The Vikings moved out from their woods.  About twenty horses came into view and prepared to ride to where the wagon turned off the road.  Decker opened fire first.  Katie shot the horses and later said it was too bad.  She had come to appreciate how important and helpful a good horse can be.

“With our cars and trucks, we have no real way to understand that in our day,” she said.

Lockhart agreed.  “I remember the Kairos once saying that the dog might be man’s best friend, but the horse was always man’s best help, or something like that.”

In this case, only a few horses made it back behind the trees.  A few more men ran to safety, but the three on the hill completely busted whatever idea the Vikings had of following the travelers on horseback.

Decker got up and moved to another spot where he could see a long way up the road.  He snapped his scope on to the rifle and got in sniper position.  “They might go up the road and try to cross over on foot in what they think is out of range.”

“We just need to hold them for a while to make sure the wagon gets a good head start.”

Katie understood but spoke, so Decker did not have to say anything.  “But on foot, they can go across country, which the wagon really cannot do, and they might easily catch up.”

Lockhart did not really have an objection to Decker sniping the Vikings, especially if he could keep them from crossing the road.  He just wanted to remind them that they were charged to kill as few people as possible, and only in self-defense.  This counted, but it was close to the line.  They might have all gone with the wagon and dealt with the Vikings if and when they showed up.

They waited a good twenty minutes before Decker opened fire.  It took another five minutes before Vikings came across the field in front of them, yelling murder and screaming obscenities.  Katie opened fire, and after a minute, they came to the outside of shotgun range.  Lockhart added his fire to the mix.  The thunder of the shotgun caused a couple of Vikings to almost pause, berserkers though they might be.

A dozen arrows came from the grass on the other side of the road.  They fell short, but they were likely intended to make the travelers duck and give that much more time for the berserkers to arrive.  The ploy did not work.

“Longbow has not been invented yet,” Katie mumbled to herself before she called.  “Decker.”  Decker turned and added his fire to the attackers.  He flipped his rifle to automatic and began to fire three shot bursts.  Katie did the same.

Lockhart shot the last man just below their position.  “Time to ride,” he said, like he always said when they were on the road and spent a time walking and resting their horses.  The horses stayed good, waiting in the field behind the sharpshooters.  They reached the horses just in time as the Flesh Eater shuttle came over their position.  It only paused a moment, maybe just long enough to scan them before it headed out after the crew with the wagon.

“Damn,” Decker said.  Katie got on her watch communicator as Lockhart mounted and they rode off in the direction the wagon had gone.

###

Elgar rode at the head of his column of men which came in the middle of the line.  His men were disciplined enough to keep up in their companies and not string out all over the road.  He could not say the same for the King’s men or for Osric’s men from Dorset, but at least they kept up.   It was either keep up or be trampled by the men from Somerset.  He could not say the same about the men from Wiltunscir and Bearrocscir who strung out behind him for miles, like a bad tail on a kite.  Some of those men would be lucky to arrive in Guildford by midnight.

“Lord,” Deerrunner rode up behind Elgar, young Marsham with him.

“Deerrunner,” Pinewood, who rode beside Elgar, acknowledged the Elder Elf.

Deerrunner and Marsham fit themselves in behind Elgar and Pinewood, Osfirth and Gwyn holding back to make room, and Deerrunner got straight to the point, a sure sign that he was getting older.

“The Vikings have crossed the Thames as reported, and they are resting and waiting for Ethelwulf to tire his men out trying to get there.  They have set up in the field cut along the river from the old oak forest and put their right flank against the trees that remain, with their left flank against a natural bend in the river.  They have boats on the riverbank they can use to cross back over the river if things go badly, but I expect the Danes imagine things will go well.  They imagine they are safe from being outflanked by horsemen, like they were in Somerset.  And the Vikings also imagine that face to face they can beat you Saxons like they beat Beorhtwulf of Mercia.”

“And well they might if we are not careful,” Elgar said.

Gwyn said something from the rear, and Deerrunner repeated it.  “He says footmen are not hampered going through the woods.  We can still hit their flank, just not with horses.”

Elgar shook his head.  “Deerrunner, and Marsham.  You can take your people into the woods and get bow ready.  Lord Pinewood, too, maybe up in the trees.  Tell Bogus that he and Piebald and whatever dwarfs are with them, and maybe Dumfries and whatever night people, can take the forest floor.  Only two things.  First, no arrow fire unless I give the word.  Second, you can take whatever enemy Vikings go into the woods, but you are not allowed to come out of the woods unless I tell you to.  Understood?”

