Across the Seas

by Griff Hosker

  We could hear them crashing through the undergrowth and they appeared to be climbing through the trees. The blood became more frequent. The animal had been hurt but it was a game one. We must have followed it for a mile or more before we saw it staggering just ahead of us. I would not need my arrow. It had no antlers. After giving my bow to Sven I drew my sword. The animal tried to move but failed and its hind legs collapsed. It had suffered enough. In two strides I ran up to it and hacked upwards into its throat. It shuddered and died. We were lucky that it was not a fully grown male or we would have struggled to carry it. As it was, I had Sven and Dreng ram their spears through the sides of the animal. They lifted the two spears on one side and I did the same on mine. We manhandled it up the slope to the top of the ridge. The ridge afforded a good view. We rested and I took in this potential home. I saw that just beyond our camp was a small bay and then a huge one. In the distance I could see what I took to be the other side of the bay but, equally, it could have been another island. As I turned around, I saw, many miles to the north, a tendril of smoke. There were people on what I took to be an island. We were not alone!

  Chapter 7

  It was after noon when we reached our camp. We had moved off the ridge as soon as we could. I did not want to be seen. Fótr and Rek looked up as we clattered through the bushes. “We eat.”

  The spears were removed and I skinned the animal. We would use its skin later. Then I began to butcher the beast. We would cook the offal first for that would go off. The stomach and guts we threw into the sea. Birds swooped down as fish rose to gorge on the bounty. Sven fetched the cooking pot we had carried from our home. While the heart, liver, and kidneys were cooked on the open fire the choice cuts were placed in seawater to be cooked. We would cook it all and then use salt to preserve it. The smell of the cooking meat made me stop my butchery so that we could eat. It was a treat and bloody juices ran down my chin.

  “The smoke we saw tells me that there are people here. They may be friendly but let us assume they are not. We will need to make defences for the camp. We passed some vines which looked like brambles. We will cut them and make a palisade of them. They will not stop an intruder but they will slow him down and give us a warning. Tomorrow we will hunt again. I hope to have enough meat and salt in the next few days to enable us to leave and explore further south.”

  It took all afternoon to strip the meat from the animal. We cooked it in batches. I was not sure if they had rats or carrion in this part of the world but we took no chances. I had the boys build a platform to keep it in the air and we covered the cooked meat with the deer hide. It was not perfect but we had to conserve the meat in some way. While the fire was still hot, I heated some pine tar and coated the strakes close to the keel. I could see no damage but the storm had worried me.

  The next day I took Fótr and Rek with me. I had not been able to save the shaft or the feathers from the arrow. They had been broken when the deer fled. When we had butchered it, I had managed to salvage the tip. I had no spare feathers but there were ash trees and I planned on collecting some as we passed. We could always find feathers.

  I counselled the two of them. “When we find these deer then I will use an arrow. You try your slings first. You might get lucky. Then we have to trail them. These animals, I call them deer but they are nothing like any deer I have ever seen, might be dangerous. If you have to strike with your spears do so forcefully but be ready to drop your spears. Fótr, you are really too inexperienced to hunt but…” He gave me a serious look. I had been in more danger when I had been his age. He would have to learn. “When we are close then watch your feet. Do not frighten the animals.”

  They both nodded. I had already decided that I would use the deer hide to make the boys jerkins. If we killed enough then I would have one too. Already the kyrtle I wore had become torn when we had run through the woods. This time I headed up the beach to find the river. I needed to explore it and who knew what animals we might find. I led the way with an arrow nocked. The wind was from the east. I did not know how sensitive were the deers’ sense of smell. I saw, as we went, signs of animals which lived by the river. None were big animals. I saw the tracks of what appeared to be a weasel as well as the tracks of what looked like an enormous fat rat! None were worth hunting. We walked a long way up the river which became another pond. We stopped and I examined the ground. There were deer prints but we saw no deer nor any deer dung. They had visited here but not for some time. I was loath to expose myself. The deer did not use this pond and I wondered why.

