Saxon Dawn (Wolf Brethren) (2 page)

Her eyes showed her gratitude as she burst into tears. My father was embarrassed by it all and he bustled about.  “
Lann, get the spare skins and lay them over there.”

And so our family was extended; we had two more mouths to feed.  In the long run it save
d my life and my brother’s as well as Aelle’s and we did get along.  Monca was a hardworking woman and not without skills.  She could make fine pots and my father made her a small oven which gave us more goods to trade, apart from the woollen garments my mother made and the dried meat hunted by my father.

We learned to understand the language the boy spoke and he learned ours. Monca was grateful to be speaking her own language again but she knew that the Angles would come again and she wanted us prepared.
If we could speak their language then it just might help. Aelle was younger than me and older than Raibeart and he soon fitted in with us. With three of us looking after the flock he was an asset and the following winter my father made me the promised bow.  “You will be able to leave your brothers watching the flock and you too can hunt as I do.” Aelle had become my brother as much as Monca had become my father’s second wife.  Both women were with child at the same time and neither seemed to resent the other. I think it was my father’s nature that made it work. My mother and Monca seemed to get on really well and it was good to hear them laughing and giggling as they worked together.

In the long winter nights
, as I worked on my bow and was shown how to make and fletch arrows, Monca told us more stories of the Angles.  It appeared they had left their land when the gods of the sea reclaimed it and that there were many other tribes who lived in similar lands in the same position; all of them were looking for a new home.  It was a depressing thought that these people were the first but not the last of the people who would invade us. She told us that many had mail shirts and helmets.  They used shields and axes.  Her description terrified me as I pictured giants who would kill us and then eat us. We wondered if the gods of the land had deserted us but my father told us that one day the Romans would return, as had been foretold by his grandfather, and they would right the wrongs of the Angles.  Certainly we knew that the Romans had been powerful and their work could still be clearly seen across the land.  If it was built of stone then it was Roman.

My father took me to one side, as spring began to peer from beneath the snow. “You and I must learn to become warriors
Lann or these Angles will kill us and take your mother as they did with Monca.” He held the bow and the arrows in his huge hand.  “These can kill men as well as animals. I do not want to fight these people but I will defend what we have.”

“Don’t we have a king?”

He shook his head. “There was one but we have not heard of him for some time. There are many chiefs who have warriors around them but none bother themselves with us.  After the Romans left they took over the forts the Romans built and rule the land around them.” He pointed beyond the wattle and daub walls of our hut. “We live here because we can defend it but not against the warriors Monca describes.”

I thought of the Roman stone and I remembered somewhere close to the river. “When we went across the Roman bridge near to the Dunum, did we not see a Roman building?”

He smiled and ruffled my already unruly hair, “You remember well for we only visited there once. Aye there is a fort there but much of the stone was taken by men to build their own homes north of the river.”

”Did the Romans not leave weapons behind?” My father’s grandfather had served with the last Romans and I had heard tales of their weapons and armour.  It sounded to me as though that might defeat the
Angles when they came.

“I think, not.  My grandfather had a sword but he used it to chop wood.” He scratched his beard.  “He may have had a helmet somewhere and some mail but they were lost
to the family when the slavers killed my father.”

The rest of the winter I spent making my arrows as straight as I could with feathers taken from our noisy geese.  If I did not have a helmet,
neither sword nor armour I would, at least, have the best bow I could and I would stop the Angles from killing my father and stealing my mother. When I took the two boys out on the fells that summer I became a harsh task master; I taught them how to use their slings well. I practised with my bow until I thought my arms would fall off. We killed many rabbits and squirrels. Our parents were pleased for it filled the pot but I had an ulterior motive, we would become the defenders of our family when the Angles came.

That summer we found more refugees fleeing west.  These were families who knew that the invaders were close
and wished to avoid the consequences. They did not stop but headed towards the Roman fortress in the west, where, it was rumoured, there was a king who offered protection. It had a magical name, Civitas Carvetiorum and was reputed to be the most magnificent palace in the whole of Britannia. The king was supposed to ride around on a white horse righting wrongs. My father was not convinced, “What would we do there?  Would we have land as we do here?  Better what we know than the unknown. I think they dream still of Artorius, the last Roman.”

