The savage wilderness, p.19
The Savage Wilderness, page 19
“But you were dead! I saw you die!”
“And this shaman, with the bearskin, brought me back. I am happy to be his servant for I was dead and now I am alive.”
I saw the Skraeling look at the wapapyaki. “And what is this?”
“The story of his clan. He wishes to speak with Chief Wandering Moos.”
“He is not here. He is at the camp in the woods by the stream.”
“Then we should go. I would have his devil boat watched for it is enchanted and it would not do to have it harmed. The shaman has great power.”
I kept a straight face as four young boys were told to guard the snekke. I knew that the eyes of our clan would be on us. We would be dots in the distance but my bear cloak would mark me and, therefore, the others. When they saw us heading up the path with spears all around us, they would fear for our safety. Fótr obeyed my commands and said not a word. Ahead of us, the warrior whose name was Long Sight spoke with Bear Tooth assuming that we could not speak their language.
“We have lost many warriors to these devils from the sea. You were lucky to be saved and now you can tell us how to defeat them.”
“They have great power and magic, Long Sight. They have witches who can read men’s minds and see beyond the seas.”
“Are you certain?”
“I have lived with them since I came back from the dead and I can tell you that they can do all that I say.”
“And why are they here?”
“To make peace for while they are strong, they also believe in peace.”
There was silence as we followed the narrow stream up a steep-sided valley then Long Sight said, “That makes sense for, apart from the fight on Moos Island and when they stole the trees, they have not attempted to fight us and we know they have powerful weapons. How can that be?”
“I told you that they use magic but they also come from across the eastern sea. They travelled for more than a moon across the sea to reach us.”
“More than a moon? Then they are powerful. Perhaps we should kill these two while they are in our power.”
Bear Tooth’s voice remained as calm as ever as he said, “I would not recommend it. This is a shaman. See the bear teeth and cloak; they are a sign of his power and this one is the one who sailed across the endless sea. He sailed with clouds and at night when the stars and the sun were hidden. Could any of our people do that?”
The question silenced our guide or perhaps he knew we were close to the summer camp for we came upon a huge number of the wigwams Bear Tooth had told us of. We were led through the encampment in the midst of yapping dogs and women, the widows I assumed of the men we had killed, hurling insults at us. It was hard to do so but I kept the same pace and the same expression. We were surrounded by a wall of hate. Ahead I saw their leaders, or what I believed to be their leaders. They were waiting in a line before a large tent. I saw the tribe’s shaman. He, too, had an animal skin covering his back. It was a skin made from bjorr skins. I knew that he would assume that, as I was wearing a bear’s head, I was a bear shaman and I would have more power.
The chief, Wandering Moos, neither looked at me nor addressed me. He spoke to Bear Tooth. While he did so I studied the men around him. I was looking for the headstrong one, the warrior who wished to challenge me. I saw him straight away. He was standing next to the chief and he had angry eyes. More, he kept his hand upon a stone knife. He would be the one.
When Wandering Moos spoke it confirmed that he was the chief, “Your return is a miracle but why have you brought these killers of our young men to our camp?”
Before Bear Tooth could speak, the angry young man said, “It matters not, let us kill them!”
“Eyes of Fire, know your place or leave this gathering. They have brought with them the wapapyaki and that means we guarantee their safety. I am sorry, continue.”
“I was on the raid which killed my family, Chief Wandering Moos, and I was dead. The shaman of the bear brought me back to life and made me his servant. I have sailed the seas in their dragonship and I have hunted the whale. I was with them when they sailed the River of Peace and slew the Penobscot.” As we had expected that drew a murmur from those who were close enough to hear. Even Eyes of Fire looked subdued after the comment.
“Then why are they here?”
“It is simple. They wish peace and want to trade and to live in our land, here, this side of the sea, in peace.”
“You speak for them?”
“I speak for them.”
The chief turned and looked at his advisers. All except Eyes of Fire nodded, “And you swear that they wish peace?”
