The Long Hunt (The Strongbow Saga) (23 page)

The pirate ship's bow was now only a few feet from the side of the
Gull
. Drawing his sword from its scabbard, Hastein swung his shield around in front of him and ran at the
Gull
's side. He leaped up, his right foot landing on the top of her rail and in the same motion pushing off again, and soared across the narrow space between the two ships, landing on the pirate ship's deck just beyond her fore-deck. His momentum carried him forward and he staggered against the ship's side, off balance.

The second of the two pirates—the one I had not yet seen—raised up, cocking a small-axe back to throw at Hastein. At almost point-blank range, I drew and shot an arrow into his back, hitting him between his shoulder blades. The impact knocked him face-forward onto the deck. Hastein pushed himself upright and lunged across the deck, stabbing with his sword at the pirate I had shot at moments earlier and missed. He was still hidden from my sight by his ship's rail, but I heard him scream, and when Hastein pulled back his sword its tip was bloody.

The pirate ship's bow bumped against the side of the
Gull
's hull. Had Tore and Einar not been holding onto me, the impact would have caused me to fall.

Torvald dropped the rope he'd been pulling on, bent down, and picked up Hastein's spear from where he'd left it lying on the deck. "Stig," he cried, "Secure the ropes. The rest of you…follow me!"

While Torvald, the five warriors from the
Serpent
, and the four archers who'd been helping pull on the ropes clambered across the two ships' rails and dropped down onto the deck of the pirate ship, drawing their weapons as they did, Stig wrapped one of the grappling lines around the
Gull
's mast and secured it on a cleat.

"Let go of me," I said to Tore and Einar. When they released my belt, I jumped down onto the pirate ship's deck and nocked another arrow on my bowstring. "I am coming too," Tore cried, and he and Einar climbed across after me.

Of the original group of warriors who had been firing at the
Gull
from the pirate ship's bow when our archers had first attacked, only four now remained. They had retreated to just in front of their ship's mast and were bunched together there, crouching low behind their shields. Beyond them, in the ship's stern, eight warriors were still seated at the last four pairs of oars. Their backs toward the bow, they did not realize their ship had been boarded. Two more—one, who was manning the steer-board, presumably the ship's captain—stood on the raised stern deck.

Hastein was running at the four warriors before the mast, roaring like a wild beast. Torvald and the rest of our men raced after him, a few steps behind. One of the four pirates turned and fled toward the stern. I drew and fired, hitting him low in the right side of his back. As he stumbled forward onto his hands and knees, Hastein crashed into one of the remaining three warriors—the one standing on the left side of their short line—smashing shield against shield. The impact knocked the pirate off his feet. As he fell, Hastein dropped into a low crouch and swung his sword in a downward cut to his right, hitting the man beside him in the leg, severing it just below the knee. The third pirate turned toward Hastein, but by now Torvald had reached the fight and lunged forward with the hewing spear, stabbing its long blade through the side of the man's neck, then wrenched the spear sideways and hurled him down.

Hastein raced on toward the stern, Torvald and our other warriors close behind him. One—it was Gudfred, from the estate—paused by the man Hastein had knocked down and hacked at him with his sword.

The pirate captain was shouting now and pointing toward the front of the ship, trying to warn the men at the oars of their danger. Tore and I both launched arrows at him but he swung his shield up and blocked them. Einar drew and fired and hit one of the rowers in the back, as he was just turning his head to look over his shoulder. He fell sideways off his sea chest. I pulled another arrow from my quiver, nocked and drew it, and hit the man rowing in front of him.

Then Hastein and the rest of our men reached the stern. The remaining six rowers were quickly overwhelmed, cut down as they tried to draw their weapons or pull their shields from the racks along the ship's rail. The pirate ship's captain and the warrior at his side attempted to fight, but too many weapons were hacking and stabbing at them to be able to block them all. Within moments they, too, lay dead upon the deck, bleeding from numerous wounds.

Beside me, Tore gave a loud whoop. "We have cleared her," he shouted. "She is ours."

While Gudfred and several others of our men began methodically checking the fallen pirates, finishing off any that still lived, Hastein and Torvald trotted back to where Tore and I were standing. Stig, who by now had climbed across to the pirate ship, too, met them there.

