Valhalla Hott (14 page)

time Valerie did. Both men howled their release while she felt the

semen slide down her throat. Ulfr tasted as sweet as his brother.

Valerie was completely spent. The day had been so long and

hard. She fell asleep with Hott buried inside her and Ulfr removing

himself from her mouth.

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Chapter 8

Summer began and moved on as though a blur and life was

filled with living. There were so many things to learn to aid in their

daily survival. As the season began changing and growing colder,

Valerie was fitting in comfortably with her new life. To her relief

she became quickly fluent in Hott‟s language, while instilling a few

of her own words for the others to learn when the situation called

for it.

The other villagers ignored her little idiosyncrasies and grew

accustomed to her strange ways and subtle differences. They had

no idea what life was like in Valhalla and so they made excuses for

her. She had everyone in the village washing their hands often and

brushing their teeth. She had designed and, with aid of other men,

built three more outhouses. She had also talked the men into

building a huge wooden cabin out of massive logs. When they

finished they were surprised at how comfortable it was. Their

meetings were held there, as were a number of community

dinners.

There were three large hearths within the cabin. They stored

their salted preserves in the high rafters and in a cold cellar dug

deep within the ground. Valerie had insisted on a wood floor in the

cabin covered over with many furs. She had wooden furniture

built—couches and chairs that were made soft by stuffed leather

cushions. She was learning to spin wool with a whorl spindle. The

other women taught her how to make clothing for her and Hott

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and Ulfr with hemp. She accepted her Viking life with open arms.

Some of her favorite times were sitting, cradled against Hott while

others told fantastic stories. She learned of their Gods and the

respect they held them in. She shivered when they spoke of giants

as if they were real.

Valerie told them her own stories. Renditions of frightening

bedtime tales, where people were swallowed by wheeled chariots

and driven around at a frightening pace, faster and wilder than any

runaway horse could charge. She called these horrid devils the

dreaded taxis. Taxis devoured your coins and squealed away

leaving you breathless and penniless. She kept them spellbound

with tales of massive winged beasts that flew through the air high

above the clouds, stealing people away like dragons to different

lands, only these were called airplanes. Which, by the way, also

stole your money and made you grateful to be standing on solid

ground.

She introduced them to hamburgers and shish kabob and

coleslaw—finding wild carrots in the forest that were white not

orange. She tried her hand at homemade eggnog flavored with

nutmeg and cinnamon, and in turn was treated to the freshest

honey and honeycomb she had ever tasted. They partook of

mutton and lamb, fresh fish, and seaweed. They roasted chestnuts

over their fires. She even tried squirrel when Bera insisted it would

cook well in her pot, and the skins were worked into soft inside

slippers. Her surrounding area, in her eyes, had been transformed

into a grocery and retail store, only it was free—if she worked

hard enough.

Hott told Valerie he would wed her in the spring, when they

could have a huge feast. Valerie didn‟t mind waiting. They were

too busy for a wedding. All of the seeds needed to be harvested as

well as wheat and nuts. She learned how to pull back the layers of

birch bark on the tree and cut out the soft inner bark. It was then

dried and ground into sweet flour. She learned to brew ale and

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how to search for wild yeasts. Bera was a wealth of information

and the two women could be found together most days searching

the forest for food treasures.

At night Valerie would lay in the arms of her two Viking

warriors feeling loved and protected. She could sometimes hear

the soft snuffling of a bear as one or two would roam the village at

night looking for leftovers. She had been terrified to go out at night

until Hott had hand-fed one of the bears in front of her. She got

used to these gentle giants ruffling around, astounded to learn the

Vikings had thought of them as pets—if they were captured and

gentled at a young age. The bears were then left to wander free

when they became too large. It was a different life to be certain,

but Valerie was happy she had followed Hott into the mist.

* * * *

Valerie watched one morning in midsummer as Ulfr appeared

to be stalking something. His intense gaze was settled on the

horizon.

“What are you doing?” she asked him.

“Shh, I am watching that bitch,” he said and pointed to a huge

dog.

Valerie had seen her before on occasion from a distance. The

animal seemed to be coming around more often. Today she wove

back and forth near the village as though desperately wanting to

come close.

“What‟s she doing?” Valerie whispered.

“She wants to come home but is afraid. She ran away when the

raiders came. She is ashamed. She probably feels like a traitor

because her master was killed. She should have gone with him to

Valhalla. Under normal circumstances she would have fought by

his side, but it wasn‟t her time. I am pleased she is back.”

Valerie took a closer look at the dog that was edging

forwards. “She‟s had pups!” she said in surprise. She could see her

hanging teats.

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“Yes, and I want them. But I don‟t know where her den is.

She is cunning, and I tried before to follow her, but she hasn‟t

stayed around long enough. If I can get her to feed from my hand, I

can follow her back to them. They must be getting bigger and will

need meat. I am guessing her visits here are more frequent because

her need for solid food is growing. It must be hard on her to hunt

when she is used to being fed.

“Instinct draws her home. Because I am upwind she can smell

the blood on the meat I‟m holding. Stay back,” he cautioned her

when he moved quietly towards the dog. He spoke to the bitch in a

gentle voice.

Valerie watched as Ulfr handed the bitch a generous hunk of

raw deer. The dog whimpered and dropped down in submission.

