Viking Treasure (19 page)

We hunted deer. This was the time of year to do so. When winter came and food was scarce some deer would die.  It was better that we take the weaker, slower ones now so that the herd would be stronger.  We did not hunt for the pleasure.  It was to hone skills and to find food. The more skilful the prey then the better it was for us. A man was a harder beast to hunt. Wolf Killer had a large forest to the north and west of his home.  We had passed through part of it on our journey.  The trees were close together and hunting would be challenging. Two of Wolf Killer's men held our horses as we entered the wood.

I allowed my son, Wolf Killer, to lead for this was his land and he knew the trails. Ragnar went by his side followed by Siggi Flat Nose. I walked behind Gruffyd and Garth who held his sling shot. I had hunted enough in my life.  If I did not kill then it would not be something which would worry me. I did not need my skills improving. This way I could watch my young son and his technique. I saw him and Garth watching Ragnar and emulating him.  Ragnar in turn watched Wolf Killer.  They placed their feet.  They did not step. When Wolf Killer stopped and sniffed they did so too. I smiled.  They would not know yet how to use their noses but when we spoke of this later we would tell them what they had smelled. We carried our bow and an arrow in one hand.  The other we held out before us.  That way we used the sense of touch.

I was slightly to the side of the others. My fingers touched a wet leaf. I smelled my finger. A stag had marked his territory. I clicked my tongue.  The others stopped and turned. I rubbed my finger and thumb together and sniffed. I pointed at the leaf. Wolf Killer nodded and began to angle more to the left. I had the trail. They moved through the trees. I moved my bow and arrow into my left hand.  I had to be ready to knock an arrow and loose in a flash. There were not just deer in these woods; wild boar roamed too.  I had had to deal with wild boars before.  I had a son and grandson to protect.

Wolf Killer stopped.  He had the scent of something.  He readied his bow and Ragnar and Gruffyd did the same. Garth put a stone in his slingshot. Siggi and I watched, not ahead, but to the side. The hunt was for the young ones.  We watched them. The small herd had been behind a stand of elder. They must have caught the scent of man for they leapt. It caught both Ragnar and Gruffyd by surprise.  Their arrows flew and struck the older hind but they were not mortal wounds. Garth was more accurate.  He managed to catch the deer on the side of the head and it staggered as it fled. The deer took off through the forest leaving a trail of blood as she ran.

"Follow her and end her misery." Wolf Killer's voice was harsh. The three ran and we followed.

"Do not be harsh on them, Wolf Killer.  They had little time to react."

"You taught me to be silent and ready, father.  Should I not do the same?"

I said, quietly, "And you have forgotten when you did the same on the slopes of Snaefell? When Snorri had to chase after the doe and finish her off."

I saw realisation strike his face, "I was young."

"As are these two. The third had but a slingshot but he did not flinch and hit the prey.  Praise what they do right and not what they do wrong!"

When we reached them we saw that they had found her and Ragnar had slit her throat to end her suffering. Siggi nodded his approval.  "Now take her heart.  You two slew her, you should share in the victory."

The two cousins looked at each other.  I saw the apprehensive looks on their faces. They did not wish to make a mistake. I took out my hunting knife and handed it to Gruffyd.  "This has a good edge.  Cut her open and find the heart."

He nodded and took the knife. It was sharp and, as he ripped up her middle the intestines and guts flooded out.  I saw his face as he gagged but he bit back and carried on.  The smell would be vile but it was a rite of passage. When he had opened the beast Ragnar took his own knife and said, "Thank you cousin.  I will find the heart." He put his hand and knife inside and with one slice brought out the heart.

He was about to bite into it when Siggi said, kindly, "It will be better if it is cooked.  The heart of the wolf you eat raw but not the deer.  I will get a fire going while you take out the rest of the guts.  We will leave those as an offering to the forest."

As they did so I smiled, "Olaf Leather Neck would think it a waste to let such food go back to the forest.  When Olaf hunts then nothing remains."

Once the deer was gutted and the fire was going the heart was speared on a branch to cook.  Wolf Killer and I found a sapling which we cut to carry back the deer. Wolf Killer smiled. "You are right, father, they did well.  I had forgotten Snaefell and the deer. That seems a lifetime ago."

"As does my time in the mountains with old Ragnar. We seem to have lives which we live and then move on to another life."

