The harvest came and it was a good one. We would not really need the meat of the horse deer but we would need the hooves and we would need the hide. In addition, the fur from the bjorr was valuable and we planned on trapping. As much as Arne wished to hunt the whale again, he knew that would have to wait until after the winter. The second drekar would not even have been placed in the water by then. The clan had said they wished a second drekar and they wished another Thing. Everyone would abide by those decisions for to do other was to make a mockery of giving every man in the clan a say. The fact that their women had also contributed meant that the will of the Thing was the will of the clan!

  By the time the harvest had all been stored and salt collected for the meat we would hunt, we had the keel and the ribs attached. We had even begun to split the pine for the decks. The mast and the yard had been stripped of all bark, shaped and cut. A couple more months of seasoning would only improve them. However, it was time to leave the skeleton of the new drekar for Arne wished to hunt. ‘Njörðr’ was ready for sea and so Arne summoned all of the outlying farmers to come to our stad. It would be easier to defend. We were ready to set sail but I feared for Gytha. In the last months, she had shrunk in a quite frightening way. I was reluctant to leave for I would not go if I thought she would go to the Otherworld. I went to see her and told her my fears.

  She smiled, “You are the son I never bore and I feel closer to you than any other than Snorri. I will not die while you are away for I have dreamed and I see you returning from this raid.”

  “It is successful then?”

  She shook her head, “Do not put words in the mouth of a volva for it is dangerous. I said that I saw you return and the drekar too. You are concerned you will be able to say goodbye and I am here to tell you that you shall. I may be a shell of the woman you remember but my mind will work and I shall breathe. We can say all that we need to say then. Now Bear Tooth will watch your son and Snorri and I will ensure that the clan is well. You do what you do best and sail the drekar. Arne thinks he leads the clan but it is not true. Without you, your brother is nothing.”

  I left but I did not believe the last statement she had made. My brother was a rock and he kept the clan together. I sailed the drekar and I had found this new land but if we faced enemies then it would be Arne and Siggi who would be the strength of the clan. I had told the clan of Bear Tooth’s words about the trapping camp and we had decided that just before winter was the time that they would be in their heartland. Bear Tooth had been closely questioned by Arne and he had revealed more about the Penobscot tribe and where they lived. Some lived within a day’s march of the River of Peace and it was a warning to us. We would have to be armed and prepared to fight.

  We would be taking a full crew and some of the ship’s boys, like Fámr Haraldsson, now took an oar and had a shield. Ebbe would be the senior ship’s boy. Along with Stig they knew the river and would be able to help the six other boys who came with us. The raid would allow them to become familiar with the drekar and to help us should it come to a fight. They could all use a sling and I knew that the Penobscot would outnumber us if they chose to resist our raid. I hoped that they, like the Mi’kmaq, would be inland once more in their winter quarters. I did not wish a full-blown war.

  Ada was so large with our child that I felt sure that she would have given birth before we had reached the mainland but I dared not delay. This was the time of the rut and the perfect time to hunt the horse deer.

  Fótr was being trained to be a navigator and I put him in charge of the compass, hourglass and map. I took out my map and handed it to him. “When you have the chance then copy this and add your own details to it. A good navigator uses his own maps. If you return to Larswick then you will be the only one, except for Sven, who can sail the drekar for I will not be returning.”

  He knew this but he still shook his head, “And this is the fault of the maid and the waterfall?”

  I nodded and I laughed, “And the Norns!” It was a mistake to utter such thoughts for they were listening and they were spinning.

