The Snow on the Cross Read Online Free PDF Page B

side.
    We seemed to catch a good wind, and I
could tell we were sailing west because the sun was behind us.  If the wind
died, the Vikings would take up their oars and row.  We slowed a bit from time
to time, but we never stopped.   Bjarni steered the ship effortlessly, and I
found myself trusting him.  As long as we didn’t hit rough waters or a storm, I
remember thinking, we should arrive safely.
    I lost count of the minutes as I
stared at the sea.  Bjarni came over and sat beside me on the deck and patted
my shoulder.
    “The first time I sailed,” he began. 
“I was six.  I stayed below deck with the cattle because I was so afraid of the
water.  My father found me hiding there and took me by the shirt.  He dragged
me up onto the deck and made me look out at the water.  I had never seen
anything so beautiful and terrible at the same time.  He held me there until my
fear had subsided.  Then, he pitched me overboard.”
    I suppose Bjarni’s story was meant to
make me feel better.  I suddenly hoped he wasn’t going to do the same thing to
me.
    “I floundered in the water,” Bjarni
continued.  “I almost drowned.  I only remember the coldness.  My entire body
was numb.  Then my father pulled me out with a fish spear he had hooked onto my
belt.  He tossed me back onto the deck.  I was freezing and crying, and he
knelt down and looked at me.  He told me I should never lose my fear of the
water.  And I never have.  If you lose your fear, it will drag you under.  You
have to stay afraid of it, then you can learn how to manipulate it.”
    Bjarni laughed again and walked
away.  I would spend the next several hours motionless and lying down on the
deck with my eyes closed.  If I opened them, the dizziness returned, and I
would heave up dry air.  One of the men shouted that they had land to the
north, and I heard Bjarni remark it was the southern coast of Britain .   I had never seen Britain , so I rolled over and cracked my
eyes open.
    Some trees.  Some rocks.  It looked
remarkably like France .  I closed my eyes again.  By noon I was feeling a little better: enough to open my eyes
anyway.  I sat up and noticed the Vikings sharing some dried venison as they
sat together at the far end of the ship.  They saw me sitting up and motioned
me to come over.  I shook my head, and Bjarni came over to me.
    “Bishop, you will feel better if you
eat.  It will keep the sickness away.”
    He handed me a strip of dried
venison.  My stomach rolled as I looked at it.  “I can’t.” I told him.
    Bjarni shrugged and left the meat
sitting next to me on the deck.  I stared at it for a long time.  Britain had drifted away on the horizon, and
there was now only open sea ahead of us.  I noticed Bjarni had changed our course
north.  Now there was nothing left in front of us except the open sea and Greenland .
    ***
    Night floated over us, and we
drifted. 
    Some of the men were asleep, and
their snores complemented the hush of the waves.  Bjarni was not asleep,
however, and he sat by himself staring at the sky.  I was a bit overwhelmed of
how complete the darkness was when night fell.  There was no flicker of flame,
no moon to shine down.  It was a complete darkness, and it wrapped us tightly. 
I crawled over to sit beside Bjarni.  I found that I could not stand, for I was
still a bit queasy.
    “Ah, Bishop,” Bjarni seemed glad for
the company.  “The sea agrees with you.”
    “How long until we reach Greenland ?”
    Bjarni studied the sky for a moment. 
“Two days.  Perhaps three.  You can never really know for sure.”
    “And Eirik will be glad to see me?”
    Bjarni looked at me, as if memorizing
my face in the darkness.  “He may.  He is not an easy man to know, but he is
honorable.”
    “Tell me about Thordhild.”
    Bjarni grew quiet for a moment.  “Beautiful. 
Proud.  Almost as strong as her husband.  She was a peasant in Iceland when Eirik landed there.  He told me
once she