by Griff Hosker
When we neared my home Dream Strider whinnied and the mares answered. Gille ran to me, "Master! Master!"
I shook my head. He would insist on calling me master. " What is it?"
"The young one, Gerðr, she is going to have a foal!"
A foal? How do you know?"
"My father knew horses and I have grown up with them. He was a horse master and he taught me the signs. I am certain that she has a foal within her. If you do not believe me I will show you where to touch her as I was taught."
"I believe you!" Now I knew why the Norns had sent me the slave. We had both forgotten Mary and I dropped Dream Strider's reins as I ran to the pen.
Gille put his hand underneath her and waited. Then he smiled, "Put your hand here. You will feel the heartbeat! It is the foal!"
I put my hand there. I knew it was not close to the mare's heart and, faintly at first, I felt the beat of another living being.
Gilles said, "You can only feel the heartbeat a month after a mare has been covered by a stallion."
I almost laughed at this young boy who seemed so knowledgeable. "Is this why you were kept as a slave?"
"Yes lord. I have a gift and the master recognised it but he did not like me for I was foreign." He suddenly noticed Mary. "Who is this, mas... Hrolf? Your sister?"
Mary had dismounted and was wandering over with a bemused look on her face. "No Gille this is Mary. She was taken as a slave from the Issicauna like you. She will be staying with us for a while."
He nodded as though that was perfectly reasonable.
I turned to her. "We will leave you here. We have work to do. I will not take the young mare. There is food inside the hut. Help yourself. Do not let the fire go out. If you wish to bathe the sea is close." I gave her a wry smile. "I hope you are here when I return."
She smiled, "I will be here."
We rode the two horses towards the village. Gille did not need a saddle and Freyja seemed happy to bear him. I knew that we had been expected just after dawn and I saw the disappointed looks at our late arrival. As we approached I said quietly, "Do not mention Mary yet. Let me do that in my own time."
Siggi White Hair asked, "Where have you been! We have brought the firewood and small branches up but you knew we needed your horses for the heavy work. Where is the other?"
"That is why we are late. Gille here discovered the young one is in foal. We will have to make do with these two."
"Gille? I thought his name was Guillaume?"
"It is Gille." I said it firmly to end the debate. "And we waste time here. Come Gille let us see how you are at leading a horse!" The path down to the beach now had flat stones upon it. We had used wood to make steps down the slope so that it was now much easier to haul objects from the beach. The men were preparing to lift the logs and carry them by hand when they heard the clatter of stones as we descended the path. They gave an ironic cheer.
"Finally risen!"
"Did you eat well?"
I smiled at the banter. They meant no harm and all of them would be glad that I had brought the horses. It would make the job much easier. Erik One Arm was there. He often helped me with the horses. They knew him, for he fed and watered them when I was absent. We took off Dream Strider's saddle at the foot of the cliff. I waved Erik over. "This is Gille. He will be helping to look after the horses. He can help you."
Erik, who had also been a slave, nodded and smiled. "That is what a one armed man needs, Gille, a strapping boy to help him. Come I will show you how we tie the traces to the harness we made." Gille did not understand Erik's words but the task was clear and he followed him.
We had two leather harnesses which fitted over the chests of the horses. Two long reins allowed us to attach heavy objects to them without injuring the horses. Once done we handed them to the men with the logs and they tied them on. We used a halter to guide the two beasts up the slope. We did not hurry and it took all day to move most of the logs. We stacked them where they could season and we arranged them in piles of girth and length.
Siggi saw that both the horses and men were flagging in the late afternoon. "We have done enough," he shouted, "and besides we have an errant slave to find."
"No you do not." My voice silenced all the conversation for it was news.
"Have you found her? Is she dead?"
"I have found her, Ulf. I discovered her this morning in our cave. She is alive but she is fearful of returning to the village. She is at my home."
"Will she stay there?"
"I know not. We must speak with the Jarl."
Siggi nodded, "I am pleased you have found her. It would be bad luck if she killed herself. It is bad enough having a haunted farmhouse without haunted waters. Until we have a volva or galdramenn we can take no chances on ill luck befalling us."
We ascended slowly to the village for the horses were tired. Poor Gille was almost out on his feet. He had been up as early as I had. The sooner we got home the better. The Jarl heard us out and then sent for Hildegard and the others. The looks on their faces showed their guilt even before they had spoken.
"I want to know if you spat in Mary the slave's, food and abused her. I want to know if that was the reason she ran away."
The youngest of them was Anya. She was a little older than Gille. "We meant no harm. Emma said it was good for it would pay her back for being born noble."
I said, "And if she died; what would your god think to that?" They were all Christians and each had a wooden cross around their neck. They clutched at them and a couple mumbled something. I suspect it was a prayer. "It is no thanks to you that she lives. Had she taken her own life then the sin would have been yours just as much as hers!"
A couple began to weep as I spat out the words.
The Jarl was angry. "Go! Those who are slaves shall be beaten and as for you two," he pointed to Emma and Hildegard, "I hope your husbands show good judgement and punish you for wilfulness. Mary is the property of the clan!" he turned to me. "She cannot return here yet. Can she stay with you?"