  Chapter 8

  I was as relaxed at the steering board as I had ever been when sailing but poor Fótr was a mass of nerves. It was easy for me as we just had to sail to the coast and then follow it down the River of Peace. The last time I had completed the voyage I had had boys as a crew. Now I had the whole of the clan and we were mailed and armed. Arne was right, the Penobscot could not hurt us this time, but if they chose to bring every Skraeling to fight us then we might be in trouble but, as we sailed along the coast, I felt as comfortable and easy as a man could. Fótr now knew that he would have to be a navigator and commanding the mighty drekar was a daunting prospect

  That first day of sailing was easy but I knew that the ones which followed would be harder. It was one thing to tack a handy snekke up the river but we would have to use oars for much of the journey. The Allfather thought to send us a good wind for the first part of the voyage and we made such good progress that I wanted to keep sailing, however, it was getting on to dark and we needed to stop. The drekar was too valuable to risk sailing at night time. When we had sailed the snekke we had avoided any islands and beaches on the east bank. We did not need to do so with the drekar and I found a large island where the river Bear Tooth had called Black Biting Insect River joined the River of Peace. The name of that river was enough of a deterrent that we would not sail it. Despite Gytha’s potions, lotions and salves the insects in this new world were still as much of an enemy as any Skraeling!

  We used a couple of trees to moor the drekar and we waded through knee-deep water to reach the land. We were numerous enough not to fear Skraeling and we lit a fire and put on food to cook. We had two barrels of freshly brewed beer and it washed down the food and the bread we had brought. When the beer was finished then we would use them for the meat we would hunt. Barrels were valuable!

  Arne had more need of my advice and as we ate, he and Siggi spoke to me of what we would find. “We have seen no Skraeling fires, little brother, will it be like this all the way north?”

  “We saw none but, of course, my snekke will have alerted them that there are strangers in their land. Bear Tooth told us that the Penobscot are not as numerous as the Mi’kmaq, but they are protective of their land. We may not have as far to go, brother, for there is a huge stretch of water just a day or so north of here. I did not explore it but it is so large that there must be horse deer close by.”

  “And bjorr?”

  I shook my head, “I did not look for them.”

  Siggi threw the horse deer bone into the river, “Then I say we stick to the original plan. From the map, you showed me we can find white-tailed deer, horse deer and bjorr all within a short walk from the river. We are ready to fight if we have to, but better to have an easy hunt and return to finish the other drekar.” He lowered his voice. “Those who wish to leave need the ability to sail home. The Thing did not silence all their fears and some talk of forcing the clan to go home.”

  Arne’s eyes flashed as he scanned the other fires around which men were seated. Before he could become angry and say something or do something we would all regret I said, “Brother, even if they thought that they could not for I am the only navigator and I would not agree. Even the most critical warrior knows that a drekar needs a navigator.”

  Arne jabbed a finger at Fótr, “And our little brother, here, is becoming a navigator and he wishes to sail home!”

  Some of the warriors around the other fires looked over at the raised voice. Siggi said, “Peace, Arne! Peace!”

  I saw Fótr’s face colour in the firelight, “Do you think so little of me, brother, that I would go behind your back and sail with the others? I have made no secret of the fact that I wish to return to Larswick but I will only do so when we have built ‘Gytha’ and held another Thing. If that is your worry then put it from your mind but I, for one, am disappointed in the lack of trust. I will sleep aboard the drekar tonight!”

  Siggi shook his head and gave a sad laugh, “Arne, you are one of the closest friends I have. Along with Erik here the three of us are blood brothers but lately you seem to open your mouth and let words pour forth without giving them thought.”

  Arne did not raise his head but stared into the fire, “When we left the land of ice and fire all the clan wished to come to this new world and when we reached it, I thought it was all that Erik had promised and more. What has changed? Am I a bad jarl?”

  I shook my head, “It is the others who have changed. What they thought they wanted they have discovered they did not. The threat of the King of Norway has faded and men think back to the first days at Larswick before we fought the Dane and the Norse. They think of the weapons and the treasure we took from the dead and not the cost to get it. I do not think that the return of one drekar of Vikings to Larswick will hurt those of us who choose to stay in this new world. When they reach our old home, they will tell others of what we have found and there will be other Vikings who wish to come. We are the start of a colony and, who knows, when your son is jarl, we may have a land here which is ruled by us, think on that!”

  Arne put his arm around me and said, “We three are the brothers of the blade and it is good that we are together. I will go and speak with Fótr for you are both right. I will not let him go to sleep angry.”

