The Vikings had made a small encampment on the mud beach, with a scatter of makeshift tents and numerous cooking fires giving up wisps of smoke. About a hundred men were visible.

Garulf’s army was three hundred strong, fifty mounted noblemen and two hundred and fifty foot soldiers.

“We outnumber them!” Garulf said excitedly, seeing an easy victory.

He might have been right, but Wynstan was not so sure. “We outnumber the ones we can see,” he said cautiously.

“Who else do we need to worry about?”

“Each of those ships could carry fifty men, more if crowded. At least three hundred came to England in them. Where are the rest?”

“What does it matter? If they’re not here, they can’t fight!”

“We might do better to wait until we’ve met up with the men of Devon—we’d be much stronger. And they’re only a day away, if that.”

“What?” said Garulf scornfully. “We outnumber the Vikings three to one, yet you want to wait until it’s six to one?”

The men laughed.

Encouraged, Garulf went on: “That seems timid. We must seize our opportunity.”

Perhaps he’s right, Wynstan thought. Anyway, the men were eager for action. The enemy seemed weak and they smelled blood. Coolheaded logic did not impress them. And perhaps logic did not win battles.

Nevertheless, Wynstan said warily: “Well, then, let’s take a closer look before we make a final decision.”

“Agreed.” Garulf looked around. “We’ll go back into the woods and tie up the horses. Then we’ll get behind that ridge and stay out of sight while we approach nearer.” He pointed into the distance. “When we reach that bluff, we’ll spy out the enemy from close up.”

All that sounded right, Wynstan thought as he tied his horse to a tree. Garulf understood tactics. So far, so good.

The army moved through the woods and crossed the gentle crown of the ridge, hidden by trees. On the far side they turned, moving parallel with the valley in an upstream direction. The men bantered, making jokes about bravery and cowardice, keeping their courage up. One said it was a shame there would be no one to rape after the battle; another said they could rape the Viking men; a third said that was a matter of personal taste, and everyone guffawed. Did they know from experience that they were too far away from the Vikings to be heard, Wynstan wondered—or were they just careless?

Wynstan soon lost track of how much ground they had covered, but Garulf showed no such uncertainty. “This is far enough,” he said eventually, his voice quieter now. He turned uphill, walked a few yards, then dropped to a crawl to approach the summit of the ridge.

Wynstan saw that they were indeed close to the bluff Garulf had indicated earlier. The thanes wriggled on their bellies to the vantage point, keeping their heads low to avoid being spotted by the enemy below. The Vikings were going about their casual business, stoking fires and fetching water from the river, unaware that they were being watched.