Across the Seas

by Griff Hosker

  It was painful to don my tunic and jerkin but I did so. The next day we boarded the snekke and headed west. I saw other islands. Some looked bigger than the one we were on but I sought either an island as big as the land of the Saxons or a mainland. We saw no smoke on the islands we passed but, as we neared a coastline which stretched north and south as far as we could see, I did spy, in the distance, smoke. I said nothing to the crew but that meant men. There would be warriors here. Possibly they would be in greater numbers. It took until noon to reach the shore. I headed north and edged my way along it. We had not travelled far when I spied what looked like tiny skin huts. I had found a settlement. Drawn up on the beach were what appeared to be boats except they had no sails. They looked like the log boats we had seen before. We continued north. We were sailing into the wind and our progress was slow but our slow progress enabled us to see the land more clearly. We found, just two miles further north, another group of men and their boats. They appeared to be fishing in the rocks. We were seen and this time, as the boats were already manned, they began to paddle out to us.

  Dreng said, “They are coming for us, captain!”

  I nodded, “Prepare your slings. Sven, use my bow. I will turn around and sail south again.”

  Sven asked as he strung my bow, “You will not sail across the water directly to our camp?”

  I shook my head, “I would hide the island where we are camped. They cannot see the island from the shore.” I pointed east. All that could be seen were the islands which lay closer to the coast.

  By the time we had turned the boats, I could now see that they were either a hollowed log or made of skin, had closed with us. There were four of them and each one held five warriors. They moved quickly as the paddles were raised and lowered efficiently. They were, however, inshore vessels. They could not navigate the open sea. Perhaps that was why the islands were devoid of habitation. As the wind caught us, we began to lose them but, as we headed south, I saw more boats putting off from the shore. They came from the village we had first seen and they were heading to cut us off.

  There was a large group of islands to larboard. I decided to head to the west of them. I put the steering board over. We began to lose the first four boats but they still pursued us. There were six boats coming from the other village and they would get close to us. Glancing over I saw that all the men in the boats were paddling. They would find it hard to send arrows, stones or spears in our direction.

  “Do not loose stones unless I say so. Let us try to avoid making enemies.” Our snekke was made for waters like this. She could turn quickly and without chests and the barrels of food and water she fairly flew over the waves. The sheltered bay meant that the waves were small and inconsequential. If these warriors followed us into the open sea they would broach. I saw that they had to steer them so that they hit the waves square on. I was confident that they would not catch us but if they looked like they were then I would sail parallel to the waves. We could do that but they could not. Gradually we opened up a lead and I saw that they were tiring. When we reached the islands, I put the steering board hard over and headed north and east. I sailed us through a channel between two long low islands. Then I spied a gap between two more islands to the east of us. I would head for that if we were not being followed.

  “Sven, watch astern and see if they follow us.”

  He joined me at the stern and peered south. After a while, he said, “No, Captain.”

  “Good, lower the sail and run out the oars. We will head due east. If they cannot see the sail then they might believe that we have landed on this island.” As soon as the sail came down, I turned and headed for the gap. The wind was with us and the four crew found it easy to move us. I told them to keep a regular pace. I headed for the large island which lay to the north of our camp. I turned to look astern as we neared the large island. I saw deer on one of the headlands. In my head, I then thought of it as Deer Island. I saw that Rek and Fótr were tiring. We were too far from the coast and the group of islands for us to be seen. “In oars and raise the sail.”

  It was late afternoon when we reached our camp. I had sailed beyond our island and approached from the east. The waves were bigger there. They gave us security from that direction. My worry was that they might see our fires if they occupied one of the islands to the west of us.

  We landed and I said, “Drag the snekke on to the beach. We will make a fire but hide it from the land. Use only dry kindling. I want no smoke. Sven, make traps from the path and the rest of you prepare food.” They had prepared some already but I wanted Sven to ensure that they worked.

  I sat and added to my map. I now had a better picture of the islands which lay between us and what I was calling the mainland. When that was done, I went back to the bear pelt. I took a sharpened piece of rock and began to scrape it. I had arrows to make but I could do that when darkness had fallen. Arrows were best made by touch. I needed the light to prepare the pelt.

  We were all occupied in silence. Our stew bubbled away and the boys had hide jerkins to make. If we were attacked then they would provide better protection against stone arrows and knives.

  “And tomorrow, brother?”

  “More of the same. We head south. There is a headland there. I would know if it is an island or attached to the other land. Then we hunt and gather food for the journey home.”

  Sven said, “When I was preparing our defences, I saw birds eating the berries. They did not die.”

  “Then tomorrow I will try one. If birds can eat them then so can we. I would take plants back to show the rest of the clan. They will know about the potential of these plants. We have to persuade the clan to come here.”

  Rek said, “It is a long way.”

  “And in that distance lies hope for our enemies will not find us. Hakon Long Memory knows where we live. The King of Norway does. We have upset both men and they may well seek vengeance. An ocean between us gives us security.”

  We had a night free from disturbance. I had made six more arrows. I had used flint tips and gulls’ feathers. They were not the best of arrows but they might work against the warriors we had seen. I was loath to lose a metal-tipped arrow.

