Catla and the Vikings (10 page)

As she walked, she wondered how Olav was faring in the goat pen and if he was wearing that colorful coat he cared so much about, the one from Italia. That lovely cloth would not stand up well to goat droppings. Involuntarily, she giggled and was a little shocked at herself. Then she remembered her pledge to do what her parents wanted if they were safe. She would marry Olav. Her heart dropped at the idea, but Father said he was a good man, and Father was a good judge of character. It was the right thing to do, and Olav said he liked her and that he wanted to please her. She would try and reserve her opinions until she'd spent more time with him.

The villagers around the prisoners started calling out and boasting of what they would do to the Norsemen once they were in Covehithe.

“I'll run them through with my new short sword,” Rufus said. “It's one of theirs. Serves them right.”

“If there are any left, after I get there first,” another voice answered.

Catla knew the first battle had been won through cunning and by avoiding any one-on-one fighting. But there would be no trap in Covehithe. They'd have to use swords and knives. Didn't these people understand the danger?

“Listen to you bragging. Everyone knows my sword will lead the way.” As Matthew spoke, gales of catcalls erupted.

While listening to the talk, Catla burned with a sudden blaze of hatred for these Nord-devils. She thought it again:
Nord-devils
. There was no compassion in her even though Hugh had said, “No killing.” She wished for enough nerve to use her stave to poke one of them hard enough to make him bleed. But she knew she could not do it. The thought of cutting into a man sickened her.

Dreadful visions of her family already slaughtered and the village empty and burned filled her mind. She panted as she struggled for control.

Edith's hand slipped into hers again and gave it a squeeze. “Warriors talk like that before going into danger. Don't be taken in by the light tones. There's trouble ahead, and we'll meet it. Keep your hopes up. We'll find them safe. The Norsemen there will be watching for the ship. They won't expect trouble, especially not from the heath.”

Catla hugged Edith's arm close to her side. Edith gave Catla's hand a small pat and then she looked at Sven. “You say you have a plan?”

“Yes,” said Sven. “I know a secret path.”

“Enough secrets!” Catla exclaimed. “Where is your path? I know a path too. Maybe it's the same one.”

Sven's eyebrows met in a frown, and then he raised them in surprise.

“What?” Catla said. “Do you think you're the only one who doesn't use the main path?”

“You've never mentioned it. I didn't know. Where does yours go?”

“My parents use it too. It's past the peat hut. Where does yours go?” she countered, startled at her demanding tone.

Sven looked at her and said, “It isn't exactly a secret. It comes down at the opposite end of the village from yours. You've likely seen it. It's steep. My father and I use it. I go to the standing stones mainly and look at the stars.”

“The stars?” Catla's irritation eased as her interest sharpened.

Edith made a gesture with her hand as if asking Catla to listen and said, “Do you behold patterns in the heavens? Do you see them move with the seasons?” At his nod, she continued, “Do you feel a faint quaver to the air when you go into the circle of standing stones?” He nodded again. “Hugh and I have noticed these things. We don't know what it means, but something is different inside the circle.”

“Yes,” Sven said. Excitement made his voice higher and speech faster. “I thought I imagined it. You've felt it too? Did you watch the hairy-tailed star this spring?” But he didn't wait for a reply. “On the longest day, the sun, when it rises, shines directly on that big stone that lies along the eastern side of the circle. Have you noticed that?”

“Yes, we have. Have you said anything about this to anyone else?”

Sven shook his head. “No, I don't know what to make of it, so I stay quiet.”

“Good idea. Be careful. Some people look for signs of evil in everything, or think the old religion is still kept.”

“Yes,” Sven said. His gaze seemed to turn inward for a moment. “But this has nothing to do with good or evil, old or new religions. It's just the sun on rocks and a weird feeling to the air. Now that Brother James has traveled farther north and Father John is here, people are less fearful, less anxious about evil.”

“I like Father John better,” Catla said, feeling excluded and anxious to join in.

