The Bear and the Wolf Read online

  The Bear and the Wolf

  Book 4 in the New World Series

  By

  Griff Hosker

  Published by Sword Books Ltd 2020

  Copyright © Griff Hosker First Edition 2020

  The author has asserted their moral right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the author of this work.

  All Rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, copied, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written consent of the copyright holder, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

  A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.

  Cover by Design for Writers

  Prologue

  In Valhalla the two brothers, Lars and Snorri, watched as the newly dead warriors walked with eyes filled with wonder into the Allfather’s mead hall. They saw their sons, Siggi and Arne, along with Arne’s son, Lars, as they approached them followed by the other men of their clan who had died in the battle with the Skraeling, the Penobscot. As with all newly dead warriors, they entered Valhalla with eyes wide as they took in the tables heaving with meats, cheese, mead and ale and warriors long dead. Snorri had but recently joined his brother, yet both shared the same mixed feelings as they neared their eldest sons. They were glad to see them but sad for it meant they had died.

  Snorri turned to his brother, “It is but a little time since I came here. I thought that the clan would have returned across the seas by now.”

  Lars shook his head, “You know the Three Sisters, Snorri Long Fingers, they weave and they spin. Let us hear the tale of our sons and let us enjoy the moment.”

  It was just then that Siggi saw his father and rushed over, “This is Valhalla!”

  Odin’s commanding voice boomed out, “Clan of the Fox, you are welcome. There is mead and ale! Tell your brothers, here, of your glorious death!”

  Arne sounded disappointed as he said, “I thought there would have been more warriors!”

  Lars smiled, “Odin has many halls. This is the hall of our clans. We spend eternity with family and brothers in arms. Welcome, Arne and Lars, your son!”

  As he grasped his son’s arm Arne shook his head, “I have failed you, father! I have led the clan to disaster. Erik did all that he could to save us but…” he suddenly looked around, as did Siggi. The others who had died were with them but not Erik. “Where is he, where is my brother?”

  “Your brother?”

  “Aye, Erik the Navigator! He was the one who came to help us back to the ship. The last I saw of him, he was alone on the top of the waterfall, defending Siggi here and then…”

  Lars looked sad, “Then he has died without his sword.” He shook his head, “I would have liked to have seen him again for Snorri here has told me of all that he did. He was a real Viking and a hero.”

  Arne nodded, “And I am not; I know that now. It was my vanity and my wife which led me to ignore the words of Snorri, Erik and my brother Fótr. I am ashamed now of the way I treated Fótr. He will be left to lead the clan.”

  Snorri waved a hand at the warriors with his son and nephew, “If there is a clan to lead. I see here the greatest warriors of the clan. Siggi, I thought you were going back to the east?”

  Siggi’s face showed the regret at listening to the wrong brother, “We might have been although Erik negotiated a peace with the Skraeling, the Mi’kmaq’, and we could have stayed.”

  Arne nodded, miserably, “Which I ignored. The wrong brother led the clan.”

  “This was meant to be. We can curse the Norns all we like, here in the safety of Valhalla, but it will do little good. Fótr has had a great weight thrust upon his shoulders but the Norns spin for a purpose.”

  Snorri nodded, “And the volvas of the clan, Helga, Ada and the others, whilst not as powerful as my wife can hold the clan together while Fótr grows.” He looked at his son, “They will go back to the east?”

  He nodded, “I believe that they will for the warriors who died were the ones who wished to carve out a home in this savage wilderness. The ones who remain wish to go east and they seek a home in the Land of the Wolf.”

  Lars put his arm around his son, “Then let us drink some ale and toast the son who will never join us and whose spirit will forever fly as a seabird above the seas he loved so much. Let us drink to Erik the Navigator.”

  Chapter 1 Erik

  Despair is the wrong word to use but it was close to despair that I felt as I was reborn in a new world with Laughing Deer and Stands Alone. The others had left me to return to Bear Island, and we were surrounded by the Penobscot who would hunt us down, kill me and enslave Laughing Deer and her sister once more. Yet even in the depths of despair, I felt hope for my dream had become reality. Gytha had promised me that it would, and I also had the hope that, on Bear Island, the clan would be waiting for me. The first thing we had to do was get as far north as we could as quickly as possible. Crossing the river had been difficult for Stands Alone would not come near to me but we had managed it. I hoped that we would now be able to lose the Penobscot. What lay ahead I had no idea for we had come south by sea. Laughing Deer had not passed this way either and so I would have to use my skills as a navigator, but on land. The sun showed me where north was and so I led us north along the first animal trail I found. I would shun the trails used by the Skraeling as the Penobscot would use those. I now saw that the coming of Bear Tooth into our lives had been important for without it I would not have been able to speak to Laughing Deer. Did her tribe know about the Norns too or was this thread mine alone?