“So far they have not tried to take our land. None live on the island they took and Moos Island was just used for hunting.”
Eyes of Fire suddenly said, “I have had enough of this! Let me kill them, father and begin to avenge our warriors who were slain.”
This was the moment and, when I spoke, I made my voice as deep as I could. Bear Tooth and I had practised the words I would say and I had it word perfect. When I spoke, they all physically recoiled. “Eyes of Fire, if you wish to try to kill me then do so. Take your knife and rip out my guts. I will not try to stop you for Bear Tooth is correct, we are powerful but we wish only peace. Do it now so that we can speak without anger and without blood boiling in our heads and hands.”
I had hoped that the bluff would work but Eyes of Fire was scared and he just reacted; he slashed his stone knife across my middle. The blow would have hurt had I not tightened my stomach but the mail I wore beneath my bear cloak and tunic broke the blade which fell at his feet. He physically recoiled. I heard a shocked murmur from all those watching. As Bear Tooth had advised it was a clear sign of our power.
I spoke to the chief, “You cannot hurt us. Now, Chief Wandering Moos, can we talk as men and not as headstrong boys who wish to prove themselves?”
Wandering Moos nodded, “You have embarrassed me, Eyes of Fire, go and join the women!”
The young man rose and, after glaring at me, flung away the remains of the broken stone knife. Folding his arms across his chest, he stormed away from the council.
Chief Wandering Moos waited until his son had gone before he said, “You speak our words?” I nodded. “Then we will speak directly. What is it that you wish, Shaman of the Bear?”
“My clan is the Clan of the Fox and, as Bear Tooth told you, we travelled across the huge ocean from the land of the rising sun. We wish to make a new home here. We come in peace but we are men of the sword.”
The looks of puzzlement told me that I had not thought this through properly. “Sword?”
I turned to Fótr, “Show him, Fótr.”
We had sharpened and polished our swords before leaving and when Fótr stood and drew his sword the sunlight caught it and it shone so brightly that some of the council had to shield their eyes from the flashing shafts of sunlight.
“Aieee, it is magic! Tell your man to cover it, Shaman of the Bear!”
“Sheath it, Fótr.”
The council were more shocked by the sword than even my feat of surviving a knife thrust. “You all have such magic?”
“We do.” I saw them look at each other and I did not need to be a volva to read their minds. They had nothing to counter this magic. The chief looked at their shaman and said, “Stalking Bear, have you some magic to destroy their magic?”
He shook his head, “I will have to visit the spirits and ask them. They may have powers they can give to me but I can do nothing about them now.”
The chief nodded, “You have powerful magic; what is it that you wish?”
“We would live here on the mainland.” The word I used was not ‘mainland’ for Bear Tooth had told me that the tribe had no concept of the world outside their tribal lands. “We would build homes of wood, hunt and trap, fish and trade.”
“You trade?”
I nodded, “We do and we have a gift for you.” I nodded to Fótr. “Fótr.”
He stood and unslung the ale skin from around him. After his performance with the sword, I saw the fear on the faces of the council. Bear Tooth took two horn beakers from his satchel and held them out. Fótr poured ale into the horns and gave them to me.
“We brew a beer which is like your pine beer but we think better. We would trade this and other goods with you. The skin of ale is a gift.” I handed one horn to the Chief and then drank from the other. The Chief was no coward but he was speaking with someone he thought had magical powers and when he drank, he did not know if he would die or not. The Council also watched in fearful dread as the Chief took a tentative sip. Then he nodded and drank half of the brew. “It is good. You would trade?”
“We would trade and we would search your land for the iron to make our swords.”
The word sword was a Norse word and the Mi’kmaq chief did not understand it although I had used it before. I tapped my sheathed sword and he nodded, “Then you will waste your time. If we had found this,” he made an attempt to say iron and failed although I knew what he meant, “then we too would have your magic,”
I pointed west, “Somewhere in this land will be iron but it will be buried deep and men would have to dig for it in the soil and make a fire as hot as the sun to change it from stone to metal. If we found it, we would share our magic with you.”
