by Griff Hosker
While we waited for it to cook we drank of the ale. We sat outside on some of the abandoned carts we had found. Haraldr was grooming the horses. Ráðgeir said, “We now have almost enough horses for us. Just three need to walk. We can take it in turns.”
“No, Ráðgeir, the Ulfheonar will walk. I want the rest of you to be scouts ahead of us. Our tired feet are a price worth paying for vigilance. The presence of those Saxon scouts was warning enough. I would know where they were.”
The fire had made the hut unbearably hot and so we ate outside. The stew was good and hearty. Bread would have made it a feast. The wooden bowls the Saxons had left had augmented our own supply. Haaken looked east, “I wonder how Sámr and his crew are faring.”
“I am happier that we were able to leave the two wounded men with him. There are seven of them and that is a lucky number.”
We had just finished the stew when we heard feet coming from Suthriganaworc. The voices told us that it was a band of Norse. I saw that it was Harald Iverson, Erik Cold Blade, Snorri Haraldsson and Fótr Firebeard. They had their crews with them. Harald Iverson laughed, “I could smell the food and the ale. I should have known. You are all old campaigners then?”
Olaf laughed, “Aye that we are. You are welcome to join us. There is still some of the stew left. If you add water, greens and the last of the beans it will feed some of you.”
“We have salted ham. Thank you, we will take you up on the offer. We could not stand the smell by the river. We thought to have a hungry night rather than one where we risked disease and worse.”
As they sat down I asked, “The Danes still drink?”
Erik Cold Blade shook his head, “I like a drink but there is a time and a place. Stuck in the middle of Saxon territory does not seem the place to be so lax. You know that twenty Danes were found with their heads removed?”
The Norns’ dream came to mind: Danish heads on spears. “Where?”
“North of Lundenwic on the Roman Road.”
“I warned the brothers that the Mercians would seize the opportunity of reclaiming their town.”
“Sigurd Snake in the Eyes almost went berserk. He took his oathsworn and they headed north to find Saxons to punish.”
“They lack order. All the while the army shrinks.”
“Four drekar left this afternoon and we heard of another six who were thinking about it.”
“But not you four?”
“No, Jarl Dragonheart. We have not made enough coin yet. Your men all wear mail. We have but four byrnies between us. When we have mail then we can take the land from our neighbours. Ours is poor land. It is hard and carved out of rock. You do not know how lucky you are to have the Land of the Wolf.”
“Oh but we do. It is why we fight so hard to keep it. I brought one drekar crew because I wanted my home safe.”
We heard the sound of hooves. A Dane reined in, “Jarl Dragonheart, Hvitserk Ragnarsson wishes to speak with you.”
“Where is he? If he is north of the river I will stay here.”
“He and Halfdan Ragnarsson have come south of the river. They are in Suthriganaworc.”
I stood, “Haaken take charge. Keep a place for me by the fire.”
“Will you be safe?”
“As safe as anywhere. Do not worry. I do not think they have finished with me yet. They still need me to be the figurehead at the head of this army.” As I walked behind the Danish horseman I reflected that it was my name, reputation and sword which had brought me to this situation. As Guthrum Saxon Slayer had shown me most of the Danes did not like me. The five Norse leaders I had met had all chosen to follow me. The Danes had not elected to do so. When I reached the fire in the middle of what had been Suthriganaworc I saw a body had been thrown onto the fire. It was vaguely recognisable as a man but other than that I could tell nothing.
Hvitserk was the most pleasant of the brothers and the eldest. Halfdan was the youngest and, in my view the most dangerous. Sigurd was like a wild dog but at least you knew how he would react. Halfdan brooded. Hvitserk held out a hand, “You were right, Jarl Dragonheart. The Mercians have attacked our men. We should have heeded your advice.”
“What will you do with the ships?”
“Leave them in the river. We will assign guards for them.”
“If you want my advice you would sail them to Hamwic and march the army the short distance to the burgh of their king. You could take Wintan-Caestre.”
