Normandy

Medieval 5: K and Y 14 Side Steps, part 2 of 2

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

Kirstie

While the men rowed, Kirstie and Yrsa disguised themselves as well as they could. Yrsa simply changed her glamour, so she looked like a young boy instead of a girl. “Cheater,” Kirstie said, and immediately traded places through time with Elgar, the Saxon. Most of the men knew Elgar from years earlier. Leif even complained.

“You don’t look like you have aged one day since then.”

“I do try to keep in shape,” Elgar smiled and called for a different suit he knew he had on Avalon. It was mostly leather, it replaced his armor, and with some minor adjustments, he looked like one of the crew.

“Elgar,” Jarl said. “I thought you might show up.”

They bumped the dock softly and men jumped out to fasten the ship. Six men stood on the dock waiting to board. The speaker from the longboat stood in front. Two soldier types, though they may have been mercenaries stood behind him. Three clerks with tenth century versions of clipboards, velum, and something to write with followed.

“I am Captain Jarl Hagenson of Strindlos. My skipari is Leif. Old Man Skarde is our scald and with Elgar and Yerser, they will accompany your clerks and answer any questions you may have.” He smiled as the speaker from the longboat frowned. That told Jarl, and at least Elgar, that the clerks and probably all six of them had sticky fingers and needed to be watched.

Jarl stayed with the longboat speaker. Leif grabbed another member of the crew to stand with the two mercenaries and pass pleasantries while they waited. The whole center aisle of the ship was filled with bags, boxes, and bundles to trade, and Yrsa and Skarde watched their clerks closely, though there was not much they could pocket. Elgar helped his clerk step over the rowing benches to get to the front of the ship where Kirstie kept the most valuable items.

He let the man taste the honey with his finger, but it was an especially big jug, and the wax could hardly be snitched. The man was impressed by the polar bear skin, and his eyes got big looking at the ivory. Then he counted and asked why there were only five tusks.

“Walruses,” Elgar said. “They fight, you know. They fight for dominance, and sometimes one breaks a tusk. My supplier said one must have broken completely off, probably by the water where the tide took it out to sea. Such a shame.”

The clerk nodded. It was a good story. He looked at the basket of amber, and counted, but Elgar never let go of it.

“Half empty?” the man asked.

“We got caught in that storm a week ago. Do you recall? It was terrible at sea.”

“You don’t mean some washed overboard,” the clerk looked horrified.

“One crew member did,” Elgar said. “But no. We had to stop in a village on the Eider River in Saxon territory to make repairs.” he showed the man Kirstie’s railing. “You can see the new wood. It is not the same color and hardly weathered. We had repairs all over the ship and even needed a new mast. They were good people, though. The Lord of the Castle gave us a keg of wine, but all of it cost us some amber. Even if we had silver to pay, which we don’t, he would only take amber. I guess there is a good market here on the continent for the stuff. It is hard to come by as Captain Hagenson said.” He brought the clerk back up front and away from their special items. “Are we all done?”

“Not yet,” the speaker from the longboat said. “I only need to know where you have hidden the rest of the things.”

“Why would we hide things?” Elgar asked. “You have a list of all of our things, so if anything gets stolen, we will know, and more importantly, you will know and hopefully help us catch the thief.”

The speaker eyed Elgar like he was not supposed to think of that, but he said something different. “You speak with an accent.”

Elgar looked down like a man ashamed. “My mother was a Saxon, but polite people kindly don’t notice.”

All this while, Skarde kept trying to draw attention to himself by trying hard not to draw attention to himself. Finally, Yrsa could not stand it. She lowered her voice as she had with the clerk, though she still sounded like a young man whose voice had not yet changed, and she said, “Skarde, what are you hiding?”

Skarde quickly pulled his half open shirt together and said, “Nothing. Nothing.”

That finally provoked a reaction. The speaker from the longboat stepped to face Skarde. He put his hand out and frowned again. Skarde shook his head and turned away without actually moving away.

