The Saga of Colm the Slave Read Online Free

mother-in-law difficulties, always a
potential problem. Ingveld took off her necklace and allowed the
other women to hold it and examine it more closely. Slave girls
bustled around the tables, bringing the gifts for exchange and
cleaning up spilled beer.
    Suddenly there was a commotion at the
men’s table. Halldor and Gunnlaug were shouting at one another.
Gunnlaug shoved Halldor, who slapped his hand where his sword hilt
would be if he had worn a weapon to the feast. Halldor lunged
forward, but other men grabbed Gunnlaug by the shoulders and
hustled him from the hall before Halldor could reach him.
Red-faced, he took his seat just as the slave women began serving
the broth. Gunnlaug wouldn’t be doing any toasting with the
community this year, thought Colm. In fact, he had best leave the
area, if he valued his life.
    The hall had begun to settle when a
sudden cry rose from the women’s table. Ingveld was standing, hand
at her throat, shouting for her necklace. The other women at the
table glanced at one another and raised their empty hands to show
that they didn’t have it. Magnus shouted and rose from his seat to
glare at the women’s table. Thorolf sat frozen, his stricken gaze
fixed on his daughter’s face. Other eyes followed his and Gerda
found herself the target of a dozen accusing stares.
    “Search me!” Gerda spat out and rose
from the bench, then climbed onto the women’s table. Gerda looked
defiantly about her, then unbelted her apron and pulled it over her
head. She threw it down on the table and took off her blouse, her
overskirt, then dropped her underskirts to stand completely naked
before the crowd.
    Colm caught a glint of pride and
pleasure in her eyes. She’s enjoying this, he thought. She enjoys
being the center of attention.
    Not to be outdone, two of the other
young women at the table leapt up beside Gerda and began removing
their garments. The older women glanced nervously about. They had
no desire to have their bodies compared to these girls!
    “Wait!” Marta rose and took command of
the situation. “Come back into the stove-room. You can undress
there.” The women made their way through the door.
    Ingveld’s face was stricken with
embarrassment. Gathering herself, she reached up a hand to Gerda
and helped her prospective daughter-in-law down from the table.
Ingveld snatched up some of Gerda’s discarded clothing and draped
them over her naked shoulders. As the two women followed the others
into the stove-room, she cast a beseeching look back at her
husband.
    Magnus regretted his outburst now. He
fell back into his seat. “Perhaps the women can straighten this
out…”
    “Yes,” said Thorolf, “This will be
settled properly. We will have a toast.” He looked about for a
woman to serve the table but they were all in the stove-room.
Thorolf got up himself and brought cups of broth to each place.
Then he raised a toast: “To the wisdom of women! May there be much
here tonight and always!”
    But an hour later, Marta led the women
back from the stove-room and told her husband that the necklace had
not been found. Men dismantled the women’s table and benches to
make certain that the necklace had not been dropped there on the
dirt floor but there was no sign of it. The table was reassembled
and the women returned to their places.
    Ingveld and Marta held a quiet, worried
conversation. Gerda sat proudly in her place wearing a
self-satisfied smile. The other men and women spoke quietly, eyes
shifting about. Thorolf turned to Magnus and offered him gifts:
some valuable horses, cutting rights on a rare piece of treed
woodland, the very surcoat he was wearing. Stone-faced, Magnus
refused them all.
    Colm watched the uneasy scene. Thorolf
had not called for more beer yet. Probably the godi was weighing
the value of lulling his neighbors with alcohol versus the danger
posed by a crowd of drunken men. Still, Thorolf would not want to
be called stingy and soon enough the beer would start