by Hosker,Griff
"It is Hrolf the horseman and Gilles. The knarr is north of the island but needs a beacon."
"We did not light one for fear of enemies."
"The warriors who survived are aboard the knarr. We will risk a fire." I dismounted and walked into the camp. They had been busy and there was a shelter up already. As we approached people awoke. Mary heard my voice and ran to me, "You are safe!"
"I am and we have much to do." I kissed her. "When my warriors have landed then we can speak." I saw wives and mothers waiting for news. The men are on the knarr. We will light a fire to guide them ashore."
With many hands working we soon had a large fire burning on the beach to the south of the island. I saw, by its light, the drekar anchored in the deeper water. Sven waved. He would have questions. The knarr and fishing boats eventually appeared and headed towards our guiding light. When all the men were ashore it was a joyful scene. Only one mother had lost a son. She was comforted by Brigid and Mary. The rest had been given a new chance of life. Most had expected a son or husband to die. As we stood around the beach fire Bagsecg asked, "And Ulf?"
"Ulf Big Nose chose to take many Frisians with him. They will rue the day that they attacked Ulf's clan. He did not want to begin a new life again. When Siggi died his heart died too. This was wyrd." I handed the small chest to Mary. "He gave this to you. He tried to see you before you left. He was sorry to have missed you."
Mary nodded, "I knew he would not be coming."
"Are you becoming pagan?"
"No husband. It is just a feeling that this would not be Ulf's home."
Mary walked over to the fire and opened the chest. She smiled and then closed it. As she walked back I saw that she was crying.
"The present he gave me was his treasure. He did not want to leave it on the island." She shook her head, "For such a gruff man he had a heart which was kind. I will miss him and Jarl Siggi too."
I nodded, "He gave away his weapons too. The only weapon he valued which he kept was my gift of a Saami bow."
Bagsecg said, "Siggi thought of you as his son as did Ulf. I know he was proud of your achievements. We will remember him."
"We will, for this new home would not be possible without him. Come let us go to the camp and get a little sleep before dawn. We have much work to do."
It was good to cuddle, beneath a fur with my wife. We were surrounded by the clan and there was no privacy but sometimes words are not needed and we held each other tightly. I had been close to death and Mary had not known if her child would be born an orphan. We shared those thoughts and we were content. I knew that the spirits of the dead watched over us.
When dawn broke I saw that they had just managed to make one large shelter. Winter was almost upon us and we needed to work hard. Even the wounded would have to shoulder their share of work. Sven and Harold used the ships' boys to begin to make a jetty. That way we could unload and load the ships easier. I took the rest of the men to the haugr.
As we approached Arne said, "It is a pity Jarl Siggi White Hair chose to burn it."
"It is, Arne Four Toes, but we did not know that we would need it did we? Besides this gives us the chance to build it the way we want."
Bagsecg asked, "You know what you wish it to look like then?"
"I do. There are three parts to this. We make three halls in the top of the haugr. Winter is coming and we need shelter. I think we can just fit in three halls. Then we build the wooden walls around for we need defence. There will be enemies. Thirdly we make a ditch. The Franks did not have one and it cost them. When that is done we build another wall and ditch to enclose our workshops, ovens and forges. I have learned from the past."
I turned and looked towards the island. I could see no smoke.
"Where are the monks?"
"Their homes are empty. We found none. It is as the day you raided. The priests have not returned."
I suddenly say Siggi's hand in all of this. "Then we save ourselves some work. We take apart the monastery and use that to build our homes. There are stones and there are timbers. They even have tiles upon the roof of the church. We begin now."
"What if this French king objects?"
"Then he will see a different side to his new neighbours. I will not make war on him but if he provokes then we will show him that we are Vikings."
I left Bagsecg to organize the men while I took the women who were not preparing food or caring for babies to begin the work of clearing away the burned buildings. It had been some time since our raid and the weather had helped us. By the time the first materials arrived we had cleared half of it. The one disadvantage we had was that our new homes would be more like those of a Frank than a Viking for we used the old materials to build our new one. That was a good thing. We were a new people. We could adapt. I had a vision in my mind of what this would look like when we had finished.
At noon Mary trudged up the slope to bring me a horn of ale. "You should not have climbed this hill."
"I will have to do this when we live here besides you look tired. Erik Long Hair told me of the battle. You were close to death."
"Yet I survived because I was meant to come here. This is wyrd." I laughed, "I know you do not believe in this, wyrd, but you do believe that this is meant to be."
"I do. So, tell me what we will see when we have finished for it is in your head and I cannot see it."
"This is a natural hill. The Franks just adapted it for a home. We will do more. We will have three halls here, at the top and we will have a palisade which runs around the top. There will be, as at our home on Raven Wing Island, but one way in and out. We will have a gate with two towers. The towers will take time to build. Then we will have a ditch which will encircle the workshops, stables and animal pens. That too will have but one gate. The ditch will be deep and we will have a channel to the sea so that we can flood it when we choose."
