Shield Maiden

  “Ah, Anna, there you are. Now this,” Nerian gestured to the woman, “is the Lady Kendra. She is a noblewoman who is travelling north and she has asked us for hospitality and a bed for the night. Take care of her horse and see that it is fed. Lar, open up Gwen’s old hut and light a fire to drive the damp away.”

  Anna exchanged glances with her brother. Gwen, when almost as old as Grandma Sunniva, had died in her hut earlier that summer and no one had yet taken it over.

  “Yes, Father,” Lar nodded and went with Ellette to collect firewood.

  Nerian turned his attention back to the woman. “If you would come with me, my Lady, “I will offer you some food and drink at my table while the hut is being made ready for you.”

  Lady Kendra inclined her head and without so much as a glance at the children, glided after Anna’s father and disappeared into the hall.

  Meanwhile, Hild and Wilburh went with Anna, who led the horse around the back of the blacksmith’s to the small paddock, which enclosed the only two horses the villagers owned. Both were mares, small and shaggy compared to Lady Kendra’s magnificent animal.

  Admiring the stallion’s clean lines and alert gaze, Anna removed the saddle and bridle, murmured a few words into the stallion’s flickering left ear then let him loose, smiling as he squealed at the two mares. They whinnied a noisy reply and came trotting over, their hooves throwing up clods of mud in their haste to inspect the stranger.

  “That Kendra seems a bit cold if you ask me,” Hild observed. “Didn’t say a word to any of us, she didn’t even look at us.”

  Anna shrugged, still smiling at the three horses as they set off at a gallop around the paddock, tails held high. “I imagine she is just tired after her journey from wherever it is she has come.”

  “That is the odd thing, though, Anna. It is still only early afternoon. Why stop here for the night when she could easily reach Lyccidfelth before dark?” Hild said.

  “Another thing, too,” Wilburh commented, “don’t you think it is odd for a lady like her to travel alone? She would not be safe out on the road without an escort. That amulet alone must be worth a fortune.”

  Anna did not reply because she had just noticed that Nerian, Meccus and all the men in the village had emerged from the headman’s hall and were hurrying over to the blacksmith’s home. They reappeared a few moments later carrying shovels, pickaxes and a variety of other tools. Without any word from Nerian, they all marched out of the village towards the road, passing Lar and Ellette, who had just come out of Gwen’s hut and were staring after them.

  “What’s going on?” murmured Wilburh.

  “No idea,” Anna replied. Puzzled, they ran over to join Lar and Ellette and buzzing with curiosity, the five children followed at a distance.

  The group of men walked purposefully to the ford then split into two. Most carried on up the road in the direction of Wall. Others, led by Meccus, peeled off towards the ruined villa that Anna and the others had explored the day before.

  “What are they up to?” Lar asked, frowning in confusion.

  “I’ve no idea,” Anna repeated, thinking that Lars was right to be confused. As Raedann had pointed out, everyone believed the Roman ruins were haunted so avoided them. She and the other children had always been told to stay away and yet today, Meccus and the others marched right up to the crumbling building and without stopping, pushed the rotted door out of their way, stepped over it and soon started clattering and banging around inside.

  Scuttling up to the villa, Anna peered through the doorway, mystified to see the men were moving blocks of stone that had collapsed from the walls, and sifting through the debris from a caved-in roof.

  Meccus turned and before Anna could dodge back he saw her at the door.

  She cleared her throat, “Ah, Meccus, do you know where my father is?” she asked innocently, wondering if the men knew about the snake and whether she should warn them.

  He looked at her blankly and seemed to be struggling to answer. “He has gone to Wall, to dig,” he said after a moment.

  “Are you all right, Meccus? You seem a bit, er ... distant.”

  “I am ... fine. Go away. I need to get back to digging.”

  “Digging for what, Father?” asked Ellette, who had pushed up behind Anna.

  “We need to find it you see,” Meccus said distractedly, not answering his daughter’s question.

  “Find what?” she asked again.

  At first, Meccus’s gaze seemed to go straight through her, but after a moment he blinked and gave her a look of recognition. “Ah, Ellette, hello. Be careful, it is dangerous here.”

  “Father! What are you looking for?” she shouted, exasperated.

  “Looking for?” Meccus, his expression suggesting she was slow-minded, added, “Why, child - the horn, of course. The horn. And when we find it, we will give it to Kendra.”