As they watched the heart being cooked Garth said to me, quietly, "My stone hit the deer too, grandfather.  Can I not eat of the heart?"

I realised that he had been overlooked. "Of course you can. You boys share the heart with young Garth here.  He too hunted."

Ragnar grinned, "Of course, little brother.  Come and join us.  Three is a lucky number anyway!"

The boys enjoyed the cooked deer heart more than they would have the raw variety.  All three swelled with pride as they ate it although I noticed that they did not eat it all.  We let them carry the carcass back to the horses and with it slung over the back of the spare mount they led it back to the hall.

Einar and his ten warriors arrived three days later. We had hunted in the meantime but not had any success. Sometimes it happened that way.  We had had some success and the boys were happy. Einar and his men had walked from Seddes' Burgh.  I was intrigued by that. We rode whenever we could.

I had met Einar but that was before his elevation to jarl.  He had a short mail byrnie and an open helmet.  His sword was shorter than mine. His shield bore a device; it was a wild boar with red eyes.  He had been one of my son's Wild Boars and taken that device for his own.  That was good. He was young; about the same age as Raibeart.  That too was as it should be. He could gather young warriors around him.  That had been the way with Prince Butar and Jarl Thorfinn Blue Scar. He would make mistakes but so long as he survived then he would learn from them.

He dropped to one knee before me and bowed his head, "I come, Jarl Dragonheart, to be oathsworn.  I serve your son and I would serve you."

I took out my sword.  I saw the eyes of his men widen as they saw the legendary blade.  I held the hilt for him to hold.  "Then swear on this, Jarl Einar Thordson.  It is Ragnar's Spirit but know that the sword holds all oaths as binding."

"Like you, lord, I swear I shall never be foresworn." He grasped the hilt.  "I swear to serve Jarl Dragonheart and to give my life for him!"

I reversed the sword and held it aloft, "And I swear that you shall be of my clan and we will protect you and yours."

He stood and beamed.  It gratified me that he was pleased.  This had not been done for effect.  He had meant it. "Let me introduce my new warriors.  These are three of those who would serve my lord, Wolf Killer." He gestured and three warriors stepped forward. "This is Ulf Blue Eyes." I could see where he had got his name.  His eyes were the blue of the Middle Sea and were striking. "This is Oleg the Wanderer." His face had something of the look of the Rus Vikings about him.  He had the high cheekbones and slightly narrowed eyes. "This last is Erik Sigtryggson."  Erik was the youngest of the three.  The other two both had fine mail and swords but Erik had just a metal studded leather byrnie and a short sword.

"I look forward to hearing your stories this night." They nodded, "Tell me Einar, why did you walk rather than ride?"

His face became serious.  "We found the trail of warriors not far from the burgh.  They went over rough ground and it would not have suited horses."

Wolf Killer asked, "Did you catch them?"

"No lord.  They took the high pass east and went over rocks where we could not track them. Oleg and Ulf are fine trackers but even they could not follow over rocks."

I smiled to myself.  Snorri and Beorn would not have lost them.  Their heads would now be planted on spears as a warning to other transgressors.

"We will ride east on the morrow and see if we can spy them.  I like not strange warriors this close to my home."

That evening we had a fine feast. We heard stories from the three new warriors.  Ulf had served a Viking of Orkneyjar, Harald Iron Hand.  I had not heard of him but then I had rarely journeyed north.  I would ask Siggi about him. Oleg lived up to his name.  He had been a Rus Viking and had been down to Miklagård. I lost track of the jarls he had served and how he came to serve my son but the story was interesting. Erik had served Hakon the Bald in Dyflin.  When he said that I became wary.  Many of the men who had served Hakon the Bald were men without honour but as his tale unfolded I saw that he had left before we had scoured Dyflin of the rats. He had ended up in Dorestad and taken passage on a knarr which had brought him to Eoforwic. He had not liked it there and headed west.  He had done well to travel the high lands alone and safely.

I enjoyed their stories as did Ragnar and Gruffyd.  Their adventures and the places they had seen made them even more eager to go A-Viking again. The next day the weather turned stormy.  What began as rain soon became sleet. I went to my son and Elfrida.  "I think Gruffyd and I will return home.  I like not the look of this weather."

"But I was going to go hunting again.  Einar and his men are good hunters.  It would do my brother and son good to see such hunters.  They will be disappointed."

