Emer's Quest (Manannan Trilogy) (17 page)

“Is that what you want
me to do?” he asked, frowning at her.

“I made my own choice when we saved your life. Whatever you decide, I won’t stand in your way.
If you become a monk, you can divorce me. There’s no place for me here and I might distract you from your vows. They are strict, or so I hear. I would have to go back to my own people. I am young and Finnr has always wanted me…” Her voice tailed away at the look in Hari’s eyes. He reached out his hand and stroked her cheek. A sob rose in her throat.

“I can’t stand the thought of you
lying with another man,” Hari said. “At first I did not care, but I would not be without you now.”

Emer
’s heart leaped within her. Silence fell for a little while. Then Freydis laughed.

“
Leave your loving for later,” she said, breaking the spell of the moment. “So we’re running away together, but no one has said where on this earth we are going to.”

“
Come home with me,” Emer said, clutching her green stone for luck. “None of you have warrior friends or kindred who would take your part, but I do. I didn’t return to them when I had the chance, only because I had already sworn an oath to Atli. They will welcome us and we will be safe with them. Rolf does not know where my family live and if he came looking, he would not find it easy to attack. Let’s go there.”

“
That’s a good idea,” Hari said and Njall nodded.

“I
should like to meet your mother,” Freydis agreed. “You’ve often spoken of her to me.”

“She would like to meet you, too.”

They spent the next two days making the boat serviceable again and renewing their provisions. Hari was also able to spend some time with his friend,
Brother Ailig. Emer saw at once why Hari liked him. The man had a joy in living which was infectious and he was perfectly happy living in the monastery. He made people want to share his happiness.

“My life
would not do for you though,” Brother Ailig told Hari, as they said goodbye. “I didn’t think you would become a monk, for all you enjoyed your time here.”

“Why not?” Hari asked. “I begged my father repeatedly to let me return.”

“You’re not single-minded enough,” the monk answered. “Perhaps when you are older and other paths lose their appeal. Come then; we will still be here. For now, go with God and may your life’s journey be successful.”

“How odd,” Hari said to Emer when he told her about it later. “I felt sure Brother Ailig would try to persuade me to
remain.”

“Would you stay if he had
done so?”

“No.”

“Then he is wise to recognise your life has moved on.”

17

Early o
n the third day of their stay on
Eyin Helga,
the wind swung round to the north. Although it was cold; it was set fair for a swift passage in the right direction.

“
Colonsey
lies only three hours to the south east, five at the most,” Hari said. “If it were not for this mist you would be able to see the island from here.”

“Calum told me that there is a flat island called
Ile
on the other side of
Colonsey
. He said we would make that easily in this wind.”

“He
’s right and the course is the same.
”

“
Let’s go today.”

They took a warm leave
of Abbot Zephan, Brother Ailig, Calum and the other people on
Eyin Helga.
The tide turned and they pushed the boat out and rowed into the channel. Fortune was with them on this part of their journey. Before the daylight faded, they were able to land in a small bay on the rocky north coast of
Ile
. No one seemed to live in the place for no smoke showed upon the hills. The land was deserted. After a quiet night on the beach in the shelter of some rocks, they rose with the dawn in the morning.

They sailed
down the coast past a long peninsula, which Hari said was not an island, although it seemed like one. He had been there before with his uncle, when he was a boy. On again to a strange piece of land which looked as if a giant had taken a great bite out of it. There their luck ran out because the weather became foul again. The gale shrieked. Great rolling seas pounded the shore. The swells were high enough to swamp their boat. So they turned towards the land and rode the surf, until their keel grated on the sand. They only made landfall in time, before the wind strength increased even more. There was no real shelter and they huddled together under tarred canvas and spent a miserable night. Next day was no better, but they were able to make a proper camp and stayed in that place for several days. When the wind eased and the sea became calm, they left. In the afternoon of the third day, they sailed north again to get out of the bay. In open water, they turned south, along the coast. They camped again, more comfortably than the previous nights. The next morning dawned bright and clear. Emer went to the top of a slight rise and looked out over the sea in the direction of her home. A thin sliver of green lay on top of the silver sea.

“Look,” Emer cried
to her friends, “there it is.”