"Well done," he said, grinning broadly. "Well fought."

Still panting from the exertion of the fast-moving fight, Hastein bent over for a few moments, his hands braced on his thighs, and drew in several deep breaths. He was splattered with blood, but none of it was his.

"It is a beginning," he said, straightening up. "We must not waste the advantage we have gained. Tore, Halfdan, gather your archers. From the stern of this ship you should have a clear line of fire at the warriors fighting in the bow of the pirate chieftain's ship. If you can harry them hard enough from the rear, we may be able to cross the bows and drive them back. If we can get to their captain, Sigvald, and slay him, this battle will be ours. Hold your fire until my signal. I will blow a horn three times when we are ready."

Turning to Torvald and Stig, he told them, "Torvald, you and I will go to join our men on the
Gull
's fore-deck. Stig, return to the
Serpent
. On my signal, we will all attack the bow of the pirate chieftain's ship from both of ours, while our archers here fire from behind on them. If we set some sea-chests on our fore-decks to step up on, we can cross over the rails more easily. Come—let us show these dogs how ships are taken."

The curved bow of the pirate ship we were on was now lashed tight with the two grappling lines against the side of the
Gull
's hull, amidships opposite her mast. As a result, the hull of the pirate ship was angled out from the
Gull
's side. Hastein had been correct. From the ship's stern we would have an unobstructed line of fire, shooting toward the bow of the pirate chieftain's ship, that would allow us to shoot into the back ranks of the warriors fighting there. But we would not be shooting at point blank range, as we had been when attacking this ship. It was unlikely our fire would be nearly as effective.

While Hastein, Torvald, Stig, and the five warriors who had crossed over from the
Serpent
returned to the
Gull
, Tore explained the plan to our men. The four who'd left their bows aboard the
Gull
went to retrieve them, and at my request brought me my shield and spear when they did. Then we all began the grim task of searching for and retrieving our arrows from the bodies of the men we'd shot. At least none were still alive. "Be quick about it," Tore warned. "We must be ready when Hastein signals."

I was standing over the body of the first warrior I had killed in our close volley—the man with the plaited beard—when Einar approached. My arrow had entered the man's face below his right eye, and its iron head plus a finger's length of the shaft were now jutting out the back of his skull. I gave the shaft a tug, but the bone it had pierced was holding it tight. That was the problem with shooting for the head: a hit was almost always a kill, but reclaiming your arrows unbroken was difficult.

"Look," Einar said, pointing. "That ship is moving."

What he said was true. The crew of the fourth pirate ship, the one that had been lying off the sterns of the
Gull
and
Serpent
, had manned their oars. But they were seated facing toward the front of their ship, rather than the rear. They were backing her up, slowly moving her over toward the side of the
Gull
we were on.

Tore, Gudfred, and several others of our archers joined us. "They are going to come for us," Einar said. "They are going to try to retake this ship."

I heard a dull
whump
. A warrior named Storolf, one of Hastein's housecarls who had been with us in Frankia, was standing beside Tore. He gasped, then gave a choking cough. As he sank to his knees, blood began to trickle from the edge of his mouth. An arrow was sticking out of his back.

I dropped into a low crouch, pulling Einar down beside me as I did. Another arrow whistled through the air over our heads. It had been shot from somewhere on the pirate chieftain's ship. As the rest of our archers ducked low and ran for the cover of the ship's side, three long peals of a horn sounded from the front of the
Gull
.

"The attack is starting," Tore cried. "Up! Up! We must support them." He stood and was laying an arrow across his bow when an arrow skimmed just above the edge of the ship's top strake and smacked into the quiver hanging at his right hip, piercing its thick leather and the skirt of his mail brynie beneath. Tore roared in pain and dropped his bow, clutching with both hands at the arrow now embedded in his hip.

I reached up and pulled him down, just as another arrow whistled through the air overhead. "Gods," Tore said. "That one would have killed me. Whoever is shooting that bow is very good."

"How badly are you hurt?" I asked.

"I cannot tell. Help me. My quiver is pinned to me by this shaft."

