but no. I see what’s before me, and my days are numbered. Why waste it upon an old crone like me, when it’s a young woman like you who needs it more?’
Caragh ignored her and moved forwards, pressing the crab into her hand. ‘Boil it and you’ll have meat and broth. Please.’ She folded the old woman’s fingers over the crab, and a softness entered Iona’s eyes.
She raised her hand to Caragh’s forehead. ‘You’re a good child. How I wish you and Kelan had wed.’
The smile froze upon her face. Once, the handsome man had made her laugh, spinning stories that had made it easy to be with him. She’d believed that the rest of their days would be filled with happiness. But he’d tossed it aside for someone else.
Iona wanted to believe that her son was a good man, but Caragh wasn’t about to disillusion the older woman. Too late, she’d learned that Kelan had a wandering eye. On the day they were meant to wed, he’d left her standing alone, humiliated before her friends and family. And when she’d sought him out, she’d caught him with another woman. The bitterness of that day hadn’t diminished, even after a year.
‘He still wants you,’ Iona said. ‘You should forgive him for his mistakes.’
Caragh said nothing. She’d loved Kelan, only to have it thrown back in her face.
Iona’s gaze grew distant, staring suddenly at the waves. ‘You’ve a rough journey ahead of you. And your heart will break.’
The eerie tone in the woman’s voice curled into her spine. Iona spoke like a soothsayer, her voice faraway as she continued. ‘But you’ll be stronger for it.’ Her clouded eyes narrowed. ‘The path before you will only end in disappointment.’
‘You’re not making me feel better,’ she told Iona with a dark smile, ‘if that was what you were trying to do.’
‘I say what I see,’ Iona countered. ‘And you will find your happiness, when you learn to walk away from what was never meant to be.’ With that enigmatic message, the old woman returned to her home.
Caragh rubbed her arms as the sea wind swept across the sand. She was cold and hungry, and her stomach wrenched with the pain of emptiness. Ignoring the last two fishing lines, she strode back to her home, planning to tell Styr exactly what she thought of his advice. Baiting the lines with the crabs had given her nothing at all.
She pushed the door open and her heart nearly stopped when she saw him standing a short distance away from the post where she’d chained him. ‘How—how did you get free of the post?’ His hands were still chained behind his back, but no longer was he confined to the place where he’d been.
‘I told you I would free myself,’ was his nonchalant answer. ‘Did you find any fish?’
She stared up at the post and saw the broken beam near the top. How he’d ever managed to climb that high, sliding his chains over the top, was beyond her ken. ‘No. There was nothing.’
‘You didn’t put the lines in the right place.’
‘I did!’ she insisted. ‘I spread them all over the shoreline.’
‘You put them in places where the water was too shallow.’
‘And how would you know?’ She had a suspicion that he had been free, long before this morning.
‘Because I followed you last night.’ He moved in, and when he stood before her, she felt intimidated by his immense height. Simply to look into his eyes meant craning her neck back.
‘I changed one of your lines,’ he said. ‘Did you check that one?’
She shook her head. ‘But all the others—’
‘The others would have been washed away by the tide. Or the smaller fish would take the crab.’ He used his shoulders to push the door open, waiting for her to lead.
But she didn’t move. ‘If you freed yourself already, then why are you still here?’
‘I’m not free.’ His voice grew harsh, his expression filled with frustration. ‘You still have to remove the manacles.’
She said nothing, unable to trust him. He led the way outside, changing the direction to walk along a rocky ledge that extended out beyond the shore. ‘There.’ He nodded towards the sea, but she could not see what he was referring to. ‘Wade into the water and you’ll come upon a sandbar. I secured the line under the water.’
‘I’m not going out there,’ she insisted. ‘The tide has come in.’
‘Do you want fish or not?’
She stared at him, not knowing whether or not he was serious. The idea of wading into the water didn’t appeal to her, though the early summer air was warm. ‘How do I know you’re not lying to me?’
‘I’ll walk with you,’ he said and stepped into the water up to his knees. Wading through the waves, he continued towards the sandbar, his arms still bound back by the chains.
He turned back, but Caragh still didn’t move. ‘Do you see anything?’
‘Come and find out for yourself.’ His expression was unreadable, and though she didn’t at all want to get wet, she stepped into the frigid water, wincing at the cold.
When she reached his side, he said, ‘Reach into the water near my foot. I’m standing on the stone and you can lift it to grasp the line.’
His muscular thigh was close to her, and she brushed against his calf as she reached for the stone. Beneath it, she felt for the fishing line, and was startled to realise that there was something at the other end of the hook. Something was fighting hard, and in her excitement, she pulled against the line. Moving backwards, she gripped it steadily as she approached the shallows.
‘Styr, we have a fish!’ She couldn’t tell how large it was, but joy brimmed up inside her. When at last she pulled the fish from the water, she found that it was not large, only the length from her wrist to her elbow. But it was food.
She laughed, holding the fish and imagining how good it would taste. Thank God.
The Viking emerged from the water, and she hugged the fish to her, not even caring how foolish it was. For now, she had hope of surviving a few more days. But a moment later, her elation dimmed.
‘What is it?’ he asked, walking alongside her towards the hut.
‘I—I should share this with the others,’ she admitted.
He sent her a hard look. ‘Did they ever share anything with you?’
‘It isn’t right to have so much and not offer it to anyone else.’ She thought of Iona and some of the other elderly folk who remained.
‘We aren’t going to eat all of it,’ he told her. ‘Half, maybe, but we’re using the rest for more bait.’
She stared at him, incredulous. ‘We lost most of the bait last night. I’m not using this fish, only to lose half of it.’
He waited beside the door, and his expression