"We would be an island?"
"When we choose to be, aye. The one way in and out will be close to the jetty which Sven and Harold are building so that we can be supplied if we are besieged. The only danger we had was the island but the monks have abandoned it."
"If we had used the island we could save work."
"We could but it is too small for our people. This will be the beginning. Others will come to join us and there are those, such as the people who live at Ċiriċeburh who will come to live here."
" Ċiriċeburh?"
"When we came for the tribute the survivors said they would not survive the winter. I gave my word that we would help them."
"Even though they are Franks?"
"Jarl Siggi had the idea. He said we would not take all from them but use them as a farmer uses a cow to take milk when we needed it. I gave my word and I believe that this, too, is wyrd. I may be wrong but I lead now."
"You will be Jarl?"
"No for that was Siggi. I will lead the people. What they call me is irrelevant."
And so our new life began. It took seven days for us to build two of our halls and the weather changed just when the last roof went up. I gathered my men around me. "We have one more hall to build."
"One more? There is enough room here for us all."
"Aye Arne Four Toes. But I intend to bring back more people. When we have made a start on the last hall we have other tasks to complete. We have grain but it must last us the winter. I need half of the men to build the first wall around the halls and the other half to hunt and to gather wood. I will go with Gilles to Ċiriċeburh. There are people there who may need our help. I will return with them if they wish to come."
"You would take Franks into our homes?" It was an honest question from Beorn Beornsson.
"It is what Jarl Siggi would have done. Besides we have lost warriors. We need to build up the clan. There are women there without husbands and there are young men who can become warriors." I paused, "If you wish to hold a Thing and choose a new leader..."
"No we are happy with your decisions, Hrolf the Horseman, for you hav
e saved the clan. It is just that this is a new way for us."
"It is, but I feel in my heart that it is the right one."
That night, as we cuddled together, she said, "You remember that room you built for me at the end of your hall?"
"Aye."
"Could we not have one built here too?"
I had thought of that already. "We have built our halls on the only land which is not rock. It would take a god to crush them and allow us to make foundations."
"Oh." She sounded disappointed.
Then I had an idea. I know not where it came from save that I had seen a building like this in Andecavis when I had stayed as a spy. "We could build another floor on the last hall; the one we have yet to build. Then we would have as much room as we liked and it could be somewhere we could defend. Tomorrow we will look into this."
My men were quite happy to build a second storey. It was not any more difficult. It just took longer. Once we had used rocks to buttress the walls and found a way to lock the floor of the first storey into the walls the work flew by. The work also allowed me to talk to all of my warriors about my plans. I was no Jarl Gunnar who would decide to do something and expect the clan to follow. I was more like Jarl Siggi. I wanted them all on my side.
When I was certain that all knew my plans I left with Gilles and two of the mares. The two new ones were in foal and it was a good portent that they would be born in our new home. We rode mailed and I took my bow. This was not Raven Wing Island when we had first arrived. Here there were enemies for we were the invader. Each time I took my bow in my hands I was reminded of Ulf. It was not a sad memory. He had died when he had chosen. Few warriors are given that chance.
When we had visited Ċiriċeburh we had done so by sea. This time we headed across country. I was able to spy out the land and see potential danger. The land was flat and heavily wooded. We saw few farms as we headed north west. Nipper was with us. Gilles told me that he had spent the whole voyage staring from the stern of the knarr and watching for me. Now that he was reunited with Dream Strider and me he was happy and raced ahead of us acting like a smaller version of Ulf Big Nose. He would smell out danger.
We found the first villagers just half a mile from the settlement. There were four emaciated women and a child. When Nipper barked they fled into the forest. They had been collecting the last of the berries that the birds had not eaten. I called to them, "We mean you no harm." But they fled. I took off my helmet and hung it from my saddle. I pushed back the mail from my head. Gilles did the same. We were frightening them.
We passed freshly dug mounds close by the charred remains of the church. They were newly dead. There were more women and children to be seen when we neared the village. They fled to the charred remains of the citadel. Only two remained to face us: one was the older woman who had said they would all be dead when I returned and the other looked to be a younger version of her.
The older woman smiled. I saw that many of her teeth had fallen out. That was a sign of a poor diet. "So Viking you came back. Did you want us as slaves?"
I dismounted, "No, mother. I promised that I would return. My people have landed just twenty miles from here. I can offer you food, shelter and protection."
"And what would you have in return? Our bodies?" She laughed but her lack of teeth made it come out as a cackle. "You would not enjoy them. Not even my daughter's here. We are all skin, bone and rotting teeth."
"When my jarl came here he made a bargain with Baldred. He said we would come back and collect tribute and in return we would protect you. We did not protect you. I am here to make good that promise. We are few in numbers and you would have to work for your food. "
Her daughter tugged at her ragged dress, "Mother we will die. Better slavery than a death by hunger."
