Viking Shadow

by Griff Hosker

I did not understand the words Isaac used. David ben Samuel answered and then, after smiling, gave a slight bow. “Thanks to Oddvakr David speaks a few words of your language but I fear he will need patience.”

  Aiden nodded, “I have languages. I can read a little Greek and Latin.”

  “Good for David can speak Greek too.”

  “We sail as soon as the ship is repaired.”

  “Then David ben Samuel will follow. I will send your payment with Oddvakr.” He clasped my right hand with both of his. “Thank you, Jarl. May Jehovah watch over you. I am in your debt. Do not hesitate to call in that debt.”

  “You pay us. That is enough.”

  “No it is not, for you are helping a Jew and we Jews do not forget such kindness.”

  As we walked back Aiden could not help smiling. “Is it not wyrd, jarl that we go to a land where we cannot speak the language and someone who knows the city will be able to advise us.”

  “We know not how he might help us yet. Isaac may be friendlier than this David ben Samuel.”

  “He needs us, Jarl Dragonheart. I think this was meant to be. I can use him to help improve my Greek. Who knows he may even know of a healer in the city!”

  By the time we reached the drekar I could see them hauling the yard into place. Once that was secured then the sail would need to be attached. That was not a quick process. “Erik when can we leave?”

  Erik looked at the yard, “On the evening tide.”

  “Is the ale and food loaded?”

  Olaf nodded, “Aye, jarl.”

  “We will be taking a passenger with us. You had better rig some canvas near to the prow. He may need his privacy.”

  “A passenger?”

  I nodded, “It may be useful and besides we are being paid. It cannot hurt.”

  Our passenger arrived shortly before we left. I had begun to worry that our departure might be delayed. It took three men to bring the chests of David ben Samuel the nephew of Isaac on board. I looked at Aiden and rolled my eyes. We would have to lift the deck for the smaller of them. The other two would not fit there. They were large solid ones and they each bore a lock. I hoped that they had something to keep out the wet. The passenger carried a large leather bag which he carried over his shoulder. At his waist hung a sword and a dagger. He had seal skin boots. He was a traveller. It looked to contain that which he would need for the voyage.

  Oddvakr was one of the men bringing the chests. He lifted them aboard and then said, “My master is sorry that the chests are so large.” Oddvakr was a Viking and he knew the limitations of a dragon ship! “The smaller one contains your payment. My master thought it might help to make up for the inconvenience of the other two chests.” He lowered his voice. “It is important that they travel with young David ben Samuel. The chests are lined with seal skin. They will come to no harm if left on the deck. I offered to come with you. I think I would like the adventure and it would be good to travel with the Dragonheart.” He shrugged, “However, my master needs me.” He clasped my arm. “May the Allfather be with you!” He turned and spoke to our passenger who answered him and embraced him. There was obvious affection there. I would have liked the big Viking to have travelled with us. He looked to be a handy man in a fight.

  I waved over Ráðulfr Magnusson. “Put the two big chests near the prow, under the canvas we rigged.” As he shouted for some of the crew to help him I said, “And, you, galdramenn, had better practise your Greek. Tell him where his berth is.”

  Aiden went and spoke some Greek. It was halting for he had not spoken it since Josephus had sailed with us. I went to the chest. It was filled with coins. We were being heavily overpaid and I wondered what danger our young passenger brought. Isaac could have bought two ships for the chest of coins he had paid us. The rest of the crew were busy and so I stored it close to the steerboard under the decking.

  It was almost dark when the work was finished and Erik Short Toe wasted no time in leaving. We had a tricky estuary to negotiate and he wanted sea room. The wind was from the north east which meant we would not have to row and we could avoid Angia and the other Breton islands. I stood with Olaf and Haaken. “What is the story with our passenger, Jarl?”

  “More than we were told, of that I am certain.” Haaken cocked an eye. “We were paid too much to take him. He may bring danger but I am not certain.”

  Haaken laughed, “We are Vikings! We seek danger! It will make a good song!”