  He left us. Siggi put another piece of kindling on the fire. “It is Freja makes him the way he is. She is not like Ada nor Gefn. She is the wife of the jarl and she thinks they should have more respect for she wishes them to bow and curtsy as though she is, in some way, better. She tells your brother that and also the other women. It is another reason why some families are unhappy and wish to return home, across the seas. Do not worry, he will come to his senses and put his wife in her place. She is not my mother, she is nothing like Gytha.”

  “I had not seen that side of her.”

  “And whom did Gytha, the matriarch of our clan, choose to train as volvas? Was Freja one?” He shook his head, “Gytha can see into all of our hearts and she knows Freja’s. When Gytha passes over then the three of them, Ada, Helga and Gefn, will have to deal with Freja.”

  As I wrapped myself in my bear fur, I realised that all of my voyages had set me apart from the clan. I did not see the day to day interactions which shaped the clan. They knew more of me than I did of them. The Norns were spinning.

  Fótr and Arne had settled their differences but, from that moment on, I saw that there was a growing rift between Fótr and Arne. Fótr had always been closer to me as I had had more time for him. Now he threw himself into the sailing of the drekar. He was constantly at my side and his questions showed that he was serious about becoming a navigator.

  The next day the wind veered to come from the north and we stepped the mast. I had known it would be inevitable. Now our speed would slow as we were forced to row north. We only needed the chant to begin the voyage up the river for we would keep up a regular rhythm. I had the drekar manned with a single man on each oar and we would replace them when they tired. That way we could row all day. We made the island we had found when I had sailed in the snekke. It lay a short way away from Fox Water. This was the island we had explored and I knew that there were the long-eared animals on the island. We reached the island before dark for the men were tired. We had not had to row for as long since we had left the land of ice and fire. Ebbe and Stig showed the other ship’s boys how to make traps to catch small animals and I told the others what we would find the next day.

  “There is a large piece of water, I named it Fox Water and it is like a small sea. From there we have two short days of rowing before we reach Bjorr Beck. That is where we will camp and hunt. When we catch these animals, we can use their guts to fish as we sail up Fox Water for there are some mighty fish there.”

  I saw that my words brought smiles and looks of eager anticipation to the faces of the warriors. They would row happily but only if they knew there was a reward at the end; a raid or a hunt.

  Arne, of course, saw the opportunity to establish his authority. “My brother and his crew found a place which might well prove to be a place we could live. When we hunt, we go armed and with shields for there are Skraeling who might dispute our right to be here. Clan of the Fox we may have a battle in a few days’ time!”

  The other warriors showed that they hoped this was true but I, for one, hoped not. If I was to find my maid and speak with her then I needed peace with the Penobscot.

  Morning found that we had been successful with our traps. The animals had not been hunted before we had come for we saw no evidence of the Skraeling living on the island. We had time and so we cooked them before we left. The crew found the meat was sweet and I saw some of the ones who wished to return to Larswick speaking with their oar brothers. The bounty of the land was making some reconsider their decision.

  As we sailed up the river the ship’s boys hauled fish after fish from the river. Some were as long as a boy’s arm while others were as long as a leg. The sheer size and richness of Fox Water filled the drekar with the murmur of approval as they saw the forests which surrounded it, the fish which rose to the surface and the birds which soared and then swooped. As we headed north, we saw horse deer and white-tailed deer which came down to the water to drink.

  Arne had the lead oar and he grinned at me, “Brother, you have a nose for navigation! This is a good land and we have seen no Skraeling!”

  I shook my head, “This is the River of Peace and they do not live along it but,” I pointed to the west, “they are over there and they are as the fish in this water, plentiful!”

  I was allowing Fótr to have the steering board more and more. He was becoming used to ‘Njörðr’ and she to him. He was also learning to gauge the effect of the rowers so that he knew the most opportune moment to make a course correction. It was easier here than on the great ocean, which was where I had learned, but that was no bad thing. We came to the island where we had eaten many of the long-eared creatures and we stopped for the night. It would be a short day of sailing ahead of us and we needed daylight to build a defensive camp at Bjorr Beck.

