by Griff Hosker
"I know, I know."
He led me into his hall. He had improved it over the years but mine was both bigger and more comfortable. Perhaps I was getting old. The fire, however, burned well and I warmed myself beside it. A slave took my cloak and Wolf Killer poured us some ale. "Is Aiden not coming?"
"No, for he and our new mason are busy making our walls stronger. He is turning them from wood to stone. The attacks by Ragnar Ruriksson made me look to my own defences. I do not have the swamps and low lying land that you do. I have the Water and the mountain. It will not be cheap to make us stronger but it will be worth it."
"Have you heard where the Frisians fled?"
"The last we heard he was heading for the court of King Egbert. I do not think we have heard the last of him."
"Einar has made the walls of Seddes' Burgh harder to scale. There is a double ditch and a step for archers to use. These new men who have come are good archers. Two of them are the equal of Snorri."
"That is high praise indeed."
"I know. I hope they can teach Ragnar when they join me."
"When will that be?"
"At Yule, if the roads are still open. So far they have always been passable even in the worst winters but I know that it is a mistake to make assumptions."
"You are learning my son."
The four of us went hunting before Einar and his new warriors arrived. We went with Siggi Flat Nose. He was the most senior of Wolf Killer's oathsworn. He was to Wolf Killer what Haaken was to me; his oldest and most trusted warrior. I noticed that he viewed Ragnar almost as his own child. His wife had been taken by the coughing sickness before they could have children and he had never remarried. He was rarely more than three paces from Ragnar all that day.
We hunted deer. This was the time of year to do so. When winter came and food was scarce some deer would die. It was better that we take the weaker, slower ones now so that the herd would be stronger. We did not hunt for the pleasure. It was to hone skills and to find food. The more skilful the prey then the better it was for us. A man was a harder beast to hunt. Wolf Killer had a large forest to the north and west of his home. We had passed through part of it on our journey. The trees were close together and hunting would be challenging. Two of Wolf Killer's men held our horses as we entered the wood.
I allowed my son, Wolf Killer, to lead for this was his land and he knew the trails. Ragnar went by his side followed by Siggi Flat Nose. I walked behind Gruffyd and Garth who held his sling shot. I had hunted enough in my life. If I did not kill then it would not be something which would worry me. I did not need my skills improving. This way I could watch my young son and his technique. I saw him and Garth watching Ragnar and emulating him. Ragnar in turn watched Wolf Killer. They placed their feet. They did not step. When Wolf Killer stopped and sniffed they did so too. I smiled. They would not know yet how to use their noses but when we spoke of this later we would tell them what they had smelled. We carried our bow and an arrow in one hand. The other we held out before us. That way we used the sense of touch.
I was slightly to the side of the others. My fingers touched a wet leaf. I smelled my finger. A stag had marked his territory. I clicked my tongue. The others stopped and turned. I rubbed my finger and thumb together and sniffed. I pointed at the leaf. Wolf Killer nodded and began to angle more to the left. I had the trail. They moved through the trees. I moved my bow and arrow into my left hand. I had to be ready to knock an arrow and loose in a flash. There were not just deer in these woods; wild boar roamed too. I had had to deal with wild boars before. I had a son and grandson to protect.
Wolf Killer stopped. He had the scent of something. He readied his bow and Ragnar and Gruffyd did the same. Garth put a stone in his slingshot. Siggi and I watched, not ahead, but to the side. The hunt was for the young ones. We watched them. The small herd had been behind a stand of elder. They must have caught the scent of man for they leapt. It caught both Ragnar and Gruffyd by surprise. Their arrows flew and struck the older hind but they were not mortal wounds. Garth was more accurate. He managed to catch the deer on the side of the head and it staggered as it fled. The deer took off through the forest leaving a trail of blood as she ran.
"Follow her and end her misery." Wolf Killer's voice was harsh. The three ran and we followed.
"Do not be harsh on them, Wolf Killer. They had little time to react."