  Olaf shook his head and said, quietly, “Have you forgotten that we go to heal the Dragonheart?”

  “The god who touched the sword will not allow him to die of a worm in his gut! He is a legend. He will die a glorious death and I will be there with him!”

  Olaf Leather Neck shook his head, “Jarl, you have been his friend for longer than me. How do you put up with him?”

  I smiled, “That is easy, ignore half of what he says and laugh at the rest. He means no harm!”

  Haaken was not put out. He sniffed, “When we are all in Valhalla it will be my tales of the Dragonheart and this clan that will be told. Then men will listen to all of my words.”

  Once we were buffeted by the larger waves of the open sea we felt happier. There would be no hidden sandbars and shoals. With lookouts straining to see deadly rocks we sought safety in the empty ocean. Few ships sailed at night. We were lucky to have such an experienced captain as Erik Short Toe. I stood with him at the stern. He gestured to the yard. “It was not the ship’s fault the yard broke. That was a fierce storm. When we were in port I bought spare ropes.”

  “And have we a spare yard?”

  He shook his head. “If we can find a stand of trees when we land then we can cut one down and fashion a spare one. It will have to be before we reach the Blue Sea. After that I am not certain that we will find a suitable tree.” Nodding towards the prow he asked, “And our passenger; what is his story?”

  “Not that which we were told. Of that I am certain. We were paid too much just to carry a passenger. We were paid to protect him. And that means there will be men coming after him. We will be in danger.”

  “Perhaps but the sea is wide and we left shortly after he arrived.”

  A sudden thought struck me. “That may explain his late arrival. It was to put off pursuers.”

  Erik Short Toe was not convinced, “A drekar filled with Vikings is not the easiest of targets to take and we left late. I saw no other ships ready to sail.”

  “You may be right but I see a Norn’s web and we will have to extricate ourselves from it some time on this voyage.”

  “You have the best of crews. If they cannot do it then no one can.”

  Most of my men had already rolled into their furs and lay asleep when I took my wolf cloak from the chest. Aiden returned. “I had thought you were going to sleep with our passenger at the prow.”

  He smiled as he took his own cloak and blanket from the chest, “No Jarl but I had to explain to him many things. He has never sailed on a long ship before. Between his Norse and my Greek, we managed. I learned much. He is used to luxury. When he sailed the Blue Sea, he had a cabin and servants. This is his first voyage in such conditions. He must be desperate.” I looked at him. He lowered his voice and nodded, “He is escaping something. He asked me where we would be putting in. I thought he was thinking of staying in inns to make himself more comfortable. I told him we would sleep on the deck or on beaches. He was more worried about whom we might meet. When I asked him who he meant, he said he was tired. He is the hunted.”

  “And who are the hunters?”

  “I know not but we have more than fifty days to get into his mind. He knows not that he sails with a galdramenn and the Dragonheart.” He took out his medicine flask, “Here, it is time for your potion.”

  I drank and then I slept but I could not get the young Jew from my thoughts. I came up with many explanations for his presence and the real reason for his flight but none made sense.

  Chapter 3

  When I woke we were ou
t at sea. It was a grey day and there was no sign of land. We were, however, being followed by gulls. That meant that land was not far away. Looking at the pennant I saw that the wind still came from the north east and would help to take us south. When we had to turn south and east then we would slow but we were making good time. I made water and then went to speak with Erik’s son, Arne. Arne had three fingers having lost the others when he was a ship’s boy. He sailed with us despite having his own knarr. He had no wife. She had died of the coughing sickness two winter’s since.

  “Well Arne, how goes it?”

  He pointed east, “Frankia is just over the horizon. The lookout on the masthead keeps her in view. Father asked me to keep her well out to sea.” He sniffed the air. “The wind will change but, for the present, the Allfather is with us.” He gestured to a leather water filled pail next to him and the lines which streamed from the upper sheerstrake. Siggi Knutson, his nephew, was hauling in another of the sparkling fish which were attracted by anything shiny. “The Allfather has sent us food this morning. Help yourself.”

