Heroes of the Valley

by Jonathan Stroud

  Amongst the reeds and grasses of the old dry moat a host of people bent and scrabbled, gathering stones fallen from the walls. Women and children scooped up the smaller pieces, while men carried bigger ones up to the road and in at the gate. The very largest rocks were hauled by horses or manhandled bodily by straining groups of three or four. Inside the gates, other teams assessed the stones and distributed them to various portions of the tumbled walls, which were slowly taking renewed shape.

  Inside the House, at the workshops abutting the central yard, another process was in full swing. A great pile of logs, removed from dry storage, had been stacked here. Men came, chose logs and rolled them into the workshops; from within came the rhythmic chopping of the axe and the rasp of saws.

  Close by, in Grim's forge, red light glowed strongly. Grim's voice rose above his hammer strikes, bellowing orders to his sons.

  Away beyond the far side of the House, near the south gate, where the wall had entirely fallen, a small group of youths worked with spades and mattocks, digging the soft ground.

  Meanwhile, from every cottage, women hurried with baskets, boxes, kegs and churns, bringing them to the hall. Livestock was led from the sties and stables beyond the wall, up through the gates and into the yard; pigs, chickens and goats roamed free amongst the bustling throng.

  And in the centre of it all, in the middle of the yard, stood Halli Sveinsson, watching, listening, giving orders to all who came.

  Here waddled Bolli the bread-maker, red-faced, sweating. 'The loaves are almost risen. Where shall they be stored?'

  'Gudny is organizing the kitchens; she will tell you where to take them.'

  Here was Unn, emerging from the tannery. 'I have four vats prepared. Who wants them?'

  'One for each side. Get Brusi to roll them down.'

  Here strode Grim, a glowing poker in his hand. 'I need more pails or buckets. How many of these things are we making?'

  'As many as there are logs. It is a long wall.'

  Grim paused, wiping a burly forearm across his brow. 'You think this will work?'

  'It worked for Svein, didn't it? Kol was completely fooled.'

  'Well, I have sixteen completed already and they are cluttering up my forge. Someone will need to take them.'

  'I will ask Leif to do so. He is commander of the wall.'

  Grim departed. In the interlude that followed, Halli took stock. All was in order, so far as he could see. No one was idle; everyone worked for the desired outcome. This was not to say that they were happy doing so. Some at least were visibly sceptical, some downright hostile – his brother Leif among them. But from the first faltering moment when he began outlining his suggestions, no one had challenged him. Suggestions had become orders; caution had given way to confidence. With increasing vigour he had outlined his ideas; his people had absorbed his plan – and something of his energy too.

  'Halli.'

  He looked up, startled; the voice jolted him from the novelties of the present situation; he felt suddenly smaller, back to normal.

  'Aud!' A wave of guilt rose in him. He hadn't spoken to her since early morning, when Katla had whisked her off and he had gone to rouse the House. In the hall she had been an isolated figure on the fringe of the debate. He had not had time to consider how she was feeling. 'I'm so sorry,' he said. 'I should have—'

  Aud waved her hand; it was lightly bandaged. 'That's all right. You've had things to do. I'm better. Almost.' She grinned at him. Her eyes were clear; the terror and anger of the night before had gone from them.

  Her ankle was bound with new strapping. 'Looks less swollen,' Halli said.

  'Katla made a paste this morning and smeared it on. A black, foul-smelling gunk. I dread to think what's in it.'

  Halli winced. 'I know the stuff. Did she cackle as she mashed it in a mortar?'

  'Yes. Still, it's working wonders. I'm sore, but I can walk again. I've been down at the wall, shifting rocks with the others. The bit by the gate's looking good now.'

  'That's fine— Oh, wait.' Halli raised a hand and hailed a passing girl. 'Ingirid, could you run to the north gate, check that Leif 's getting the hinges fixed? I forgot to remind him before. Thanks.' He turned to Aud. 'Sorry – it's just you reminded me—'

  'Like I said, it's all right.' She looked at him. 'I know it's hard to think about, with all this going on, but . . . how are you feeling about . . . last night? I can't get it out of my head.

