Because of that, they were much thicker to better protect against battering rams. Indeed, so wide were these walls that atop were large chambers built from equally massive stone blocks.Katherine and Hawkwood were so close to the west gate of York that almost directly above them, and built into the high arch above the entrance to the town, was one of the prisons of York.An open window had been cut into each of the four walls of the prison, hardly large enough for a small boy to crawl through. Despite that restriction, and despite the sheer thirty-foot drop to the ground, iron bars had been placed into the windows as a final barrier to prisoners with dreams of escape.When Katherine looked up, she imagined the occasional dark shadow of movement through the window closest to her. She did not look up often, however. Imbedded into the stone walls were iron pikes. Upon three, the heads of three men were impaled, staring their silent horror upon the town as warning to those who might also become rebels.Mostly, then, Katherine watched a stream of peasants and craftsmen enter the town beneath those gateway prisons.
