Heroes of the Valley

by Jonathan Stroud

  'You did not need to,' his mother cried. 'Your tongue did the job of a dozen brawling men. Time and again you baited Hord until he lost control.'

  Halli folded his arms. 'I thought you'd be pleased, since you got more land out of the affair, which is all that's important to you.'

  'We have got nothing yet, except for threats of vengeance – and may I remind you, you vile, stocky serpent of a son, that all this stems from your wickedness. Ragnar spoke the truth about what he saw, did he not?'

  Halli looked away. 'He did indeed. But it so happens I did not kill Olaf.'

  His mother gave a wrathful cry. 'Do not lie to me!'

  'Is lying suddenly such a crime, Mother? I notice you lied to the Council too, and did so rather fluently.'

  Astrid raised her hand to strike him, but Leif stepped quickly forwards. 'Mother, this demeans you.'

  Halli gave a curt nod. 'Thanks, Leif— Ow!'

  'It does not, however, demean me.'

  Astrid's face was bone-white, her eyes staring. 'May a Trow take you, Halli, for the harm you've done this House.'

  'A Trow?' Halli laughed in her face. 'Big deal! I believe in them even less than I do in your doctrine of valley peace, which is nothing but blatant self-interest! Pull down the cairns! Let the Trows come for me! I don't care. I'm sick of all this.'

  Both Leif and Astrid made instinctive wards against ill luck. Leif 's eyes were bulging. 'Brother, I believe you're mad.'

  'On your horse, this instant,' Astrid said. 'And not another word. We must bring these hard tidings to the House.'

  News that the hoped-for settlement had been postponed was greeted with muted despondency by the people of Svein's House. But Hord's threats caused a much wider ripple of anxiety. Old tales of massacres and burnings were aired and analysed, and there was great resentment at Halli's role in the affair. Although still treated with extreme caution as befitted a dangerous killer, he was now, by common consent, more or less ignored, kept at the margins in field and hall.

  Halli kept up a dogged show of unconcern, but his isolation preyed upon his spirits. More than ever he regretted coming back to Svein's House, to its atmosphere of hostility, envy and petty fears. Of all the Houses he had seen in his travels it was certainly the smallest and most decrepit; the glorious claims of the old tales now seemed laughable to him. He could not abide the company of his family, nor they his, but there was no escape now that winter was setting in. The cairns upon the ridge were seldom visible behind its shroud of mist and cloud.

  Two things only relieved his mood. One was the fact that Katla was suddenly disposed to talk to him again. The magnitude of his misdeeds seemed to have softened her displeasure, and she took to bringing soup while he sat in his room alone.

  'Thank you, Katla. I'm glad you don't see me as a criminal and outlaw.'

  'On the contrary, I believe you are truly cursed, and destined for a dismal and early death. Such is the fate of a midwinter's child, as I have always said, and events are bearing me out. But there you go. You have my pity and – while you're still with us – you can have my soup as well. Tell me of Olaf. How exactly did you slay him?'

  The other, more substantial, compensation for Halli was Aud's imminent arrival. With the Hakonssons' star suddenly eclipsed and the Sveinssons the objects of sympathy among the Lawgivers of the valley, Ulfar Arnesson had lost no time in swinging like a weathervane and changing the plans for his daughter. Before anyone had left Rurik's hall, he had gathered himself up and run to Astrid to renew arrangements for Aud's visit. She was expected within days.

  Light snows settled in the fields; soon the road past the cataracts would be impassable with drifts and ice. A week after the skirmish three riders appeared at the north gate. Two of them, burly men of Arne's House, immediately spurred their horses and headed back down-valley; the third, Aud Ulfar'sdaughter, came smiling into the hall.

  A feast was held to celebrate her arrival; most of the House attended, except for Arnkel, who remained sick in his rooms. Word of his condition was not promising, and the atmosphere in the hall was jittery and febrile.

  Aud was dressed in official finery, her hair scraped into an adequate dragon's-tail. With quick, elegant steps, she passed around greeting the notables of the House. Halli, watching from the sidelines, noted how her graceful figure won favour with almost everyone. Only Gudny seemed reserved, and held back from the throng.

