The Long Hunt (The Strongbow Saga)

by Roberts, Judson

  Fetching a water skin from my sea chest, I filled it from the big cask in front of the Gull's mast. Carrying it and two of the smoked herring in my hands, I walked along the stacked cargo back of the mast, calling out softly, "Rauna. Rauna, where are you?"

  She had made a space between two bales of furs, and had stretched one of her own furs from her bedding above the opening. She was well hidden—I had no idea where she was until she pushed the skin aside and stood up. I noticed that she held her small-axe—the one she had killed Serck with—in her right hand.

  "I have brought you some food," I said, and handed her the herring and water skin. She stuck the axe handle through her belt and took them from me, quickly raising one of the fish to her mouth and chewing at it hungrily.

  What will happen to you, I wondered as I watched her eat, when the Gull is overrun? I hoped Torvald's plan would be successful at fending off the fire ship.

  An idea occurred to me. "I will be back soon," I told her, and hurried back to my sea chest. Digging down to the bottom of it, I found my gold torque and the small leather bag of silver coins I had brought on the voyage.

  Returning to Rauna, I handed her the torque and told her, "Put this on your arm." She frowned and looked puzzled, but did as I asked. I passed her the bag and said, "These are silver coins. They are very valuable. Keep them with you. Hide the bag inside of your tunic, if you can."

  "I do not understand," she said.

  "Listen to me very carefully," I told her. ‘You must remember what I am telling you. The Sveas—the warriors here in Birka—are going to attack our ships again. Eventually they will win. You must stay hidden here until the fighting is over. Afterward, they will search the ship. They will find you. When they do, this is what you must say.

  "You must tell them that you are the wife of the son of a great chieftain in Denmark. The chieftain's name was Hrorik Strong-Axe. Say the name."

  She struggled with it. I repeated it again for her, and she said, "Rorik?"

  "That is close enough," I said. "Remember it. And tell them that your husband's name is Halfdan, and that he is a famous warrior who is called Strongbow. The name was given to him by Ragnar Logbrod. Remember that, also."

  "Why can you not tell them these things?" she asked.

  "Because I will be dead."

  A long silence followed. Finally she said, in a quiet voice, "You wish me to be your wife?"

  "If you say you are my wife," I explained, "it may save your life. I wish that. It may keep you from being harmed. The men who are attacking us are members of the Svear king's own war-band. They will be men of honor. They will kill us because they believe we are their enemies, but they will not kill or dishonor the wife of a fallen foe." At least I hoped they would not. It was Rauna's only chance.

  * * *

  Despite the Sveas' preparations, the night passed without incident. By morning, we all were weary from lack of sleep, and from watching so long for an attack that did not come. Hastein in particular looked haggard. The fact that we were trapped, and he could think of no way for us to escape, was weighing heavily on him.

  Just past noon, the longship we had seen leaving Birka the day before returned. A short time later, Herigar approached the end of the pier, accompanied by a single warrior who waved a white flag of truce.

  "Come," Hastein said to me. "Let us see what he wants now."

  When we reached him, Herigar told us, "I sent a ship down the channel to the sea, and for some distance beyond. They saw no sign of a fleet."

  Hastein said nothing. He just stared at Herigar, a weary expression on his face.

  "I am responsible for the protection of this town. For all of its folk," Herigar continued. "Their safety has been entrusted to me. I do not take lightly threats against them."

  "We were never a threat," Hastein said.

  "You said you knew nothing of Anund. When were you last in the court of King Horik of the Danes?"

  "I attended a council there in the spring. Many chieftains of the Danes did also. Afterward, we carried war against the Franks. King Horik took a fleet against the town of Hamburg and burned it. My men and I sailed with a second fleet against western Frankia. We returned to Denmark less than a month ago. I have not seen Horik, nor been to his court, since the spring. We left Jutland on this voyage only days after we returned."