“Yes Lord,” the two elves and the fairy said.

“We better go set up,” Deerrunner said.  “No need to hurry, though, given the speed of your army.”  He smiled.  Elgar was not above giving the elf a snooty look.

Deerrunner and Marshman rushed off.  Pinewood vanished.  He had been floating along gently beside Elgar and simple presented a glamour of himself being big and riding on a horse.  When he left, the illusion disappeared, and the fairy flew off faster than the men could see.

“Where are they going?” Osfirth asked.  “Hey! What happened to Pinewood.”

“He had to go,” Elgar said.  “I told him he should have thought of that before he left.”  Elgar shrugged.

“No, really,” Osfirth turned to Gwyn.  Gwyn, who knew some of the old Celtic stories told in the land, and who suspected, just shook his head.

“You don’t want to know.”

Most of the way down the front line, where the wagons of the women and children moved along well protected, and where the king rode, the king noticed the men ride up to Elgar and then ride away again.  He turned to Osric and asked what that was all about.  Osric, who had some small experience with Elgar’s strange friends, looked, squinted, stared, and finally answered.

“You don’t want to know.”

###

Boston stopped by the farmhouse and shouted, “Hello.”  As she got down from her horse, she sensed the people there, and the fear they felt toward the Vikings they knew were roaming the area around the Thames.  They were afraid, though they were miles from the river.

“We want no trouble,” a man said, as he came to the door, a spear clutched tightly in his hand.  A woman holding a baby came to the door.  A three or four-year-old boy held tightly to the woman’s dress.

“Good,” Boston said.  “We don’t want any trouble either.  There are Vikings blocking the road to Rochester.  We are trying to get to the Winchester Road by cutting across country.  Sorry about crossing your land, but we could sure use a guide who knows what farm trails to take.  We have a wagon and need a good trail, you see?”

The man visibly relaxed when Sukki rode up.  He lowered his weapon and stepped more into the light.  “You are nuns?  Why are women traveling the road alone?  I think that would be very dangerous.”

“Not alone,” Boston said and pointed back to where the wagon came into view.  “We would pay for a good guide,” she added.

William and Elder Stow hurried forward, leaving Lincoln, Alexis, Tony, and Nanette to bring the wagon.  “Is there something wrong?” Elder Stow asked.

“No, Father,” Sukki said.  “Boston is asking the man if he can guide us to the road.”

“Bishop Ceolnoth,” The farmer’s wife spouted and genuflected.  She came out of the house to take and kiss the man’s hand.

“Please, woman.  I am not the Pope,” William said and made her stand.

“And this is one of your priests?” the farmer guessed and pointed at Elder Stow.

“No such thing,” Elder Stow said.  “I am the girl’s father.”

“Oh…” the Farmer did not know what to say.

“Bishop?” Alexis asked as she arrived.

“Yes,” William said.  “But I have found I can get around easier as a simple monk.  Wilimbro was my name, and men did call me William the Lesser for years before I got shoved into the role of Archbishop of Canterbury.  I chose the name Ceolnoth.  I needed a more Saxon sounding name for the role, but between us, I hope things don’t change.”

“Fair enough,” Lincoln said.  He shook the man’s hand as if for the first time.

Tony came up with the wagon and got down to visit with the farmers.  Nanette tied her horse to the back of the wagon and came forward.  Lincoln shouted to them.  ‘Turns out William is the Archbishop of Canterbury.”

“Okay,” the man said in an unhappy voice.  “We were doing well.  I would rather things not change, and you call me William for now.”

Boston looked at the man and said, “But you should understand, around us, things constantly change, and usually that means trouble.”  In the timing of the little ones, the watch communicators went off and Katie began to shout about the Flesh Eater shuttle being on its way.

“I understand,” Elder Stow said, touching a spot on his belt.  He had the screen device handy and turned it on.  Everyone was well inside the screens.  He set them for instant activation when he got the word, but he also made them permeable to radio waves, so they remained able to communicate.  “Careful when you get nearby.  The particle screen is up.  It will take some time to lower the particle screen and still protect us from the Vr energy.”

“Roger, out,” Katie said even as the ship appeared over the farm.

Decker shouted.  He started to sway and could not seem to open his eyes.

