Hawk Quest

XXX

Shadows were lengthening along the coast when Shearwater entered the estuary. Their lead over the longship had stretched to more than a mile. A flood tide carried them up the river and the alien shores began to close in on them. A country much like parts of Iceland for the first few miles, rolling tundra flushed with autumn, studded with bald granite outcrops. What amazed the Icelanders was the bounty of dead trees tangled in the backwaters and unharvested by any living soul. Soon they came on stands of birch and solitary spruces standing on the banks like spiral obelisks. The river had narrowed to less than a mile when they rounded a bend and put the longship out of sight. Along this reach the trees merged into a sparse forest that straggled away to the furthest ridges. No trace of habitation. Not a sign that any human had set foot in those wastes.

Darkness was beginning to settle when they broached the forest. They navigated another bend. A tributary led away to their right. They passed a scrubby island and a huge hump-shouldered animal patched out of the gloom went splashing away through the shallows. Some of the Icelanders crossed themselves.

Raul stood at Vallon’s side. ‘We’d better find a place to land while there’s enough light.’

‘Keep an eye out for a quiet inlet. If the Vikings go past us, we can slip back to sea on the ebb tide.’

Shearwater held to the centre of the river. Soon it would be too dark to pick a landing site.

‘What about in there?’ Wayland said, pointing at a backwater between wooded bluffs on the left bank.

‘We’ll take a look.’

Shearwater nosed round, still under sail, running with the tide. Vallon glanced downriver. No sign of the longship. He heard the riffling of broken water.

‘Shoal!’

Before Raul could steer away, the keel struck with a tearing squeal and heavy crash. The shock threw almost everyone down. Vallon picked himself up to find that Shearwater had run aground fifty yards from the bank.

He glared up at the heavens as if he knew where the agent of this fiasco were seated. Forget that. It was his own fault. He should have taken in sail and posted a leadsman. ‘Raul, check the damage.’

He paced and fidgeted while Raul investigated. It didn’t take long.

‘We’re holed and jammed. What makes it worse is that the tide’s nearly full. We won’t float her off tonight.’

Any moment the Vikings would come in sight. Think, Vallon told himself. Think.

‘Launch our boat. Bring the other one alongside. Row the women and other non-combatants to shore, then take off the cargo. Wayland, I’m putting you in charge. Round up as many Icelanders as you need. Raul and Garrick, get the horses out of the hold.’

People were gathering up their possessions and staring fearfully downriver. Vallon wiped his lips.

‘We must protect the ship at all costs,’ said a voice beside him. ‘Lose it and we’re dead.’

Vallon glanced at Drogo’s shadowed form. ‘Ship or no ship, none of us will escape if we’re constantly looking over our shoulders in fear of each other.’

‘Agreed. A river of blood separates us, but I’ll delay making that crossing until we’ve dealt with the Vikings.’

‘You accept my command?’

Drogo hesitated. ‘If I agree with your decisions, I’ll back them.’

‘Not Helgi, though. He’ll try to thwart me at every turn.’

‘Issue your orders through me.’

Vallon’s eyes rested on Drogo before stealing downriver again. ‘What would your strategy be?’

‘Safeguard the ship but engage the Vikings on land. We have five horses where they have none. That’s worth a dozen men.’

It had been a long time since Vallon had talked tactics with a fellow professional. ‘We’ll leave the swordsmen on board and post archers on the banks. I don’t think the Vikings will press home an attack tonight. They’re weary and must be feeling star-crossed after losing men and seeing two prizes sink.’

Wayland came rowing back. ‘That’s all the women and old folk landed.’

‘Supplies next. When you’ve finished, muster the Icelandic bowmen and station yourselves at the edge of the forest.’

Raul and Garrick had rigged a derrick to hoist the horses out of the hold. Helgi and his men herded their own mounts over the side.

Vallon turned back to Drogo. ‘Are your ribs mended?’

‘I’ll fight if called upon.’

‘On the right side, I trust.’

