Kirstie

When the men got back to their ships, they asked the men left to guard the ships if they had any trouble from the locals. The men said they were not disturbed.

“We had men up on the hills there and there. A couple of fishing boats came in our direction, but not passed the mark where we could be seen. Nothing on land as far as we know.

Ulf took that as an invitation to plunder Howick. He sailed by the village a couple of times, which is how he knew about the cove, but the people there seemed vigilant in their sea watch. It never occurred to him before to park his ship up the coast and attack the village from the land side.

“We can be in and at their throats before they know we are there,” Njal the giant said, and smiled about it.

Captain Erikson said he was not going. He said the plan worked well. They got in and out, enriched themselves, and did not have to fight. “My crew is intact, and I would like to keep it that way. Besides, the others will be expecting us in the Farne Islands. We need to get moving while we can.”

Captain Odger decided to join Ulf on the venture, which left it up to Harrold. Toke kept the crew in line, but never offered an opinion on the captain’s decisions. Kirstie sometimes called the man Smee. Kirstie said she was not going and Yrsa supported her. Thoren volunteered to watch the girls. Kare got angry. He wanted to go, but in the end, Harrold decided to head for the Farne Islands with Captain Erikson. Most of his crew from Strindlos looked relieved, and Harrold did not grumble about it too much.

They spent the early morning dividing the loot they gained so each ship carried roughly the same amount. When they later arrived home and divided that into individual shares, no one would get rich. They wished Ulf and Odger luck and rowed out to sea. Once they set the sail, the men could relax, and most of them slept. They had been up about twenty-six or more hours by then.

“Lady,” Yrsa said. Kirstie hoped she did not want to start a long conversation.

Kirstie got as comfortable as she could on the deck before she asked, “What?”

“You know you spoke with Wilam and the people in the village in English, not the Norse we speak at home.”

“I did?” Kirstie thought for a minute and realized what Yrsa said was true. “I did. I guess Elgar helped with that.”

“I was thinking maybe Lady Alice from Avalon might have given you the language.”

Kirstie thought some more. “No? Maybe.” She shrugged.

“Avalon must be lovely,” Yrsa said. “I would love to go there one day.”

“Someday,” Kirstie responded. “But right now, I would like to get some sleep.”

Yrsa groused. “But I’m a light elf. I had a hard time marching through the dark time, but now that it is light time, I can’t sleep.”

“Good,” Kirstie said. “You can take my watch.” She turned on her side and promptly fell asleep.

Once in the Farne islands, they quickly found Rune, Jarl, and the two captains that sailed with them to the Coquet River. Frode mostly told the story with only a few interruptions.

“We got to the river mouth and had to wait a day for everyone to catch up, but we found a swampy area not too shallow for our ships, where we could cover and hide them from watchful eyes. We left five from each crew behind to guard the ships and took a hundred and seventy men to strike the village. We moved in the night, north to the Ain River. It was tricky moving between the city of Rothbury and Burling on the coast without being seen. But once we reached the Ain and had rested, we attacked the village and took them completely unprepared. They surrendered, and we gathered all their things. About a hundred men under Jarl then went down the Ain to the next village and attacked them as well.

“We got so much stuff, we could hardly carry it all,” Jarl said.

“We took weapons and knives, plus some things for the farm and home,” Frode continued.

“And mostly whatever silver coins they had, and any gold,” Rune added.

“Then came the tricky part,” Frode said and paused in case he got interrupted again. He continued. “We left the area near sundown and hurried through the night. A troop came out of Rothbury, maybe two hundred, and maybe a hundred men came from Burling. The stragglers reported seeing the men behind them, but they were all going the wrong way, toward the Ain River where they assumed we had our ships.”

Jarl interrupted again. “I imagine by the time they figured it out, we were back at our ships and sailed into the North Sea. We made a wide swing around to stay well away from the shore so we would not be spotted if they sent out their own ships to sail the coast, looking for us. In any case, we did not see them and arrived here a day before you. We spent that day dividing our loot, so each ship got an equivalent amount of the take.”

“So, tell me,” Kirstie spoke up loudly to get their attention. She was concerned about her own captains, Jarl and Rune. “How did you feel about attacking innocent civilians and stealing everything they had?”

“That wasn’t the way of it,” Frode began, like he had it all rationalized and justified in his mind.

“The people surrendered,” Jarl said. “And we rounded them up and held them in the village open market while we searched their houses and buildings. Only a few of the men who resisted got killed.”

One of the captains Kirstie did not know spoke. “I am sure their king will help replenish them for their losses. Meanwhile, we did our job, and with minimal killing, as you said.”

Kirstie looked again. He must have been at the meeting in the big house. “And you think if we got raided, King Harald Fairhair would compensate us?” People looked away. No one thought that. “I don’t recall any help when the Vanlil attacked us.”

Rune spoke again, but quietly. “No women got abused, as far as I know.” He felt he had to say that for Kirstie’s sake.

“I never thought of it that way” Harrold said. “I just saw them as people, like enemies, people who had things we wanted and needed, and they were greedy and not willing to share.”

“Trade works,” Captain Erikson interjected. “Fair trade can get us what we need without all the killing.”

 “But we don’t have much the people here want or can’t get for themselves,” One of the captains protested.

“Besides,” Frode said. “We are getting paid to do a job.”

“Like mercenaries,” Leif said. “That is an honorable occupation.”

Kirstie kept her mouth shut. The debate about whether or not it was honorable to kill for money would have to be saved for another time.

************************

MONDAY

Kirstie finds a hermit on the island and Yasmina and company arrive in Alexandria where they find a surprise. Next time. Happy Reading.

 

*