“That would take time.”
“The Saxons have scouts on the road. Their army is not at Wintan-Caestre. We could take their treasure and beat them when they march back. The fyrd do not like to travel too far from home.”
Halfdan spoke. He had a threatening tone. Even when he was being pleasant his voice still sounded aggressive, “We have over six thousand men. We will march across Wessex and plunder as we go.”
They had lost many hundreds of men already. This did not bode well. “If you take treasure when you cross Wessex you will lose men when you escort it back to Lundenwic and the ships.”
Halfdan laughed, “We will take the treasure with us. There are carts and wagons we can use!”
“And you have horses to pull them?”
“We will harness Saxons to them!” Halfdan seemed to think that idea was extremely funny.
Hvitserk came closer to me, “We have thought this through, Jarl Dragonheart.”
I sighed, “You have scouts to range ahead of the army?”
“Scouts? Why do we need scouts?”
I did not answer his question. If they could not see the need for scouts then this venture was, indeed, doomed. “Then I will use my men. The last thing we need is to walk into a trap.” I stood, “Is that all?”
“Will you not sup with us?”
“Tomorrow will be a long day. I will send my scouts out before dawn. I will await you at the village of Brixges Stane.”
As I headed back towards my men I heard Guthrum Saxon Slayer laugh. He said, loudly, to one of his men, “I know not why the jarl follows an old man like that. I would bet that the story of the sword was just that, a story!” His men laughed. I turned and before Guthrum knew anything about it I had Ragnar’s Spirit at his throat. I pricked his neck so that he bled, “Know, faithless Dane, that I am never foresworn and as for being an old man. Perhaps the Allfather has granted me wisdom. It you ever utter such words about me again then I will kill you. Do you understand?”
He was less than half my age and he was much bigger but I saw fear in his eyes. He nodded and the movement made his neck bleed more. His men, too, looked more respectful. As I sheathed my sword and walked back down the road I knew I had made another enemy. The list was long and growing longer.
Chapter 13
I told the others what I had said. Haaken shook his head, “Taking the fleet to Hamwic makes perfect sense to me, Jarl Dragonheart.”
“And we have lost almost half of the army. Some will guard the ships but what happened to the rest?” I turned to the four Norse leaders. “If I were you I would get your ships and sail home.”
Erik shook his head, “We told you, we need the coin. We will trust that the Allfather watches over you.”
Olaf Leather Neck stretched, “Then keep your men close to Jarl Dragonheart. I have fought behind him for many years. You have more chance of survival with him close by.”
I left a small watch and we retired. Sven Svensson woke me before dawn as I had asked him. I went to my men as they saddled their horses. “We will have to use the Roman Road, the one they call Stane Street. Have some men on the road but I want the rest of you covering the land to the sides of the road.”
“Fear not jarl. We will keep a good watch. When the battle begins then we will be there with you.” Ráðgeir swung into the saddle and waved my men forward.
I made water and then went to the whetstone. My sword needed sharpening. Olaf and Haaken heard me and they rose. “They have gone?”
I nodded, “Part of me hopes that they will
find nothing and that I am wrong about the Saxons.”
Haaken sliced some salted ham, “But neither of us believes that. We would not have found those scouts yesterday if the King of Wessex was not close.”
Our new allies were up early and they prepared for war too. Surprisingly the Danes arrived sooner than I had expected. There were just two brothers. Sigurd Snake in the Eyes was not with them. “Where is your brother?”
“He and his men fought Mercians yesterday. He has a slight wound. He will follow with the carts.”
I nodded, “My men are scouting. We had better start.”
Hvitserk smiled, “You are leader. We will follow!”
I did not believe it but I nodded and we moved off down the road. Vikings are untidy warriors. They jostle and they do not keep good order, unless they are in a battle. It meant that the army spread out behind me. They spilled into the fields, when we passed fields and when the fields stopped, woods. We could have covered more than thirty miles had the Danes not been easily distracted. Every church we saw on the horizon was cause for warbands to race off and sack them. Every hut, and hovel potentially held women and girls. Each stray animal was chased.