“Decker,” Nanette shouted at him, and Boston and Sukki ran up to see what the problem was.  Sukki arrived in time to see Nanette slap Decker, and yell.  “Open your eyes. Come back to me.”  The shock of the slap got Decker to pop his eyes open, but then he groaned and fell over.

“I’m all right,” Decker breathed.

“What happened?” Sukki asked, but no one was in a position to answer.  Decker sat up when Alexis arrived and knelt beside him to examine him.

“I’m okay.” Decker waved her off.  “I got hit with some kind of hypnotic, hallucinogenic ray of some kind.  I don’t know what that was.”

“I didn’t think anything could touch you when you were with your totem,” Nanette said.

“He got poked in the eye once by a witch,” Boston said.  “Outside Babylon, remember?”

“Thanks,” Decker said, and shook his head.  “I had forgotten that.”

“I think the eagle eye is more like a gift,” Alexis said.  “Like a power”.

“When he first got the gift, he dropped hand grenades on the alien Balok,” Lincoln said.

“Something physical goes with him when he takes to the air,” Alexis remembered the hand grenades.  “There is a real connection to his physical being that stays on earth.”

Decker understood something, anyway.  He got to his feet but had to lean on Nanette for a minute to stay upright.  People waited to hear what he saw.

“About a hundred Vikings as near as I could see.  They only have half a dozen horses, though there may be more horses in the woods.  That was hard to tell with them all staying hidden, but in any case, they are mostly on foot, so if we can get past that point, it is unlikely they will be able to follow us.”

“And did you spy the spaceship?” Elder Stow asked with another glance at his scanner.

Decker did.  “Maybe it saw me and moved fast.  That got my attention.  It came from hovering over that city in the distance and fired some kind of mind-numbing weapon when it got close.  I saw a brilliant flash of colors, felt terrible anxiety—fear, I suppose.  I got dizzy and wanted to throw up.”

“No,” Elder Stow said with some surprise in his voice.  He pulled out his Gott-Druk version of a database and carefully searched.  “Vishantu.”  He read to himself, and Lincoln got out their database and read out loud.

“Vishantu or Flesh Eaters.  Carnivores.  They begin on their victims by drinking the blood and have a tongue specially adapted for that purpose, like a straw.  They can also use their adaptation to suck the marrow from the bones after the flesh is consumed.  Otherwise, they appear near human enough, slightly distorted, mouths too big and gray skin, but humanish.”

Elder Stow interrupted.  “Must be Vr energy.  A very narrow band of what you might call dark energy.  It is a barely discernable by-product of faster than light travel.  It is not something I would have expected these Flesh Eaters even to know about, given the level of technology available to them.”  He waved off the questions and focused on the important point.  “It affects the nervous system and the natural electrical functions of the brain.  It causes a hypnotic state, illusions, or what you call hallucinations, fear, anxiety, pain, paralysis, and death depending on the length of exposure.  Colonel Decker, you must believe me.  The Gott-Druk have outlawed any concentrated use of this energy source.  Most intelligent species that know of it have.  We would never use such a thing, not even on Homo Sapiens.”

“Well, I have the headache,” Decker said.  “Should I look forward to Paralysis and death?”

“There is no lasting trauma,” Elder Stow assured him.  “Good thing you escaped the direct beam.  Your headache should clear up in an hour or so and you should be none the worse.”

“Good to know,” Decker said.  “Meanwhile, I’ll just take these two pain relievers, if you don’t mind.”

“Elder Stow.” Once he knew Decker would be all right, Lockhart changed the subject.  “Let us look at the map you have of the area and see if we can chart the best course to evade the Vikings on the road.”

“Of course,” Elder Stow said.

“Tony.  Join us since you are driving the wagon.  And Elder Stow, you need to get your screen device ready in case that alien ship finds us.”

“Of course,” Elder Stow said again.  “The fourth screen includes a block for Vrocan energy.  Given enough time, I might be able to block just that energy and we could still move, but the whole normal screen will stick us in place until I can devise a workaround.  In that case, the Vikings may catch us.

“It does appear as if the Vikings and these Vish…Flesh Eaters are working together,” Katie said, and Lockhart agreed.

###

“Ethelwulf,” A woman called.  The king paused to turn to her with some annoyance in his expression.  The command tent could only hold so many.  And she should have stayed in Winchester.  She would stay in Guildford whether she liked it or not.  He changed his expression to a smile.

“Osburh.  What is it?  Can’t you see I am in a strategy session before we leave?  We are ready to leave?”  He looked around and everyone agreed.  The Vikings were seen preparing in a field just west of Kingston, in Surry, two long days away.

