The Long Hunt (The Strongbow Saga) (41 page)

"What of my sister Sigrid?" I asked.

Herigar looked uncomfortable. "Birka's market is one of the largest in the north for the slave trade," he said. "It is not a thing I am proud of. I, myself, follow the White Christ. I believe it is wrong for men to buy and sell each other. It is wrong to make men into property. The Son of God taught that we should strive to treat others as we would have them treat us. When I became one of his followers, I freed all of my own slaves. But the slave trade brings much wealth through Birka, and the king's tax upon it is something he has no interest in giving up."

I did not care about Birka's market, or the king's tax. I did not care what Herigar believed. "What of my sister?" I asked again.

"After he arrived in Birka, Toke let it be known that he had a woman of rare value and beauty to sell. She was of noble birth, he claimed, and had never been known by a man."

"When you heard a woman of noble birth was to be sold, you made no effort to stop it?" I asked.

Herigar shook his head. "She was not Svear. Selling her broke no laws of our land." He continued. "There were, at the time, three traders here in Birka who travel down the rivers of the eastern road. Buyers for the slave markets of the Araby kingdoms at its far end pay high prices for fair-skinned women with golden or red hair. Such are greatly valued as concubines by the nobles there. One of the traders even had an Araby buyer with him, who had made the long journey up the eastern road to see our lands.

"For three days Toke plied the three with tales of the beauty of this woman, but he would not let any of them see her. Then, on the fourth day, he offered her for sale. It was in a ship's tent he had set up upon the shore. By now rumors about this woman had spread throughout Birka, and many wished to attend the sale just to see her. But only those who showed Toke they possessed at least enough to meet his minimum price, the amount at which he would open bidding—a full mark of silver—were allowed into the tent. The three eastern road traders and the Arab of course all attended, as did several other merchants from the town. I attended, too, out of curiosity. Toke could hardly have barred me from entering.

"Toke provided us all with wine and ale and food. No doubt he hoped that drink might help loosen the purse strings of the buyers. While we waited, he had your sister examined. There is a crone who works for the slavers here in Birka. When it is claimed that a female slave has never been with a man—a thing that makes her of greater value—she inspects them, for a fee. The crone came out and told us it was as Toke had said—the woman had never known a man.

"Then Toke brought her into the tent, with a cloak wrapped around her, and stood her in front of us. He jerked the cloak away, and left her standing there naked for all to see. He allowed any who wished to stand near her, to walk around her, to examine her closely. Only actually touching her was forbidden.

"All that he had said was true. Your sister is a woman of rare beauty. For that alone, she would have brought a high price. But it was more than just her beauty that excited the traders, and drove them to bid higher and higher against each other. Most women in such circumstances would have been weeping, or shaking with fear. But your sister shed not a single tear, and the only thing that showed in her eyes and on her face was anger, and hatred for us all. The traders all agreed that the nobles who would bid on her, down in the Araby kingdoms at the far end of the eastern road, would pay a fortune for the sport of breaking such a woman to their will.

"In the end, it was the trader who had brought the buyer with him up from the south who won her. Together, they offered three and a half marks of silver for her. It is an unheard of amount for a single slave."

"You said Toke has already gone. My sister…Sigrid?" I asked, although in my heart, I already knew the answer.

Herigar shook his head. "The trader who bought her left Birka the day before you arrived. By now he and his Arab companion may already be upon the eastern road."

Before he left us, Herigar requested that Hastein discourage any of our men from entering the town. "I know now, of course, that you are not a threat," he explained. "But for several days the folk of this town have believed, as did I, that you were part of an attack on Birka, and on them. They have lived in fear these past days, and fear often breeds anger. Though you are not allied with Anund—and I will make certain that is widely known—still, you are Danes. The folk here expect that someday soon Anund
will
come with a force of Danes to attack Birka. I do not wish there to be any trouble between your men and the townsfolk. I will send merchants here to look at your goods and trade with you."

