“No,” I replied, feeling an irrational pleasure that Gersine could not communicate easily with this lovely girl. “But I too would like to know where you are taking us.”

“I’ve told you,” she said, flicking her plaits over her shoulders. “The Welshman sent for you.”

“Why?” I could think of no reason why Gwawrddur would have sent this girl in search of me.

“He says you are the fastest runner of the crew.”

I frowned. It was true that I was fleet of foot and probably the fastest of the men aboard Brymsteda, but I was still uncertain as to why I had been summoned and why Thurid had come to get me.

“But why does that matter?”

“That is obvious, is it not?”

I felt stupid that the answer was not apparent to me.

“Did she say,” asked Gersine, “that Gwawrddur called for you? That you are the fastest?”

I nodded, cursing that Gersine was quick-witted and had a keen ear. Most Englisc men could pick out the rudiments of the Norse tongue. Gersine had paid attention to Runolf these past months and understood more than most.

“Is there to be a foot race then?” he asked.

“Yes,” Thurid replied, beaming. She had clearly understood his Englisc words too, and my heart sank yet further. “A race. And other games. The men always set up trials when a ship comes in. There have been fewer ships of late.”

I thought of the two ships that had sunk at Uuiremutha, and Skorri’s ships that had been destroyed at Werceworthe. I wondered if their loss had affected Thurid and the people on this island. Had she had kin who had lost their life?

“Did I hear your mother say you are Tannskári’s daughter?” I asked.

“Yes, I have two older brothers, and two younger ones, and three younger sisters. The younger ones were all born here on Orkneyjar.”

“And you? Where were you born?”

“My older brothers and I were born back in Skeie, in Rygjafylki. But I was only little when we came here.”

“And your father, does he go raiding with the other Norsemen?”

“He did go a-viking once, but now he stays home. We have all we need here. Father is friends with all those who travel the Whale Road. Ships stop here for supplies, repairs and to rest.”

“And they pay,” I said. It was not really a question.

“Yes, they pay,” Thurid said, giving me a sidelong glance.

I looked back at the hall and the scattered buildings around the beach. Beyond it were the few boats we had seen when we had arrived the night before, and dwarfing them all, Brymsteda. The image conjured up memories of the minster at Lindisfarnae, the chapel, scriptorium, cells and other buildings huddled peacefully beside the sea, unaware of the violent foes that would soon sweep in on their longships, bringing death and destruction to the holy island. A sudden anger flared within me.