Every man on board watched the bend downriver. Swirls of water welled up mysteriously and subsided back into blackness. The tide had ebbed, leaving Shearwater high and dry. Deep in the forest an owl gave a funereal hoot. Weapons chinked. Mosquitoes whined. Somewhere out in the river a big fish jumped.

‘What’s keeping them?’ Fulk muttered.

‘They’ll struggle against this current,’ said Drogo. ‘They might have stopped for the night.’

‘They won’t call a halt until they find us,’ said Vallon. ‘They’re searching every bolthole. Having forced us into a dead end, they’ll make sure we don’t escape.’

A mosquito bit his cheek. He raised his hand to swat it, then stopped, arrested by the eerie illumination unfolding in the northern sky. Down from the top of the heavens scrolled a gossamer curtain of pale green, its shifting drapes fringed with bands of purple. The folds undulated with a kind of beckoning motion, fading and returning.

‘What in God’s name is that?’

‘The northern aurora,’ said Hero. ‘The Icelanders say it’s the flames of Vulcan’s forge reflected in the sky.’

In this unearthly glow the longship made its entrance, stealing around the bend with its sail reflecting the ghostly fire, pinpoints of light winking at its oars. It drew nearer and someone shouted as he caught sight of Shearwater. The Vikings rowed closer, then held station, feathering their oars. Laughter and jeers carried across the water when the Vikings realised that the knarr was stranded. The pirate chief stood at the dragon prow and bellowed a lengthy challenge or ultimatum that made the Icelanders gabble with dread.

‘They know him by reputation,’ said Raul. ‘His name’s Thorfinn Wolfbreath, a pagan feared for his cruelty all along the Norwegian coast. He eats the livers of his opponents. Eats them raw on the battlefield to feed his valour.’

The warlord shouted again.

‘What’s he saying?’

‘Surrender the ship, our trade goods and our women, and he’ll leave us to God’s mercy. If we resist, he’ll cut the blood eagle on every man he takes alive.’

‘Blood eagle?’

‘A cruel torture. I saw it performed on a thief in Gotland. They tied him face down, hacked away his ribs close to the spine, then reached into his chest and pulled his lungs out through the back. The Icelanders say he’s a berserker, a warrior who can’t be defeated by mortal means. Swords can’t bite him and he can walk through fire without being burned. He can blunt a weapon just by looking at it.’

Vallon snorted.

‘You and me know it’s bollocks,’ said Raul. ‘But that’s what the Icelanders believe. If Thorfinn attacks us now, half of them will jump over the side.’

‘Remind him of your sting.’ Vallon turned. ‘Wayland, give them a volley.’

The bolt struck with a meaty thud. A flight of arrows whispered through the dark. Thorfinn laughed. Another volley of arrows swept overhead and a yelp of pain told Vallon that one of them had made a lucky hit. Thorfinn shouted. The longship began to fall back with the tide.

‘Wayland, follow them and mark where they put in. Keep watch on them. Take someone to report back.’

Footsteps ran into the dark. The aurora was fading. Faint pulses of the elusive light showed the longship drifting downriver. Slowly it disappeared around the bend.

‘They won’t be back tonight,’ said Drogo. ‘We’d better establish a camp.’

‘We’ll divide what’s left of the night into two watches, leaving six men on board for each shift. The rest might as well get some hot food into their bellies.’

Vallon posted pickets around the camp. He doubted that Thorfinn would mount a night assault across unfamiliar terrain. But then, he told Drogo, if he were in the Vikings’ place, he would do what was least expected.

Drogo shook his head. ‘They’ll recruit themselves before attacking.’

They were sitting beside a crackling fire, devouring steaks cut from the horse Garrick had killed.

Vallon wiped his greasy fingers, placed his hands on his knees and levered himself up. ‘I need to consult Hero.’

He found him helping to pitch shelters. ‘Have you calculated our position?’

‘I’ve taken a dozen sightings. Even the most optimistic puts us six hundred miles north of our starting point. That means a journey of a thousand miles before we reach the Baltic. We don’t have enough food. Our own supplies won’t last another week and the Icelanders have none to spare. One of the sailing masters told me that we won’t be able to buy or barter fresh supplies within two weeks’ sail.’

