Blonde Viking
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“Well,” I said. “You know what you have to do.”
Daggar was leaning forward and staring at me through the gloom of the cabin, his face still paling with shock but with a new set of determination in his eyes now that he had decided on his course of action.
The other two sat opposite him in silence for some time before the first one spoke up; he must have been the leader of them all because the others deferred to him by not saying anything at all. His voice sounded rough like it was full of gravel or sand. He sounded older than the others too. Maybe more experienced. Wiser.
“What did he mean about a woman?”
The man who seemed to be the leader looked surprised. “It’s nothing,” he said. He looked as if he might say something else but thought better of it. They fell silent again after that and I wondered whether they were waiting to see how I would react. As though there was a chance that I hadn’t heard their plan and would just leave without telling anyone.
I stared straight ahead. If I could keep my anger under control then maybe this wouldn’t happen after all. But I wasn’t sure how much longer I could resist those men. I didn’t even know where we were headed and why Daggar wanted to go back so badly. And it certainly looked like he was going to tell these bastards whatever he had planned to do to us all. That could only lead to trouble.
“Tell your friend that he has three seconds to make up his mind,” Blondie said.
That got me. I had never been told that kind of thing before and my temper flared up. Not only at the way, they treated me, but also because now I knew how long I would have to think before I made my move. I clenched my fists.
The ship rocked slightly as the bow swung around and Daggar gave an impatient gesture and they stopped talking and resumed rowing. I tried to relax but found myself gripping my knees until my knuckles hurt.
We reached our destination soon enough and the captain ordered the crew to drop anchor and tie themselves together with rope to prevent any of us from swimming off. He came aboard, muttering orders to the sailors.
When they were gone, he stood next to Daggar and stared into his eyes while he explained what would happen if we resisted. I noticed he never looked away from me and when I met his gaze it was like he was challenging me.
As though I had to prove that I meant business. It felt like being trapped in a room with someone who was trying to intimidate me, and I hated it. Then I noticed his hands; thin-skinned and bony fingers that seemed ready for a fight at a moment’s notice.
He pointed to the door. “Out you go,” he said.
“Not without my gear!” Daggar objected.
“You can come back for it later,” he said. “Get moving.”
Daggar glared at the man for a few moments longer but I noticed he was already turning towards the door. He hesitated and turned back again, glancing over his shoulder. I saw the fear in his eyes and it infuriated me further.
How dare that skinny bastard put himself between me and my gear! And yet he was right. We needed everything on board to survive so I was going to need it. So I followed him out and watched the men on deck as we walked towards the prow; I could hear them whispering behind us.
I couldn’t help but feel like a prize animal walking alongside its owner and wondering which part of me they would decide to slaughter first. I hoped they would wait for me to take a bite out of Daggar first, that way I could watch my friends die slowly while I savored every second of it.
“You should have seen your face when you realized you were being tricked,” Blondie said as we boarded the prow. “That’s probably what you deserve.”
“Shut up,” Daggar said. “Let’s just get it done.”
And so we rowed. I could barely stand the stink of the boat, let alone the stench from the water. There were no sails and none of us spoke while we made our slow way along the coast, following the shoreline and watching for signs that we might reach land again soon.
I was thinking about what I’d say to Daggar and the rest of them when I got there and how I would explain what had happened. Perhaps it would be best to pretend that they hadn’t taken me and that I had escaped on my own, but it felt wrong somehow.
These people had been my friends once. Well, at least most of them, anyway. If I pretended nothing had ever happened then maybe they wouldn’t think twice about killing me instead of letting me live on as some kind of freak.
Then I heard someone shouting at the front of the ship, above the sound of the waves lapping against the hull.
“Damn it!” Daggar growled. He turned to glare at Blondie, who seemed to shrink away. “What are you doing?”
Blondie shrugged. “Just having a chat. Don’t mind him. You’re a lucky one, aren’t you?”
“Don’t talk like that,” Daggar snapped.
“Come on,” Blondie went on. “No one will believe you if you tell anyone we took you. Your reputation is too good. Besides, if you don’t want to go back, there are many places where you can end up in much worse straights. No one is going to look too hard for you.”