  When I close my eyes, I'm back in the darkness, with that—'

  Halli reached for her hand and squeezed it. 'Me too. It's there always. But. Aud, listen – we survived it, and it's made us stronger.'

  'You reckon? How's that, exactly?'

  'Are you truly afraid of Hord Hakonsson after what we've seen?'

  She sighed without replying. At last she said: 'I listened in the hall this morning. You did well there, Halli.' She gestured round at various hurrying forms. 'The people believed your words; they're acting on them.'

  Halli shrugged, watching two anxious, bent-backed men rolling barrels to the porch from outside stores. They glanced at him, and he waved them on. 'That's as may be. My father would have done the same, and they'd have loved him for it. They're no fonder of me than before – they just need someone to tell them what to do.'

  'Tell me something,' Aud said.

  'Mm?'

  'Is it going to work? Your idea?'

  Halli didn't answer for a moment. 'It might,' he said. 'It might in part. I think we will take Hord by surprise. maybe do enough damage to send him packing, but . . . He's not someone easily dissuaded. Setbacks anger him. Aud, as they do me. And he does have swords.' Halli hesitated. 'Which brings me on to a different matter. I've been wanting to talk to you about this. Now that you're in one piece, I think you should leave.'

  Aud looked at him. 'What?'

  'Take your horse; go by the west track to Gest's House. You'll be able to follow the field walls even in mist. Get them to take you in. I'd rather you were safe, and—'

  'Have you quite finished?' Aud said.

  'Well, no, actually, I was in the middle of a sent—'

  'Then shut up.' She stepped close to avoid a convoy of pigs that trotted across the yard, driven by a small boy with a switch. 'You think I'd just run away like that?' she said. 'Like Leif was going to?'

  'I'm not saying run away. But you're a guest here. It's not your—'

  'It is,' Aud said. 'Of course it is. It's as much my fight as yours.'

  Halli folded his arms. 'And how do you work that out precisely?'

  Aud folded hers. 'Hord threatens all of us. Nowhere in the valley will be safe if he wins the battle here. Is that, or is that not, so?'

  Halli wrinkled his nose. 'Technically "so", I suppose.'

  'Hence it's my job to foil him too. So I stay.' She grinned triumphantly.

  Halli chuckled. 'Good. Are you done? That argument would just about hold water if you were a big bearded fellow with muscles like iron and a fine line in swinging a stake mallet. As it is, you'll be less than useless if it comes to fighting, and will be slaughtered in seconds. If you want to stay in the hall with Gudny and the women, that's fine. There'll be babies needing changing, I don't doubt. Or, as I advise, you can get on your horse and g— Ow! Great Svein! Don't kick me in front of everyone! Think of their morale. And that was your bad foot and all.'

  Aud was white, her voice a furious whisper. 'How dare you speak like that to me? You forget I am a daughter of a hero's line! More to the point I could at least hope to carry a sword at my belt without it tripping me up every time I moved my little pudgy legs.'

  Halli's eyes bulged. 'Now stop right there—'

  'You think you could fight in battle?' Aud hissed. 'The most to say of you is that an average sword-swing would sail harmlessly above your head! Oh, and perhaps in aiming for your heart, an enemy might cut his own toes off and topple over. Otherwise the outlook for you is not so hot.'

  Halli boiled with rage. 'Is that right? Is that righ
t? Who saved you on the ridge?'

  'Oh, I know you saved me,' Aud hissed. 'But as I recall we faced that Trow together. Did I flinch then? Did I flee? Did I let you down then? Well? Did I ?'

  Halli bit his lip. 'No, you didn't, but—'

  'Do you think perhaps I'd fail you here?'

  'No! But—'

  'So what are you saying then?'

  'I'm saying—'

  'Well?'

  'I'm saying I don't want you hurt.'

  'Because?'

  'Because . . .' Halli waved his hands about wildly. 'Because then your father will get mad and there'll be another diplomatic incident, which my House can ill afford.'

  'That's the reason, is it?' Aud said.

  'That's the reason.'

  'I see. Well, that's very considerate of you. I'm sure my father would be most grateful.' Her voice was cold and distant.