The
others climbed up beside her.

“Tonight you will be home,” Hari said
to her with a smile.

A
t first, they made good progress. The tip of the island seemed to rise out of the sea in front of them. Emer felt her heart lifting. When she touched her face, she found it was wet and not with spray.

Then Hari sniffed the air.
As he did so, the sail snapped across the mast, shedding all the wind.

“Get the sail
tied down!” Njall ordered. “Quick before it tears!”

“What
’s happening?” Freydis asked as she and Emer scrambled to release the sail and tie it so it filled once again and pulled them forward on the new tack.

“The wind
’s changed. It was blowing from the east but it’s swung completely around so it’s coming now from the west. We’ll need to keep on this tack for a while and see if it turns again.”

They kept going for some time
. The wind did not change direction but it started to die away. A mist crept over the sea, blotting out the sun and chilling them all. The boat began to bob up and down, instead of cutting through the water as it had before. Emer went forward, holding onto the prow and straining her eyes to peer through the whiteness.

All that long day they drifted, unable to see
. The sail only filled from time to time and often hung limply from the spar.

“We could row,” Emer offered.

“Where to?” Njall asked. “From the pattern of the waves we are drifting to the south east. Where we are in relation to your island I can’t tell. No point in wasting our strength. We might need it.”

Silence fell. The rocking of the boat made Emer feel ill. With nothing to distract her mind
, she fought a lonely battle with her sickness, until Freydis said,

“I hear something.”

Everyone stiffened and listened.

“Whatever it is, it
lies straight ahead,” Hari said.

“Breakers
!” Njall shouted and wrenched the tiller round. “Pull the sail tight and pray we have enough steerage way to make the boat turn.”

Agonisingly slowly the
prow turned towards the east and they clawed past the breakers. It seemed a very long time before the mist parted and they saw a place where the waves lashed themselves into fury.

“Sandbanks,” Hari said.

“At least I can tell you where we are now,” Emer said. “These banks lie off the northern tip of the island. My home lies to the west.”

“Pity. We
are going east and the wind is too light for us to turn and go back again. We would certainly drift into these shoals if we tried.”

“No matter. I have friends who live in the land to the east. They will give us shelter and tell us what has been happening since I went away.
Go south and keep as close to the land as you can. The current will push us and it’s not far.”

Before they reached the great bay, the mist
had thinned and they could make out the vague outlines of the cliffs and the mountains to the south. A watery sun gleamed dully on the waters. At Emer’s direction, Njall turned the skiff towards the land, where a river opened out into the sea.

“The
Awin Vooar,
the great river,” she told them.

“You
’re crying,” Freydis said to her.

“I
’m so glad to be home,” she answered. “Welcome to the island, all of you.”

They pulled down the sail and took up the oars, rowing down the
stream until the boat grated onto sand. Then Hari splashed ashore to tie the rope to a nearby tree.

The others passed h
im their packs and joined him on the shore.

“What now?” Hari asked.

“Now we walk,” Emer replied. “There’s a path that runs beside the river, which leads to the village of my friends. Come on.”

Emer almost danced along the
way, right into the arms of a warrior who suddenly stepped out from behind a tree in front of her.

“Wh
o are you?” he asked, putting her aside and glaring at Hari and Njall. Hari moved forward, his hand going to his side, forgetting that he did not have any weapons. The gesture was not lost on the warrior, who started to draw his own sword in reply.

“Aarni, stop! Don’t you recognise me? I’m Emer Olafsdottir,” Emer cried,
grabbing at his arm and pushing back the tangled mat of hair which had hidden her face. The warrior glanced down at her and his eyes opened wide with surprise.

“Emer, what are you doing here? We thought you were
in the north and married.”

“I was
; I am. This is my husband, Hari, and my friends Freydis and Njall. Aarni is one of Ragnar’s warriors.”

“I
’m glad to see you back and Finnr will be delighted. He’s never stopped nagging Ragnar and his father about you.”

“Well I’m h
ere now.”

The
y continued down the path until it forked. Turning left, they saw the smoke of a village before them. The trees opened out and they were in meadowland.

