Hakon had already started to manoeuvre their boat toward the water but it was obviously going to be too small of all of them. Sarah spotted another boat almost identical to theirs a little way down the beach. Leif too had noticed it and after picking a couple of the bigger lads in the group it wasn’t long before two boats were being pushed out into the water.
When the boats were almost afloat the children scrambled into them. Every scrape or whisper, no matter how softly said, had Sarah’s nerves stretched to breaking point. When everyone was almost on board Sarah heard a soft sound from behind her, whirling around she came face-to-face with Olaf.
“I’m sorry, please take me with you,” he began.
Something on Sarah’s face must have alerted him that he would get no sympathy from her. His voice changed from pleading to demanding, “If you don’t, I’ll yell and then the whole village will be down here and you’ll never get home!” Smug satisfaction written all over his face, like the berserker, he too was not what he seemed.
Sarah was gobsmacked, he had her fooled alright. Not knowing what to say, she just shook her head and turned towards the boat. Just as she did though, she heard a sharp intake of breath that was abruptly cut short then a grunt. Turning she saw Rolf, an oar three times his size in his hands and Olaf lying at his feet, Rolf was grinning.
“He was mean, used to eat half the food before giving us any,” was all he said before he sauntered off to the water’s edge and the waiting boats. Sarah fought the urge to laugh out loud as she followed him.
Sarah watched in fascination as all the children on both boats seemed to know exactly what to do with the older ones taking charge, oars were quickly put in place with two children per oar, each pair working together to row the boats out and away from danger.
She was fairly certain that children in her time wouldn’t be so…organised, not to mention the way they handled the small boats as if they had been born to it. With a grimace Sarah realised that they had, this was why Viking sailors were applauded even in her time. The sea, ships and all things maritime were in their blood.
Although she felt relief at getting away she knew they were not yet out of danger. The bay was like a squashed ‘U’ shape and they needed to get past the long jetty that jutted into it and around the spit into open water. At the far end of the jetty a large merchant ship was tied up, which Sarah assumed belonged to Svein the Fat. Suppressing a chuckle, she did wonder if boats resembled their owners. As she was thinking this she found Leif picking his way towards and when he got to her he hunkered down close.
“We have to be careful, there’ll be a guard or two on board that ship and they might just notice two boat loads of children, that were meant to help line his master’s pockets, slipping by,” he whispered.
Sarah nodded, “I’ll try to keep this lot quiet, but they are excited about going home”.
Leif stood up and was about to say something when a shout from the shore almost caused him to fall overboard. All heads on the two vessels turned in that direction. The moon shone bright for a second illuminating ‘snake arms’ waving frantically and shouting at the men in the village.
“Odin’s balls!” said Leif.
“I second that!” said Sarah.
“Right, no need to be quiet now, let’s hoist those sails and get out of here!” Said Leif to his crew.
There was a flurry of activity as Sarah rushed to help and glancing over at the other boat she could see Hakon with his crew doing the same. They had the sail up easily just as a brisk wind came to their aid. Leif had taken the steering oar and was trying to manoeuvre them away from the jetty and the merchant ship.
Sarah watched as men ran down the beach and along the jetty. Looking over her shoulder she could also see another boat being put into the water, this one looked more like a proper warship, the dragon head clearly visible in the moonlight.
A shout from Harald drew her attention, he was pointing towards the merchant ship. At first she couldn’t make out what was happening and then she saw two flames flying through the air towards them. Flaming arrows! One missed but the other landed near the mast. One of the children thought quickly and tossed a bucket of seawater over it, the flames going out with a hiss.
“They won’t miss a second time, the first volley is to judge distance and wind” shouted Hakon, “Use your knives Sarah” he shouted a little more desperately, as they watched the two archers prepare for another attempt.
With a mental shake she drew her knives, took a deep breath, said a silent prayer to whoever might be listening and as she let her breath out, one of the small but lethal knives flicked out and flew in an unerring line straight towards the archers illuminated by their own arrows.
A strangled shout indicated that one of the knives had found a target. Suddenly flames erupted on board the merchant ship. The arrows that had been intended for them had fallen to the deck catching on the dry timber, creating panic and disorder. It had bought them enough time to get past the jetty.
A ragged cheer erupted from the two boats, Sarah looked at Leif, who merely grinned.
“Can’t celebrate yet, look!” shouted Hakon, thumb pointing over his shoulder.
Sarah and Leif both looked, the dragon ship was getting closer and they weren’t even using their sail yet. Sarah’s heart sank, it really did not look good and feeling helpless she observed the expectant faces. Thinking fast she squatted down by Harald.
“Who is the god of the sea?” She knew it was a bit of a random question and the look on Harald’s face said the same thing.
“Aegir” he replied hesitantly.
“And Thor is the god of storms, right” said Sarah, still thinking and wondering if she was going mad.
“Yeah?”
“What do we do if we want help from Aegir?”
Harald looked really bothered by her line of questioning but one of the girls piped up;
“You need to make a sacrifice, you know give the sea something of value to you and then just ask” she said.
“What about Thor?”
“Normally, you would also make a sacrifice but on dry land, this is the realm of Aegir. Perhaps burning something or making a pledge” the girl shrugged. She wasn’t a priestess and this was her best guess.
Sarah looked over her shoulder again; could she do what she was thinking? The dragon ship was gaining on them. What if I can’t? Gods and goddesses aren’t real, are they? She could hear snake arms shouting at the men as they heaved on the oars. Looking ahead she could see that they were almost past the spit of land and into open sea, but she also knew that the dragon ship would put up their sail once they had cleared the point and then it was just a matter of time.
They really did need some mystical intervention and because she had no better ideas, Sarah sat down cross legged. The children watched in fascination at the strange girl who had rescued them. Sarah tried to smile reassuringly and putting a finger to her lips took a deep breath and closed her eyes.
Chapter Eighteen