He did more than that. Herigar seemed truly remorseful for what had occurred. Toward evening, a cart arrived carrying three kegs of ale, four roasted suckling pigs, plus baskets filled with sausages, bread, and cheeses. It was a feast extended as an offering of peace. By evening's end, our men were drinking toasts to his generosity and good will. All were in good spirits, for we had fought and beaten a stronger adversary without any losses of our own, had escaped what for a time had seemed a certain death, and now looked to profit, as well, by selling the goods stolen by Sigvald's band during their months of piracy.

All were in good spirits save me. Toke had fled, and Sigrid was lost.

"Do not be discouraged," Hastein told me. "For now, Toke has escaped us. But we know where he is bound. I give you my word—in the spring, we will follow him to Ireland. By then, those of our company who are wounded will once more be hale, and after spending a winter at ease in their homes, the rest of my men, including Svein, will be eager to join us."

I did not answer.

"I am sorry about your sister, Sigrid," Hastein continued. "But she is gone. There is no way now that we can find her. Her fate has been set by the Norns, and the paths of her life and yours will not cross again. You must accept that."

I knew what Hastein said was true. But I could not drive from my mind the image of Sigrid, standing alone, naked and helpless before a group of slavers bidding against each other to purchase her. I could not drive from my mind the images of what would happen to her after the slaver who had bought her sold her again.

Later that night, while the rest of the crew were drinking toasts to Herigar with the fine ale he had provided, Rauna came to where I was sitting, alone in the dark on the deck of the
Gull
, my back against my sea chest. I wanted to be alone with my thoughts, and wished she would go away.

"The man you were hunting—the bad man—he is gone from Birka, yes?" she asked.

I nodded.

"Your sister—he sold her to be a slave, as you feared?"

I nodded again, and turned my head away, willing her to go and leave me alone.

"And the men who bought her have taken her away?"

"Yes," I said, sighing heavily. "They have taken her away."

"My father was a very great hunter—the greatest among all of our people. He taught me much. I am in
your
debt. You saved me twice. I am very good at tracking. I will help you follow these men and find your sister."

It was a kindness so unexpected that it clutched at my heart, and for a few moments I was unable to speak. I looked at her, kneeling in front of me, and said, "I thank you. But they have taken her across the sea. I do not know where she is. I cannot help her. No one can."

*   *   *

The merchants promised by Herigar appeared the next morning. They were a surly lot. Torvald, whom Hastein had put in charge of the negotiations, quickly became angry at the prices they offered for our various goods. He had envisioned the prizes captured from Sigvald's camp bringing in far more wealth. When one merchant's offer for a bale of furs provoked him into a shouted tirade of curses and insults about the man's parentage, Hastein took over the bargaining.

"Is this the best offer you will make for these?" he demanded.

"It is the best offer I will make to a Dane," the man sneered.

"We have ten such bales. Will you take them all for the same price each?"

The merchant, a fat man with beady eyes, was clearly surprised. "Aye, I will," he replied.

"Then they are yours. Give me the silver—do not try to short weigh me on it—and take them."

Hastein walked along the pier where the rest of the goods were stacked, and quickly found buyers for them. The Birka merchants smirked at each other, for the prices Hastein accepted would allow them to make generous profits when they resold the goods.

Einar and I had been watching the negotiations. Hastein walked over to us, a disgusted look on his face. "They are little better than robbers," he said. "But whatever we take for these goods will be profit, as we paid nothing for them. I wish to be done with this and be gone. I am eager to see the last of Birka, and we have a long journey ahead of us before we reach Jutland again. Winter fast approaches, and I would have us off the sea. I will not sell the walrus tusks or amber here, though. Their value is too great to throw away. We will take them back with us, and sell them for a fair price in Hedeby."