  Herigar let out a long sigh. "For many years, King Bjorn shared his rule over the Sveas with his younger brother, Anund," he said. "But Anund is an ambitious man. He grew tired of sharing power. He tried to incite the people against Bjorn, by telling them that the gods were turning away from the Sveas because Bjorn had allowed the worship of the White Christ to be practiced in Svealand. He said we must purge our kingdom of the foreign god, and all who worship him, to regain the good graces of the gods.

  "Matters came to a head at midsummer. There has been a drought lasting for months now that began in the spring. Because of it, the harvest this year will be small. Many took it as a sign that what Anund had been saying is true. Some of those whom Anund swayed came to Birka. They burned the Christian's church King Bjorn had allowed to be built here, and killed its priests. Only one, a Frank named Gautbert, escaped their fury. I helped him hide, and to make his way safely back to Frankia.

  "King Bjorn was enraged, and banished Anund from Svealand. He fled to the court of King Horik. We know that he has been seeking to raise a fleet there, to support his return and help him capture the throne. When he comes, he will strike at Birka first, for it is the gateway into the kingdom."

  "And you thought, merely because we are Danes, that we were the vanguard of Anund's attack?" Hastein asked incredulously.

  "Not merely because you are Danes. You and your men are not merchants—that is clear. As I pointed out before, the goods you have brought could far more easily have been traded in Hedeby. Then there is the matter of your name. You told me it was Hastings, but while he was piloting your ship, Alf heard men address you as Hastein. And you are a jarl—a powerful leader among the Danes. A man such as that might well join Anund in a bid to capture the Svear throne."

  "How did you know Hastein was a jarl?" I asked.

  "Ah," Herigar said. "Yes—that is the other part of this. There was a man—also a Dane—who came to Birka before you."

  "Did you also suspect him to be in league with Anund?" Hastein asked. There was a bitter tone in his voice. He and I both knew who this Dane had been.

  Herigar shook his head. "He came in but a single ship, and even that was undermanned. But I questioned him to learn if he knew about Anund and his plans."

  And from your questions, he no doubt learned that Anund had been banished, and had fled to Denmark seeking support for his return, I thought.

  Herigar continued. "He told me he did not know anything for certain, but he said there was a jarl, a frequent visitor at Horik's court, who was a great adventurer and Viking. If any in Denmark were likely to join with Anund, he would almost certainly be among them. He told me this jarl was named Hastein."

  "The name of the man who told you this—it was Toke, was it not?" I asked.

  Herigar nodded. "It was."

  "I did not tell you my true name because we are hunting Toke," Hastein said bitterly. "He is a clever and dangerous foe. I did not want him to realize, if he was still in Birka, that we had arrived here, too." He sighed. "Toke plays men against each other like they were pieces in a game of hnefatafl. At Oeland, he told pirates that we were carrying much silver on our ships, so they would attack us."

  "I have heard there is a strong band of pirates at Oeland," Herigar said. "I have urged King Bjorn to send a force to clear them out."

  "There is no need," Hastein told him. "They are all dead now. The goods we carry—the goods we brought to trade here in Birka—we took from their camp, after we defeated them. Toke—where is he now?"

  "He is gone," Herigar said. My heart sank.

  Herigar let out a long sigh. "It seems," he said, "That this Toke has indeed played
me against you. I acted out of concern for the safety of Birka and its folk, but…." He shook his head and sighed again. "I am thankful that at least none of your men died as a result of my error. It weighs heavily enough on me that some of my own men have died due to my mistake of judgment."

  He hesitated, then extended his hand to Hastein. "It is much to request, I know. But I ask your forgiveness for how you and your men have been treated here at Birka, and offer my hand in friendship."

  I thought it a generous gesture for Herigar to say he had been in the wrong.

  Hastein reached out and clasped wrists with Herigar. "I accept your friendship, and will value it. As to what has happened between us here, had I been in your place, I might well have done the same."

  "What of my sister Sigrid?" I asked.