“Brother James talked a lot about spirits and demons,” Sven said. “He thought evil spirits caused milk to sour and that babies cried too long because devils were inside them and had to be cast out.”

“Remember that baby who died when Brother James tried to shake the devils out?” Catla asked. “It was a few years ago so I don't remember whose baby it was. Was it Martha's? He said the devils were stuck and then when the baby was dead, he said she was better off because she was with God the Father and the devils would have taken her soul but she'd been released from their hold.”

“I remember that,” Sven said.

“Yes, so do I,” said Edith. “We talked about it at the summer gathering that year. The women were so angry at the loss of an innocent. We agreed to help young mothers more so their babies wouldn't cry so long.”

Catla caught sight of Hugh moving toward them. His tall form was easy to spot as he stopped and chatted with one group and then another.

“Here's Hugh coming now. Sven, he'll want to talk to you about these ideas, but they should wait until another time.”

“Right. I'd like that.”

“I look at the stars too,” Catla said. “I don't go so far as the standing stones, like Sven, but I've gone up on the heath twice, and when I'm at the circle, the stones tell me stories.” She had never told this to anyone.

She looked anxiously at Edith and Sven, in case they laughed at her.

“Do you now?” Sven's tone of voice was thoughtful. “Do you see the patterns in the stars too, Catla?”

“I see groups of stars and I would like to see the patterns,” she said.

“We will talk later,” said Edith. “But now let's put our minds to defeating the Norsemen.”

Hugh joined them and said, “Well, have you everything figured out? You've been talking so intently I'm sure a plan is in place.” He turned aside and winked at Catla as he spoke.

“There's plenty of time before the standing stones, Hugh,” Edith said. “Now you wouldn't be telling your good wife what to do?”

Catla's body stiffened. What would Hugh say? If she or her mother spoke like that to her father, there would be a swift and cutting tongue-lashing.

“Nay, nay, madam,” Hugh said, chuckling as he spoke.

Catla was amazed at the friendly teasing in their voices. There was no anger. These two people laughed together. Would she ever find someone like that? She had yet to laugh or even chuckle with Olav. She wasn't sure if he knew how to laugh. Her eyes lit on Sven. Was he more even in his temper?
Only sometimes
, she thought.

Hugh said, “Let's talk. We need to surprise the Norsemen. Sven, you have a plan?”

“I do,” Sven said, “and so does Catla. She just told us she uses a hidden path too. The one I use is too dangerous, I think.”

“Well, lad, the whole situation is dangerous. We need both a good plan and some good luck. Catla, what about yours?”

“Mine has danger with it too. It comes into the village close to the goat pen.”

“That's where the villagers are, isn't it?” Hugh pondered this news as Hindley and Matthew joined them.

“Sven, where does your path enter the village?” Edith asked.

“Opposite end to Catla's. Closer to the council fire,” said Sven.

“We plan to free the Covehithe prisoners before we attack the Norsemen,” Matthew said. “They are known to sleep at council rings. If we use your path, Sven, they will be between the Covehithe prisoners and us. That's not good.”

“Yes,” Sven replied. “It's not an easy path and in the wrong location. What's the danger in using your path, Catla? I didn't know there was a path there.”

“We use it sometimes to go up on the heath,” Catla said. “It's narrow and goes up through some bushes, around a big boulder and then ends at the top in the middle of some bracken. We go a slightly different way each time so we don't make a visible track. It's steeper than the main pathway.”

“The bracken is a problem,” Hugh said. “It's noisy. The Norsemen could hear us.”

“What's your solution to that, Catla?” asked Edith.

“We'll have to go one-by-one, slowly, and hold the bracken fronds so they don't hit each other. Bracken is only at the top and for a short way down the hill before the bushes take over.”

“It'll take too long,” Hindley protested. “They'll hear us. What's at the bottom?”

“Yes, it will take longer,” said Catla. “But they won't hear us if we're careful. At the bottom there's a clearing within the bushes. The winter peat storage hut is beyond the bushes. It's open on all sides but almost full. We can hide behind it and be close to the goat pen. The Nord—Norsemen, won't know about the path.”

