The Savage Wilderness, page 23
I spied the Penobscot camp not long before noon. I could see that it was deserted for there were no homes and no fires. Even so, I went along the edge of it and as I circumnavigated it, I saw that it was a large one. There had to have been at least forty homes and that meant upwards of four hundred people. That number of warriors could overwhelm us. Having found it I descended to the valley bottom to confirm my theory that there was water nearby. I reached the small river. It was thirty paces wide and I saw stones below the surface which suggested that the Skraeling could ford it. I drank some of the water for it bubbled and did not smell bad. Finding a place beneath an overhanging tree branch I ate some dried horse deer where I could not be seen and I contemplated my options. Perhaps the Norns were spinning or maybe the Allfather took a hand but I had a whiff of an animal. The water bubbled before me and the breeze was in my face. I strung my yew bow and took out a good arrow.
Sure enough, there were deer; a small herd of a deer I had not seen before wandered down to the water. They looked to be the size of a large dog, almost a dwarf deer. I nocked the stone-tipped arrow and waited for them to come to drink. The male came first and sniffed the air. He had stubby antlers and his fur was darker than the white-tailed deer. He seemed satisfied and drank. The four females and five young joined him. I saw that one of the females was larger than the others but had a leg which did not move easily. I aimed at her. I pulled back and the arrow flew. As soon as it left the bow it hummed and that was enough of a noise to startle the herd which fled north, away from danger. I hit the female in the side. It was not a killing strike but she had a bad leg. Grabbing my bow and nocking another arrow, I raced across the river where the water came up to my waist and slowed me down but the blood trail was clear to see. The wounded female managed almost a mile before she succumbed to her wound. After checking that the rest had fled, I put my arrow back in my arrow bag and slung my bow. I slung the carcass over my shoulder and headed back to the river.
The river twisted and turned, finally emerging half a mile north of the stream Arne had followed. As I walked down it, I saw the pink-fleshed fish which were so good to eat. We could use fish traps for them. I also saw some stoat and ferret-like creatures as well as the long-eared animals which were so easy to catch. This was a paradise and a man would never go hungry but there was still no iron. Until we found it then the clan would never be happy on this side of the sea. When I reached the camp Arne and the trappers were already back.
Eidel Eidelsson began to cheer when I walked into the camp, “It is good to see that Erik the Navigator has not been idle. Let me take that off your hands. I will prepare it for Æimundr Loud Voice and his hunters are not yet returned.”
Arne had taken off his mail and helmet, “Well, brother, where did you find this?”
“There is a river north of this stream and it teems with fish as well as these tiny deer. Did you have success?”
He nodded, “We had to walk a long way but we found bjorr. Perhaps we will follow your river tomorrow for the colony we found was small. Did you see any sign of Skraeling?”
I nodded, “I found their summer village.” Every ear in the camp heard my words and turned expectantly. “It was empty but it was large and held more than four hundred Penobscot.” I saw Arne coming to the same conclusion as me but I explained it for Lars and the other young warriors, “That means it could have contained more than a hundred warriors.”
“But you saw no sign of them now?”
“No. They will have gone to their winter homes but this smoke will tell them that someone is here and they will investigate.”
“And this time we will be ready. I intend to take some of Æimundr Loud Voice’s hunters when we go to your river on the morrow. They can set the traps while we keep watch for the Skraeling.”
When Æimundr Loud Voice and his hunters returned they had four horse deer with them. It had been a success. The senior warriors held a meeting and Arne explained what he wanted to do. Æimundr nodded, “Those who will not hunt tomorrow will prepare the meat and begin to render down the hooves. If we are here for a moon then we can have cured hides to take home with us. This is a good land, jarl.”
“And I will have my ship’s boys make fish traps and then we will head for some pines I saw. It is close to the Penobscot village but as it is deserted, we can make pine tar. As Æimundr said, if we are here for a month then we have time to gather as much as we can from this verdant land.”
Arne was silent and I knew that he was disappointed that he could not show his son how the great Arne Larsson could fight.
The traps were easy to make and we had all of them laid before noon. I then led Fótr and my boys to the village and thence to the pines. By dark we had the kilns burning away and the natural slope helped us to collect pine tar not in barrels, for we had used them all, but in clay jugs we had made on Bear Island. I had seen, at the mouth of the river, some river clay and I thought to make some crude jugs just to carry more tar home with us. There were enough pines to keep my boys and me occupied for seven days at least. We could use the kilns after they had made the pine tar to fire the clay pots. We left before dark, leaving the kilns to do their work.
Arne had found more bjorr and this time it was a huge colony but he was still unhappy that he had not seen Skraeling. And so, the first seven nights passed peacefully. Each day we collected great numbers of fish who were unused to fish traps. We made twenty jugs and fired them. Eight survived the process and by the end of the seven days, we had burned all the pine roots and made our tar.