  The next day we headed south and approached the coast from the open sea. We knew where the village with huts lay. It was beyond the horizon. I headed for what I took to be an island. As we neared it, I saw that there were two tiny islands with a good channel between them. What I had taken for an island was attached to the land and so I sailed down the coast. We saw smoke in the distance but no boats. Trees came all the way to the beach. We saw many birds flying. They had hunting hawks here. Once again, I saw deer. As the sun passed its zenith we turned and headed back to the camp. I had seen enough of the coast and I would not risk a confrontation with the warriors.

  That evening I told my crew of my plans. “Tomorrow we hunt the deer. I would slay two if we can. Their hide is thick. This time we render down their hooves too for that makes a good glue and can be used as a sealant for the drekar. We try the berries and then collect as much food as we can. We have no more than three days here and then we sail home. I estimate that it will take less than fifty days to get home. We should reach it by the middle of Skerpla when the days are the longest and the weather is at its best. If we can persuade the clan then we can be back here before the days and nights are the same length.”

  The Norns were spinning. Even as I spoke the words they were plotting and laughing.

  I tried the berries. They were a deep red and they had a tart taste but that was good. We collected a pail of them. That evening we would try them with meats and fishes. We also found wild garlic and wild onions. We collected those too. Sven and I ate some of the wild garlic as we prepared our weapons. Then we went hunting. I suspected that the deer would be close to water for the day was hot. That meant we would be eaten alive by the biting insects. My sword was sharp and I had eight good arrows. We had four spears but only Sven and Dreng would use them. Fótr and Rek wou
ld use stones. It had been some days since I had walked around the island but I had a picture of it in my head. I was a navigator and I had learned to keep a map in my mind. There was a breeze and it blew from our camp. I decided to walk around the island and approach the pond from the west.

  As we walked, I saw clouds gathering over the mainland. A storm was coming. That would keep the warriors we had seen from bothering about us. I daresay that they had gathered around their campfires and spoken of us. Our clan would have done the same. If they were Vikings then I could predict what they would do but I could not begin to predict what these primitive people would do.

  We found the animal trail which led to the pond. We walked in single file and I had an arrow nocked. Another was held next to the bow in my left hand. As we entered the forest, I closed my eyes and asked the Allfather to guide my aim. A deer and a bear had tried to kill me. My face still itched from the first and the second’s claws had made my back ache. The ground had no leaves and it was dry. We were able to place our feet where they would not make a sound. Sven was especially careful of putting his feet on a skittering rock.

  The day was still. The birds had stopped their noise at our approach and that would alert the deer but when I heard them munching the leaves, I knew that they had yet to sense us. I took a chance and gestured for Sven and Dreng to flank me. Fótr and Rek moved behind them. The deer were not at the pond. They were in a small clearing where a lightning struck tree had fallen. Their tails swished away the flies. Already the insects made their way towards us. However, they did not seem as bad as they had been. They annoyed me but I found that I could live with it. I saw an older stag with a broken antler. He had had some fights. Close by him was an older cow. The other females were all suckling their young. I saw the old stag’s head come up. I was twenty paces from him and I could not risk waiting. I sent an arrow into his body, just behind his head. He leapt away. Sven and Dreng threw their spears. They did not hit the male but struck the old female. The heads on the spears were sharp and they drove deep within the old cow.

  As the stones of Fótr and Rek struck I shouted, “Take the other two spears and follow me.” I nocked my second arrow and ran. The older cow was mortally wounded. She was staggering already and I ignored her. I ran after the stag. I saw the blood trail and it headed north through the trees and on to the game trail which led to our camp. I spied the stag. It was standing on the trail. Its head turned to me. I remembered the other stag and I would take no chances. Beyond the stag, the rest of the herd just fled. He was dying and he would take out his killer. He suddenly launched himself at me. I pulled back the bowstring and my arrow hit him in the chest. I dived into the undergrowth. The dying animal crashed to the ground. By the time I had stood he was dead. I saw that our camp lay less than a hundred paces from where he had fallen. One of the arrows had broken. I would have to retrieve the head when we butchered the beast but the other was whole and I used Raedwulf’s dagger to work it free. I nocked it and headed back to the pond.

  I was a hundred paces from it when Fótr, Dreng, and Rek ran towards me. “What is amiss?” I saw that their faces, especially Dreng’s, were covered in red bite marks.

  “These insects are eating us alive! Brother, you and Sven must have some sort of charm for they do not eat you.”

  I pointed to the wild garlic which grew in clumps all around us. “Eat some of those or rub them on your face. They have not bothered me as much.”

  Leaving them to try my tip I headed back to Sven. He had already rammed two spears through the mouth and rear of the deer. He looked up, “The others?”

  “They are eating garlic. Come, we will try to move this closer. The other is almost at the camp and there are few insects nearby.”

  We managed two hundred paces before it became too much. This was a fine animal and had plenty of meat. The other three appeared and between us, we manhandled the two carcasses back to the camp. We now had food for the voyage home and also for our people. I was content.