Daggar didn’t reply, staring ahead with his mouth open, so I spoke up. “I’ll come with you, Blondie. I’m not leaving without my gear.”
The others looked at me curiously, but Blondie ignored us both and kept talking.
“You know as well as I do that this whole thing won’t work unless you play along,” he said. “It’s all very simple really. The plan is to make your death appear to be an accident.”
“How?” Daggar asked.
“You’ll understand when we arrive.” Blondie looked back at me. “You’re going to be my prisoner, so it would be helpful if you did as I say.”
As much as I wanted to refuse, it was clear that Blondie was more powerful than Daggar or the rest of us – perhaps even all of us together. I knew I couldn’t win. But I wasn’t going to go down without a fight.
***
In a strange way, I felt sorry for Daggar when I left him on the beach with Blondie. For a moment he thought he was free of him, but Blondie was always there, watching, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike.
It seemed like every time he tried to speak to us, Blondie cut him off before he could get a word out and I was beginning to hate hearing his voice. I could see how angry Daggar was getting and I didn’t blame him.
He was used to being in charge after all these years. Even though I’d known him a little while now, I still found myself feeling protective towards him. He had always been loyal to me and to the other two, but I wondered if we would ever have been able to trust him with our plans if we had known what he was capable of.
His betrayal meant I would have never trusted any of those three. Not Blondie, Korgad, or the rest of them. Now I understood why they were all so careful about telling us their secrets because they were all hiding things from each other. They were all liars, every last one of them.
Once Blondie had made his excuses and walked back to join us at the bow, I decided to talk to Daggar. “Are you sure you want to go along with this plan of Blondie’s?” I asked as we watched Blondie steer the longboat out into deeper water and turn to sail southward, following the coastline.
“If he’s going to kill me, shouldn’t we just leave now? This isn’t worth it. We’ll never see those guys again and you can start your life over again.”
“Shut up,” Daggar growled. “Don’t worry about us. Just hurry up.”
We rowed on until nightfall. We were exhausted from rowing through the day and we were running low on food by evening and had no way of cooking anything ourselves, so we ate whatever Blondie brought.
By then our stomachs were rumbling so much that Blondie finally relented and agreed to stop to cook a meal once he got close enough to land. He claimed he would set us ashore and make our escape at first light, but I wasn’t convinced.
If they could catch us now, there was nothing to say they wouldn’t be coming for us soon. There was no point trying to outrun the wind – they would follow us anywhere. So I made my decision: I was going to hide in the hold.
By the time Blondie came to collect us the next morning, everyone else was ready except for me. My heart was beating so fast that I was scared I might throw up, and my head pounded with fear. I felt weak and sick.
As we climbed aboard the longboat, I told Blondie about my plan to lie in the hold and pretend I was dead. That I wanted to be hidden away so as not to attract attention and give away our position. When Blondie asked me what we should do about our gear, I refused to let him take it as well. Instead, we took turns carrying it, and I led the way to the hold.
When we reached the hatchway leading below deck, Blondie gave the order to lower it, and as the boat dropped into the depths, he turned to us.
“This is a bit tight,” he said. “So you may have some trouble staying down there.”
I didn’t think we would, though. The ship was big enough that I imagined most of the cargo space was empty.
Blondie nodded to himself and then went to open the hatch, but stopped and looked at me again. “What about the rope ladder?” he asked.
He was referring to the line that hung from the side of the ship, attached to a ring near the bow. A rope ladder could be pulled up when the boat was on its way out to sea and lowered on the return trip. We had always tied our ropes to the ring at the top of the ladder when we arrived and released them when we returned.
I had never seen anyone go down the ladder before, though, so I hadn’t given it much thought. I knew we would find someone who would know what to do once we docked.
I shrugged and shook my head, telling him that we would be fine without it. But Blondie wasn’t satisfied; he insisted that I tie one end of the rope ladder to the ship’s railings.
With a smile, I obeyed. Then I followed him into the hold.
The End