Page 99 of Truly, Madly Viking

Well, that was of little import now. He needed to speak with the leader of this village. There were some significant questions he wanted to ask, like, How did his family crest get on Rosestead's Webbing site?

Why did this keep so resemble his father's? What was the Ingrid figurehead doing here?

A man wearing standard Viking attire of a belted leather tunic over black braies and cross gartered half boots, stepped out of the giant double doors of the keep. He walked across the small wooden bridge that traversed a narrow dry moat.

Beside him on one side was a small boy of about two winters, clinging to his hand. On the other was a woman with long, auburn hair and green eyes. In her arms was a warmly bundled babe of perhaps a few months.

As the man came closer, Jorund got his first good view of him, then said with a gasp, "Guö minn gödur!"

Stopping in his tracks, he repeated in English, "My God!"

The man did likewise, muttering, "Blöd hel!" He released the child's grasp to put both hands to his face, rubbing his eyes in disbelief. Except for the darker blond color of his hair, the resemblance between him and Jorund was remarkable.

That was why all the inhabitants of this village had been gawking at him so, he realized now.

It was his brother, Rolf.

"Jorund!" Roll shouted joyously, now that his initial shock had passed.

"Rolf!" Jorund exclaimed, and rushed forward to grasp his younger brother, who was the same massive height as he, and lift him high in the hair, swinging him around as his father used to do with his mother when he came home after a long voyage a-Viking.

Once Jorund released his brother, they embraced tightly, choked with emotion. Then they stood, simply staring at each other with stupid delight. They both had tears in their eyes, which they wiped away surreptitiously.

"How did you get here?" Rolf asked.

"On a flying machine. An airplane," he informed him with disgust.

"From Vestfold? And the tenth century?" Rolf's mouth dropped open with surprise.

"Nay, you lackbrain, not from Vestfold. From Tax-us."

Rolf shook his head briskly from side to side, like a wet dog who had fallen into a fjord. "How the bloody hell did you get to Texas?"

"Ha! Funny you should ask! On the back of a killer whale. Do you believe it?"

"A... a killer whale?"

He nodded. "Her name is Thora."

"A whale with a name?"

"And Joe was buck-naked, too," Sue-zee offered with a little giggle, coming up behind them.

"Oh, I do not believe this," Rolf said, reaching down to lift both Suzy and Beth into his arms and give each of them a hug and a kiss. When he put them down, the girls scurried back to their mother, a little bit frightened by this exuberant stranger. "You brought Greta and Girta here? On the back of a whale? Was that not foolhardy of you?"

At first Jorund did not understand. Then he realized that Rolf thought these twins were his twins. "No, brother, these girls do not belong to me," he explained.

The expression of hurt on Suzy's and Beth's faces cut him to the quick. So he quickly added, "But they are the daughters of my heart."

The girls beamed.

"I will tell you of Inga and Greta and Girta later. Suffice it to say, they died in the famine."

"Oh, Jorund!" Rolf commiserated sadly and gave him another bear hug.

Jorund noticed Mag-he standing there silently, as well as the woman with the babe and child next to Rolf. He had been rude in ignoring them all, especially Mag-he, who had brought him, reluctantly, to this joyous homecoming. Tucking an arm around her shoulder, he drew her closer, and introduced everyone all around.

"Rolf, this is my... uh, friend, Dock-whore Mag-he Muck bride." He had been about to say "my leman,"