Page 85 of The Refuge

Ahead, he could see Angus walking on one side of Catrìona. On the other side walked Niall, carrying his bow and arrows. Beside him was Giric, trying to keep up.

Steinar was tempted to scold Catrìona for whatever she had in mind. Surely the king could handle this. What can she mean to do?

Half the way there, Steinar heard footsteps following him and turned to see Colbán closing the distance between them. Steinar waited for the captain to catch up.

When Colbán reached him, the captain’s face bore an angry expression and he panted for breath. “Do you think to meet the lady in some hidden glen, Scribe? For, if you do, know I will not have it!”

Steinar pulled Colbán to the side of the path where they could not be heard. “Do not be foolish. I merely follow the lady, her guard and her brother who, I am certain, are headed to the ships from Orkney.”

The captain looked puzzled. “Why would she come to see ships she saw this afternoon?”

“Because she believes one of them belongs to the Northman who led the attack on the Vale of Leven, her home. What I do not know is why she comes now to the ship since the Northman I speak of is in the hall with the king.”

Colbán let out a huff. “Well, that being the case, I will go with you and we will see this mystery solved. I knew little of the attack on the vale; only that it occurred.”

As they took the last mile, speaking in a low voice, Steinar told the captain of all that had happened. “Then this afternoon,” he said, “Giric told me Catrìona thought it might be the same ship and the same Northman.”

“Not Paul and Erlend,” Colbán protested. “They are loyal to Malcolm. God’s blood, they are his stepsons and Duncan their half-brother. They would never attack Scotland.”

“What of the other one?”

“I only met him briefly. His name is Ivar Kalison, some distant relation from Norway. He says little, a gruff character.”

Steinar found the description ironic coming from Colbán, but he only nodded.

By now, they had nearly reached those they followed. Ahead of them, loomed the small inlet where the ships were drawn onto the sand, the king’s larger one on one side and the two Orkney longships on the other.

* * *

Catrìona stood with Niall, Angus and Giric, hidden in a stand of trees next to the king’s ship on one side of the harbor. Her heart told her the woman she had seen aboard the longship was Deidre. But as she gazed at the ship in the light of the setting sun, fear snaked up her spine. Northmen stood guard over it. For all she knew they might be among those who had attacked the vale. Her fist clenched around her knife hilt. She might be afraid but she would do what she must to rescue Deidre.

Giric had learned from Duncan, who had come into the hall looking for food, that the one called Ivar had brought with him a woman. She was assumed to be Ivar’s concubine as he had kept her in the stone house he occupied while he was visiting Paul and Erlend in the Orkneys. Duncan had heard her speak only twice.

“Duncan told me ’twas Gaelic she spoke, not Norse,” Giric had said, adding, “Duncan speaks both Gaelic and Norse like his father, the king.”

Giric had also learned that the one called Ivar intended to take the girl with him to Norway. “Duncan told me ’tis why she is with him now.”

Knowing the man who killed her parents was soon to be leaving Scotland made Catrìona desperate to rescue Deidre and see justice done. She did not trust the barbarian not to lie and deny the raid and claim Deidre was some other woman. He might even kill the handmaiden to hide his despicable acts.

As they stood watching the Northman’s ship, Angus said, “Ye and the lad stay here, while Niall and I deal with the guards. I see none on the second longship but they could be out of sight.”

Niall pulled an arrow from his quiver and nocked it.

“Nay!” she protested. “I want Deidre to know I am here. She will be afraid. While you two handle the guards, I can see her to safety.”

“I’ll not argue with ye, milady,” said her guard. “Ye’ll stay. ’Tis bad enough ye have come this far.”

Catrìona said nothing. Once they disabled the guards, she would be there for her maidservant. She would not fail her.

Angus and Niall crept closer, ducking behind the king’s ship for cover.

From behind her, she heard a familiar voice speak. “Did you think Angus and Niall could dispatch those Northmen without help?”

Whirling around, Catrìona faced Steinar. With him was Colbán whose face was set in a harsh frown. “Aye, madam, did you conceive this plan? You should be in the hall with the other ladies.”

She lifted her eyes to the trees above. The man was impossible. “My maidservant, Deidre, is on that ship and I must save her ere the murderer sails with her to Norway. ’Tis where he is bound.”

“Ah, so that is it,” said Steinar. Shooting the captain a glance, he said, “We had best help them rescue the lass.”