Arrowhead

by Ruth Eastham

  Praise for

  ARROWHEAD

  “Absolutely breathtaking –

  a dazzling and very scary novel”

  Kevin Crossley-Holland

  “A heart-pounding, intense read – hold your breath”

  Sarah Mussi, author of Siege

  “Should secure Ruth Eastham’s place among

  the very best of British children’s writers”

  Caroline Green, author of Dark Ride

  “Hits the ground running and never lets up”

  Paula Rawsthorne, author of

  The Truth About Celia Frost

  “A thrilling supernatural adventure weaving

  skilfully between past and present”

  Katherine Langrish, author of Dark Angels

  “A fantastic read!”

  Matt Dickinson, author of Mortal Chaos

  Ruth Eastham was born in the north of England and has lived in several different UK cities, as well as New Zealand, Australia and Italy. Her award-winning novels, The Memory Cage and The Messenger Bird, are also published by Scholastic.

  www.rutheastham.com

  www.twitter.com/RuthEastham1

  For

  Anna, Tom, Elena, Evie, Leo, Giulia, Jacob and Aileen

  Cousins of the Clans

  I remember the mist of our past.

  As I speak to you in the present,

  My ancient eyes

  See the terrible future.

  The Doom of Odin

  Contents

  Cover

  Praise for Arrowhead

  About the Author

  Title Page

  Dedication

  Quote

  Part 1 – Ice

  1 North

  2Through the Graveyard Gate

  3Ice Cave

  4Dead Boy

  5The Warning in the Runes

  6Something in the Air

  7The Visitor

  8The Standing Stone

  The Ancient Ballad of Isdal

  Part 2 – The Plagues

  9Back to the Glacier

  10Into the Abyss

  11Aftermath

  12Children Murderers Be

  13Refuge

  14Protection Runes

  15Dragon Boat

  16Beware, My Brother

  17Plague of Water

  18Ransom

  Part 3 – Earth and Fire

  19The God of Hanged Men

  20The Stave Church

  21No Escape

  22Masks

  23Launch

  24Death Boat

  25Funeral

  Epilogue – Beginnings

  Acknowledgements

  Author’s Note

  Useful Links

  Quotes used in Arrowhead

  Copyright

  The dying boy crouches in his ice prison.

  His breathing is thick and short, and blood seeps through his grey cloak, turning to red crystals in the bitter air. The wound is deep and he knows he has little time.

  The boy heaves himself to his feet with a cry of pain and looks up the sheer walls of the crevasse to the jagged hole he fell through. He tries again to climb, clawing at the impossibly slippery surface. Flakes of snow swirl downwards from the opening. The blizzard will block it soon. Already the light is fading.

  He grips the golden arrowhead, using its tip to write on the wall of ice. The razor edge scrapes and grinds as he carves out the words. The freezing metal has welded to the skin of his hand, but he does not stop.

  He must write a warning. A warning about the arrowhead he holds. Why it must stay trapped, deep underground, never released.

  The boy sinks back, shaking. He thinks of his people in the village at the edge of the water, the ones who are already dead.

  Sobbing a little, he lifts the arrowhead again. The cold seeps through him like poison. It is hard to think; hard to breathe, but he knows he must finish the runes. The threads of light are almost gone, but the dying boy continues his task, forcing the arrowhead again and again into the lifeless ice.

  1

  North

  The wise man is never parted from his weapons.

  Viking saying

  “Troll Boy’s dead!”

  “Fight! Fight!”

  Excited shouts shot round the playground as the mass of kids waited. School was about to end and, just for the fun of it, Lukas Brudvik was going to beat up the Troll.

  “At least use his proper name,” muttered Jack as he hovered by himself at the edge of the group, shifting from one foot to the other to keep warm. He zipped his padded jacket to the maximum.

  What had got into those kids? They’d been all right up till now. Welcoming even. It was the first time he’d seen anyone bother Skuli. It was like someone had flicked the “mad” switch; cast a spell on them or something.