My two sisters were born in the autumn. Their mothers and my father cooed and awed at them but to me
and my brothers they were just noisy and irritating.  The early morning screaming just drove me and my brothers out earlier. As we headed for the pastures I deviated from our normal route.  Raibeart saw this but Aelle was still finding his way around the land.  “This is not the route to the pastures?”

“No brother.  It is the route to the river and there the grass is juicier at this time of year.  We will fatten them up and it is a shorter journey for us to take.”

He grudgingly agreed for it meant more time for our practice.  Wolf could easily control the flock and the three of us knew that we had a very easy time of it. When we reached the river I left the two boys with strict orders to stay put.  Aelle always acceded to my demands but Raibeart was flexing his muscles a little and questioning his older brother.  He gave me a defiant look and was about to open his mouth when I slapped him across the side of the head.  “That is before you even think of arguing!” Tears welled up in his eyes but he bit his lip and stormed off with Aelle in tow. “Mind what I said! Do not leave this place.” Confident that they would obey me I crossed the Roman Bridge. I could see from the weeds and grass growing on its surface that it had seen little traffic. I could see, on the other side, stood the stones and remains of the old Roman fort.  I was disappointed for it looked as though they had demolished most of it before it was abandoned but I was determined to search anyway. I could see that they had destroyed anything in the fort which had been useful but I also saw places where the soil was in mounds, as though something had been buried.  I found a charred piece of wood which had a pointed end and I began to dig away at the nearest pile.  Once I got through the grass and weeds it became quite easy and I felt a thrill as my wood struck something solid.  I was encouraged to dig harder.  The wood was no longer helping me and so I took to using my hands to clear away the dirt.  I found a wooden box.  The top had started to rot but it was still quite solid. I made a hole down the side of the box and reached down.  I found a leather handle and I pulled.  I strained as hard as I could and I was about to give up when, suddenly, it sprang up and out at one end.  I dragged it clear.  There was no lock and I pulled at the top to open it.  I have to admit that I was excited.  What treasure would I find within? When the lid finally popped open I was disappointed. After I removed the sacks covering the contents I saw that it was filled with nails and shoes the Romans had used.  My father had said they were called caligae and the Roman soldiers had used them.

I was about to turn away in disgust when I suddenly thought that the nails and shoes might be useful.  We wore shoes made of leather and fur but they were not very serviceable and needed repairing frequently. I took a selection of shoes and nails, enough for the family and put them in the sack.  I saw that there were still six mounds.  I would return.  This was just the start.
I hid in the woods and watched my brothers who were still using their slings.  I found a hollow beneath an oak tree and covered the sack with a pile of loose leaves.  It sounds silly now, after all the intervening events, but I did not want to take back some shoes and nails and claim it was a treasure.  I wanted to come back triumphantly, with weapons and arms.

When we returned to the settlement the men were gathered around my father’s fire. I was going to join them but a quick shake of my father’s head told me that I was not welcome.  Ruefully I realised that I was not yet a man. When I had a beard then I would be able to join them.  The two mothers were busy with the babies and so I took my bow and went to practise.  I had three arrows I used for practice.  They were my first attempts at fletching and they were not the best.  I reasoned that, i
f I could loose these effectively then the better arrows would be even more accurate when I used them. I used the stump of a lightening struck tree as my target.  It was about man size and I had worked myself progressively further away to improve my accuracy.  I was so accurate now that I could imagine that this tree was a man and I chose where to hit him.  He was an Angle; the enemy. Nine times out of ten I hit where I aimed; even at sixty paces; smack between the eyes. Further away than that and it was luck which took over.  I knew, from my father, that I needed a longer bow and greater strength to make my arrows go further. But I knew that day would come.  I had been marking, with a piece of charcoal, my height on the doorway to the hut and I had grown by two hand spans in the last year.  I was almost as tall as my father but his broad shoulders and muscled arms made me look like a girl, however I was becoming bigger and stronger each day.