  We called the fish the Magpie Fish for like that black and white bird it was attracted to all things shiny. Others called it the foolish fish for it was so easy to catch. I did not care what it was named for eaten raw it was delicious. Everything else we ate on the ship tasted of salt or vinegar. Both were pleasant tastes unless you ate them every day. I reached down and took one of the freshly caught fish which still showed signs of life. I smashed its head on to the sheerstrake to kill it and then, using my seax, slit open its belly to remove the guts. The screaming gulls swooped and fought for the treasure I threw over the side. Then I removed the head and tossed that too. Once more the morning was riven with their screams.

  Aiden awoke, “Cannot a man sleep?”

  I took out the backbone and split the fish in two. I handed one half to him. Here is the gift of Ran.” I sheathed my seax and ate the raw fish. Kara had told me that it would help my condition. I guessed that the crew all knew that which was why Arne had his nephew fishing. It is doubtful that any would be left after all the crew had risen. This fish was very popular but did not keep well. Any that were left would be preserved in salt and vinegar. It would make Skreið.

  The crew had all eaten and the pail was almost empty when our passenger emerged. There was just one dead fish remaining. He made his way down the centre of the drekar. The crew stared at him as though he had two heads. As he approached I was able to get a better look at him. His clothes were well made. It explained the chests for there was no way to wash clothes at sea. When the voyage finished we would all stink. He was broader than I had thought when I had first seen him. A dagger hung from his belt.

  Aiden smiled and spoke to him in halting Greek. David ben Samuel answered. I saw Aiden say, “Aah!”

  “What is it?”

  “The man’s religion forbids him to eat the flesh of the pig. The salted meat we have will not do.” He reached down and took out the last fish. He handed it to me. Aiden had many skills but the gutting of fish was not one of them. I gutted it and made it into two fillets. As the gulls fought over the remains I handed the fillets to Aiden. I saw him struggling for the words and then he handed over one of them. I saw the Jew nibble tentatively at the fish. Aiden said something and David closed his eyes and ate again. He was smiling when he opened them and he devoured both fillets.

  I turned to Arne, “We had better have Siggi fishing each day.”

  “Further south they are different species of fish, Jarl Dragonheart. They may not be so easy to catch.”

  “Then our passenger will have a varied diet.”

  “When he has made water, I will try to teach him our words. We have little else to do and the weather is clement.”

  The weather held all day. I saw no more of either man. Erik came to take over the steering board at noon. After speaking with his son, he took the tiller. He pointed east. “I like not the coast there. The Franks have built towers at the mouth of the Liger and they have ships which hunt for the likes of us. We could defeat them but we might lose men and we do not have the luxury of a large crew. When the sun sets I will head closer to shore and we will anchor. The wind may well change on the morrow but I will not risk sailing this coast at night.”

  He was the captain and we were in his hands. There had been some blood on my kyrtle when I had awoken but there had not been as much as in the past. Perhaps the sea helped alleviate the conditions. I knew not.

  Sámr came to join me. He was bare chested and the sun had begun to redden his skin. “Your mother will blame me if you go home with peeled skin!”

  He laughed, “I have put seal oil on. I will not shed my skin. It is easier this way for it means I have dry clothes to wear.”

  Erik laughed, “It is many years since the Dragonheart was a ship’s boy. He has forgotten the soaking!”

  “I spent little time as a ship’s boy Erik. When I was Sámr’s age I lived with Old Ragnar high in the mountains. All that I remember was having to leap ashore and tie us up. As that meant I was soon fighting then wet clothes were the least of my worries.”

  “When will I take an oar?” Sámr looked up at me expectantly. He knew that taking an oar was the first step to becoming a warrior.

  I looked at Erik, “That depends upon our captain here?”

  Erik ran his eye over Sámr. “You have the chest already. When we reach the Blue Sea, you can try.” He grinned mischievously. “You can relieve Haaken One Eye then.”