“Catla's right,” Sven said. “The shed is almost full and no one pays any attention to the bushes beyond. It is the best way into Covehithe. We'll come out very close to the prisoners.”

“How far is it from the goat pen to the peat hut?” Matthew said.

“Only about three oars' lengths,” Sven replied. “Do you agree, Catla?”

At her nod, Hugh said, “This sounds like our best plan. Better than passing the Norsemen before we free the prisoners. What do you all think?”

“It's far enough away from the council fire that the Norsemen won't hear,” Sven added.

“I agree,” Matthew said.

“Then it's settled,” Hugh said. The talk became more general. Catla was excited. Her plan was a good one, and Hugh had listened. Maybe she would talk to her father about Olav and the things that were bothering her about him. Maybe he'd listen too.

She looked around for landmarks to tell how far they'd come. Aigber was no longer in sight. They'd passed the Elder Bush Hill some way back, so she knew they were getting close to the standing stones. Some distance ahead was a stand of oaks like those beside the stones. Her long shadow bobbed across the headland. The dips and mounds were like dark pouches and the bushes looked dusky on their shadow sides. The sun was more than halfway down the sky, but it warmed her back.

“We've covered a good distance,” said Hugh. “The moon is over half full, and it's rising late. Its light will help us. Our night vision will get better as it gets darker. The Norsemen will have been standing guard, looking into campfires.”

Catla remembered how thick and black the night seemed when she turned away from the council fire. At first everything was black, like soot-shadows under the ridgepole of her cottage. Then gradually she'd see the shape of things again.

“Aye,” said Hindley. “The captains always said to look beyond the fire or stand with our backs to it on guard duty, although usually we looked at the flames. And we couldn't see into the night. They'll do the same. They underestimate us and won't be worried. The night will be dark enough to protect us.”

“What if there's a sentry on top of the hill to watch the heath?” asked Catla.

“They'll not bother,” Hugh said. “They won't expect trouble from this direction. I doubt they'll expect trouble at all, but we'll send a scout to check. Good idea, Catla.”

“You're right,” Matthew said. “We're the only two villages along this piece of land. They're used to controlling small places like ours.”

“They'll look to the sea for the ship,” said Edith, “and won't expect it until the morrow. We'll surprise them this night.”

This night.
The words seemed to echo, and Catla was startled to realize this was only her second night away from home. Last night she'd slept alone in the standing stones. So much had happened, the time seemed longer.

By now, other villagers crowded in to listen and offer opinions. Ideas flew around like starlings, so fast Catla couldn't keep track of who was saying what.

One voice was loud and clear. “I'm not sure that bracken path will work.”

“We should gather on top of the hill that overlooks the village, and at the signal, we'll rush them.”

“No, that would get some of us killed, for sure. Why don't we…?”

“The sea. Go down to the sea and around over the beach and rocks, and come up…”

“That might work, but aren't the…?”

“No, it'd take too long. And anyway, how do you get down to the water before the village? We haven't got…”

“Enough, enough.” Hugh's voice held a command.

Edith sounded exasperated. “We'll follow Catla's path. Listen to the girl! She may be young, but she knows what she is talking about.”

“Now, now, don't fret yourself, Edith,” Hindley said.

Hugh cut off further discussion. “We're going to use Catla's idea.” He asked her to go over the plan again, and this time she felt more confident. There weren't any objections when she was finished. A few people patted her on the back.

“I agree that Catla's plan is sound, but what if a few of us who know about nets go around by the cove and gather their nets to use like we did at Aigber?” Matthew asked. “Catla, do the fishermen leave their nets by the shoreline?”

Catla nodded.

“Yes,” Hugh said, after a pause while he considered the idea. “Good thinking, Matthew. Get a small group and plan it. Come at them from the cove side. Anyone else have another idea?”

“What about a few of us using Sven's path to make sure none of them escape over the heath?” Rufus, the smith, asked.