‘There’ll be game to hunt, fish to catch. The forest must be full of berries.’

Vallon became aware of Richard. He was sitting next to Hero with his knees drawn up to his chin.

Vallon dropped to a crouch. ‘Don’t worry about Drogo.’

Richard hugged his knees tighter.

Vallon took his arm. ‘Would you have had me condemn the Icelanders to death? I couldn’t take them and leave Drogo.’

‘Why not? It’s no more than he would have done to me.’

‘Why would he want to harm you?’

It all came spilling out. ‘He blames me for the death of our mother. And what warps his mind even more is the fact that Lady Margaret has no affection for him. She has no love for anyone apart from her precious Walter. As a child, I saw how she spurned Drogo when he tried to court her attention. I never even tried. I learned early on that cuffs and insults were all I’d receive from that lot. I thought I’d escaped them, found friends who cared for me. Yet though I’ve travelled to the end of the world, it seems that I can’t shake Drogo off.’

‘We do care for you. We’re your family now. Hero and Wayland and all the other steadfast souls who’ve shared our voyage. I won’t let Drogo harm you, I promise.’

Vallon rose and made his way to the fire, stepping around slumbering bodies. He stretched out, burdened with worries. No sooner had he laid his head down than Raul was shaking him awake.

‘Syth’s back.’

Vallon blundered up. The fire had died to coals and clouds fogged the moon. He’d slept for longer than he’d intended. Syth crouched panting by the fire. He hunkered down beside her. ‘Did you find their lair?’

She accepted a piece of meat from Raul and sank her teeth into it. ‘They’re in a bay below the crook in the river. On this side, less than two miles from here.’

Vallon glanced towards the river. Mist lapped against the shore. He checked the position of the moon, then turned to Drogo. ‘We’d better take a look before it grows light.’

Syth gave some of the meat to the dog. It stretched its jaws wide and closed its teeth on the offering with a grip that wouldn’t have pricked a bubble, then it growled at the men and slunk off. ‘You’ll need the dog to find Wayland and avoid the Vikings. Four of them landed and hurried back this way. They’re watching us.’

Helgi insisted on accompanying the patrol. Vallon took Garrick along to relieve Wayland. The dog led them into the forest by a roundabout route, baring its teeth at a rise over to their left to indicate where the Viking spies had posted themselves. Even with the clouded moon to light the way, the party found it tough going across fallen trees and rank heather and boggy hollows.

Helgi stumbled into a hole. ‘The girl said two miles. We must have come twice that distance.’

‘Not so loud,’ Vallon whispered. ‘The Vikings will have posted sentries. The dog’s leading us around them.’

He sighted on the declining moon. A lifting of the dark showed east where he thought west should be. The dog was sitting down in front of him. It turned and looked at him, then rose and trotted on.

Vallon caught his first glimpse of the river since leaving camp. Then it had been to his left. Now it was below him to the right. The dog must be leading them back upriver. They hurried on and climbed a hill. Below was the river again and a bay swathed in mist. The dog had disappeared and so had the moon. Vallon smelled wood smoke. He turned in a circle.

‘Over here.’

Wayland lay couched under a spruce tree, completely hidden by branches that draped across the ground like a skirt. Vallon and the others pushed in beside him. Garrick handed him food and a leather water bottle. Wayland gulped thirstily.

‘Are they in the bay?’

Wayland nodded, still drinking. He put the bottle down and gasped. ‘There are sentries on the next ridge. I thought it wise to hide downriver where they wouldn’t think to look.’ He lifted the bottle and drank again.

Now the lie of the land made sense to Vallon.

‘How many of them are left?’ Drogo demanded.

Vallon saw Wayland’s eyes turn in his direction. ‘You can answer,’ he said. ‘For the moment, we’re allies.’

‘It was too dark to count them,’ said Wayland. He touched Vallon’s sleeve. ‘Sir, I’m anxious about the falcons. I didn’t feed them yesterday and they’ll go hungry again if I don’t find food today. I know the peril we’re in, but you mustn’t lose sight of what brought us north. If we escape the pirates but the falcons starve, I won’t count it a triumph.’