I went alone on the eighth day to collect the last of the tar. There were just two clay jugs but they were like gold. I was going to head back to the camp when I saw a hunting bird, a hawk of some type and it swooped down towards the river. I was intrigued and, as I had plenty of time to return to camp before dark, I investigated. It was as I neared the stream that my heart skipped a beat and I stopped in shock. I spied the grave I had seen in my dream. There were dead flowers upon it. I looked at the ground and saw footprints. They were either made by a child or a small woman. To confirm it I headed to the stream and saw the lightning-struck tree. It looked like a dwarf and my dream had been accurate. I saw that the reason the stream was wide enough to bathe was that a small colony of bjorr had built a dam. Selfishly I decided not to share this news with Arne. I would return alone, each day, in the hope that I saw signs of the maid. I knew that it was unlikely for she was a slave and would be close to the main camp but it was a chance and I would take it. Of course, if Laughing Deer was close enough to visit the grave then it meant there could be a Penobscot camp close by too. I had a dilemma; did I tell Arne or not?
Arne and the rest of the warriors were in camp when I returned. “The day after tomorrow we go further afield. I will head west and north for we have trapped all the bjorr and the horse deer herds have moved on.”
Although the other warriors, Siggi and Fótr apart, nodded, I knew that his real reason was to provoke a confrontation with the Penobscot. Each day, when I had ventured forth, I had brought the wapapyaki with me. Now I saw that it was even more vital.
While the rest of the warriors spent the day preparing to go into a more dangerous country, I went back to the grave. Before I reached it, I had a feeling that I was being watched and I nocked an arrow. I had become complacent and I was walking in the land as though it was safe and it was not. As I passed the lightning-struck tree and headed towards the grave, I saw that there were more prints leading from the stream. Sniffing the air, I could smell Skraeling. When first he had come to us Bear Tooth had smelled differently but, as he ate our food and drank our ale, his smell became that of the clan. There were Skraeling close by and I wondered if I should run back to Arne and tell him. Gytha’s voice came into my head and just said, ‘Peace, Erik the Navigator.’ I walked towards the grave and when I saw it, I stopped. There were fresh flowers upon the grave. It had been tended and the prints I had seen were those of the maid’s feet. She had been here and I had missed her.
I headed back to the stream and this time I examined the prints more carefully. I could see the fresh ones and they led from the stream towards the grave and they did not return. Was there another crossing? I thought not and I could still smell Skraeling.
When I reached the grave, I laid down my bow and said, “Laughing Deer, I will not harm you. I am the devil of whom you dreamed.” I peered around the trees trying to see her but Skraeling had darker skins than we did and they blended in, especially at this time of year.
Then her voice came from ahead but I could not see her, “You are ‘captain’?” She mispronounced the word but I recognised it and remembered that Bear Tooth had called me that.
“Yes, I am. Let me see you for I will not hurt you.”
She stepped from the trees and I saw that she had grown in the time that had elapsed since the last time I had seen her. She spoke urgently, “You are in great danger. The Penobscot are close by and they are hunting your men who came in the ship with the snake’s head.” I picked up my bow and looked frantically around. She laughed, “Not that close. They have made a camp close to the roaring water half a day from here.”
I looked from her to the grave, “This is your mother and you brought the flowers?”
She nodded, “She was beaten when you slew so many of their warriors for they blamed us both and she died from a wound to her head.”
“But not you?”
She shook her head, “I was given a worse punishment. The warriors took me and that is why I am here with the warriors who come for war. Young females like me, those taken from other tribes and clans, are brought so that when the warriors have victory, they can spill their seed and make new warriors.”
“You are Mi’kmaq?”
She nodded, “How did you know?”
“Bear Tooth is of your tribe but a different clan. Come with me to our snake-headed boat and I will take you to Bear Tooth’s clan. They will take you back to your family.”
She shook her head, “I would give anything to do that but I have a little sister. I cannot leave her.”
“Then fetch her.” Now I knew the purpose of the dream; I was here to save two slaves and reunite them with their families. “I pointed downstream, “We are moored at the large piece of water where the rivers and streams end.”
She nodded, “I will come but it may be too late. The warriors plan an attack on your camp tomorrow.”
“They know where it is?”
“The smoke rising from your fires tells them.” She looked pleadingly at me, “We can come with you but I pray that you speak truly for if you are a spirit who toys with us then the warriors will use my sister and me until we are dead.”
I held the bear teeth, “I swear by this and,” I took out my dagger, “and by this, that I will take you to your home.”
She smiled and kissed my hand, “Thank you. I know not your name for I saw when I used that word before that it was wrong. What do I call you?”
“I am Erik of the Clan of the Fox.”
She said the name a couple of times, almost rolling it around her mouth as though she was tasting it. “It is a good name, I like it. And now I must return before I am missed. They think I collect wood.” She turned and was gone so quickly that I thought that she was a sprite or an aelfe. Pausing only long enough to pick up the pine tar I had left by the stream I ran, for Arne would have his wish; war was coming.
