by Mark Coakley
27: VENN'S REVENGE
The three loot-loaded ships sailed east over the horizon, the island sinking behind them, the red-orange glow of flames staining the cloudy western sky.
Leoba had been made to sit on the swaying deck of one of the strange, narrow ships. She and nine other nuns were tied together in pairs, back to back, sitting in the middle of Wave-Jumper's deck. They were surrounded by rowing men who grunted and jerked their bodies forward and back again and again as the long oars (along with the sail) sped the ships east.
Halfdan strongly disapproved of rape, so the English-women on Wave-Jumper were mostly left alone. The captives on the two other ships were not as lucky.
When the Norse raiding-fleet had rowed and sailed far enough away, the oars went onto the racks and Halfdan gave tasks to the Norsemen. Two of the fighters were told to guard the captives, to stop any of them from slipping their ropes and jumping into the sea. One man with skill in healing was told to care for hurt fighters first, then hurt captives. Other fighters gave food and cups of drinking-water to the men, then tried to pour water in the mouths of the tied-up women; most would not drink any, though all were thirsty. Venn and a few other fighters were told to count and organize the loot. It was messily piled on the rear of Wave-Jumper's deck. The loot would be divided equally when they got safely home.
Venn sat on the rear-deck, surrounded by piles of outlandish treasure, using a chisel to pry gems out of stolen items. He chiselled gems from cups, candle-holders, "t"-shaped objects, frames and book-covers. The gems went in a small iron box, with each falling little stone making a clink! noise as it was dropped in. Except for the amber, the Norsemen had never seen gems like these before -- red stones, green stones, glittering transparent ones; they were obviously very precious. The gems and the pieces of gold were the most exciting parts of the raid-profits. A fighter sitting near Venn separated the few gold items from the many made of silver, putting the gold in a leather bag. The silver and the women were much less valuable than the gold and gems.
As Venn worked, dropping gem after gem into the iron box, his mind swirled with confused, agonized thoughts. He could not think of only one thing at a time; his mind filled with wildly-flashing images -- memories of the raid. Venn had seen many terrible things happen, to many innocent women. He had done bad things to them too. He remembered an English-woman who had refused to let him put a rope around her neck; wailing, weeping, she had cringed in a corner of a sleeping-room, slapping at Venn's hands whenever he reached for her. An officer had been watching. Venn had to do something. In panic, he had stabbed his spear into the babbling woman's belly. Watched her crumple to the floor. Watched the spreading red puddle. Watched the life in her eyes go away. The officer congratulated Venn, "doubt any of the other bitches will resist after seeing that! Good work!"
Venn saw many dead and dying women as he ran around, following orders. They were lying all over the settlement, many with clothes ripped off -- pale arms and legs and fear-twisted faces, lit by the glow of burning buildings.
Venn winced at the memories, and his lips moved silently as he tried to explain his actions to the voices he heard, always heard, over the continuous clanging noise in his ears.
The memories that stabbed into his mind were not all bad. Venn smiled in the darkness when thinking about Haki. Sten had found his berserker cousin, dead from stabs to his face and neck, in a building where Haki had been left alone with a girl. The girl was not in the room when Haki was found, but she had been caught later and recognized by Sten. Although Venn had hated Haki, and was happy to learn of his end, many other raiders -- especially Sten and Halfdan -- were shocked and saddened. When all the captives had been roped together neck-to-neck, and all the buildings searched for valuables, Halfdan told men to pull Haki's pants on and drag the heavy body from its killing-place to the big, stone-walled building. Haki's body was taken into the big, crazily-decorated room, now empty of treasure. One of the other buildings had been full of odd items made of thin sheets of beast-skin, decorated and stitched together in piles; a captive had explained that these odd-looking things recorded facts (like Norse runes carved in wood or bone) and were called "books". Haki's body had been placed on a big pile of books in the middle of the stone-walled, metal-roofed building. Chanting a traditional death-poem, Halfdan had opened a clay jar full of a strange-smelling yellow oil. He had poured all the oil over Haki and the pyre, then had touched a torch-tip to the oil-soaked books. Fire crawled across the pages. Before the thick smoke had forced the crowd of Norsemen to leave the building, the books burst into swirling flames and the flames reached up to Haki, soon blackening the bare skin and making a sizzling noise that Venn now remembered with joy. Haki was the only raider who had been killed or seriously hurt; his famous luck had finally betrayed him; Venn grinned wider; the berserk bully was now only splattered grease and ashes, far from his place of birth.