While we ate my mother asked my father what had been discussed. “It seems we have a king, or
at least we did have, for
Cynfarch Oer
,
had died, or been killed by the Angles and his son Urien Rheged is now king.”

My mother cooed at my sister and asked, “Well what has that to do with us?”

“It seems he wants us to be prepared to fight the Angles. He is visiting his lands to find out how many warriors he has.”

Mother
snorted,”His lands! I do not see him guarding the flocks or repairing the hut or tending the fields.  His land indeed!”

Monca had learned my mother’s ways and she and my father smiled at her outburst. “It seems to me that it matters not who claims the land so long as we are left in peace and, if this Urien wishes to defend this land then I can at least help him.” Mother did not look convinced. “What is the alternative? Do as the people of Monca’s settlement did and wait for them to come and kill us?”  My mother had no answer to this so she ignored the question and carried on feeding my sister who seemed to make more noise than our pig when he ate. “We are going to try to make some weapons. 
Spears probably.”

My ears pricked up.  This was more my kind of talk. “Who will make them?”

The three adults all flashed me a look.  We normally sat in silence at meal times and listened.  I almost regretted my outburst until I saw my father smile and reach over to ruffle my hair. “Arden has some skill with iron.  We are going to build a fire to melt the iron.” He pointed to the hills to the west.  “There is iron in those hills.  We have the winter to make them.” He shrugged at the snort from my mother. “We have time enough in the winter and working the forge will keep us warm, eh lads?”

I was delighted to be included.  Last winter I had made a bow and arrows; this winter looked to be even more interesting with the prospect of making real weapons.  Of course I would still try to reach the other weapons, which I knew must be in the fort and
I would return a conquering hero.

I had my next chance when we took our flock for the last time before winter set in and the conditions became too harsh. I left the two boys with the flock and Wolf; they were more than capable of protecting them.  Raibeart was suspicious but I told him I would be hunting and
my glare threatened another blow about the ears.  He was quickly cowed and I left for the fort. Vindonnus was with me that day for he brought me a young doe as soon as I started hunting; I knew he had brought her for she had an injured leg and would not survive the winter.  She was an easy kill and I took my stone knife out to remove her entrails and to take a bite out of her still warm heart. I felt her strength go into my body and I left the rest of the heart for Vindonnus.  I hung the beast in a tree; I would reclaim her on the way back. I took the liver with me to placate Icaunus, the river god.  Perhaps when I had crossed the bridge the last time without making an offering I had displeased the god and had been punished with such a paltry haul.  I would remedy the situation this time. I dropped the liver into the water and said a short prayer of thanks to the god for allowing me across the bridge.

I did not know if
the offering worked but I felt much happier as I crossed the bridge to find the fort still deserted. Perhaps I had done the right thing; I looked at the mounds and one called to me. It was the smallest of the mounds but I dug anyway.  This time I knew what to expect and I retrieved the chest much more quickly. This time, however, the box broke as it cleared the soil and the contents spilled out. I could not believe my fortune and I held my breath as I saw the glint of metal in the soil.  I reverently cleared away the dirt. The metal I had found was a sword.  It was as long as my arm and had come free from the oiled cloth in which it had lain. There were a couple of spots of rust but otherwise it looked as though it had just been placed there. I put it to one side and took out the other wrapped parcels.  There were four swords and eight daggers.  It was a mighty haul.  I wrapped them up again in their cloth. I was about to carry them across the river when I saw another bundle in the soil.  It had obviously fallen from the bottom of the chest. It felt heavier than any of the swords and I wondered what it could be.  As I unwrapped it, I said a silent prayer to Icaunus for it was a shirt of mail.  There were a couple of links missing and it had more rust than the swords but it was a mail shirt. I quickly wrapped it and fled back across the bridge, peering fearfully over my shoulder in case I had been seen.  I buried it with the caligae and then went back for the swords and daggers. They were too heavy to take back to our home and I chose a sword and three daggers.  They would make a suitable present and then I would reveal the others to my father.  I would be a hero!