  Herigar looked uncomfortable. "Birka's market is one of the largest in the north for the slave trade," he said. "It is not a thing I am proud of. I, myself, follow the White Christ. I believe it is wrong for men to buy and sell each other. It is wrong to make men into property. The Son of God taught that we should strive to treat others as we would have them treat us. When I became one of his followers, I freed all of my own slaves. But the slave trade brings much wealth through Birka, and the king's tax upon it is something he has no interest in giving up."

  I did not care about Birka's market, or the king's tax. I did not care what Herigar believed. "What of my sister?" I asked again.

  "After he arrived in Birka, Toke let it be known that he had a woman of rare value and beauty to sell. She was of noble birth, he claimed, and had never been known by a man."

  "When you heard a woman of noble birth was to be sold, you made no effort to stop it?" I asked.

  Herigar shook his head. "She was not Svear. Selling her broke no laws of our land." He continued. "There were, at the time, three traders here in Birka who travel down the rivers of the eastern road. Buyers for the slave markets of the Araby kingdoms at its far end pay high prices for fair-skinned women with golden or red hair. Such are greatly valued as concubines by the nobles there. One of the traders even had an Araby buyer with him, who had made the long journey up the eastern road to see our lands.

  "For three days Toke plied the three with tales of the beauty of this woman, but he would not let any of them see her. Then, on the fourth day, he offered her for sale. It was in a ship's tent he had set up upon the shore. By now rumors about this woman had spread throughout Birka, and many wished to attend the sale just to see her. But only those who showed Toke they possessed at least enough to meet his minimum price, the amount at which he would open bidding—a full mark of silver—were allowed into the tent. The three eastern road traders and the Arab of course all attended, as did several other merchants from the town. I attended, too, out of curiosity. Toke could hardly have barred me from entering.

  "Toke provided us all with wine and ale and food. No doubt he hoped that drink might help loosen the purse strings of the buyers. While we waited, he had your sister examined. There is a crone who works for the slavers here in Birka. When it is claimed that a female slave has never been with a man—a thing that makes her of greater value—she inspects them, for a fee. The crone came out and told us it was as Toke had said—the woman had never known a man.

  "Then Toke brought her into the tent, with a cloak wrapped around her, and stood her in front of us. He jerked the cloak away, and left her standing there naked for all to see. He allowed any who wished to stand near her, to walk around her, to examine her closely. Only actually touching her was forbidden.

  "All that he had said was true. Your sister is a woman of rare beauty. For that alone, she would have brought a high price. But it was more than just her beauty that excited the traders, and drove them to bid higher and higher against each other. Most women in such circumstances would have been weeping, or shaking with fear. But your sister shed not a single tear, and the only thing that showed in her eyes and on her face was anger, and hatred for us all. The traders all agreed that the nobles who would bid on her, down in the Araby kingdoms at the far end of the eastern road, would pay a fortune for the sport of breaking such a woman to their will.

  "In the end, it was the trader who had brought the buyer with him up from the south who won her. Together, they offered three and a half marks of silver for her. It is an unheard of amount for a single slave."

  "You said Toke has already gone. My sister…Sigrid?" I asked, although in my heart, I already knew the answer.

  Herigar shook his head. "The trader who bought her left Birka the day before you arrived. By now he and his Arab companion may already be upon the eastern road."

  12

  How Dangerous Can It Be?

  Before he left us, Herigar requested that Hastein discourage any of our men from entering the town. "I know now, of course, that you are not a threat," he explained. "But for several days the folk of this town have believed, as did I, that you were part of an attack on Birka, and on them. They have lived in fear these past days, and fear often breeds anger. Though you are not allied with Anund—and I will make certain that is widely known—still, you are Danes. The folk here expect that someday soon Anund will come with a force of Danes to attack Birka. I do not wish there to be any trouble between your men and the townsfolk. I will send merchants here to look at your goods and trade with you."