The woman came into the room carrying a two-year-old on her hip.  “It is the baby.  He won’t eat.”  She looked distressed.

Elgar smiled and tapped Ethelbald to follow.  “So, this is Alfred the Great,” Elgar said.  The two-year-old gave him a funny look and turned his shy head into his mother’s shoulder.  “Go on.”  Elgar poked Ethelbald.  “You’re the big brother.  Encourage him to eat.”

Ethelbald also gave Elgar the same funny look before he turned to the boy and said, sternly.  “Boy, you must eat your food to get big.”

“No.” Elgar said.  “You are not his father.  Sound like you are a big brother who loves his little brother.  Like this.”  He put his hand gently on the boy’s back and spoke kindly.  “You know, those fruits and vegetables keep you healthy.  A good night’s sleep helps too.  Why if you were to get sick it would just break my heart.  So have some fruits and vegetables…”

“And meat,” Ethelbald interrupted.  “It will make you strong.”

“Fish is good,” Elgar said.

Ethelbald made a face.  “I don’t like fish.”

“I do,” Osburh, the queen said.  “What do you think?”  She leaned back and spoke to her child.  The boy nodded, just little.  “Never mind, Ethelwulf.  I think we will be all right now.”  They left and the king turned to Elgar.

“Is that how you speak to your daughters?”

“I try, but what daughter ever listens to her father?  Mostly, my girls do all the talking, and my wife is right in there with them, talking all the time.  I don’t know if they ever say anything.   I swear, though, they would all keep talking in their sleep if they could figure out how.  I’m looking forward to the battlefield where I can have some peace and quiet.”

The king smiled.  Osric rolled his eyes.  Ethelbald laughed after a minute.

###

Elder Stow directed the group down the paths, keeping an eye on what his scanner showed him.  William rode beside him to add his two cents.  He knew the terrain, if not the actual way they had to go.  Boston stayed out front, her senses searching for people, and her eyes open for dips, potholes, and blockages in the path that Elder Stow’s scanner might not pick up. Sukki rode between Boston and the group where she could relay information back to the wagon.  The Gott-Druk might not be good at whispering, but Sukki could shout plenty loud.

Tony drove the wagon while Lincoln and Alexis rode on either side of the mule.  Decker’s rope had already been tied to the wagon and to their horses in case the horses were needed to help drag the wagon up a steep incline or slow it on the downhill side.  Nanette followed the train where her telekinetic magic might help the rear of the wagon over the rocks and rough spots.  It was all they could do.  The cutoff across the open land between Watling Street and the road to Winchester would be slow going.

Lockhart led the rest of the group to a small rise full of Rocks where they first pulled off Watling Street.  They had to move beyond a swampy area before they could move off the road, and that put them within sight of the Vikings blocking the turnoff road to Rochester.  Lockhart revised his thinking about being followed.  Men on horseback would catch them, easily, but even on foot, the Vikings might catch them depending on how slow the wagon had to go in order to arrive in one piece on the Winchester Road.

Lockhart carried his shotgun and had his police special on his hip. The marines, Lieutenant Colonel Decker and Major Katherine Harper-Lockhart had their top-of-the-line military rifles ready.  Katie said the Vikings might be posted in that place to protect the road to Rochester and keep any enterprising locals from interfering with the siege, or whatever was going on around Rochester.  If they saw a group of people pull off the road and turn away from Rochester, the Vikings might be inclined to let them go.

“On the other hand,” Decker countered.  “A dozen people in horseback seen from a distance might suggest the locals are gathering to attack them, and they might follow in force looking to nip that notion in the bud.”

“Nip it in the bud?” Lockhart asked.

“Prevent that from happening.”

“I know what it means.  You don’t usually speak in cliché expressions.”

“Comes from Hanging out with Nanette,” Decker said with a straight face and focused his eyes on the Vikings in the distance.

“Yes, about that…” Lockhart started, but Katie nudged him to get his attention.

“Don’t go there,” she said.

After a moment of silence, Decker responded.  “It’s good.  I’m good.  Now, I see some movement among the Vikings.”

Katie looked back and saw the wagon just pulling off the road.

“We don’t need to kill them all,” Lockhart said, turning his eyes to focus on the task.  “Just discourage them from following.”  They all concentrated until Lockhart added.  “Nip that notion in the bud.”

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

MONDAY

Vikings and aliens.  Events are heading toward a showdown.  Until then, Happy Reading.

