A Viking Moon Page 6

Ulf had not bothered to watch the warriors leave. It was a scene he had witnessed and been part of many times. Instead he sat on the bench outside the forge and contemplated the strange girl he had found all those weeks ago. He would not readily admit it, but Ulf was a superstitious man, not in the extreme sense but he firmly believed that if the gods wanted you to do something you had better do it.

  Although Snorre and several others had insinuated that he was looking for a wife and the girl was a good candidate, it could not have been further from his mind. At the best his feelings towards the girl were those of a father or big brother; some men might like their girls young and bony but not him. His ideal woman was someone older, with experience and curves, someone like…well best not go there, even in his own head.

  To him Sarah was an oddity, actually to most of the steading she was an oddity but because she tried to fit in from the very beginning and had become good friends with the Lady Astrid most people left her alone. The incident with the volur had unsettled many including Geir, who later on that evening had requested a private meeting with the volur. He had asked Ulf and Magnus to be present, but it had turned out to be a frustrating question and answer session.

  Many of the questions the woman could not or would not answer. All she would say was that Sarah was to play an important role in the future of the village. After a while the woman had held up her hand saying “Enough questions. You will get no more from me. Just accept things will be what they are,” and then turning to Ulf placed her hand on his forearm and looked directly into his eyes, Ulf had felt a chill run over his skin even though the evening was mild.

  “Help her prepare,” she said in a voice that came from the spirit world itself.

  Sitting in the weak sunshine of early morning, Ulf thought about those words. Help her prepare, prepare for what? How do I help if I don’t know what’s it for? Does she want my help? Sighing he stood up, there were far too many questions surrounding the girl Sarah and right now just thinking about them made his head hurt.

  There was a broken plough share to be fixed; maybe a good bit of hammering would help him get his head around the problem. He often found the monotony of hammer on anvil gave his mind space to think...and so it was, after a couple of hours of hard hammering, Ulf came to a decision.

  Wiping the sweat from his brow he walked over to the large chest which under normal circumstances contained all manner of swords, hammers and knives. However, the chest had been plundered to provide for the warriors and men who sailed with Geir, although there was still a selection of items that might be suitable.

  Ulf picked up a small sword. No, too heavy, and it takes too long to master a sword, an axe is too bulky for a young girl, so a knife it will be, a sceax perhaps?. Picking up several knives he laid them out on the bench in the forge and then walked out the door to look for Sarah.

  Ulf found Sarah and Astrid in the hall preparing the food for the evening meal, Sarah was kneading dough for the bread that accompanied every meal, her face red from the exertion and with a look on her face that suggested she wanted to knead the dough out of existence. Both sets of eyes looked up as Ulf approached Sarah’s ever watchful.

  “Lady Astrid, if it is no bother I would like to ask if Sarah could accompany me to the forge?” asked Ulf formally.

  With eyebrows raised Astrid nodded, saying “You may as well, given the mood she is in she would be better off in the forge or else we will be eating bread rocks tonight!” Astrid had not questioned why Ulf wanted Sarah in the forge but she had a fair inkling. Her husband had confided in her the volur’s words to Ulf. He had obviously made up his mind to do something about it and, as Astrid well knew, once Ulf made up his mind he was as unmovable as any mountain.

  “Right Sarah, you can leave my bread alone now, for which I am sure it will be grateful! Go with Ulf and help him with whatever it is,” said Astrid with a smile, which she hoped reassured the girl.

  Sarah’s heart did a double flip, as she remembered the conversation of the men several days ago. Surely this is not how it happens? Oh for goodness sake, stop jumping to conclusions, Sarah brushed the flour off her hands, gave herself a mental shake, took a deep breath and followed Ulf out of the hall.

  As they drew closer to the forge Sarah found her feet dragging. Really this was silly, Ulf had never been anything but polite and kind to her. If it had been that odorous Snorre then she would have definitely had a reason to be worried. Yet with every step closer to the forge the pain in her belly intensified. At that point Ulf turned and looked at Sarah, something on her face must have warned him that she was on the verge of running or throwing up, maybe even both.

  Stopping he said, “Sarah, I do not want you as my wife but I have been given a responsibility towards you and I mean to do my duty, so please stop looking at me like that. I am not one of those men who would take a child as a wife and even if I was it would not happen in my forge”.

  Not a man to mince words, Ulf’s directness reassured Sarah enough to be able to walk into the forge with a degree of confidence that nothing bad was on the other side of the door. Once in the forge Sarah waited for her eyes to adjust to the gloom. On her left was the huge fire pit with bellows and all manner of tools stacked neatly beside the large anvil.

  To her right was a doorway hung with a thick piece of leather, which Sarah guessed was Ulf’s private quarters. Straight ahead of her was a long work bench with tools hanging above it, much like the man who worked the forge everything was neat, orderly and had its own place. Ulf walked over to the bench and beckoned for Sarah to follow.

  “Tell me Sarah, do you know how to use any of these?” he said indicating the half dozen knives that were on the bench.

  “Ummm, they’re knives, and they are used for cutting things?” said Sarah uncertainly, realising as the penny dropped this was not what Ulf meant.

  “You mean, to hurt someone or defensively don’t you?” asked Sarah, although she already knew the answer.

  “Yes, you remember the volur who visited awhile back?” said Ulf.

  How could she forget, the encounter was etched on the inside of her skull, Sarah nodded smiling grimly.