  Sámr’s face fell, “I will be Olaf Leather Neck’s oar brother!”

  “Then you have until the Blue Sea to reconsider your decision.”

  He smiled at me, “No, Jarl Dragonheart. This is wyrd. Rowing with Olaf will make me a better warrior. I can aspire to be the best.”

  For the next three days the winds gradually changed direction but remained kind. We continued south sailing well off the coast during the day and closing at night. As we neared Al Andalus Erik said, “We will soon need water. We need to land during the day. If we can I would prefer to make it in Leon rather than Al Andalus. The Arabs of Córdoba are cruel and hate our people.”

  “Then put in now. This is Vasconia. We cannot sail without water and we have had no rain since Wessex.”

  He put the steering board over and we headed east. “Keep a watch for land. We seek a river! Any sail is a potential enemy!”

  The shout roused my men. They knew what the change in direction meant. Blades were fetched and sharpened. Seal skin boots were taken from their chests. None had been idle on the voyage. Bone had been brought to carve for most while Haaken composed more chants for the rowers. The change in direction brought a different motion to the ship and I saw David and Aiden walk towards us. We had seen little of the two of them for the last few days. They had been camped by the prow beneath the canvas awning.

  “We go to land?”

  I nodded, “We need water.”

  Our passenger spoke, haltingly, “It is village we find?”

  I was surprised at his grasp of our language. Aiden shrugged, “He has a quick mind and he can speak many languages. By the time we reach the Blue Sea it will be time for him to learn the curses of Olaf Leather Neck for he will have the rest of our words.”

  I shook my head, “We go to find water. We seek a river.”

  He looked relieved. The two of them stayed with us as we approached the coast. The thin grey line grew and became land. Erik turned us slightly and we headed obliquely towards the coast. I saw trees and occasional buildings. From Aiden’s charts we were close to the land of Vasconia. There was one mighty river but I hoped we were south of that.

  Lars shouted, “I see a river. There is a small village with fishing boats!”

  Erik looked at me. I nodded, “Who knows, we may get food too!”

  As we headed inshore we had to use the oars. Erik shortened sail. It would make a safer approach although it would warn the villagers that the Vikings were coming. Lars shouted, as he put ano
ther reef in the sail. “They are getting in the boats and heading upstream.”

  Erik laughed, “Then they are in for a shock for we will have to sail after them to get at the fresher water.”

  As we drew closer I saw others had fled across the sides of the valley. There would be a nearby citadel. I turned to Aiden, “when we get to the village take our passenger, Olaf and Haaken. See what you can find. I am certain that I can spy some sheep. It will take us time to get upstream, turn and then fill the barrels.”

  Erik nodded, “Good idea jarl. They may have fresh meat. Olaf Haaken, leave your oar. You get to go ashore.”

  “Excellent!”

  Aiden turned to David and explained what they would be doing. It soon became apparent that this was a small village but not tiny. There were fourteen or so huts and they had built a quay to help them land their catch. Smoke came from the huts. They had been cooking. Erik timed it to perfection, “In oars.” As the oars came in and the current struck us so we slowed and bumped gently next to the quay. Olaf and Haaken leapt quickly ashore. David was less confident. Olaf reached over and pulled him on to the quay. Aiden joined them.

  “Oars out.” The steerboard oars pushed us away from the quay and soon we were heading upstream. We had a current to fight and two fewer rowers. Erik shouted, “Lars, Sámr, Siggi, Arne take two oars. You can row!”

  I watched as they ran their oars out and then I began the chant to help them. It was the chant of the Ulfheonar and was used to get up to speed. The lines were short and rowing was faster. It would be a real test for my great grandson.

  Push your arms

  Row the boat

  Use your back

  The Wolf will fly

  Ulfheonar

  Are real men

  Teeth like iron

  Arms like trees

  Push your arms

  Row the boat

  Use your back

  The Wolf will fly

  Ragnar’s Spirit

  Guides us still

  Dragon Heart

  Wields it well