She lowered the weeds to the flames. They crackled as they caught fire and she touched them to the sail. Flames licked up the fabric while Eric bent to set the little craft on its way.
In a loud, clear voice, Jeanne said, “May the mighty Thor grant you strength and courage. May he guide you on yer way. And may he open the doors to Valhalla to welcome you inside.”
“Godspeed, Eymer Horvesson,” Eric called from her side as the little craft wobbled away from the shore.
In the distance, thunder echoed, sending a shiver down Jeanne’s neck. The last thing they needed on this cold night would be rain.
Dusk surrounded them as the sun seemed to float in the water on the distant horizon, casting a path of gold across the breaking waves. Together they waited, watching the fiery little vessel pitching bravely away from the shoreline, straight down the golden path as if it were being steered in that direction.
“Do you suppose his Viking gods listened to our pleas?” Eric asked.
“Eymer claimed that Thor would always come to yer aid if yer prayer was sincere.” She hoped he was right. No one deserved to be where they wanted in the afterlife more than Eymer.
They continued to watch as the sun sank below the horizon, watched until the tiny, fiery dot disappeared into the dark.
“Yer repair certainly did the job. I never thought that wee boat would sail on so long.” Even before the accident, she’d feared it would sink right away.
“Nor did I. Come on.” Eric captured her hand and pulled her from the water’s edge. “We’ll camp just beyond the rocks, where the grasses have taken root. We should be safe enough there.”
Safe from the tide, perhaps, but the barren landscape gave no protection at all from the icy winds sweeping in from the sea.
Again they worked through building a small fire, aided only by the light of the rising moon.
When their task was finished, Jeanne sat beside the fire and wrapped her blanket around her shoulders. Eric dropped down close beside her, spreading his blanket and fur around both of them.
She snuggled gratefully under his arm, feeling as if she could easily believe herself to have been transported back to a time and place before her life had taken such a drastic turn. Back to a time and place where she still believed she would spend her life with the man seated next to her.
Staring up at the star-speckled sky, she felt a sense of peace settle over her. She’d carried out the promise she’d made and now she could get on with her life. She felt free.
And cold and hungry.
Eric’s stomach rumbled, and hers echoed its response.
“I’ve heard tales of special men who take fish from the sea, guided only by the light of the moon.”
“I’ve heard such tales as well,” Eric acknowledged, tightening his arm around her. “Unfortunately for us, I’m no one of those special men. And with that mist rolling in over the waters, I doubt even Eymer’s Thor could find fish on this night.”
As Eric said, it looked as though a cloud had descended upon the water’s surface, and not even moonlight penetrated beyond the mist.
She laid her head against his chest, willing her stomach to silence. It had been so long since she’d eaten that even Eric’s lumpy, tasteless porridge from last night sounded good right now. She was so hungry, in fact, she could swear she smelled food on the breeze.
“Close yer eyes and try to rest,” he advised. “At first light I’ll find something to fill our bellies; then we’ll return home.”