Wolfskin Read Online Free Page B

golden hair, these infants could have been part of Ingi’s own family.
    Faces turned toward the boys as they emerged from the hallway, Eyvind leading, the other behind like a smaller shadow.
    â€œAh,” said Eirik with a look in his eyes that mingled relief and apology, “you found Somerled, then.”
    Eyvind nodded, and went to sit on the worn sheepskins that covered the floor by the hearth. The boy hovered, hesitant. Somerled. So that was his name. Eyvind glanced up, jerked his head a little. Noiselessly, the boy moved to settle cross-legged at his side.
    â€œGood,” whispered Eyvind. “There’s nothing to be afraid of.”
    Ulf had told no tales at the feasting. He seemed a cautious sort of man, dark-bearded, neat-featured, and watchful. But in the quiet of the home hearth, as the family sat about the fire with ale cups in hand, he seemed to relax, and began to talk. It then became evident that Ulf was a man with a mission. He wanted to build a ship: not an ordinary longship, but a vessel such as no man had seen before in all of Norway. And in it he intended tojourney where no man of Norway had yet traveled; he would sail to a place that might be real, or that might be no more than fable. With his soft voice and the glow in his dark eyes, he drew them all into his dream.
    â€œThere is a land out in the western sea,” he told them, “a land my father heard tell of from a man he met at the markets in Birka, beyond the eastern mountains in the land of the Svear. This fellow had traveled far, from wild Pictland southward through Britain, by sea to the Frankish realms and north to Saxony. From there he took ship to the Baltic markets with his precious cargo: boards set with jewels and fine enamelwork, which once housed books in a temple of the Christian faith. The books themselves were discarded, but the bindings were indeed things of wonder, and would make this man rich if he were not slaughtered in the darkness first for what he carried. He had made a long journey. Pictland is a bleak territory, inhabited by wild people. But from its northern shores, said this traveler, far out in the trackless ocean, can be reached a place of warm sea currents, of verdant islands and sheltered waterways, a realm of peaceful bays and gentle grazing lands. The crossing is dangerous from those parts in the vessels they use, simple skin curraghs for the most part. It is a longer path from Rogaland, but not so long that it could not be done, if a ship were built strongly enough to withstand the journey. The news of such a place inspired my father. He yearned to travel there. That he was prevented from pursuing it is a lifelong regret for him.”
    â€œYou plan to undertake an expedition to those parts yourself, my lord?” Karl asked politely.
    Ulf gave a rueful smile. “I make it plain enough, I suppose, that I have inherited my father’s obsession. Such a venture would be fraught with risk. But one day I will do it.”
    â€œYou’d need a fine boat,” Eyvind said, hoping he did not speak out of turn. “If it’s a rough crossing from that southern shore, it could be a rougher one from Rogaland, all the way. It’s a brave man who would voyage beyond the skerry-guard, straight out into open seas: into the unknown.”
    The Jarl’s kinsman looked at him with sudden interest. “I’ll build a boat, lad,” he said quietly. “She’ll be a queen among vessels, sleek, graceful, the equal of any of our shore-raiding ships for speed and maneuverability, but strong enough for a long voyage in open water. I’ll gather the best shipwrights in all Norway to work for me, and when the boat is ready, the finest warriors in all Norway will travel with me. I’ll see that land while I’m still young, and if it pleases me, I’ll take a piece of it in my father’s name.”
    The eyes of every man in the hall had kindled with enthusiasm, for