Lands of Ice and Blood: Barbarian of Rome Chronicles Book III by Morris Nick

Author:Morris, Nick [Morris, Nick]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Purchace Publishing
Published: 2016-07-14T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 19

Ribe

Jutish port south of Ögrim’s settlement

Yale took a break from the task of loading the two vessels in preparation for departure. He’d been busy working with the rest of the crew for the last six days, and they were almost ready.

One vessel was The Cloud Serpent , Niels Lorensen’s long ship; which would be manned by a core of men who had sailed with him many times in the past. The second was a broad bellied Knorr , which would carry the bulk of the stores and the livestock, and those women who’d chosen to sail with their men. Bound to be trouble with women along, mulled Yale, there always was. The expedition totalled sixty souls – fifty men and ten women.

Yale straightened up, his back joints clicking. The preparations have seemed endless and he was aching from head to toe. Firstly, they’d had to ensure that the vessels were seaworthy for the long voyage. The long ship needed little attention, but the Knorr was a different matter. It had resided in a boat house for the last year and needed extensive repair work. They’d caulked the crafts with pitch and wool grease, and suspect ropes had been replaced as well as any strakes that had been warped.

It was Lorensen’s goal to raise a permanent settlement across the endless sea, and he seemed to have prepared well. There were a half dozen large water barrels on board, although there would doubtless be showers on the journey to replenish their supply. There were barrels of flour and sides of salted bacon and baskets of salted cod. There was beer, too, which was good, and honey and wheels of cheese and tubs of apples wrapped in straw. In addition they had loaded extra axe and spear heads and bows with quivers of arrows, as well as scythes and mattocks. There was a stout anvil and bundles of iron strips, and also buckets of iron nails and wedges and plenty of charcoal.

A holding pen had been constructed in the supply ship’s hold for the livestock, and separated by hurdles were three cows and a bull, four goats and eight sheep, and a large wicker cage full of chickens. The rest of the hold space was taken up by hay, barley, onions and the like for feeding the animals. Yale smiled, wondering how much of the livestock would be eaten before landfall. Whenever that would be?

A number of men shouting greetings caught his attention. Niels Lorensen was striding towards him along the quay, Guntram at his side.

Yale perused them both as they drew nearer. He was pleased to see Guntram. On arrival he had chosen to reside in the forest until the day of departure. His piercing brown eyes were underscored with dark smudges, but were clear. His step was light, and it was good that he had left the grog alone since they’d reached Ribe. He carried a leather sack over one shoulder and all his weapons were in place.

Lorensen was smiling and Yale studied him more closely.

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