  I had my bow slung across my back and I had my seax in my hand. I had my ale skin and we had a little dried deer meat, but it would not last and I knew that we had many miles to walk. My other belongings were wrapped in my oiled cloak which I had tied across my back. The nights were still icily cold at times but each day brought more warmth. The march through the forest would keep us warm. In my head, I estimated a hundred or so miles, possibly more, as I knew the coast was riven with gullies, ravines and rivers. We might have to backtrack to find our way. I did not know what Laughing Deer would make of our clan but the Norns had bound us together. I kept glancing over my shoulder as we moved ever north. Laughing Deer held her sister’s hand. She carried their belongings over her back as did I and I rued that we did not have a boat. I wondered if I could have risked stealing one. I dismissed the thought immediately for the Penobscot would have caught us. We now had a chance to escape; it was a slim one, but I would take it.

  The animal trail descended to a narrow stream and, looking at the sun, I realised that we had been walking for some hours. I could continue but the younger girl would be tiring. I pointed to the stream, “We will rest there and eat. I will go back down the trail.”

  Laughing Deer nodded, “Do not hurry back for we need to make water and my sister fears you.”

  I could do little about that. I dropped my gear except for my sword and bow and headed back down the trail. I saw our footprints. They were distinctive and would lead the Penobscot directly to us. We would have to walk in the stream for a while and hope to throw them from our trail. I heard noises in the deep and dark forest, but I knew that they were the noises of animals and not hunters. I backtracked for half a mile but heard no noise which suggested danger. I headed for the stream.

  When I reached the beck, I saw that Laughing Deer and her sister had collected some crustaceans. She smiled at me, “These are good eating. They are better cooked, but they will have to do this way.”

  I took the two she offer
ed me gratefully and, using my seax, ripped them open and sucked out the succulent flesh. “They are good. Has your sister eaten?”

  “She has.” As the little girl still eyed me suspiciously, Laughing Deer said, “It will take time for her to grow used to you; the Penobscot hurt her. She will be like this with all men for a while.” I nodded for after their experience then it was understandable. “Where do we go?”

  I pointed north and west, “We head for the coast. My clan has settled on an island and they have a ship. If we can reach there then we will be safe.”

  “How many days is it?”

  “I do not know but Bear Tooth said it was the land the people of the Mi’kmaq tribe occupied when you were taken.”

  Her face fell. “Then it will take at least seven days of walking. We will have to head towards the setting sun for a while as there are deep ravines ahead and my sister cannot swim.”

  “Should we walk up this piece of water?” It meant travelling in the opposite direction and take us closer to our enemies, but I trusted Laughing Deer.

  She nodded, “It will turn and eventually take us in the right direction and the water will hide our trail.” She turned to her sister, “Take off your mockasin; we do not wish to ruin them.” As her sister obeyed, Laughing Deer turned to me, “What about your mockasin?”

  I shook my head, “These are made of sealskin and they are tough. I will lead. You must tell me when we are to leave the water and if you need to stop.”

  “I will. We are tougher than we look and despite my sister’s silence, we are both grateful for you have saved us. If it was not for my sister, then I would have taken my own life. The Penobscot are a cruel and evil people.”

  With that sobering thought in my head, I picked up my gear and headed upstream. The water did not come over my boots and I knew that it would become shallower. I was able to hop occasionally from rock to rock, but Stands Alone could not and our progress was not as swift as I would have wished.

  Laughing Deer said after we had travelled perhaps half a mile, “We need to leave the stream for the sides will be too steep for Stands Alone to climb.”

  I looked ahead and saw that Laughing Deer was right. I might have scaled the sides and possibly Laughing Deer, but the child would have struggled. I nodded and we crossed to the right bank. The sun was getting lower in the sky and we would need to find somewhere to shelter. I remembered the sound of the large cats Ebbe and I had heard as we had sailed the snekke. I did not wish to fall foul of those. The going was harder than I had expected, and I had to help both Laughing Deer and her sister up some of the more difficult stretches. It would have been easier had Stands Alone allowed me to hold her hand or touch her back, but she recoiled when my hand went near her and I had to pull the two of them up with Laughing Deer holding Stands Alone’s hand.

  When we reached the top, I found another animal trail and recognised the prints of the small deer I had hunted. Laughing Deer pointed to the right and I followed the trail which wound through the trees. I had not seen any berries nor fruits and wondered what we would eat. The crustaceans we had eaten at the stream seemed a distant memory. I almost despaired of finding a place to camp for the sun was setting when we came upon a small clearing in the trees. Laughing Deer said, “We will stop here. I will make a shelter while you find food.”

  That would be easier said than done but I dropped my gear and nocked an arrow. I headed through the woods, avoiding the trail. I think had it been earlier, or later then I would have had no success but the large grey squirrel which appeared just above me timed his foray into the forest badly. At ten paces I could not miss, and the animal was pinned to the tree. I retrieved the arrow and squirrel and headed back. I saw the unmistakeable pellets from the long-eared animals on the ground, and I decided that I would set some traps. To my surprise, Laughing Deer had fashioned a shelter from a pliant bush and was now covering the top with fronds of fir which she had gathered. I learned that every Mi’kmaq had this skill and they could make a good shelter within a short time.

  She beamed when she saw the squirrel, “Give me your knife and I will prepare it. Light a fire.”

