Free Far After Gold by Jen Black

hasn’t got any others. He’s only got Katla.”
    “Not even any, um…”
    Oli flashed a quick, cheeky grin in her direction. “You mean bastards?”
    Emer repressed a smile. “Illegitimate sons, Oli. Bastard is a very rude word for a small boy.”
    “I know, but I’m not all that small. Flane thinks I’m nearly eleven.” He shrugged. “It’s a word Gamel uses a lot, so I found out what it meant. I asked Skeggi.”
    “Who is Gamel?”
    Oli gave up on the fish, straightened and waded across the stream. “One of the warrior band. He smells.” He threw himself down on the grass beside her. “I don’t like him.”
    She remembered her first night in the hall, and how Flane had chased one man away from her. “Is he married?”
    Oli sniggered. “No one will have him.”
    “Oh.” Emer wasn’t surprised, but decided she shouldn’t discuss such things with a child. “Is Skeggi the one with lots of dark curls? He’s nice.”
    Oli nodded. “He’s Flane’s friend. Flane’s nice, too. I want to be like Flane when I grow up.”
    “I think I’d like to be a man when I grow up.”
    Oli stared at her, wide-eyed. “But you’re a girl! And you are grown up!”
    “I know. Disappointing, isn’t it?” She laughed. “But men have so much independence. That’s what I want. Women are always being told what to do and I hate it!”
    “Well, you’d have to go to war, and kill people with a sword. And skin a deer and dig out the midden and get caught in storms when you’re out at sea…”
    Emer thumped her fist on the grass. “Well, if you can do all that, I can, too!”
    “Bet you can’t!
    “Can!”
    The day passed in cheerful banter. They dammed the stream, walked on up the valley and watched grazing deer lift their heads and trot elegantly away at their approach. Grendel almost caught a wood pigeon but came trotting back with only a feather hanging from his jaw. When they turned for home in the late afternoon, Emer was still curious about Flane. “What happened to Flane’s parents, Oli?”
    “I think they died of a fever. Some kind of sweating sickness.”
    “He didn’t have any brothers or sisters?”
    “Don’t think so. He never mentions anyone like that.”
    “If Skuli Grey Cloak wants Flane to lead the band after him, I see why he wants Flane to marry Katla. I also know why he doesn’t approve of me,” she finished slowly, suddenly seeing it clearly from the chieftain’s point of view. “He’s afraid I’ll upset all his plans.”
    Oli glanced sideways at her. “How could you do that?”
    Emer shrugged. “Oh, if Flane should grow to like me more than Katla. That would spoil his plans, wouldn’t it?”
    “You mean Flane might marry you instead? Oh, I’d like that!”
    Emer did not say anything, and Oli turned puzzled eyes to her sombre face. “You do like Flane, don’t you?”
    “I think so, but I don’t really know him very well.”
    “That’s why you’re asking all these questions! You want to know all about him, don’t you?”
    “No, of course not. Look, can we get home if we go this way?” She pointed to a small trail winding through the bracken and heather across the hillside. “Is it a deer trail or a path?”
    Oli frowned. “We can if you want, but it is steeper that way. The big forest begins on the other side of the hill, and once you’re in there you can’t see anything much. You might walk into a wolf. It’s easier walking if we go the way we came.”
    “The easy way it is, then. We don’t have wolves on our island.” The thought of wolves made her glance nervously around the surrounding trees. “Oh, look.” Their small trail joined another path, and ahead of them four men carried a deer slung on a pole between them. “They’ve been hunting. Now they’ll be walking back into the settlement, so we won’t have to worry about wolves if we stay close to them.”
    “Slow down, Emer. It’s Gamel, and we don’t want to run into him.”
    “He won’t hurt