Chapter 8

Summer began and moved on as though a blur and life was filled with living. There were so many things to learn to aid in their daily survival. As the season began changing and growing colder, Valerie was fitting in comfortably with her new life. To her relief she became quickly fluent in Hott’s language, while instilling a few of her own words for the others to learn when the situation called for it.

The other villagers ignored her little idiosyncrasies and grew accustomed to her strange ways and subtle differences. They had no idea what life was like in Valhalla and so they made excuses for her. She had everyone in the village washing their hands often and brushing their teeth. She had designed and, with aid of other men, built three more outhouses. She had also talked the men into building a huge wooden cabin out of massive logs. When they finished they were surprised at how comfortable it was. Their meetings were held there, as were a number of community dinners.

There were three large hearths within the cabin. They stored their salted preserves in the high rafters and in a cold cellar dug deep within the ground. Valerie had insisted on a wood floor in the cabin covered over with many furs. She had wooden furniture built—couches and chairs that were made soft by stuffed leather cushions. She was learning to spin wool with a whorl spindle. The other women taught her how to make clothing for her and Hott and Ulfr with hemp. She accepted her Viking life with open arms. Some of her favorite times were sitting, cradled against Hott while others told fantastic stories. She learned of their Gods and the respect they held them in. She shivered when they spoke of giants as if they were real.

Valerie told them her own stories. Renditions of frightening bedtime tales, where people were swallowed by wheeled chariots and driven around at a frightening pace, faster and wilder than any runaway horse could charge. She called these horrid devils the dreaded taxis. Taxis devoured your coins and squealed away leaving you breathless and penniless. She kept them spellbound with tales of massive winged beasts that flew through the air high above the clouds, stealing people away like dragons to different lands, only these were called airplanes. Which, by the way, also stole your money and made you grateful to be standing on solid ground.

She introduced them to hamburgers and shish kabob and coleslaw—finding wild carrots in the forest that were white not orange. She tried her hand at homemade eggnog flavored with nutmeg and cinnamon, and in turn was treated to the freshest honey and honeycomb she had ever tasted. They partook of mutton and lamb, fresh fish, and seaweed. They roasted chestnuts over their fires. She even tried squirrel when Bera insisted it would cook well in her pot, and the skins were worked into soft inside slippers. Her surrounding area, in her eyes, had been transformed into a grocery and retail store, only it was free—if she worked hard enough.

Hott told Valerie he would wed her in the spring, when they could have a huge feast. Valerie didn’t mind waiting. They were too busy for a wedding. All of the seeds needed to be harvested as well as wheat and nuts. She learned how to pull back the layers of birch bark on the tree and cut out the soft inner bark. It was then dried and ground into sweet flour. She learned to brew ale and how to search for wild yeasts. Bera was a wealth of information and the two women could be found together most days searching the forest for food treasures.

At night Valerie would lay in the arms of her two Viking warriors feeling loved and protected. She could sometimes hear the soft snuffling of a bear as one or two would roam the village at night looking for leftovers. She had been terrified to go out at night until Hott had hand-fed one of the bears in front of her. She got used to these gentle giants ruffling around, astounded to learn the Vikings had thought of them as pets—if they were captured and gentled at a young age. The bears were then left to wander free when they became too large. It was a different life to be certain, but Valerie was happy she had followed Hott into the mist.

* * * *

Valerie watched one morning in midsummer as Ulfr appeared to be stalking something. His intense gaze was settled on the horizon.

“What are you doing?” she asked him.

“Shh, I am watching that bitch,” he said and pointed to a huge dog.

Valerie had seen her before on occasion from a distance. The animal seemed to be coming around more often. Today she wove back and forth near the village as though desperately wanting to come close.

“What’s she doing?” Valerie whispered.

“She wants to come home but is afraid. She ran away when the raiders came. She is ashamed. She probably feels like a traitor because her master was killed. She should have gone with him to Valhalla. Under normal circumstances she would have fought by his side, but it wasn’t her time. I am pleased she is back.”

Valerie took a closer look at the dog that was edging forwards. “She’s had pups!” she said in surprise. She could see her hanging teats.