"She can have a home there. I now have Gille. She can sew there and contribute to the clan. She will be happier."
"Then make it so."
Wyrd.
As we went back Gille was quiet. "How was your first day as a Viking!"
"It is not what I expected. They laughed more than I expected. I liked the man with the one arm. He spoke to me as though I knew his words but I did not. I liked the way he smiled at me and he was gentle with Freyja. I wish to know the words of your people, Hrolf."
"And that is good, Gille the Thoughtful. I will teach you and Mary."
He brightened. "She will stay with us?"
"She will and she is a Frank. You can speak with her."
"We will be like a family."
"We will indeed."
"I miss my family."
Wyrd. The three of us had all had our families taken from us and had found each other. We were a clan within a clan.
There was a well kept fire going when we reached the house and a pot simmering upon it. Mary looked nervous. However the first thing I noticed was that she had used my combs to comb her hair. She might even have washed it for it looked lighter than it had.
"I collected shellfish from the shore and found some sampiere and some greens, master. I think there is some bread left although it is a little stale."
I nodded. "If we break it up and put it in the bowls then it will not matter."
"You have not many bowls, master."
I nodded, "We will have to gather some clay the next time we are on the mainland and make them. Until then we can take it in turns."
"Until then, master? Does that mean I can stay?"
"For the time being it does. And I am Hrolf, not master. You will continue to sew and we will have to travel to the village to collect your work." Her face clouded over. "Gille and I will accompany you. The Jarl has punished those who abused you." The relief was clear. "You will also keep house for Gille and I. I will make a scre
en for your modesty. At night I will teach you both our language for now you are both part of the Raven Wing Clan."
For some reason that made them both happy. "Master, I mean Hrolf. If you get me material then I can make garments for us. I do not like being dressed in rags and poor Gille here has more holes in his clothes than cloth."
She was right. "I will bring some in the morning."
The difference in Mary was astounding. She became happy. She worked hard. She and Gille giggled and laughed like a brother and sister and yet all that I had done was to smile and give them a roof. It showed me the true lot of a slave.
The food she had prepared was tasty but it was hardly filling. I decided that as soon as possible I would go hunting. They would be small animals but they would augment our share of that which the village had from our hunt. I knew that we would only be given a very small proportion. That was to be expected. I had chosen to live apart. We would have to make the best of it. We had our first language lesson but Gille fell asleep half way through. I gently picked him up and carried him to his bed. Mary found a spare fur and covered him. As she did so she saw the scars on his back and her hand went to her mouth.
I led her to the door of the hut, "His master, a noble, whipped him and beat him."
She understood my point. "I did not know."
"Perhaps you understand now why those from your village treated you as they did. I am not saying your father mistreated them but you do not know. I have suffered at the hands of enough overseers to know that much is done in a lord's name."
"I begin to see. Thank you, Hrolf the Horseman. It is true what Brigid calls you. She says you are the most gentle of men."
The next day we finished hauling the wood from the shore. I was pleased for it had been hard work for the horses. I had checked Freyja and she was not with foal. I knew that, with the end of summer approaching, it would be unlikely that she would be in season again. Perhaps that was for the best.
As I was about to leave the village the Jarl called me over. "Hrolf, you did not think we had forgotten that you used your own coin that you had earned to rescue my brother's warriors. It speaks well of you that you have not mentioned it since you returned from the Liger."
"It was nothing Jarl. We can get more gold. We cannot replace brave warriors with such ease."
"Nonetheless you deserve recompense." He turned to Vermund who handed him a bag of coins. They had been taken when we had captured Mary and the others. "I hope this compensates you."
"Thank you Jarl. It does."
He put his arm around my shoulder. "I thank you too for what you have done to bring peace to the village. By taking away the troublesome Mary you have made the village fill with harmony."
I was not certain that it was Mary's fault but I nodded. "It is my clan and I share the island with its people."
"We have goods to trade from our raid and I am taking the drekar to Dyflin to trade with Gunnstein Berserk Killer. Some men are staying on the island." He shook his head. "I think Ketil and Beorn wish to spend more time with their young wives."
"And I have two horses to school as well as Dream Strider to care for. Mary will still sew. I will be bringing her to the village to collect any work required. She can sew just as well in my home."
"She can."
I left and sought Siggi White Hair. "Are you going on the trading expeditions?"
"I am, Hrolf. What is it you need?"
"Material for clothes."
He laughed, "And is that work for a wizened old man like me?"
"No but I can trust you. And I would have something else, another Saami bow if you can buy one."
"But you have a bow."
"It is not for me. I would like it as a gift for Ulf. He has done much for me and I would like to repay him."
"If I can I will do so." I handed him a large number of coins. "This is too many!"
"Then you can return what you do not spend. Better too much than not enough."
"You are very trusting."
"If I cannot trust you and the rest of the clan then whom can I trust?"
"Aye you are right."
