Page 14

CHAPTER 14

An unnerving urgency swam in J?rgen’s body, pushing him on even as his limbs grew weary. He was exhausted from the rowing and from the trepidation rising at the unraveling events, but there was no time for rest.

Rangvald was out there in the settlement somewhere—locked away for his crimes—and J?rgen was resolved to find him.

It mattered not that he had no liking for the cur.

Did anyone? As far as J?rgen knew, Rangvald had no friends amongst the band of men from Skálavík.

Certainly, no one on the beach had been looking for him.

Nevertheless, it was indefensible to abandon one of their own. That stood true regardless of whatever violence the churl had enacted.

Astrid was also at the forefront of his mind. No matter her protestations for his safety, he knew her friend’s happiness was important to her—and that meant finding Rangvald and reuniting him with Elin.

Whatever happened afterward was beyond his control.

First, I must find him.

J?rgen scanned the curve of huts, surveying the debris left by the tremor—rocks dislodged from the hillside, broken branches, and entire trunks felled at the roots in some cases.

Though tension twisted inside him, he set about the task of searching each dwelling, making his feet pick up their pace, moving swiftly from one hut to the next. Yet, even as he charged about the women’s community, he sensed his mission to save the wretched man—much like the island—was doomed. Eldberg had made his feelings clear. Even if J?rgen brought Rangvald to the ship, their jarl would likely deny him permission to board.

J?rgen’s efforts could end up being for nothing.

“I have to try, regardless,” he muttered, dashing past another hut where the roof had caved to a fallen tree. “I can’t just leave him.”

Whatever Eldberg’s view, J?rgen believed in compassion. If his jarl rebuffed Rangvald, that would be between Eldberg and the gods. J?rgen would know he’d acted as his honor demanded.

As for facing Eldberg’s fury, J?rgen had no fear he and Astrid would be left behind. Eldberg needed strong arms on the oars. However angry he was, his jarl was a practical man—his wrath would wait for Skálavík’s shores.

Reaching the longhouse, J?rgen threw open the door, surprised at how untouched the longhouse’s building remained after the ground’s violent trembling. Stools and cups had been thrown from their places, but the structure remained largely intact.

“Rangvald!” Peering around, J?rgen called out, aware of the passing time.

Who knew if the hillside would quake again? He’d no wish to be trapped inside if another avalanche of stone and forest came down upon the settlement—one perhaps worse than the first.

Astrid would be anxious, waiting for him. Above all things—even saving Rangvald—he would be at her side upon the longship when Eldberg launched.

“We’re forsaken!” A young woman he’d not seen before appeared from one side, squealing as she ran past him. She clutched a bundle of what he assumed were personal possessions, her eyes wild, as though she didn’t notice him standing there.

“Rangvald. Where is he?” He called after her, but the wench was long gone, clearly hastening to the sands.

Her sudden absence seemed to amplify the silence of the longhouse, making J?rgen’s breathing seem all the louder.

Where are you?

He stalked around the abandoned space, his exasperation growing as he ducked into the chamber from which the woman had fled. ‘Twas a stark room housing several pallets for sleeping on the floor; there was no place in which a man might be hiding.

The right-hand chamber off the main hall of the longhouse was just as empty, though more richly furnished—clearly the one where his jarl had been sleeping with Hedda.

As if Eldberg would keep a prisoner in his own sleeping chamber! Even my jarl is not so perverse.

But it made sense for Eldberg to keep Rangvald somewhere near.

I’m running out of time!

How long before he conceded defeat? He might return to Astrid, knowing he’d done what he could. After all, Rangvald was no friend of his!

J?rgen tried not to think of what fate awaited the man if he didn’t find him. How long would it take the fire he and Astrid had seen to reach this part of the island? Perhaps Rangvald would die before then, crushed by rocks from the hillside.

Can I live with that stain on my conscience?

Trying to find him wasn’t enough.

J?rgen had to do so.

Fighting desperation, he charged from the longhouse out into the cooling air. The gods had charged him with this undertaking, and his sense of decency compelled him to continue. No matter that, deep down, he was starting to wonder if it was even possible. Rangvald could be anywhere, and even if J?rgen’s crusade was divinely led, only the gods knew what state he’d find the man in.

The import of his task warred with his absolute resolve to return to Astrid, his dread rising as he searched the neighboring landscape.

“Rangvald!” J?rgen hollered again. “By the gods, where are you?”

For a long moment, all was quiet, until J?rgen heard something.

A woeful groan?

It was faint, but he would swear ‘twas close.

Rounding the corner of the longhouse, he spied what might have been a woodshed, though there was little remaining. A toppled tree appeared to have tumbled down the hillside, losing most of its branches along the way and piercing the structure through.

