Housecarl

by Griff Hosker

  The next morning I decided that we would go hunting and then return to Jorvik the following day. It had been made quite clear by Oswin that we were not particularly welcome but I would not make life easy for him by leaving prematurely. The forests near my home were teeming with deer and wild boar and the four of us were excited. We rode to the forest to the west and hobbled our horses. I had mocked Ridley when he had insisted upon taking a spare horse for the kills. He took it in good part because that day was unlike any others; it was four friends enjoying life. The battle of Rhuddlan had shown us all how close we were to death when we fought in the shield wall.

  There was a stream which cut through the forest and Ridley and I had often watched the animals gather to drink. The small waterfall also afforded cover and gave us the best chance of success. I took Dragon Tamer with me, mainly because I was not a good shot with arrows but my companions took their bows. I do not think any of us were bothered about success on that day; it just felt good to be out in the woods enjoying banter and not worrying about anything.

  Ridley’s sharp eyes picked out the herd of deer which were moving down through the trees towards the stream. The wind drifted from the stream bringing the sound of the waterfall and the musky scent of the herd. Wolf and Osgar went to his left and right while I waited behind Ridley. I always admired Ridley for he was a consummate hunter; he had far more patience than I did. He moved agonizingly slowly towards the deer and the others followed his lead. I watched as he carefully placed each foot on the ground before moving forwards. The arrow was already notched, enabling him to take a snatch shot should they be spooked. He drew to within twenty paces and then drew back the arrow. He had chosen a magnificent buck. I could not see the other’s targets but I prepared Dragon Tamer in case he fled towards us. Ridley’s arrow was followed in swift succession by the other two. Osgar had aimed at the buck while Wolf had chosen a small hind. The herd panicked and galloped off in all directions. The stag staggered for a few paces but Ridley’s arrow had struck it behind the eye. Wolf’s blundered off in the undergrowth and I heard him cursing.

  “Now we will have to wander through the forest looking for your poor hind.”

  “She moved, just at the last moment.”

  Ridley shook his head and admonished Wolf. “A good hunter allows for that.” They had already removed the arrows and so I cut them a stout branch to help them carry the enormous beast. They ran the sharpened wooden stake through his body and hefted it on to their shoulders. They were both strong men but it took some lifting. Wolf and I then followed the blood trail to find his injured animal. It did not do to leave an animal wounded. The trail moved erratically from left to right suggesting that the deer still had enough energy to avoid the hunters. It meant we moved far from the river. Eventually we smelled the animal and Wolf found where it had expired. He went to cut down a branch and I turned to call the others.

  “Halloo! Halloo! We have found it.”

  I heard their voices in distance. “We are coming.”

  Just then I heard a snorting and saw the bushes closer to Wolf move. I saw immediately that it was a wild boar and knew that it would go straight for Wolf. He had obviously disturbed it when cutting his sapling. His bow was next to the deer and he only had a dagger with which to protect himself. I roared a challenge and then raced towards the snorting, angry beast. It turned remarkably quickly to face the new threat and I saw its tusks and its teeth. It was a male and it was angry. I took Dragon Tamer and regretted not fitting a bar behind the head. Other Housecarls had done so as it prevented the spear from becoming stuck in a body. In this situation it stopped the boar from eating your spear. I had seen enough hunts to know that it would try to eviscerate me with his sharp tusks and I knew he would be quick. I would have one chance to spear him before he was upon me. As he neared me I dropped to one knee and rammed the butt of my spear into the bole of a nearby tree. It tried to turn its head from the wicked spear head and when it did so I plunged the spear into the side of its neck. It squealed in pain but still turned its head to try to reach me. As it pushed the butt slid back to the bole of the tree and it was stuck. Wolf had dragged his dagger out and he leapt astride the stricken animal and slit its throat. As it lay, pumping its life blood on to the ground I nodded to Wolf. “Thank you. That was good timing.”