  We had fish to cook and animals to trap; this was a land full of bounty and we knew how to harvest it. That evening there was an air of anticipation in the camp for I had promised them much and all were eager to see if I had, once more, delivered. Ebbe and Stig had already told them of the bjorr and the dam they had made. We had heard of the bjorr but there had been none on Orkneyjar and Larswick. The name, small bear, suggested something grander than it was and I hoped that they would not be disappointed.

  I took the steering board as we headed up the narrow channel next to the island. I kept a wary eye to the shore to the west for that had been where the Penobscot had attacked us and I had been wounded. I thought we could turn the drekar at the Bjorr Beck but I was not certain and that row up the River of Peace was a tense one for me. When I saw where the two rivers met, I breathed a sigh of relief for it was as I had remembered it; indeed, the river was slightly wider than I had remembered. Perhaps being chased by Skraelings had narrowed it in my mind. I turned the drekar around and moored it next to the western bank of the River of Peace.

  As Arne organised the warriors and while the ship’s boys fastened us securely to the shore, I spoke with Fótr. “I would have you and the ship’s boys stay aboard. You will need to fit the mast, yard and sail. If we are successful then there will not be enough room for the rowers. We might have to use the current and the wind.”

  He nodded, “That suits me for, despite Arne’s attempt at an apology, I am still unhappy to be close to him. Since he became jarl of the clan he has changed.”

  “He is blood and he is family; you cannot have a feud.”

  He shook his head, “He is jarl and you are the only family, save Reginleif that I have. Do not worry, Erik, I will smile and I will play the dutiful brother but it cannot change that which is in my heart.”

  He was right.

  The rest of the warriors took their mail byrnies, helmets and shields ashore. I did not. I would trust to my bone covered leather. Arne was waiting for me as I descended. He frowned when he saw that I had no shield, “Are you not a warrior?”

  I said, “Aye, but today you need me as a scout and to find where we were ambushed and where the bjorr are to be found. If there are large numbers of Penobscot here then the Allfather does not wish us to be here. Anyway, there are enough warriors to do the fighting. I will fight when it is necessary.”

  Siggi nodded, “He is right, Arne. We cannot hunt in mail can we and shields will be of little use when we set traps? Let us scout the land, choose our camp and make it defensible. If the Allfather smiles upon us then we will be here for some time.”

  Siggi’s words persuaded Arne and I led them down the river path to the bjorr. Some were disappointed at the diminutive size of the creatures but when they saw the fact that they could swim and that their fur kept them dry they changed their minds.

  “There are the bjorr, now where are the horse deer?”

  I headed away from the river and followed the trail we had discovered. I soon spotted the spoor of the horse deer and we also startled some white-tailed deer. Men with mail and shields make a noise. I stopped when I found the clearing where we had seen the horse deer grazing. I waved a hand, “We saw them here but we are making so much noise that we cannot expect to surprise them.”

  Æimundr Loud Voice, who was the best hunter we had, nodded and said, “I have seen their spoor and the marks of their antlers on the trees. This is where we will find them.” He patted me on the back, “You have good eyes, Erik the Navigator.”

  Arne was mollified, “Then let us head back closer to the drekar and make a camp. If the Skraeling come then I want to be able to defend what we have!”

  There was a clearing which was close to the confluence of the two rivers. I suspected that in the spring when there was a thaw, it would flood. We cut down the saplings which grew there but did not discard them. We cut them into shorter lengths and sharpened them. They would make a palisade when we had dug our ditch. We hacked down the brambles and briars which grew and we would use them to disguise the ditch whilst clearing ground in the centre of our camp. We needed a large camp as we would not just be sleeping there, we would be butchering animals, salting and drying them. Fótr and the boys would be kept busy. I had already decided that I would explore more of this land. I would find the maid.

 

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