Authors: Jen Black
Her chin wobbled at the thought, and tears stung the back of her eyes. She blinked them away. Had she not always planned to escape? From the day the Vikings stole her, she had sworn to find her way home. Well, now she was free at last, and it was up to her to reach the next settlement and somehow persuade them to take her to Skye.
***
Once Oli was sure Emer had left on her long walk, he began to worry. He went looking for Flane and could not find him, but saw Skeggi amongst a group of men walking down to the jetty. “Skeggi, where’s Flane?”
Skeggi turned at the boy’s call. “No idea. We’ve been hunting, and I haven’t seen him since mid-day. Where’ve you been to get so dirty?”
Oli pushed his hair back off his forehead and shrugged. “He hasn’t come for food.”
He added such heavy emphasis to the last two words that Skeggi smiled. “He’ll be here any moment. What’s your rush?”
“Oh, nothing. Where’s Katla?”
“She’s been closeted with her father since her argument with Flane. Why?”
Oli shrugged again, wandered outside and stuck his face in the bucket of water more as a gesture to Emer than because he wanted to be clean before he ate. He shivered and groaned under the sting of cold water and wished with all his heart that she would come back and stay with Flane. He liked Emer much better than bossy, stuck-up Katla and he was sure Flane did, too.
A hand clamped down on his shoulder. He whirled, and then grinned. “Flane!”
“Where’s Emer? Have you seen her?”
“Not since this morning,” Oli said truthfully. “She’s probably already inside. Let’s go and see.”
A slave lit the last of the soapstone lamps with a taper as they walked in. Flane’s corner was empty. “Let’s eat,” Flane said, glancing down at the boy. “She’ll turn up soon.”
Oli experienced an unaccustomed twinge of guilt. The urge to tell Flane that Emer had gone was very strong, but he had promised to give her three days as a fair start before anyone set out after her.
“The little thief is probably hiding somewhere.” Katla’s overloud remark to one of her friends carried to Flane’s ears. “Simply proves her guilt, if you ask me.”
He turned, scowling. Katla saw it and glared back at him.
Skeggi walked into the hall, joined them and said he hadn’t seen Emer since early morning. “Oli was the last one to see her,” he pointed out. “You took her to the woods, didn’t you?”
Oli nodded, suddenly wary. “I took her some food. She’s hiding out for a while.”
“That’s no good,” Flane said. “She’s got to come back. Where did you take her?”
“Um…to my den.”
“Not that ancient stone cairn? Oli, you didn’t leave her there, did you?”
Oli nodded. “She’ll be all right, Flane, really.”
Flane looked at Skeggi. “We’ll go and bring her back as soon as we’ve eaten. I wouldn’t like to spend a night in that den of his, never mind Emer. She’ll be demented come morning.”
“There’s nothing wrong with my den!”
“Have you ever spent a night in it? No, I thought not.” Flane grinned. “It’s one of the cairns the old people left behind. They buried people under the stones, Oli.”
Oli pulled a face. “Ghosts don’t scare me!”
As soon as he’d finished his meal, Flane put a bowl of fish stew to one side for Emer. “Look after that,” he said to the boy, with a sidelong glance at Grendel. “And don’t let that dog eat it.” He lit a rush torch at the fire, and he and Skeggi set off.
It was darker in the woods where they leaves blocked out the last of the daylight, and the flame flickered eerily on the scarred tree trunks. “She’ll be scared to death,” Skeggi whispered. A faint wolf howl sounded somewhere out on the hillside.
Flane called Emer’s name as soon as they neared the cairn. “He wouldn’t have left her in the dark, would he? Emer!” He crouched down at the entrance to the cairn and called again. Cold, dank air drifted from the tunnel, and there was no sound from within.
“She’s not here,” Skeggi said blankly. “Where…?” He wheeled round as if expecting Emer to step out from behind a tree, but they were quite alone in the gloom of the forest. They called for some time, with no result and slowly made their way back to the steading.
Skeggi shook his head at last. “Flane, we’ve looked everywhere. She’s not here.”
“She must be somewhere. We have to find her.”
“We’ve checked Oli’s den, the stables, the byres, the hay loft and the bathing hut. Unless she’s crept in with the ducks or bedded down with the sow, she’s not in the steading.”
Flane stared at the small, round wattle-and-daub duck-house in the light of the torch and let out a half-snort of laughter. “Even Emer couldn’t get in there. I give up, then. She’s gone, and we don’t know where.”
