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Chapter 6
“They are leaving.”
With his head down, Sami rushed over to the place between the bushes, where his
friends were sitting. He gesticulated agitatedly with his free hand, passing
the binoculars to Riku. “At least 50 horses, after the ships that left, I
assume that the rest of them are now decamping.
Riku and Raul were on
their feet at once, exchanging a gaze. Maybe this was the chance they had been
waiting for during the last 24 hours in their new hiding place up the hill
right behind the village.
“In which direction
are they heading?” Raul got down on his knees, putting the binoculars on his
eyes.
“Nowhere just yet. I
only saw them gathering with what I presumed to be saddled and packed horses.” Sami
rubbed his cold hands that were stiff from holding the spyglasses for at least
an hour in the light rain.
“You’re definitely
right.” Raul turned his head, pointing at the village again. “They have women
with them.” He stated in surprise, making Riku laugh silently.
“Of course. Some of
them are warriors as well, some might be wives, servants or slaves.” He took
the spyglasses from Raul. “In Viking-groups there are … holly mother!” he fell
silent and adjusted the acuity again.
“What?” alarmed Raul
wanted to grab the binoculars again, but Riku hushed him down.
“That is impossible!”
still watching the group, Riku shook his head. “That is Elida Alvarsdottjer!
She was supposed to be our travel guide.”
He handed the glasses
back, rubbing his eyes. “She looks like she was one of them! Look at that
dress! And look at the warrior by her side! She is not tied up or hurt and he
is talking to her like there was nothing wrong!”
“What the hell …?” Raul
shook his head. “Here they are, I see them. Are you sure it is her?”
“Absolutely.” Riku
answered promptly. “Maybe she … maybe she also stranded here!” he couldn’t
refrain from a little smile, watching the girl and the Viking warrior from
afar. He couldn’t see their faces properly, but from the way Elida touched the
tall man’s arm he could tell for sure that she wasn’t afraid of him.
“So we have quite a
good chance of finding Samu here, is that what you’re implying?” Sami crawled
forward on all fours. He looked at Riku excitedly. “And now that they are
leaving, we might have a chance to check out the village properly!”
Riku nodded in
agreement. “We might.” He said, throwing long gazes around. “They have more or
less all slept in that one big town house. Maybe we can sneak over at nightfall
and find something to disguise in one of the houses. But I guess, if Samu is
here, he is held in …”
“Riku!” Raul’s voice
was high-pitched all of a sudden. “IF is no longer the issue.” He pointed
ahead, handing the spyglasses to his friend. “Ruffled, unshaved and with a
black eye, but not seriously harmed or pinioned.”
“Thank God!” Riku
watched his friend walk over to Elida and the dark haired soldier with the
weird tattoo on his forehead. She was standing with her back against Samu, her
face still close to the Viking’s while she was talking to him.
Samu himself was only
accompanied by a very old man with a white fur-coat. Riku saw the facial
expression of his friend changing, when Elida turned around and said something
to him. Surprised he put a hand on her face, pulling her closer by her
outreached arm. He seemed relieved, nodding at the man with the tattoo, that
was by now sitting on the dark horse he had held by the bridle reins before.
The man on horseback bent down in Elida’s direction again and Riku saw him
winking at her when he said something before he turned the horse around and
followed the rest of the men.
“That is insane.” Riku
whispered, watching a blond woman with a dark brown breastplate walk over to Samu
and Elida. The woman tapped Samu’s arm, beckoning the two of them over to
follow her into the small village. Elida put her hand in Samu’s and started
walking after the woman, making Riku shake his head in disbelief. “What is this,
some kind of Stockholm syndrome? It’s almost as if they belonged here!”
“Well, think about
it.” Raul had opened his backpack and handed each of them one of his protein
bars. “They came here out of the blue, were found by a group of Viking warriors
on the warpath and now they are stranded here. What would you do? Tell them to
leave you alone because you are from the 21st century?”
“You’re right.” Riku
started biting his nails. “But right now, they are here, we are here and maybe
we all get the chance to return home. So I’d say we wait until sundown and keep
watching them.”
“Well, well, Rajamaa,
you seem to have staying power.” Grinning Sami took a last bite from his cereal
and fruit bar.
“We need the element
of surprise and we need to see how many of their warriors are still around.” Riku
put the spyglasses on his eyes again. “Don’t forget to also count the women!”
He enjoined his friends to remain vigilant. “It would be our biggest mistake to
underestimate the younger men and the women.”
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