  At last Aud drew near, with Leif following close at hand. Halli gave a formal bow. 'It is good to see you again.'

  'And you, Halli Sveinsson. It has been such a long time.' Her eyes were laughing. 'What have you been up to?'

  'Oh, not much.'

  Leif stepped between them. 'Miss Aud, you have better things to do than talk to this felon. Come, let me show you great Svein's weapons. I can tell you many tales . . .'

  Aud, allowing herself to be led away, grinned back at Halli over her shoulder.

  The following morning the snow clouds hung so low that the roof of the hall itself was swallowed, but the expected blizzard did not break. Its imminence hung heavy on the House. The last few animals were brought inside the walls to cluster hot and steaming in the sheds.

  Astrid and Leif took up much of Aud's time that day and Halli seldom had a chance to talk with her. Observing from afar, he noticed that she was capable of many subtle adjustments of personality. Whereas he knew her to be outspoken and sceptical, with Leif she was wide-eyed and playful, verging on the coquettish; with his mother, she was altogether quieter, a modest young girl eager for instruction.

  They met at last by chance in the passage behind the hall.

  'Where have you been?' Aud said. 'If I hear Leif 's yawn-some stories of Svein once more I shall stab him with my hairpin. I keep waiting for you to rescue me.'

  'Sorry.' He smiled at her awkwardly. 'So . . . I'm glad you got here in the end. There was talk you were going to be spending the winter down at Hakon's.'

  Aud rolled her eyes. 'Yes. My revolting father had it all planned out. He'd pretty much made the deal with Hord, I think. Can you imagine? A marriage to Ragnar? He's so insipid and weak-kneed! I'd have run away if they'd tried to foist it on me, or slit my throat, or drowned myself. Thank Arne there was that rumpus at Rurik's House.' She stretched out a finger and poked Halli's arm. 'I believe I've you to thank for that, haven't I?'

  'Well, strictly speaking it was Ragnar who—'

  'Saw you when you burned his hall down. Yes. Credit where it's due, Halli. You've got a real talent for spreading happiness and light between the Houses. But in this case, it's worked out well – at least for me.'

  Halli sighed. 'You're the only one who's celebrating. Hord's vowed vengeance on me, while everyone here thinks I'm a cold-blooded killer and treats me with varying mixtures of fear and dislike. You'll soon see.'

  'Oh, Leif 's already warned me off you three times.' She chuckled. 'I just think he's jealous. And don't worry about Hord. He's a braggart, all mouth.'

  'I don't know. He's a man who's not afraid of action.' Halli drew Aud aside as Eyjolf and a servant bustled along the passage; he noticed Eyjolf regarding them closely as he passed by. 'But I don't much care,' he went on quietly. 'Hord can do what he likes next year, because by then we'll be beyond his reach.'

  Aud's eyes glinted. 'So you've warmed to my idea about the boundary, have you? Not scared of Trows?'

  'I'd rather a Trow ate me than spend the rest of my life here. I'm sick of Svein's House and everyone in it. The whole valley, come to that. What about you?'

  'Father plans to marry me off to someone next summer, come what may. If not Ragnar, there'll be some other dribbling dullard to take his place. Of course I'm still up for it. I'd go today if we could, but the weather—'

  'It's impossible now; the weather's turned. We've got to wait for the thaw.' He grinned at her. 'But don't worry. It gives you plenty of time to get to know everything about our House and hero. No doubt Leif will make you an expert before long.'

  Aud groaned.
'It's going to be a long winter.'

  That night the storm broke. The House was buffeted by winds that set the shutters rattling and blew candles out in the deepest regions of the hall. The corridors echoed through the howling night. In the morning the light was white and sickly, the yard knee-deep in snow. The fields below the walls were featureless as floodwater.

  From then on there was no respite. The blizzards began. People were penned in their houses like the herds. Peat fires burned high in every hearth; smoke trails laced the rafters of the hall. Each day men worked to clear passages through the snow between the buildings; when they returned indoors ice crystals hung glimmering in their beards.

  Aud soon fell in with the House routine; she wove, she helped in the kitchens, she carried meal to the animals and seed to the chickens. In the afternoons she sat with Gudny, listening as Astrid recited the histories. But she had free time also, and it was noticed by many that she chose to spend this in Halli's company. They were regularly seen in close consultation, laughing and talking avidly.

