Daughter of Fire and Ice (12 page)

‘How could you, Thora?’ he asked, accusingly.

‘What do you mean?’ I asked bewildered.

‘To tell her it served her right. And that you hoped she died of it!’ Bjorn looked at me and the deep disappointment in his eyes hurt me.

‘I said no such thing!’ I exclaimed.

‘At least go and give her something to help her sleep,’ Bjorn commanded and turned away from me.

I felt choked up and tricked. How could Ragna tell such lies? And even worse, how could Bjorn believe them? I returned to her cabin and without saying a word, I measured out some valerian to aid sleep.

‘That’ll teach you to withhold medicines from me,’ sneered Ragna.

I didn’t reply and left her.

An hour later, I saw Ragna leaning over the side being vilely sick. I loathed her, but my training won and I went to help. I held her fair hair back from her face as she vomited and then passed her a wetted rag to clean her face with once it was over. Instead of thanking me, she pushed me away.

‘I should’ve known you’d give me something to make me worse,’ she hissed weakly.

I recoiled and signalled to Grim to carry her back inside. As I returned to the prow, my usually confident sea legs felt shaky and faltering. The force of the wind around me calmed me, but I was deeply disturbed. It was going to be difficult to live with someone who disliked me so much. And who didn’t hesitate to misunderstand me and lie. I felt dread sweep over me and hoped I wasn’t sensing the future.

Three days into the voyage, I joined Thrang at the tiller. I sat beside him on an upturned barrel and watched him as he steered. His eyes darted out to sea, then ahead of the ship and then at some sea birds that were passing.

‘Not fulmars?’ I guessed, seeing that they flew high above the water. Thrang shook his head.

‘Kittiwakes,’ he said. ‘Also flying south for the winter.’

I shivered a little. ‘How long till we reach Iceland?’ I asked him.

He shook his head again. ‘Can’t say.’

‘Will you hazard a guess?’

Thrang eyed the sun, obscured behind thin cloud, and looked around us again, taking his time. He was a silent man, little given to speech. And he liked to think before he replied. ‘We’re on course,’ was all he said.

‘I could swear it’s getting colder,’ I remarked. ‘Is that because we’re heading further north?’

Thrang shrugged. I thought he wasn’t going to say any more and was about to head back to the prow when he spoke again.

‘The ice begins just north of Iceland. Miles and miles of it. As far as you can see. Some say that’s where the gods live. Fighting giants and stomping about and whatever else they get up to.’ It was a long speech for Thrang.

‘Is Iceland as cold as its name suggests?’

‘No. It’s no colder than much of Norway,’ he grunted. Looping a line around the tiller, he moved away to coil some rope. I stared out across the ship towards the north, willing land to appear on the horizon. This absorbed me so completely that it was a few moments before I noticed that someone else had taken the tiller. It was Bjorn and he wasn’t looking at me. I got up to go, but he stopped me.

‘Stay. I need to speak with you.’

I sat back down and waited. Bjorn appeared as intent on the horizon as I had been a few moments before.

‘Why did you give Ragna medicine that made her ill? None of this is her fault, Thora. You shouldn’t punish her.’

I took a deep breath and let it out very slowly before I replied. ‘I gave her valerian, as you requested. I don’t think it was that which made her sick.’

‘I don’t know if I can trust you, Thora. Is it true that you put pepper in her father’s wound? Ragna says you did.’

I was lost for words. How could Ragna possibly know that?

‘You don’t deny it,’ said Bjorn sadly.

I realized that this one act made me look untrustworthy in his eyes. It gave Ragna the semblance of truth and made me the devious one. I felt a surge of bitterness.

‘I admit it,’ I said at last. ‘He deserved it. He slew Kai and kidnapped me. And I did heal him at the same time.’

‘Surely a healer shouldn’t misuse her skills when people trust her?’ asked Bjorn.

He didn’t sound angry. I almost wished he was. His tone of despondence, of disappointment, was more than I could bear.

‘No, of course not,’ I agreed at last, close to tears. ‘It was an extreme situation.’

‘Thora, I hope we won’t have any more incidents of the kind,’ said Bjorn. He spoke gently but his words cut into me. ‘You’ll treat Ragna with respect as befits my wife.’

I couldn’t believe I was hearing this. My heart twisted inside me. I had to get up and go.

I found Asgerd halfway along the deck, and she made a space for me to sit beside her. She was out of sight of Bjorn, so I sank down gratefully beside her.