  I headed for the first pond. I knew that I could not use the same animal trail for our smell would carry. I carried on north and east. The ridge began to descend. I was about to turn when I saw prints which were not animal. They were human and they were heading for the second pond. Perhaps that was why the deer did not use it. They had been hunted. The fire I had seen in the distance told me there were people. Now I knew that they ventured to this part of the land. We could not stay in this land! We approached the pond, I now called the deer pond, from the north. There was a trail and it looked to be man-made. I saw the deer. They were grazing the saplings which were on the western side of the pond. I headed into the woods so that we could approach from the west and our smell would be hidden. This time it was not a slip by one of us which startled the deer but a grey fox. We must have surprised it and it ran from cover. The deer were forty paces from us but they ran towards us when the fox broke cover. I barely had time to send an arrow at the leading deer. This one was a big male. My arrow hit it in the chest. I dropped the bow and drew my sword. The enraged animal came for me. Two stones whirled and one struck the deer in the head. It made it turn its head and I swept my sword almost blindly before me. I connected with the deer but its shoulder hit me in the chest. I fell backward and all went black. I saw my father. Was I dead?

  “Erik!”

  The voice seemed to be coming from far away. I opened my eyes and saw my younger brother staring down at me. I tried to smile but my face hurt. “I am well.”

  Rek shook his head, “You are not, Erik the Navigator. Your head is bleeding. The antler caught your face and there is blood at the back of your head.”

  “Help me up.” I think they might have refused but the command in my voice brooked no objection. They pulled me to my feet. I felt a little light headed. That was the loss of blood. I turned and saw that my sword still lay in the stag’s shoulder. He was dead. I retrieved my sword. “Where is my bow?”

  Rek handed it to me. I said, “Rek, take your seax and gut the deer. Take the stomach and the guts out. Then we will head back to the camp.”

  As Rek began to gut the animal he asked, “We will leave the stag here?”

  “This one is far bigger than the one we killed yesterday. We cannot carry it. You two do not know the way back to our camp. I should have brought Sven and Dreng. This is my mistake. I was trying to be fair. Instead, I should have been a leader. Do not worry. We will soon return.” Rek took the guts from the animal. “Carry them and we will drop them away from the animal. The carrion will be drawn to the guts.” I smiled, “When I have eaten some food and drunk some water then I will be fine.

  We had less than a mile to walk but I was suffering. I could not let them see that I was not yet right. I needed a drink and I needed to eat something. I used my bow as a staff. Rek ran ahead as soon as we saw the sea. By the time I reached the camp Dreng and Rek had brought the water skin and some food. I saw that Sven had the cooking pot and he was filling it with sea water.

  Sven was the eldest. He had seen almost fifteen summers. He said, “Sit, Captain. Let me look at this wound. Your face will be scarred.”

  I took the skin from Dreng and took a long swallow. I put it down and Sven began to wash the blood from the back of my head. I heard Fótr gasp, “I can see bone!”

  “Be silent!” Sven continued to bathe it. “Dreng, fetch the vinegar and honey. It is bad, Captain. It is a deep cut. I have stemmed the bleeding but I canno
t stitch it.”

  I took a piece of seal meat. It was more to occupy my hands than anything. How would the four of them get home if I was dead?

  Dreng came back. When Sven used the vinegar, I felt such pain as I had rarely had to endure but it passed. Then I felt him smear on honey. “Rek, keep the cloth pressed against the wound.” He came around to the front and began to wash the blood from my face. He shook his head, “You have been lucky. This is just a scratch. It is deep but I can staunch the bleeding.” He repeated the washing with the vinegar. This time it did not hurt so badly and then he used the honey. He took one of the bloodied pieces of cloak. “I am sorry, Captain, but this needs to be your bandage.” He used his knife to cut it into strips and then began to bind my head. He left just one eye to enable me to see When he had done, he nodded. “Lie on your fur, Captain.”