  Where were teachers when you needed them?

  Stay out of it, Jack told himself. If they were picking on Skuli, that meant they weren’t picking on the screwed-up thirteen-year-old new kid from England. Him.

  Jack stabbed the toe of his trainer into a puddle, breaking its brittle cover of ice. This was supposed to be the start of the summer holidays? This place made even British summers look good. But then what did you expect when your mum dragged you to Norway and a town virtually in the Arctic!

  Jack brought up the last message on his phone, from Vinnie back home.

  Need you back in goal! Just got slaughtered 3–0!! You owe me a bag of chips.

  Jack smiled. Then that familiar feeling gripped his chest. He’d only been in Isdal a few weeks, but already Northumberland and footie matches with chips after seemed a long way off and a long time ago.

  He quickly tapped a reply.

  Can’t wait 2b back. Am freezing 2 death!

  Shouts rang out. Jack slipped his phone back in to his pocket. The words rippled round the mob. Skuli’s in the cloakrooms… He’s putting on his coat… That Troll Boy’s dead… Fight! Fight!

  Jack watched the kids, screeching and hooting, chanting for Skuli, while the show-off, Lukas Brudvik, strutted about, making a big show of putting on gloves and flexing his fists.

  A girl in a blue coat turned her head and looked at Jack. She wasn’t doing any chanting. A long plait dangled from under a fur-trimmed hat. What was she called? Emily or something… Emma, that was it. He knew what her look was saying. We should do something.

  Now all eyes were on the cloakroom door. Jack could see Skuli through the window, standing by the coat hooks, still folding those little origami animals he’d been making in class, his mass of curly black hair flopping over his face, oblivious to what was waiting for him.

  “I’ll let you have a go at the Troll if you like, Jack Tomassen. Soon as I’m finished.” Lukas Bruvik was by his shoulder. He nodded and his smirk said, Prove yourself, new boy. Here’s your chance to pass the test. You can be one of us.

  Everyone went quiet. The door swung open and Skuli came out, blinking at the knot of kids in his way. They parted and he stepped forward, still fiddling with one of his origami animals.

  Lukas circled Skuli, his boots slapping the frosty concrete, his arms behind his back. “Troll Boy… Troll Boy…”

  Skuli Isaksen was half troll – that’s what Lukas had been telling everybody that morning. That was why he was short and stocky. That was why he and his dad kept to themselves and lived under the ground, in a basement flat under an abandoned shop.

  Jack’s heart thudded. He felt the kids’ impatience, taut and dangerous, lik
e the drawn-back string of a bow. He saw Emma, trying to make herself heard over the din. Lukas marched in time as he kept on with the chant. “Troll Boy… Troll Boy…”

  Others took up the words. Some moved slowly towards Skuli. The others clapped their hands as they sang, moving in a circle, closing in. Kids who Jack would never have expected to copy a loser like Lukas.

  Emma was shouting now – “Stop it! Leave him alone!” – but their chanting drowned her out.

  Lukas darted at Skuli, then jumped away swinging a bunch of nettles. The kids around him scattered, laughing. Skuli rubbed at his face and Jack saw red blistery lumps come up in a line by his mouth. Lukas swiped at him again and Skuli nearly fell as he tried to get out of the way.

  Jack stood there, his hands clenched in fists inside his pockets. Skuli could get rid of Lukas with one good punch if he wanted. He was small but he was strong; Jack had seen him in sports lessons. One good, well-placed punch where it really hurt… But there he was, not even trying to defend himself. Why didn’t Skuli fight back?

  I should just walk away, Jack told himself. If Skuli won’t help himself, why should I?

  But now Lukas had a stick, a thick thing covered with thorns. The other kids were hollering. Emma was jostled away as she tried to step in. The stick swiped through the air and Skuli gasped. A line of blood appeared across his forehead.

  Jack’s body tensed. That was going too far. Skuli could have had that in his eyes! Walk away now, the voice inside him said. Find a teacher. It’s nothing to do with you. Keep out of it.