*   *   *

That evening, after the merchants had left and the goods that had crowded our decks were gone, we were readying the
Gull
and the
Serpent
for departure on the morrow. Torvald sent men to gather discarded ballast stones that were scattered along the shore so he could rebalance the ships. He had had to remove many from inside the bottoms of the hulls of the
Gull
and
Serpent
before they had sailed from Oeland, to compensate for the weight of the goods we'd taken from the pirates' camp.

Herigar—for once not accompanied by an armed guard—walked down the dock to our ships. A tall man with blond hair and beard was with him. In his stature and build he much resembled Hastein, though he looked to be somewhat younger.

Assuming Herigar had come to say his farewells, Hastein and Torvald met him on the pier between the two ships. I joined them, as did many others of our company, including Einar and Gudfred. Although we had once thought him a foe, and would have killed him if we'd had the chance, now all had come to view the captain of Birka's garrison with great respect.

"So you are leaving Birka?" Herigar asked.

Hastein nodded. "Aye. At first light we sail for Oeland. We left some of our company recovering there from wounds, after our battle with the pirates. Then from Oeland, it will be back to Jutland, and our homes."

"I wish you a safe and speedy journey." Turning to me, Herigar indicated the man with him and said, "This is Rurik. He has only recently arrived in Birka, although I knew his father years before. He has traveled the eastern road. He has information that may be of interest to you."

"Herigar has told me that your sister was sold to a slave trader," Rurik said, "and that he has left Birka, headed for the eastern road."

"Yes," I said. "That is true."

"They will be sailing for Aldeigjuborg. It is at the northern end of the eastern road, and lies almost due east from Birka, across the Austmarr. Once they cross the sea, they will enter a long, narrow bay, and must sail to its far end. A river empties into the bay there. The river is not long, and leads to a great lake, much like the lake Birka is located on. Another, much longer river empties into this lake on its southern shore. Aldeigjuborg is there, on that river."

"How long a journey is it?" I asked.

He studied the
Gull
and
Serpent
briefly. "In fast ships such as these, even if you have only modest winds, you can reach the end of the bay in three days' time, sailing without stopping. With stronger winds, the journey will be briefer than that."

"The men who bought your sister are not sailing in a longship," Herigar volunteered. "They are in a knarr. They are carrying many female slaves in addition to her, plus other cargo. They cannot sail nearly as swiftly as these ships can. And they may not sail straight through. If they break their journey for the night, once they reach the bay on the far side of the Austmarr…."

"Hastein!" I cried, turning to face him. "It is possible we can catch them!"

He shook his head. "It is too long a chance, Halfdan. They left Birka five days ago. Even if their ship is slower than ours, too much time has passed. By now they surely will have reached Aldeigjuborg, or at the very least be nearing it. They almost certainly will have already departed down the eastern road by the time we could get there. I am truly sorry, but that is a journey I am not willing to take."

"They may not leave Aldeigjuborg so soon," Rurik said. "The eastern road is very long and very dangerous. They will not travel it alone. There is safety in numbers. They will surely wait until other merchants are ready to make the journey, as well. And they cannot travel the road in a knarr. They will need a ship—or more likely several ships, if they are bringing many slaves and much cargo—with shallower drafts and more oars than a knarr, for they will be traveling upriver for the first part of the journey and may often have to row, and there are several portages where the ships must be dragged over land. It will take them some time to prepare for this journey. They will not leave Aldeigjuborg quickly. There is even a chance, with winter so near, that they may bide there until spring. Many of the eastern road merchants make their homes there."

"We do not know the way," Hastein protested, sounding exasperated.

"I can guide you," Rurik offered. "I am seeking passage to Aldeigjuborg, for my kinfolk are there, and I have been very long away."

"Surely this is a journey the Norns wish us to take," I pleaded. "They would not have provided us with a guide, and a chance to find Sigrid, if that were not so. She is my family," I added. "The only family I have left."

Hastein scanned the faces of the men who had gathered around, watching and listening. "We sailed on this voyage to hunt Toke," he told them." That is why all of you came. If we do this, it will only be because we all agree to it. I will not make this decision alone."