the beach. But I had no boots either and so running over the jagged prominence would not be easy.
‘Can you swim back, Cynethryth?’ I asked. She blinked slowly, spilling a tear which settled on her lip, shivering. She nodded and I cursed the luck that had brought Fjord-Elk now when all I wanted was standing before me. I searched Cynethryth’s face for one lingering moment, then turned and ran to the rocks and began to climb. The lower rocks, which were submerged at high tide, were treacherous with slick brown leaves and I fell more than once, cutting my knees and hands. I ran and jumped and scrambled over skin-tearing barnacles and crunching mussels. I splashed through sun-warmed pools where things that looked like blood clots lurked, and I must have looked like a wild animal, naked, my dark hair and its raven’s wing trailing. And as I ran I felt the grin spread on my face and that grin became a snarl, a wolf’s snarl, because the worm Ealdred had come and we would be unleashed to the kill. I jumped the last cleft, landing heavily on a smooth rock, then leapt down to the sand to see the Norsemen in a great, seething knot. They were fully armed with shields and mail and standing before Sigurd who, with his shining helmet and huge spear, could have been mighty Týr himself.
The men turned to me and more than a few of them laughed at my nakedness, but Sigurd did not laugh. ‘You look like a mountain troll, Raven,’ he growled, his top lip hitched, baring his white teeth.
‘I came as fast as I could, lord,’ I panted, wincing because my feet felt as though they were on fire. I glanced down to see that they were torn and bloody. Then Floki’s cousin Halldor winked at me and I instinctively glanced back at the rocks and saw a narrow high-up ledge from which Halldor must have spied Fjord-Elk in time to warn the others. I grimaced becausefrom there there was every chance he would have had a good view of the cove, too.
‘Now we repay the ormstunga!’ Sigurd bawled, and I thought calling Ealdred a serpent tongue was an insult to snakes, as the knot of men broke apart and I ran down to the shoreline where my clothes lay a spear’s length from being stolen by the rising tide. But the water would be too deep to wade out to Serpent . In mail and helmets we would sink like rocks. Then the Norse-men were running past me, crashing into the surf.
‘Here, lad,’ Penda said, handing me my shield and helmet, which I had left further up the beach. ‘I’d wager you don’t want to miss this.’
‘That wager would not make you rich,’ I said, hopping as I pulled on my breeks. Penda bent and picked up my brynja and I wriggled into it like an eel. I glanced across to see that Sigurd had thrown one end of a shorter rope over one of Serpent ’s mooring ropes and yanked it down, enabling his men to pull themselves along it without fear of drowning. Out they went, hungry for blood, and I could see Bjorn and Bjarni standing at Serpent ’s bow yawping for them to move faster. Father Egfrith stood a few feet away in the surf, hurling prayers to the White Christ between imploring Sigurd to resist his bloodlust and seek peace terms.
‘But for the love of God get the book, Sigurd! You must get the book!’ the monk shrieked, his eyes wide and a strange look on his weasel face that could have been terror or elation.
Svein the Red stopped at the waterline and turned to me, a savage grin breaking his huge red beard. ‘Hurry, Raven,’ he said, then turned and lumbered splashing into the sea.
‘So what happened?’ Penda said, looking me in the eye and scratching the scar on his face. He was mailed and battle-ready and I could not believe he was asking me such a thing at such a time. ‘Did you plough the girl?’
I looked out past the breakers but could not yet seeCynethryth this side of the rocky outcrop. Penda and I were the last. Even old Asgot was halfway along Serpent ’s mooring rope, moving as quickly as any of the
‘Can you swim back, Cynethryth?’ I asked. She blinked slowly, spilling a tear which settled on her lip, shivering. She nodded and I cursed the luck that had brought Fjord-Elk now when all I wanted was standing before me. I searched Cynethryth’s face for one lingering moment, then turned and ran to the rocks and began to climb. The lower rocks, which were submerged at high tide, were treacherous with slick brown leaves and I fell more than once, cutting my knees and hands. I ran and jumped and scrambled over skin-tearing barnacles and crunching mussels. I splashed through sun-warmed pools where things that looked like blood clots lurked, and I must have looked like a wild animal, naked, my dark hair and its raven’s wing trailing. And as I ran I felt the grin spread on my face and that grin became a snarl, a wolf’s snarl, because the worm Ealdred had come and we would be unleashed to the kill. I jumped the last cleft, landing heavily on a smooth rock, then leapt down to the sand to see the Norsemen in a great, seething knot. They were fully armed with shields and mail and standing before Sigurd who, with his shining helmet and huge spear, could have been mighty Týr himself.
The men turned to me and more than a few of them laughed at my nakedness, but Sigurd did not laugh. ‘You look like a mountain troll, Raven,’ he growled, his top lip hitched, baring his white teeth.
‘I came as fast as I could, lord,’ I panted, wincing because my feet felt as though they were on fire. I glanced down to see that they were torn and bloody. Then Floki’s cousin Halldor winked at me and I instinctively glanced back at the rocks and saw a narrow high-up ledge from which Halldor must have spied Fjord-Elk in time to warn the others. I grimaced becausefrom there there was every chance he would have had a good view of the cove, too.
‘Now we repay the ormstunga!’ Sigurd bawled, and I thought calling Ealdred a serpent tongue was an insult to snakes, as the knot of men broke apart and I ran down to the shoreline where my clothes lay a spear’s length from being stolen by the rising tide. But the water would be too deep to wade out to Serpent . In mail and helmets we would sink like rocks. Then the Norse-men were running past me, crashing into the surf.
‘Here, lad,’ Penda said, handing me my shield and helmet, which I had left further up the beach. ‘I’d wager you don’t want to miss this.’
‘That wager would not make you rich,’ I said, hopping as I pulled on my breeks. Penda bent and picked up my brynja and I wriggled into it like an eel. I glanced across to see that Sigurd had thrown one end of a shorter rope over one of Serpent ’s mooring ropes and yanked it down, enabling his men to pull themselves along it without fear of drowning. Out they went, hungry for blood, and I could see Bjorn and Bjarni standing at Serpent ’s bow yawping for them to move faster. Father Egfrith stood a few feet away in the surf, hurling prayers to the White Christ between imploring Sigurd to resist his bloodlust and seek peace terms.
‘But for the love of God get the book, Sigurd! You must get the book!’ the monk shrieked, his eyes wide and a strange look on his weasel face that could have been terror or elation.
Svein the Red stopped at the waterline and turned to me, a savage grin breaking his huge red beard. ‘Hurry, Raven,’ he said, then turned and lumbered splashing into the sea.
‘So what happened?’ Penda said, looking me in the eye and scratching the scar on his face. He was mailed and battle-ready and I could not believe he was asking me such a thing at such a time. ‘Did you plough the girl?’
I looked out past the breakers but could not yet seeCynethryth this side of the rocky outcrop. Penda and I were the last. Even old Asgot was halfway along Serpent ’s mooring rope, moving as quickly as any of the
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