by Griff Hosker
I led him to the gate. Ulf had already opened it and he mounted his horse as I stepped through. We walked east. When we were a thousand paces from the pen we kicked our horses in the side and they trotted along the path which ran by the river. We made good time. We saw no one and we did not look like raiders. We had neither helmet nor shield and every man carried a weapon.
Within half a mile we had seen one target but Ulf pointed to the stone tower which was nearby and shook his head. We moved on, always keeping to the trees and the undergrowth. When we came to the terraces and the grape vines we lay flat along our horses' backs. The second site we found another three miles upriver was more promising. It was closer to the river and, although it had a wooden wall, it had no stone tower. More importantly I could see a wooden quay. The place was used to move things down and up the river. We tethered our horses to a tree and then moved towards the quay. There were two barrels. Ulf sniffed and mimed drinking. They were wine barrels. There was loot here already for us. Taking out our swords we moved towards the walls of the town. The path was wide and there was a clearing before the walls of the town. There was a gate. It was as high as a man and there was a ditch. I would have left to return to the drekar but Ulf restrained me and we waited. We seemed to wait an age but we were rewarded by two men's heads appearing above the gate. They had a town watch. We watched the two of them as they walked in opposite directions around the wall. They returned to the gate and their heads disappeared. Satisfied Ulf led me back to the horses.
We walked the horses along the river and when we were far enough away we mounted them. We had seen enough. There was wine and a town. The town watch were nothing to fear. We reached the drekar just before dawn. It was closer to our target than it had been for they had found a small tributary upriver. It looked rather shallow to me but Sven knew his ship. There were trees on either side. While not quite high enough to mask the mast two of the ship's boys clambered up and disguised it with branches. We were hidden. We tied the horses up for we could use them when we raided.
Jarl Gunnar was keen to know what we had discovered. "Well!"
"You need to be careful when you sail tonight. There is a tower and a strong settlement. The one we found has a quay and just a wooden wall with a gate. They have two guards."
Jarl Gunnar Thorfinnson seemed relieved, "Good, you two get some rest while Siggi White Hair and I plan."
I was almost too excited to sleep but I knew that I would need to be alert. I curled up beneath my wolf cloak and slept. I was woken by Siggi who held a two day old loaf and some cheese before him. I shook my head, "I need ale first. My mouth is as dry as the desert."
He put the loaf down and reached over to take a horn of ale from Ketil. "Here. You will need this. You and Ulf are going out again with the Eriksson brothers."
I swallowed half of the ale and wiped the foam from my face, "We need another target?"
"No, the four of you will use the horses to get to the far side of the settlement and make sure that no one escapes. The Jarl is worried about this tower. If it is only a couple of miles away we cannot risk being disturbed as we were last time. Ulf Big Nose assures us that we cannot miss the quay."
I nodded, "He is right, it is the only one." I saw Knut and Ketil grinning, "We ride double?"
"The Jarl saw that you had picked good horses, strong horses. They can carry two and we will not be taking them back." He saw the look on my face and he laughed, "No more horses in the drekar! The next time one of them may shit on me! And I will not find that funny!"
I took Ketil with me. My horse was bigger and Ketil was the larger of the two brothers. He gripped on to me as we rode through the night. Ulf took Knut and the two of them carried bows. The four of us had left just before dusk. Ulf and I had not scouted the northern wall. This would afford us the time to do so. We rode directly down the river. The drekar followed but we were quicker as the drekar was rowing against the current. We soon lost them. We walked very slowly when we were in the vicinity of the tower and then we headed inland. Animals skittered out of our path but the noises would alarm no one. They were the noises of the night. The doves which flapped in the trees made more of a noise and we halted until they settled down again. Then we moved on.
I was becoming used to using my ears and my nose. My nose picked up the smell of wood smoke and then my ears heard the voices in the distance. Ulf veered a little to the left and we went slower. The voices were not constant and we had silence and then the sound of conversation. When it became louder Ulf raised his hand and we dismounted. Ketil heaved a sigh of relief as he slid from the chestnut's back. I took the halter and led the horse. If things went awry this was our way out.
What we had not seen the night before was the tilled field. The horses would be seen from the walls. We turned back into the thin scrubby trees. We tied our horses to them and, after donning my new helmet, crawled across the tilled field. It was covered in crops yet to be harvested. They were some sort of bean and they did afford us cover. A drainage ditch on the far side meant we could shelter and spy the walls. Ulf pointed; it was for my benefit. There was a second gate on the north wall. We waited until we saw the town watch patrol the wall close to us and saw him meet up with the one from the south wall. Then we rose and Ulf led us to the road which ran from the north. He and Knut dived into the ditch on one side and I jumped into the other with Ketil. The gate was just forty paces away. It was closed. We waited.
Time passed and we measured it by the regular patrols of the town watch. After three such circuits I began to worry. The attack should have started. Had I been alone I would have moved but Ulf remained as stone and I emulated him. I think I learned as much from Ulf as I had from Siggi. Ulf was patient. I had to learn patience. I heard something in the night. I could identify what it was but when I glanced over to Ulf I saw him rising from the ditch and waving me forward. I turned and tapped Ketil. Drawing my sword and hefting my shield around to the front I stepped from the ditch and began to approach the walls. The two men of the town watch ran along the wall, heading for the south gate. A moment later I heard the sound of a church bell sounding the alarm. The attack had begun.