  He did more than that. Herigar seemed truly remorseful for what had occurred. Toward evening, a cart arrived carrying three kegs of ale, four roasted suckling pigs, plus baskets filled with sausages, bread, and cheeses. It was a feast extended as an offering of peace. By evening's end, our men were drinking toasts to his generosity and good will. All were in good spirits, for we had fought and beaten a stronger adversary without any losses of our own, had escaped what for a time had seemed a certain death, and now looked to profit, as well, by selling the goods stolen by Sigvald's band during their months of piracy.

  All were in good spirits save me. Toke had fled, and Sigrid was lost.

  "Do not be discouraged," Hastein told me. "For now, Toke has escaped us. But we know where he is bound. I give you my word—in the spring, we will follow him to Ireland. By then, those of our company who are wounded will once more be hale, and after spending a winter at ease in their homes, the rest of my men, including Svein, will be eager to join us."

  I did not answer.

  "I am sorry about your sister, Sigrid," Hastein continued. "But she is gone. There is no way now that we can find her. Her fate has been set by the Norns, and the paths of her life and yours will not cross again. You must accept that."

  I knew what Hastein said was true. But I could not drive from my mind the image of Sigrid, standing alone, naked and helpless before a group of slavers bidding against each other to purchase her. I could not drive from my mind the images of what would happen to her after the slaver who had bought her sold her again.

  Later that night, while the rest of the crew were drinking toasts to Herigar with the fine ale he had provided, Rauna came to where I was sitting, alone in the dark on the deck of the Gull, my back against my sea chest. I wanted to be alone with my thoughts, and wished she would go away.

  "The man you were hunting—the bad man—he is gone from Birka, yes?" she asked.

  I nodded.

  "Your sister—he sold her to be a slave, as you feared?"

  I nodded again, and turned my head away, willing her to go and leave me alone.

  "And the men who bought her have taken her away?"

  "Yes," I said, sighing heavily. "They have taken her away."

  "My father was a very great hunter—the greatest among all of our people. He taught me much. I am in your debt. You saved me twice. I am very good at tracking. I will help you follow these men and find your sister."

  It was a kindness so unexpected that it clutched at my heart, and for a few moments I was unable to speak. I looked at her, kneeling in front of me, and said, "I thank you. But they have taken her across the sea. I do not know where she
is. I cannot help her. No one can."

  * * *

  The merchants promised by Herigar appeared the next morning. They were a surly lot. Torvald, whom Hastein had put in charge of the negotiations, quickly became angry at the prices they offered for our various goods. He had envisioned the prizes captured from Sigvald's camp bringing in far more wealth. When one merchant's offer for a bale of furs provoked him into a shouted tirade of curses and insults about the man's parentage, Hastein took over the bargaining.

  "Is this the best offer you will make for these?" he demanded.

  "It is the best offer I will make to a Dane," the man sneered.

  "We have ten such bales. Will you take them all for the same price each?"

  The merchant, a fat man with beady eyes, was clearly surprised. "Aye, I will," he replied.

  "Then they are yours. Give me the silver—do not try to short weigh me on it—and take them."

  Hastein walked along the pier where the rest of the goods were stacked, and quickly found buyers for them. The Birka merchants smirked at each other, for the prices Hastein accepted would allow them to make generous profits when they resold the goods.

  Einar and I had been watching the negotiations. Hastein walked over to us, a disgusted look on his face. "They are little better than robbers," he said. "But whatever we take for these goods will be profit, as we paid nothing for them. I wish to be done with this and be gone. I am eager to see the last of Birka, and we have a long journey ahead of us before we reach Jutland again. Winter fast approaches, and I would have us off the sea. I will not sell the walrus tusks or amber here, though. Their value is too great to throw away. We will take them back with us, and sell them for a fair price in Hedeby."

  * * *

  That evening, after the merchants had left and the goods that had crowded our decks were gone, we were readying the Gull and the Serpent for departure on the morrow. Torvald sent men to gather discarded ballast stones that were scattered along the shore so he could rebalance the ships. He had had to remove many from inside the bottoms of the hulls of the Gull and Serpent before they had sailed from Oeland, to compensate for the weight of the goods we'd taken from the pirates' camp.