Page 58 of Summer of the Viking

Purebright gave a little whoosh of breath.

‘You weren’t spying on me?’

‘Spying is something that people like Oswald do.’ Merri jumped up. ‘Oswald said that he saw a second Northman ship in an inlet. Or maybe it is the same ship except its mast isn’t broken.’

An ice-cold shiver went down Alwynn’s spine. She had convinced herself that Merri’s story was just a made-up tale. But a Northman ship appearing at the same time as Valdar? Could he be...? Her mind immediately rejected the idea. Valdar was nothing like a Northman. He was kind and considerate and he rebuilt things. Nothing like a Northman. The memory of his fevered words scratched her mind. She hurriedly closed that door. She might have been blind about Theodbald’s faults but Valdar was a different man. He was trustworthy and honourable.

Doubting was the surest way to distrust, as her mother used to say, and Alwynn knew she could rely on Valdar.

‘How can Oswald be sure it is the same ship?’ she asked more sharply than she intended. ‘Ships often look the same. It could be from any country.’

Merri leant forward and lowered her voice. ‘It has the same dragon prow. Oswald knows these things.’

Alwynn rubbed her temples and tried to keep the niggling pain at bay. ‘Merri, if there were Northmen in this area, I would know about it. We all would know about it. Churches would be burning.’

Merri’s face fell and she played with her belt. ‘I thought Valdar would want to know. That is all.’

Alwynn’s stomach knotted. For once, she hoped Oswald was wrong. ‘Oswald likes to tell stories. He enjoys teasing you and scaring you.’

Merri was silent for a long while. ‘He does like to scare me.’

‘There, you see.’ Alwynn hated the trembling in her heart. She hated that for even one heartbeat she had wondered if Valdar had been connected to this mysterious ship. How could she doubt him like that?

‘Oswald said that grain has gone missing from his father’s gristmill. And several farmers have had sheep missing.’

‘The mysteries of Oswald’s missing grain and Owain’s missing sheep have been solved.’ Alwynn firmed her mouth.

Merri’s brow furled. ‘I think Oswald is telling tales. Maybe his father wants to save the fine flour for Lord Edwin’s lady like he was doing before. He wants to make sure that he and his family have good relations with all their neighbours. Oswald thinks Valdar should stay and teach him about swords. That was my idea—the sword bit.’

‘I think you are right about the gristmill. But we both know Valdar has another life and that he will return to it once the harvest is in.’ Alwynn leant forward and kissed Merri on the forehead. ‘I will have Valdar look into this. If Oswy is going to start giving us problems, we need to know. It needs to be solved one way or the other before...before the summer ends.’

‘I wish Valdar would stay. What does he have waiting for him at home? He doesn’t have a wife. I asked him about it.’

Alwynn stood and shook her skirts. She hated that Merri echoed her innermost thoughts. But she could hardly beg him to stay. They had made an agreement. She was trying to grab hold of the precious days, but the harder she tried, the more they slipped away.

‘Right, you and I are going to see Oswald,’ she said to steer the conversation away from Valdar. The winter was going to be hard enough to get through once he was gone without her thinking about it every heartbeat. She had to live for the now. ‘I want to hear his story from his own mouth.’

‘Why not wait for Valdar?’ Merri stuck her chin in the air. ‘I promised Oswald that Valdar would come to see him. About the swords.’

‘Ah, now the truth comes out.’

Merri covered her mouth with both her hands. ‘Can you blame me? Everything is better when he is around.’

‘Since when did I hide behind a man? I want to understand what is going on at the gristmill.’

* * *

Alwynn paced the scriptorium. After returning from Oswy’s gristmill she had tried to find him, but Valdar had gone off to one of the outlying farms and she’d had no choice but to wait. Oswy’s wife had questioned her closely. It seemed a number of women felt she should marry Valdar and that he was precisely what this neighbourhood needed—a warrior who wasn’t afraid to get his hands dirty repairing buildings and walls. Her attempts to explain why he had to leave after the harvest sounded feeble, so she’d made her excuses and left.

‘You appear lost in concentration.’ Valdar’s voice rolled over her. ‘Is Merri fine with your explanation? I expected you to find me when I returned from Owain’s. But when you didn’t, I presumed you and Merri needed time... And now I find you holed up in this room, writing.’

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