Suddenly the gate opened ahead of us and a rider appeared. Ulf and Knut had their bows in their hands and as the rider was just ten paces from us their arrows plucked him from the animal's back. I put my arms up and began clicking my tongue. The frightened horse reared before me and then stopped. I stroked its nose.
Ketil said, "You could have been killed!"
"And if a riderless horse had ridden to the tower where there are warriors what would they have thought?"
Ulf and Knut had run towards the gate. We had been seen and the gate slammed shut. As we ran to join them I saw a figure on the wall aim something. I took no chances and pulled up my shield. The arrow struck it. When we reached the gate I could hear the sound of battle and confusion within the walls. Although it was slightly higher, if we were to gain entry then we would have to scale the gate for the ditch prevented us from doing so further around.
Ulf said, "Ketil, Knut, hold your shield." He slipped his bow around his back and, stepping on to the shield, said, "Up!" The two brothers hoisted him up and his fingers found the top of the wall.
I sheathed my sword and slipped my shield around to my back. "Now me."
I was lighter and they had now done this once. I managed to get my arms over the wall. To my dismay I saw Ulf fighting two men and a third ran at me with a sword. As I pulled myself over he slashed at me. Someone was watching over me that night for I managed to get my head over the top as the sword slid along my helmet. My aventail saved my life that night. I had no weapon in my hand. I held the sword hand to the wall and punched with my right. The man had no helmet and my fist connected with the side of his head. He tumbled to the ground and he fell awkwardly.
I drew my sword and my seax. I ran at the back of one of Ulf's attackers. He did not seen me coming and Heart of Ice slid through his ribs. His back arced and I use
d my sword to push him to the ground. I did not pause but pushed next to Ulf and stabbed with my seax. I caught the second man across the arm and as he dropped his sword Ulf took his head.
"Get down to the gate and let in the brothers. I will guard the rampart." He stood and faced the men who were approaching from the west wall. I turned and ran to the tower. I clambered down the ladder. As I reached the bottom and turned a man swung his sword at me. I instinctively flicked up my seax. It took some of the power from the strike but his blade still struck my chest. The new byrnie stopped the blow. I rammed my seax into his eye, twisted and then pushed it into his skull. He slumped to the ground. I had to sheath my weapons to open the gate. I heard cries behind me as men saw me. I could not turn. I had a task to perform. I had just managed to lift it when a spear was rammed at my back. My shield behind me took the force and I swung the bar in an arc. It struck two of the men who had weapons raised to strike me. Ketil and Knut burst in as I hurled the bar at the advancing townsfolk. The two brothers were eager to get into the fray and they threw themselves at the men before us. We had shields, swords and helmets. They had whatever weapon they could find.
I swung my shield around and drew my sword. As I joined the brothers we slew the last of those who were facing us. Three others saw us and ran. I saw a man pitched from the walls and then I watched as Ulf raced down the ladder to join us. He nodded, "You did well. Hrolf you and Ketil hold this gate. None must escape. The rich will try to flee with their treasure. Stop them!"
He and Knut raced off. "Ketil, grab this bar with me. We will close the gate again!"
With the gate closed and just the dead before us we were an island of peace in a sea of war. We could hear the sound of battle as the Jarl and his men fought with the town watch and whatever warriors there were. While we waited we searched the bodies of the dead. The baker, I could tell his trade from his flour stained clothes, had six coins on him and a fine dagger. That was all. The spear he had used on my shield was shattered. Altogether we found four metal crosses, twelve coins, two daggers a sword and a couple of poor helmets. Ketil found a leather satchel by the gate and he put our finds within.
He was still doing so when I saw men running to us. "Ketil leave that and stand close!"
A man with a woman and two children had burst from a side alley and ran towards us. I could see by his clothes that this was no baker and the small chest he clutched, rather than his wife or his children told me that it was valuable. His head had been down as he ran to towards us but his wife saw us and she screamed. I suppose my new helmet made me seem inhuman somehow.
The man spoke and I understood most of his words. "Let us go and I will give you money." He tapped the box.
I shook my head. "You will give us your money and you will wait here until my Jarl has finished."
The man clutched the box closer to him. The woman pleaded, "Please do not hurt me or my children! I beg of you!"
I pointed to the wall on my right, "Wait there and you will be safe. You have my word that no one will harm you."
She shook her head, "I cannot see your face! You are a monster from the north!"
I took off my helmet. It was a relief for I was hot and the cool air was refreshing. I smiled, "There. I am no monster!"
The man must have thought he could use the distraction of his wife to escape for he pulled a short sword out and lunged at me. Ketil had understood little of our interchange but his sword was ready. The man ran on to the blade before he had taken a step. Even in death he clutched the box as tightly as ever. His children started wailing. I shook my head, "Had he obeyed he would have lived. A man can make more money. He cannot remake a life." She pulled her children closer to her. "Ketil, thank you for that. Search him and take the box."