  Wolf shook his head. “No thank you Aelfraed for I would have been dead but for your intervention. That was bravely done to face a charging boar.”

  The other two had heard the commotion and dropped their deer. Racing towards us they had seen the culmination of the struggle. Osgar cocked his head to one side. “I think the gods have a better name for your spear, Aelfraed. I think it is Boar Splitter.”

  When Ridley and Wolf nodded their assent I spoke. Dragon Tamer sounded grand but I had not tamed a dragon. The gods of the hunt and the gods of combat were wiser than I. “Boar Splitter it is.” From that day forth Boar Splitter never let me down. The haft never broke, the head never moved. That day in the woods, above Medelai, made me just that little bit better as a warrior.

  Ridley giving me a knowing look as we slung the boar and the stag on the spare horse and I nodded, “Yes Ridley you were right and I was wrong, we did need a spare mount.”

  He turned to the others, “Make a note of that. It is the first time that Master Aelfraed has admitted to a mistake. This is indeed a glorious moment.”

  I could not get Ridley out of the habit of calling me master but Wolf and Osgar did not seem to notice. Wolf slung his small hind over the neck of his mount and we headed east. As we had more weight on the horses I took us directly east to strike the old Roman road from the north. The legions, apparently, had marched north to tame the wild Scots and that was the way Tostig’s Housecarls would have travelled after the sacking of Lindisfarne. It was a longer route but easier to travel, especially for Wolf. As we crested the rise above the road I saw three riders coming from the north and judged that they would be abreast of us when we reached the road. It would be good to hear news from the borders for I had the feeling that at some time we would have to fight Malcolm and his Scots. As we closed I saw, to my surprise that the lead rider was my father. I wondered what business he had had in the north for he did no business but loved the politics of power. I halted our group to await him.

  “Good afternoon father.”

  He looked up as though I had slapped him and I saw him hurriedly look at the two companions, neither of whom I recognised. From their dress they were not locals but they looked like warriors. They also looked as though they wished we had not chanced upon them and both of them furtively scanned the woods behind us as though we were part of some trap. “Aelfraed. I did not know you were home. What brings you here?”

  The suspicion in his voice made me cautious in my reply. I suspected that he was up to something but I had learned from Aethelward that you gained more intelligence by listening than by shouting. “Oh we were given some time off by Earl Harold and we went hunting.” I waved an expansive hand at our kills. “Successfully as you can see. This is Wolf and Osgar two Housecarls and Ridley you know.”

  Good manners would have dictated that my father introduce his companions but he did not instead he exchanged a secretive look with his companions and then asked, “The Earl, is he in Jorvik?”

  Ridley blurted out the answer before I could stop him, “Aye my lord. He is meeting with his brother Earl Tostig.”

  My father looked at his companions. “I will leave you gentlemen here and return to my home with my son. Thank you for your company. I felt much safer on the road.”

  They just grunted and then rode east towards the forest. It struck me as strange for if they had been heading south east they would have taken the fork which was further up the road. It convinced me that my father was up to something. We turned our horses south. “Who were those men father? They are not locals are they?”

  “No they are travellers I met at the Roman Bridge.”

  I played the innocent. “
I am surprised that you did not take a couple of warriors with you for the road to the north is dangerous.”

  He laughed uneasily. “I forgot, for it is some time since I travelled the road. Next time…” He hurriedly changed the subject. Since his companions had left he had regained his composure. “You have had a good hunt. We will eat well tonight. Did Oswin care for you?”

  “Aye he looked after us as though you were there.”

  “And when do you return?”

  “On the morrow for it is a brief visit.” I noticed that he had no interest in my life or what I had been doing. His only concern was with what the Earl was doing. It merely confirmed my decision to leave Medelai and never return.