  Lukas lunged and smacked Skuli’s face with his fist. Skuli shrank down, covering his head with his useless hands.

  The crowd screeched. Lukas stood back, looking pleased. “Want a turn now, New Boy?” he called to Jack.

  The crowd went still. All eyes on Jack. The wind sent a sheet of newspaper flapping across the concrete. Just one little slap; that was all it took, he told himself. Score some points in the new boy stakes. Be accepted into the Isdal clan. He wouldn’t have to be the weirdo outsider any more. He nodded slowly and stepped forward. I can be best mates with Lukas and live happily ever after.

  Jack launched himself towards Skuli with a shout, but at the last second he swerved and rammed into Lukas instead, pushing him hard, making him slam down on his backside. The other kids howled with laughter and Lukas lashed out at them as he tried to get up.

  Jack grabbed Skuli’s arm. “Go on.” Don’t stare at me like I’m the thick one! “Get out of here!”

  Jack turned back to Lukas and helped him to his feet. “Up you get, Lukie.” This little New Boy is going to show you where you belong … in the emergency room of the nearest hospital!

  Lukas glared at him, shaking him away, and then Jack noticed the other kids, re-massing, moving in. There were more sticks. Big stones now too.

  Skuli still stood there like a moron. He tugged at Jack’s sleeve. “We’d both better get out of here, don’t you think?”

  A fist-sized pebble slammed Jack’s leg, nearly knocking it from under him. Another thumped hard against his arm. What had got into these kids? The crowd moved closer. So many. Too many. Jack swallowed and moved back a step. Faces staring, hostile. Two against thirty? He didn’t fancy those odds.

  Jack sprang away, dragging Skuli with him. I’d have a better chance pulling a dead body along with me, he thought.

  Instantly there was a rush of children behind. “Quick!” They hoisted themselves over the playground fence. Jack lost his footing and slammed down on to sharp gravel. He scrambled up and ran on across the playing field. The kids streamed after them. There were short shouts, little screams of delight; Lukas at the front, yelling.

  Jack sprang over the drainage channel at the end of the field and pelted up a grassy slope. He reached the crest of the hill. A smooth long finger of water stretched out in front of him, pointing at the sea. He saw the fishing boats bobbing on the metal-grey water of the bay, the blood-red houses huddled on its banks. To the right, brown fields sloped downwards; to the left was the wide, wooded valley, another hill rising up behind it, with a tall wooden church on top and the river gorge beyond.

  Jack sped straight down towards the town, calculating the distance they needed to cover: the grassy slope; the long, narrow tracks through the scrubby pine woods; on to the main street… Thank god for all that football training back home; that’s all he could say.

  Jack twisted to check on Skuli. He was falling behind. The other kids were gaining, pouring over the lip of the hill. Behind them was the vast dark rock of the mountain that loomed over Isdal with its pitted glacier.

  “Faster, Skuli!” Jack shouted.

  He plunged into the labyrinth of tracks that twisted through the woods, passing a crow impaled on the barbed wire fence: a warning to other birds not to come near. Gusts of wind snatched at his back. What had he told himself? Walk away. Nothing to do with you. Keep out if it.

  Jack whirred round. Where was Skuli? He couldn’t see him anywhere. Great! Jack started back.

  Skuli must have taken a different path. Had he got away? Jack could hear the thud of feet nearby. He ran faster, speared by spiky twigs. The path branched in different directions. He passed the burnt-out wreck of a smashed car, thick tufts of grass and twisted bushes growing from its rusty bonnet. The path branched again. Was it right or left? His mind buzzed with confusion. His breath came out in bursts. The pine trees seemed to be closing in around him. He chose a track and veered down it. Where was Skuli?

  Jack glimpsed kids through gaps in the trees. Each thump of his trainers on the hard ground jarred through his body. He passed the burnt-out car again. Stupid! He’d gone round in a circle! And then someone was looming up right in front of him, one hand raised, in a fist…

  Lukas.