*

When Boston and Sukki got up for the morning shift, William was already up and in morning prayers.  “Must keep discipline,” he said.  Boston understood.  She got the fire going while Sukki put on the breakfast leftovers.  They walked once around the camp and found everything still and quiet.

The sunrise got rated a four that day.  It stayed a bit overcast.  They had a couple of hours of sunshine the afternoon before, but otherwise it remained overcast since they came into that time zone.  They camped in a fallow field off the road, so there would be no Vikings sneaking through the woods to get at them.

“Maybe rain.”  Boston examined the clouds.

“Maybe,” Sukki said, as they sat and watched the ground level mist slowly clear.

“Watling Street,” Katie said when she and Lockhart got up.  “It runs from Canterbury to London.  We should be near Rochester.  I can’t imagine London is safe if it is in Viking hands.”

“We are too close to the coast,” Decker said, as he came to the fire, yawning.

“We are,” Lincoln agreed, as he and Alexis arrived.

“I wonder what is happening in Rochester?” Alexis asked.

“You mean, Durobrivis?” William asked as he came to join the others.

“Yes, Durobrivis,” Katie said.

William sat.  “Last I heard, they are still resisting.  The city was sacked and burned by a big raiding party of Vikings about ten years ago.  Since then, they built up their defenses.  Time will tell if they did enough to hold off the Danes this time.”

“Bread?” Alexis asked.  She got out some elf crackers and put on the water to boil.

“Yes, please,” William said.  He called it the best bread he ever ate.

“Not for me,” Lockhart said, and drank this time period’s poor excuse for tea, and thought about coffee.

Tony came out, let out a big yawn, and sat to fix a plate of leftovers and bread.  Then he asked.

“Does the road we are on go through the city?”

“No, no.” William said.  “It goes close, maybe too close, but outside of the city and continues to London.  We stay about a mile from Durobrivis, but shortly after that spot we go…”  He showed with his hand.

“Left,” Alexis said.

“Yes.  It is the road to Winchester.  About a hundred miles from that point to Winchester.”

“And we will move away from the coast at that point?” Decker said.

“Yes,” William confirmed.  “Away from the Vikings.  But near the Thames.   We go through Surry. I don’t honestly know if the Danes may have pushed up the Thames from London.”  He looked at Alexis.  “Do you have the recipe for this bread?”

Alexis looked at the travelers, but Boston spoke right up.  “It is elf bread.  My people are smart.”

Alexis shrugged.  Lincoln gave Boston a hard look because for once he kept his mouth shut. William paused in his eating before he shrugged and finished his breakfast.  “It is good, whoever made it.”

“You are not surprised at the mention of elves?” Nanette wondered.

William shook his head.  “I have heard stories of the little people all my life.  I don’t know what they are or how they fit into God’s economy, but who am I to say those stories are not true?  I prefer to keep an open mind and trust the Lord to show me what I need to know to do his will in this life.  That is all that really matters.”

“Very wise,” Alexis said.

After they cleaned up the campsite and started up the road, Lockhart seemed more awake and asked a question.  “You think the Vikings may have pushed up the Thames from London?”

William shrugged, not that Lockhart could see him since he rode behind.  “All I can say is this was not a typical raiding party.  These Vikings appeared in numbers more like an invasion force.  More than three hundred ships.  They had the strength to drive off the King of Mercia and had enough men leftover to overrun Canterbury at about the same time.”

“Not good,” Lincoln mumbled.  Lockhart looked at Katie, but all she could do was nod.

###

Elgar led his thousand men of mixed Celts and Germans into Winchester.  Gwyn and Osfirth would have to find a place for the men to stay while he went to see the king.  He did not doubt the king wanted to see Elgar’s brother, Eanwulf, the Eorldomen of Somerset, but Eanwulf’s wife was expecting, and the pregnancy had not been a good one.

“Your Majesty,” Elgar said in his most humble voice.  “I am your most humble servant.” He bowed.

Unfortunately, Osric, the Earl of Dorset stood there and scoffed.  “Forget it, Elgar.  You are not fooling anyone.”

“Elgar?” the king asked, confused.

“Eangar of Somerset, though Elgar is my name.  Second son of Eanric, who with his father overthrew the fort of Watchet, the last British stronghold in the marshland.  My father was made Eorldomen of Somerset by your father Egbert, a title my older brother Eanwulf now holds.”

“Yes, why is Eanwulf not here?”

