A Short Tale From Norse America: Young Ravens & Hidden Blades (The United States of Vinland) by Colin Taber Page B

grin.
    “You’re
lying — it can’t be true!”
    Ulfarr’s
face became stern as he cursed. “By the gods, don’t call me a liar! That’s what
I’ve been told, which might not make it true, but it’s what I’ve heard and what
was reported to my father.”
    Brandr
dipped his head and gave a nod. “Sorry. But what a tale! Why would he suddenly
have thought shades were about? What would make him so scared?”
    “I
know my father has heard from some of the ships passing through on their way
back to Greenland that there have been troubles in Lakeland.”
    They
rowed on.
    “What
kind of trouble?”
    “Things
stolen in the night — even people have gone missing.”
    “Could
it be shades?”
    “My
father thinks it must be thralls or skraelings.”
    Brandr
looked ahead to the shoreline, the raft getting closer with each stroke. “Not
shades?”
    “No.”
    They
paddled on again in silence.
    Brandr
broke the quiet as his eyes searched the woods of the nearing shore. “You were
right, what you said earlier, about the ridge-side being a borderland. No one
is ever there.”
    “So,
where do you want to go now?” Ulfarr asked.
    The
young Marklander gave into a daring grin. “To the shore. We won’t stay, but we
can at least say we have been to Lakeland and survived.”
    Ulfarr
laughed. “We just have to be careful who we say it to. If my father finds out,
it will not be One-Eye who kills us!”
    Brandr
nodded. “Yes, I’m not sure who’d punish me hardest if they found out; my mother
or my father.”
    “Your
mother is kind-spirited — she’d never touch you!”
    “She
is quiet and kind, but when she is angry, she is more frightening than Seta!”
    Ulfarr
shook his head, laughing as he did. “That is hard to believe, but maybe that is
why she and Seta are such close friends.”
    Brandr
also laughed. “Yes, I think they practice together on how to brood, growl and
give those chilly stares.”
    Yet
they still rowed on.
    Ulfarr
said, “Well, I did promise my father that I’d never go to Lakeland alone.”
    “And
you’re not.”
    Looking
to his friend, Ulfarr smiled and tried to convince himself that his father
would somehow approve of the adventure they were about to embark upon. Finally,
he pushed any doubts from his mind. “True.”
    “Besides,
what could go wrong?”
    And
so, with Brandr’s words hanging in the air, they made for shore.
    They
came in slowly, looking for any sign of movement, but there was little to see
aside from some birds on the water and more in the trees. With a nod to each
other, they continued in.
    After
landing, they hid their raft on the shore, amongst the branches of a fallen
tree. From there, they quietly took to the bank, hiding amongst shrubs and
trees to make sure no Lakelanders were about.
    Birdsong
filled the branches overhead, the nearest birds watching the boys, paying no
heed to anything else. Their song and focus reassured Ulfarr and Brandr that
they were alone and that no man or beast lurked nearby.
    Still,
they crouched in their hiding spot and waited.
    Ulfarr’s
unease at the twisting of his promise to his father was beginning to nag at
him.
    Time
passed, and thankfully, no foe emerged from the wooded slope to challenge them,
most certainly not a giant of a man with blond hair, a red beard and one eye.
In fact, they heard no sound other than the occasional flutter of wings, call
of birds, and light breeze passing through the trees.
    They
were alone.
    Reassured,
the two boys began to range along the shoreline at the bottom of the slope and
explore this long forbidden place.
    Lakeland!
    Cautiously,
they started to move further away from the water.
    Each
boy took it in turn to advance, one passing the other. A few steps by one
obliged the other to match them — or dared them to go beyond. Before long, they
had left the raft behind and had begun to make their way up the steep ridge,
although they did take care and fall into a deep silence as they climbed a
switchback