Chapter 18
I burst into the camp so hurriedly that every hand went to a weapon. Arne’s eyes narrowed, “What is amiss, brother?”
“The Penobscot know where we are and they plan to attack tomorrow. I know not the time but they will come.” I suddenly realised that I had failed to ask Laughing Deer how many warriors there were.
Arne said, “Are you galdramenn that you know this?”
I had to tell him how I knew but I also understood that he would be angry. “The maid from my dream, I met her and she is a slave of the Penobscot. It was she told me.”
“And you did not bring her back here? What if she tells the warriors where we are to be found?”
“I told you that they already know that and she has to fetch someone from their camp.”
“You know where they have a war camp?”
“By the roaring waters.” I shrugged for that was all that I knew.
Gandálfr said, “That sounds to me like a waterfall and if they are close enough to attack then we follow the largest river we can and head for higher ground.”
Arne nodded, “But first we prepare for these warriors. We know that they are coming and we can give them a warm welcome. Then we can follow them as they head to the camp and end this. We eat well tonight for tomorrow we go to war! I want a palisade and a ditch surrounding the camp. We will show them how Vikings fight!” As the warriors rushed off, he said, “But you should have brought her and forgotten this ridiculous dream!”
I laughed, “Arne, listen to yourself. It was a dream and it is coming true. Nothing I do or say will change this for it is the Norns. We are in their hands.”
I went aboard the drekar, “Fótr, Arne sees tomorrow as an easy battle and it may be but, just in case it is not let us have the ship’s boys prepare to sail if it does not go well. It would be as well to have the barrels of meat and jugs of pine tar loaded anyway for we do not want them damaged by the battle.”
He nodded, “Aye, Erik. You spoke to the maid?”
“And she has a younger sister. Now I know why the dream came to me and I know my purpose. I am here to save two slaves.”
“Two slaves? Do the Norns care about slaves?”
“Do you remember the story about the Dragonheart?”
“Aye, the warrior with the god touched sword whose spirit guards the Land of the Wolf, what of it?”
“He was taken as a slave by Vikings. He was not Norse. The Norns had plans for him so do not ask why the Norns would worry about a slave. They do.” He nodded and went to begin loading the drekar. I would help him but first I went to my chest and took out my helmet. I would be using my bow but I knew how effective stone clubs could be and I needed my head protecting. I still had the helmet liner and I would wear that too. I put all of my weapons in my den and then helped to load the drekar.
Arne was busy supervising the defences but when he saw us loading the barrels he came over, “What is it that you do, Erik?”
“There will be a battle here tomorrow and I do not want the fruits of our labours destroyed. They will be out of the way and safer on the drekar.”
He grinned, “I forget sometimes how clever you are. That would have been something Snorri Long Fingers would have done.”
“And tomorrow I will command the boys with bows and slings. I brought no mail.”
“That is good for you will keep them calm. You should know what I intend. We let them attack us and you will use your bone and stone arrows. When we have blunted their attack and we have bloodied them then we will pursue them back to their camp and we will destroy them. That way we can spend months here rather than weeks.”
“The drekar is almost full as it is.”
“Aye, we should have brought the snekke too. Next time.”
With the defences made we ate and then half rested while the others watched, I shared a watch with Fótr. All of the warriors were up before dawn. Bear Tooth had said that Skraeling did not like to fight at night but that did not mean they could not move and be ready to fight when the sun rose. I realised that, unless we were very lucky, there would be no shaft of sunlight to shine off a burnished helmet and terrify the enemy. Men made plans but the Norns decided the outcome.
The night was cold and it was damp. I wore my sealskin cloak. I had Harald Gandálfrson with me. I sensed that he was nervous, “Harald, it is unlikely that they will come at night. The jarl is just being cautious.”
“I know, Captain, but I will fight tomorrow and will have to kill. What if I am killed?”
“If you are killed then you will have a weapon in your hand and you will go to Valhalla but I do not think you will die for Arne is a good leader and our camp is well defended but, should the unthinkable happen and the jarl and his warriors are killed, then we have the means to escape on ‘Njörðr’.”
“There is no honour in running.”
“And to die without living is foolish too. Trust in the shield wall for they will trust that you and your bow can slay as many Skraeling before they reach our wall.” That seemed to satisfy him and we watched until it was time to wake the warriors. Dawn was not far away and we would be ready when the barbarians came at us.”
We had two very young ships boys with us, Leif Mikelsson and Danr Gandálfrson. Both had seen just seven summers and only had slings. As they were roused and joined me and the other ship’s boys I said, “You two will be on the yard today. From there your slings will send the stones further and you can watch for an attack on the drekar.” The fact that they had an important job to do eased the pain of not standing with Erik the Navigator and fighting. Harald’s words had made me remember what I had felt when I had been a ship’s boy.
