Viking Gold (16 page)

Brother Alfred shook his
head.

Redknee glared at Harold.
“You lied.”

Harold shrugged. “I thought I
saw him up on the hills. I was just trying to help.”

Redknee scanned the hills for
movement. Ragnar and his men
could
be lurking in the shadows. He’d seen
them leave their camp some time ago. Yet, there was something odd about the way
Harold was acting. He seemed unusually on edge.

“Know anything about the
Codex?
It’s gone missing,” Redknee asked.

“Nothing – I just got here.”

“Why did you leave the whale
hunt?”

“There was a skirmish between
Ivar and one of the local jarls—”

“So you ran away?”

“No…”

A bloodcurdling scream
pierced the air. Matilda ran along the beach towards the burning farm, followed
by a rag-tail bunch of children. “My house!” she cried, falling to her knees,
tears streaming down her broad face. “My beautiful house – who did this?”

Harold pointed a skinny
finger at Brother Alfred who was cowering a little way off. “It was him.”

Matilda
struggled to her feet and lumbered towards the monk.

“I didn’t do it on purpose, I
swear! On the life of the Blessed Virgin, it was a mistake.”

Matilda pulled back her
mighty forearm ready to bash the little monk squarely on his soft cheek.
Redknee winced inwardly. He knew what it felt like to be on the receiving end
of her anger. But, as if from nowhere, a hand shot out, grabbing Matilda’s arm
and spinning her round.

“What’s happening here?” Ivar
asked his wife in the gentlest of tones.

“Our house!” Matilda moaned.
“That stupid monk has burned our house. I told you to get rid of him ages ago.”

Sven, Olaf and the rest of the
men splashed through the shallows to join Ivar on the beach.

“Oh, thank goodness,” Ivar
said. “When we saw the flames, and then the black ship in the bay, we thought
Ragnar was already here. He was spotted heading this way with a large number of
men-at-arms. The fire only serves to reinforce my decision - we’re going to
leave with Sven. Visit Astrid in
Iceland
. We’ll deal with Brother Alfred’s crime later.”

Redknee blocked out Matilda’s
cries for Brother Alfred’s blood as he turned to see his uncle running up the
beach towards him. Beside the black ship stood
Wavedancer
, sleek and
proud in the morning light. His uncle had brought her from the hidden lagoon, a
sure sign they were going to leave rather than stand and fight. Redknee’s heart
sank. He was going to have to explain about the book.

“How did Ragnar’s ship get
here?” Sven asked.

Redknee shuffled forward. “I
stole it from him.”

“You?” Sven looked confused.
“But you were to stay here and guard the book.”

Redknee gulped down the bile
rising in his throat. “I … yes, I was. But I thought Ragnar might have left his
camp unguarded.”

Sven looked thoughtful. “Well
done,” he said eventually. “You’re turning out to be quite resourceful. I
assume you got the book out of the longhouse before the stupid monk set it on
fire.”

“I … yes, I’ll—”

“Well then – go and get it.
We’re leaving now, not next week.”

“Yes,” Redknee nodded,
without moving.

“Here it is.” Sinead stepped
forward, the goatskin package under her arm.

Redknee was speechless.

Even Sven looked taken aback.
“Didn’t you run away with Ragnar?” was all he found to say.

But Sinead didn’t get the
chance to respond, because at that moment, Ragnar and his men mounted the ridge
separating the beach from the mossy peak beyond.

Wavedancer
was easier to sail with the extra strength of Ivar’s family and the slaves on
board. They also had the rations they took from the black ship before they set
it alight, and some of the whale meat. And they didn’t have to worry about
being followed; the last they saw of Ragnar was him trying to douse the flames
devouring his precious ship.

Olaf was angry they weren’t
returning home. But even he had to agree it was their duty to take Ivar to the
safety of his daughter’s household. Five days’ easy sail, that was how long
Ivar said it would take to reach
Iceland
. And eventually Olaf agreed they would have enough
food and water to last them, provided they weren’t held up in bad weather.

Matilda wanted to hang
Brother Alfred right away. But Sven stopped her.

“I’m in charge on this ship,”
he said. “And while it is Ivar’s right to seek justice for the burning of his
farm, I say there’ll be no hanging, or retribution of any sort, until we reach
Iceland
.” He
turned to Ivar who stood beside his wife. “You know I need Brother Alfred to
read the
Codex
. But I also know I cannot ask you to put off punishing
him indefinitely. All I will ask, dear cousin, is that you give some thought to
coming with us on our quest beyond
Iceland
.”

Ivar nodded solemnly. “I will
think about your offer.”

Matilda folded her arms
huffily across her ample chest. “Call yourself a man?” she said derisorily.
“And yet you do nothing.”

“Calm down, dear,” Ivar said,
stroking his wife’s broad shoulders. “I’ll deal with Brother Alfred when we
reach
Iceland
.”

Brother Alfred had been
cowering at the far side of the longship during this exchange. As Matilda was
led away by Ivar, she turned and spat in his face. “You’d better be a light
sleeper!” she hissed.

“How did you find the book?”
Redknee asked Sinead as the sun went down on their first full day at sea.

“Oh that. I thought there
might be another chest. I ran back inside and saw there was.”

“So it was in there all
along?”

Sinead nodded.

“I’m going to ask my uncle
how he got the book again. He said he was given it by a merchant in Kaupangen
last month. But if what Ragnar says is true, about my father taking it from a
monastery, then the book might have something to do with my father’s …
disappearance.”

“I thought your father was
dead.”

“My mother told me he is
still alive.”

