*

Stefan did not keep count but believed crossing the sea took more than a month. His days were spent sailing, watching for sea monsters, learning to row in sync when the wind was slack, eating and sometimes slipping over the side to bathe in the ocean. He learned to read the stars and to discern the placement of the sun by watching the shadow cast beneath a round disk affixed to the top of an iron peg in the deck. His chores included taking a flask of water from man to man quenching their unrelenting thirst and seeing that not a drop was wasted. His was also to open the water barrels to catch the rain during storms.

In times of lull when the wind was lax and the men tired of rowing, they delighted in telling Stefan stories about the years of Viking conquests in places as far away as North Africa and the Middle East. They described fierce battles, the weapons used against them and how they managed to stay alive. Yet they all agreed the plight of the Vikings was becoming more dangerous and less rewarding, which was why they now preferred destinations closer to home.

Invariably, the discussion turned to a debate between the men who preferred a plump lass to a thin one, and then to the abilities and attributes of all women, half of which Stefan was not at all certain he believed. Occasionally, he looked to his father to see the truth of it and welcomed his slight nod or the shake of his head.

After that, the men struck a more somber note as they remembered the fallen and told of carving their names in the Snoleved Stones back home so eternity would remember them.

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It all sounded glorious and Stefan was mesmerized. But when he and his father spoke Gaelic, Donar was careful to tell his son the truth about war, death and dying in great detail so he would not find it quite so enchanting. "A lad must know what be worth dying for and what be not. Wealth be not."

Stefan wrinkled his brow, "But we are Vikings."

"We are lads afore we are Vikings. Only the protection of yer family be worth dying for. Everything else comes and goes like the tide. Today yer wealthy, tomorrow yer wife dies and ye have wasted yer life trying to bring her treasures - when all she wanted was more time with the lad she loved." He crossed himself in his wife's memory and then looked up at the brightest star. "Soon ye will see Scotland. Many a Viking lives in Scotland and so will we."




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