  Jack tumbled and rolled to one side to dodge him, his back scraping painfully against the rough bark of a tree. He saw Skuli standing nearby, watching with a frown. Thanks for the help! Jack scrambled to his feet again. He wiped the sweat from his eyes and saw the stone in Lukas’s hand.

  A heavy stone with a sharp point. Lukas shifted it from one hand to the other, then raised it above his head, as if getting ready to throw. Sticks with thorns and oversized pebbles was one thing, but this…

  More children arrived, bunching up behind Lukas and then fanning out round Jack and Skuli. The branches above shuddered and the wind hissed menacingly through the pine needles.

  You didn’t throw big rocks at people’s heads. Even dense bullies like Lukas must know that.

  Jack stood firm. “Want to kill me, do you?” he said, forcing himself not to flinch. But he felt little shivers on the back of his neck. There was something in Lukas’s eyes. Something unfeeling. Something frightening. Jack took a step back, trying to keep his voice steady. “A murderer, are you?”

  Skuli shot Jack a look of alarm. Lukas raised the stone higher.

  There was a flurry of movement. Right over their heads, a bird was thrashing about and shrieking, like its wings were tangled in the branches.

  Lukas was distracted for a second and Jack saw the cruel look slip from his face. He dragged his eyes away from the branches and stared at Jack, and the stone in his hand, as if he was wondering how it got there. Then he let the rock fall like it had scorched him. It hit the ground with a dull thump.

  “Lucky you’ve got your mummy looking after you, Troll Boy,” Lukas said quickly. He kicked a shower of dirt at Jack. “I won’t forget this, Foreign Face. ’Cos that’s what you are, isn’t it? A loser foreigner with a dead dad.

  “Dead dad loser,” he hollered as he strutted off, the other kids drifting with him. “Dead … dad…” The words seemed to swirl in the wind, coming from every direction at once.

  Jack stood watching Lukas go.

  Dead dad.

  He clenched his teeth. Why did he have to say that? He’d rather Lukas had
thrown that rock at his head.

  “Thanks,” Skuli said. “And sorry. I’m not very good in a fight.”

  Skuli stood there with his hands in his pockets, black hair flopping, staring. Really staring, as if he was trying to work something out. Jack scowled back. Didn’t Skuli realize how close they’d been to having their heads smashed in by a rock?

  Skuli gave a shaky laugh, then edged closer. “Your Norwegian’s good.”

  “I am Norwegian. But I was born in England. My mum and dad are both from h—” Jack’s face went hot. “My mum is from here.”

  “Oh.”

  Skuli carried on gawping, like Jack had two heads or something. It was creeping him out big time.“You’re just like him,” said Skuli, the words bubbling out. He glanced round as if checking who was listening. He inched even nearer and lowered his voice. “At first I thought it was you. That you’d been messing about up there and had fallen.”

  What was he going on about? “Fallen? Up where?”

  Skuli opened his mouth to speak, then shut it again. “Oh, nothing. Nowhere.”

  “Whatever.” This Skuli was obviously a nutter. “OK, I have to get home now.”

  Jack started to walk off, but Skuli had hold of his arm suddenly, gripping it, making him spin round. He was looking at Jack, his eyes wide. “When the hands of children murderers be.”

  “What?” Jack shook Skuli off.

  Skuli shuffled back. “Sorry.” He looked away, flustered. “It’s just a poem. An old ballad or something. My gran made me learn it years ago. I’ve forgotten most of it now, but lines just pop into my head sometimes.” He tried a smile but there was a troubled look fixed on his face. “Sorry,” he said again.

  Jack twisted a pine needle in his hand to try and stop his fingers from trembling. When the hands of children murderers be. That rock. Lukas. The look in his eyes before he’d dropped the stone. If there hadn’t been that flapping bird, distracting him… “Those kids are mental,” he muttered. He rolled up a trouser leg and rubbed at the dried blood on his knee. “Let’s get home.”