The Long Ships (70 page)

“Those must have been Patzinaks,” said Orm, “and now things promise less well, for it is certain that they saw us.”

“We have already reached the fifth weir,” said Olof. “It would be a pity to turn back when we have come so far.”

“There is little pleasure to be gained in fighting horsemen,” said Orm, “especially when they outnumber those who oppose them on foot.”

“Perhaps they will wait till it is light before they attack us,” said Spof, “for they like this moonlight no more than we do.”

“Let us proceed,” said Orm.

They made all the speed they could, and when they had reached and passed the seventh weir, Orm began to look about him.

“Those of you whose eyes are sharpest must help me now,” he said. “There should be a rock in the water here with three rose-bushes on it, though there will be no flowers on them at this season.”

“There is a rock with bushes on it,” said Blackhair, “but whether or not they are rosebushes I cannot tell.”

They crept down to the water’s edge, and thence managed to discern three more rocks. All of these, however, appeared to be bald. Then Orm found the cleft where the rock-flat was broken and where the water boiled and bubbled, just as Are had described it.

“If we can now find a hill which is called the skull-mound of the Patzinaks,” he said, “we shall not be far from that which we have come to seek.”

It did not take them long to find this, for almost at once Spof pointed toward a high mound that lay a short way from the bank.

“They have buried a chieftain there,” he said, “I remember that I was once told so. And whenever they have been fighting here at the weirs, it is their custom to set the heads of their enemies on poles upon his mound.”

“Then let us make haste,” said Orm, “lest they put ours there too.”

He walked out along the edge of the cleft until he came to the spot that lay directly between the rock with the rosebushes on it and the mound with the skulls.

“This should be the place,” he said. “Now we shall know whether we have made this long voyage in vain.”

All the men were much excited. With a spear they measured the depth of the water beneath the cleft.

“We shall need tall men to catch these fish,” said Orm, “but I can feel a pile of stones here against the base of the rock, and that is as it should be.”

Two brothers of Olof’s following, named Long Staff and Skule, Hallanders by birth, were the tallest men in the band. They expressed their willingness to go into the water and do their best to see if anything lay there. When they stood on the bottom the water came up to their necks, and Orm bade them plunge their heads under and bring up, one by one, the stones that lay piled against the rock. They came spluttering up with huge stones, continuing thus for a good while; finding the work strenuous, they rested to regain their breath and then continued. Suddenly Skule said that his fingers had touched something that was not stone, but that he could not pull it free.

“Be careful with it,” said Orm, “and clear all the stones away first.”

“Here is something that is not stone,” said Long Staff, heaving an object out of the water. It was a sack and evidently contained something heavy, so that he had to get a good grip on it. Just as he had got it halfway up the rock facing him, the sack burst in the middle, because the skin it was made of had rotted, and a broad stream of silver coins ran out and fell splashing into the water. At this sight, a great cry of fear and anguish arose from the men on the bank. Long Staff tried to stem the flow with his hands and face, and the men threw themselves over one another to get the sack up and save as much as possible, but in spite of their efforts much of its contents fell into the water.

“This is a fine beginning,” said Orm bitterly. “Is that the way you handle silver? How much will be left for me if you continue like that? However,” he added in a calmer voice, “now at least we know that we have come to the right place, and that nobody has been here before us. But be careful with the rest, Hallander. There should be four sacks more.”

All the men jeered angrily at Long Staff, so that he began to sulk and swore he would remain in the water no longer. It was not his fault, he said, that the sack was rotten; if he had had as much silver as that to hide, he would have taken the trouble to store it in stronger sacks. Let others take his place and see whether they could do better.

But both Orm and Olof said that it was not his fault that this had happened. This encouraged him, and he continued with his fishing in a calmer spirit.

“Here is something else,” said Skule, pulling up something that he had caught, “and this is heavier than stone.”

It was a small copper chest, very green and exceedingly heavy, bound many times with fine red ropes, which were sealed with lead.