  Shortly after midwinter the storms reached a height of ferocity. No one went out. The atmosphere in the hall became fetid with smoke, stale beer and sweat; tempers grew frayed, and meal times became arenas of heightened tension, where the slightest incident triggered sudden rage. It was always this way in winter, but this year was worse than any. The threat from the Hakonssons still preyed on people's minds; also, it was becoming clear that Arnkel was very ill. He never left his bed.

  Halli, bound up with dreams of exploration in the heights, kept his head down as best he could and sought respite in the company of Aud.

  One morning he was working with his mother, bottling cloudberries in a corner of the kitchen. Astrid's hair was tied back and concealed within a rough hemp scarf. Her sleeves were rolled up and her forearms stained red from pressing and stirring. She was grey-faced from her vigil at her husband's bed the night before. She supervised Halli as he ladled hot berries into heavy clay jars, pausing occasionally to shout orders across the tables at the girls preparing lunch.

  Aud had been in briefly to get a jug of watered beer for the women in the weaving room. After she left, Astrid remarked: 'She is a pleasant girl, Aud.'

  Halli nodded. 'Yes, Mother.'

  'Clever enough, and good-looking in her way. That's full; now seal the jar with the cheesecloth. I'll tie the string round. I see you get on with her well.'

  'With Aud? Yes, Mother.'

  'Pull it tighter. That's it. So, do you want to lie with her? Oh, see – now you've torn the cloth. You don't know your own strength, Halli, and for Svein's sake do not flush so! I am your mother; I can ask these questions. There, I'll hold the cloth; you tie it round. Now cut it with the knife. Just so. Well, if the idea embarrasses you that is all well and good, because at fifteen you are not yet a man. But your brother Leif is a full four years older, Halli, and I must find him a wife. I have told him to talk with Aud, see what he makes of her. Reach me that next pot, the one over there. Of course. Arne's House is not one of the better ones, but she is an only child, and that means a great deal. We would unite the Houses by that marriage. Why are you not ladling?'

  Halli resumed his work mechanically. His mother paused to consult with a serving girl who was taking broth to Arnkel's room. When he had her attention once more, Halli said: 'Perhaps Aud does not yet want marriage.'

  'She will be sixteen in the spring. I met your father at that age. Of course it will be on her mind. I want you to leave the poor girl alone for a while, Halli – give Leif his opportunity. He is not the most expressive of boys; the last thing he needs is you scowling like a stoat in the corner of his vision while he tries to press his suit.'

  'Mother, Leif needs no sabotage from me. If he manages two sentences without tripping over his trailing knuckles he will have exceeded my expectations.'

  His mother rapped him on the head with her ladle. 'Such remarks are exactly why you must be elsewhere. I expect Aud's tired of you by now in any case. She seems a gentle, rather sensitive child. You are a violent killer. I doubt she will have much use for you.'

  * * *

  Following his mother's confidences Halli urgently wished to talk with Aud, but found himself singled out by Eyjolf for long, complicated tasks in obscure portions of the hall. When at meal times he emerged, begrimed, he found Aud always inaccessible, sitting with Astrid and Leif, smiling and laughing at their conversation.

  Halli sat glumly at a distance, often joined by Gudny, who seemed equally irritable at the attention Aud was getting.

  'They won't get anywhere with her,' she remarked at last.

  Halli grunted. 'She seems to be enjoying it.'

  'Seems to, Halli, that's the key. The girl's a vicious flirt. She wears a dozen faces, moulds people to her will. Look there at Leif – see how he gawps and grins like a half-wit, with his sleeve trailing in his soup. If she asked him to jump from a crag this moment, he would do it at a run. What has she got you doing?'

  Halli started. 'What?'

  'You're in her power too, don't deny it. I've watched you for weeks. If anything, you're more addle-headed than Leif, craning your neck round after her like an owl. Keep clear of her, is my advice. She'll lead you into trouble, not that you need any help with that.'

  Halli didn't have much to say to this. He went back to his work.

