in moonlight. Some of the Danes recoiled at this but Tufi seemed to care not at all about the thing’s power and if anything made a show of sweeping it through the air to unnerve his friends. ‘It was wrapped in a rotten skin and locked in a chest,’ he said. ‘It’s heavy, too. Imagine how many jarl torcs or arm rings you could make from this.’ Many, I thought, for it was as long as my arm.
‘And I’ll wager it belongs to one of those sorry-looking bastards,’ Penda said, pointing at one of the severed heads, whose brown beard looked neater than most of ours, which was an odd thing given the circumstances.
‘So these blaumen have no love for the White Christ either,’ Byrnjolf said, twisting a braid round a thick finger. ‘Maybewe should have traded with them instead of killing them. We could have given them Sigurd’s Christ men and they could have given us their women.’
The others laughed at this and I chose not to tell Penda what Byrnjolf had said. ‘Just be glad your head is not drowning in a blauman’s barrel, Byrnjolf,’ I said, to which he nodded solemnly. ‘Now get back to work. If our scheme is running straight we don’t have long. Gather what silver you can find and burn whatever will take a flame. Then rally by Gerd’s Tit,’ I said, pointing at the strange empty building. ‘Bring cooking pots too and fill them with earth.’
‘In Denmark we eat meat, Raven, not dirt,’ a tall man with an ash-flecked black beard said, his brows woven together.
‘The pots are for dropping, not eating,’ I said, ‘but we will need food so bring anything you can find. Two or three goats too. And bring your heads, Gorm,’ I said, glancing at the Dane, who grinned until he realized that I was serious. ‘They’re heavy aren’t they?’ I said.
‘As heavy as any other head I suppose,’ Gorm admitted with a shrug.
‘So bring them,’ I said, turning my back on him. Then I walked back to Gerd’s Tit, aiming a kick at the still barking dog and almost getting my foot bitten off for my trouble.
A cookfire was already crackling and popping and as the smell of roasting meat wafted over to slicken my mouth, I hoped we would have more luck than the Christians whose heads were now stuck on spears over Danish shoulders.
CHAPTER FOUR
THE BLAUMEN CAME OUT OF THE RED GLARE OF THE EAST. THE FIRST arrived on tall, lissom horses and lined the scrubby ridge above the beach, which suggested they were no fools. They must have ridden along the coast trying to find our ship, which would give them an idea of how many we were. I was sure Ogn and the men aboard Sea-Arrow would have been keen-eyed enough to see the riders coming. They would have sailed out of the blaumen’s reach and would be holding in the bay a short distance off shore. But we were now cut off from the sea and so the blaumen thought they could finish us.
‘Your eyes are younger than mine. How many do you see?’ Penda asked. We were up on the lookout platform of Gerd’s Tit, shielding our eyes against the rising sun. That dawn was dry and fine and the sky was a bowl of blue stretching beyond imagining. High up, higher than the black specks of birds, a few thin clouds skated east across the roof of the world on winds that did not reach us far below.
‘It’s hard to count them when they keep moving like that,’ I said. ‘Twenty-five? Thirty?’ The horses were tossing their heads and whinnying, excited perhaps by their riders’ nerves and the prospect of a fight. Beasts are like that, they can smell bloodbefore it’s even spilled. Perhaps those are ravens up there , I thought, glancing up at the sky, patiently waiting because they know there will be flesh to feast on soon enough .
‘There’ll be more before long,’ Penda said. ‘The silver-light bastards who have to walk on their own two legs will turn up and then we’ll have a fight on our hands.’ He was right, for in the time it takes to put an edge on a sword, another war band
‘And I’ll wager it belongs to one of those sorry-looking bastards,’ Penda said, pointing at one of the severed heads, whose brown beard looked neater than most of ours, which was an odd thing given the circumstances.
‘So these blaumen have no love for the White Christ either,’ Byrnjolf said, twisting a braid round a thick finger. ‘Maybewe should have traded with them instead of killing them. We could have given them Sigurd’s Christ men and they could have given us their women.’
The others laughed at this and I chose not to tell Penda what Byrnjolf had said. ‘Just be glad your head is not drowning in a blauman’s barrel, Byrnjolf,’ I said, to which he nodded solemnly. ‘Now get back to work. If our scheme is running straight we don’t have long. Gather what silver you can find and burn whatever will take a flame. Then rally by Gerd’s Tit,’ I said, pointing at the strange empty building. ‘Bring cooking pots too and fill them with earth.’
‘In Denmark we eat meat, Raven, not dirt,’ a tall man with an ash-flecked black beard said, his brows woven together.
‘The pots are for dropping, not eating,’ I said, ‘but we will need food so bring anything you can find. Two or three goats too. And bring your heads, Gorm,’ I said, glancing at the Dane, who grinned until he realized that I was serious. ‘They’re heavy aren’t they?’ I said.
‘As heavy as any other head I suppose,’ Gorm admitted with a shrug.
‘So bring them,’ I said, turning my back on him. Then I walked back to Gerd’s Tit, aiming a kick at the still barking dog and almost getting my foot bitten off for my trouble.
A cookfire was already crackling and popping and as the smell of roasting meat wafted over to slicken my mouth, I hoped we would have more luck than the Christians whose heads were now stuck on spears over Danish shoulders.
CHAPTER FOUR
THE BLAUMEN CAME OUT OF THE RED GLARE OF THE EAST. THE FIRST arrived on tall, lissom horses and lined the scrubby ridge above the beach, which suggested they were no fools. They must have ridden along the coast trying to find our ship, which would give them an idea of how many we were. I was sure Ogn and the men aboard Sea-Arrow would have been keen-eyed enough to see the riders coming. They would have sailed out of the blaumen’s reach and would be holding in the bay a short distance off shore. But we were now cut off from the sea and so the blaumen thought they could finish us.
‘Your eyes are younger than mine. How many do you see?’ Penda asked. We were up on the lookout platform of Gerd’s Tit, shielding our eyes against the rising sun. That dawn was dry and fine and the sky was a bowl of blue stretching beyond imagining. High up, higher than the black specks of birds, a few thin clouds skated east across the roof of the world on winds that did not reach us far below.
‘It’s hard to count them when they keep moving like that,’ I said. ‘Twenty-five? Thirty?’ The horses were tossing their heads and whinnying, excited perhaps by their riders’ nerves and the prospect of a fight. Beasts are like that, they can smell bloodbefore it’s even spilled. Perhaps those are ravens up there , I thought, glancing up at the sky, patiently waiting because they know there will be flesh to feast on soon enough .
‘There’ll be more before long,’ Penda said. ‘The silver-light bastards who have to walk on their own two legs will turn up and then we’ll have a fight on our hands.’ He was right, for in the time it takes to put an edge on a sword, another war band
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