“It’s full dark. Let’s get some sleep and start looking again in the morning.” Skeggi clapped a sympathetic hand on his friend’s shoulder. “We’ll start at first light, which is not far away now.”
Flane couldn’t sleep for a long time. He tossed, turned and went over snatches of his conversations with both Katla and Emer, remembered Oli running out into the woods while he talked to Katla on the jetty. He frowned. Oli must know something. She could have sworn him to secrecy. Emer would assume the marriage to Katla would go ahead, and she might be upset about that, but would she complicate everything by running away?
***
Emer had walked steadily through the morning, always alert, taking notice of her surroundings, keen to spot the markers Oli had drummed into her. It would not do to lose her way. She slept in the warmth of the afternoon and set off again in the evening. All through the short summer darkness she kept moving, chanting Oli’s directions to herself at regular intervals.
She walked slowly, careful of her footing. Hare and deer shied away from her; occasionally some heavy bird blundered into the air and sometimes the bracken rustled as a small creature fled her approach. Moon and starlight helped her keep going, and though the wind was soft on her face, the air was cool. She shivered and regretted her lack of adequate clothing. If a summer storm burst over her head, she would be drenched.
Doubts set in. Perhaps…she should not have listened to Oli. He was very bright and used to fending for himself, but he was, after all, only a child. She should have known better than to set out on this madcap venture.
***
Oli found Flane and Skeggi already awake, eating bread and cheese by the warm embers of the hall fire. He scrambled out of bed to join them, bit into a piece of bread and then found he couldn’t chew it. He spat the dry mess into his hand and offered it to Grendel.
Flane, chewing hard, noticed. “What’s the matter, lad? Off your food?”
Oli looked at Flane, and guilt overwhelmed him. “She’s run away.”
“What!” Flane’s brows shot up. “Where’s she gone? When?” His brows drew down toward his nose. “You weren’t going to tell me?”
Oli shrank back. “Don’t shout at me, Flane!”
Skeggi put a restraining hand on Flane’s arm.
“I’m not shouting at anyone!” Flane shouted. He twitched Skeggi’s hand off his arm. Seeing the shock in Oli’s face, he made an effort to control himself. “If I’m shouting,” he added more quietly, “it’s because it relieves my feelings, that’s all.”
“You’ll wake everyone up,” Skeggi said mildly.
Flane swung back to Oli. “Well? Why didn’t you tell me she’d gone?”
Oli managed an uncertain smile. “She made me promise.”
“Perhaps it is just as well she’s gone,” Skeggi said. “You are better off without her. You should marry Katla.”
“Don’t make my decisions for me, Skeggi.” Flane snapped. “Where she’s gone, Oli? Do you know?”
“Snorri’s settlement.”
“That’s three days away on foot. When did she go?”
Oli coughed miserably and cleared his throat. “Yesterday morning. She wants to go to Skye. She—”
“Has an aunt there, I know!”
Oli sat very still, both hands gripping his thin arms tight. Grendel pressed close to his side, whining.
Flane forced a smile. “I’m sorry I shouted, Oli, but for the love of Thor, tell me everything you know.”
Oli found relief in the telling. When he finished, Flane seemed speechless. “She set off while I was arguing with Katla on the jetty? But that’s most of a day and a night she’s ahead of us!”
“I know.” Oli gulped, nodded and wiped his wrist across his nose. “She wanted a head start before anyone chased her. She made me promise not to tell you for three days.” He looked up as Flane got to his feet. “Will you go after her?”
“Of course I’ll go after her!”
A hesitant smile broke across the boy’s pale face. “Will you bring her back?”
A feminine voice broke in. “Of course he’ll bring her back.” Katla stood behind them, her eyes red-rimmed and puffy from weeping. She glared at Flane as if he were her worst enemy. “He’d fight Odin himself to get her back, wouldn’t you, Flane?”
“Katla—” Flane stretched out a hand toward her. He did not love her, but he had grown up with her and felt some sympathy for her.
Katla jerked away from him. “Don’t touch me! I hate you, Flane Ketilsson, and I will not rest until your bones lie in the earth, and those of your bed slave beside you!”
Flane’s hand fell back to his side. The two men and the boy stared at her in stony silence. Flane inclined his head and spoke with grim irony. “It is just as well, then, that we shall not marry.”
She glared at him. “My father requires me to marry Longnose. The steading will not come to you now!”
