by Griff Hosker
I saw why. The wind was taking us even closer to the coast and Ulf wanted some sea room. I saw a movement in the harbour. A mast moved but I saw no ship’s boys to unfurl it. “Ship leaving port!” Below me the oars had begun to bite. I risked standing on the spar. I suddenly saw into the harbour. The ship which was leaving was a small drekar. I put her to be a threttanessa, thirteen oars on each side. “It is a threttanessa!” I saw other masts move and spied two smaller ships, they were large snekke, and they were leaving too. “Two snekke coming too!”
Jarl Eystein Rognvaldson shouted, “Olaf, get the boys on the mast! Take your bows!”
I had no bow but I did have my sling. Sitting, I took it from my pouch. I had twenty stones there too. Arne and I had tried to bring down a gull two days since. We had hit two but the fish had been the ones to benefit. I chose a good stone and fitted it.
Leif climbed first. He had a bow over his back and some arrows jammed into his belt. “Olaf will stay by his grandfather. You did well Erik.” He stood and shouted, “A third snekke putting out!” He grinned at me, “Four ships for us to face on your first voyage. The gods have you marked!” Karl clambered up and he had a sling as did Arne and Siggi when they joined us. Leif said, “Siggi, come here to the mast. It is safer!”
Karl snarled, “He is of no use to this crew! Better to have brought his sister! At least we could have some use out of her!” My cousin Helga was considered beautiful. She was my cousin and I did not see her like that. To me she was just someone friendly who made me laugh.
Before Leif could say anything, I said, “Do not insult my cousins Karl the Climber or you and I will have words!”
He pointed his finger at me, “Anytime!”
Leif shouted, “Silence! Siggi come here. Erik, go to the end!”
I concentrated on moving along the spar. We were moving quite quickly now and the motion on the yard was extreme. I was grateful that Leif had allowed Siggi the chance to sit astride the mast. I saw that Ulf had managed to pull away from the coast but we were now sailing into the wind. There was little point in furling the sail for once we cleared the Calf then he could put the steering board over and lose these four terriers which would soon be snapping at our heels. They had men at the oars but the four were smaller and lighter than we were. We were carrying a month’s supplies on board. I wondered if they would catch us.
I heard a shout from below but could not make it out. However, when half of the crew stood, I worked out what it was. The jarl was preparing for the men to fight. He chose my father and his oar brothers for the task. My father donned his helmet and took his shield from the steerboard side. Leif pulled back on his bow and an arrow arced. It was a ranging arrow. It landed just a few paces before the drekar. The three snekke were now spreading out to encircle us. The drekar would stop us while the snekke looked for a weakness at the steering board. Olaf would be in danger. He had neither helmet nor mail. I had been given no orders to use my sling but, as I had but twenty stones, I would need to be judicious.
Leif’s second arrow hit a rower on the drekar. They were not wearing mail and his plunging arrow went into his shoulder. As the man slumped his oar caught the two behind. With three oars out of commission the drekar began to slew around. I took a chance and hurled my first stone. I was helped by the height of the spar. My stone hit one of the rowers at the front of the drekar. He had a helmet but a stone could still hurt. I saw his head jerk forward. “Well done, Erik. The rest of you, aim at the drekar!” Leif only had ten arrows. When he had used them, he would have to use his sling.
We could not see what was happening astern. The drekar’s slewed turn meant that she was just thirty paces from the larboard side of our ship. I saw men whirling grappling hooks. I threw my second stone. It hit one of those with hooks in the chest and he fell backwards, throwing the rowers into disarray. It was Siggi who sent the stone which thwarted the drekar. He hit the helmsman. The man had no helmet and the stone hit him hard on the cheek. The man let go of the steering board and the gap between us grew. As it did, I saw that we were almost abreast of the Calf. I threw stone after stone into the drekar. An arrow was sent from the drekar at us. It struck the spar. Leif leaned over and worked it free. He nocked it and sent it back at the drekar.
