Erik's Clan by Griff Hosker

Author:Griff Hosker [Hosker, Griff]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sword Books Ltd
Published: 2022-08-25T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 11

For the first mile or so I kept looking astern to see if the birchbark boats were coping and I was relieved to see that they were. ‘Doe’ was newer and faster. Moos Blood soon caught up with me so that we could sail a course that was parallel to one another. It was safer and certainly more companionable. It meant my children could talk to each other and I know, from Sings Softly’s face, that it made her relax.

The river appeared empty but then it was early. There would be boats for I knew that the tribes who lived on the far shore used the river to fish. I had seen them before and they posed no threat but I was glad that we were, for the present, unobserved. Later we would be seen but I wanted the direction we had taken hidden from Eagle Claws for as long as possible. The ropes towing the birchbark boats were holding up well and the four boys had a rhythm to their paddling. It was not fast but each stroke dug in and was a long one. The boys had practised and used their paddles on the opposite side of the boat to their consort. It kept them straight. I knew we were not moving as quickly as normal but that was to be expected. We were heavily laden and we were towing. It took until the sun had passed noon before we reached the turn. I knew that the spirits favoured us when the wind shifted a point or two to blow directly from the south. It meant we did not have to tack. With the wind from the larboard, we made a better speed than I might have hoped.

Laughing Deer said after we had eaten, “We really need to make water, husband.”

I nodded, “And you, my love, should remember how we do that. You will need to hold Sings Softly’s hands when she makes water over the side and then, having learned, she can do the same for you. We cannot stop.” The prospect of making water over the side did not appeal and the women endured the discomfort as I did.

Once we turned north again we fairly flew and made good time. I had an idea where we would camp for I remembered a small beach, completely surrounded by trees. As the sun started to dip to the west I spied the patch of white and I shouted, “Moos Blood, head for the beach.”

He nodded and then had my daughter loose his sail a little more. Hitherto we had kept pace with each other but now he used the wind to race ahead of us. I could not blame him and I hoped that the beach would be empty but I still feared for him. It was dark when ‘Gytha’ ground onto the white sand. Moos Blood and those with him had hauled the birchbark boats up onto the sand and as they helped us, he said, “I neither see nor smell danger.

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