Well, gee whiz, in the last Bretwalda story, the titular axe finally made it back to England--the nation it was destined to save--for the first time since the first story. But in "Delay at Antioch" (Argosy, June 10, 1939), we jump ahead three decades to 1098 AD and discover the current member of the Wilton family has schelped Bretwalda down to the Holy Land while participating in the First Crusade.

As the story opens, the Crusader army is camped outside Antioch, which needs to be captured to open the road to Jerusalem. This is the main problem, but Philip Ketchum continues to demonstrate his enormous skill as a storyteller by mixing in a number of other problems for Wilton, effectively introducing several plot elements very quickly and making all seem like natural extentions of the same tale.

Wilton makes an enemy of another Christian knight who is acting somewhat less than Christian. He falls in love with a Muslim girl--which might be the ultimate example of bad timing. And finally, he is tasked with sneaking into Antioch to arrange for a gate to be opened so the Crusaders can finally take the city.

I continue to be impressed with how good Ketchum is at so quickly giving his characters three-dimensional personalities and introducing potentially complex plot points, tactical situations and character motivations. For a short novella, there is a lot going on. But we are never in danger of losing track of the story, which progresses in a logical--if often unexpected--manner. 

Antioch is taken, but the Crusaders find the food supply low as they are besieged in turn by a large Muslim army. Wilton is recovering from a wound while being cared for by Shajar, the Muslim gal he's fallen for. But that knight Wilton has made an enemy of wants Shajar for himself.  And then there is that huge and apparently unbeatable Muslim army that needs to be dealt with. Desperate times, Wilton realizes, might just require desperate measures.

Whomever wields Bretwalda is destined to suffer a defeat and win a victory. For Wilton, his defeat will be heartrending and his victory will be unlikely.

"Delay at Antioch" is another winner in the Bretwalda saga. Great characters, a soundly-constructed plot and several epic battle scenes combine to give us yet another extraordinary story. You can find it online HERE.