The Long Hunt (The Strongbow Saga) by Judson Roberts Page B

will do the same to you? I do not deny your right to live here, as Hrorik's widow. But you will not be welcome here, nor will your life be a happy one. Go to your father. Perhaps he will find you a new husband."
    " You cannot drive me away. And I do not expect you to return. I know my son. Toke will kill you. He will kill you all."
    "Halfdan!" Torvald called, from the Gull . "It is time."
    As I turned and made my way to the ship, Gunhild called after me, in a louder voice this time, that all could hear. "You saw the omen. We all did. The sacrifice was rejected. You are all doomed—you are cursed. You are all going to die."

6
The Eyes of the Realm
     
    Our company numbered eighty-one warriors and one thrall: Cullain, Hastein's Irish slave, who served as cook on the Gull . Forty fighting men sailed on the Serpent , and forty-one on the Gull . Fifty-six of our total war-band were warriors who had long followed the two captains, Hastein and Stig. Thirteen carls from the estate and eight warriors from the nearby village also sailed with us, divided between the two ships. Hrodgar, the headman of the village up on the Limfjord, and my comrade Einar—both of whom sailed aboard the Gull —completed our hunting party.
    At my urging, Einar had placed his sea chest across from me, rowing the oar that once had been manned by Odd, in the stern at the second position. Torvald had assigned two men from the village to row the third pair of oars, in the positions behind Einar and me. He and Hastein had made a point of scattering the newcomers throughout the ship, interspersed among Hastein's own men.
    While the lines securing the two ships to either side of the narrow pier were being untied and coiled, Hastein, who was standing on the Gull 's small raised stern deck, called across to the Serpent . "Stig! Let us row for a bit."
    Torvald, who was standing beside Hastein, his hands resting on the carved handle of the steer-board, grunted. "Why?" he said. "There is enough of a breeze to fill the sail."
    Ignoring him, Hastein dug his hand into the pouch on his belt, pulled out something, and held it aloft. It was a silver coin. "And Stig—I will wager you this denier that the Gull will reach the chop line, where the mouth of the fjord meets the open sea, before the Serpent does."
    Stig grinned and called out to the Serpent 's crew, who were readying the ship to get underway. "What say you? Shall I take the Jarl's wager? And his Frankish silver?" When they roared out their approval, he turned back toward Hastein and shouted, "Let us make it two deniers, if the winner is ahead by a full ship's length or more."
    Hastein turned to Torvald. "What are you waiting for? Get us underway. I do not want to lose."
    Torvald sputtered indignantly. Hastein grinned and strode off toward the bow, making his way through the men milling around on the ship's deck, positioning their sea chests and securing their shields and other loose gear. As he passed near where I was standing, he paused, rested his hand on the shoulder of a warrior named Asbjorn, who kept his sea chest in the stern area and traded off rowing with those of us who rowed the back three pairs of oars.
    "Do not row," he said, in a low voice. "I want every new man on an oar for now." To the two men from the village who were standing nearby he said, "You two will be rowing the third pair from the stern, yes?" They bobbed their heads up and down in reply.
    "My comrades," Torvald's voice boomed out. All save Hastein turned and looked toward him. "The Gull is a fine ship, but she cannot row herself. The jarl has issued a challenge to the Serpent . It is his silver that has been wagered, but it is we who shall win or lose this race. What do you wait for? Oarsmen, draw your oars!"
    Hastein continued on toward the bow. I saw him pause and speak briefly to others among the crew—some his own men, presumably telling them the same thing he'd said to Asbjorn, but also to the warriors from the estate and the