Jarl spoke. “Give it up, man,” he said, and Skarde reluctantly pulled out a piece of amber. The speaker from the longboat took it but kept his hand out. Skarde pulled out the other piece with a word.

“There. That is all of it.” He opened his shirt and showed his fat belly. He turned around and showed there was nothing down his pants. The speaker from the longboat decided he did not need to look there, and he spoke.

“Since these are not on the inventory, it is my duty to confiscate them. This man is not allowed to come into town, but the rest of you are welcome to come to the tavern on the water while your captain negotiates his sales.” The man gave Jarl a smile that looked sickly, and he left.

Jarl waited until the man was out of earshot before he laid down the rules. Same as before. No one gets drunk and don’t provoke anything. No stealing and no fighting. Leave your swords and axes here but take your knives. Keep the knives hidden. I don’t want the locals to know you have knives on you. Remember. We are trying to make some good money, but there is reported to be a hag in town, so keep your eyes open and be prepared to fight if needed.

“Skarde, Yrsa and Elgar need to stay here and guard the treasure.” Jarl held up his hand to forestall the protests. “The hag does not need to know you are here looking for her. I will send word when I find her, meanwhile, we are trying to make some money here.”

Elgar growled at him and traded back to Kirstie in her own armor who still made the growl, though a whole pitch higher.

Jarl, Leif, and the men all vacated the ship, the men to the tavern, and Jarl, Leif, and three others to the guild hall. Kirstie turned straight to Yrsa.

“What resources have you got?”

“Like you don’t know?” Yrsa said.

“Yes, but you are here, and I have a headache.”

Yrsa nodded and shut her eyes for a moment. “There are not many around here right now,” she said. “All the fighting not to mention the hag is scary. The land is rather torn up. Let’s see. There is an elf troop in the glens on the hillside, a fairy camp on the shore toward Dieppe, dwarf homes in the hills of Talou, and dark elves in the swamps around Lillebonne, this side of Rouen. As you know, there are always some here and there, but those are the closest that feel available to manifest in the face of the humans.” Yrsa turned to Skarde. “Facing human can be scary. Humans are so mean and unpredictable.”

“Exactly as I think,” Skarde said.

Suddenly, Kirstie felt guilty. Margueritte reminded her that she used to travel with a fairy from the Frisian shore named Tulip. Kirstie checked. Tulip was getting up in years, having passed eight hundred. But she had a daughter, Anemone, who was only two hundred and three, a good age for a fairy. Kirstie decided if she survived this encounter with the hag, she would urge Jarl to stop where she could see Sir Waldo and maybe Captain Otto and visit with Tulip and her daughter.

Kirstie called to her blue dress. Yrsa immediately changed into her green dress and removed the glamour of the boy, so she looked like Yrsa again, albeit still covered to look like a human woman, and she said, “So where are we going?”

“I thought you two were going to stay and keep me company,” Skarde said.

Kirstie shook her head. “You need to come with us. I have a bad feeling about this. I expect since he got the whole crew to go to the tavern, Longboat Bigmouth will be back with a bunch of soldiers to kill you and take everything.”

“They wouldn’t,” Skarde said.

“And where are the Danes? Not even a guard left on their ship.”

“No movement on the ships anchored in the port, either.” Yrsa pointed out.

“I said a brace is only as good as the glue that holds the wood in place when I showed my clerk the repair to the railing. He heard “a brace is” and looked up, like he expected a different word.”

“I use the word abrasive, and mentioned pirates’ ambushes, and I think both times he looked for the word Abraxas.” Yrsa looked pensive. “The clerks and soldiers did not seem entirely focused,”

“Enchanted by the hag,” Kirstie said.

“I would guess the same,” Yrsa agreed. “They will be back now that the ship is deserted.”

“I think this hag is greedy, or she is working on the crews to turn them to Abraxas so when the time comes, they can sail home and spread the word.”

“Or both,” Yrsa added.

“Kind of like spreading a disease.” Kirstie said, and Yrsa nodded.

“Shall we?” Yrsa asked and took one of Skarde’s arms.

