Sigrun's Secret by Marie-Louise Jensen

Author:Marie-Louise Jensen [Jensen, Marie-Louise]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Tags: Juvenile Fiction, Historical, General
ISBN: 9780192728821
Google: jUvXSAAACAAJ
Amazon: 0192728822
Publisher: OUP Oxford
Published: 2011-01-02T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Two days later, Thrang, Leif, and Bjorn all left to sail some goods north along the coast before winter set in. They took our remaining men with them.

‘Isn’t sailing dangerous at this time of the year?’ I asked anxiously.

‘We won’t go out of sight of the coast,’ said my father, giving me a farewell hug. ‘And Thrang is the most skilled captain I’ve ever known. I’m glad for your sake you have Maria to keep you company. Otherwise it would be so lonely for you here.’

‘She’s a very good friend,’ I agreed. ‘But I’ll miss you.’ I hugged him tight and then stood back and waved them off, standing at the front door of the house.

I wandered forlornly down the stairs. A week stretched ahead of me with only Thrang’s two surly slaves and Maria for company. After the excitement of the party, it felt very flat. I sat down listlessly beside the fire where Maria was pounding grain into flour. Unn was out and the house was quiet. The only sounds were the distant noises of the city outside our walls.

‘Would you like me to take a turn with that, Maria?’ I asked at last, feeling I ought to shake off the lethargy that had come over me.

‘No, I like to help,’ said Maria.

For a second or two, I didn’t react. Then it hit me: Maria had spoken. My heart gave a great leap of excitement.

‘What … what did you say?’ I asked her breathlessly.

She smiled but didn’t repeat her words. But I’d heard her. She’d spoken Norse, with an accent, it is true, but I’d understood.

‘I thought you couldn’t speak our language,’ I said at last. ‘That you couldn’t speak at all.’

‘I couldn’t speak,’ she said in a soft voice. ‘A long time, I couldn’t.’ She spoke slowly, hesitatingly, and with a lisp. ‘After they took me. When words come back again, I stay quiet. I speak only to other slaves, never to enemies.’

‘But I’m not your enemy, am I?’ I asked her.

‘No. You help me,’ said Maria. ‘Treat me well.’

‘And you’ve been a good friend to me,’ I said. ‘I’m so grateful for your company. Especially going out to so many strange households in the city.’

Maria smiled a little. I’d told her before how glad I was of her presence.

‘I don’t know how much you’ve heard and understood,’ I said. ‘But my father was enslaved as a child too.’

Maria nodded. ‘People not mind what they say near me,’ she explained. ‘They think I can’t tell their secrets.’

I smiled ruefully. I’d had the same thought. ‘So where did you learn to speak Norse?’ I asked her.

‘I speak bad,’ she said. ‘I listen. And speak with other slaves. We all from different places. We have to speak Norse or Saxon.’

I reached out and put my hand on her shoulder, pressing it affectionately. ‘Will you tell me about yourself?’ I asked her.

Maria bent her head over the grain. After a moment’s silence, she took a deep breath and looked up.

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