“I DON’T WANT to say much about it.” Bjørn told them. Sitting in Ralf ’s chair next day, his shoulder bandaged, he looked white and tired, but peaceful. “The faering lurched, and I thought we’d struck. I turned, and there was the black seal grinning at me. I grabbed him, and the boat went over. We sank together, into the cold – throttling, strangling each other. He drove the harpoon into me. It barely hurt; I was numb. It hurts now!” He eased his shoulder, grimacing. “He left me. I was done for. I could see things, glimmering green – drifting wreckage, and twisting sea-worms questing about for drowned sailors, and the long weeds swaying from the rocks. Then something brushed past me in the gloom, another seal. It circled, nuzzling around me, pushing me up to the surface. I saw the boat go past, and I reached for the side. That’s all I remember.”
“That seal was Kersten,” said Hilde certainly. “You see, she did care for you.”
“She did,” said Bjørn sadly. Arne leaned forward and gripped his brother’s hand. “Hilde’s dream saved us,” he said.
Peer gave him a dark look. His own muscles felt as though they would tear every time he moved, and he didn’t like the warm, admiring glance Arne cast on Hilde.
“Peer and Hilde both saved us,” said Bjørn, as though he knew what Peer was thinking. His face cracked into a broad grin. “Though it’ll be a long time before Harald forgives you for stealing his precious boat.”
“That Harald,” sniffed Gudrun. “Sour as last week’s milk. Oh, hush, Eirik!” She joggled Eirik, who appeared to be cutting a tooth. He snivelled on her shoulder, wailing, “Man! Man!” in between sobs.
“What’s wrong with this child?” cried Gudrun in desperation. “Whoever heard of wanting a lubber for a nursemaid?”
“Put him down,” Ralf suggested. “Let the Nis look after him.”
Gudrun turned. “And where are you two going?” Caught sneaking out, the twins turned innocent faces towards their mother.
“To see the mill,” said Sigurd. “To see if there’s anything left.”
“Not now.”
“But that’s not fair! We didn’t get to see it burning —”
“Ssh!” Hilde whispered to them. “Peer’s upset about it.”
“But he set fire to the mill himself!” Sigurd objected. “Why should he be upset?”
“Because —”
“Hilde, leave it,” said Peer loudly. “I’m not upset, and it doesn’t matter. None of it matters!” He flung out of the house with Loki at his heels, banging the door behind him.
A grey drizzle hung over the farm. Peer splashed through the mud to the empty cowshed and sat on a pile of straw, cuddling Loki for company, furious with himself and the world. It’s just you and me again, he thought, rubbing Loki’s ears. The mill was gone. Uncle Baldur was gone, too, but in a strange way that didn’t make Peer feel better.
What do I do now? Go back to helping Ralf – hanging around Hilde? Arne’s back; she won’t even notice me.
He considered Arne gloomily. It was obvious that Hilde would like him. Tall, broad shouldered, with brown skin and blue eyes. That long white-blond hair that looked untidy on Bjørn looked sort of – heroic, on Arne. Heroic. Arne looks like a hero. Of course, I look like a heron.
He bit his fingers. So many stupid mistakes; no wonder Hilde couldn’t take him seriously. Hiding from Uncle Baldur! Falling into the pond with Ran! What a clown!
He went to stand in the doorway, under the eaves of the shed, watching the raindrops collect and drip from the ragged edge of the thatch. After a while, because nobody came after him, and there was nothing better to do, he went back to the house.
And Hilde was using his comb, running it smoothly through her long fair hair. She looked up. “I never thanked you for this.”
“It’s not much,” he told her.
“Not much? It’s beautiful! You’re so clever, Peer.” She added casually, “People would pay good money for combs like this.”
“They certainly would,” Gudrun agreed. “You could make anything,” Hilde went on. “You could be a boat-builder, like your father!”
“There’s a thought,” said Bjørn. He had Ran on his knee. “I’ll have to build a new faering. Could use a hand from a fellow who knows what he’s doing.”
Peer stared at them suspiciously. So they’d guessed what he’d been thinking. And they’d been talking about him, and trying to find ways of making him feel better, and in fact… in fact, it was working. He did feel better.
“That’s not a bad idea,” he said, amazed. He thought about it. A boat builder like Father. Yes. It was as if his father was there, sitting in the warm family circle, watching him with quiet pride. He touched his father’s ring, turning it gently on his finger.
Hilde grinned. “I told you so. You were never cut out to be a miller.”
For a second, that stung. Peer opened his mouth to snap – but he began to laugh instead. He picked up Sigrid and swung her round. “You’re so right! I’ll be a boat builder. I’ll build my own boats, and everyone will want them.”
“Build one for me,” Sigrid giggled.
“I will! And it will have a neck like a swan, and gilded wings and silken cushions, and the Emperor of the Southlands will hear of it and come courting you.”
“What a useless sort of boat,” said Sigurd.
“All right, for you I’ll build a warship, Sigurd, with a striped sail and a fierce dragonhead, and you can go off in it, fighting and raiding.”
Sigurd gave him a pitying look. “No. I shall be a farmer.”
“And what sort of boat will you build for me?” asked Hilde.
Peer turned to her. “A boat that will carry two,” he said, and was pleased to see her redden and look away. Arne’s eyebrows went up thoughtfully. Gudrun’s lips twitched.
“And the babies?” clamoured Sigrid. “What about Eirik and Ran?”
“Eirik needs a washtub, not a boat,” Peer laughed. “As for Ran, well, I don’t quite know. Shall I ask her?” He hoisted her out of Bjørn’s arms and tickled her. “Any ideas, you?” he teased – and was rewarded with the widest, merriest, most infectious smile he’d ever seen. He found himself grinning breathlessly back at her gleaming red gums and crinkled nose.
“Look at her!” gasped Hilde. “Ran’s smiling!”
“She’s smiling!”
They crowded round to see, chattering excitedly, while Ran looked from face to face, beaming at them as if they were the most wonderful people in the world.
“You got her to smile. Well done, Peer!” Hilde banged him on the back, and he shook his head. “But I didn’t do anything. I suppose she was just – ready.”
“She can smile and she can cry! She’s not a seal baby any more, is she, Ma?” Sigrid said.
Gudrun’s eyes were wet, and she leaned on Bjørn’s good shoulder. “This is a day of marvels, to be sure. A day of new beginnings. Bjørn, my dear boy, I think it’s time we changed her name. We’ll call her ‘Elli’ from now on, the name you wanted.”
“Elli,” said Sigrid softly. “Elli, my little sister.”