“We shall,” Kirstie said and took the other arm.

They walked the dock to town looking like a grandfather and his two granddaughters. They made it to the main street just in time as sure enough, Longboat Bigmouth and twenty soldiers scooted past them, not giving them a second look, other than the young soldiers who might have looked twice at the girls. The soldiers headed straight for their boat and Bigmouth even called out. “Old man, come out and show yourself.”

Old Man Skarde watched for a minute before he said, “How did I get so lucky.”

Kirstie answered. “Blame the elf.”

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MONDAY

Things in Normandy don’t go as expected, and there is the hag. Until Monday, Happy Reading.

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Medieval 5: K and Y 14 Side Steps, part 1 of 2

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

Kirstie

They sailed passed the Frisian shore without trouble. Leif mentioned that pirates sometimes congregated in the lowlands and the inland waterways. He explained that the inland waters in Frisia were not like the fjords in Norway which were shadowed by great hills and mountains. “These inland waterways are more like flatland swamps in a way. What looks like good land being covered in green grasses and flowers may turn out to be water underneath, and possibly deep water. The pirates know the ways through and around the wetlands so no one can ever catch them.”

“That is twice mention of pirates,” Yrsa said, and Kirstie agreed.

“Third time is the charm. Get your arrows ready.”

“Third time?” Old Man Skarde listened in as usual.

“Just the story of my life,” Kirstie told him. “Don’t worry about it.” She checked her weapons beneath her seat.

Captain Jarl Hagenson gathered everyone’s attention. “Leif has seen a ship in the distance. Our lady Yrsa has confirmed the same with her good eyes. Right now, they appear to be just following us, but Kirstie has suggested they may be waiting for others to join them, and I agree. We are coming to the narrow place between Flanders and Kent. and it is one place pirates like. There is room to maneuver, but not much room to escape. So, keep your eyes open and be ready to row on short command.”

Men felt anxious all morning, but midday passed without incident. It turned roughly two o’clock before the first man shouted, “Ships. There, ahead of us, and they have their oars out. It looks like they were expecting us.”

“The ship behind has lowered their sail. They have their oars out,” Yrsa yelled.

“How can you see that?” Leif asked quietly.

“Wait. To your oars. Wait.” Captain Jarl yelled to the men. They waited, but not very patiently. “I want both ships in front of us moving to push us to the shore of Flanders. I want them committed so it will be hard to back stroke and take time to turn around. Wait. Now!” He shouted. “Oars out. Regular strokes. Not too deep. I don’t want any panic. Hard right. Get that sail down. Regular strokes.”

Old Man Skarde started singing, and the rest of the crew slowly picked it up. The song was an old sailor’s chant such as mothers sing to their babies, but the roots of the song were much older. It kept the rowing rhythm perfectly, and the men smiled at memories of mother and home and relaxed, which relieved their panic and got them synchronized. They flew.

The bottom pirate ship that blocked their straight path struggled to turn around. The top ship that would have pushed them and chased them to the shore tried to reverse stroke so they could back up. They had to come to a complete stop first before they could start moving the wrong way. Longships were able to move in either direction with the oars, but they still had to stop their forward motion to start in reverse.

The ship that followed them did not appear to get any closer, and Leif pointed out, “They will tire, having rowed much further than us to get here.”

The men, some chanting and some singing could be heard by the other ship just fine as Captain Jarl steered the ship just around the backside of the top pirate ship. One man later said he could have spit and hit the deck of the other ship. They were that close. But with their speed, they got past the blockade and out into the open waters of the channel. And they did not stop. The enemy could turn well enough and be after them, and with three ships to their one, woe if they got caught.

Kirstie had a thought and slid up her oar so she would not tangle the others. “Vingevourt,” she called. The sprite jumped up to the railing right away, and another sprite came with him. It seemed like Vingevourt followed them all the way from Strindlos. “Can you stop the other ships from following?” she asked.

Vingevourt shook his little head. “I have no authority in the channel. These waters belong to my cousin here.”