  I tried to get to my feet but they buckled. Sven shook his head, “You are in no condition. You lie down and we will fetch the deer.”

  I was in no position to argue and I lay on the fur. I had no sooner laid my head on the ground then all went black.

  I dreamed.

  I heard Gytha’s voice and she seemed to be inside my head. You have done well, navigator but your work is not yet done. This is not the land. You need to sail on. Trust your instincts for they are good. Believe in your crew for they are your future.

  I sailed the seas. I saw the sun rising to my left. We passed through islands and I saw a forest. I was alone and I climbed a trail passing strange and wondrous animals.

  Then I saw a waterfall and I saw a maid. I was standing on top of the waterfall. The maid was not of our clan. She was dark skinned with jet black hair and eyes which were like deep purple pools. She stared at me. Then she dived into the water. She rose, like a fish from the depths and her hand beckoned me. I realized that I was on the waterfall now. I could not help myself. I dived from the top. I seemed to fall forever but I did not reach the bottom.

  “Captain, it is morning. Captain.”

  I opened my eyes and saw the thin grey light of dawn. Sven stared down at me. He looked relieved, “You are alive. We thought you dead.”

  “I slept all night?”

  “Aye, Captain. When we returned with the deer you had not moved. We skinned and butchered it. We ate the heart but you did not wake. We took it in turns to watch over you.” He stood. “Wake! Erik the Navigator lives!”

  I sat up. I did not feel dizzy but I was ravenously hungry.

  Fótr ran to me, “We can go home now?”

  I was going to shake my head but thought better of it, “No, little brother. I dreamed and I saw Gytha. This is not the land she saw. We will sail on but you will be pleased to know that we have finished hunting. You cooked all the meat?”

  Sven said, “Aye.”

  Then give me some and we will begin to put the rest in barrels with the salt.”

  Dreng said, “We do not have enough.”

  “Then we top up the barrels with salt water. It will have to do. Today we prepare for sea. I spied some greens yesterday along the river bank. They look to be edible. Collect them. When you pass the ash trees bring back thin branches that I can turn into arrows. Make them straight ones. Find shellfish. We leave tomorrow.” I pointed south. “We sail in that direction.”

  I forced myself to my feet. I felt a little dizzy when I stood. The stag had been a warrior. Even though mortally wounded he had protected his herd and tried to kill me. I would be as the stag. I helped to take the barrels from the snekke. We had brought small barrels which could be easily filled. The meat filled the two small ones and there was some left over. “We use that on the voyage! We will eat better than we did coming here.” When my scavengers returned from the river, the greens were washed and put in a hessian bag. Finally, we collected the shellfish and added that to a pot of water.

  “Fetch me the two hides.” I took out my seax. It had a very sharp edge and I cut each of the two hides in two. I then cut holes for the arms and heads. They were rough but, while at sea, the four of them could make them fit. It would occupy them and produce something useful. Once that was done, we loaded the snekke so that we could leave in the morning. I had planned on staying here longer but my dream and the human footprints had made me change my mind. We had three full barrels of water. We had two barrels filled with venison and one and a half with seal meat. Those, along with the fish we would catch, would see us back home. My bow, the arrows, and my sword were in the snekke.

  It was dark by the time we had finished. I had taken the opportunity of checking the ropes and the sail. All were in good condition. The steering board withy was replaced and the snekke tied so that she floated. I would see if the pine tar had worked. We lay on our furs around a good fire and ate our stew of shellfish, venison and seal meat. The greens we added were necessary. They added little flavour but my mother had always added greens when she cooked and we had grown up healthy.

  The greens had an effect. Dreng woke and had to empty his bowels. The speed with which he ran into the woods told me that it was the greens which had worked. I loaded the cooking pot in the snekke and checked the hull. She had not leaked. We placed the furs on the deck. I was about to shout for Dreng, for the others were already in the boat when I heard a shout of alarm from the woods. I grabbed my bow, strung it and nocked an arrow.