‘What’s wrong?’ she asked.

‘Ragna is setting Bjorn against me. He thinks me vengeful and vindictive,’ I said. ‘And there’s nothing I can say or do to convince him I’m not.’

Asgerd put her arm around me. ‘He’ll find out the truth in time,’ she whispered comfortingly. ‘Just make sure you don’t give her any cause to carry tales with any truth in them. If she’s lying and she keeps doing it, sooner or later she’ll get caught out.’

‘That’s good advice,’ I said, trying to compose myself.

‘Yes, but easier said than done,’ confessed Asgerd. ‘I’m beginning to get the measure of her and she’s not the nice, innocent girl we all thought her at first. She flatters the men, so they’ll take longer to discover what she’s really like. Life is not going to be nearly as much fun with her as mistress of the house. Every person aboard this ship would have preferred you. And that includes Bjorn, so don’t be too hard on him. He’s as bitter and disappointed as you are, make no doubt about it.’

‘Do you think so?’ I asked torn between hope and deep sadness. ‘I didn’t think he seemed to mind.’

‘He’s hiding it,’ said Asgerd.

I awoke three mornings later to brilliant sunshine. It bathed me where I lay beside Asgerd and warmed me through after the chill of the night hours. I stretched sleepily, aware I’d slept late if the sun was already so warm. But my sleepiness was quickly dispelled by the sound of excited voices around me. I sat up, eager to know what was going on.

The sky was a clear, glorious blue with not so much as a wisp of cloud in it. I could see Thrang seated at the tiller, and the sail was billowing in a steady breeze. Then I turned my head to the prow and froze, hardly able to believe what I was seeing.

Sand-coloured cliffs reared up out of the blue-green sea ahead of us. Behind them were dark mountains, their tops sparkling with snow. I leapt to my feet so suddenly that I startled the foals in their pen beside me, making them shy with fright.

‘Sorry, Aki,’ I said, stooping briefly to soothe my favourite foal. He nickered and lipped my hand, but I was gazing at the land again. The morning was clear and devoid of even the faintest trace of fog or haze, so that the landscape looked bold and bright. It was beautiful. I gazed and gazed at it. Then, almost unconsciously, I found myself making my way to the prow to be closer to the view. Several slaves were already standing gazing their first on Iceland, but they made way for me to take a turn. All of them were smiling and joyful. The dangers of the open sea were behind us now. I found myself standing beside Bjorn, and he too was smiling at the sight of the new land.

‘We’ve made it,’ he said softly to me. ‘It isn’t how we hoped it would be, Thora,’ he said in a low voice after a few moments’ silence. ‘But we’re here.’

I nodded, silently. For a moment it seemed there was peace between us again. And my mind was full of how it might have been, had we missed the Faeroe Islands. If we’d come straight to Iceland, we would be looking our first on these shores with the hope of love and happiness together. As it was, I feared the future, and that fear dimmed even the thrill of seeing this new land. I wondered if Bjorn was thinking the same.

We sailed closer and closer to the cliffs. Everyone on board the ship was pointing and talking excitedly. Or, like me, they were simply drinking it all in in silence.

‘There are fjords here,’ said Bjorn at last in a stronger voice. ‘Each one a potential home for us.’

Thrang joined us, leaving Stein at the tiller. ‘Do you want to make land here?’ he asked.

‘For water perhaps,’ replied Bjorn. ‘But I don’t wish to settle in the south-east of the island. If it’s the first place we come to, it will be the first port of call for others too. Too many settlers from Norway.’

We both knew what he meant. He wasn’t concerned about the land becoming crowded. People might come who had known the real Bjorn Svanson. We had to find a more out-of-the-way place.

‘Find us a likely stop over, Thrang,’ Bjorn requested, and Thrang returned to the tiller, scanning the shore line as he went. It was impossible to tell from here, I thought, which of these openings were safe to sail into and where there would be access to land. Perhaps there would be steep cliffs right the way in.

Thrang selected the fjord with the widest opening and turned the ship into it. As we sailed between the high cliffs, it felt like a gateway to another world. The ship was dwarfed by the scale of the mountains around us.

We lost the wind. Thrang called for the sail to be lowered and the slaves hurried to the oars. We glided through water that was still and clear. At first all was barren and inhospitable, but quickly we could see pockets of fertile land running along the coast. I spotted sheep grazing and caught my breath.

‘Settlers,’ I said to Bjorn who was still beside me.