‘There’s plenty of fresh horseflesh.’

‘I don’t know if falcons can stomach such coarse fare.’

Dawn was stealing over the forest. Vallon wriggled closer. ‘I can’t spare you or your dog to go hunting. You’re our eyes and ears. We have to float Shearwater and make her sound before the day is out. If the Vikings make a move and Garrick has to get news to us, it’s vital that he doesn’t blunder into one of their lookouts. Leave the dog with him and return with us. Use the day to tend your falcons and rest. I want you back here tonight.’

They waited. The sky brightened. Wayland fell asleep. His dog’s forelegs twitched in a dream.

A thin stylus of smoke rose from the vapours hiding the bay. Vallon heard occasional voices and mechanical sounds. A weak yellow sun began to lift clear of the forest and the mist on the river dispersed, revealing the longship moored at the head of the bay. Inside, roped together at the stern, were the surviving Icelanders from the captured knarr — six men and two women. The Vikings had taken down the torn sail and eleven of them sat mending its edges, squatting like a convention of tailors. Two more were chopping firewood and another was stirring a cooking pot slung from a trivet. One of them sat on his own with a blood-stained bandage around his arm. Their chieftain went among them with a curious loping gait. He wore a wolfskin cape over a short-sleeved leather jerkin that exposed massive arms covered with tattoos from wrist to elbow. He was even bigger than Vallon remembered, standing a head above the next tallest man in his company.

Sixteen Vikings in the camp, four upriver, and probably as many again on guard around the camp. Vallon tallied with his fingers and came up with a total of twenty-four — five more than his own motley force.

The cook called out and the pirates laid down their work and wandered over to the fire.

‘They’re not in any hurry,’ said Drogo.

‘They’ll repair their sail before coming after us,’ said Vallon.

‘They don’t need it if they attack before evening. Thorfinn must know that we can’t float Shearwater before the next high tide.’

‘We’d see an assault from the river before they could press it home. I think they’ll come by land and fall on us from several directions.’

‘A night attack?’

Vallon tried to put himself in Thorfinn’s place. ‘My guess is that they’ll hit us at first light tomorrow.’

‘That gives us time to fortify the camp.’

A vague plan was beginning to take shape in Vallon’s mind. ‘We won’t be waiting for them at the camp.’

On their way back the sky dissolved into smudgy grey clouds. A wandering drizzle fell. Raul greeted Vallon with a long face.

‘Come and see for yourself.’

Shearwater rested bow up on the shoal, the rocks that had stranded her poking above the current. Vallon climbed aboard. They’d offloaded the cargo and a substantial amount of ballast. Raul had fixed a temporary patch of tarred sailcloth over the gash.

‘I expected worse,’ Vallon said.

‘Look at the rib and crossbeam behind the hole.’

Vallon saw that the collision had jarred the heavy oak members out of position, ripping out the trenails that attached them to the strakes.

‘We can’t put to sea in that condition,’ Raul said. ‘We’d fold up in the first big wave.’

‘How long to repair it?’

‘Two, three days.’

Vallon surveyed the camp. It looked vulnerable by daylight, overlooked on both sides by tree-covered bluffs. The riverbanks were grey mud spiked with dead branches. The rain showed no sign of letting up and the Icelanders sat staring bleakly out from under rickety awnings piled with their chattels. Vallon remembered Hero’s warning about the shortage of food. He pushed the worry aside. Deal with the Vikings first. That provoked a fresh concern. Under clear skies and a moon, the pirates probably wouldn’t risk attacking from the river. But if this murk lasted into the night, they could creep right up to the bank without being spotted. They might attack by land and by ship. The camp would be empty, but Shearwater would be there for the taking.

‘I want the ship moved to another mooring after dark. Can you patch her in time?’

‘We’ll try our hardest. We’ll have to beach her to let in new planks. If the Vikings come while she’s out of the water …’

‘Garrick’s watching them. He’ll give us plenty of warning.’