  20

  EVERYTHING AROUND US BELONGS to Svein. Not just this hall, this House, its wall, and fields, but the landscape beneath them too. There isn't a stream, forest or crag round here that doesn't attest to it. Listen to their names: Svein's Leap, where he jumped the gorge to catch the Deepdale boar; Skafti's Boulder, which he threw upon the thief who tried to steal his belt; the great pit at Trow Delving, dug by Svein in a single day to unearth three Trows and burn them with the sun; as well as all the rest of the meadows, tracks and trails that he mapped out, so that our lives might be a little easier on our way towards the cairns.

  'This is my land, and you are my people,' Svein was fond of saying. 'Obey me and my laws and I'll always protect you.'

  For everyone in the House the winter was long and difficult. The snows fell deep as the Trow walls; a minor outbreak of dank mottle laid several children low. Supplies of salted meat and fish were gradually depleted. The well was ice-bound and even the pails brought into the hall froze solid unless stored near the fires.

  Little by little the weather quieted and the nights grew marginally less long. It was possible on some days to see across the valley to Rurik's ridge. Ordinarily such improvements signalled a time of hope and expectation for the coming spring, but that year shadows lay upon the inhabitants of Svein's House. The Arbiter, Arnkel Sveinsson, seventeenth in line from the Founder, lay dying in his bed. The canker that had grown within him secretly had taken final hold; as the winter ended, his strength drained steadily with it. The flesh on his frame fell in; the bones pressed jaggedly up beneath his skin like crags and outcrops on the hills. His face was a jutting ridge, each cheek a tumbling escarpment; the blood in his veins ran cold like mountain streams.

  Members of his family took turns to sit with him as he slumbered, his breath bubbling with intermittent coughs and rasps. He seldom woke, and when he did his conversation was hard to understand. He ate and drank with a messy lack of control, dribbling like a child.

  Halli did not find it easy to be in his father's presence and his vigils were spent in tense, unhappy silence, dreading that Arnkel might stir before he'd left the room. He kept his thoughts as far from the sick bed as he could, letting them roam the moors, searching out the old path the settlers had taken. For hours he watched the tumbling snow beyond the window, willing it to stop, dreaming of escape.

  Soon, sometime soon, the thaw would come. When it did, that would be the end of his ties to the House. He and Aud would be gone, first chance they had.

  Despite the disapproving scrutiny of his sister, Halli had continued to spend time with Aud throughout the winter. It may have been that Astrid would
have done more to separate them, but she had grown increasingly preoccupied with her husband's condition, and was not interested in Leif 's shrill complaints.

  'She excused herself from my table claiming a migraine!' Leif roared. 'What should I see soon after? Aud closeted in Halli's room, fresh-faced and giggling and obviously in the best of health! What is the matter with the girl?'

  It wasn't long, however, before Leif himself became too preoccupied to give much thought to Aud. With Arnkel fading and Astrid distracted, he had to assume leadership of the House. From the beginning this did not go well. By turns hesitant and overbearing, Leif struggled to impose his authority. At meetings in the hall, when pent-up emotions frequently spilled out into bitter argument and, occasionally, drunken tussling, he was unable to keep control.

  A frequent question put to him concerned the danger posed by the Hakonssons, to which Leif always replied in the same way: 'There is nothing to fear! Even if Hord persists in his aggression, the Council will defuse the issue long before he can come up-valley. With the thaw comes the great melt; the torrents will be impassable. By the time the roads are cleared, the Council will have acted, and Hord will have seen sense. It will come to nothing. Don't worry your silly heads about it!'

  So spoke Leif, but not everyone was convinced and they told him so. His confidence battered, he sought frequent solace in the ale keg, and this made him even less effective than before.

  Halli, meanwhile, prepared for his expedition beyond the valley. He and Aud gathered fleeces and extra woollens against the cold and stored them in secret beneath his bed. Halli also located a number of old tools that might double up as weapons.

  'What's the point in that?' Aud scoffed. 'They'll weigh us down.'

  'I know, but if we're wrong, and the Trows—'

  'Oh, please. Even if they do exist – which they don't – they'll be tucked up underground. It'll be daylight, remember? The first time we go up we won't stay long. A quick look round – then back before dark.'