Amber Treasure, The Read Online Free PDF Page A

climbed up to sit on it, so he could watch us. Grettir walked over and
tossed Cuthbert and me a sword and shield each. The shields had a strap behind
the centre and we grasped these.
    “Now boys: step apart about five
paces and face each other,” Grettir ordered. We moved to comply. He went on,
“Now, attack each other.”
    Cuthbert and I exchanged glances
and shrugged at this. I braced the shield against my chest and extended my
right arm, so my sword was pointing at my friend. Cuthbert tried a different
approach and ran straight at me. That took me by surprise, but the threat of
the attack was blunted when he tripped over the sword and ended up rolling head-over-heels
straight into me, knocking me flying, so that we both went down in a heap. From
the gate I heard Eduard collapse into a fit of laughter. Sounds of giggling
from beyond the wall hinted that some of the village girls were watching this.
My sister Mildrith bobbed up over the wall and back again. Then I saw Aidith,
Cuthbert’s cousin take a quick peek at me. My father turned a stony face
towards them and they disappeared again, with more giggling.
    “Get up,” boomed the voice of
Grettir, like a wave hitting the rocks.
    “You!” he said, pointing at
Cuthbert. “If this had been for real, you would be dead now. You must learn
self-control; you are not in one of the sagas now.”
    Cuthbert’s face was now glowing
bright red and his hands were shaking.
    “As for you, Master Cerdic, your
posture was all wrong. He should not have knocked you over. You should have
been in a position to take advantage of the folly of your foe − not end
up in a tangle of legs and arms.”
    Grettir picked up my shield from
the ground where it had fallen and then took my sword. He held the shield away
from his body, in front of him so that it was turned towards Cuthbert, who was
staggering to his feet a few yards away. He then twisted his whole frame, so it
was facing to Cuthbert’s left. He held his right leg straight, but bent his
left knee a little, so he was leaning forward. Finally, he thrust his sword
into the air, slightly above and to the right of his shield.
    “This,” he said, “is a warrior’s
posture. Observe how I advance.”
    He moved his left leg, still bent
at the knee forward a pace and then brought his right leg forward still
straight. He advanced again, left leg bent and right leg straight. While he
moved forward, he still held the shield braced away from his body and had his
sword at the ready position above the shield.
    “In this way, a whole army can
stay together, advancing as one with shields ready to protect you and your
fellows and swords ready to strike at the foe,” Grettir told us, as he
continued to move towards Cuthbert. He reached my friend, who had now got
himself into something resembling the warrior’s posture. He looked terrified at
the arrival of Grettir in front of him and half closed his eyes.
    I heard a derisive snort from
behind the fence and saw that Aedann was standing there watching us and looking
scathingly at Cuthbert. My father saw this as well and his face hardened. He
then lifted one finger and pointed back towards the house.
    “You, slave! Get away, this is no
place for your sort!” he shouted. Aedann flinched at that as if he had been
struck and slunk away, humiliated. He waited until my father turned his back on
him and then shot him a glare full of spite and hatred.
    Grettir continued his
instruction. “You can now strike the foe in three places. You cannot hit the
body, as it is protected by the shield. You can strike down onto your foe’s
head thus,” at this he moved the wooden blade down to just above Cuthbert’s
head. My friend gave a whimper, which caused Eduard to giggle again, this time
earning him a clip over the head from my father.
    “Or,” continued our teacher, “you
can angle the blow to his right arm; his sword arm. The third target would be
his left lower leg which is visible beneath his