“Lady,” the leader murmured again, his eyes never leaving my face. Then, rocking on his heels, he moved. I expected him to rush along the hallway after his warrior friend, but no. Instead, he pushed passed me and stepped into my bedroom. It wasn’t till then that I noticed he was carrying a lit torch, the smell of old mutton filling my nostrils.
“Actually, I’m not ‘lady’ anything. I’m just plain ‘Caitlin.’” I sounded timid and disorientated, and that annoyed me. “And you have no right to be in my bedroom.”
He smiled briefly before wiping the grin from his lips. “No, lady. You are wrong. There is nothing plain about you. Nothing.”
I stared back, remembering all I’d heard about Vikings. Weren’t they brutal, and the very worst sort of monster?
“I am Storr,” he said.
Just then Elspeth rushed in. “What are ye doing in here?” She screamed her question into Storr’s face and then dashed to me and tried to wrap me up in her protective arms.
“I am inspecting the room, choosing a chamber for myself.”
Elspeth shook her head. “What are ye talking about?”
“We will be staying here for a few eves, a few only. As your guests, I think.”
He moved around my room, poking here and there, lifting the bed curtain, noting the fire, pacing the length. He even touched my clothing hanging on the rail by my bed. I got the feeling that he was inspecting the quality of the cloth.
“We saw ye in the woods, our woods,” Elspeth accused.
“And I saw you,” he answered, while trying to look out of the small window opening that faced the bailey below. I think he was trying to see how much of a view I had. Then he turned. “Alas, I’m not sure this chamber will suffice.”
“What a pity,” Elspeth said, her vinegar words as sharp as her stance. “Perhaps ye would be more comfortable sleeping outside of the keep. We have a pigsty; ye will be much more at home in there.”
I bit my lip. “Please ignore her,” I stammered. Did she not see the length of his sword or how shiny it was from endless sharpening? “Elspeth is upset. She lost her husband recently, in a battle against the Norse.”
He nodded. “We have all lost loved ones to war.” He turned and stood directly in front of me, studying each feature on my face. “You, lady, might lose someone soon, too.”
My jaw fell. Was he talking about Bern? Did he know something I didn’t? Elspeth charged up to him, defiance seeping from every pore in her skin. “Tell me why you’re here.” But he just pushed past her and went to my bed and tested the mattress for comfort.
“That is not your concern. But if you really cannot tolerate our presence in your castle, Madam Elspeth, then you are free to leave. Just you, though. Your men, the old and injured, and the young serving girls too, they are to remain behind, but I will happily part with you.”
I gave Elspeth a long look. How was her attitude helping this situation? Of course I also wanted to know what our enemy were doing here, and, more importantly, what they knew about our fighting men in the Hebrides. But best not upset them, if possible. I stepped up to Storr, keeping my arms tucked into my sides, trying to look passive. “Are you taking over our castle?”
“For a few days only, then you shall get it back. Think of us as guests. If you behave, then so shall we.”
Elspeth rolled her eyes. “How gracious ye are. And will ye be stealing our winter stores also?”
“Of course. But only enough to fill our boat. We will leave you the castle and anything else that has little value to us.”
“Why is it that folk call ye godless pigs, I wonder?”
Storr faced Elspeth, challenging her to make one more wrong move. “If you were not a friend of this fine lady here, then I would also be taking you back to my homeland with me. You would spend the remainder of your days as a Norse slave. Your tongue would soon lose its razor edge. And now, I must leave you two women. I know your laird has a special room at the top of his tower. A solar, I think he calls it. I shall sleep there. ’Tis only fitting.”
Chapter 13
Caitlin
Elspeth and I did not sleep a wink all night. We shared the same bed and felt a little safer because of it. We tried to keep ourselves secure by barring the way in. Together we dragged a heavy table over, blocking the doorway, but that arrangement couldn’t last. It was cowardly to hide in here when heaven-knows-what was going on out there in the rest of the castle. Were Ada and Nelly coping? Once the first shards of daylight sneaked in under our door, we crept out, our daggers hidden in our sleeves. Elspeth might be able to stab someone but I had serious doubts about my ability to harm or disable a Viking.