If he’s inside…

J?rgen’s stomach turned over.

“Rangvald?” He heard the waver in his voice, at once fearful yet emboldened that he’d found him.

A gruff, male voice answered. “Who’s there?”

It is him!

Hope rose within J?rgen, despite the state of the shed.

It has to be!

Rushing over, he shook the rickety door, snapping off the flimsy bolt and yanking it open, pulling it from what remained of its hinges.

There, pinned beneath the wayward tree and surrounded by splintered wood, was a crestfallen Rangvald.

“Thank Almighty Odin!” J?rgen bent down to assess his condition. It appeared the trunk had lodged in such a way that it hadn’t crushed Rangvald’s legs, but its position prevented him from getting up.

Covered in dirt, blinking, Rangvald seemed dazed. “Leave me be.” His eyes were dull, as though long hours of isolation had worn him down. “I’m of no use to anyone. Let me die here!”

“None of that!” J?rgen snapped. “Eldberg is set to leave. We need to get off this island!”

“There’s no hope for me.” Rangvald sounded confused.

Had the poor mongrel spent one too many nights alone? Perhaps the hours of darkness had driven him mad.

“Enough of your half-witted nonsense.” J?rgen shook his head. “Elin needs you. Pull yourself together, man!”

“Elin?” Rangvald’s head rose at her name, his expression etched with pain.

J?rgen lowered to his haunches, meeting Rangvald’s focus. “She’s waiting for you, but it’s not safe. You wouldn’t forsake her like that, would you?”

“Nay!” Rangvald’s eyes blazed. “I… I love her.”

J?rgen was taken aback by the words.

So, the churl was capable of caring for someone other than himself. H?y had altered him, as it had J?rgen.

“I’ve lost her already…” Tears pricked Rangvald’s eyes.

“Only if you give up!” J?rgen countered. He looked again at the trunk beneath which Rangvald was trapped. Could he lift it?

The tree was modest in circumference, but the timber dense. Regardless, ‘twas not something to be debated. The thing had to go, and J?rgen was the only one at hand to do the job.

In truth, it could have been worse; the roof was still intact—at least for the moment.

“When I raise this up, you move.”

Rangvald frowned but managed a single nod.

“Good man.” J?rgen sent him a brief smile of approval. “As soon as you feel the weight lift, shift yourself.”

Crouching, J?rgen wrapped his arms about the trunk, getting a feel for its weight. Then, slowly, with gritted teeth, he rose, creating the merest of gaps above Rangvald’s body.

“That’s it. Quickly now!” It took all J?rgen’s might to hold the thing while Rangvald eased himself out from beneath.

As soon as the other man was clear, he let it fall again, the trunk crashing to the ground.

Mayhap the gods had aided him, but J?rgen felt a well of pride, nonetheless. Mayhap the gods were watching over Rangvald, too, for the way the tree had punctured the wall of the woodshed, it had missed the reclining man by a hair’s breadth.

Rangvald was still prone upon the ground, looking somewhat stunned.

“No time to lose.” J?rgen offered a hand to help him up.

Rangvald’s groan as he came upright, clutching his ribs, indicated some injury, but attention for that would have to wait.

Slinging Rangvald’s arm about his shoulder, J?rgen got them both outside.

“Eldberg?” Rangvald heaved in a breath. “He’ll never abide me joining you.”

“Leave Eldberg to the rest of us,” J?rgen assured him, although he had no idea how that would be accomplished. Their jarl had never been a malleable man.

As though the island was angered by Rangvald’s sudden freedom, the earth beneath them began to quake again, building in intensity, the noise growing thunderous.

Glancing up, J?rgen froze. The hillside was moving, and with it, a chunk of rock from one of the uppermost crags was dislodged. Though ‘twas some way above, the boulder was tumbling, bouncing downward, terrifyingly, on a path toward them.

There was no time for thought. Rangvald gasped as J?rgen began dragging him, but they’d both be crushed if they didn’t stir themselves.

J?rgen hardly knew how his legs carried him, for the ground bore the sensation of rolling, as if the land had become sea, moving in waves under their feet. Meanwhile, the inside of his head thrummed. Even his eyeballs were being shaken, like dice in a cup.

Supporting Rangvald as best he could, J?rgen ran straight for the beach.

Give me strength, Odin.

Get me on that ship.

Get us off this island.

Get us away.

He daren’t look back.

If the gods saved him, he’d take it as a sign.

Marriage, babies, and a home back in Skálavík.

I’ll give Astrid everything and more.

I’ll be the man she needs.

The man she deserves.

As they reached the dunes, J?rgen flung them both to their relative sanctuary.