Kirstie

After many tearful good-byes and promises to return, Kirstie at six months pregnant, Yrsa, and Soren had to ride in the wagon, and as expected, the wagon driver took that opportunity to hit every rock and hole he could find.

Wilam showed Kirstie the goods in the hold. “The crew is going to have a hard time finding places to sleep.” Wilam smiled at her. “The captain has the ship packed about as full as can be, and heavy metal items no less. We will do well not to sink as soon as we leave port. Pray for good weather.”

“I do, every trip,” she said.

Wilam nodded and showed her the bolts of fine linen died in every color, and some with patterns and flowers worked into the cloth. “Captain Olaf picked up this fancy cloth in Flanders last fall before he made a quick trip to gather the apples of Brittany. He stopped in Kent to unload most of the apples for grain and vegetables harvested in the fall, mostly from East Anglia. You know, here in the Northland, we don’t get the harvest they get in the south. People in Bamburgh and in all the towns here don’t have much to go around some winters.”

“Same problem we deal with back home,” Kirstie admitted. “But what about Scotland and the islands, Orkney and Shetland?”

Wilam shook his head. “Scotland is filled with remarkably good soil. They manage to get plenty most years, and all without fertilizer. As for the islands, there are not so many people there. The land is relatively good, and they produce enough to feed themselves most years.”

“I see,” Kirstie answered.

“But look here,” Wilam took her hand. “Half of these goods are for Strindlos, Nidaros. For the rest, the captain sectioned off four areas. Each area has fine farm implements and things for the home and the hearth. He figures on returning to the places along the coast where we stopped last summer. He says you have to follow up if you hope to build a good trading partner.”

“But we go home first, right?” Kirstie asked and put on hand to her belly. I don’t want my baby born aboard ship.

Wilam could only shrug. “You know, Mother said you should stay another year to let the baby be born before you sailed off on some adventure.”

“I know.” Kirstie gave Wilam a kind frown. “Your mother would keep us there until the Lord returned if we let her.” Wilam nodded.

The crossing was easy enough, with good weather and a good wind. Kirstie got seasick on the first day, and every day after for a week. Wilam worried over her. It was cute and annoying at the same time. She said one day she would make the Storyteller write a children’s book about Kirstie, the seasick Viking.

They arrived first in Dinganes, and then had to wait three days for men to be fetched from Gulaping, the place of the Althing. They were anxious to buy, including offering some silver to supplement the furs they collected. They did not have the spring and summer to collect and tan the hides and furs they expected to have since they arrived in mid-April. Captain Olaf could have unloaded his whole half of the ship in that place if the price was right. Everything not designated for Strindlos was an option, and Kirstie was not against that idea of unloading it all if it got her home sooner, but the captain made a deal instead. He let two of the set-aside sections of good go for some real money, then he said he would try to get a second ship for the coming year. He said his friend, Captain Otto, could bring a whole shipload just to Gulaping if they had the desire and funding to trade for that much. He said his friend would be especially interested in good lumber and expect him in May or June of next year, or maybe like now in mid-April if he has a full summer schedule, or maybe July if there are unexpected delays.” He shrugged.

“You sound confident,” one of the elder’s teased, and several laughed.

“I haven’t even asked him yet,” Olaf said with a chuckle of his own. “But if necessary, I’ll rent a ship and send Brant here with a crew of his own.”

The elder who seemed to speak for most of them looked around briefly before he responded. “We will let you work things out as you see fit. We have had a year, and by next June we will have had two years with your equipment. Let me say, if the quality remains as high, you should have no trouble selling all of your goods. Our local smithies cannot produce nearly as high a quality as your material.”

Captain Olaf neglected to tell them most were not produced by local smithies. On the edge of Bamburgh they had a couple of big buildings where men spent full time hours producing the highest-grade steel they could and then pounding it into shape. Kirstie called it a foundry or sometimes a factory. All Olaf knew was after making a hundred plows or so, a man got pretty good at the task.

The next stop up the line was Birdla in Firdir Province. They managed some firs and hides, but not much, so they were only able to buy about half a quarter, being a couple of plows and a few tools. Olaf suggested if there were other villages up the fjord, they might contrive some way to trade for some of their furs and hides and thus have more available to trade. He pointed to the necklace one of the men wore. “Such fine goods as amber, ivory and honey are aways good.”