She looked half-starved, poor thing. She was beautiful though. She

looked like a massive husky. Her coat was dull, fluffy and matted,

but her eyes were sharp with intelligence. Ulfr talked to her in a

soothing voice, and Valerie smiled. He had a way with coaxing

skittish females.

When the bitch came close enough, she snatched the meat and

slunk away. Ulfr followed from a distance. Valerie followed him.

She kept him well within her sight. None of the men had gone after

her again, but she was still fearful of raiders. She trusted Ulfr with

her life.

She had smiled proudly when Finna, the young girl, had asked

her how she had tossed a full grown man onto his behind. With her

father‟s encouragement, Valerie taught the young girl her moves.

When Finna had tossed her brother onto his butt, Agnar, her

father, had howled with pleased laughter and given Valerie a

skinned and worked elk hide.

“Stay here,” Ulfr directed her sternly. “I need to know where

you are.”

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They weren‟t too far into the forest. The bitch had stayed

close, but cautious. Her den had been concealed well. Ulfr settled

Valerie onto a fallen log.

“She knows me, and I don‟t want you bitten when I pull the

pups from the den.”

Valerie waited with eager anticipation. The first pup emerged

howling, as though Ulfr was killing it. The mother whined, but

didn‟t interfere. The pup was big, and he snapped at Ulfr‟s hand.

Ulfr chuckled and shook him by the scruff of his neck. The pup

whimpered when Ulfr growled and taught him he was the

dominant Alpha male. The pup settled and, smiling, Ulfr brought

him over to Valerie.

“He‟s beautiful. Will he bite me?” she asked.

Ulfr placed him near Valerie. The pup bared his teeth at her,

and she shied back. He was small, but still a good enough size to

take a chunk out of her. Ulfr grabbed the pup by his scruff and

shook him again, exuding his authority and growled deep within

his throat. The pup turned onto his belly when Ulfr released him.

“Rub his belly,” Ulfr directed her.

Valerie did as she was told and soon the pup was wiggling

happily beneath her hand. Ulfr returned with two more pups. Both

were female. One was smaller than the others. Ulfr told her there

had probably been more, but these were the strongest. That‟s why

they had survived. He hefted the smallest into his arms, and she

licked his chin and cheeks and made tiny whimpering sounds. Ulfr

pulled meat from a sack and fed her a few small pieces, telling her

what a good girl she was. She gobbled them down and begged for

more.

Ulfr handed the pup to Valerie. “You may have this one,” he

told her and she squealed in delight. He bent to grab the male by

his scruff. “And you, my little friend, are mine. I will call you

Sultan.”

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Ulfr retrieved the last pup and they both walked back to the

village with the bitch trailing them. The pups were fawned and

fussed over and a discussion began on whether the bitch should be

killed and sent to Valhalla to be with her master. Valerie hoped

not. The man had already gone on his way. She argued he must

have had a dog before this one who could walk with him into

Valhalla. On reflection they reasoned she was right—it was a good

argument. Perhaps when her heat was upon her again the bitch

would breed with a wolf. It was obvious her pups were part wolf

and the village needed the dogs.

Valerie was delighted to have the puppy trail her around, until

the animal pooped in the large cabin. One of the men asked her if

she was going to teach the dog to crap in the outhouse. The other

men found this hilarious and slapped their thighs at the joke.

Valerie rolled her eyes and told them she was, in fact, going to

make her a place to do her business away from everything else.

This resulted in more laughter until Valerie soon had the puppy

scratching at the heavy wooden door only a week later when she

needed to relieve herself. Hott had looked smugly at the amazed

men. Valerie named her puppy Petal, saying she was as delicate as

one.

Hott told Valerie he was very proud of her. That she was

becoming a good Viking woman because when she undertook a

task she stuck to it, but that she needed to accomplish one more

thing.

So far, Valerie had refused to kill anything. She had insisted

the meat they brought to her be dead and prepared for cooking

before she touched it. Hott and Ulfr now insisted they had

indulged her long enough and demanded she learn to clean the

game they brought back like the other women of the village. Today

they were adamant that she kill a small pig. The warriors had killed

the mother that morning and had given each of the women a piglet

for their stewing pots.

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Valerie stood there looking at the sweet face of the pig. His

fur was striped, and he had the cutest little feet. They were so

dainty, just like a baby‟s. Ulfr handed her a hatchet. She gazed at

the deadly looking weapon horrified. They actually expected her to

kill something? Her belly rolled with the thought.

“One good clean strike and it won‟t suffer,” Ulfr said. “Don‟t

worry, we will be close.”

Hott handed the piglet over into Valerie‟s arms. She stood

starring into the adorable face that gazed up at her with huge

solemn eyes as though sensing its imminent demise. She ran her

cheek against the piglet‟s rough fur. The poor little baby had lost

his mother. She had been taken from him. He was all alone. If not

for Hott she would have been all alone at one time. The poor little

piggy must be so afraid.

Valerie felt her tears build. She couldn‟t do it, everyone in the

cabin was watching her, and a few were chuckling. She had eaten

pig before. But the thought of killing this tiny, utterly defenseless

creature was too much. She started crying. Hott sighed heavily

with Bera berating him and the others for their cruelty to her

friend. With a shrug Hott reached for the animal, telling her never

mind, if this was the only thing she refused to do, he could live

with her kindheartedness. Valerie stepped back away from him,