"There is another reason, Wolf Killer, the news of warriors in the eastern fells worries me. If they were followed and they lost their pursuers then who knows where they are.  I will get home and organise a hunt for them."

"Then bring Brigid and your family here for Yule.  We often come to you but if you come here then we can go hunting again. Perhaps we will hunt the wolf.  There are many in the eastern fells."

"Very well then we shall do so."

Einar and his new men also tried to persuade us to stay. They all seemed very eager for us to see their skills. I was touched that they wished to spend longer in my company. As we headed west, wrapped in our cloaks against the sleet which began to turn to snow Gruffyd asked, "Why could we not stay?  I liked those new men and I would hunt with them."

"And I wanted to stay too but there is danger in the land and I am Jarl Dragonheart.  I cannot sit back and enjoy the hunt.  I must act."

"I thought being a jarl meant you did as you wished and answered to no man."

"It is the opposite son; you answer to all men for as much as they serve you then you serve them."

We rode in silence for a while and then he held out a piece of bone he had taken from the deer.  "I shall carve this into a wolf when I get home.  I would have had a second if we had hunted."

I sighed, "We will hunt at Yule.  You will be stronger then and we will be prepared for the inclement weather."

It was a full blown blizzard and it was dark as we rode through the gates. Winter had come in one day.  My son was blue from the cold and I received an even colder blast from my wife's eyes. I had shaken my head, "He is to be a warrior.  He will have to endure much worse when he is older."

"If you keep him out in a blizzard then he will get no older! You have not the sense of a chicken sometimes!"

The thought came into my head that being a jarl counted for little in his own home. I suspect even Uhtric would be spoken to more civilly than I.

Most of my men were in their homes preparing for the winter. They stayed there behind well made walls and with roaring fires. The blizzard we encountered on the way home was just the first of a series which lasted six days.  We were forced to stay inside our homes. The first day that they relented and we just had empty grey skies I went abroad. Since I had returned from Elfridaby I had had a prickling sensation at the back of my neck.  When I mentioned it to Aiden he told me not to ignore it. Snorri lived just on the other side of the Water with his new wife, Seara. They had married when Snorri returned a rich man.  He had cleared a place in the forest and they had a fine house. It was close to where I had my first hall. I took Cnut Cnutson and Rollo Thin Hair with me.

"Snorri, Einar Thordson tracked some men to the eastern fells and then lost them on rocks." He gave a smile.  "I know you would not have lost them.  Since then the snow has come and covered whatever tracks they might have left but I would know if they were still in my land."

He turned to his wife.  She had been Eystein's widow and was a hardy woman. She nodded, "Will you be away the night?"

Snorri shook his head, "We look for sign.  There are but four of us. I will be back before dark."

"Then I will have a stew ready for when you return."

He mounted his pony and pointed to the east.  "If they came from Elfridaby and wished to stay hidden then they would avoid the Water. Did you see any signs as you came through Grize's Dale?"

"I confess I did not but Gruffyd was questioning me."

"Then we start there." He rode with his head leaning forward. We three were almost superfluous.  He needed us not. He suddenly stopped, half way up the trail which headed to the ridge above the Water. He knelt and then rose.  "They came this way."

"They were heading for Cyninges-tūn?"

"Perhaps.  We will back track a way and see if we can see further sign."

Rollo was inquisitive and could not help asking, "How did you know they had been here?  I see nothing."

Snorri pointed, "Do you see how the snow is shallower here?  Men walked along it and then the snow fell a little deeper. There were a number of them else it would not have been so obvious."

"Could it not be men from our town?"

He pointed to his own house hidden by the trees but just two miles up the valley. "Had they come in daylight then I would have seen them and they would have called in to speak to me.  This was someone who wished to remain hidden.  I have dogs and they bark.  They have not barked at night.  Someone made sure they were well away from my home."

He remounted and we went quicker for he could now see the track. I was more aware of it but had he not identified it then it would be hidden still.  We dropped down to the other side of the ridge and the air became colder.  The ground was still frozen here in the lee of the ridge. We came to a clearing and Snorri dismounted and, using his seax, chipped the snow away from a particularly flat piece of ground. We dismounted too and we saw the black shape of a fire begin to appear.  He continued to clear it away as he said, "They camped here.  It was after the first snow, the blizzard when you returned to Cyninges-tūn, Jarl. This other snow has fallen since." He raked his seax through the blackened fire.  "They ate squirrel." He walked around the edge of the clearing. Occasionally he would kneel down and scrape away. Suddenly he jumped up and went to a bramble bush, now devoid of its leaves he spied something clinging to the shrivelled uneaten berries. He came back to me holding a tiny piece of cloth torn by the bramble thorns. "Well, Jarl, unless I miss my guess this came from a Danish cloak. It is the red cloth they like and which is made in Eoforwic."