"Twenty miles is a long way and we are hungry already."
"Have you a cart? We brought two horses. We could carry those who are too weak to walk and there will be food at the end of the journey."
The woman took my hands in her claw like grip and stared intently into my eyes. She nodded, "I see no deceit in your eyes but Bertha, my daughter, is right. We have little choice. We buried six in the last month. Soon there will be no one left to bury the dead."
"Good. What is your name, mother?"
"Matildhe."
"Then Matildhe gather your people. Gilles, find a cart or a wagon."
The matriarch shouted, "Come he means no harm." At first no one moved." I order you to come."
The women and children appeared from where they had been hiding. "They obey you."
She nodded, "Baldred and Brego were my sons. I carry on for them." She examined the women and children as they approached and then shouted, "Bertrand! Stop hiding and come!"
The boy I had saved stepped from behind the ruins of the church. He had a short sword in his hand and a leather helmet. He approached cautiously never letting his guard drop. "I let you live when we came. Why are you afraid now?"
"The men of Vannes said they would let the men live if they let them take their grain and then they slew the men."
"I see. I never break my word and you are safe. We have taken over your old home. Would you return there with us and make a home amongst us? We can use warriors who are not afraid of their enemies."
"I am a boy and not a warrior."
Gilles spoke, having found a wagon, "And until the hersir took me I was a boy who knew horses and nothing more. Now I have killed our enemies. You can do the same."
"I would like that."
"Hersir, the wagon is yonder it is old but the wheels turn and it will carry at least fifteen of these women and children. We will have to use ropes as traces."
"Bertrand, go and help Gilles." They went off with the two mares. "Matildhe, have the women who are weak and the babies climb into the wagon. If we leave now we can be at the haugr by dark."
She frowned at the unfamiliar word, "The haugr?"
"It is what we call the place where the monastery was. It is our home."
Gilles, Bertrand and I walked. I mounted Matildhe on Dream Strider and Bertha on Night Star. As we walked we discovered more about these new members of our clan. We also learned about the monastery. Bertrand had been back to the monastery to see if they could help. When he had reached the island the warriors of King Louis were taking the altar and other things we had left. Bertrand had asked for help and they had laughed at him. Their leader had said that as they had no men to defend them they would have to rely on God's generosity. He also found out that they were moving the monastery to the Issicauna. It was then that Bertrand learned to trust no one.
Matildhe chuckled, "It is strange, Viking, is it not, that God uses a barbarian and a pagan to save us?"
"We have a word for such things amongst my people. We say that it is wyrd. Perhaps you would say it is God's will."
"You are a strange pagan."
"Perhaps that is because my wife is a follower of the White Christ, a Christian."
"And she is happy to live with you?"
I laughed, "We do not eat babies and we do wash! Live with us for a while and then judge us."
She looked at Gilles, "Will we be safe from your lusty young men such as this one?"
"As you said, Matildhe, at the moment you are not in any danger save from falling and breaking your limbs but when you and your people are fit and healthy it may well be that some of my young men may wish to take a bride. But they will ask and they will not take. If they tried they would answer to me and be outlawed."
"You are young to be a leader."
"Like you we have lost our wiser heads so that the clan is now my responsibility."
Even though we were talking Nipper kept his guard up and Gilles, Bertrand and I listened for danger. There was none. We were a mile or so from the coast when we began to smell not just wood smoke but the smell of cooking meat. When you are hungry your senses become keener. I saw Bertha's eyes widen, "Is that your camp we can smell?"
"It must be for we passed no people on our way to your home."
She smiled, "I have not touched meat since..."
Matildhe put her hand on her daughter's. "Not since the men of Vannes came. Well it is time we broke that fast if this Viking lord will allow it."
"I invited you and you shall share the bounty. It is our way."
Nights were getting longer and we arrived at the settlement after dark. Part of the outside wall was up but that mattered not for there were large pieces of meat being cooked and it was food that they needed. Nipper's barking had alerted both my sentries and Mary. She approached us with a smile on her face. The unborn child gave her a natural glow and I saw relief on the faces of Matildhe and Bertha.
"Welcome to our home. You must be hungry and cold. Come by the fire. We have made space for you in the small hall. I am sorry that it is so rude and bare but we have just arrived recently."
Matildhe climbed down and knelt. She recognised the nobility in Mary instantly. It was in the way she spoke and carried herself, "My lady thank you for your hospitality."
"Come," She waved her arm for the others, "Come to the fire."
As they passed her Mary came to me and kissed me on the cheek. "This was a Christian thing to do!"
I shook my head, "Vikings are hospitable too. We have more in common than you can know."
I ate with my men for the women crowded around the women keen to see to their needs. "The wall goes well."
Bagsecg nodded proudly. "We did as you suggested and made the mound level. It took longer but we put the timber in front of the ditch."
"Good. As the men who fought the Frisians will tell you a solid fighting platform, which is wider than a couple of planks, is better for fighting."