“Ah, yes, the chests,” said Orm. “I had forgotten them. There should be four small chests like that. They contain trash for women. But all the silver is in the sacks.”

With the other sacks they had better luck, managing to get them up on the rock without spilling any of their contents. As each new find appeared, their merriment increased, and they had no thoughts now for the Patzinaks or for the fact that time was passing. They had to search for a good while before finding the last two chests, for they had sunk down into the gravel in the riverbed; but at last they discovered these, too, and stacked all the treasure into the wagon.

By this time the better part of the night was gone, and as soon as they started on their homeward journey their old fear of the Patzinaks once more came over them.

“They will come as soon as it is light,” said Spof.

“Orm’s luck is better than that of most men,” said Olof Summerbird, “nor is mine among the worst. It may be that we shall avoid these Patzinaks altogether. For a long time has now passed since the two horsemen saw us, and since that moment we have not seen a single man. This may mean that the Patzinaks are now waiting for us below the bottom weir, where the portage ends; for they could not know that we were only intending to come halfway before turning back. They will not pursue us until they have realized their mistake, and if all goes well, we shall by that time have reached our ship safely.”

But in this he proved a false prophet, though his words almost came true; for a short while after daybreak, when they were but a little way from the ship, they heard a great thunder of hoofs behind them and turned to see the Patzinaks riding after them like Odin’s storm.

Orm bade his men halt and position themselves in front of the wagon with their bows drawn. The men were in the best of spirits, and ready to fight for their silver with all the Patzinaks in the Eastland.

“No stranger shall touch this wagon as long as four or five of us are left alive to defend it,” they said stolidly.

But the Patzinaks were cunning, and difficult to mark; for instead of riding straight at the Northmen, they whipped their horses up to a full gallop and rode past them at the distance of bowshot, releasing their arrows as they thundered by. Then they reassembled and, after a brief pause, repeated the maneuver in the opposite direction. Most of Orm’s men were skilled huntsmen, and expert with a bow, so that they were able to give a good account of themselves, and a great shout of triumph arose from them every time an enemy tumbled from his horse. But sometimes it happened that a Patzinak arrow, too, found its mark, and after a time Orm and Olof agreed that if things continued in this wise, they would not be able to hold out for much longer.

Between two attacks Orm called Blackhair and Glad Ulf to him. They had both been grazed by arrows, but were in good heart, and each proudly declared that he had killed his man. By good fortune, at the place where they had halted, the rocks dropped steeply down to the river, so that they were secured against attack from that direction. Orm now bade the boys creep down the rocks and run along the bank as fast as they could to where the ship was anchored. Then they were to shout across the water to Toke and tell him to come at once to their aid, bringing with him every man on board.

“Whether this adventure will end well depends on you,” he said, “for our arrows will not last much longer.”

Proud at being entrusted with so important a mission, the boys obeyed and made swiftly down the rocks. Soon the Patzinaks attacked again, and during this assault Olof Summerbird fell with an arrow in his chest. It had penetrated his mail shirt and was embedded in his flesh.

“That was shrewdly aimed,” he said. “You will have to fight the rest of this battle without my assistance.”

As he spoke, his knees bent suddenly beneath him, but he managed to remain on his feet and, climbing on to the wagon, lay down upon it, resting his head on one of the sacks of silver. Other wounded men were already sprawled there among the sacks and chests of treasure.

The next time the Patzinaks swept past, Orm’s men shot their last arrows at them. As they did so, however, they heard from behind them a great cry of joy.

“The old man’s prophecy is fulfilled,” cried several voices. “Finn Sonesson has fallen! There is an arrow through his throat, and he is already dead! Kolbjörn, his brother, fell but a few moments ago. Four are now gone; the rest of us cannot die before we have returned home!”

And it turned out as they said, for as they ceased crying, the others heard the sound of war-whoops from the direction of the ship, signifying that Toke had landed with his men. The sight of them seemed to slake the Patzinaks’ thirst for battle, for as Orm’s men ran eagerly to search for spent arrows that might be used again, they heard the thunder of hoofs grow fainter instead of louder and at last die away in the distance.

