Jealousy of a Viking: A Family Through The Ages Book 2 by V.M. Sang

Author:V.M. Sang [Sang, V.M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub

21

Helgha sighed and put Biorn down. She had carried him for the last two hours.

“I swear he's got heavier since we left Jorvik,” she said.

“I can walk, Mummy.”

“You're going to have to. My arms feel as if they’re dropping off. Now, hold my hand tightly. The forest isn't a safe place.”

The women continued to walk as quickly as they could, carrying Hartvigg and with Biorn jogging along as he tried to keep up.

The trees continued to thin as they walked until, at last, they emerged onto wide-open moorland. The heather was beginning to fade, but it still looked beautiful, tingeing the rolling hills with purple. The sun was still high in the sky and a few wispy clouds occasionally obscured it. Helgha was grateful for the warmth.

This wide-open countryside had few paths. The one they were travelling turned slightly southward, and the women followed it.

There came a whirring sound as a grouse flew up from the heather in front of them, calling its alarm to any other creatures that may be listening. Biorn jumped and clung tighter to Helgha’s hand.

“It’s only a bird, Biorn,” Helgha told him.

The little boy looked at his mother. “It’s… There are no trees. It’s too… I don’t know.” He struggled to find the words.

“Too open? Is that what you mean? Yes, there’s a lot of space, but that’s good. It means we can see anything coming from a long way away.”

Biorn face puckered as he thought about what his mother said. “Nowhere to hide.”

They set off following the path. Bilberries grew low amongst the heather, and they picked the small, purple fruits. Soon their mouths and clothes were stained purple as the juice ran down their chins. In spite of the danger they were in, they laughed at the sight each of them presented.

The path they followed continued in a westerly direction for a few hundred yards and then it split. One branch turned southwest and the other veered northward.

Helgha stopped and looked along both paths. “If we go north, we'll stay in Danish territory. Southwest must lead to the end of our lands and the start of Anglo-Saxon holdings. I think we should go that way.”

She looked back toward the forest they had left. It was now a darker line on the horizon, and as they walked, it disappeared.

Helgha looked around at the heather, stretching as far as she could see. It was beautiful, but it worried her. They would need to rest for the night, and a fire was the best means of deterring wild animals. If they lit a fire here, though, the heather would burn. There was such a lot of it that it would burn for a very long time and spread quickly over a long distance. They could be trapped in such an incineration.

The land began to descend into a steep-sided valley. The stream they had been following disappeared under a boulder. Helgha hoped there would be another in the valley. Their water had begun to get low. They climbed down the valley side, and, to her relief, a stream gurgled its way along the bottom.

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