Sinead’s eyes widened in
surprise, “Oh – so you think the book might have something to do with …
him
?”

Redknee shrugged. “Maybe. I
didn’t put the two together until you told me what Ragnar said about my father
taking it from a monastery. And if what you say is right, then my uncle is
lying. I need to ask him about that.”

Sinead looked afraid. Very
afraid. “Oh, please don’t ask him.”

“Why?”

“If he’s trying to hide
something, and he thinks … Oh, I don’t know. Please don’t.”

“I have to, Sinead. This is
important.”

“But he’ll punish me.”

“You never seemed afraid of
my uncle before.”

“But this is different – I
think we might have stumbled on something we’re not supposed to know.”

“What do you mean? Do you know
something you’re not telling me?”

Sinead shook her head.

“Well, I’m going to ask him.
It’s the only way I can find out.”

“Don’t – I’ll … I’ll tell him
how you led Skoggcat to our village!”

Redknee
stood in silence. She wouldn’t dare. Would she? Well, it cut both ways. He
didn’t think his uncle knew she’d given Mord the book. If he told Sven that, it
would surely be the death of her.

“How are my two favourite
young people?”

Redknee turned to see his
uncle coming over to join them. He mumbled something about being just fine.

“Well,” Sven continued. “It’s
really you, Sinead, who I need to speak to.”

Sinead nodded silently. She
looked terrified.

“I need to know why you ran
away with Ragnar.”

“Please Sir,” Redknee said.
“She didn’t run away. Mord took her.”

“I see,” Sven said. He turned
to Sinead. “Is that correct?”

She nodded.

“And you are unhurt?”

She nodded again.

“Good,” he said smiling, and
he started to leave.

“Sir,” Sinead said, her voice
small and high-pitched. Not at all how Redknee was used to hearing her.

“Yes?” Sven asked, pausing.

“When I was at Ragnar’s camp,
I overheard him talking about why he wanted the book, why King Hakon wants the
Codex
.”

“Really? Why you’re quite the
little eavesdropper.”

Sinead smiled.

“And how do I know you’re not
sent by Ragnar to spy on me now?”

Her smile quickly faded.

Sven laughed. “Relax, I’m
just teasing. So tell me, why does our esteemed king seek the
Codex
?”

“King Hakon is ill. Some say
it is leprosy and that he is dying. This book, the
Codex
, it is about an
Irish monk, Saint Brendan, who lived many years ago. The book tells of his
journey to the Promised Land – a place far to the west – where he found great
riches. But, more importantly, according to the
Codex
, the Promised Land
is a place where death has been conquered.”

“I see,” Sven said. “So he
isn’t looking for Saint Brendan’s treasure. He wants to go to the Promised Land
where he will be able to live forever.”

Sinead nodded. “That’s what
he believes.”

“And he has sent Ragnar to
find this place for him.”

“Yes. But Ragnar’s son, Mord,
he wants the treasure for himself. It is to be their reward for helping King
Hakon.”

Sven stroked his beard. “Well
this puts a different slant on things. King Hakon wants my head on a spike for
non-payment of taxes. But then the fox
will
keep putting them up.”

“He is spending a lot of
money trying to find a cure for his illness,” Sinead said.

“Well, well. Perhaps there is
a way I can get back on his good side. If we were to find the Promised Land
first, then we could legitimately claim the treasure for ourselves, and also
save King Hakon from his terrible death. Thank you, Sinead,” he said, starting
to leave again. “If we do indeed find this Promised Land, I shall personally
see to it you are given your freedom.”

Redknee watched as his uncle
made his way up the deck, speaking to each of his men in turn, giving them
encouragement. He stopped beside Brother Alfred and motioned for the little
monk to sit with him.

Satisfied his uncle was out
of earshot, Redknee turned back to Sinead. “Why didn’t you tell my uncle you
can read?” he asked. “Then we’ll find the Promised Land sooner – Brother Alfred
is taking ages with his reading.”

“I don’t know … I’m afraid.”

“You?”

Sinead nodded. “I don’t want
them to kill Brother Alfred. I don’t think he caused the fire.”

“Neither do I. But if it
wasn’t Ragnar, and if it wasn’t an accident, where does that leave us?”

“Maybe someone started it
deliberately.”

“But who would do such a
thing – and why?” As he said this, his eyes were drawn to where Harold sat,
busily sharpening his ivory- handled dagger on a slice of granite.

Sinead followed his gaze.
“The thought had occurred to me too,” she said.

“But why try and warn us?”

“But
was
he warning
us, or was he trying to keep us away – blame someone else?”

“We can say what we like, but
it means nothing without proof. And if we can’t prove it, Brother Alfred will
hang, or worse, when we reach
Iceland
. Matilda will see to that.”

He glanced over to where
Brother Alfred was sitting beside Sven on a thick bundle of furs. They were
going through the
Codex
– with Sven turning the pages, the little monk
reading them aloud. Something Brother Alfred said made Sven frown. He asked the
monk to repeat it, which he did. This time Sven grinned.

“Do you think we should
listen?” Redknee asked.

Sinead nodded and they went
over to join them.

Redknee spoke. “Please Sir,”
he addressed his uncle, “can we listen too?”

Sven’s eyes widened in
surprise and for a moment, Redknee thought he was going to say no. But he
nodded and motioned for them to join him on the furs.

Sinead knelt beside Brother
Alfred. He narrowed his strained eyes. “Please sit still,” he said, “and no
fidgeting. I need my concentration.”

Redknee sat beside Sinead and
nodded.

“Continue,” Sven said, “You
were getting to the good bit, where Saint Brendan first sights the Promised
Land.”