“Alas, his wife is with child and struggling.  He fears to lose her in the birthing.  As the good younger brother, I felt it was my duty to lead the men of Somerset, all of whom have experience fighting these Vikings.”

“Good younger brother,” Osric scoffed.

Elgar, who was around thirty-one, looked at the nineteen-year-old that stood beside the king and winked.  He assumed the young man was Ethelbald, the eldest surviving son, and Ethelbald responded with a big grin.

King Ethelwulf looked serious as Elgar continued.

“I have a thousand Saxons, British, Jutes, and Dumnonii who are all good neighbors, as all men should be, and who all have experience fighting the Vikings.  I have brought many from Watchet and the small coastal estate by brother has granted to me.”

“What?  Why is he granting land?” the king frowned.

“Ah,” Elgar said.  “Just the coast from the border with Devon to the mouth of the Parret River.  He has charged me to face and drive off whatever invading Danes might come along.  I see it less as a land grant and more of a fiery duty.”

“The coast?” the king said, and thought for a minute before he added, “I won’t argue with that.”

“Your majesty is too kind,” Elgar said, and gave Osric a sly grin.

“Stop,” Osric said.  “You are going to make me sick.  But he speaks the truth about his men.  Elgar was the one insisted we keep back a third of our men in reserve.  We kept about a quarter that were willing.  When we arrived at the battle, we saw the Danes held back some men in reserve as well.”

“What happened?” Ethelbald, the son spoke for the first time.

“The Danish commander blinked first,” Elgar said.

Osric agreed.  “They threw their men into the line first to try and break us, and it had an impact on our line, but Elgar waited.  I got nervous.  But when our line began to give way, Elgar pressed forward with the reserves and those fresh troops broke the Danish line.  It was a great victory.”

“I see,” The king said.  “I hardly expected good Saxon fighting men would be held back once the battle lines were drawn up.”

“We matched the Danes the way they fight, and our good men beat their good men,” Elgar said.

“Frankly,” Osric finished.  “He is a bit of a cheek, but between Elgar and his brother, you got the better of the deal.”

“And what do you have to say for yourself?” King Ethelwulf gave Elgar a hard stare.  Ethelbald drew back a little even though the stare was not directed at him.

Elgar looked serious.  “To be perfectly honest.  I love my wife, and we have three lovely daughters.  I had a son, but he died a few years ago.  Back home, I have a house full of women.  I figure dealing with a few Vikings will be less taxing than the cat fights I get in my house.”

The king thought again before he laughed.

###

Boston came back to the group, concerned, but not yelling.  The Vikings ahead waited in ambush, not necessarily for the travelers, but for any person or group that might be traveling on the road.  About a hundred of them stood around the sparse tree cover, their campfires well hidden.  A few hid behind the couple of farm wagons abandoned where the side road turned off Watling Street and headed toward Rochester.  No sign of the farmers, but one of the wagons smoked, like it got burned, and a couple of oxen stood in the field, grazing on what they could find.

Boston sent Sukki to the group as soon as she sensed the trouble in the road ahead.  The travelers all stopped and dismounted.  Presently, Elder Stow with his scanner and Decker with his eagle totem were looking for a way across country to the road to Winchester.  Lincoln checked the database but said the maps of that era were not the best.

“No reason to confront the Vikings or get in a shootout if we don’t have to,” Lockhart said.

“There are hills of a sort beneath our position,” Katie said, shading her eyes to look. “They don’t look too difficult.”

“It’s the north downs,” Lincoln said.

“It can be treacherous,” William interjected.  “The Romans only cut one road through there, the Winchester Road to go west from Londinium, and they had to come down to Durobrivis to start cutting through.  The road above runs along the Thames, but on the other side of the river.”

“We don’t need to cut through the downs,” Lockhart said.  “Just cut the corner to the Winchester Road.”

William and Lincoln both shrugged.

“My father,” Elder Stow came up first.  “There are farms and farm roads all through the area we need to go.  It will be tricky, but we should be able to manage it.”

“We used to go through the pure wilderness before roads were a thing,” Lincoln said.

“Yes, but back then we did not have a wagon and often had to backtrack to find a better way through,” Katie countered.

“My mother,” Elder Stow continued.  “I am picking up something else on the outer edge of the scanner.  The image is not clear at that distance, but I would guess an alien ship of some sort.”

“Great,” Lincoln said, giving vent to his full sarcasm.  “As if rampaging Vikings were not enough.”