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“There should still be at least twelve.”
He sent Purs, Orka and Uxi to find the three missing men and his slave, Svend,
and order them back to the ship and told Brandt to guard the monk thralls while
they buried their dead. He and Drengr and Rammligr, his strongest remaining warriors,
would stand guard in case the Natives decided to attack.
As twilight turned to darkness, Hjálmar heard the soft beat of drums from beyond
the forest. First one then two, growing louder, then many pounded out their
anger at the invaders on the beach.
“Swina bqllr!” Pigs’ penises! “There will be no sleep tonight. I have grown soft. I
will separate the Celtic thralls. I am sure I can no longer trust them not to run off.
We sail with the morning tide.”
Ul knew there would be more violence to come and he would be stuck in the middle
of it, subject to Hjálmar’s anger and possible abuse at the hands of a rebellious
crew. In the confusion of the campfire, just as the captain began to bellow in his
anger, he slipped away to hide in the forest. I’d rather trust my life to these savages
than be found out by Hrafen and torn to pieces by his sex-starved crew. Through the
remainder of the night, Ul blocked his ears to shouts of: “Svend, you asshole, where
are you hiding?”
Father Finten and Brother Rordan were awakened to full moonlight and rough
hands over their mouths. Bjorn held them both in a tight grip and signalled silence.
He spoke to both men in Celtic.
“Come with me back to the forest. You are no longer safe here. Hrafen is dead.
I killed him. His friend, Atall, has hated you since you first came on board and has
vowed to kill you both. In his drunkenness, I am sure he will do it. I am staying
ashore and I do not intend to remain here alone. Come.”
“You’ve just killed a man and now you expect me to trust you? Get those bloody
hands away from me,” he hissed
“I have no time to explain. Trust me. If Atall finds you here, he will slit your
throats.”
Having witnessed the wanton slaughter of two of his Brothers, Finten felt the old
panic of his youth. Still he hesitated. “We must find Keallach and Ailan and bring
them with us.”
“I will come back for them. We must hurry. Come.” Bjorn grabbed Finten by
the arm.
Finten shook himself free. “I’ll not leave without my Brothers.”
“They are tied up in the crew’s quarters under Freki’s guard. They are safe for now.
You must come. I will come back for them as soon as I get you to a hiding place.”
“Why not now?”
“Drengr, Rammligr and the captain are watching the woods for the Natives. We must
go to the water and swim to the point while they are looking away. I told you, I will
return for your Brothers before the search party gets back. They have gone back to the
village but they will not find anyone there. There’ll be a battle before morning. Come.”
“Come Father, there is no time to argue.” Rordan said. “This is our chance
to escape.”
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