"You taught me to be silent and ready, father. Should I not do the same?"
I said, quietly, "And you have forgotten when you did the same on the slopes of Snaefell? When Snorri had to chase after the doe and finish her off."
I saw realisation strike his face, "I was young."
"As are these two. The third had but a slingshot but he did not flinch and hit the prey. Praise what they do right and not what they do wrong!"
When we reached them we saw that they had found her and Ragnar had slit her throat to end her suffering. Siggi nodded his approval. "Now take her heart. You two slew her, you should share in the victory."
The two cousins looked at each other. I saw the apprehensive looks on their faces. They did not wish to make a mistake. I took out my hunting knife and handed it to Gruffyd. "This has a good edge. Cut her open and find the heart."
He nodded and took the knife. It was sharp and, as he ripped up her middle the intestines and guts flooded out. I saw his face as he gagged but he bit back and carried on. The smell would be vile but it was a rite of passage. When he had opened the beast Ragnar took his own knife and said, "Thank you cousin. I will find the heart." He put his hand and knife inside and with one slice brought out the heart.
He was about to bite into it when Siggi said, kindly, "It will be better if it is cooked. The heart of the wolf you eat raw but not the deer. I will get a fire going while you take out the rest of the guts. We will leave those as an offering to the forest."
As they did so I smiled, "Olaf Leather Neck would think it a waste to let such food go back to the forest. When Olaf hunts then nothing remains."
Once the deer was gutted and the fire was going the heart was speared on a branch to cook. Wolf Killer and I found a sapling which we cut to carry back the deer. Wolf Killer smiled. "You are right, father, they did well. I had forgotten Snaefell and the deer. That seems a lifetime ago."
"As does my time in the mountains with old Ragnar. We seem to have lives which we live and then move on to another life."
As they watched the heart being cooked Garth said to me, quietly, "My stone hit the deer too, grandfather. Can I not eat of the heart?"
I realised that he had been overlooked. "Of course you can. You boys share the heart with young Garth here. He too hunted."
Ragnar grinned, "Of course, little brother. Come and join us. Three is a lucky number anyway!"
The boys enjoyed the cooked deer heart more than they would have the raw variety. All three swelled with pride as they ate it although I noticed that they did not eat it all. We let them carry the carcass back to the horses and with it slung over the back of the spare mount they led it back to the hall.
Einar and his ten warriors arrived three days later. We had hunted in the meantime but not had any success. Sometimes it happened that way. We had had some success and the boys were happy. Einar and his men had walked from Seddes' Burgh. I was intrigued by that. We rode whenever we could.
I had met Einar but that was before his elevation to jarl. He had a short mail byrnie and an open helmet. His sword was shorter than mine. His shield bore a device; it was a wild boar with red eyes. He had been one of my son's Wild Boars and taken that device for his own. That was good. He was young; about the same age as Raibeart. That too was as it should be. He could gather young warriors around him. That had been the way with Prince Butar and Jarl Thorfinn Blue Scar. He would make mistakes but so long as he survived then he would learn from them.
He dropped to one knee before me and bowed his head, "I come, Jarl Dragonheart, to be oathsworn. I serve your son and I would serve you."
> I took out my sword. I saw the eyes of his men widen as they saw the legendary blade. I held the hilt for him to hold. "Then swear on this, Jarl Einar Thordson. It is Ragnar's Spirit but know that the sword holds all oaths as binding."
"Like you, lord, I swear I shall never be foresworn." He grasped the hilt. "I swear to serve Jarl Dragonheart and to give my life for him!"
I reversed the sword and held it aloft, "And I swear that you shall be of my clan and we will protect you and yours."
He stood and beamed. It gratified me that he was pleased. This had not been done for effect. He had meant it. "Let me introduce my new warriors. These are three of those who would serve my lord, Wolf Killer." He gestured and three warriors stepped forward. "This is Ulf Blue Eyes." I could see where he had got his name. His eyes were the blue of the Middle Sea and were striking. "This is Oleg the Wanderer." His face had something of the look of the Rus Vikings about him. He had the high cheekbones and slightly narrowed eyes. "This last is Erik Sigtryggson." Erik was the youngest of the three. The other two both had fine mail and swords but Erik had just a metal studded leather byrnie and a short sword.
