Baron of the North (22 page)

I twisted my sword out and spun around to find another foe; there was no shortage. I saw an enemy man at arms leap from the side towards Wulfric. I swung my sword sideways at the head of the man. He had no coif and my sword sliced through to his brain. I used his body as another stepping stone and, reaching the side of the ship, sliced through the last rope which held us. Free from the dead weight of the ship we leapt forward so violently that many of the pairs of men fell to the floor.  I saw a knight quickly rise and raise his sword to finish off Erre.  I used two hands to bring my sword down on the back of his head.  I did not cut the helmet but I drove it down hard and he stumbled to his knees.  Erre ripped his sword up between the knight's legs and into his guts.

The knights were dead and the last of the men at arms were soon slaughtered now that there were no more reinforcements. I stood panting.  It had been hard work. My warriors went around ending the pain of our enemies and tending to our wounded. Leofric raced to my side, "Baron! You are wounded!"

I looked down at him in surprise.  He put his hand to my side and it came away bloody. The leather hauberk had finally given way. "Take it off, Leofric and find some honey."

Wulfric had received a cut across his forehead.  I could see the bone beneath but he grinned at me. Waving his hand at the bodies he said, "A right good haul, Baron; mail, swords and, when we search the bodies mayhap some coins too."

It was ever thus with Wulfric.  Death was an occupational hazard.  There were four warriors who would not swear allegiance to me for they lay dead. I looked at the other six. They were not sad for their comrades had died a good death. While I had my body sluiced down with sea water Leofric found some honey.  It would have been better if it had been heated but we dared not risk a second fire. The wound was bleeding but it was not a deep one.  Wulfric and my men stripped the bodies, friend and foe before throwing them over the side.  The Sicilians were dumped unceremoniously overboard but words were said as each Varangian returned to the sea. Erre suddenly pounced on an arm which had been chopped off a Sicilian during the battle. I wondered what he wanted it for.

Leofric wiped most of the blood from my side and then began to smear the sticky honey on the wound.  Miraculously the blood flow slowed and then stopped. He wrapped a bandage tightly around it. "Pull it as hard as you can, Leofric. It helps the healing process." Since arriving in England I had learned much about medicine.

He poured me a horn of ale which I quaffed. "Have we lost the enemy?"

Leofric nodded.  "They both gave up.  I think our teeth were a little too big for them."

"We were lucky, Leofric.  You fought well and you did not panic."

He smiled, "I am learning to be a thinking squire, Baron."

"And you think right well."

Wulfric approached, "What do we do with the treasure, Baron?"

"See if any of the mail fits the squires; if not we take it home.  If any want the swords then they can have them. As for the rest then you divide it."

"There is much here, Baron!"

"Good.  The men deserve it.  And I hope that our journey is more peaceful from now on."

The loss of blood and the effort had tired me and I lay down amongst the bedding in the bottom of the hold.  I was suddenly woken by a roar from the rear of the ship.  Thinking we had been attacked I grabbed my sword and clambered, stiffly, up the ladder.  My men were all at the stern. I wondered what it was.  They parted and I saw Erre hauling on a rope. "We eat well tonight Baron!" He suddenly gave an almighty heave and a shark, as long as a man, was hauled on board.  Wulfric's axe ended its threshing. 

I looked at it in amazement. "How?"

John laughed, "He used the arm and one of the hooks the Sicilians used.  He towed it behind the ship and the shark took the bait!"

I was learning much about my men as we headed across that normally placid sea. I watched as Dai had his crew secure the cedar logs which had moved about during the battle.  They had helped us, that was for sure.

The mail from one of the two knights fitted Leofric well and it was finely  made.  The wearers had all been young. They had seen this as a chance for glory and had paid the price. It had been a harsh lesson for them learning how to fight on a pitching boat against men such as Wulfric and the Varangians. Dick and the archers took three of the swords.  They had short ones but had seen the wisdom of carrying longer ones.  They would wear their scabbards on their saddles rather than on their waists; if we ever managed to reach the safety of home.

We barely had time to enjoy our moment of glory after the division of spoils for a mighty storm blew up.  I had seen these before.  This was not the storms we saw from our home on the Tees. Those storms sometimes raged for days.  This was a hotter and quicker storm.  It erupted like a volcano from nowhere but it spewed torrential rain and hailstones. The clouds appeared and turned night into day. The air became heavy, like armour, and then the winds began. The deck pitched and tossed like a skittish horse and the normally small waves rose like cliffs. Rain did not fall it crashed on  to the ship and was so heavy is appeared to be a sea which was falling. It was so dark that I saw some of the new men clasp their crosses and drop to their knees as they cowered down in the hold.