The traders were away for half a month by which time the weather had changed as nights became longer and the winds changed and became a little colder as they swept in from the north and the west. Mary and Gille could now speak to others apart from me. We had visited the village and Mary could now travel there in safety so long as she was with us. Gille had grown in the short time he had been with me. I think it was the food which Mary cooked. She proved to be a good cook. When the material came she was delighted although Siggi was uncertain if he had made the right choice.
I decided to give Ulf his present in private. He lived in the warrior hall. He had not taken a woman and I did not think he ever would. He was sat outside the hall and working on some bone he was carving to make fish hooks. I had the bow in a sheepskin.
"Now, Hrolf, we do not see much of you these days. How is life by the haunted farmhouse?"
"We get on well. I feel like I have a young brother and sister. With the mare in foal it is a good place to be. I have begun to build a small house for Mary. It is not right that she has to share with Gille and I."
He laughed, "You are the strangest Viking I ever met."
"I came here to give you this, Ulf Big Nose. It is to thank you for giving me the skills I have. I have a small part of your skills but I am improving."
He unwrapped it, "This is a mighty gift. I cannot accept it."
"Why not?"
"You have spent your money on this!"
"I spent the coin which the merchant gave me on the Liger. I would not have been able to help him but for the skills you gave me. Consider this payment for my life."
He stood and clasped my forearm. "In that case I accept it and thank you. No one, the Jarl included, has ever given me such a gift."I could see that he was touched by the gesture but I had meant what I had said.
I had thought that the year would end quietly. Samhain was not far away. The fields were being harvested and we were preparing for winter. Stores of wood and dried fish were being prepared. The women and children would soon gather the bounty which the land had produced. We planted, on my land, the beans which would grow and give us food for next winter. Gerðr grew and each day the three of us would feel the foal as it moved. It was our own miracle. We were making our own rituals and they seemed to bond us closer together. Life was good. All appeared to be well and then the Weird Sisters must have decided that we had been too quiet for too long.
I was heading to the fish nets to bring in the day's catch. I stopped at the farm for I spied a sail heading towards our island. I went to the headland to watch it approach. Sometimes Jarl Dragonheart sent his knarr to us or even one of his drekar. I knew all of his vessels and I watched as the sail drew closer. Then I saw there were two other sails. They were ships heading for our island. They were neither drekar nor knarr. They were rounder than a drekar and longer than a knarr. That could only mean one thing, danger!
Chapter 9
I shouted, "Mary, Gille. Saddle Freyja and Dream Strider."
"What is it?"
"Mary do not argue! Do as I order!" My tone was harsh and she recoiled.
Gille said, "Come Mary let us see who can do it the quickest!"
I went into my hut and put on the padded kyrtle which Mary had made for me. This would be the first time I had had the chance to wear it. Then I donned my mail. It had been many months since it had hung from my shoulders. It was still oiled and cared for. I put my helmet on my head. I took Heart of Ice, the Frankish sword I had been given and my seax. I put my shield across my back and took my bow and spear. I was a warrior once more.
When I emerged Mary's hand went to her mouth. The last time she had seen me thus dressed was the day she had been captured. Gille led Dream Strider to me. I hung my bow and quiver from the saddle. "Gille, I want you and Mary to ride double on Freyja. You can lead Gerðr. Ride to the village and tell the Jarl
or Siggi that I have spied three ships. They look to be heading in this direction. It may be nothing. They might pass us by but I will wait until I know."
He nodded. "Aye Hrolf. I will not let you down."
I gave him the Frankish sword the merchant had given me. "Take this and care for it. Now ride." I whistled and Nipper appeared. I pointed to Mary, "Guard!" As they mounted I went to the animal pens and opened their doors and gates. I shooed the animals out, shouting at them to make them run. There were just a few animals: a couple of sheep and goats we milked and some chickens but if these were enemies then they would have to find the animals. They ran and flew off squawking and bleating and I led Dream Strider to the headland.
When I reached the farmhouse I took off my helmet and hung it from my saddle. I peered out to sea. I could see the three vessels much clearer now for they were heading for the bay. They were three of the ships used by the men of Vannes. They were tubby vessels and unlike a drekar, which sliced through the sea, they appeared to waddle in the water. I knew that they could each hold as many as forty men although most sailed to war with twenty or so. It seemed likely to me that they were heading for us but they could still veer either east or west. I licked my finger and held it up. The breeze was coming from the mainland. They were sailing cautiously. They did not know the bay. There could be rocks waiting to tear their keels. Their slow approach meant that Gille and Mary would have plenty of time to reach the village. I lived the furthest away but there were others who lived outside the walls. Sven the Helmsman lived close by his drekar and others had farms just a few hundred paces from the walls. They would have time to take their families within the walls.
I had time to wonder about this possible attack. Although we had done all that we could to avoid detection when we had taken the animals and the timber the fact that I had slain two men would have aroused their suspicions. In addition our drekar would have been seen. It might have taken the Count some time to gather all the information and then prepare to attack us but it made sense. This was the time to raid. We knew that. Most people would be in their fields gathering in their crops and preparing for winter. Indeed we would be thinking about another raid soon ourselves. The Jarl would want our grain stores filled.