  Oswin looked relieved when my father, the Thegn returned. I could see that they were desperate for conference. I did not think I would gain any more information and so the four of us took the dead animals to the kitchen to be butchered. Mara the cook was a lovely woman who seemed to be made of rolls of fat. She had been the only servant who had been kind to me. I discovered the main reason was she had been my mother’s servant and Nanna had kept her on after mother’s death. She threw her arms around me and slobbered wet kisses on my cheeks, much to the amusement of my companions. “Master Aelfraed, my you have grown but it does my heart good to see you back.” She held me at arm’s length. “By but you are the image of your mother.”She shook her head. “What a shame that fine lady is dead but she would be so proud of you. Ridley’s father said that you are one of Earl Harold’s Housecarls. She would have loved that.” She seemed to see the animals for the first time. “Well look at that. I have never seen such a successful hunt in all my time here. It is good to have hunters in the house again. “She kissed Ridley on the cheek. “You shall have a fine feast tonight and I will get one of the servants to make sure that tight fisted father of yours has not hidden the good wine and ale, for this meat should be served with good ale.” She spoke like this all the time, like a river in spate, in torrents.

  I felt much better having spoken to Mara. There was none of the reserve and the deceit of my father and the Steward. She was as close as I would get again to Nanna and her unreserved love.

  Mara was as good as her word and the food was magnificent. Much to my father’s annoyance she kept popping into the hall to make sure that our platters were full. It was obvious that he was irritated but Mara was her own woman. If the Thegn had chastised her then she would have left. There many lords in Northumbria who would have employed her as a cook and she knew it. She only stayed at the hall in memory of my mother and grandmother. His irritation only served to fuel my appetite and I ate more than I had in many a moon. Once the food had finished and we were in our cups I asked about my brothers.

  “Oh they are with the Earl’s army,” he said vaguely. “I have not seen them for some months.”

  I wondered why he had lied to me. I knew that they had been in Jorvik a short time ago and my father was frequently at court there so why the lie? I would have to broach the subject with Aethelward. He was the only man with whom I could confide my suspicions and he was also the only man who might be able to unravel this particular ball of wool.

  As we mounted our horses the next day Oswin and my father came to see us off. “You must come and stay again. You and your friends are always welcome.” The words were inviting but the look in my father’s eyes was not.

  “We will and it was good to be in the bosom of my family again.” Ridley shot me a sharp look but I cared not, if my father could be a hypocrite then so should I. We turned our mounts and headed away from Medelai. “Well Ridley did you find out anything about my father?”

  Ridley had spent some time with the other servants listening for snippets of information. He had always been a quiet child and the servants were used to his silence. He had not enjoyed being a spy but I had pointed out that he was Earl Harold’s Housecarl now and that entailed a different loyalty.

  “He has been north of the Tyne.”

  “Scotland eh? I wonder why he was so close mouthed and I wonder who those men were?”

  I heard Osgar snort behind me. “There you go again, thinking. It will do you no good Aelfraed.”

  I turned in my saddle. “This time it might Osgar. The Scots have been raiding Northumbria and my father meets with them.”

  “It could be a peace mission.”

  “It could. Wolf but in that case why travel alone and why not mention it? That is not a bad thing and would be something worth boasting of to one’s son. No I will be happy when we have shared this information with the Earl and my uncle.”

  I spent the rest of the journey to Jorvik running over all the possibilities in my mind. Eventually I decided that it was too big a problem for me and older, wiser minds could wrestle with it. On reflection I was pleased that I had visited my home; firstly it confirmed the low esteem in which I was held by my father and secondly, more importantly, the hunt had bonded the four of us as blood brothers and that was no bad thing.