At the front my four groups of warriors kept good time but the army became strung out along the road and that was the danger. Gaps appeared. We needed cohesion. Reluctantly I was forced to call a halt at noon. We ate what little supplies we had. I did not like the looks Halfdan Ragnarsson was giving me. I wondered if he thought I had outlived my usefulness. Most of those who had deserted with their ships had been Norse or islanders. They had been the ones Hvitserk had needed to boost his numbers. They had been the ones who came to fight alongside the Dragonheart. With them gone and the prize already taken, what did they need me for?
When the carts caught up with us I started the column moving. I saw that the Danes were having to pull the carts and wagons. They had not thought to find horses. The men who pulled them would be in no condition to fight when we found the Saxons. Our army would be tired and the Saxons, whom I had no doubt were waiting for us would be rested and fed. The next six miles were mercifully free of churches and other distractions. I began to think we might begin to speed up. Haraldr galloped up and ended that dream.
“Jarl Dragonheart, the Saxons are gathered ten miles down the road. They are at a place called Aclea.”
“Is it a burgh?”
“They have no wall and it is just twenty houses. It is a mean little place.”
The two Danish brothers had joined me. “I nodded, “The Saxons are down the road. How many men, Haraldr?”
“The King is there we saw the banner. We counted the banners of thirty thegns. Each of them had mailed men with them. Ráðgeir thought there were five thousand.”
Halfdan smacked one hand into the other, “Then we have them! Let us push on and fight them now!”
Hvitserk concurred, “Your scouts have served us well, Jarl Dragonheart. You were right to send them forth!”
I shook my head, “It would be a mistake to attack without finding out if the Saxons are just at Aclea. There may be other warbands close by.”
Halfdan became angry, “I think you have an ill-deserved reputation! The gods have presented us with a great opportunity. We outnumber the Saxons. The majority of their men are the fyrd. We attack today!” He glared at his brother who spread his hands and nodded. “Come let us run! Ten miles is nothing to a real warrior!” He gave me a look of pity. “The old men can follow at their own pace.”
The two brothers and their hearth weru charged down the road making the men who had marched with us have to take cover in the ditches. I waved over Haraldr, “Ride to Ráðgeir. Bring my men back here. I have a bad feeling about this Aclea. There must be burghs closer to Wintan-Caestre he could have used, why Aclea?”
The word had spread down the column and men were eager to follow the sons of Ragnar Lodbrok. A royal army was the stuff of dreams. There would be crowns and torcs; there would be religious artefacts which could be sold for great profit. It was impossible to move until the carts had passed us. I saw a triumphant Sigurd Snake in the Eyes. He was sitting on the top of one of the carts. He had a bandaged leg. Once they had passed we were able to move down the road. To my dismay, a mile down the road I saw my men. They were walking towards us. Thorkell and Ulf were missing.
“What happened to the horses and to our men?”
Ráðgeir shook his head, “Those bastard Danes! They demanded the horses from us. When Thorkell and Ulf told them no they were slain. I am sorry jarl. We would have fought but we would have been cut down and we feared for your safety.”
“Do not worry, you did the right thing.”
“Then we can go home!”
“What?” I turned to Haaken One Eye. I pointed to the four warbands with us. “These men came for treasure. I came to end the blood feud with the King of Wessex. We may be going to our death but we cannot turn back.”
“You will fight with these snakes?”
I was not certain any more. Perhaps they were right. The four warbands would be able to take goods from the Danish ships. I was about to order us to return to Lundenwic when a Dane limped towards us. He came from the north. He had neither shield nor sword and he was wounded. I could see that his leg had been badly cut. He fell at my feet. Looking up at me he croaked, “Jarl Dragonheart I was with Sigeberht the Bold. We were ambushed. There is a Saxon army.”
“I know, we are heading to meet them.”