Orm ordered his men not to kill any of the men who lay wounded on the ground. “Let them remain where they lie,” he said, “until their kinsmen come to collect them.”

Their own wounded, those who were unable to walk, were lying in the wagon. Seven others lay dead on the ground, and these the men took up and carried with them, that they might give them honorable burial as soon as the opportunity arose. In the meantime, however, they made haste to return to the ship before the Patzinaks should return.

Faste’s scribe had disappeared; but when they went to pull the cart forward, they discovered him asleep beneath it. He was roused with a spear-shaft and was much mocked. He said that this fight had been no concern of his, since he was a state official whose business was collecting taxes, and he had not wished to be in anyone’s way, besides which, he had been tired after the night’s marching. The men admitted that it testified to his calmness of mind that he had been able to sleep throughout the battle.

They soon met Toke and his men, and there was great rejoicing on both sides. Toke had disposed of the enemy without much difficulty; as soon as he had come against them with war-whoops and arrows, they had turned and fled. The men thought it possible that they, too, had used up all their arrows.

When they arrived at the ship, Orm looked around him. “Where are the two boys?” he asked Toke.

“The boys?” replied Toke. “You had them with you.”

“I sent them along the bank to call you to our aid,” said Orm in a changed voice.

“What can have become of them?” said Toke, scratching his beard. “I heard hoofbeats and war-cries and saw the Patzinaks ride toward us and wheel their horses, and at once rowed ashore to help you. But I have seen nothing of the boys.”

One of Toke’s men said that, just before the ship had reached the bank, he had seen three Patzinaks emerge on foot from among the rocks, dragging something along; dead men, he had supposed, or possibly prisoners. They had dragged them toward their horses; but, he said, he had not given the matter more thought, because at that moment the ship had touched land and he had started thinking about the forthcoming battle.

Orm stood speechless. He took off his helmet and let it drop to the ground; then he sat down on a stone on the bank and stared into the river. There he sat, motionless, and none of the men dared speak to him.

The men stood muttering among themselves and gazed at him; and even Toke knew not what to say. Spof and Faste’s scribe carried the wounded aboard.

At length Orm rose to his feet. He walked up to Toke and unclipped from his belt his sword, Blue-Tongue. All the men opened their mouths in fear as they saw him do this.

“I am going to the Patzinaks,” he said. “Wait here with the ship for three days. If Blackhair returns, give the sword to him. If none of us returns, take it home for Harald.”

Toke took the sword.

“This is bad,” he said.

“Divide the treasure fairly,” said Orm, “as it would have been divided had I lived. It has brought little luck to us of Toste’s line.”

ORM took Faste’s scribe with him and went to search among the fallen Patzinaks. They found one who was wounded but not dead, a young man, who had received an arrow in the side and another in the knee. He appeared to be in good heart, for he was sitting up and gnawing a piece of dried meat, with a long wooden flask in his other hand, while his horse grazed beside him.

This man was able to understand something of what the scribe said, and was pleased when he learned that they had not come to take his head. Orm bade the scribe say that they wished to help him on to his horse and accompany him back to his village. After the scribe had repeated this message several times, the Patzinak nodded and pointed at his knee. The arrow had gone right through it, just behind the kneecap, so that the head was sticking out from the inner side of his leg. He had tried to pull it out, he explained by gestures, but had not been able to do so. Orm cut the leg of his skin breeches and worked the arrow a little, pushing it farther into the knee until the whole of the metal head appeared, so that it might be cut off and the shaft drawn out from the other side. The Patzinak snapped his fingers as Orm did this, and whistled slowly; then, when the operation was completed, he set his flask to his mouth and drained it. The other arrow he had succeeded in extracting himself.

Orm took from his belt a fistful of silver and gave it to the man. His face lit up at the sight of it, and he seized it eagerly.