We found that the most able of our men had been tied up; only the very weak and old were left unbound, free to respond to the Viking’s constant demands. Ada and Nelly had been put to work serving them, using up our stores of ale and cheese and salted pork and suffering under a barrage of lewd comments and suggestions. From early on they’d begun loading sacks of our grain into their boat. Apparently the Vikings had broken in through our sea gate, the small iron door that the castle uses when it needs access to and from the sea. It’s used for loading cargo. Somehow, the Vikings managed to smash the locking device on the gate and then pry the wee door open.
We were told by the invaders that we should go about our work as usual, do nothing different, and that our meals would be served in the hall as always. So that morning, as wary as a newborn lamb, I crept into the main hall with the other castle women and old, unbound men. Elspeth barged in behind me. Storr was seated at the high table with two other Vikings. He saw me and instantly stood.
“Lady, I believe your seat is beside me.” He was standing but had obviously been sitting in Bern’s place. My hands were sweaty so I rubbed them down my skirt.
“You mustn’t think I would harm you,” he said, as if a Viking hurting his enemy was a strange and unlikely idea. “I have wine. You might like to settle your nerves.”
I could feel Elspeth bristle. The girl was like a volcano. “Don’t,” I whispered before she could shoot her mouth off again. No doubt she would remind them that it was her wine they drank and that they should not offer something they did not own. I silenced her by placing my hand on her shoulder, and to ram my point home, I whispered, “Want to be their slave?” It seemed to do the trick.
“The bread is delicious this morn,” Storr cried out. “Come, Caitlin, have a slice.” He waved his arm gesturing for me to move forward. I found his manner disconcerting. If he’d been gruff or hostile then I’d have known where I stood. But his apparent kindness was more frightening. What was he playing at? And what happened if I put a foot wrong? It felt as if Storr and I were involved in some game and I wasn’t sure of the rules. Somehow I sensed that the safety of all our old and wounded men rested on my ability to keep this lead Viking even-tempered and happy.
I stood where I was, beside my friends, not sure whether to insist I stay here and sit with the others or to inch forward. I bit my lip, looking like the indecisive ninny I’d become. Of course I did not want to go sit with our enemy at the top table. It was the last thing I wished to do. But nor was I prepared to upset the delicate balance that hung over the castle, a balance that, so far, had seen none of our men killed.
“You can’t possibly go eat with the swine,” Elspeth snapped.
“I have to,” I snapped back, and then moved closer to her ear. “Storr pretties his words, dressing them to sound like an invitation, but really, they are an order.”
I crept forward, taking measured, slow steps. Everyone in the hall was watching me. It seemed to take an age to reach the top table. There was a spare seat at the end of the high table so I headed for that, but Storr had other ideas. He ordered his man from the seat next to him and gestured me in. I swallowed, rounded the table, and paced toward him. His wide
smile was there to make me feel welcome. Trouble was, there was something about his mouth, a twist of confidence perhaps that reminded me of the power he had. For now, he wanted to be my friend, but I sensed that it wouldn’t take much to lose his friendship. He brushed detritus from my place at the table and then flourished his hand about telling me to sit. I sat, shaking like an autumn leaf clinging on in an icy gust. He reached for my hand sending my pulse racing. He guided my fingers toward the goblet, placing them around the base of the mug.
“Drink,” he ordered, with his too-wide smile.
I drank but was far too nervous to taste his wine, our wine.
“Is it to your liking, Lady Caitlin, because if it is not, my men can easily open another barrel?”
“It is to my liking,” I responded in a voice loud enough for him to hear, but trying to keep all talk of drinking and making merry down. I didn’t want Bern’s loyal elders to get the wrong idea.
