‘And you’re willing to share in that wealth, are you?’ asked Bald-head.
The Englishman hesitated, and I understood why. Naturally he didn’t want to have to share, not if he could help it. If Wyvern were to join us then whatever booty did come our way would have to be divided more than a hundred ways. And yet another ship’s crew worth of allies would undoubtedly prove useful. There was much more to this expedition than pursuit of riches, and so if that was the price we had to pay for their help, then so be it.
That was how it seemed to me, anyway. But the decision was not mine alone to make. Magnus was chewing his lip, his face drawn as if contemplating.
‘Well?’ asked Bald-head.
‘If you’ll join us,’ Magnus said after a moment’s pause, ‘then, yes, we’ll share that wealth with you.’
He glanced at me to make sure that I was in agreement, and I nodded. The bald one went to confer with Aubert, Oylard and his fellow boatmen. Again there was grumbling, and again voices were raised, but at the end of it the shipmaster came forward.
‘Have you decided?’ I asked.
Aubert smiled. ‘We’ve come this far, haven’t we? It seems to me we might as well venture a little further. If Robert has anything to say about it later, well –’ he shrugged and gestured towards Wace and Eudo ‘– I can always claim that they forced me to come north against my will, can’t I?’
‘If you do, those will be the last words ever to come out of your mouth,’ Eudo warned.
His expression suggested he was only half joking, but Aubert laughed all the same.
‘So,’ the shipmaster said. ‘Where do we find this Haakon?’
After that day’s calm, the wind picked up again on the next. A fierce storm blew in that made it impossible to sail, but we came upon a village close by the shore whose folk proved friendly enough, once they realised that we weren’t interested in robbing them. There we put what coin and goods we had to good use, exchanging them for a barrel of salted pork to replace one we’d lost overboard whilst riding out the squall several days before, as well as two more of ale in place of some that the seawater had spoiled. Our purchases made, we waited for the gale to subside, for the rain to cease lashing down, and for the skies to lighten once more.
I thought of old Snorri, and hoped Hrithdyr was safe in port rather than having to weather out this storm on the open seas that lay between here and Ysland. Assuming that they had made it without harm through the Suthreyjar, that was, although if there was anyone who would know which passages were safe to take and which islands to avoid, it was probably him.
‘He wouldn’t have lived as long as he has, doing what he does, if he didn’t know how to take care of himself,’ Magnus assured me. ‘He’ll be all right. If he’s sensible he’ll have sought out a travelling companion or two for the voyage. At this time of year the sea wolves are beginning to slumber, but nonetheless you’ll often find traders will band together for protection.’
‘As we have,’ I said.
‘True, but no one’s likely to attack us, are they?’
‘Why not?’
‘You’ll find easy spoils aboard a trader, but on a longship all you’ll find are warriors. You never see wolves preying upon their own kind, do you? Why should they waste their time fighting each other when there are more than enough pickings to allow them all to grow fat?’
That made sense, although even so I found myself more than a little nervous when the next morning, after the sea-mist had lifted, our two ships left the shores of Yrland behind us, for I knew we were venturing further north than I or any Norman had ever been before, into waters unknown even to Aubert.
I only prayed this latest undertaking did not prove to be a mistake on my part. The Danes were renowned across Christendom for being hard men to kill, and if the stories about him held any grain of truth, we were pitting ourselves against one of the fiercest and most ruthless of them all.
Winter was almost upon us. Even hours after the sun had lifted above the hills off our steerboard side, my breath misted before my face, while the wind bit through my cloak, working its chill through my flesh and deep into my very bones. This was the time of year when most sensible folk were slaughtering what animals they couldn’t afford to keep fed through the winter, mending holes in their warm clothes and caps, and huddling down close by their hearths.