Another nice memory from the raid -- Venn had found four cages in a room, each with a small, eagle-like bird trapped inside. The birds had ribbons hanging from their scaly legs. Venn had opened each of the cages and had watched, smiling, as the hunting-birds rose into the smoke-filled sky.
"You are free," he had whispered, with envy, as the eagle-like birds flew away.
As Venn and the other raiders now did their tasks, and the full red-and-white sails sped them homewards, Halfdan questioned the captives, one by one. He still wore the odd horned helmet. Most of the nuns refused to talk to him. Some tried but were too scared to make sense. When Halfdan crouched in front of Leoba, she was the only one who faced him and met his eyes and showed little fear.
Halfdan said, "You killed my friend."
Leoba -- her thick accent sounding very odd to Halfdan -- said, "I was protecting myself."
Halfdan said, "From rape?"
She nodded.
Halfdan said, "Killing him did you no good; you still ended up here, heading for a life of slavery, as fate has decided. You should have just let him have his way, and I'd have punished him when I found out."
"I'm a virgin."
Halfdan said, "Is that why all you women were living there together? You couldn't find husbands?"
"I have a husband: Christ."
Halfdan rolled his eyes and said, "I don't want to hear any more about Christ. You English-folk babble so much about your gods that you all sound crazy."
"Our God is real and powerful, not like your filthy pagan idols."
"'Pagan'?"
"Somebody who is ignorant of true religion. A doomed soul."
Halfdan sneered, "Our gods are stronger than yours. If yours were stronger, they would have stopped the raid. Call your Christ to help you now. Call for his mother, his father, his cousins and father-in-law too -- where are they now?"
"This is all happening with God's will."
"If it was his will for Haki to rape you, why did you resist?"
Leoba said nothing, staring down at the oak deck.
Halfdan said, "The strongest god is Odin. We don't build temples for him -- his temples are battle-fields, and his sacrifices are the unlucky dead. I would never call on him for help in danger, because he doesn't care if we live or die. He is far away, does not care about our thoughts or feelings,
and sometimes Odin goes berserk. He poked out one of his own eyes, hoping it would give him wisdom. With the eye he has left, Odin watches folk from the sky -- not out of love, but only for his amusement. He likes to see bravery and bloodshed and any kind of slaughter."
"And you can love a god like that?"
"Love? Of course I don't love Odin. He is crazy, mean and distant. He doesn't expect our love. Like I said, Odin doesn't care about how we feel down here -- just how we act."
Halfdan started questioning Leoba about the military and political situation in Northumbria. Unlike the other nuns, Leoba was both well-informed about such issues and calm enough to answer his questions.
After Halfdan had learned enough, he said, "You are different from the other girls. What's your name?"
"Leoba."
Halfdan said, "I am Halfdan of Os."
Leoba said, "Are we really going to be sold as slaves in your land?"
"I haven't decided about you, but all the other English-women will definitely be sold."
"What about me?"
"You might become a slave. But after a successful raid, our gods like it when we drown at least one captive in our sacred swamp. Since you killed my friend, maybe I will choose you for that." Halfdan stood, said, "Thanks for answering my questions," and started walking away.
Eyes suddenly full of fear, Leoba said, "Wait!"
Halfdan turned. "What?"
Leoba, desperate to talk her way out of danger, said, "You look different from the others. Where are you from?"
"Norway."
"Why are you so dark, then?"
He briefly explained his parentage.