"I look forward to hearing your stories this night." They nodded, "Tell me Einar, why did you walk rather than ride?"
His face became serious. "We found the trail of warriors not far from the burgh. They went over rough ground and it would not have suited horses."
Wolf Killer asked, "Did you catch them?"
"No lord. They took the high pass east and went over rocks where we could not track them. Oleg and Ulf are fine trackers but even they could not follow over rocks."
I smiled to myself. Snorri and Beorn would not have lost them. Their heads would now be planted on spears as a warning to other transgressors.
"We will ride east on the morrow and see if we can spy them. I like not strange warriors this close to my home."
That evening we had a fine feast. We heard stories from the three new warriors. Ulf had served a Viking of Orkneyjar, Harald Iron Hand. I had not heard of him but then I had rarely journeyed north. I would ask Siggi about him. Oleg lived up to his name. He had been a Rus Viking and had been down to Miklagård. I lost track of the jarls he had served and how he came to serve my son but the story was interesting. Erik had served Hakon the Bald in Dyflin. When he said that I became wary. Many of the men who had served Hakon the Bald were men without honour but as his tale unfolded I saw that he had left before we had scoured Dyflin of the rats. He had ended up in Dorestad and taken passage on a knarr which had brought him to Eoforwic. He had not liked it there and headed west. He had done well to travel the high lands alone and safely.
I enjoyed their stories as did Ragnar and Gruffyd. Their adventures and the places they had seen made them even more eager to go A-Viking again. The next day the weather turned stormy. What began as rain soon became sleet. I went to my son and Elfrida. "I think Gruffyd and I will return home. I like not the look of this weather."
"But I was going to go hunting again. Einar and his men are good hunters. It would do my brother and son good to see such hunters. They will be disappointed."
"There is another reason, Wolf Killer, the news of warriors in the eastern fells worries me. If they were followed and they lost their pursuers then who knows where they are. I will get home and organise a hunt for them."
"Then bring Brigid and your family here for Yule. We often come to you but if you come here then we can go hunting again. Perhaps we will hunt the wolf. There are many in the eastern fells."
"Very well then we shall do so."
Einar and his new men also tried to persuade us to stay. They all seemed very eager for us to see their skills. I was touched that they wished to spend longer in my company. As we headed west, wrapped in our cloaks against the sleet which began to turn to snow Gruffyd asked, "Why could we not stay? I liked those new men and I would hunt with them."
"And I wanted to stay too but there is danger in the land and I am Jarl Dragonheart. I cannot sit back and enjoy the hunt. I must act."
"I thought being a jarl meant you did as you wished and answered to no man."
"It is the opposite son; you answer to all men for as much as they serve you then you serve them."
We rode in silence for a while and then he held out a piece of bone he had taken from the deer. "I shall carve this into a wolf when I get home. I would have had a second if we had hunted."
I sighed, "We will hunt at Yule. You will be stronger then and we will be prepared for the inclement weather."
It was a full blown blizzard and it was dark as we rode through the gates. Winter had come in one day. My son was blue from the cold and I received an even colder blast from my wife's eyes. I had shaken my head, "He is to be a warrior. He will have to endure much worse when he is older."
"If you keep him out in a blizzard then he will get no older! You have not the sense of a chicken sometimes!"
The thought came into my head that being a jarl counted for little in his own home. I suspect even Uhtric would be spoken to more civilly than I.
