“Are you going hunting?” Canute asked.
“Maybe. I just want some time to be alone,” he said. “Keep an eye on things here until I get back. Taft probably will not cause trouble now but I cannot be certain.”
Canute nodded. “I shall do that,” he said.
As evening approached, Halvar returned to the village, feeling dejected. There had been no sign of Eira in any of the places that he’d looked. It seemed that she didn’t want to be found. But he wasn’t deterred. Somehow, he would find her. He would keep trying.
Eira approached the tumbledown hut cautiously. She remembered the day that she and Kaarina had found it.
“What is this?” she’d asked.
“It is the Wise Woman’s hut,” Kaarina had replied.
“The Wise Woman?”
“Yes. She died two years ago. She lived in this hut during the summer months. She would stay out here and pick herbs to make remedies. Everyone was a little afraid of her because she also cast spells and used magic and no one knew what she would do next. No one comes here now because they are afraid that her ghost will turn up and get them,” Kaarina shuddered.
Eira was unconcerned about ghosts. She’d opened the door to the small hut and peered inside. The Wise Woman’s belongings were still there and it looked as if she’d only just left it.
“Do not go in there!” Kaarina exclaimed in horror. “What about the ghost?”
“Pffft!” exclaimed Eira. “You do talk a lot of nonsense.”
Now, Eira found herself glad that she wasn’t afraid of ghosts the way Kaarina was. At least she had somewhere to go and no one would bother her here. Most of the villagers were afraid of ghosts just the way Kaarina was.
Eira was tired of the constant trouble and strife that surrounded her life. Every time she thought things were getting better, some new calamity arose to threaten her life or her peace. Out here in the wilderness, she had only the animals and birds for company and she decided that she liked it better that way. Here, no one would accuse her of being an evil witch or bringing trouble to the village. No longer did she have to live with hateful words and actions from Taft. Now, the villagers could find another scapegoat if something went wrong because she wouldn’t be around to bear the brunt of their anger.
She only had one regret. She was sorry that she’d had to leave Halvar and Kaarina. She missed both of them deeply and it hurt to think of them. She wondered what Halvar was doing. Did he survive the fight with Taft? If so, did he miss her? She had no way of knowing and she was sorry she’d never had the chance to thank him properly for rescuing her from the slave traders. She wondered if this was what it felt like to be in love. She’d always expected her parents to find her a husband as was the way of their people. But without parents to arrange a match for her, she would either have to marry for love or remain a single woman. Life was hard for single women, especially as they got older. She’d always thought she would have children to support her when she was old. But how do you have children if you have no husband?
Eira spent her days foraging for food and herbs. At the moment, food was plentiful in the forest but she worried about what would happen to her once winter came. Already the nights were getting cold and she guessed that the first snow flurries of winter were not far away.
One day when she visited the stream, she found a parcel of food placed on a rock. Was someone trying to help her? Or trap her? Inside, she found some dried meat, some flour, some grain and some honey. She gratefully took the food home, glad that someone was thinking of her.
CHAPTER 9
H alvar felt miserable every time he remembered what had happened to Eira as a result of the fight with Taft. He had spent two days riding through the forest looking for her. He struggled to sleep as the nightmares came, each one pressing terrible news about Eira into his consciousness. He took to roaming through the silent village at night, hoping that she would turn up and run into his arms. He wanted her by his side. He longed to tell her how he felt about her and how he wanted to make her his wife. He wanted to have children with her. But silence was the only answer to his agony. It made it worse.
One day, Pallavi visited, sticking her head through the door and calling out to him.
“Come in, woman,” Halvar grumbled as he made his way to the door.
"Have you found her yet?" the old woman asked without pleasantries.
Halvar shook his head.
“Do you know where she goes to gather herbs?”
Suddenly it hit him. He would leave food out in the places he knew she went for herbs. He would wait there to see if she took the food. Maybe in time, she would allow him to see her. He believed she was living in the woods not far away. It was too dangerous to go beyond the village boundaries. She’d already had firsthand experience of that.
"Pallavi, you're a godsend!" he said as he kissed the old woman on both cheeks.
He made up a bundle of food and left it on a rock beside the stream where she would see it. Then he left, returning the following day. The food had gone! Of course, he couldn’t be sure that it was Eira that had taken it but it gave him hope. He left another bundle of food in the same place.
It was still there the following
