Tempted by Her Outcast Viking by Lucy Morris

Author:Lucy Morris
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2022-07-15T16:31:37+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

Brynhild admired the farmstead as they approached it. It was a comfortable and beautiful home that anyone, including herself, would be proud to own.

Rectangular, with a thatched roof, it was reasonably large and looked as if it had been built many years ago. An ancestral home that had probably been owned by this farmer’s family for several generations. Lovingly expanded, repaired and improved by each new pair of hands. It would last this generation and probably several more into the future.

The walls were made from solid planks, the wooden floor scattered with fresh rushes mixed with dried heather, giving it a pleasant smell. Tools, barrels and clay pots lined the entrance to the house. One wall had a large tapestry on it and there were piles of fleeces up on a large platform above, which had a ladder for access. Dried heathers and herbs hung from the beams throughout, always a good sign of an exceptional cook or healer.

The fire was in the centre of the room and raised up on a platform, with a large cauldron suspended over it. The hole in the ceiling above was just large enough to let out a small tendril of smoke. The south-facing window was open and let in the last fading light of the day. There were benches and chests against one wall, while a loom and a small table for food preparation lined the other.

Any spare room was filled up by the plentiful baskets of autumn fruit and vegetables from the recent harvest. At the very back of the house were two large bed boxes, sectioned off with hazel screens and covered in blankets and warm fleeces. Presumably one for the adults and one for the children.

‘You can sleep either on the benches by the fire, or up with the fleeces,’ said Eadburg with more confidence now than before. Maybe the promise of silver had warmed them to her?

Erik answered the lady with a respectful bow, ‘The fleece loft will suit us fine, thank you.’

Eadburg nodded and went back to preparing the meal, placing several bread cakes to cook on the cauldron’s lid. Erik took Brynhild’s pack from her and climbed the ladder to deposit their things.

She saw the couple’s children peeking through the open window at her and so she smiled at them. Immediately the two faces ducked down, their furious whispers like a swarm of bees.

‘You’d best come in, boys, it’s almost ready,’ called Eadburg sternly, without even looking up from her task.

There was more shuffling and muttering from the boys outside the window and their mother tutted with impatience. They’d passed Godwin in one of the nearby pens still working, so Eadburg was alone with her chores.

‘Can I help?’ asked Brynhild, before hastily adding, ‘Shall I move the benches nearer the fire?’ Child herding wasn’t a skill she was familiar with and she wasn’t much of a cook at the best of times. She feared she would only get in this woman’s way if she helped with either of those tasks, but she still wanted to help.

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