Ulf put the steering board over and we sailed dangerously close to the drekar. “In oars!” We now had the wind. The oars were shipped just a heartbeat before we passed the prow of the drekar. I had thought that we had succeeded for as I sent another stone towards the steering board of the drekar I saw that many of the crew had been hit by stones, arrows and oars! We had to turn to continue our assault and as we did so I saw that two of the snekke were within a length of us. They were gaining. By the time I had turned, the jarl had split the crew in two. I saw that my father and his brother were on the landward side. They stood together. The jarl and his hearth weru were on the steerboard side. The crews of the snekke were brave. They were trying to slow us down until the others could come and join them. I hurled a stone and was rewarded when it hit the warrior who was standing at the prow and holding on to the forestay. I hit his chest and he wore no mail. As he fell I thought, for a moment, that he would fall into the sea but he managed to hold on. He had to drop to one knee. I had hurt him. Our stones and Leif’s arrows clattered into the snekke but they had learned and a wall of shields stopped any more injuries. From the two boats, four grappling hooks were hurled. They bit and even though men tried to cut them the damage had been done. The first warriors leapt aboard. Olaf, who was stood by his grandfather, took a hatchet and began to cut through the ropes binding the snekke to the drekar. A warrior stood on the prow of his ship and raised his spear. Without mail and a helmet Olaf would die. This time my stone hit him perfectly. He had his arm pulled back and my stone hit him on the side of the head. He could not keep his balance and he fell into the sea. As he did so Olaf severed the second grappling hook and the snekke lost way.
The jarl led his men to go to the aid of my father. On the yard we sent our last arrows and stones at those trying to leap the gap. When my father and the jarl slew the two men who had boarded, my uncle severed the ropes and the snekke had lost any chance of capturing us. I heard a cheer from below.
Leif said, “We did well, let us go down. Siggi, you have the place of honour. Your stone was the one that truly saved us.”
By the time I reached the deck the snekke and the drekar were heading back to port. Olaf greeted us. He was our leader. “Siggi, all of your clumsiness is forgiven and Erik, I owe you a life.”
I did not know what to say. My father strode up and picked Arne and me up, “My two little fighting cocks! You showed them all! My blood is the blood of a warrior!” He glowered and glared at the jarl. The jarl and Bjorn turned and headed towards the steering board. He had been insulted by my father. It seemed to diminish both our efforts and the victory.
Ulf shouted, “Ship’s boys, serve ale and food.”
I saw Leif talking to Olaf. Olaf nodded and said, “Karl, go and be lookout!” Giving me murderous looks Karl grabbed some stale bread and an ale skin. As he passed Siggi he deliberately lurched against him and knocked him into the mast fish. Siggi’s head hit it hard. He laughed at Siggi and clambered up the backstay.
Olaf came over to me. “Karl can be dangerous. It does not do to antagonise him.”
“I know you worry about me but if he hurts my family then, no matter how big he is, I will fight him.”
“And you will lose.”
I shrugged, “Perhaps but he will know that he has fought.” I looked up at the mast and Karl’s back. “Do you hear me Karl the Climber! Leave my family alone!”
Olaf laughed and shook his head, “You are your father’s son. He does not back down either.”
With the wind with us once more we sailed, a little more slowly, south. Once we had passed the island the Saxons called Anglesey the jarl decided to put in at a beach. He and Ulf had endured watch and watch about since we had left home. They kne
w of deserted beaches which could not be accessed from the land. He found one of those. We reefed the sail and we went in under oars. To me this was all new. My father and uncle knew the beach. I thought it was a foreign land. As I stood by the prow, with the rope ready to secure us to the land, I tried to make sense of the water beneath our hull, the rocks which made white flurries. I looked at the size and shape of the sand and shingle. One day my father would captain his own ship and I would help him to steer. I needed as much knowledge as I could get. I spied what I thought was a flat rock as Olaf shouted, “Rocks!” The oarsmen backed water and I leapt in. I had been right, it had been a rock which was flat and allowed me to land relatively safely. However, the water came up, almost to my neck. Uncoiling the rope, I forced my way through the foaming water until I felt sand beneath my feet. I had spied a rock which looked big enough to hold us and I ran to it and put four or five turns around it. I raised my hand. Leif and Arne had followed me and they had secured the drekar. We were on dry land for the first time in a long time.