He nodded. ‘Thrang says we must risk it,’ he said. ‘This looks the safest way in.’

I shivered at the thought of meeting more strangers. Would they be hostile like Ragna’s family? Bjorn seemed to read my thoughts.

‘We were unlucky before,’ he said.

Nonetheless, I was anxious as we sailed further and further in. The fjord seemed endless. The strip of land that could be farmed between the shore and the cliffs was narrow, but as we rounded a corner, we could see green slopes at the head of the fjord. There was also a longhouse and people standing watching our approach.

They’re probably wondering whether we’re friendly too, I reassured myself. I tried to sense their feelings towards us, but could feel nothing definite. As we came closer however, I could see children running along the edge of the water, waving excitedly at our ship. I was reassured. We would be safe here.

We sailed the ship close in to the shore, close enough that a gangplank could be laid. Our people were desperate for shore leave. All of us longed to escape the cramped conditions on board and to set foot on solid earth once more. Some had not been ashore since we left Norway.

The inhabitants of the farmhouse came down to greet us. They embraced Bjorn, and Ragna too, who had emerged shakily from her cabin, and was hanging on her husband’s arm. They were invited to stay overnight and to bring some of their people. The Icelanders promised a feast. In return, Bjorn made them a gift of a barrel of mead from the ship.

With their permission I ordered the refilling of our water barrels which were low once more. Svanson must have been an inexperienced seafarer, for he hadn’t supplied his ship with sufficient barrels for such a long voyage.

It was as I was directing the men where to take the barrels that I realized I’d committed a grave error. Ragna was glaring at me with unconcealed hatred in her eyes. I had unconsciously taken command and it was her place to give orders.

‘I’m sorry, Ragna,’ I said to her at once. ‘I only thought to spare you the task.’ I left her to take over, busying myself instead with tying a rein to Aki’s halter and leading him on shore. He hadn’t suffered so badly from seasickness in the second leg of the voyage, but he was pitifully thin. Aki trembled with excitement to be on land once more, dropping his head to crop the late summer grass, starting at every sound. I took the dogs ashore with us too, so that they could enjoy a good run. Bjorn had followed my advice and we had taken it in turns to feed them between us, winning their loyalty gradually.

My eyes darted here and there as we walked, searching out the different plants. I noted what was present and what was not, though it was hard to tell when sheep and cattle had cropped the pasture short. I picked nothing, feeling it would be prudent, this time, to keep my skills to myself.

When we returned to the ship, it was to hear that Bjorn had gone ahead to the longhouse and Ragna had decided who was to join the feast and who was to remain on board overnight. It was no surprise to me to learn I was to stay behind. I bit my lip and said nothing. I felt bitter. I should have been at Bjorn’s side, the guest of honour, and instead I was treated like a lesser slave.

While the favoured group went up to the house, I helped mucking out the animals and sluicing down the ship. It needed it sorely. It was an unpleasant task, but satisfying once it was done. In Ragna’s absence I handed out food and a ration of ale to those left on board the ship. The sun disappeared behind the high mountains early and the cold rolled down from the snow-capped peaks. I wrapped myself in my cloak and lay down to sleep, trying not to listen to the sounds of boisterous merriment drifting from the longhouse. It was hard to be displaced. I wondered that Bjorn hadn’t noticed my absence and objected. In the short time since he’d been married, we had already moved far apart. I’d hurt him, I knew, so I only had myself to blame. The thought was no comfort at all.

Erik returned to the ship. ‘Thora?’ he called.

I sat up, reluctantly. ‘I’m here,’ I told him.

‘Bjorn sent me,’ he explained. ‘He wants you to join us. It was an oversight, leaving you behind.’

As before, Bjorn’s kindness made me want to cry. My throat was hot and tight with unshed tears and I had to fight them before I could reply calmly.

‘Please thank him from me,’ I said. ‘But I’m content to remain here.’

Erik opened his mouth to argue with me, but I waved him away. He looked concerned, but didn’t press me. Instead, he turned and left, walking slowly back to the longhouse. The sight of him leaving was completely unsettling. I turned to stroke Aki and the other foals in order to hide my emotion from the slaves. A few moments ago I had longed to be in the house. I still wanted to be there. But I didn’t want to be invited as an afterthought. As though I were so insignificant that I had been forgotten at first. Besides, to go now would be to admit that I minded being left behind. I stroked Aki’s velvety nose and scratched him between his ears. He nudged me happily, lowering his head to encourage me to continue.