  “Well she had words for me too, words that concern you. She said ‘Help her prepare’ and at first I had no idea how or why. I once went to battle and have been raiding but apart from the forge they are the only skills I have. Given forge work is not an option I figured that the preparation you need is learning to defend or attack if necessary.”

  Ulf looked carefully at Sarah, who was frowning quietly as she studied the knives arranged on the bench. Being a patient man he waited. After a while she seemed to come to a decision and looking up smiled grimly at Ulf;

  “You know Ulf that is a very good idea. I would like it very much if you could show me how to look after myself, because something tells me it will be necessary.”

  Sarah’s days took on a whole different pattern after that conversation in the forge. Mornings were spent helping Astrid and doing chores but the afternoons were spent with Ulf. At first it was just Ulf and Sarah in the training yard behind the hall. Soon though word spread and many of the children gathered to watch and laugh at Sarah’s inept first attempts.

  After her first session she decided that a dress and tunic were not conducive to her training. Changing into the trousers and short tunic the boys wore, causing some raised eyebrows, but it was more practical.

  A few afternoons later Sarah got tired of the jeers and laughs and she challenged them to put their money where their mouths were and although this didn’t translate too well, they got the gist of it. Now Ulf found himself training an army of mini warriors and Sarah felt that some of the pressure had been taken off her. Even the warriors that Geir had left behind would come and help put the youngsters through their paces.

  At first Sarah and the children were shown how to fight close up, hand to hand and having done a self-defence course at school only last term Sarah foun
d that she had a bit of an advantage. During one exercise Ulf grabbed Sarah from behind with one arm around her neck, to which she very quickly responded with an elbow in the gut and stamping her heel down hard on his foot, wrenched the arm around her neck away, and still holding it, spun around behind him pushing it up hard along his back. Ulf fell away to the ground, puffing from the winding that Sarah’s elbow had caused.

  “Ulf? Are you ok? You told me not to hold back…” asked Sarah concern on her face. The training yard had fallen silent except for the odd noises coming from Ulf. Rolling over onto his back, Sarah realized that Ulf was laughing or trying to laugh as he hadn’t quite got his breath back.

  “You’ll…do…fine…I think…it’s time…for a break” said Ulf, standing up. The children and the warriors looked at Sarah in amazement and then burst into fits of laughter. Who would have thought that the giant forge master could be downed by a mere slip of a girl? It was something they would be talking about for days, Ulf would never live it down.

  The next day Ulf decided that Sarah’s preparation should be stepped up a notch. Now he wanted her to learn how to use a weapon so he presented her with a large and lethal looking dagger.

  “This is a sceax, it is lighter and, unlike a normal dagger that is only used for stabbing it can also be used to slash at your enemy” Ulf told Sarah, his tone suggesting that this would be a reality.

  All the talk of stabbing and slashing was beginning to make Sarah feel a little queasy. She fervently hoped that stabbing and slashing would not be a part of her life. All the same, she was a practical girl and so, trying to quell her stomach, she turned her attention to Ulf and began her training in the use of the sceax. Ulf also asked Gunnar to give Sarah some lessons in knife throwing using a selection of smaller daggers. It was a skill Sarah picked up quite quickly and although she would never be as good as Gunnar, Ulf was pleased.

  Every afternoon Sarah practiced. Many of the younger children lost interest but a few of the older ones stayed to practice alongside Sarah. The adults in the village never openly objected but this did not stop the whispered discussions that would quickly end when Sarah, Astrid or Ulf came into sight. Sarah’s nightmares continued to haunt her sleep and as the days went by the feeling of something bad coming became ever more ominous.

  Almost two weeks had passed since Geir and his warriors had sailed away to support the King. Sarah had endured an awful morning, everything had gone wrong and even Astrid had snapped at her, she was now in the training field with Ulf, although that was not going well either.

  “Focus girl! Let your guard down like that again and I swear to Thor I really will poke you with this sceax.” Ulf too, was out of sorts.

  “Oh stuff it! I’ve had enough, my head hurts, I’m tired and I want to go home!” said Sarah flinging herself on the ground and putting her head in her hands, knowing how childish that sounded but not caring. Realising that she really had had enough, Ulf put down the sceax he had been holding and handed Sarah the water skin.

  “Drink this and when you are yourself again come to the forge, I have something for you” said Ulf collecting the weapons and walking back to the forge.

  Feeling a little embarrassed by her outburst, muttering under her breath she took a big drink and a long moment to get herself together. Because sitting in the dirt wasn’t actually helping she stood up, dusted off her trousers and walked to the forge. Inside she found Ulf by the bench at the back.

  “This is for you” he said as he handed her a belt with six pockets, in each pocket was a small throwing knife.

  “Put it on under your tunic and wear it always, even when sleeping”

  With a beating heart, Sarah undid the belt around her tunic and quickly put the knife belt on under it, refastening her tunic belt.

  “Can you see it? Do you really think it’s necessary to be so dramatic?” she asked.

  Ulf shook his head, he had also dreamed last night, one he could not remember but when he awoke in a cold sweat he knew without a doubt that Sarah’s time in the village was up. Her future and that of the village were entwined and whatever was to happen he had prepared her the best he could in the time he had been given. During that time he had come to know her, admire her spirit and her quiet determination. He smiled reassuringly at Sarah;

  “Can’t you feel it? It will be time for you to go soon. Don’t ask me how I know this. I just do. You will be fine, in fact more than fine, I’m sure,” he said with pride in his voice.

  “Thank you Ulf, for everything” said Sarah, tears pricking her eyes as she turned and rushed out the door.

  Chapter Six