I had already thought we were winning but that moment guaranteed it. Bear Tooth had told us that the Penobscot, although a smaller tribe were more aggressive and won more battles against the Mi’kmaq than they lost. Having iron would ensure victory.
“We will need to speak further on this matter. We will retire to our lodge.” He looked at Bear Tooth. “You will stay here?”
It was an imperative but couched in such gentle terms that it made me smile. Bear Tooth nodded, “Aye, Chief Wandering Moos.”
The council disappeared into the large lodge. I spoke in Norse, “That went better than I had hoped.”
Bear Tooth shook his head, “Eyes of Fire is an angry man and he has support amongst the young men of the tribe.”
“Yet,” I said, “he either did not come on the two raids or he was very lucky.”
I saw Bear Tooth consider my words, “You are right. He said he was unwell on the first raid when my brothers died and that he did not wish his illness to risk the warriors.”
“I have seen men like him before, Bear Tooth. We had some in our clan. The danger from Eyes of Fire is a blade in the back.”
The fact that we were talking amongst ourselves had gradually encouraged the women and some of the other warriors to come closer to us to gain a better view of us.
Fótr chuckled, “If I had thought that polishing a sword would bring such an easy victory then I would have done that before.” He stopped and then said, “Why did that not stop them on Horse Deer island or when they slew Benni and his family?”
“Both times the battles were fought on cloudy days in forests. The sun did not shine upon them and, in the heat of battle, they must have seen them as clubs.” I looked at Bear Tooth.
He said, “You are right. We thought they were bone weapons which were coloured like our faces. The ones who found out they were not realised it too late.”
“I will be glad to take off this cloak and this mail shirt. I am unused to both and the heat is oppressive.”
Bear Tooth nodded, “And here it is cooler than our winter home.”
I realised that this was a vast land for back in Orkneyjar and Larswick there was no such difference. If we had walked from Larswick to Hwitebi across the whole of the land of Dane there would have been such little difference in the temperature that the clothes we wore would have made no difference. Here the whole tribe had to move for comfort. I looked around at the village and saw that the homes, the wigwams, were larger than I would have expected. I saw that the saplings could be bound together for ease of transport. They were cleverly designed. I also saw furs. These people trapped other animals; it was not just the bjorr. It suggested a richer land away from the coast. That made sense for we had only spent a few days in the land of the Penobscot and yet we had seen many tracks I did not recognise. We had not seen sheep and we had not seen cattle. Were they further west or had the Allfather not sent them to this land? Perhaps we were meant to bring them. Had we sailed here from Larswick we might have brought more sheep. I wondered, then, at Arne’s idea to trade. If we did then we could bring out a couple of rams and some ewes. Ideas buzzed around my head like bees.
The flap on the hide lodge was opened and the council came out. We had heard no raised voices from within, just a murmur like bees around a hive. This time the villagers moved closer to us as the chief spoke, “We have heard your words and they were reasonable. You are right, you did not strike the first blow, we did and we are thankful that you are happy to bury the hurt. We are content for you to live on this side of the sea but this is not our decision only. We cannot give permission without we speak to the other clans of the tribe. We will have to convene a gathering of all of the chiefs and put your proposal to them.”
I nodded. It was a reasonable request and would be like our Thing. “And when will that be, Chief Wandering Moos?”
“When the new grass grows and the blossom returns, we will travel to the great water and there we will meet. If you return when the clan does, we will have an answer.”
That was not so bad; from what we had observed that would be at Einmánuður. It still might mean that some of the clan returned east but it might be that it delayed that journey. I had an answer.
I stood and held out my arm. The Chief frowned and then copied me, I clasped his forearm and he held my gaze and nodded, “You are a warrior, Shaman of the Bear. This has been good. We will not raid you and I hope, that you will not raid us.”
