Read The Long Hunt (The Strongbow Saga) for Free Online

and help him clean the byre.
    Whenever Fasti entered the byre, the hens would run up to him, eager for more of the treats he sometimes brought. We would laugh together at the way they competed for the scraps—they loved to steal from each other. It was a rare happy memory from that time, for there is little humor in a thrall's life. And there had been one black hen who grew especially attached to Fasti, and would follow him around the byre as he worked, flying up onto the edges of the stalls and perching there, chattering away at him in her funny voice— brr, brrr-brrr-brrp —as if he understood.
    " This is my Huginn, Halfdan, " Fasti would say. " She tells me all that has happened in the byre, just as Odin's ravens tell him what is happening across the wide world. " Sometimes he would pick her up—she was tame enough to allow it—and hold her close to his chest, stroking her breast for a few moments, while murmuring, " How is my girl today? Did you give me an egg? "
    "I remember her," I told him. Fasti seemed pleased that I did.
    "One day I was in the byre, bringing the chickens the scraps from the kitchen. I was kneeling, feeding Huginn out of my hand. I did not know Toke had come into the byre, or that he had been watching, until suddenly he was there, standing over me.
    "'The black hen,' he told me, 'Give her to me.'"
    "I was frightened. I did not want to anger Toke. Huginn let me pick her up." Fasti closed his eyes and sighed. "I gave her to him. She trusted me."
    "You had to," I told him. Fasti continued.
    "He held her for a moment, and looked at me. He smiled at me. Then he grabbed one of her wings, and ripped it off of her body.
    "Did you know, Halfdan, that chickens can scream? Huginn screamed. I can hear her still."
    There were tears streaming down Fasti's cheeks now. He honored the chicken he had loved with his tears. I had not grieved so openly when my mother had died. I felt shamed by his grief.
    When he continued, his voice was barely more than a whisper. "He grabbed her head in his fist, and twisted and pulled until he ripped it off her neck. Then he handed her back to me. ‘Pluck this bird,' he told me. ‘I will eat it this night.'"
    *   *   *
    Ivar and Bjorn were the first to decide to leave. That morning, not long after I'd awakened, they told Hastein they were going.
    "My men have been away for months in Frankia," Ivar said. "They have lost many of their comrades. They wish, now, to spend time with own folk, to be in their own homes."
    "Do you really intend to carry on with this?" Bjorn asked Hastein.
    "I do not like to leave unfinished what I have begun," he responded. It struck me that his answer did not necessarily mean "yes."
    "Without question, this Toke is a man who deserves to die," Ivar continued. "But this is not our fight. Winter approaches, and with it the storm season on the sea. And I cannot see how there is likely to be any profit for my men from continuing with this. I will not ask them to do it."
    Hastein said nothing in reply. What was there to say? Ivar was right. It was not his fight, nor was it Bjorn's. In truth, it was not Hastein's, either.
    Ivar continued. "In the spring, I plan to sail for Ireland. As well you know, there is much promise there for our people, many rich lands for the taking. Give this matter up, Hastein, and come with me. I have unfinished business there, and I could use your support."
    Again Hastein said nothing. Ivar seemed to take his silence as agreement. To my surprise, he turned and spoke next to me. "In Ireland, we could use a warrior like you. Come with us. Come with Hastein and me."
    I looked at Hastein, searching his face for a sign. Was Ivar correct? Was Hastein abandoning the hunt for Toke? His expression gave me no answer. He merely raised his eyebrows as he stared back at me, as if he awaited my answer.
    Feeling numb, I nodded my head to Ivar, indicating my thanks. "You do me honor. But I swore an oath to avenge my brother's death. I will not