Page 119 of The Reluctant Viking

Ruby glared at him and ran from the room.

Thork did not understand. Most women would be pleased that a man cherished them so well that they would not have to drudge. He decided to seek his grandfather’s advice, but that was not necessary. Dar rushed toward him, telling him, “Come quickly.” He pulled Thork into a private chamber.

Dar was extremely agitated, and he clutched a small parcel in his hand tightly. His fingers shook.

“What is it?” Thork asked, worried by the intensity of his grandfather’s fear.

“’Tis Ivar!” he choked out. “He kidnapped Eirik and asks for ransom.” He handed Thork the linen-wrapped package. “Oh, Thork, I would spare you this pain if I could.”

Thork’s heart hammered loudly as he unrolled the cloth. A small finger fell out. A thousand explosions went off in his head, and he had to hold on to a chair for support. Closing his eyes tightly on the pain, he whispered, “Do not tell Ruby. It would kill her. Whatever you do, she must not know.”

Ruby was in an absolute rage. It wasn’t so much the lingerie business. Even though she’d stormed away from Thork, she was sure they could work all that out somehow, but now Thork came to their chamber and told her coldly that he was going to Jomsborg immediately, that he’d been summoned for some mission. Worst of all, he wouldn’t take her with him. She must go back to Northumbria with Dar.

“No! I want to go with you,” she cried, while Thork hastily threw his clothing and personal belongings in his leather bag. “Please,” she begged, seeing the unbending look on Thork’s face. “I’m sorry I argued about the lingerie company. Don’t leave me, not now. I can’t bear it again.”

Thork turned and took her by both shoulders, forcing her to look him in the eyes. They were a cold, desolate blue which frightened Ruby.

“I love you, sweetling. Remember that. Always.”

He kissed her with an odd desperation and held her tightly for a long moment. When he pulled back, he scrutinized her face, as if memorizing its features. And Ruby could swear she saw tears in his harsh, warrior’s eyes. What was happening here? And why so quickly?

“Go with Dar back to Northumbria,” he told her implacably. “Wait for me there with Tykir.” He choked on the last words.

Then he really frightened her when he added, “And, Ruby, something else. Pray for…me.”

On those ominous words, he left her standing open-mouthed in their chamber. Once she realized he was actually going, Ruby ran after him, down the steps and out to the bailey. He and several dozen men sat on horses talking to Hrolf while half of the armed men they’d brought with them were heading toward the ships.

“I will dispatch two hundred men as soon as you send word of your whereabouts,” Hrolf promised. “May God and Odin go with you.”

Thork turned to Dar. “You will return to Northumbria immediately?” At his nod, Thork went on, “’Tis unwise to leave your lands so unprotected. I will send word as soon as possible. Godspeed, Grandfather.”

Thork saw her then, standing in the background with tears streaming down her face, reeling under the shock of disbelief that he was abandoning her. A muscle flickered beside the thin line of his tight lips as he maneuvered his horse through the people toward her. He leaned down and lithely pulled her up in front of him on the saddle.

“We will meet again, sweetling. I love you.”

I love you, too, Thork, Ruby thought, but the words clogged in her throat as he kissed her briefly, then set her down and rode off.

Hrolf and Poppa looked on her with pity, but would disclose nothing when she hugged them tightly before boarding one of Dar’s three ships the next day. They told her she would always be welcome in Normandy.

The two-week trip back to Jorvik was horrible. Ruby lay on her back most of the time, racked with seasickness in the troubled waters. Despite her protests and wild weeping, Dar’s hard face turned away from her when she demanded explanations for Thork’s hasty actions. Back in Northumbria finally, she fell into Aud’s welcoming arms on a sob and kissed Tykir until he pulled away in childlike embarrassment.

For weeks, Ruby alternately pitied herself and raged at Thork for his actions, meanwhile waiting desolately for word from him. When it finally came, the message was for Dar, not her. Dar closeted himself in a chamber with Olaf, who’d delivered the missive. When Olaf left, he took one hundred men with him, leaving Dar with only a hundred to guard his keep. Still, Dar wouldn’t answer her questions about Thork’s whereabouts.

“He will let you know when the time is right.”

Finally Ruby buried herself in work. She talked Dar into giving her one of the wool sheds for her lingerie business. Enlisting the help of six village women, Ruby was aided by Ella, who turned out to be a born administrator, bullying the women into extra work, making them laugh while they did it. They cut the bolts of silk and laces brought to them by Aud, who insisted on being a partner in the enterprise.

Within weeks, the business was a resounding success. Making the lingerie in all sizes, Ruby sent her first fifty sets into Jorvik one day with Dar. He delivered them to a merchant who agreed to sell them on consignment. They sold out in two days, thus launching Ruby’s lingerie company.

Ruby purchased extra materials with the profits, hired six more women, and built a large hearth so they could work during the winter months.

Ella turned into a blooming entrepreneur, planning how much money she could save over what period of time, how she could buy her freedom and perhaps get a small house in the village. Her dreams transformed her into a new person.

“’Tis amazing!” Aud said as they sat down to dinner one night. “At first, I only gave you the fabrics and encouraged your work to ease your mind over Thork. Now it appears I will be a wealthy merchant. What think you of that, Dar?”

“Huh? Oh, yea,” he answered distractedly. There had been no word from Thork since that first message, and he worried constantly.

Ruby was torn between anger over Dar and Aud cutting her off from their great mystery and concern for whatever was troubling them. She thought she had a way to make them feel better. “Dar, Aud, I have some news that should make you happy.”