“Svartelbin, it is lovely to meet you. Might you be able to help us out?”

“She has a land elf with her,” Vingevourt interrupted and pointed at Yrsa.

“Hello,” Yrsa said. It was all she could manage through her sweat. She was a light elf and did not have rock hard muscles like a dwarf, but she would do her duty.

“I would be grateful if you could help us out,” Kirstie added.

Svartelbin nodded for Vingevourt as much as for Kirstie. “We can’t stop them, but we can maybe slow them a bit. We can press up against the front end and cling to their oars to make them heavy and tire them.” Svartelbin seemed to have a revelation. “I wish I could do more. I honestly wish it.”

Jarl saw Kirstie stopped rowing and got half-way down the center aisle before he saw and turned around. Leif, who watched whenever the captain moved, asked what was going on. Jarl looked at the man and said, “Just something that will make you shriek.” He went back to join the helmsman at the steering board.

“Oh,” Leif thought about it between strokes. “Oh!” he said, considerably louder.

“How about rocking the boat,” Yrsa managed.

“Yes,” Kirstie grasped the idea. “Can you get your wave makers to come alongside the boats and rock them back and forth to make the men… sick to their stomachs?” She almost said seasick, but the sprites would not understand that and might have been offended at the suggestion.

“Sick to their stomachs?” Svartelbin was not sure.

“You know,” Vingevourt said. “When they eject filth from their mouths and can’t do much more than sit and make whining noises.”

“Dirty my channel? Well, some bottom dwellers find that tasteful. Rock the boat?” Kirstie showed with her hands.

“That and pushing against the front and making their oars heavy should stop them pretty quick, especially if they are afraid that they might tip over.”

“It is really hard to make them tip over.”

“I’m not asking to tip them over, just rock them so they are afraid that they might tip over. Will you do this?”

Svartelbin looked at Vingevourt and Vingevourt spoke. “It will be our pleasure, Lady.” He bowed and Svartelbin also bowed before the two of them popped and splashed back into the sea.

“Good thing,” Old man Skarde said. “My old arms are not up for rowing all day.”

“Me neither,” Yrsa said.

“Yes, but at least your elf arms are not as old as mine.”

“My arms are a hundred and fifty years old, just a smidgen older than my hair.”

Old Man Skarde did not miss a stroke, but said simply, “Learn something new every day.”