  I was as patient as possible when we reach the mighty fortress. We found our quarters and while the other three went to explore the city I waited, kicking my heels, outside the chamber in which Earl Tostig, Earl Harold and my uncle were in conference. I knew that it was petty of me to expect to be seen swiftly but I felt that the news I had was of such import that the great men would need to hear of it. When they eventually left the hall Earl Harold and my uncle were still in deep discussion. I was acknowledged with a flick of the head but then ignored and I trailed in their wake like a child trying to attract the attention of a parent. The two men walked out of the hall and headed for the Roman walls. I dutifully followed. It seemed an age before they deigned to turn and speak with me but eventually they did. “Well nephew, having dogged our tracks for an unseemly length of time what do you have to tell us that is so important?”

  “When I went home I found that my father has visited Scotland although he pretended not to and he travelled south with two strangers.”

  I felt sure that my information was of such importance that they would immediately act but their faces gave nothing away. “Your father went to Scotland and…”

  “Well my lord he, well he was evasive when he told me and he didn’t have a good reason. He travelled alone…” I could feel myself reddening and feel the flimsiness of my tale as I told it. I was making something out of nothing.

  Earl Harold smiled and patted my shoulder. “Thank you for the information Aelfraed. It is good that you keep your eyes and ears open. Do not look so disappointed for your knowledge may be important. We, your uncle and me, have to think of the bigger picture.”

  Aethelward took my arm, “You did right to tell us and it may well be important but we need to think more on this.”

  I felt a little better, as though they were taking me seriously and we completed a circuit of the walls before returning to the hall as dusk settled. I had not been in the warrior’s hall before and it was enormous. More importantly it was filled with warriors, Thegns and lords. My comrades and I had been afforded great honour being allowed into the hall. I saw my friends and made my way towards them.

  “Jorvik is a fine city,” blurted Wolf. “I have never seen such stone. I wonder why the king does not abide here?”

  “I think it is a little far north and besides the King favours the Normans not the Northumbrians.”

  Osgar nodded, “And yet this city could withstand a siege far more easily than wooden Winchester. I agree with Wolf. Were I king then I would live here. Far safer.”

  I felt proud that my two friends felt that way about my city. I had not been there often but I was proud of my heritage. We were the bulwark against the Scots and the defence against the northmen. My good feelings were shattered when the hall doors burst open and Earl Tostig’s Housecarls boisterously entered. Unlike us they were armed and armoured and extremely loud. I suppose I should have expected that for it was their hall and we were guests but it seemed somehow false and over loud. The four of us dr
ew back into the shadows so as to be inconspicuous. I suddenly saw my three brothers who appeared to be louder and noisier than the rest. I suspected they were drunk for they appeared to be unsteady upon their feet. I thought briefly about leaving, for I felt sure that if they spotted me then they would cause a quarrel. I was not afraid of a fight but I was afraid of letting down the Earl for I was his Housecarl. Ulf followed them in and I could see from his expression that he was not impressed. He saw us and wandered over.

  “They are arrogant pups.” We said nothing but watched them as they behaved like young boys rather than Housecarls. “It seems they chased the Scots over the border and they are celebrating their victory.”

  “Did they kill many?”

  Ulf laughed and said scornfully. “They killed none! The Scots were already leaving and they followed them like a pack of dogs slink after the bear, afraid to beard it. They had yet to draw blood but they believe they are heroes all.”

  He went to the ale barrel and poured himself a beaker of the frothy beer. As he returned to us, Edward, my brother spotted me and, with Egbert and Edgar in tow, lurched towards us. “Why it is the runt!” What brought you back from Harold’s court, failed at something did you? Wet the bed because Nanna wasn’t there?” He and my brothers thought that this was hilarious and fell about laughing.

  I was unarmed but I moved forwards ready to smack Edward in the face. Ridley and Osgar held my arms.

  “Ooh does my little brother think he can take on one of Earl Tostig’s Housecarls?”

  Ulf stepped forwards his hands like enormous pans. He grabbed hold of Edward’s mail. “You have an ill mannered tongue Northumbrian. It is Earl Harold to you and the warrior you abuse is a Housecarl himself.” He dropped Edward, who had been dangling in the air, to the ground, “and you would be wise to watch your words around him.”