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Chapters (76)
  1. Cover
  2. Praise forMATTHEW HARFFY
  3. BY MATTHEW HARFFY
  4. Title Page
  5. Copyright
  6. Dedication
  7. Maps
  8. Epigraph
  9. Contents
  10. Place Names
  11. One
  12. Two
  13. Three
  14. Four
  15. Five
  16. Six
  17. Seven
  18. Eight
  19. Nine
  20. Ten
  21. Eleven
  22. Twelve
  23. Thirteen
  24. Fourteen
  25. Fifteen
  26. Sixteen
  27. Seventeen
  28. Eighteen
  29. Nineteen
  30. Twenty
  31. Twenty-One
  32. Twenty-Two
  33. Twenty-Three
  34. Twenty-Four
  35. Twenty-Five
  36. Twenty-Six
  37. Twenty-Seven
  38. Twenty-Eight
  39. Twenty-Nine
  40. Thirty
  41. Thirty-One
  42. Thirty-Two
  43. Thirty-Three
  44. Thirty-Four
  45. Thirty-Five
  46. Thirty-Six
  47. Thirty-Seven
  48. Thirty-Eight
  49. Thirty-Nine
  50. Forty
  51. Forty-One
  52. Forty-Two
  53. Forty-Three
  54. Forty-Four
  55. Forty-Five
  56. Forty-Six
  57. Forty-Seven
  58. Forty-Eight
  59. Forty-Nine
  60. Fifty
  61. Fifty-One
  62. Fifty-Two
  63. Fifty-Three
  64. Fifty-Four
  65. Fifty-Five
  66. Fifty-Six
  67. Fifty-Seven
  68. Fifty-Eight
  69. Fifty-Nine
  70. Sixty
  71. Sixty-One
  72. Sixty-Two
  73. Author’s Note
  74. Acknowledgements
  75. About the Author
  76. An Invitation from the Publisher

Eoten replied with a grunt.

Moments later, the joints, expertly shaped with axe and plane, were guided into the slots cut for the purpose. The beam fell into place with a satisfying thud. At the same time, my tumbling thoughts settled.

I knew how to get the shipbuilders and crew we needed.

Four

“We must travel,” I panted, breathless from running across the fields.

Runolf and Drosten both continued hammering with their wooden mallets, driving wedges further into the grain of the long trunk of oak.

“Careful,” said Runolf, gesturing for me to stand back.

I stepped away through the sawdust and wood shavings, then stood, holding my knees while I caught my breath.

With a final strike of their mallets and a splintering, tearing sound, the trunk split along its length, neatly following the grain. The two halves fell away and rocked on their curved, bark-covered exteriors and then were still, resting in the dust and shaved remains of the trees that had preceded them.

“Travel?” asked Runolf, wiping sweat from his brow. “Where?”

“To Eoforwic. To see the king.”

Runolf eyed me for a time.

“Why would he see us?” he asked at last.

“We have saved Werceworthe, and I have a proposition for him that will get us what we need for your ship.”

That caught his attention.

“Lord Uhtric won’t like it,” he said with a frown.

“Uhtric is not here.”

“No, but I am his man. I swore my eiðr to him. If your cunning mind has thought of a way for me to build my ship, I think Lord Uhtric would wish to hear it first.”

I sighed. Now that I had my ideas clear, I wanted to rush south to Eoforwic and Æthelred, but Runolf was right. Uhtric had taken a chance sparing Runolf’s life and bearing him to Eoforwic after the attack on Lindisfarnae. Runolf was his man, and if he was to build a ship, we would need to seek Uhtric’s permission.

Drosten began chopping into one of the sides of split log, cutting grooves into the bark where he would later place the wooden wedges that would split it further, creating a plank.

“But Uhtric is in the north,” I said. I was disappointed and frustrated. It has ever been thus with me. When I have an inclination to do something, I want nothing to stand in my way. Our Heavenly Father often has other plans. Perhaps it is His way of teaching me humility. Alas, in this I have been a poor student. “North is in the wrong direction,” I went on, angry to be so quickly deviated from the course I had foreseen.

“It is not the wrong direction,” replied Runolf, “if that is where we need to travel.”

I shook my head in annoyance. I had been convinced that I had come to the right conclusion.