When they got well out of range, and for all they knew the pirates gave up the chase, Jarl turned them due south. They followed within sight of the shoreline all the way to Fiscannum.

~~~*~~~

Fiscannum already had three ships in the dock when they arrived. Two were Saxon merchant ships from Wessex, or Cornwall or maybe Brittany anchored off the harbor. They were fat and lazy ships, but they had a hold that could carry a large amount of goods. The third ship was a longship not much different from their own. One crew member identified it as a Danish ship.

Jarl wisely chose to anchor off the port and prepared to send a longboat to see if they might be welcome to trade, and to scope out the area. Kirstie wanted to go in the longboat, but Jarl vetoed that idea. He whispered in her ear. “If the hag is in the dock, I assume you don’t want to give yourself away.”

Kirstie growled at him, but he was right.

It turned out they did not have to go anywhere. The port sent a longboat to talk with them. “Where are you from?” The first question came well before the longboat reached the ship. It was said in the old Norse language so communication would not be a problem.

Jarl answered. “We are merchants from Strindlos in the Trondelag and wonder if this is a place where we may engage in honest trade.”

“That depends. What have you brought to trade?”

“Furs, fine hides, and grain,” Jarl answered. “I heard the north shore is full of too much fighting and too little farming.”

The speaker in the longboat paused to turn his head to one of the passengers before he shouted again to the ship. “Where is Trondelag?”

“Northern Norway. Cold country.”

“The land of Harald Finehair?”

“Fairhair,” Leif shouted back.

“He may be blonde, but from what I hear he is losing his hair.” The speaker smiled at the thought, but only for a second. “I see you have a full crew. You can’t have much grain and furs.”

“There are pirates,” Jarl answered in all honesty. “We were chased through the narrow place that comes into the channel and would not have escaped without a full crew.”

The man paused to listen to his passenger again. “Do you have anything else worth trading?”

Jarl paused this time and appeared to look around at the crew. He actually looked at Kirstie. She nodded and said, “Amber,” pinching her fingers to say a small amount.

“Yes,” Jarl shouted as the longboat stopped moving closer. “We have a jug of fine honey and beeswax from the cold north. We have some ivory. And we have a small bit of amber to trade, but we would expect to get a good return, especially on the amber which is very hard to come by.”

The speaker in the boat had to get his instructions before he shouted. “The harbor master says you may anchor opposite the Danish ship. He will send men aboard to inventory your goods, and after you are approved, you may visit the guild hall to bargain.” The longboat turned and headed back to shore.

Jarl figured he had a couple of minutes. He talked to Leif, Kirstie, and the leaders of the crew. “Bring the amber over here.” he said and bent down to the deck beside the steering oar. He pulled up a plank over the pole that connected to the bottom of the steering board. The hole had been expanded there, either by wear and tear, weathering, or on purpose. He slipped almost half of the amber in the hole. Before he replaced the plank, Kirstie took two fine pieces and handed them to Old Man Skarde to hide in his tunic.

“They will expect us to try and hide some. This way they can find some.”

Jarl nodded and grabbed a piece of ivory. He put it in the hole, really a dent made for the anchor. That hole was also bigger than it needed to be. “Get the men to the oars. Up the anchor. Let’s fit it on top.” They did. The anchor did not fit perfectly but it got covered and looked acceptable and wet. The men rowed and the steersman put the ship alongside the dock.

Medieval 5: K and Y 12 Time to Go, part 1 of 3

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

Kirstie

“Rune. Captain Stenson, Sir, it is time to go back to sea.”

Captain Stenson shook his head. “I’m still spending what we got on the last trip. I’m not like Harrold. The sea has no hold on me. It is a tool, to make money and trade for the things we need. My ship is in drydock right now. Maybe in another year.”

“But I have to get to Normandy today, yesterday.”

“I have heard you say Normandy before. Where is that?”

“The north coast of France, east and west from the mouth of the Seine River. It is a place where many from Norway and Danish lands are going to settle. I suppose it is not called Normandy yet, but it will be soon enough because it is where all the Northmen live.”

“Ah, yes. I think I know what you are talking about. What is so vital about that place?”

“There is a hag there that needs to be overcome.”

“Like the one at the king’s house?” Captain Stenson pulled back from that idea.

“Like the one in Bremerhaven,” she said before she remembered. “Oh, that’s right. You and Frode were off talking to the guild masters while the rest of us were fighting for our lives.”

“Yes, well. I can’t help you. Frode and the crew are not ready for the next adventure. Captain Jarl is in town, you know. He has been home for nearly six months. He might be ready to try his luck in Normandy. Why don’t you ask him?”

She did.

“I’m thinking about it,” Jarl said. “But I don’t know about the Norman shore, as some call it. There is still too much fighting going on there. Rollo the Dane and the King of France are not getting along well.”