“Yes, and I want them. But I don’t know where her den is. She is cunning, and I tried before to follow her, but she hasn’t stayed around long enough. If I can get her to feed from my hand, I can follow her back to them. They must be getting bigger and will need meat. I am guessing her visits here are more frequent because her need for solid food is growing. It must be hard on her to hunt when she is used to being fed.

“Instinct draws her home. Because I am upwind she can smell the blood on the meat I’m holding. Stay back,” he cautioned her when he moved quietly towards the dog. He spoke to the bitch in a gentle voice.

Valerie watched as Ulfr handed the bitch a generous hunk of raw deer. The dog whimpered and dropped down in submission. She looked half-starved, poor thing. She was beautiful though. She looked like a massive husky. Her coat was dull, fluffy and matted, but her eyes were sharp with intelligence. Ulfr talked to her in a soothing voice, and Valerie smiled. He had a way with coaxing skittish females.

When the bitch came close enough, she snatched the meat and slunk away. Ulfr followed from a distance. Valerie followed him. She kept him well within her sight. None of the men had gone after her again, but she was still fearful of raiders. She trusted Ulfr with her life.

She had smiled proudly when Finna, the young girl, had asked her how she had tossed a full grown man onto his behind. With her father’s encouragement, Valerie taught the young girl her moves. When Finna had tossed her brother onto his butt, Agnar, her father, had howled with pleased laughter and given Valerie a skinned and worked elk hide.

“Stay here,” Ulfr directed her sternly. “I need to know where you are.”

They weren’t too far into the forest. The bitch had stayed close, but cautious. Her den had been concealed well. Ulfr settled Valerie onto a fallen log.

“She knows me, and I don’t want you bitten when I pull the pups from the den.”

Valerie waited with eager anticipation. The first pup emerged howling, as though Ulfr was killing it. The mother whined, but didn’t interfere. The pup was big, and he snapped at Ulfr’s hand. Ulfr chuckled and shook him by the scruff of his neck. The pup whimpered when Ulfr growled and taught him he was the dominant Alpha male. The pup settled and, smiling, Ulfr brought him over to Valerie.

“He’s beautiful. Will he bite me?” she asked.

Ulfr placed him near Valerie. The pup bared his teeth at her, and she shied back. He was small, but still a good enough size to take a chunk out of her. Ulfr grabbed the pup by his scruff and shook him again, exuding his authority and growled deep within his throat. The pup turned onto his belly when Ulfr released him.

“Rub his belly,” Ulfr directed her.

Valerie did as she was told and soon the pup was wiggling happily beneath her hand. Ulfr returned with two more pups. Both were female. One was smaller than the others. Ulfr told her there had probably been more, but these were the strongest. That’s why they had survived. He hefted the smallest into his arms, and she licked his chin and cheeks and made tiny whimpering sounds. Ulfr pulled meat from a sack and fed her a few small pieces, telling her what a good girl she was. She gobbled them down and begged for more.

Ulfr handed the pup to Valerie. “You may have this one,” he told her and she squealed in delight. He bent to grab the male by his scruff. “And you, my little friend, are mine. I will call you Sultan.”

Ulfr retrieved the last pup and they both walked back to the village with the bitch trailing them. The pups were fawned and fussed over and a discussion began on whether the bitch should be killed and sent to Valhalla to be with her master. Valerie hoped not. The man had already gone on his way. She argued he must have had a dog before this one who could walk with him into Valhalla. On reflection they reasoned she was right—it was a good argument. Perhaps when her heat was upon her again the bitch would breed with a wolf. It was obvious her pups were part wolf and the village needed the dogs.

Valerie was delighted to have the puppy trail her around, until the animal pooped in the large cabin. One of the men asked her if she was going to teach the dog to crap in the outhouse. The other men found this hilarious and slapped their thighs at the joke. Valerie rolled her eyes and told them she was, in fact, going to make her a place to do her business away from everything else. This resulted in more laughter until Valerie soon had the puppy scratching at the heavy wooden door only a week later when she needed to relieve herself. Hott had looked smugly at the amazed men. Valerie named her puppy Petal, saying she was as delicate as one.

Hott told Valerie he was very proud of her. That she was becoming a good Viking woman because when she undertook a task she stuck to it, but that she needed to accomplish one more thing.