Leoba said, "Have you met any other Nubian people?"
"Just my mother. And I know nothing about her but what old folk say."
"What do you know about Nubia?"
"It's far to the south and everybody is dark-skinned there."
Leoba said, "I know a lot more than that. I've studied geography and I know exactly where Nubia is."
Halfdan crouched again in front of her.
"So, tell me something interesting about Nubia."
"Only if you promise to set me free."
"Fine."
"Let me hear you promise. To your gods."
"I vow by all the gods that, if you tell me something interesting about Nubia, I'll set you free."
"Set me free when we reach land. Not here."
She glanced over the side of the ship. Choppy waves of blue-grey water stretched to the horizons in all directions.
Halfdan grinned. "Clever girl. Fine -- I vow by all the gods that, if you tell me something interesting, I'll set you free when we reach land."
"How do I know what you'll find interesting?"
"You don't. But I'm honest. So start talking or the deal's off."
Leoba took a deep breath and said, "Have you heard of Germany before?"
"Yes."
"South of Germany is a land called Frankia. South of Frankia is a land called Italia. South of Italia is a sea. South of this sea is a land called Egypt. South of Egypt is Nubia. Both Egypt and Nubia are part of the continent of Africa. Africans are dark-skinned, and the farther south one goes, the hotter it gets and the darker the people. Dark skin seems to protect people from the sun's heat. According to Pliny, the --"
"Is 'Pliny' another of your gods? Christ's uncle?"
"Pliny wrote books. He wrote that the sun in Africa is so strong that it burns light skin, but not dark skin. What I know about Nubia, I learned from books like Pliny's, and from maps -- pictures of lands that show you how to get there."
"There are maps in England showing how to get to Nubia?"
"There were maps in the place you raided. With the books. The maps were burned with your dead rapist friend."
Halfdan scowled. "Tell me more about Nubia."
Leoba said, "I have read of amazing animals found in Nubia. Cats as big as bears, horses with necks much longer than this ship, giants pigs that float in rivers, other giant pigs with a shell on the back like a turtle and a horn growing from the nose, and real dragons."
"What about the folk?"
Leoba took a deep breath. "Nubia is a Christian land," she said.
Halfdan stared at her.
"Your mother must have been a Christian, just like me and my sisters. Do you believe that souls live after death, watching us here on earth?"
Halfdan said nothing.
Leoba said, "Do you think your mother is proud of what you've done?"
Halfdan said, "I don't believe she was Christian."
"You think I'm lying?"
Halfdan looked closely into Leoba's squinting grey eyes.
"No," grudgingly.
She said, "Most of Africa has been conquered by the Mohammedans, but --"
"'Mohammedans'?"
"Those are followers of a new heresy from the East."
"'Heresy'?"
"A false interpretation of our holy book. My point is that Nubia is still a strongly Christian land. One of the first evangelists to England was --"
"'Evangelist'?"
"A travelling priest who tries to convince people to change religions. One of the first ones to come to England, at around the same time as Saint Cuthbert, was an African man, Saint Hadrian. In pictures, he looks as dark as you, with the same curly hair. Many of our greatest Saints --"
"'Saints'?"
"Heroes of our religion. Many of our Saints have been from Africa. The idea that nuns and monks should live apart from the rest of society in religious communities, that idea started in Africa. And one of the five capitals of our Church is in Africa: an Egyptian city called Alexandria."
"What about this Christ? Was he African?"
"No. But His parents took Him to Egypt as a child, to hide from the Romans."
Halfdan said, "Tell me more about Nubia."
"I've already told you a lot. A lot of interesting facts. What else do you want to know?"
"Is Nubia a rich country?"
"Yes, very rich. There are gold-mines and the land is good for farming. Nubia gets a lot of salt from trade with the pagan barbarians who live south of Nubia, in a great burning desert."
"Who is the king of Nubia?"
"I don't know."
"Is it possible to sail there?"
"Yes. Nubia is many miles inland, but the Nile River can be sailed upstream to get there."
