The United States of Vinland: The Landing (The Markland Trilogy) by Colin Taber Read Free Book Online Page A

craved the variety and the tastes spring and summer would
eventually deliver.
    They
talked during the winter of many things and agreed they needed more iron and
would work long and hard towards that goal. The few haphazard trips to the
mainland, on the raft constructed by Steinarr and Torrador, would need to be
bested, including the working of a promising nearby bog they discovered as a
source of bog iron. Along with such efforts, they also needed to replace the
raft with a proper boat.
    While
all worked on those tasks, along with repairs to the hall, Gudrid was
determined to expand her small garden, to grow more of their seed, along with
trying some of the new plants she had seen, hoping they would be good eating.
She and Halla knew they needed to improve storing foods for next winter, and
most especially to improve on their stores of feed for the sheep, which had
barely lasted the season. Again, they also spoke of watching for a better farm
site, closer to good timber, plant stock, meat, furs and any other treasures
Markland offered.
    Mixed
feelings haunted the group at any talk of moving, for most had grown attached
to the Godsland Hall, while others felt it their duty – a divine duty – to
stay. There was also, despite them not yet being sighted, the matter of the
skraelings.
    Where
were they?
    Despite
the hardship, during that first taste of spring, as the sun grew in strength
and the snow and ice started to melt, they celebrated their survival. Adding to
the excitement was Halla’s announcement that she was expecting. Her husband,
Ballr, was doubly thrilled.
    Gudrid
insisted on taking some time during one of those first fine days after the snow
and ice had well and truly begun to melt. She wanted to lead Eskil back to the
runestone, along with young Ulfarr. She felt the runestone was the site of
their new beginning in Markland, and that as such, it was the place the infant
should be presented to the carved stone, Markland and the gods.
    Eskil
could not refuse her.
    It
was then, as they walked along the shore, with the runestone just ahead, that
Eskil turned to notice a distant column of smoke rising from across the water,
and not far from where the bog iron works should be. “Gudda, look!” he pointed.
    Peering
into the morning, she saw the thin, grey mark as it climbed and broadened into
the sky. “A fire.”
    His
face was grim. “Yes, a fire.”
    “Skraelings?”
    “I
suppose. We best be quick with our purpose, for we will need to return to the
others and then investigate.”
    As
Gudrid looked towards the smoke, her jaw tensed. “I cannot believe the gods
brought us here only to meet beasts who would kill us. We will survive what the
smoke signifies, just as we did the wreck, the wolf, and winter, too.”
    Eskil
smiled as he put an arm about her waist and began to get them moving again.
“Come, the runestone is near.”
    ––––––––
    B y
the light of the midmorning sun, Gudrid and Eskil placed Ulfarr, wrapped in a
square of sailcloth and a sheepskin, at the foot of the stone. A small swell
behind them, dotted with sea ice, accompanied their thoughts with the rhythms
of the world.
    Gudrid
spoke, raising her voice, “To our gods we present Ulfarr, son of Eskil, the
first of our kind to be born in this land. For him we ask your favour, and that
you grant him a long life filled with courage and strength, as this is Godsland
of Markland, and here we plan to build the greatest of all our kin’s realms.”
    Eskil
nodded before finding some of his own words. “May we Marklanders be the ones to
fill the grand halls of Valhalla in the days to come, with the might we breed
here. Yet what we send will be only a fraction of what resides in these fjords,
valleys and islands, as we build a land stronger than what we left behind.”
    Gudrid
whispered, “So may it be.”
    They
stood for a moment, deep in their thoughts, while taking in the frail warmth of
the sun. Little Ulfarr lay swaddled at the foot of