“You have my word on that.”
“Then all is good.”
Bear Tooth hung the wapapyaki around my neck and followed Long Sight from the camp. Fótr followed and then me. The clan formed two lines to watch us go and I saw the looks which had been of hatred were now of curiosity. We could sleep easier at night on Bear Island.
Leaving the village, we had just begun to descend through the trees and were headed towards the beach when I heard footsteps pounding behind me. The mail and the bear fur were tiring me and I was slow to turn. That saved my life. Fótr, Bear Tooth and Long Sight turned and then I felt great pain as something struck me on the back of the head. I almost stumbled but did not. I drew my sword and turned as Fótr raced past me with his blade drawn. I saw Eyes of Fire looking in horror. Fótr did not hesitate. He swung his sword and hacked through to the backbone. The angry young warrior lay dead in a pool of his own blood. Fótr had undone all of the good work we had begun. I had been safe. I saw the stone-headed spear lying on the ground. A combination of the bear fur and the mail hood I had borrowed from Ǫlmóðr Ragnarsson had kept me safe although I felt blood trickling down my neck. Now, as the village ran up, I wondered what would happen to us.
Chief Wandering Moos stopped when he saw his son and Fótr with the bloody blade in his hand. He knelt and stroked his son’s head. He said some words quietly and then rose. He walked over to me and I pointedly sheathed my sword. I did not want more blood on our hands. The Chief said, “I am sorry, Shaman of the Bear, that my headstrong son forgot the rules of the wapapyaki. He has paid a terrible price. Let that be an end to it and do not visit your wrath upon us for his foolish action.”
I could not believe it; he was asking our forgiveness even though his son had died. The Norns were spinning, “Chief Wandering Moos, our two people are more important than the actions of one misguided man.” I held out my arm, “We are friends.”
He clasped my arm and said, “We are friends but I will have my warriors escort you to your boat in case any of my son’s friends are as foolish as he.”
Long Sight walked next to me and he kept glancing at me as we headed towards the beach. I desperately wanted to take off the fur, mail and hood and examine the wound but that would ruin the illusion. My head felt as though a swarm of bees had taken it over.
Long Sight said, “It is good that you wish peace, Shaman of the Bear, for Eyes of Fire’s blow would have killed any other man yet you walk and talk as though nothing happened. Are you immortal?”
“Let us say, Long Sight, that we have great powers.”
The snekke was as we had left it and we boarded. I sat at the steering board while Bear Tooth raised the sail and Fótr untied us. The sun was setting behind us but the wind which had slowed us heading west now aided us as we sped east. We would be home shortly after dark. I could see that someone had lit a fire at the entrance to our bay and the smoke was rising like a beacon. When darkness fell, I would keep the fire to larboard.
“You almost undid all the good work there, Fótr.”
“I am sorry, but when he ran at you and threw the spear the blood came into my head and I did not think.”
Bear Tooth shook his head, “No, Captain, Fótr did the right thing. Eyes of Fire was a danger for he had been insulted. He would have come after us just to break the peace. It also demonstrated the power of the sword. I have never seen a body almost cut in two. I saw the faces of my tribe and they were terrified. We have won and I am confident that when the new grass comes, we will live on the mainland and we will have peace.”
It was much later when I realised that Bear Tooth had become a Viking for his words stirred the Norns and they spun once more. I did not know it then but his words were like the crack of doom for the plans of the clan. We headed for the bay and our home. The fire drew us towards safety. I took off the bear cloak, metal coif and padded helmet liner. My hand came away sticky with blood but it was not flowing. My precautions had worked and certainly saved my life.
Chapter 15
Padraig and Aed, along with Ebbe and my son, awaited us as we came slowly into the bay. We sailed passed the two drekar and slid up on the shingle and sand beach. Padraig and Aed secured it. “Well?”
