The Long Hunt (The Strongbow Saga) by Judson Roberts Read Free Book Online Page B

not owe Halfdan anything. He was nothing when you met. He was just an untested boy, and a former slave, besides. It is enough that you gave him the chance you did, that you took him into your crew. It is he who owes you a debt, not otherwise. And this Toke is dangerous. It would be unwise, and would put yourself and the rest of your men at risk unnecessarily, to pursue him with a ship full of farmers as your war-band and crew."
    "If there is a debt between Halfdan and me, it runs both ways," Hastein replied. "In the battle with the Franks and Bretons, our line was breaking. Had it failed, many who are alive this day would have died. I might well have been among them."
    "But our line did not fail," Ivar said.
    "Had Halfdan not been there—had he not rallied the archers…" Hastein countered. "There, and at Ruda, too, he saved my life. The Norns have woven our fates together. I do not understand it, but I believe it is so."
    *   *  *
    It was a day for partings. Later that morning Svein sailed, taking with him on the Sea Wolf those of Hastein's followers who were not continuing on. "Fare-well," Svein told Hastein, clasping wrists with him before he turned to board his ship. "May you find Toke quickly, and finish this thing before winter settles on the land and sea. I will hope that we celebrate the Jul feast together."
    The ship from the village up on the Limfjord departed, too. To my surprise, Hrodgar did not leave on it.
    "I had a dream last night," he told Hastein. "My wife, Brynhil, came to me during the night. She was a good woman, and a good wife. She has been dead for ten years, now.
    "She told me that great danger lies to the east. She said that many who sail with you on this voyage will not return, and if I sail with you on it, I will be among those who do not."
    Hrodgar's words caused a shiver to run up my spine. Though living men cannot see into the future, the eyes of the dead are not so blinded.
    Hastein looked troubled, too. "This is not a good omen," he said. "Sometimes a dream is just a dream, but when the dead appear and speak to you, when they bring a message from the other side.…"
    "Do you believe it was truly the spirit of your wife?" Torvald, who was standing nearby, asked. "Perhaps you just drank too much ale last night."
    Hrodgar shook his head at Torvald's suggestion. "It was her," he answered. "She was wearing the same dress, the same brooches and necklace, that we dressed her in before burning her body."
    "Then why do you choose to come with us?" Torvald asked. I was wondering the same thing.
    "She also told me that I am an old man now, and I shouldn't pretend that I am not. She said I am too old for long sea voyages, and should stay at home, in the village where I belong, and let our daughter care for me in my old age." He snorted. "Although a good wife, she was always a nag. I was not too old to sail with the fleet to Frankia, and blood my spear there."
    "But what if she spoke the truth?" I asked. I did not think that messages from the dead should be disregarded lightly.
    Hrodgar shrugged. "You are too young to understand. She is right. I am an old man. I feel age-worn and weary. I no longer have the strength in me that I had when I was young, or even five years ago. One way or another, I shall die, for no one lives forever. But I would rather my life end while I still have the strength to hold a sword in my hand, than to finish my days sick and weak in bed from a fever—or even worse, to suffer the slow, wasting rotting that befalls those who do not have the good sense to know when it is time to die. And besides," he added. "Killing Toke is a thing that needs doing, and I wish to be a part of it."
    Hrodgar said his wife had told him that many would not return from our pursuit of Toke. I wondered if she'd named to him any of the others who were fated to die. What if she'd named my comrade Einar, or Torvald, or Hastein? What if she'd named me? I almost asked him, but then decided I would rather