  'I'm glad to hear it.' Halli turned aside from her just as Ketil arrived to ask a question about grass netting. Then came Leif to sullenly consult about the defending of the walls, and Grim roaring for more pails, and by the time Halli had finished with them and a number of other queries, and looked about for Aud again, she was nowhere to be seen.

  Late afternoon, and the mists were drawing in once more. Like wisps of wool they stole across the fields, threading through trees, muffling the dying sun. The meadows below the House were gone now; so too the road beyond the moat.

  Halli stood on the wall-top, staring out at nothing.

  He breathed in the air, absorbing its stillness and the imminence of danger. Hord was close now – he knew it as surely as if he crouched beside him in the fields; he was hunkered down with the little company of men that he had led successfully up the ice-bound gorge. Hunkered down, waiting for the dark.

  Halli narrowed his eyes. Where? Where would he have gone if their positions were reversed? He'd have ridden as far as the old wood, yes, to tether the horses. Then gone crosscountry, avoiding the main road, to come out . . . where? On the north-east side, maybe, above the orchard, by that copse that fringed a little hollow . . .

  He scrambled along the wall-top and peered off into the swirling murk.

  Yes, in the distance, scarcely visible, a faint grey mass of trees . . .

  Halli grinned thinly. That was it. Right there.

  Scouts might be closer, of course, circling the House, looking for the weak points on the wall. Good – those should be obvious even in the mist. With luck they would make the obvious assumptions.

  He glanced at the sky. Not long till dusk. It was time to get his people ready.

  The final meeting in the hall was difficult, for with the waning of the light, tension had heightened and nerves were strained. The atmosphere was thick with fear and fresh beet soup. Everyone clustered around the tables where Gudny, Katla and other women doled out provisions. Snorri stood helping Katla, casting sly winks and side-smiles at her so that she blushed and twittered. There too was Aud – demurely ladling soup for all. Halli narrowed his eyes; Aud's passivity seemed out of character. He would have liked to talk to her, but there was no time now. With an effort he pushed her from his mind.

  Halli clambered onto the dais. His first act was to order the removal of a beer cask that Leif had broached. 'Time for celebrations in the morning,' he said, over the chorus of complaints. 'Hord will not be drinking now, you can be sure of that.'

  When the soup was finished and everyone had fallen silent, Halli raised his hands in a broad-armed gesture he had often seen his father use. 'People of Svein's House,' he said, 'we must go to our posts. Dusk is upon us. I do not think that Hord will move till night has fully fallen, but we should be ready even so. Mothers, children, the weak and infirm will remain here in the hall under Gudny's authority, and the doors will be barred after the warriors leave. Do not drink all the beer while we are gone, please – we'll need it on our return!' He chuckled briefly into utter silence and struck his hands together with the relish of one going to the feasting table. 'Fond tales will be told of this night by our sons and daughters yet unborn, but the widows of Hakon's House will curse it! Come, friends, let us go.'

  So saying, Halli gave a virile bound from the dais, landed with an impact that jarred his teeth, smoothed back his hair and marched from the hall. The crowd parted. In his wake trooped the defenders of Svein's House, the able-bodied adults, youths and older children. Straggling knots of women and infants watched them leave; near the door a baby set up a thin, high wailing.

  Now the mist was thick and the air cold. The gleam of the forge and the lanterns in the cottage windows showed more strongly than the last light in the sky. There was a smell of moisture and the dank earth of the fields, and a waiting silence.

  Into the yard the defenders came and the door of the hall was closed behind them. They heard the bar being pushed across on the other side.

  'Everyone to your posts,' Halli said. 'You too, Leif. I'll come round to visit you all, check you're all right.'

  Shadows dispersed across the yard towards all four corners of the House. No one spoke; boots were light on the stones.

  Halli waited a moment, his eyes flitting towards a low flame burning behind shutters in a corner of the hall. His parents' room . . .

  Afterwards, he would go there, tell his father of the victory won on his behalf. Afterwards, when all was well . . .

  Halli laughed softly. The chances of either his father or he being alive at the end of the night were fairly remote, for rather different reasons.