‘Captain, I don’t know what you’re planning, but I don’t see how we can defeat them. There are too many. Even if we killed half of them, they’d still have their ship. All they have to do is wait downriver until we try to break out.’

‘I know,’ said Vallon. ‘If only we could destroy the longship … ’ He broke off. ‘Why not?’

Raul’s head whipped round. ‘You don’t mean it.’

‘They won’t be expecting it.’

‘Because they know it would be suicide.’

‘Not if you attack while most of them are marching on our camp.’

‘Me?’

‘I’d do it myself if I wasn’t needed elsewhere.’ Vallon glanced at the cloud-heavy horizons. ‘Everything depends on the weather. We’ll hold a council after sunset.’

He ordered the Icelanders to throw up defensive positions that he had no intention of using. While they were chopping down trees and sharpening stakes, the tide reached full. With so much weight removed, Raul and his team floated Shearwater off the shoal without much effort. They harnessed four horses to the stem, dragged her onto the foreshore and set about repairing the hole. Vallon went in search of Wayland. The falconer lay sleeping on a bed of pine needles beside the caged hawks. Syth told Vallon through yawns that the falcons had eaten the horseflesh and showed no ill effects.

Next he sought out Hero. He found him talking to Father Hilbert. Vallon asked for a word and led Hero away a little distance.

‘Do you know the secret of Greek Fire?’

Hero smiled as if he’d been expecting the question. ‘Only the Byzantine rulers and a few senior engineers are trusted with the formula. I can guess some of the ingredients. Naphtha for one. Pitch. Sulphur. But as for the constituent that makes it light spontaneously and burn on water … Does this have something to do with the Viking ship?’

‘Yes, it does. A ship isn’t as simple to fire as you might think. I need a substance that burns greedily and isn’t easily quenched.’

Hero looked towards the stores. ‘We have plenty of whale oil and sulphur, plus some turpentine. I could experiment with them.’

Vallon glanced at the surrounding heights. ‘Be careful not to give away your intentions. The enemy is watching.’

Returning to check on progress at the ship, Vallon met Caitlin and her maids leading two horses laden with firewood. He nodded to her. She flinched and hurried on, throwing a quick look over her shoulder. Seeing him still watching her, she stamped one foot and went on at an even faster pace.

‘Madam. One moment if you please.’

She stopped.

He strolled forward. ‘You’d be captive or dead if I hadn’t rescued you. A word of acknowledgement wouldn’t go amiss.’

Slowly she turned. ‘I cannot understand your language.’

‘You understood me well enough to save me from your brother’s cowardly treachery. I suppose I owe you thanks for that.’

Caitlin’s eyes blazed. ‘Helgi is not a coward and if I tell him you said so, he’ll make you swallow your words in blood.’

‘Tell him what you like, but be warned. If he plays false with me, I’ll cut him down like a rabid cur.’ He advanced another step. ‘I command here. His life, your life, the lives of all you Icelanders — they’re at my disposal and subject to my mercy.’ Another step. ‘Do you understand?’

Caitlin looked for rescue in all directions.

‘I want an answer.’

‘It’s not easy to put a bridle on Helgi’s temper.’

‘Then take care not to inflame it.’

Caitlin stared at him, blood mounting in her cheeks. ‘You are a wicked man.’

‘Oh?’

‘You killed your wife.’

‘I did.’

Her eyes remained focused on his, fear and revulsion vying with some other emotion. She drew in breath and opened her mouth to speak, then changed her mind. She looked quickly around, perhaps worried that Helgi was watching, before glancing fiercely back at Vallon.

‘Don’t speak to me again.’

Watching her flit between the trees, Vallon felt oddly bucked up by the encounter.

The rain lasted all day. Shearwater lay on the mud and every moment Vallon expected Garrick to come running into camp with news that the Vikings were on the march or were mounting some action that Vallon hadn’t anticipated. There were so many variables to consider. By the time twilight had deepened to dark, he had a splitting headache.

They lit fires. Around one of them he held his war council.

