the Sackett Companion (1992) Read Online Free PDF

monster was destroyed near the bridge, but little is known of its actual size or nature.

    Nor is there information as to when the first London Bridge was built. Details of the construction of the Bridge in 1176 have been found, yet there seems to have been a bridge in the time of King Ethelred, and it's likely the Romans had themselves bridged the Thames as early as A.D. 100 or shortly after.

    LEPANTO: One of the decisive battles of history, and the last in which oar-propelled vessels were engaged. Don John of Austria, then but twenty-four years of age (not unusual for a ruler in those years), defeated Ali Pasha. Don John had at his command some three hundred ships provided by Venice, the Papal States, and Spain against the two hundred seventy-three Turkish vessels. This battle marked the end of Moslem power in Europe. The date was 1571, and Ivo Sackett was but a young man.

    ZUTPHEN: A fortified city in the Netherlands, on the right bank of the Ysel. This battle took place in September of 1586, sadly remembered in England as the battle in which Sir Philip Sidney, the poet-soldier, was killed. Formerly the seat of the Counts of Zutphen, whose line became extinct in the twelfth century. Some six thousand British soldiers were involved.

    In the fifteen years between these battles Ivo divided his time between living in the Fens and fighting in other wars, elsewhere.

    It was the custom in those years to hold prisoners for ransom if they happened to be important men or had friends who might provide ransom. One such capture might make his captor wealthy, but the riches of captured cities were often divided among the rank and file as well if they followed a successful leader. Any young man with a sword might return from the wars with wealth enough to buy an estate.

    SAKIM: Called a Moor, a term given to designate an African-born Arab; a name he sometimes accepted rather than offer an explanation few would understand. His actual home was farther away, in Jurjan, on the shores of the Caspian Sea. A fighting man when necessary, and one of those who taught the Sacketts to wield a blade, he was in his own land known for his wisdom. An occasional official, he was also a philosopher, physician, astronomer, and judge.

    Taken by pirates after his trip to Mecca, he escaped from one ship only to be taken by another. He joined Barnabas in escaping from Nick Bardie's ship, and went with him to Shooting Creek. Called back to his native land by the death of his father, he discovered his travels had only begun. He was to think often of his old friend Barnabas, of Shooting Creek, and of Barnabas' children, who were like his own.

    His Story is also told in TO THE FAR BLUE MOUNTAINS. Such a man might appear anywhere, so who knows?

    JEREMY RING: A wandering soldier of fortune following his luck wherever it chanced to take him. A landless man without home or fortune, selling his sword to the highest bidder, he asked only that the cause be just. A man with a fierce pride, a strong sense of loyalty, and a skilled swordsman and fighting man, he knew much of war, of men, and of the dark streets of evil. A chance acquaintance who became Barnabas' best friend, Jeremy Ring went with him to America and found a home there, with true love and happiness as well.

    In that far land to which he had gone with Barnabas he founded a family and built an estate beyond his wildest expectations, if not beyond his dreams. His story continues in TO THE FAR BLUE MOUNTAINS, and elsewhere, as well.

    THE LONGBOW: A weapon that revolutionized war in its time, enabling England to dominate every war in which it engaged for over one hundred years. The origin of the longbow is unknown but generally attributed to Wales, where it appeared in the hands of Welsh yeomen in the twelfth century. Although later bows were made of yew when that wood was available, it is said the earliest bows were of elm, and were usually the height of the man who was to use the bow. Some longbows were