Aarni shouted, “Look who’s here!” Everyone turned to
watch them. Then a tall black haired lad ran forward and swept Emer up into his arms, hugging her and swirling her around.

“Emer! Emer! What happened
to you? Thank the gods you’re safe. How did you get here?” he cried, setting her down on her feet.

Emer
laughed, caught his hand and dragged him over to her friends.

“This is Finnr,” she said to Hari
, Njall and Freydis. “He is my childhood friend…” Before she could say anything else, a big burly man came up behind her and clapped her on the shoulder so she spun round.

“Ragnar!” She threw her arms round
the old chieftain and hugged him.

Others crowded
around and she found more friends.

“Renny, Edan, Thorstein!”

The four travellers were borne forward into the longhouse by the press of numbers. Mugs of ale were thrust into their hands.

“I
’m happy to see you safe,” Ragnar said as he toasted them. “Aarni will ride to tell Olaf and your mother that you are here, Emer. Should he bring them back with him?”

“No
need. We intended to go straight to them, but the wind blew us off course. We’ll go there tomorrow.”

“Our good luck
that it did. We want to listen to your stories and meet your friends.”

When Emer introduced Hari as her husband, Finnr, who had not left her side, gave a sudden snort
. His ale went up his nose so he spluttered and coughed.

“Don’t be
unhappy,” Emer put her hand on his arm. “We will always be friends.”

“
I
would have wed you,” he muttered.

“
I know and I would have been proud to be your wife, but it would have been a mistake.”

“How so
?”

“We
’re too alike. We both have bad tempers and do reckless things. There would never be peace between us.”

“
Emer speaks the truth,” Renny said, coming between them as if she expected trouble. “While I would have liked her for my daughter…”

“No she doesn’t.” Finnr leaped to his feet
, pushed past his mother and stormed out of the longhouse.

“Forgive my son
.” Renny turned to Hari, who stood stiffly a little way apart. “He’s young but he’s been taught manners, though he has forgotten them just now. He will apologise.”

“
He need not do that,” Hari said. “I know what it feels like to lose someone I wanted greatly. In my case, the alternative was so much better.” Hari turned and smiled at Emer. “I hope that, one day, your son will be as fortunate.”

Renny
said, “I’ll go after Finnr,” and hurried out of the house.

“Now then, we are waiting
for your stories,” Ragnar said, easing the tension. “Everyone sit down. Emer begin where you parted from Dag on
Colonsey.
”

Emer rose to her feet
. She pitched her voice so all could hear, she told them about her journey from
Colonsey
to
Skuy
and then on to the
Landnám
Islands.

“We
’ve seen Olaf since he returned and Dag told us what the trader had to say. What happened to make you go with him?”

“He promised to buy my father
and set him free. He would bring him home to my mother if I would wed one of his sons and do whatever he wanted me to do.”

“He paid a great price for a girl to marry his son
. Surely there are other women on
Skuy?
He need not seek so far for a bride. What did he want you to do?”

“He asked me to look into the future and tell him what I saw.
”

A gasp ran round the room and
Dag said, “We all knew that Emer has dreams. Her vision proved true enough to lead us to Nele. How did Atli come to hear about it?”

“He overheard you and Finnr questioning me that night on
Colonsey
. He spoke to me afterwards and made me the offer.”

“Why did you accept? You knew nothing about the man.”

“Because you had already found Nele and were going home. It would be weeks before you would be able to return, if you ever did. I couldn’t leave my father in servitude for so long. Anything might have happened to him.”

“Other men have survived such hardships and Olaf is strong.”

“I
had
to rescue him, it was my duty,” Emer said stubbornly. “Atli offered me a way to do so.”

“So you stole away.
Then what?” Ragnar asked.

“We went to
Skuy
and there I met Hari, Freydis and Njall.” She smiled at them. “A week later, we sailed to the
Landnám
Islands, where we found my father, as I had seen in my dream. You will know what happened next from Dag and his crew.”

Ragnar nodded. “Continue.”

“When we returned to
Skuy
, Hari and I were wed. Not long afterwards, on another voyage, Atli fell sick and died. His younger son Rolf brought his body home.” She paused and glanced at her husband. “Would you like to tell the rest of the tale? It is more yours than mine.”