‘Garrick hasn’t returned,’ he began. ‘That’s good. It means the Vikings are still in their camp.’

‘They might have caught him,’ Drogo said.

‘If they had, the dog would have let us know.’ Vallon turned to Raul. ‘Is the ship ready?’

‘We’ve fixed the hole. We still have to repair the crossbeam.’

‘When Garrick returns, he’ll move the ship across the river with the women and old folk. The Viking spies mustn’t see what we’re doing.’

‘Why don’t we use the dog to lead us to them? Kill them one by one.’

‘I doubt we’d get them all. Besides, I want them to keep watching. Garrick will need a couple of oarsmen. Tell Helgi to select two of the weaker Icelanders.’

Helgi muttered grudging agreement.

Drogo mended the fire with a stick. ‘The night’s not so black that the Vikings won’t work out that we’ve left the camp.’

‘We’ll leave a couple of men to walk up and down and show themselves in front of the fires.’

Drogo tossed the stick into the embers. ‘This isn’t my style. I fight battles. I don’t stage shadow shows.’

‘I’m not seeking a battle. I’d cut the Vikings’ throats while they slept if the chance offered itself.’

An urgent pattering cut Drogo’s answer off. He reached for his sword. ‘Put it away,’ said Wayland. ‘It’s the dog.’

It loped out of the dark and placed its head close to Wayland’s. He stroked its ears. ‘The Vikings are still in their camp.’ The dog flopped down, its eyes red in the firelight. ‘Here’s Garrick.’

Vallon rose. ‘What news?’

Garrick caught his breath. ‘All day the Vikings did nothing but mend the sail and eat and …’

‘And what?’

‘Sir, they abused the two women grievously.’

‘What’s he saying?’ Helgi asked.

‘They’re raping the women,’ Vallon said, his attention still fixed on Garrick. ‘Did you form any idea of their intentions?’

Garrick slumped down. ‘I think they planned to move against us at dusk. They took the prisoners off the ship and formed up at the river. I was sure they were about to embark, but then some sort of omen revealed itself. Two ravens flew across the river from different sides. When they met, they circled into the sky, talking together in croaks, then they separated and flew away to different quarters. Thorfinn seemed to interpret this as a bad sign because he made an angry gesture and walked back through his men, pushing them out of his way. Soon after that, it grew too dark to see and I thought it best to return.’

Vallon tapped Drogo’s knee. ‘We must set the ambush well before dawn.’

‘They might come by a different route.’

‘Wayland will let us know what path they take.’

‘If it stays as dark as this, they won’t come at all.’

‘The sky could clear at any time. We have to be ready.’

‘Why not use the dark to our advantage? Get Wayland and his dog to guide us to their camp. Ride on them as they lie sleeping.’

‘Not a bad plan if we had the right men to put it into action. Instead, half our force have never used a sword in anger.’ He looked up as two shadows approached. He shifted sideways. ‘Come and join us.’

Hero and Richard settled in the space he’d made. ‘We’ve been testing recipes for an incendiary,’ Hero said. ‘We achieved the best results with birchbark and dry pine needles soaked in turpentine, seal oil and sulphur.’

‘What’s he talking about?’ said Drogo.

Vallon held up a hand. ‘Can you demonstrate?’

Hero raised a mortar over the fire.

‘Careful,’ Vallon said. ‘We don’t want a display of pyrotechnics.’

Hero emptied the mixture onto the embers. It ignited with a soft whoomph, sending blue and yellow flames three feet into the air. Everyone recoiled. The flames sputtered and died down, leaving the stench of tar and brimstone hanging in the damp air.

‘Once the fire has ignited,’ said Hero, ‘it can be flooded with more oil without the risk of extinguishing it.’

Drogo chased the fumes away with his hand. ‘What’s going on?’

‘We’re going to burn the longship. Hero, how much of that stuff do you have?’

‘We filled two large sealskins and we have a keg of oil. Father Hilbert collected a bushel of kindling.’

‘Burn the longship?’ said Drogo. ‘Why didn’t you tell us?’

