The United States of Vinland: The Landing (The Markland Trilogy) Read Online Free PDF

also plan for spring and perhaps
a move from Godsland, to a better site if one is found on the mainland.”
    Torrador
was downcast at Eskil’s words, his gaze going to the fire and thoughts of his
missing wife.
    Seeing
this, Gudrid cleared her throat and said, “We do not know the plans of Asgard,
as surely as we cannot say for certain our friends and fellow crew are dead,
though it is likely to be true. What we can say is that we need to survive, to
build and grow, to create something here to not only honour our gods, but also
ourselves, and our lost loved ones.”
    Torrador
raised his gaze to meet Gudrid’s sympathetic eyes, a smile of gratitude finding
his lips. He was not alone, for all sitting around the fire had lost friends,
and many of the men lost their wives.
    Eskil
let Gudrid’s words sink in before he added, “Let us give thanks to our gods,
all of them, but particularly Odin and Thor, for they have both had a strong hand
in giving us this chance at life in this new world. Let us also give thanks to
each other, that we are here, and remember those who are missing from our
fireside.”
    Together
they called their thanks into the night, not toasting it with drink, but celebrating
with juicy mutton.
    ––––––––
    T he
next days passed as they finished checking over the island for any better sites
for their winter home. They also gathered wood for the making of spears and
fuelling the cooking fires. At the same time, discussions ran amongst the men
on how best to create a small boat that could take them across the chilly
waters of the sound. After Manni’s mortal wounding, none were in a hurry to
chance the dark waters without a vessel.
    While
all this went on, they watched for the giant wolf and its lair. The island may
not have been huge, but it was large enough that they were not able to check
every gully or grove. But they did find more signs of it, including numerous
seal bones around shallow caves on the island’s rugged northern coast.
    Halla
and Gudrid, meanwhile, planned what they needed for winter, and Ballr and Erik
worked on what was left of the larger timbers from the shipwreck, preparing
them for reuse. Soon, they decided to winter where they were because they found
no better site. So Eskil, Torrador, Steinarr and Samr began cutting turf to
build a wall that would enclose the stone overhang and small caves of the gully
at their current campsite.
    Everyone
worked on the hall.
    As
the turf walls rose, built like so many halls in Iceland and Greenland,
differences in the building emerged.
    A
single door would open at one end, into the main hall, and a long hall, similar
to those they had left behind in Iceland, would be centred around a warming
fire pit.
    Eskil
pushed for the biggest difference: to make the most of the natural overhang
since it was strong and would save them much labour and time. Enclosing the
space, but including the caves at its back, gave them a large main hall, with a
chamber stepping up, and the two smaller caves that ran off that and could be
used for stores.
    Amidst
such toil came a great discovery by way of Samr and Torrador:
    Back
near the runestone, while constructing a raft using their preciously salvaged
rope and larger pieces of seasoned timber, they had discovered hoof prints.
    They
were both convinced the prints belonged to sheep.
    Excited,
the two men followed the meandering trail until they also found fresh
droppings.
    Had
some sheep survived the shipwreck?
    Forgetting
their raft, they immediately switched to tracking the animals, knowing life
might be much easier for their people if they could count on such things as
sheep’s milkand wool – and perhaps, one day, another feast of fresh
mutton.
    With
little caution, the two men hastily followed the trail.
    Samr
called out to Torrador, “Come! I can hear her bleating from here!”
    It
was a joke of course, for the only sound about them, so often the case on
Godsland, was the wail of the wind and rhythm