Free Varangian (Aelfraed) by Griff Hosker Page B

sail through the night.  I will rest this afternoon. I would like you to have half your men on watch for the rowers will be tired.”
    “As you wish Jarl Gunnersson.”
    “We have another portage coming up and that makes us vulnerable to attack.  I would make the quickest passage possible.”
    “The problem is that Ulf knows our route, you told me that.   He is a cunning man and he will anticipate our vulnerability and be at the portage waiting for us.  I now know how perilous that journey can be,”
    He shrugged, “There is little else we can do.”
    I smiled for I had an idea which had been fermenting since our last attack.  “Do you have a map of the river?”
    “Aye we have a chart.” He brought it out.
    “Where is the portage?”
    He pointed to it on the chart. I saw what I had hoped to see.   “Here the river takes a loop, just before the portage.  How far is it by land between the two loops?”
    “Three or four miles, it is low lying and I have known other captains use that as an emergency portage when the river is iced over. Why?”
    “If you stop there then I can take my men across land to ambush the barbarians.”
    The two of them looked at me.   “But there are only ten of you!”
    “True but do you think they will be expecting to be attacked?   Or do you think they will be watching the river for the moment when we start to climb over the hills with our bales?”
    “Even so ten against that number!”
    “If the ship can make a speedy passage around that loop then we will have a refuge and we will be no worse off than we are now.”
    “But you may have lost men.”
    “We are here to guard the ship.  It is like having a guard dog and keeping him in the house for fear of the wolf. We are not afraid of this wolf and remember I have seen these people fight.  They are brave and they are tough but they deign to wear armour and they will not stand against my men.”
    “Even Eric?”
    He was right Eric was our weak link but he was my man now and that made him one of us. “Aye, even Eric.”
    “If you think you can pull this off then so be it.”
    “I will need one of your sailors to act as a guide and a messenger if anything goes wrong.”
    “If anything goes wrong Aelfraed, then we are all dead, not just you and your warriors.”
    Surprisingly my men were all happy about the idea.  Even Eric looked excited. “Ragnar you will watch Eric.  It is his bow which will help us.” The old warrior nodded eagerly.  He seemed to have gained ten years of his life since we had left Denmark.  That was what having a purpose in life did for you.
    “I can fight with a sword.”
    “I am the leader Eric and I say that you will use your bow for we will be outnumbered but you can make the difference.  While we fight them you can thin those out who are beyond the reach of our weapons.” I looked at each eager face, “Our advantage is our armour and our blades; that and the fact that we are all better warriors!” They roared their approval and we prepared for war.
    Bjorn was chosen to accompany us.   He had been the First Mate on one of the ships which were captured and his brother had been killed in the attack.  He was not only knowledgeable, he was keen to get revenge and he came armed with us.  It gave us eleven men as opposed to ten. The Jarl pulled in as close as he could to the bank and threw out a plank to save us getting too wet. I was grateful for the brief respite we had.  The land we traversed was marshy and covered in high reeds; although it gave us cover it also made movement slower than I hoped.  Within a hundred paces we had lost sight of the mast of The Maiden and we were in Bjorn’s hands. He navigated by looking up at the sky and sniffing.  I did not ask why as I assumed he knew what he was doing.  I followed him with Ridley bringing up the rear.  Our small numbers meant that we would be hard to see, or at least I hoped we would.
    Bjorn turned to me.   “The river is