We had little time for the luxury of prayer for the hold began to fill with water which spilled in from the wild sea. There was no protection from the sea save our canvas awning and the few cedar logs. We formed two chains of men to pull pail after pail of sea water from the bottom of the ship. Wulfric and I worked at two ends of the hold and it was backbreaking work. I bent, dragged, lifted and then took another pail to bend, drag and pull once more. It was relentless. I felt the warm flow of blood from my wound which had opened as I stretched and lifted each bucket full. We seemed to be losing the battle. The water rose above my ankles and soon reached my knees. My muscles burned so much I thought that I would have to stop.  I kept going for to cease would mean that the hold would fill with water and we would sink. I renewed my efforts for I had to get home to my family. The King's mission faded into insignificance. This was about saving a tiny ship in the middle of an ocean.  All else was irrelevant. As I passed a bucket to Dick I touched the blue stone around my neck.  It seemed to give me the energy to carry on.

We kept going for what seemed like hours.  Time almost stopped for the sky remained so dark and we could not see the passage of the sun. And then the water stopped rising.  We were winning. I found more energy from somewhere. When the level dropped blow my knees then I spied hope and by the time it fell to my ankles and the motion of the ship was less violent then I knew that we had been spared. The water which remained was too shallow to be gathered by the pails and so I laid the pail down and almost collapsed on a sodden sack of lemons.

The wounded sailor looked over. "I will come down and clear the last of the water, Baron.  You have done enough." He clambered down next to me and took a piece of sponge such as they find in the Aegean and began, one handed to soak up the water and squeeze it into a pail.

Leofric and Wulfric hauled me to my feet, "Come Baron, we must get you on deck for your wound is bleeding. We need light to attend to it."

They pulled me up to the fresh air and a clearing sky. I rolled on my back atop the cedar logs.  There was no doubt that they had saved us for they had kept some of the water from us. The ship had been damaged.  The sail, or the remains of it, hung in tatters and I saw that the bow castle had been swept away.  The bow of the ship looked naked. My men stripped my sodden clothes from me.  Leofric brought out the honey and smeared it on the wound.  We needed no sea water to wash it this time.  The storm had washed me clean and soaked me already. Wulfric tied the bandage this time and he pulled it so tightly that I winced. "I am sorry, Baron, I shall have to kill you with kindness."

As the storm abated the wind died and the motion became much easier until we stopped. Dai made his way down to us.  "That was a close run thing Baron.  I lost two men over the side." He pointed to the sail.  "We will have to rig the spare sail."

"You have one?"

He nodded, "Aye but it is close to the stern behind the amphorae."

My heart sank. "You mean we have to move the amphorae?"

"Not all of them.  If your men clear a passage to the side then I can send two small men to pull it out." He shrugged. "I am sorry, Baron.  It is normally in the part of the hold where you are sleeping.  I did not think when I loaded my cargo."

This was disappointing.  His incompetence would cost us dear.  My men were exhausted already. I began to rise. "Very well. Get me my clothes Leofric."

Wulfric shook his head. "Leofric get the Baron his clothes but keep him here.  We will do the work.  Right boys let us show these sailors how real men work."

They all took off their sodden clothes and descended to the Stygian depths beneath the cedar logs. They were so wet it was more comfortable to work naked. The calm sea meant that the amphorae could be stacked on the logs without danger of falling.  Even so it took many hours to clear a passage large enough to accommodate the two slight sailors. It seemed to take an inordinately long length of time to drag the reluctant sail from its nest. I could see why when the two exhausted figures flopped the snake like canvas at the feet of Wulfric and the others. It was heavy and unyielding. Although my men were exhausted they helped to drag the canvas up to the mainmast.

"Wulfric, we will have to replace all the amphorae before we can hoist the sail."

I saw a look of exasperation on the face of my Sergeant at Arms but he rose, wearily to his feet. "Right boys one last effort and then we sleep the sleep of the dead eh!"

It was almost dark by the time they had finished and the last amphorae had been tied in place. I then watched as the three sailors and Dai hauled the new sail into place. My men pulled on the sheets to haul it up but even so it took a long time. Had a pirate or a Sicilian chanced upon us then our odyssey would have ended there and then for we were in no condition either to move or to fight. The wounded sailor steered although there was so little wind that the ship barely moved. It was pitch black by the time they had finished and my men collapsed into the hold, still damp from the storm and fell asleep. I had had the least work to do and I dragged myself to the steering board.

I pointed with my thumb, "Captain, get some sleep."

"But Baron you are a lord!"

"And I have done the least work in the last few hours.  I am rested. I will watch with your sailor here and I will rest on the morrow."

"Thank you."

He nodded and curled up like a cat at our feet.  His snores soon told us that he was asleep. "I will take the steering board if you tell me the direction."

"Are you sure, Baron?"

"You have a wounded arm. My wound will not stop me from steering." He moved to one side and I sat on the chest Dai used as a seat and leaned against the wooden steering board.

"A little more to your right, Baron." I made the adjustment.  "That is it. Keep her steady."