Chapter 13
Most of my men were in their homes preparing for the winter. They stayed there behind well made walls and with roaring fires. The blizzard we encountered on the way home was just the first of a series which lasted six days. We were forced to stay inside our homes. The first day that they relented and we just had empty grey skies I went abroad. Since I had returned from Elfridaby I had had a prickling sensation at the back of my neck. When I mentioned it to Aiden he told me not to ignore it. Snorri lived just on the other side of the Water with his new wife, Seara. They had married when Snorri returned a rich man. He had cleared a place in the forest and they had a fine house. It was close to where I had my first hall. I took Cnut Cnutson and Rollo Thin Hair with me.
"Snorri, Einar Thordson tracked some men to the eastern fells and then lost them on rocks." He gave a smile. "I know you would not have lost them. Since then the snow has come and covered whatever tracks they might have left but I would know if they were still in my land."
He turned to his wife. She had been Eystein's widow and was a hardy woman. She nodded, "Will you be away the night?"
Snorri shook his head, "We look for sign. There are but four of us. I will be back before dark."
"Then I will have a stew ready for when you return."
He mounted his pony and pointed to the east. "If they came from Elfridaby and wished to stay hidden then they would avoid the Water. Did you see any signs as you came through Grize's Dale?"
"I confess I did not but Gruffyd was questioning me."
"Then we start there." He rode with his head leaning forward. We three were almost superfluous. He needed us not. He suddenly stopped, half way up the trail which headed to the ridge above the Water. He knelt and then rose. "They came this way."
"They were heading for Cyninges-tūn?"
"Perhaps. We will back track a way and see if we can see further sign."
Rollo was inquisitive and could not help asking, "How did you know they had been here? I see nothing."
Snorri pointed, "Do you see how the snow is shallower here? Men walked along it and then the snow fell a little deeper. There were a number of them else it would not have been so obvious."
"Could it not be men from our town?"
He pointed to his own house hidden by the trees but just two miles up the valley. "Had they come in daylight then I would have seen them and they would have called in to speak to me. This was someone who wished to remain hidden. I have dogs and they bark. They have not barked at night. Someone made sure they were well away from my home."
He remounted and we went quicker for he could now see the track. I was more aware of it but had he not identified it then it would be hidden still. We dropped down to the other side of the ridge and the air became colder. The ground was still frozen here in the lee of the ridge. We came to a clearing and Snorri dismounted and, using his seax, chipped the snow away from a particularly flat piece of ground.
We dismounted too and we saw the black shape of a fire begin to appear. He continued to clear it away as he said, "They camped here. It was after the first snow, the blizzard when you returned to Cyninges-tūn, Jarl. This other snow has fallen since." He raked his seax through the blackened fire. "They ate squirrel." He walked around the edge of the clearing. Occasionally he would kneel down and scrape away. Suddenly he jumped up and went to a bramble bush, now devoid of its leaves he spied something clinging to the shrivelled uneaten berries. He came back to me holding a tiny piece of cloth torn by the bramble thorns. "Well, Jarl, unless I miss my guess this came from a Danish cloak. It is the red cloth they like and which is made in Eoforwic."
I looked at it and he was right. He had had sharp eyes to spot it. "How many?"
He looked at the ground and said, "No less than eight and no more than twelve." He saw me phrasing my next question. "They went north. The second blizzard was worse than the first. They would seek shelter."
"That could be anywhere. There are many farms such as yours Snorri. No one travels the roads and trails now. They could be anywhere."
"Not quite Jarl. My neighbours are old Einar down towards the Water and Sven who lives above my farm. I visit them each day and they call in to see my wife. Unless they have taken three or four farms then they will have to be somewhere more remote." He looked at Rollo. "Your father Audun Thin Hair lives at the Rye Dale. No one lives within a mile or more of him."
"That is half a day from here and is not close to Cyninges-tūn. Why would they go there?"
"I know not but eight to twelve Danes loose in this land cannot be good."
"Rollo you and Cnut go to see your father. You can spend the night there. Even if they have not been close it is good that he has warning. If not there, Snorri, then where?"
"Elter's farm by his Water is remote. He lives there alone with his family. It is close to Cyninges-tūn and yet far from others."
"If we ride hard we can be there by dark."