  “Are you certain? The smell of the smoke will carry.”

  “I do not think any Penobscot are close. They may find our trail but we need to cook this meat. I will make a fire with little smoke.”

  I know that Bear Tooth was impressed by the flint I used as it made a fire far quicker than his method. I saw Stands Alone watching me with wonder as I sparked the flint into the dried leaves and grass. Blowing on it I soon had flames and Laughing Deer carefully placed dead wood upon it. She poured water from her skin into the pot and then began to skilfully skin the squirrel. Leaving her to it I went to set some traps for the long-eared animals. Darkness fell quickly and the small fire was comforting.

  She came to hand me the seax, “Stands Alone is weary. I will feed her first.” Her eyes pleaded with me. “If you could stay away from the fire it will be easier. She fears men and I would have her calm while she eats.”

  “Of course.” I went a little way from the fire and the shelter and took out my whetstone. I put an edge on the seax. My sword was still sharp and who knew when I would need a weapon again? When it was sharp, I sheathed it and sat on a fallen tree. The navigator in me wanted to know precisely where I was. I felt lost without my maps. When we reached Bear Island, I would make another.

  A little while later Laughing Deer found me. “Thank you, she is asleep. You are kind and unlike any man I have ever met.”

  “You were sent to my dreams and the volva of our clan told me that you would change my life.”

  The little girl was in a deep sleep, and Laughing Deer handed me a bowl of food. “Volva?”

  I used the word Bear Tooth had used, “Witch!”

  “Ah.” She did not seem upset by the concept. “The food is good?”

  “The food is good.”

  “I bring great danger to you, Erik.”

  “How so?”

  The son of the chief of the Penobscot wants me for his woman.”

  “He would marry you?”

  “No, for he has a wife. He wants me for his bed; by taking me each night he shows the power of his tribe over mine. He is a cruel man and he is the reason Stands Alone is as she is. He hurt her. He will hunt us down and try to capture us. If you were alone then you would be able to reach your island.”

  “Our threads are bound, and I am content.”

  She nodded and after cleaning the bowls she took the skin of the squirrel into the woods so that she could make water upon it. When she returned, she lay down and she patted the ground next to her. “Come, lie here with me.” I lay down and she pressed her body into my back and put her arms around me. Our warmth would make Stands Alone and the two of us warmer. It was the Mi’kmaq way of sleeping. “If we reach your island, we can lie together properly but for now, this is all that there can be.” She kissed the nape of my neck and I was content.

  When I woke and checked the traps, I found that I had caught just one animal, but it would make a meal. I skinned it after we ate the last of the squirrel then we headed north. Perhaps it was my imagination but Stands Alone did not recoil as much when I passed her. When I woke, I saw her smiling at me, shyly, from behind Laughing Deer. It was a start. The march that day was easier because we were heading, for the most part, downhill. The trail we followed was also wider and I worried about that. When the rain came, I was pleased because that would help disguise our tracks. I had my sealskin cape, but Laughing Deer and her sister did not. I gave the cape to them so that they could be dry. I had stood many a watch and been soaked; it would do me no harm. The rain stopped during the afternoon and we made a camp by a small stream. I had no accurate way of recording how far we had travelled but I knew that we were roughly twenty miles from the falls. Had Stands Alone allowed it, I would have carried her upon my shoulders and we would have made better time.

  I set more traps while Laughing Deer cooked the
long-eared animal. This time Stands Alone allowed me to eat with them and it was the start of a slight change in her. Laughing Deer spoke in my ear as we lay down to sleep. “I think we come to a large body of water soon.”

  “The sea?”

  “No. The Penobscot sometimes travel to these waters. They carry their boats and they fish there. We will have to be careful for they could have got ahead of us.”

  I had not thought of that. I had expected them to follow us and I had hoped that the rain would have washed away our sign. The thought that we might have to pass through a warband of Penobscot did not fill me with optimism. I touched the hammer around my neck. I prayed that Gytha was still watching over me although I had not heard her voice in my head since Laughing Deer had found me.

  The next day we found a small river and I followed it south for it might lead to the sea. It led, as Laughing Deer had predicted, to a large body of fresh water. We refilled the water skin and the now-empty ale skin from the river before making our way to somewhere we could cross. We backtracked up the river until we found some rocks. I hated the detour for we could have crossed the river when we had first seen it. I kept thinking I had Ebbe and Fótr with me. It was not her fault but Stands Alone was a burden. Once we crossed, I led us due east for the water was too big an obstacle and we could not get around it easily any other way. I decided that I would follow the next river we found directly to the sea.

  As we walked, I said, “Laughing Deer, do you know how to make a birch bark boat?”

  “How? Yes. Could I make one? No. I have not the skill in peeling the bark from the birch. Why do you ask?”

  “I feel lost in this forest and if we could fashion a boat then I would be happier for we could use the rivers. We will need one in any case if we are to get to Bear Island.”

  “I cannot see that we will be able to build one for I have seen them made but never made one. That is the work of a warrior.” I was depressed at her words for I knew not how we could make one.