‘What about the others?’ Uhtferth said. ‘I thought we were going to wait another few days in case Halfdan and Beorhtred and Ecgric showed themselves.’
‘If they were eager enough, they would have made the effort to come sooner, as you have all done,’ Magnus said. ‘We can’t wait for ever. No, providing that the skies are clear, we leave tonight. At least then we’ll have a full moon to light our way.’ He turned to address the rest of his men. ‘Are you with me?’
A murmur of less than hearty agreement went around the hall.
‘Very well,’ he said. ‘Find those who aren’t here and pass word on to them. We’ll meet at the eastern gate an hour after full dark. Be ready. If you’re not there, we won’t wait.’
Reluctantly and with not a little grumbling, they raised themselves from the benches, leaving their drinking pots still half full as they buckled on sword-belts, donned cloaks and ventured out into the stiff breeze. ?lfhelm lingered a moment, regarding me with suspicion in his eyes, but then his comrades shouted his name and he followed. The sun was already low; they didn’t have long to gather their friends and everything they needed.
‘For this,’ Magnus said to me after they’d left, ‘you owe me.’
And I knew he was right.
We did not venture outside Magnus’s hall until night had settled completely. Fortunately the skies were clear, as hoped for, with only the faintest wisp of cloud veiling the stars to the west. God was clearly with us, and the light of His favour shone milky-pale upon us.
It couldn’t have been three hours since we’d spied Robert’s men, but it had felt like an age. The streets were quiet now. Gone were the merchants shouting out the prices of their wares, the calls of the goats and pigs and cattle and geese. The stalls had been dismantled, the goods taken away, and the sellers had returned to their cottages to sup by their hearth-fires and count out whatever meagre coins they’d been able to reap that day. Few men and even fewer women were about at this hour, but nevertheless we pulled our hoods up over our heads lest anyone should recognise us.
Thankfully no one challenged us, and we reached the east gate without trouble. The rest of Magnus’s company were already there by the time we arrived, and assured us that everyone was present, but nevertheless he counted them out: twenty huscarls, most accompanied by retainers of their own; and ourselves. The wives and mistresses that some of the Englishmen had brought with them were to stay in Dyflin or return home, Magnus having forbidden any women on this expedition, for their presence on board a warship was said to invite ill fortune. At my insistence he had made an exception for Eithne, but I could tell from the glances he gave her that the thought of bringing her with us unnerved him.
The sentries looked strangely at us when we presented ourselves at the gate, and at first they refused to let us pass, but then Magnus drew back his hood to reveal his face, and I suppose he must have been known to them, since they quickly changed their minds and allowed us through.
Nihtegesa was drawn up on to the muddy beach above the creek that ran into the river mouth, one of many vessels that lay at rest there. The tide was already high, almost on the turn. The waves lapped at her stern, and the mud sucked beneath her. Magnus had left Uhtferth the steersman and another half a dozen of his hearth-troops to guard her, as was usual. Ships, and especially warships, were greatly prized, not just for the goods that were often to be found in their holds but also for the power they represented, and for that reason they were the favoured targets of many a thief.