He shook his head, “No, Jarl.” He gasped as pain course through his dying body. “There are four thousand men coming from the north. They came upon us when we were at Sutton. I think I am the only survivor and I am done for. Do not let me die without a sword in my hand!”
“Haaken, see to him!” I turned to Olaf, “This means we have no choice. We must fight with the Danes. We cannot get back to Lundewic.”
Haaken came over, “It was no use, jarl. He bled to death even as I tried to see to his wounds.”
“Well that is one Dane that we owe a life to.”
We began to run. Unlike the Danes we ran in fours. We chanted to keep the rhythm and we did not go too fast. The Norns had woven a web so complex and convoluted that I do not see how even Aiden could have fathomed it. King Æthelwulf was as clever as his father. It had not been Mercians who had killed the Danes, it had been the men of Wessex. Now I saw why he had chosen Aclea. It was a long day’s march from Lundenwic. We would be too far from our ships to return to them. He was luring the Danes to fight him thinking that they outnumbered the Saxons. The dead Dane had not told us the make-up of this second army but I knew that it would have more warriors in it. Had the Danes not taken my men’s horses then we could have ridden to warn them. Their own treachery would come to hurt them. As we ran I tried to picture the map. The Isle of the Sheep lay to the north and east of us. If we tried to head there now we risked being caught by the men from the north. We had to help the Danes and hope that we killed enough of the enemy for us to make our escape.
I saw the wagons and carts ahead. They had been abandoned. The trees encroached closely on the road at that point. The forest had crept closer to the road. The fact that they had abandoned them meant that Aclea was not far away. We struggled to get through the carts. The men who had been pulling them had been weary from the journey. A plan formed in my mind. “Olaf, I want you to get these men to make those wagons into a barrier across the road. We make our own stronghold. Haaken, come with me and we will find these Danes and give them warning.”
Haaken said, “I would let them die!”
“As would I but we need their swords. If we can warn them then we might hold them off until dark and then be able to slip away.” I did not think it was likely but it was worth a try. “Our bows might be the difference, Olaf!”
We had to force our way through the press of men trying to get to the front of the warriors. There were too many in front of us to see Aclea but I heard the clash of metal on metal. It was worse than I feared
. Instead of forming a shield wall and advancing, the two brothers had just allowed their men to attack as and when they chose. There was no way we could reach those at the front. I saw Sigurd Snake in the Eye. He was riding one of the horses we had found.
He saw me and snarled, “What? Do you now beg to fight with us?”
I shook my head, “No, I come to warn you that there is a second army coming from the north! You are trapped.”
“You lie!”
I had my sword out and pressed against his wounded leg in a flash, “I do not lie! What reason would I have! Tell your brothers that we must form two fronts or we will be destroyed.”
There was doubt on his face but I saw that he believed me. He shouted, “Guthrum Saxon Slayer. Send a messenger to my brothers. Tell them there is a second army coming from the north. We will be trapped.”
“Aye, my lord!”
“Turn and make a shield wall.” He looked down at me. “Where do you fight?”
“We have made a barricade of the wagons up the road. We will try to hold them up. If we cannot we will fall back and join you.”
“It is our bad luck that we join you just as the Allfather abandons you!”
We turned and ran the five hundred paces to the wagons. Was he right? Had we been abandoned? When I reached my men, I saw that they had used the carts and wagons to make a wall which looked like an inverted boar’s snout. There were trees to the side and the end wagons touched them. It would force the Saxons through the trees. They would have numbers but they would find it hard to make a shield wall. Olaf had been clever. It forced the Saxons to fight us in a way which suited us, man to man.
I waved over Harald Iverson, Erik Cold Blade, Snorri Haraldsson and Fótr Firebeard. “Are you happy for me to command you?”
Harald Iverson grinned, “Jarl Dragonheart, it is one of the reasons we joined this fight.”
“Good. My plan is simple we use arrows to thin them when they come down the road. The mailed warriors will be at the sides. When they come at us through the woods we stop them at the Roman ditch. We will see who will weary of the bloodletting first, us or the Saxons.”