Karl had had the easier task of sitting on top of the mast and had not had to risk the rocks and the sea but he felt he had been punished and he blamed the three new boys. As he climbed down, he stared at us and he drew his finger across his throat. I thought it a dramatic gesture for he would not actually kill any of us. He just wanted to hurt us and show us that he was superior to us. Olaf led and Leif was his second. Until we had come aboard then Karl had been the dogsbody. He was making us miserable to give himself power.
The ship’s boys were given the task of collecting shellfish for our meal. A fire had been lit and a pot filled with sea water. It would season the stew and save our precious salt. I went with my cousin and brother to the rock pools. Arne was older than I was and as we collected the shrimps and small crabs he said, “You are not Siggi’s keeper, Erik, nor mine. We will fight our own battles.”
I shook my head, “You are the elder but you are wrong. Together we are stronger. If Karl thinks he can pick us off one by one he will do but if he has to worry about his back, he may be warier.”
“Or he may slip his knife in your back while you sleep.”
I had not thought of that. Karel struck me as the sort who would do that. We had been told to bring plenty of shellfish back and the wooden pail was but half full. I was so determined to impress the jarl and the others that I did not notice that Arne and Siggi were no longer near me; nor were Olaf and Leif. I had wandered around beyond sight of the camp for I spied mussels handing down some weed. Mussels were highly prized and good eating. It was getting dark and I was alone. I was fortunate that I had my bone knife in my hand. I cut the mussels free and put them on the rock. I began prising limpets from the rock. I did not want to break my knife and I was concentrating hard. I worked my blade all the way around the shellfish to break the seal and used my left hand to ease the animal from the rock. I had six already. I also had a sea urchin. I knew that they were dangerous but there were parts on them that were delicious. I had managed to take the urchin without being stung.
Karl had a pungent aroma and I smelled him before I saw him. Even so he was quick and he grabbed my head with his two arms and began to squeeze my neck. “Your white dead body will be found floating in the morning. They will assume that you were as clumsy as your cousin. None will mourn you and you will join the gulls screeching in the sky!” He began to force my head towards the water. The waves splashed me in the face as I fought him. He was stronger than I was and, inevitably, he would win. I had my knife in my right hand but it was not sharp enough to cut through his breeks. I had to cut flesh. Instead of pushing back I leapt forward. He was taken by surprise and we both fell into the sea. The pool was deep. I had been expecting to be dunked and I was ready. He was not although he kept hold of my neck and continued his pressure. As the sea pushed and pulled us against the rocks and weed, I let my arms relax to make him think I had drowned. I held my breath and lay still. He relaxed his grip a little. I felt his right leg come close to my hand. I rammed my bone knife into the soft flesh behind his ankle bone. There are tendons there. He kicked hard with his good foot and my bone knife sank to the sea bed. Even below the water I heard his roar. His mouth filled with sea water and he let go of me. I kicked my legs and burst to the surface. I kicked towards the beach and began pulling Karl towards safety. I was hauling him on to the beach when I saw Leif and Olaf running towards us. They had heard Karl’s cry.
Karl was still screaming as I dragged myself up. “Are you hurt?”
I shook my head, “I am not sure if Karl’s foot struck a sea urchin or a rock. He looks in pain.”
As Olaf dragged him from the water, he coughed and spluttered. He retched sea water. I managed to slip the dagger from Karl’s belt. He was in too much pain to notice. My bone knife had ripped a jagged hole in his ankle. It was bleeding heavily. “Leif, help me carry him back to the drekar. He is hurt!” He turned to me, “Erik, bring the shellfish.”
Arne and Siggi arrived. Arne said, “Where is your knife and why are you soaked?” I told them as we collected up the shellfish. “Then this will be a blood feud.”