I grasped the shaft of the arrow with both hands, just above where it pierced Tore's quiver. He nodded, and I snapped the shaft in two between my hands. Tore gasped in pain as the arrow moved.

I eased the quiver up over the broken stub of the wooden shaft. Inside it, several arrows had been broken by the missile cutting through them. I slid the skirt of the mail brynie, and the padded jerkin underneath it, over the end of the broken shaft, too.

Beside me, Einar, who was peering cautiously over the edge of the rail, said, "I see him. He is hiding behind the mast. And he has a shield bearer who protects him when he steps out to shoot." He laid an arrow across his bow and nocked it on the string, then stood, drawing as he did. He held at full draw for a brief moment then released, dropping back down below the cover of the ship's side as soon as he did. An arrow sliced through the air where he had been standing.

"I missed him. Gods but he is fast. Very fast, and very good."

"We must support Hastein," Tore said through gritted teeth.

"We will have to kill this man first, or very shortly the jarl will have no archers," Einar replied.

Blood had soaked the bottom of Tore's tunic and his trousers around where the arrow was embedded in the side of his hip. But I could see, showing above the edges of the wound, the end of the iron socket of the arrowhead where it encased the tip of the wooden shaft. At least the head had not pierced too deeply. Striking the quiver and brynie must have broken its force somewhat.

"I will deal with this," Tore said. He drew his knife from its scabbard on his belt and began slitting the fabric of his tunic and trousers, cutting them away from the arrow to expose the wound. "You must take charge of our archers."

I raised my head just enough to peer over the edge of the top strake. In the bow of the pirate chieftain's ship, warriors were pressing forward in response to Hastein's attack. Beyond them, in the bow of the
Gull
, I could see two warriors battering at the pirates' front rank with long-handled great-axes, while around them others jabbed with spears, trying to push the defenders back. So far our men had not managed to cross over the rails and board the enemy ship. Glancing back along the pirate ship, I could see a man behind its mast, his head leaning out on the right side as he watched for a target to appear. Another man was crouching low beside him, holding a shield in front of his own chest.

Again three horn blasts sounded.

"Jarl Hastein needs us," Tore said. "Do not fail him."

Along the side of the ship, our archers were crouched below the cover of the rail, watching me.

"Spread out," I cried. "The man who is shooting at us is very dangerous. He is shooting from behind the pirate ship's mast. Four of us—Einar, Asbjorn, Gudfred, and I—will shoot at him. The rest of you, shoot at the pirates fighting in the bow. We must weaken their defense. On my word, we will all stand and shoot at once, then take cover again."

I drew an arrow and nocked it on my string. When the others were ready, I shouted, "Now!" and stood, drawing my bow as I did.

As Einar had said, the enemy archer was very quick and very good. As soon as he saw our archers beginning to rise up, he stepped just to the side of the mast while drawing his bow. The shield bearer rose beside him, standing close and ready.

I shoot my bow quickly, not lingering over my aim, but by the time I released my bowstring, the enemy archer's arrow was already launched and on its way. It sped across the open water between the two ships and hit one of our archers standing further down the side, a man from the
Serpent
's crew whose face was familiar but whose name I did not know. The arrow struck him in the shoulder and spun him around. One of his comrades pulled him down into cover behind the ship's side.

Of the four arrows we'd launched at the enemy archer, three were caught by the shield bearer, who stepped forward as soon as his man shot and held his shield in front of him, blocking the arrows that should have struck him. The fourth arrow thudded into the mast.

We were now down to ten archers. We had to support Hastein's attack, but we could not afford to keep losing men at this rate. I glanced back to see where the fourth pirate ship was. It had backed fully clear of the
Gull
's stern and had swung around so its bow was pointed toward the ship we were on. Its rowers had turned so they were facing their ship's stern, and were heaving on their oars. Slowly but steadily, the ship was heading for us.

I turned back and cautiously raised my head to look over the top of the ship's rail. The pirate archer must have seen me do the same before, because he was ready this time, his bow already at full draw, and he launched an arrow at my face. Quickly I jerked my head back down, and the arrow sailed overhead and thudded into the ship's far side.