“So be it,” Flane said without a hint of regret.
Katla stalked out of the hall, her cheeks pink with high emotion, and the three of them watched her go. Unnoticed, Oli got to his feet. The men’s voices followed him as he headed for the small door at the back of the hall.
“Phew!” Skeggi blew air through pursed lips. “You made an enemy there, my lad.”
Flane shrugged. “She’ll get over it when she’s married to Snorri and lording it over two settlements.” He looked round. “Where’s Oli gone?”
***
Oli watched Katla turn the corner of the hall. Her expression reminded him of his friend Erland, who always sulked if he lost a fight and wouldn’t smile again until he’d got his own back on whoever had bested him. Katla was used to having everything she wanted, and Oli thought she was likely to do something drastic, just like Erland. He wiped his hands down the front of his tunic, and set off after her.
Once outside he grabbed Grendel before the dog scampered too far ahead, held him by his collar and cautiously peered around the corner. Katla headed straight for the stables, and then beyond. Apprehension flared in Oli’s belly. He ran across open ground, tip-toed along the side of the building and stopped when he heard voices. Pressing his shoulders to the wood, he held a wriggling Grendel in his arms and stole a glance around the corner.
Katla shook the kennel-boy awake and issued instructions so vehemently Oli heard every word. His eyes widened. He turned and bolted back to the hall, shedding Grendel from his arms on the way. He flew through the main doors, shrieking. A few of the men were up and about, seeking food and ale. A rumble of concern went up at the boy’s shouts but Oli didn’t hesitate. He threw himself at Flane and words tumbled out. “She’s set the dogs off after Emer!”
Flane and Skeggi stared at him, and then both spoke at once. “What? What did you say?”
Oli swallowed, took a deep breath and said it all again slowly. “I heard her! Katla told Karli to set three of the dogs off. You remember the bit of cloth Emer used to dry her face every morning? Well, Katla gave it to him and told him to use that to give the dogs Emer’s scent. She told him she didn’t care if the girl never came back.” Oli trembled. He stared up at Flane. “If they catch her…”
Flane dropped to one knee and caught Oli in a brief, rough clasp. Reassured by the familiar odour and warmth of the embrace, Oli found the courage to let go. Flane met his gaze. “The scent will be cold after a day and night, but Skeggi and I will do our best to stop them, won’t we, Skeggi? But we have to go now, right now.”
He bit his tongue to prevent the words in his head from being said aloud. Before the dogs find her…
Skeggi was already at the door. Flane followed him, and hesitated as Katla stalked back into the hall. When she would have walked by Flane without a word, he dragged her to a halt and then let go of her arm as if he could not bear to touch her. “Have you been to the kennels? Did you set the dogs after Emer?”
Her brows rose in two smooth arcs. “Yes.”
Flane’s hand lashed out with the speed of a striking stoat. His palm connected with Katla’s cheek.
Oli let out a yip of excitement that went unnoticed as Katla stumbled against the door post and slid to her knees. She looked up, one hand to her face, her breathing unsteady, tears springing and overflowing. Oli danced up and down on the spot, his hand clapped across his mouth to hide his huge grin.
Flane towered over her. “I almost feel sorry for Longnose, who does not know what a cold hearted bitch he will get for a wife.”
“I will have you whipped for that remark.” The deep voice rang across the hall.
Flane jerked round. Skuli Grey Cloak stood not ten yards away, his eyes cold and hard. “Take him! Take him to the whipping post! He will learn not to dishonour my daughter.”
Men seized Flane, and in the confusion Skeggi stood riveted by the door, his glance flicking from Flane to Katla and back. Katla struggled to her feet, wiped blood from her lip and stared after the struggling group that forced Flane outside.
Oli edged by, hoping not to be noticed, but Katla saw, and made to strike him. Grendel showed his teeth and growled. Oli sidled out into the sunshine and called his dog. Grendel ran after him.
Katla lifted her head. “Tell your friend Flane not to come back here.”
Oli did not stop, gave no sign he had heard. From a safe distance he glanced back in time to see Katla crumple against the doorpost, saw her slide down to the floor, cradle her head in her arms against the wood and cry as if her heart would break.
Chapter Fourteen
Grey Cloak’s warriors, his own companions, men he had thought to lead one day, held him fast and would not look him in the eye. Flane snarled and struggled, intending to fight them every foot of the way to the whipping post.