“You must not worry so much, Lady Caitlin. I will not force you to do anything against your will. I am not a savage; that behavior is beneath me.”
It was a relief to hear those words, those promises spill from his lips, even if I did not believe them, not totally, anyway. He offered me a wedge of bread. Ada followed the bread platter with her own wooden plate. She carried around an array of cheeses, too generous a selection to offer at the morning meal. I caught Ada’s eye before we both looked away. Her gaze flittered nervously, her movements jerky and uncoordinated. She was every bit as up tight as I was.
“Tell me, Lady Caitlin. Do you think Laird Bern is sitting at the top table in my home right now, offering my family wedges of cheese? Is he being kind and good to them, as I am being to you?”
I looked down.
“Do you believe this?” he pushed.
I raised my chin. “Is Laird Bern still alive? Are you trying to tell me something? Do you know something I do not?”
He clapped his hands together and threw back his head and laughed at some joke I was unaware of making. “Know something you do not? I doubt that. I see cleverness behind your eyes. Enough of this maudlin talk of wars and dying. Smile and be happy, lady. Your happiness is something I insist upon. My men and I leave soon, and when that happens, you will have your castle back. Surely that thought must cheer you up?”
“Of course.”
He nodded. “I am also looking forward to leaving. I wish to go home, to reunite with my family. I miss my sons.” He drained his goblet.
I chanced a look at him again. “Have you been away from your homeland for a long while?”
“Too long. I fear my wife will no longer recognize me and toss me out.”
His statement made me relax a little, gave me confidence I probably had no right to feel. “You are married, Storr?”
“Yes indeed. I have a sturdy wife, one who is capable of growing many strong sons. She has given me two already.”
I smiled in agreement, as if sturdy wives and strong children were what we all sought.
“My wife is strong in temperament too, and solid in feature. Alas, she does not have your refinement.” And then he whispered close to my ear, “Nor your delicate appearance.”
The silence between us became even more awkward, so I did the only thing I could think of, I filled it with silly chatter. “Sturdy is what Northmen need, I suppose. Your women need to be strong otherwise they will not prosper in the cold Norse climate.” I had no idea if what I said was true, but it broke the tension.
Storr leaned in closer. “What we need and what we want are often not the same, wouldn’t you agree?”
If I got any more nervous I’d tremble and he’d notice and think less of me and that might give Storr the opportunity he needed to take liberties. I looked over at Elspeth. She was staring my way, scratching her neck. I must not anger Storr because if I did, Elspeth was liable to lunge from her seat and shove the handle of the serving ladle into the nearest Viking. And it wasn’t hard to imagine what would happen after that.
After I’d choked down my bread, I found the strength to leave the hall, almost running to my chamber. Elspeth raced after me.
“It is only a matter of time, Elspeth, before you get yourself killed,” I scolded. “Stop being so aggressive. I know you hate them. So do I, but you also want to live, don’t you? You must not stare at the Northmen with such open hostility. Do not think of defending me, either. I’m safer without you around.”
Elspeth looked to the floor. “I will try to control my outbursts.”
“If you wish to live, that would be wise.”
She drew in a deep breath and her eyes watered.
I sighed, seeing how upset she really was, then threw my arms around her. “I know this is hard for you, but it won’t last. Storr says they’re leaving soon. They’re just here to steal some more of our winter supplies and then when their boat is loaded and can’t carry any more of our food, they’ll sail away home.”
Her brow lowered, and I could see that she was brewing up some more of her hatred. “You believe that?”
“I want to, I want to believe that very much. I don’t know how much more of Storr’s kindness I can take.”
Elspeth and I spent the morning huddled in my room. I figured that the more we kept out of their way, the less trouble we were likely to make. But our plan became unstuck when we both sneaked into the kitchen in search of apples to snack on. Nelly was in there preparing the Vikings’ evening meal so we whiled away time chatting to her. Nelly had been put in charge of feeding our remaining men.