“We would not have to go near any of the fighting.”

“No way to guarantee that. Besides, there will be fighting if you are going after another hag. I saw what the last hag did to Chief Birger. I would not wish that on any member of my crew.”

Kirstie let out a wry smile. “I am sure you don’t want me to go to Oglo to buy a ride to the Norman shore. When they ask why the men of Strindlos refused to take me I will have to say because they were all afraid. Not to suggest that you are all cowards. I would never say such a thing.”

Jarl frowned. He thought to change his direction of attack. “But look at you. You are what, seventeen? Eighteen and unmarried?”

“I’m sixteen,” Kirstie said. She was just tall for a girl.

“And very pretty. Very well developed to be a wife to some man. It is a long time at sea, and some men can only go so long without getting ideas.”

Kirstie called to her armor which covered her with weapons of all sorts. Jarl blinked. “They can think all they want, but you should know, if they try something, I may have to kill them.”

“And your friend, Yrsa.” Jarl did not quit. “She would just compound the problem.”

“Yrsa can take care of herself, and better than you can imagine. She is an elf of the woods, and I am only telling you that because you are the captain of my ship and I do not wish to keep secrets from you. Besides, Yrsa can speak whatever the local tongue is and get better results than you and some town elder yelling at each other.”

Jarl rubbed his chin. “There might be some benefit in that.” But then he shook his head. “It takes time to get enough furs and hides to make a trip worthwhile, and I have been to Brittany and once to Iberia, but I have avoided the Norman shore and have no experience in France, well, Flanders, but that really doesn’t count.”

Kirstie decided she would have to play her hole card. “How about if I buy my way aboard your ship. Same as Rune. Fairy picked honey and wax, ivory tusks, and amber. These things can make you some real silver.”

“Are you bargaining?”

“If I must. I prefer to think of it as purchasing a ride there and back again. That must include Yrsa if she chooses to come.”

“The elf?”

“To make sure the goods don’t get stolen.”

“I think we can do that, but we can’t leave instantly.”

“No, we can’t,” she reluctantly agreed. “I’ll need a few weeks to gather my goods.”

“Leif,” Jarl called. Leif, Jarl’s navigator and skipari came from the back room where he had been listening in. “I think we have a deal.” Leif just grinned.

“Sneaky,” Kirstie said. “But probably safe. I just dropped a couple of dwarfs off at Svend’s shop. They are already talking about tearing down the furnace and building a new one.” She walked to the door. “I’ll tell you when I’m ready.” She called to her dress which instantly replaced her armor. Jarl blinked again, and Leif stopped grinning.

“We will be ready when you are,” Jarl managed to say.

On her way home, she imagined Jarl bargained like a nobleman. He told her every reason why she could not come and would have kept it up until she came up with the trade goods. He already planned on taking her, he just wanted to make sure he got his hands on some amber and ivory first.

He should be the earl—the Jarl of Trondelag. Then we could call him Jarl Jarl, she thought. Maybe Jarl Jarl Binks.

Yasmina

Aisha came bounding into the room with a small bundle of things to take. “I’ve hugged my mother and father and said good-bye to everyone. Are you ready?” She asked because Yasmina already had three bundles on her bed, and they were not so little.

Yasmina continued to rifle through her trunks, drawers, and closet, fingering everything and thinking about it. She felt like she might need everything. She wanted to take it all with her.

“Get your riding clothes on,” Aisha said. Yasmina grumbled but complied while Aisha went through her bundles. Yasmina protested at everything Aisha removed. “I need that,” she said several times.

Someone knocked loudly on the door. “I’m not ready,” Yasmina yelled in an automatic response she gave since she was six.

“Come in,” Aisha yelled to the door.

Ahmed came in. Two soldiers waited in the hall. “Princess,” Ahmed spoke. “Al-Rahim has requested that you wear your armor. There is no way of knowing in advance what kind of response we may get from the Qarmatians outside the gate.”

Yasmina huffed and called for her armor. It replaced her riding clothes and came as previously adjusted with the lengthened skirt and the long sleeves. It also came with the Cloak of Athena that al-Rahim insisted be called the Cloak of the Owl. The hood of the cloak remained up and she remained veiled which was vital for going out in public. Aisha made Yasmina carry two of her own bundles, and they went to the stables.

Yasmina’s new and younger horse was already saddled and ready to go. Aisha stuffed Yasmina’ bundles and her own bundle in the bags that hung from the back of the old Roman-like saddle. Then Yasmina’s mother showed up crying for one last round of hugs and tearful good-byes. When she would not stop hugging her daughter, al-Rahim coughed and spoke.

“We must go before the Qarmatians begin to enter the city.”

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MONDAY

Kirstie and Yasmina both need to get going, but sometimes it takes time and effort just to get ready. Then there are delays and interruptions that cannot be foreseen.  Until Monday, Happy Reading.

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