I noticed that there was less clamour but more people were approaching. I turned to the woman. "Tell them that there is no escape this way. If they sit down they have my word they will not be harmed."
She flashed an angry look at me, "No for we are worth more as slaves are we not?"
I shook my head, "I was a slave once but I promise you that we do not wish to enslave you." I was speaking the truth for we could not afford the time to sail to a slave market. It was treasure and food we sought. We had to supply our little island home for the winter.
She nodded, "I know not why but I believe you." She stood and shouted to the ten or twenty people before us. I think she must have been a woman of some importance for they obeyed and sat down.
As dawn began to break Siggi and Arne approached with Ulf and other warriors. Siggi laughed, "You have done well the pair of you. Come bring these folk back to the hall."
I nodded, "They are afraid we mean them harm. Let me speak with them."
"Aye Hrolf."
I turned to the people but I spoke with the woman, "You are to go back to the hall."
She looked fearfully at the blood spattered warriors before her. "You swear we will be safe."
I smiled, "If we had wished you harm then you would not be talking to me now, would you? You have my word. Now come! Soon we will leave you and you can pick up the pieces of your lives."
She nodded and spoke to her people, "Come. We go to the Great Hall."
I picked up the chest and Ketil hefted the satchel and weapons on his back. He said, "What did you say to her?" I told him and he shook his head. "You are young but you have a wise head. I would have laid about me with my sword and they would have obeyed."
I laughed, "And what if they had all rushed us? They outnumbered us. We could have been overpowered and slain. True many of them would be dead but that is what comes of not using your head. Be like ice!"
I saw, when we reached the hall, that we had not escaped unscathed. Three bodies lay beneath their shields. Already I saw men carrying goods to the drekar. The Jarl looked up as I approached. I pointed to the woman. "I think that this is the wife of the headman. I caught them escaping and this feels heavy. The others listened to her. I promised them they would be safe."
Siggi nodded, "They will be, we do not have Hermund the Bent with us now."
"Take the booty to the drekar and then help carry the barrels of wine and the sacks of food. We have come at the right time. They had begun to collect in the harvest."
I saw that animals were being driven to the river. The woman had grown bold and, as I turned, she said, "Will you leave us nothing?"
I pointed to the fields through which we had crawled. "There are crops there as yet unharvested. Your grapes are still on the vines. You will not starve. Your husband thought not of that when he fled with this box of gold did he?"
Tight lipped she went into the hall.
I had sounded cruel but I had grown up in a settlement just like this one. I knew that somewhere, hidden from us, would be an emergency supply of food. They would not starve. I had no doubt that there would be a lord in the tower and it would be incumbent upon him to feed the people who paid his taxes. I was under no illusions; we were the wolves and they were the sheep. Sheep were there to be shorn. If they wanted protection then they should employ a good sheepdog. It was how the Dragonheart protected his people.
Siggi and the Jarl were the last two who joined us at the drekar and they did so quickly. "Cast off! Riders are coming!"
We had been lucky. This time we had managed a whole morning without interference but now the local lord had come. We left and were heading downstream when the mailed warriors arrived. They followed us down stream. At first they kept pace with us but once the river took hold of us we sped down the mighty river. Any joy we had in the great quantities of wine, wheat, gold and food, not to mention animals, was tempered by the bodies of the dead who lay by the prow. For once I was happy to be sent to the oars for it meant I did not have to look at them. Every Viking expected to die with a sword in his hand but I had not yet done enough nor fulfilled my potential. I prayed that the Allfather would keep me alive a little while longer.
Chapter 7
Any morbid thou
ghts we might have had were driven from us by the late summer storm which tossed the ship up and down as though it was a piece of straw! We lost a sheep and two geese. Siggi was philosophical about their loss. "A small price to pay to Ran. Better a sheep and two geese. It was a good Blót."
It took us longer to reach home and I could see the worry on the face of Erik One Hand. It was like coming home to a fretful mother.
The barrels were easier to land than the ore had been. We just tipped them over the side and let the tide take them to shore. They rolled up onto the beach and we pushed them the last few paces. Rather than take them to the top of the cliffs we put them under the rock overhang. There it would be cool and we could take for trade or take some from the barrels for drinking. Not many of us enjoyed wine but in the absence of beer it would have to do.
We did not rest for long. The next day half of the men were put to work building an animal shelter and food store while the two boats were sent fishing. Beorn Beornsson had the rest of the men at the forge making nails. The storm had threatened to spring some strakes. We would be prepared. I had few skills in either metal work or fishing and I was used as raw labour. I did not mind for it meant that Dream Strider would have a roof over his head for the winter.
We began by digging a deep hole. It was as deep as a man's leg. We used the cart to haul up sand and stones. That was my task for Dream Strider seemed to work better for me than any other. The posts were put in the same way as the hall but there would be a second floor. By the end of the first day we just had a skeletal roof, eight posts and a floor. The work meant we were all ready for the last of the beer, warm wheaten bread and freshly caught fish. The fishermen had caught many and they would dry and salt the surplus the next day. In the long nights of winter they would be our staple diet. The island boasted neither deer nor boar; it was the only drawback for our island home.