Viking Sword by Griff Hosker Read Free Book Online Page A

boat.
    That was enough for the men of Corn Walum.  The ones who had boarded with their chief now lay dead and the half empty boat drifted south.  I ran to the other side and saw that Snorri and his archers had driven off the second attacker. I fearfully looked north and felt relief when I saw that 'Josephus ' was alone.  My son and his crew had driven off their attackers.
    "Well done Ulfheonar! The pirates are no more."
    Haaken clapped me on the back. "And he was a big one, Jarl.  I wondered how you would get through the layers of fat."
    Tostig Wolf Hand wiped the blood from his sword and said, "How did we sink a pirate, drive off four others and only have four wounded men."
    "It was the sisters, Tostig.  It was wyrd ."

Anglo Saxon London

Chapter 4
    We hove to in a little bay half a day's sailing east of the island of Wight. We had maps which Aiden had been making.  They had begun life as old maps we had found in a chest.  They had been made in the time of the Warlord and in the times of the Romans. Aiden could read Latin and the old language; he had transcribed them for the originals were too fragile to risk at sea. The old Roman port of Gesoriacum had long since vanished and in its place was a small fishing village called Bononia. It was clearly marked on the old maps.  I had chosen it as I assumed and hoped that its small size would mean it would be overlooked by raiders seeking treasure.  We sought not treasure but people. Fisher folk were strong and hard working.  They could be trained to be miners.
    We decided that we would sail across under cover of darkness and strike in the middle of the night before the fishermen went to sea. We would be well to the south of any ships which might contain armed warriors such as the ones we had met in Frisia. It was the mouth of the Rinaz which was filled with such ships. As the two drekar bobbed up and down on the waves which lapped the shingle beach I tried to sleep.  I knew that it was impossible.  My mind was racing with the dangers and rewards of what we were going to do.
    We left as the sun set and we rowed, for the wind had veered during the day to become a headwind.  The mast was removed and laid on the mast fish.  It made us harder to see and we were faster without it. Erik and the men we left on board could replace it while we raided. We had prepared for war before we sailed.  Our eyes were lined with red and black and our weapons were sharpened.  We shunned our armour for we did not expect armed opposition.  We wore our leather byrnies and our wolf cloaks.  They would be enough. It took some time to row across the short channel to Bononia. The headwind did not help but it was relatively calm and that was a good thing. Aiden navigated us to a beach which was close to the village.  We passed the village on our way north. The smell of wood smoke drifted on the breeze as we approached but the place was in darkness. They kept no watch.  They would pay for that mistake; it was a harsh world in which we lived.
    The gods watched over us for it was low tide when we approached.  Six men from each boat were chosen by lots to wait with the boys and captains. Four of them were the warriors wounded in the sea fight so this time it was only two disappointed warriors we left behind. While we were away they would step the mast and then sail the drekar around to the port.  It was the reason we had landed to the north so that the breeze would do all the work for the two drekar.
    I jumped ashore and smiled as I did so.  I remembered when I had been a ship's boy and it had been my job to take the rope and secure it.  Old Olaf the Toothless had been an unforgiving captain. Once my feet were on the sand I began to trot, knowing that my men would soon be behind me. I raised a hand and Snorri and Bjorn the Scout sprinted ahead.  They were our eyes and ears. Once they disappeared from view I slowed a little to allow the rest of my men to catch up with me.  Arturus appeared