“They’re all still alive?” I asked, thinking this too good to be true.
“Aye, and the Northmen are feeding them well.”
“I didn’t see any of our injured in the hall this morning.”
“Nay. They keep them bound up, tied with rope, trussed like pigs ready for the pot.”
I thought of all those Scottish clansmen in the Hebrides right now, slaughtering Viking wives and children. According to history, this battle in the Hebrides, the very battle that Bern was in, turned into a vile ethnic cleansing. Luckily, it was the Vikings that were killed, and not the Scotsmen. “Why are the Northmen suddenly being so decent?”
Both Nelly and Ada shook their heads in wonder. Eventually, with our arms filled, Elspeth and I sneaked back to my chamber. That was when things became unstuck. The door to my room was open and when I pushed it wide, I saw Storr in there, waiting for me, sitting on my bed drumming his fingers together.
“Storr,” I said, my heart racing.
He jumped up. “I was waiting for you, Lady Caitlin.”
It was a struggle to get my breathing back under control. I know my eyes showed fear. I felt like a child who has been told to go the dentist.
“Looking for me?” Why must everything I say to the man sound so feeble and brainless?
“Yes, indeed. I thought we might take a stroll around the castle grounds. With the sea so near, the grounds are majestic, are they not? I know that you English love your strolls.”
“Actually,” I said stalling, desperately trying to formulate an excuse, “I’m not much of a walker. I feel the cold, that’s the problem.”
He smiled and clapped his hands together. “Then you shall wear my fur. I am not in need of the heavy cloak. I love the biting cold. The crueler the weather becomes, the happier I am.”
I swallowed.
“Come, Lady Caitlin, ready yourself. I shall fetch my fur and then we will be off.” He went to leave the room.
“Storr,” Elspeth said, her tone barking. He stopped in his tracks. “I feel like a walk, too. I think I should come and accompany you both.”
Storr turned and there was no mistaking the stormy look on his face. “I think not. Just Lady Caitlin.” Then his voice brightened. “I’m off to fetch that fur. I shall be ba
ck in a moment.”
I watched him stride from the door then whispered to Elspeth, “Thanks for trying. Don’t worry, I’ll be fine.”
I could tell she doubted that, but what could she do? I bit the inside of my lip and waited. He was back in no time carrying his heavy flecked fur cape. He slipped it over my shoulders and drowned me in weighty animal skin. The proximity of his face to mine, his fingers fastening the thin leather straps, working so near my neck, it was all hard to stomach and took all my resolve to stop myself from pulling away from him.
“There,” he said with a satisfied smile. “You are warm enough now to fall asleep on a bed of ice and not freeze.”
It was hard to smile my gratitude but somehow I managed it. The wrap smelled of him and of the animal it had once belonged to. My stomach rolled. To keep myself from overreacting, I reasoned that I was safer in the heavy cloak, less likely to get stabbed if I wore it. Storr would not want my blood dirtying his expensive garment.
We set off, me trailing after him out of the keep, through the top bailey and down the ramp to the lower courtyard. The wind was howling and that was a blessing of sorts because it made idle chatter more difficult. He led me down the ramp to the lower bailey and then right out past the smithy’s hut and over the wooden bridge. When I saw where I was, right outside and near the freedom of the open fields, I’ll admit that the thought of running was appealing. But how would I outrun a warrior Viking in his prime? I was healthy and in decent shape, but nevertheless, I was still a twenty-first-century history teacher. He led me to the sea wall and offered a seat.
I sat and gazed longingly back at the castle. He turned so that his face was inches from mine, blocking my view. I had no choice now but look directly at him. Although a passive smile lingered on my lips, he must have sensed that I was uncomfortable. His face was tight and a warning of sorts. This was not going to be a frivolous conversation. I’d better stiffen my back and prepare for the worst.
Snowflakes in Summer (Time Tumble Series Book 1) Page 12