So far, Valerie had refused to kill anything. She had insisted the meat they brought to her be dead and prepared for cooking before she touched it. Hott and Ulfr now insisted they had indulged her long enough and demanded she learn to clean the game they brought back like the other women of the village. Today they were adamant that she kill a small pig. The warriors had killed the mother that morning and had given each of the women a piglet for their stewing pots.

Valerie stood there looking at the sweet face of the pig. His fur was striped, and he had the cutest little feet. They were so dainty, just like a baby’s. Ulfr handed her a hatchet. She gazed at the deadly looking weapon horrified. They actually expected her to kill something? Her belly rolled with the thought.

“One good clean strike and it won’t suffer,” Ulfr said. “Don’t worry, we will be close.”

Hott handed the piglet over into Valerie’s arms. She stood starring into the adorable face that gazed up at her with huge solemn eyes as though sensing its imminent demise. She ran her cheek against the piglet’s rough fur. The poor little baby had lost his mother. She had been taken from him. He was all alone. If not for Hott she would have been all alone at one time. The poor little piggy must be so afraid.

Valerie felt her tears build. She couldn’t do it, everyone in the cabin was watching her, and a few were chuckling. She had eaten pig before. But the thought of killing this tiny, utterly defenseless creature was too much. She started crying. Hott sighed heavily with Bera berating him and the others for their cruelty to her friend. With a shrug Hott reached for the animal, telling her never mind, if this was the only thing she refused to do, he could live with her kindheartedness. Valerie stepped back away from him, clutching the piglet to her chest possessively, refusing to part with it. It needed her, she felt it in her heart and though she knew it was an odd feeling, she didn’t care.

“You will cut your hand off if you’re blinded with tears, little Valkyrie,” Hott stated with concern.

“I want him!” she sobbed loudly. Both men looked at her astounded, more laughter followed.

“What do you mean, you want it?” Ulfr exclaimed.

“He’s mine and his name is Porky not ‘it’,” she howled and sobbed louder, and could have cared less that she sounded unreasonable and petulant.

“Give me the animal. I will make certain he feels no pain,” Hott said kindly.

He moved forward, Valerie howled, she released the hatchet and it clattered harmlessly to the floor. Then with one hard grasp of his wrist, Hott went sailing out the open cabin door onto his behind. He stormed angrily back into the cabin while the others laughed uproariously.

“Stop tossing me on my ass,” he demanded with a hard scowl.

Valerie sobbed loudly and buried her face into the piglet, soaking the animal with her tears. Petal sat at her feet and added her own howls. Soon Sultan and the other pup joined the chorus. Hott dragged his hand over his face. Finna began crying.

“Why are you crying?” her brother demanded.

“Because Hott is being mean to my friend,” Finna wailed. Soon the other women were crying.

“Look what you started,” Alfarin snapped at Hott.

Hott’s mouth dropped open.

“Don’t cry, child,” Alfarin soothed. He stroked Valerie’s back in a fatherly gesture.

Agnar moved to put his arms around his daughter who wailed louder. He glared daggers at Hott.

“You may keep the pig!” Hott shouted to be heard.

Valerie brightened immediately. “Really? I can keep Porky?”

“Yes,” Hott said. He hung his head looking as though he didn’t know whether to laugh or to be angry.

“This is a great day,” Bera said.

“Why? Because we now have a pet pig?” Ulfr asked.

“No,” Bera chided. She went over to Valerie who was drying her tears on her sleeve. “Our little Valkyrie is with child.”

Valerie’s eyes shot up in stunned surprise.

“Are you certain?” Hott asked with sudden excitement, his annoyance obviously forgotten.

“I’ve been certain since she came here with you,” Bera said smiling widely at Valerie.

It was impossible not to return her friend’s smile, and Valerie smiled back.

“Why didn’t you say something?” Hott demanded. He looked at both women.

“Isn’t it obvious to you Valerie had no idea? And I said nothing because she needed to learn to be a good Viking woman. If I had mentioned the babe, she would have been too restricted, and there was already so much she needed to overcome. How would she have felt to be hand motioned to she was expecting a baby when she couldn’t even speak our language? It would have made any woman fearful. Besides, I have been keeping a close eye on her,” Bera reasoned.

Hott grasped Valerie to his chest and the piglet squealed. He tossed the animal to the ground where it was immediately inspected by all three pups. Ulfr came over to hug them both. A great whoop carried through the huge cabin. A new life would indeed be welcome.