I looked at it and he was right.  He had had sharp eyes to spot it. "How many?"

He looked at the ground and said, "No less than eight and no more than twelve." He saw me phrasing my next question.  "They went north.  The second blizzard was worse than the first. They would seek shelter."

"That could be anywhere.  There are many farms such as yours Snorri.  No one travels the roads and trails now. They could be anywhere."

"Not quite Jarl. My neighbours are old Einar down towards the Water and Sven who lives above my farm. I visit them each day and they call in to see my wife.  Unless they have taken three or four farms then they will have to be somewhere more remote." He looked at Rollo.  "Your father Audun Thin Hair lives at the Rye Dale.  No one lives within a mile or more of him."

"That is half a day from here and is not close to Cyninges-tūn. Why would they go there?"

"I know not but eight to twelve Danes loose in this land cannot be good."

"Rollo you and Cnut go to see your father.  You can spend the night there.  Even if they have not been close it is good that he has warning.  If not there, Snorri, then where?"

"Elter's farm by his Water is remote.  He lives there alone with his family. It is close to Cyninges-tūn and yet far from others."

"If we ride hard we can be there by dark."

Snorri looked uncomfortable.  "I would not be happy leaving my wife alone if there are Danes in the land."

"You are right.  Then we will go there on the morrow."

Rollo and Cnut set off across the top of the ridge.  They would tell Arne Thorirson and Harland Windarsson at Windar's Mere.  Even though it was winter and few warriors would stir we still kept a watch.

I left Snorri at his farm. As he dismounted I said, "You have enough coin now to hire warriors of your own, Snorri. They could help with the farming too.  I like not your wife being alone."

"She does, lord.  When the door is closed and the fire banked up she nestles in my arms.  She and Eystein had great plans.  There will be a time when she is ready to face the world but it is not yet.  I am new to this world of women but I am learning.  She is like a wounded deer at the moment.  She needs care and, I think, she needs me.  As for the warriors. That is a good idea. Perhaps I will buy her a couple of slaves too."

I reached home before dark and told Karl One Leg my news. He nodded, "I will make sure we keep a good watch and look for anything which is unusual." He now had more warriors to watch the walls for I now paid for the old warriors who could no longer fight in the shield wall to be the watch.  We also paid for some youths who would use the money to buy weapons and helmets and then they would become warriors.  Karl made sure that they were well trained. The treasure might have brought unwelcome intruders but we used it wisely.  No one wore golden armour! I used some of his watch to send messages to the Ulfheonar who lived close by. Snorri and I would not go alone the next day and we would go prepared for war.

Before I went to my hall I spoke with Aiden. He and Kara frowned. "We have not sensed danger.  Perhaps they use magic to hide from us."

"Perhaps.  We will have to find them the old fashioned way.  Snorri and I will summon the Ulfheonar.  The wolf hunt will be soon anyway.  This will be a good opportunity for us to hunt men."

"Be careful, father.  If they have magic then your swords might not avail you."

I held up the dragon charm, "But I have this and there is magic here too." I patted my sword hilt.

Aiden smiled, "True and I feel better knowing that the dragon is around your neck."

It was dark when I entered my hall. I had helped the stable slave to care for Storm Rider.  He had done well. Brigid was worried when I entered, "Is there danger?"

I had learned not to lie to her.  It always came back to haunt me. "There may be but the fact that we are aware of it means it is under control."

"Can I come with you?"

I looked at an eager Gruffyd, "Go where?"

"Tomorrow, when you go to find the danger!"

I was going to ask him how he knew and then thought better of it.  He was a clever boy and could work things out better than any child I had ever met.  "No for it is winter and we are uncertain where the danger lies.  I cannot afford to have a warrior watching out for you." I knew not if that satisfied him but he was silent and argued no more.

The weather warmed just a little and we left under a sleet filled sky and clouds scudding in from the south. Olaf Leather Neck, Rolf Horse Killer and Erik Eriksson accompanied Snorri and me.  Beorn lived along the way and we would pick him up as we went. Snorri waved a  hand at the sleet which was almost horizontal.  "This will hide the enemies' tracks.  We will have to look for other clues."