The rudder did not come directly from the stern but was offset to the right. It took skill to steer. Over the next few hours I learned how to steer. It was not easy.  The sailor, Gwynfor, was a patient man and pleasant to talk with. It seemed this was just his second voyage and he had gone to sea to get the money together to become a farmer. He came from Wales and the little rock they call Anglesey. That was beyond the reach of King Henry and there the land was freely available to men like Gwynfor. So long as he had the money to buy sheep then he could farm his own land without having to ask the lord of the manor.

He pointed to the wound on his arm.  "This is a small price to pay.  We all have a small share in the oil, wood and spices.  When we sell it I will be able to travel to Myfanwy, buy my sheep and build my home. This will be my last voyage."

"And have children."

"Aye lord, and have children."

"You will have tales to tell them."

"Baron, I will be able to tell them tales until they are grown. I watched in awe as you and your warriors fought many times your number.  I felt certain that my life would end as a slave in Sicily."

"I do not think that I am fated to die here."  I unconsciously fingered the blue wolf. "I still have a destiny and I still have something to do with my life."

"Here Baron, I am rested and I will take over." We swapped places and I found that my arm ached. It had been more tiring than I had thought. "I am curious, what do you yet have to do?  You are a mighty lord and a great warrior.  What else is there?"

"I know not but when I returned to Constantinople I discovered something from my father's past and until I know its purpose then I will keep searching."

"You have a family, Baron?"

"I do."

"What of them? If I had a family then I would keep them close and keep them safe."

"I have people who watch out for them."

"But they are not you.  I know that I would give my life for my family." He laughed, "And I do not even have a family yet. I just have a girl who will be my wife when I return."

We watched in silence for the remainder of the night.  He had given me much to think on. Was I being a bad husband and father by doing what I did? Of course I could not help this absence but I knew, in my heart, that if the Empress was in danger then I would leave my family in an instant to serve her. It did not mean I did not love my family but I was tied, through blood and honour with the Empress Matilda. All the plotting and machinations of the great, the good, and the bad were embroiling me in events which had little to do with me.  I do not think that my father envisaged such a future when he left his favourite lemon tree in his little garden in the east.

Dai woke before dawn. "Thank you, Baron.  That rest has done me good. You have shown me a different side to knights on this voyage. I expected an idle lord who would order us all around but you have been as one of us. And yet you need not have stirred to help."

I laughed as I began to head towards the hold. "If I had not stirred then I fear this ship would now lie at the bottom of the sea.  Those who sit and watch are the ones who die. A man must do all that he can to survive. That is life."

When I awoke the men were all seated on the cedar logs. Erre was squeezing lemon juice on the butchered flesh of the shark. Leofric pointed to it and said, "Erre here thinks that the lemon juice can cook the flesh of the fish.  How can that be lord?  Is it magic?"

"I know not.  Where do you learn this Erre?"

"I had a woman in Miklagård, Baron.  She had been taken as a slave from the east and she showed me how to do it. I have only ever done it with smaller fish but we have cut this up as small as we can.  I will try it first."

I nodded, "Where is she now?"

He shook his head, "She died.  She was carrying my child and something… well she died." He shrugged, "
Wyrd
."

There was little else to say.  Life hung by a thread and a man, or a woman, made the most of the short time they had on this earth.

He finished and said, "We leave it for a short time and it should be ready."

Surprisingly enough it was cooked, or at least it did not taste raw and it was not tough.  I would not have liked to live from it but we were all so hungry that the whole of the beast was devoured. As events turned out that might have been the difference between survival and destruction. "Sail to the east.  It is a Dhow! Barbary pirates."

Although the wind had risen the pirates would use oar power. Dai shouted, "Baron, we are not far from the Pillars of Hercules.  If we can make them we stand a chance.  They like not the dark waters of the deep ocean."

"Right boys.  Let’s get the oars out!" Wulfric had taken the decision without me. I sat next to John and Leofric. "Baron, your wound."

"You bound it Wulfric and it will not bleed.  Come let us row!"

As we rowed Olaf Leather-Neck began to sing and it helped our rhythm. There were not many verses and soon we all joined in.

Bend the back and pull the oars

Take this ship to foreign shores

Find the girls and take the gold

Live today we'll never get old

Swear the oath and take the blood

We fight for the jarl as oathsworn should

If we die we'll meet once more

On Valhalla's distant shore

Bend the back and pull the oars

Take this ship to foreign shores

Find the girls and take the gold

Live today we'll never get old

I heard later that he had learned the song when sailing down the rivers of the Rus. It was a Viking song.  It seemed appropriate somehow. Disappointingly Dai shouted, "The Arabs are still gaining on us.  You will have to keep rowing."

If I thought that would have made my men downhearted it had the opposite effect.  Olaf Leather-Keck shouted, "I am not going to be beaten by a bunch of half naked hairy arsed Arabs who would sell their mother if the price was right.  Put your backs into it!"

Bend the back and pull the oars