"Could you guide a ship there?"
Leoba shook her head and said, "I'm not a sailor. And even a sailor would need a map."
"And there are maps like that in England?"
"Yes, many."
Halfdan stood up, saying, "I may have to return to England some day, try to find one of those maps. Thanks."
Leoba yelped, "Wait!"
"What?"
"Was what I told you about Nubia interesting enough? Are you going to set me free?"
Halfdan said, "It was interesting enough that I've decided not to drown you in the sacred swamp." Halfdan pointed at the nun sitting beside Leoba. "I'll drown this one instead."
Leoba looked at the middle-aged nun beside her and wailed in horror, "No! Don't drown anybody!"
"I have to drown somebody, or the gods will be annoyed."
"Then drown me. Not Sister Wilthburga here, not anybody else. I won't save myself by another's unholy murder."
"You are brave."
"And you are a devil! All of you, stinking devils!"
Halfdan smiled. "I was just toying with you. Yes, what you taught me about Nubia was interesting, and I will set you free when we get to Norway. I don't break my vows."
"Will you drown any of my sisters?"
Halfdan said, "The gods can go hungry for once."
Leoba's rope-wrapped body slumped in relief, and a tear slid from one of her eyes.
Halfdan walked away, deep in thought.
Late that night on Wave-Jumper, only the look-out and a few captives were awake. And Venn. Venn lay on the wave-swaying deck, wrapped in blankets and a butter-smeared tarp, until an idea came to him. An idea that made him grin and tremble with excitement.
Now!
He stood up. Lying in blankets and tarps on the mid-deck around him, all the other fighters were asleep, except for the look-out at the bow. A few of the deck-sitting nuns were awake, but could not and would not interfere. The unsleeping English-women watched Venn rise, a spear in his hands, and start stepping over the sleeping fighters as he moved towards the rear-deck.
Halfdan and the steersman were sleeping by the pile of treasure; the steersman slept here to be near the steering-oar at the stern; Halfdan was here to protect the treasure from night sneak-theft.
Venn walked to Halfdan, looked in the light of moon and stars at the hated black face below him.
"For Torvald," Venn whispered. He pulled back his spear, screaming, "For Torvald!"
Halfdan's eyes popped open. Halfdan saw Venn standing over him.
Venn -- as he had done in wet training back in Eid, and in the battle of the frozen river, and in the raid -- stabbed his foe without hesitation. The spear-tip poked through the buttered tarp and the blankets, hitting Halfdan just over his belt-buckle and plunging deep into his guts.
"Die slow, you black troll! You murdering mud-face!"
Halfdan grunted from the deep, awful pain inside his body. His face twisted with hurt and shock, as he tried to free his arms from the wool blankets and greasy tarp.
Venn twisted the rusty spear-tip deeper into Halfdan's belly, feeling the soft, wet flesh inside rip and tear.
"Ha!"
Venn saw blood staining Halfdan's blankets.
Done!
Venn let go of the spear-handle, leaving it sticking up from Halfdan. Venn had to hurry, before the steersman could stand up and grab him. Venn stepped fast to the treasure-pile. With one hand, he grabbed the iron box he had filled with gems. With his other hand, Venn grabbed the heavy bag of gold items.
Venn carried the box and the bag of precious, outlandish treasure to the side of Wave-Jumper. He stepped up onto the edge of the bulwark (a wooden wall that kept waves off the deck). He balanced there -- with the sea in front, a deck of fighters waking in confusion behind him -- a box of priceless gems in one hand, a bag of priceless gold in the other -- and he laughed.
"I'm free!" he crowed.
Before the lunging steersman could grab his legs, Venn jumped, yelping, "Free! I'm free!" and splashed into the bone-chilling water, tightly gripping the stolen treasure with both hands. He sank, trailing bubbles of laughter, down into the frigid depths of darker and darker water; sinking past jellyfish, eels, sharks and sea-monsters, towards a crab-crawling bottom; down and down, drowning with joy.