  The yard was empty now, the House in silence. Halli took up a lantern from several flickering ready in the porch. There was a small range of weapons there too, those rejected by the defenders. Halli selected a long, thin butcher's knife and tucked it into his belt, beside the curved black claw. Then he set off on his inspection. He pattered down to the north gate, tested the bolts and hinges, found all secure.

  Up on either side, where the day's activities had increased the wall's height a little, he saw the first two mock sentries. Each was little more than a pine log, roughly shaped to give the vaguest outline of a head, neck and shoulders. Onto each Grim had fixed a 'helmet' – one a milk pail, one a slops bucket, each well hammered to remove its telltale contours. Both were positioned at the top of the wall, wedged within stones so that just the helmet and head sections were visible from outside. Lanterns below them ensured they would not be missed, even in darkness.

  Halli nodded with satisfaction. It was Svein's old trick, the one he'd used to fool Kol Kin-killer. In the half-light, and with the mists, this section of wall would appear well defended. Keeping his lantern low, he slipped behind the nearest cottage to the left, following the line of wall. Before long it fell away, almost to nothing. Along this first low section, three more softly illuminated log defenders had been erected, two close together, one isolated, just peeping from behind a tumbled stack of stone. Each had a length of hazel wood nailed beside it – long, thin, pointed, reminiscent of a spear. Halli examined them critically, adjusted the angle of one helmet, which seemed a trifle rakish, and continued on his way.

  For a brief period the wall rose high again, then tumbled down low to the section behind Unn's tannery, where Leif had once fallen into the midden. It was a place of piled refuse, stacks of pottery, old tools and ploughshares. This too was a vulnerable defensive spot, but no fake defenders were on display. All was silent, empty; above the mists a full moon was just rising above the southern mountains.

  Halli went cautiously now, craning his neck from side to side. 'Kugi? Sturla?'

  Six armed men leaped from behind assorted mounds of refuse and bore down on Halli from all sides. He let out a hoarse whisper of alarm. 'Stop, you fools, it's me!'

  Kugi halted his dung-rake inches from Halli's head. Sturla lowered his scythe. Various other cudgels and bludgeons were reluctantly put away. The air was thick with muted apologies. Halli pushed them all aside and clambered to his feet. 'I suppose I should congratulate you for being ready,' he said grudgi
ngly. 'Remember though, Kugi, the attack is likely to come from outside the House.'

  'Oh, right. Yes.'

  'This is one of three likely attack points,' Halli said. 'From what I've seen, you'll defend it admirably. Whistle for help, though, and we'll come running.'

  The defenders melted away to their posts; rubbing various bruises, Halli continued his patrol of the wall. Round to the southern side of the House, facing the ridge; more tumbled stretches, more weak points guarded entirely by mannequins. Then, near the south gate: another open stretch, seemingly defenceless, where the wall was scarcely higher than his knee. Here he located Eyjolf and a number of the older members of the House squatting silently in a byre.

  Halli had approached with care, lest he was again molested, only to find the defenders asleep and snoring. He rapped Eyjolf on his bony head. 'Wake up! You should not be dozing! Our lives depend on you.'

  The old man jerked awake. 'It was a strategic interlude.'

  'Let's have no more of them. You've got the stones ready?'

  'A great pile, knobbly and jagged.'

  'Excellent.' Halli gazed through the byre slats at the fragments of wall and, beyond, the open meadow stretching away into the mists. 'This is a certain point of attack. Whistle when you need us.'

  On he went, past further mannequins, following the tumbledown wall. By the time he reached the west side of the House, night had truly fallen, and the mists rising from the ground shone bright and colourless in the light of the moon. He could not see the trees of the orchard below, though it was very near. The wall here was little more than a ramp of grassy rubble. Any attacker could stroll up it and – as he and Aud had done on the morning they first met – hop down through a narrow, bending alley between cottages, and so into the central yard.

  Halli did not intend to walk along that alley. After glancing up it, noting its bland, inviting emptiness, he doubled back and, leaving the wall behind him, approached the alley by way of the yard. Even here he went slowly, swinging his lantern so as to be easily observed.

  'Leif ?'

  A voice in the blackness. 'Yes?'