‘Because I wasn’t sure it would work. I’m still not sure, but I think the rewards justify the risk. Raul has volunteered to lead the firing party.’

The German gave a laugh from the crypt. ‘It’s so dark I ain’t sure I’ll be able to find the longship. I won’t see where the sentries are hiding.’

‘Wayland will make his way back to the Viking position after we’ve reached the ambush site. Arrange a system of signals with him.’

‘What if the enemy’s too strong?’

‘I don’t think they’ll leave more than six guards.’

‘Six! How many will be with me?’

Vallon looked at Drogo. ‘I need three men to go with Raul.’

‘Forget this folly. You said yourself that we needed every man for the ambush.’

‘It isn’t folly. However many we throw against the Vikings, we won’t kill them all. And we won’t come out of the encounter unscathed. Last night you said that Shearwater was our only means of deliverance. By the same measure, the dragon ship is our greatest threat. Destroy it and we render the Vikings impotent.’

Drogo crossed his arms. ‘Fulk and I fight on horseback.’

‘I’m not asking you to join the firing party.’ Vallon turned to Raul. ‘Explain my plan to Helgi. Tell him we need three Icelanders to make it work.’

Helgi gave his response before Raul had finished speaking. The German pulled a face at Vallon. ‘He won’t do it. He says that scattering our force will fatally weaken it.’

Vallon rocked back. ‘Drogo, you tell him and make sure he knows I won’t take no for an answer. ‘

‘I can’t force him to act against his will.’

Vallon leaned forwards and allowed a long pause before he spoke. ‘We settled that I’m in command.’

‘On this matter I agree with Helgi. We’re already sending two men away with the ship. We should concentrate our strength against one target.’

Vallon struck the ground. ‘I don’t give a damn what you think!’

Drizzle hissed on the dying fire. The silence stretched so thin that someone had to break it.

‘I’ll go with Raul,’ Hero said.

Eyes swung.

‘And I’ll go with you,’ said Richard.

‘That settles it,’ said Drogo. ‘Richard attacking the longship … It’s crackpot from first to last.’

Vallon looked up with ominous deliberation. ‘I admit I’ve made some foolish decisions. I should have killed you when you landed on Iceland. I should have sailed away when Helgi spurned my advice to unite against the Vikings. I shouldn’t have risked my company’s lives rescuing you and those useless Icelanders.’ His voice thickened. ‘It’s time you gave something in return.’

‘Helgi was mistaken in not standing up to the pirates, I grant you that.’ Drogo looked up. ‘But you can’t blame him for refusing to deal with you after your gross conduct towards his sister.’

‘My gross conduct …!’ Vallon sprang up. ‘I’ve heard enough. You and that puffed-up brat can fight your own campaign. From now on I’ll look after the interests of my own company. Up you get, men. We’re taking the ship across the river.’

Raul gripped his arm as he stormed away. ‘About time, Captain.’

‘Give him the men.’

Caitlin’s voice. Vallon stopped in his tracks.

Figures scrambled up around the fire and a furious argument erupted, Helgi shouting and Caitlin giving back as good as she got.

Raul tugged at Vallon. ‘Leave them to it.’

‘Wait.’

‘Captain, don’t go back on your word. We ain’t ever going to be trusting that lot.’

A crescendo from Caitlin, followed by the sound of someone storming off. Silence, and then Drogo’s outline advancing against the flames.

‘Vallon, are you still there?’

Raul gripped tighter. ‘No, you ain’t.’

‘Three good fighting men and I won’t settle for less.’

‘You’ve got them.’

‘Raul will choose them. Don’t fob me off with cowards.’

‘Very well.’

Vallon gave a sigh. ‘Garrick?’

‘Here, sir.’

‘I want you to row the ship across the river without alerting the Viking spies. You’ll be carrying the non-combatants.’

‘Yes, sir.’

Vallon felt around in the dark. ‘Hero, it was brave of you to offer your services, but there’s no need for you and Richard to go with Raul.’

‘Yes, there is. We talked about it and agreed that we didn’t want to stay with the women. Besides, we know how to fire the incendiary.’