  Chapter 9

  The next two days were spent in slicing the deer meat as thinly as possible and preparing it to be dried and salted. The thinner the meat the longer it would stay preserved. We covered it with salt. We had managed to make plenty and then we left it to dry. In a perfect world, we would have left it longer. We did not have that luxury. The heat would help us to dry it. When I saw the rain clouds forming, I had the boys rig the hides over the meat to stop it becoming wet. While they did that I went through the barrels of salted meat. Some had begun to turn and I put that to one side. We had seen some large fish off the shore and meat that had gone off would be good bait for them. In this way, I emptied one barrel. I washed it in seawater and then put it close to the fire. We would put the dried meat in that barrel. The surplus we would carry with us. Then I began to render down the hooves of the two animals to make glue.

  The storm hit hard. There was not as much wind as I had expected and Odin was there for his hammer smashed into his anvil and his thunder and lighting rang around the bay. I saw one of his bolt’s strike a tree on the island I called Deer Island. Flames leapt into the air. I touched the blue stone. “Allfather watch over us!”

  It was night by the time the storm passed. I began to carve some of the deer bones into larger hooks. If we were going to catch larger fish then we needed larger hooks. The next day passed much in the same way. We all worked with urgency for we were going home. Just as we knew that our families would worry about us so we fretted over them. We were well fed. Would they be? Here we had no enemies to threaten us but were the Danes or the Norwegians hunting them? My only worry was Dreng. The other two had recovered from the insect bites but Dreng appeared to be unwell. When I asked him, he just said that he was tired. The others did much of the work he should have done. They were now oar brothers.

  Two days later and the last remnants of the storm had passed. It was heading out to sea. I saw black clouds scudding away. I took it as a sign that we should head east. “Tomorrow we leave. Tonight, we pack the chests on the snekke and load the barrels. We will leave the deer meat as long as possible to dry. Our last task will be to collect greens, wild garlic, and the berries.” The storm heading east dragged west winds behind it. They would take us home quickly.

  I went with my seax while there was still light and the ground was moist. I dug up some of the berry plants and their soil. I did the same with the greens and the garlic. We had an old pail which had sprung a leak and I would use that to transport the plants to our home.

  It was as I headed back to the camp that I spied, on the large island which was the closest to us, a fire and it burned on the beach. Our fire could not be seen from the sea as it was hidden by the barrels we would use for the last of the fresh water and the dried deer meat. Were the warriors in the paddled boats searching for us or was this just a coincidence?

  I put the pail in the boat and gathered the others around me. “We douse the fire and take it in turns to watch. There is a fire on the nearest island. I do not wish to be surprised. We load the snekke this night. Fótr, you and Rek will sleep aboard the snekke. One sleeps and one wakes. We three will watch on the beach. Keep a weapon close to hand if you hear anything then shout. I would rather lose sleep than lose one of you.”

  “Aye, Captain, but why not leave tonight?”

  “Because the storm is at sea. I would rather the storm stay to the east of us. I would not wish to catch it up.”

  The Norns were spinning. Whatever decision I made I knew there were dangers. I took the middle watch. It was the hardest. When Dreng woke me, I rose and went to make water at the beach. Rek was in the prow of ‘Jötnar’ and he was alert. I nodded to him, “Is all quiet?”

  “Aye Captain.”

  “Then sleep and I will wake Fótr later. I can watch here from the shallows.”

  I strapped on my sword. My other weapons were already in the snekke. I had my sealskin cape about my shoulders for there was a chill in the air. If we had to board quickly then t
here was nothing which would be left on the shore. Our snekke was our home. We each had our own space aboard and we were comfortable. I walked along the shore. There were rocks there. I saw little point in wetting my boots. I walked eight hundred paces and sat on a large rock. I looked across the bay. The water hissed on the sand as each wave broke. The tide was at its lowest and would soon come rushing in. Our snekke was so small that we could launch her on any tide. I stared at the white caps at the top of each wave. The waves here seemed different from those at home. I knew not why. I licked my finger and held it up. The wind was coming from the west. We would have a speedy start to our journey. We were getting towards the longest days of the year. I glanced behind me and saw that the sky was just a shade lighter than black. Dawn would be here soon.

  It was as I looked back that I caught the movement. I saw boats approaching. Even as I ran back to the snekke I was shouting, “Awake!”

  Dreng had barely managed to get to sleep and I saw him untie the last rope which tied us to the shore. Rek was standing by the sail and I shouted, “Raise the sail!”

  Sven awoke and I saw him run with his spear to push the snekke into the waves. I ran through the water and grabbed hold of a rope to pull myself aboard. As the sail was lowered the snekke backed off a little for the wind was against. The shapes of the boats were closing with us. “Throw stones at them. Sven use my bow!” I soon heard an arrow fly and the sound of stones striking wood. I pushed the steering board hard over. Rek, tighten the forestay.”. As soon as he did so the snekke moved quicker. The nearest boat full of warriors was less than twenty paces from us. I drew my sword and sat so that I steered with my left hand. Fótr whirled his sling and a stone smacked into the forehead of the warrior at the front of the nearest boat. “Get the steersman!”