“Perhaps, perhaps not. I hurt him and I have this.” I held his knife. “He will think he lost it beneath the water.”
“But, cousin, if he tells the jarl…”
Arne shook his head, “Erik is right. Karl dare not do that. He will lose face and have to admit that he tried to kill Erik. But we all need to watch out for each other. We swear an oath. We will be brothers in blood.” He took Karl’s knife and made a cut in his palm. He handed it to me. I did the same. Finally, Siggi did it too. Arne and I held palms together, then Arne and Siggi and finally Siggi and me. “We swear to protect each other!” We both nodded.
I took back the knife. There was blood on the blade. I wiped it clean by sinking it into the sand. “This is an omen. Our lives are tied together from this day forth.”
As we neared the fire Leif approached. “The rock has torn the tendon at the back of his leg. He will no longer be Karl the Climber, he will be Karl the Lame.” He patted me on the back. “Had you not pulled him from the sea he might have been Karl the Dead! I do not think he will thank you. That is not his way.” He took the pail of shellfish. “Come we will put this in the stew.”
When we reached the fire, Karl was being tended to by his father. Bjorn Bjornson had just one son and his wife had died in childbirth. The result was that they did not farm themselves. They had two slaves who ran their farm for them and they took ship whenever they could. They lived on Orkneyjar close to the jarl. It was said that Bjorn wished to be the jarl of an island. Bjorn Bjornson raided more than most men and that explained why his son had such a fine dagger. Now secreted in the pail of shellfish I had to find somewhere to hide it.
The jarl was watching Bjorn as he sealed the wound in Karl’s foot with a hot brand. He said to my father, “There is more to your son than a man would think. It appears he has saved Karl’s life.”
My father looked up from the bone he was carving, “Then he is a fool. Karl would have left him in a heartbeat.” It was almost as though I wasn’t there the way my father spoke. “If he thought to heal the rift then he was wrong.” He shrugged, “It is his first voyage. He will learn that you do not help your enemies.” His words told me much.
We carried on to the pot which bubbled on the fire. Salted meat and fish would be at the heart of it. Some seaweed was already in and soon would disappear leaving the stew gelatinous. The three of us began to drop the shellfish in the pot. The cook, Garðkell, was one of the oldest warriors on board. Leif had said he could still stand in a shield wall but he had no family. He liked to cook. He was talking with Ulf North Star and they did not see me slip the knife from the pail and into my breeks. I pulled my kirtle down to cover the shape. In the dark none would see the bulge but I had to get back aboard. I said, loudly, “This is a good beach for stones. I will collect some now and put them on the drekar. We may need them.”
Garðk
ell was heading back to the fire, “You will be a good warrior, Erik, for you plan! Go, collect your stones. I will save some choice pieces for you. You have earned them and need fattening up.”
Arne smiled, “Aye brother and when you go back to the drekar, fetch our bowls.”
I was less than diligent when I picked the stones. I just needed ones of the right size and a quantity of them. Eyeball sized ones were best and the rounder the better. I carried them in the pail. We had a gangplank which led from the beach to the prow and I heaved the pail of stones. There was no one aboard. The three of us had the larboard side of the prow. Our blankets lay there. I slipped the knife from my breeks and pushed it as close to the strakes as I could get. I would not be able to leave it there for long as it was damp but it was hidden. I rammed the blankets against it and left the pail of stones there. Picking up the bowls and horns I hurried back to the beach.
The shellfish had not taken long to cook and by the time I returned the men were lining up. There was a hierarchy to the feeding. The jarl and Ulf were first followed by the hearth weru. I saw that Bjorn was behind the jarl and his men. Then my father and his brother. That told me much. As the three newest members we were at the back of the line. We would receive whatever was left! Karl was not in the line. He lay by the fire. He gave me a curious look as I passed. He was wondering why I had not spoken of the attempt on my life. Olaf shook his head, “Not even a thanks for a life. When you take over the ship’s boys, Leif Ragnarson, you will have to watch that one. He has a bad seed in him.”