The town’s people said they would see what they could work out, but please don’t forget them. They would try to always have something worth trading.

Olaf agreed. He would not forget them.

Captain Olaf had to think twice before pulling into Borgund in South Moeri. For one, they reached the month of May and Kirstie was either in her eighth month or about to enter her eighth month. At least she stopped throwing up once she understood she could prevent her sea sickness by eating. Not the best idea, but what else could she do? For two, there seemed to be a large number of ships in the port at that time, but they were already seen, so they felt committed to making the stop.

Their reception last time in Borgund had not been the best. The town chiefs wanted everything for nothing. But they were a good a sized town and they told the elders that they might be back in a year or two. As a good merchant, Olaf knew winning faithful customers depended on meeting and surpassing expectations. He would see what they might find. What they found was not what they expected.

Not only was the king’s double sized longship captained by Engel Bronson with Bieger as his Skipari at the dock, but the king was aboard the ship. Worse than that, six more of the king’s ships were anchored off the shore, and three were reported to be north in Blindheim and another three south in Hallkjelsvik. Apparently, King Harald Fairhair was not satisfied with the taxes paid by the province, or the excuses made to withhold some payments. He wanted to press them on the taxes, but not too hard because he also wanted to raise men to help fight the Danes and Geats where they were encroaching on Norwegian land, as Harald drew the map.

“Last time I came through here Hakon Grjotgardsson brought a thousand ships to my aid from the north and Moeri.” The king ranted a bit. “We turned the enemy on that day. Sadly, my friend, father of my wife, Asa died at the battle of Fjalir. I am beginning to think when he died, he took all the courage from the north with him. Where are the men who will stand up to these Danes. If we don’t stand up, they will take more and more until Norway becomes no more than a Danish province.”

Kirstie could imagine Fairhair’s displeasure as well as his demands. She guessed the locals were backed into an awkward position and feeling uncomfortable. She understood, because she felt backed into a corner herself once the king found out who was on the ship that just arrived. He insisted on meeting the maiden from Lindisfarne.

Kirstie remembered Engel Bronson and Bieger from the day they visited Strindlos, looking for Elgar the Saxon. “They came with Lind and Gruden,” she told Wilam and Brant just to make clear that she was talking about the Masters. “I have to assume Captain Bronson and Beiger are in on it, still looking for the Kairos, me, and still seeking any evidence they can find to point at me as the one they want.”

“I still don’t understand why these Masters want you,” Captain Olaf interrupted.

“To kill her,” Wilam said, bluntly. “She is the only one that stands in the way of their plans, and whatever horrors they have in mind for us all.”

Kirstie continued, “I suspect both Ulf and Ulfsson served the Masters. Ulf knew that at least Yrsa had some connection to the world of the spirits, enough to guide the crews safely to Ellingham, but I don’t recall ever showing him anything where he could make the connection to me. He may have thought it was part of the gifts of the gods, either Fryer or Njord, assuming he heard about those things. If he had evidence that it was anything more, the servants of the Masters would have tried to kill me already.”

“How could he not guess?” Brant asked.

“I am sure he guessed,” Wilam answered. “But he had no proof. Up until Lindisfarne, she appeared to be a good little Viking, willing to kill, steal, and destroy.”

“I temporarily blinded the Masters when I killed Ulf. They did not see Danna or get a clear picture of the Troll. Ulf and Njal saw a man with some giant blood, but he may have come from the monastery, for all they knew. He was dressed like a farmer. Then, we ruined their plans in the New World. Who knows what they had in mind, except they planned to use the hags to intimidate the native population. I am sure Abraxas planned to turn the natives to himself and thus receive an invitation to come back to earth in a land where he otherwise had no connection. I am equally sure the Masters had something more insidious in mind, but we were there to save Mary Katherine and the young women, not an unreasonable quest. We were fortunate in the process to kill whatever plan the Masters might have had. But it was no proof of the Kairos.”

“So, what you are saying is going all that way to the west and to what you call the New World was not just about trying to save the captive women of Ellingham,” Captain Olaf drew his conclusion.

“No,” Kirstie responded and assured the man. “That was the main part, but there was more to it as well. I didn’t say anything because you had your hands full as it was, what with plying unknown waters and making first contact with native people and all.”

“I would rather know,” Captain Olaf said, but he said it kindly.

“Okay,” Kirstie agreed.