  Dreng appeared. He had his breeks in his hand. He shouted, “We are under attack!”

  I saw, emerging from the woods, warriors. They had long black hair and wore animal skins. In their hands, they carried fire-hardened spears and bows. This was why Gytha had told us to leave. I pulled back the bow and released the arrow. It hit the leading warrior in the chest. The force of the arrow was such that he flew backward and the others stopped. The ones with bows sent arrows at us. I was already moving for Dreng had passed me and was clambering aboard the snekke.

  “Raise the sail!” An arrow struck the sand next to my foot. Another hit my jerkin. It stuck there. Fótr and Rek whirled their slings. I did not see if they hit any of the skraelring. The snekke was three paces from the shore and, as the sail was lowered, began to move away. I threw my bow aboard as Sven hauled over the stern. As I tumbled aboard, I saw that the warriors were at the beach and forcing their way through the sea to get at us. “Keep your heads down.” Two arrows struck the stern. “Sven, take the steering board.” As he did so I drew my sword and turning, swept it across the water. One warrior had closed to within a pace of the stern. My sword ripped through his skin jacket and scored a red line across his chest. He looked at me in surprise. The wind caught the sail and we leapt away. Arrows came at us but I saw that they had stone tips. They were not as good as mine. I counted, there were ten warriors. One lay with my arrow in his chest. Two were tending his wound and I saw that one had been hit by a stone and his face bled. We had been lucky. Had Dreng not needed to go into the woods we might have been surprised.

  I sheathed my sword, “Is anyone hurt?”

  They shook their heads. Sven reached over and took the arrow from my leather jerkin. He handed it to me. “This is as close as they came, Captain.” There was the tiniest spot of blood on the stone end. I had barely felt it.

  I took out the blue stone and kissed it, “Thank you, Gytha!”

  It was as I looked back that I realized the maid I had seen at the waterfall in my dream had the same look as the warriors. I wondered what that meant. While Sven took out the hourglass and compass, I stood to look south. I could see nothing ahead. There was no land to be seen. I could see the sun and I put the steering board to go south by west. When the lid on the chest was closed and I sat down, I saw that the land we had just left continued to the west and north. It looked like a huge island. I would have liked to sail along the coast but the warriors we had seen had made me wary. I should have taken heed when we spied their footprints.

  I saw that Sven apart, the others were almost terrified. I smiled, “Dreng I would put your breeks on. That is not the place to get a splinter
.”

  Rek and Sven laughed but Fótr shook his head, “Were they men or aelfes?”

  “They were men. I cut one with my sword and one of you made one bleed with a stone. I have heard of men that colour who live far to the south of the land of the Saxons. Some have black skin. They are just different types of men.”

  I realized then just how much less experienced was my brother than the rest of my crew. They looked calmer than he was.

  “Will we meet more men like that?”

  “We might.” I would not lie to him. I saw him pondering that.

  We sailed all day. The boys spent the time scraping the deer hide. They would make their own jerkins. It kept them occupied and was a useful activity. As night fell, we shortened sail. I risked Sven and Dreng having a watch while I had a little sleep. I dozed but, when I woke, I felt refreshed. The sun came up and we had an empty sea before us. I used the compass and the hourglass while we sailed through empty seas. Except that they were not as empty as the ones after we had left the land of ice and fire. We saw seabirds. We saw more geese. There was land and it was close. The land was elusive. It hid from us. I began to wonder if I had taken the right direction. What would have happened if I had sailed due west? Speculation was idle. We had plenty of food and water. All was good. As the sun set to steerboard I saw a dark line ahead. There was more land. Gytha had been right. I wondered if we would reach the land before the sun had completely set. We did not and I would not risk a night landing. The attack at our last camp had been a warning.