Olaf Leather neck nodded, "And you have the nose and eyes to find them." He rode, not with his normal two handed Danish axe but a shorter skeggox. He could use it on the back of a horse. We wore no mail but all had leather armour studded with metal and we had two swords each.

Elter lived by a small Water in a remote valley. I could never work out why more people did not live there but, as our horses sank up to their withers in the boggy patches by the becks and streams I began to understand why. "There will be no tracks here Jarl but I see smoke ahead.  That is a hopeful sign.  Elter still lives." The grandfather came out to greet us.  He was a rugged old man and seemed more like a rock than a Viking.  He and his wife lived there with their three daughters. All three had been widowed in wars against our foes and there were eight small children there too. 

"It is rare to see you in winter, Jarl."

"I think there is a party of Danes in our land.  Have you seen them or any sign of strangers?"

He laughed and pointed at the muddy legs of our horses, "If they came here they would soon turn around.  This land protects me and my family.  I have been hunting every day and you are the first to have visited since the blizzards began. I know all that goes on in this land.  I have lived here since I first came with you Jarl.  I would know if there was danger."

"I am relieved.  Send one of your grandchildren for help if there is danger or if you spy anything."

"Aye Jarl."

We turned around and I began to head back to my hall.  Snorri halted. "Jarl, if we ride to the top of the fell of Lough Rigg then we may be able to see the Rye Dale."

"A good idea and it will save us having to go back through that bog!" We passed the tiny tarn beneath the gaunt fells and then headed up the twisting path which led to the top of the whale shaped hill. It was not a pleasant ride but at least it was drier than the boggy morass which acted as a moat around Elter's Waite.

It was the middle of the afternoon by the time we led our horses up the last few steps to the top of the windswept and desolate fell.  We were thankful that the sleet and rain had ceased, at least temporarily. We could see across to the Grassy Mere and the Water of the Rye Dale. 

Snorri had the best eyes and he said, "I see smoke coming from the farm of Audun Thin Hair.  He must be safe."

Olaf took some dried fish from his saddle bags and gave us each a piece. It would keep us going. "Where else might they be Snorri?  Think you they may have gone back?"

"If Wolf Killer's men saw them heading east and yet we found tracks close to Cyninges-tūn then it is safe to assume that they are determined and they seek something over here. They have skirted our walls.  They are waiting for something or perhaps the sudden bad weather changed their plans."

Rolf Horse Killer asked, "Are they serving Ragnar Ruriksson?  They could mean harm to you or your family Jarl."

"Karl One Leg has the walls and gates guarded.  It would take a wraith to get through and with Aiden and Kara watching too then I doubt that even a wraith would manage it."

Leif the Banner spat out a bone, "Then why else?  Revenge?  We have hurt the Danes before now."

Snorri had been watching the east, "I would say the treasure drew them here. We have slaves in the mines who were warriors.  Some were Danes. These could be kinsmen come to rescue their comrades and steal our treasure.  It is known that you are generous, Jarl and that treasure is shared out. Think of the farms where they could reap a rich reward for a little work."

"Perhaps but we do not know! How can we guard every remote farm and home?"

"Over there, two riders moving towards us!"

We mounted and, drawing our swords rode down the slope to meet them. It soon became obvious that it was Rollo and Cnut. We urged our horses down the slope. We met them in the lee of a rock.  The rain had begun while we were eating and was now hurtling at us from the east; it felt like ice.

"Jarl, my father is safe but his dogs barked three nights since.  He found the signs of men passing to the west."

"Did he see anything?"

"No, Jarl."

I looked at Snorri, "We passed no one. Where are they?"

Snorri nodded slowly, "There is but one place. Myrddyn's cave!"

The one place I did not want to go was Myrddyn's cave.  There the ancient wizard's spirit dwelt and these Danes had hidden there.  I knew it now with every bone in my body.  The hairs on the back of my neck prickled. I grasped my dragon amulet.

Even Olaf Leather Neck looked apprehensive, "Should we send for Aiden?"

Snorri shook his head, "They could be gone.  They have sheltered there because of the weather.  It is easing.  They could move and we will lose them.  Even I cannot track them through a bog and there is a bog between here and the iron mines. We have to face the cave." He looked at me and shook his head, "There is no other way, Jarl."