The war that England had feared for months begins during the summer of 1263 not with a clash of great armies, but with little spasms of violence across the land as small bodies of troops loyal to the barons gathering around Simon de Montfort and King Henry III attack their foes here and there about the country. Even such a minor family as the Attebrooks of Hafton Manor cannot avoid being drawn in, as Stephen Attebrook’s elder brother, William, takes part in an assault on a castle held by the Bishop of Hereford, one of the King’s staunch supporters. But the coming war is the last thing on Stephen’s mind that June. For a dead girl whom no one can identify is found floating in the River Teme at the Dinham mill, drowned under circumstances that only the most addle-witted could think was anything but murder. There is no time, however, for Stephen and his friend Gilbert Wistwode to devote to the fate of that poor girl, for an even more pressing dilemma is forced upon them — unknown ruffians traveling with a bear wagon have kidnapped Stephen’s niece, Ida, William’s daughter. Despite the bad blood between the two brothers, William seeks Stephen’s assistance it finding Ida. And so begins the desperate pursuit of the bear wagon across England, reaching to the depths of London itself and far into Norfolk, as Stephen races to find Ida before she meets a fate worse than murder. “The Bear Wagon” is the story of Stephen’s most complex and dangerous adventure yet.
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