[Arry]

Brand watched as the newcomers greeted their companions. He’d heard what Athwen said about them and what she thought they were doing so far from their homes. How on earth did we ever think they were Easterlings! He tsk’d at himself for having been so jumpy. One small crisis and your clear thinking turns all muddy . . .

His eyes flicked up toward Leod as the older fellow finished grumbling about the new happenings. ‘I agree,’ he murmured back. ‘And I’m thinking we’ll be on our way tomorrow morning, and they can continue on with their own journey.’ He paused for a moment, his thoughts rolling about in his head. ‘It is an out of sorts thing, isn’t it, for us to be traveling so far from our village; I’ll give you that. But then these seem to be out of sorts times, don’t they? Given my own wishes I’d be in the little rolling hills west of Wulfham. With my horse and dog to keep me company. Watching out over my woolies. Going home at night to the good company of my family and my dear mother’s cooking.’ He swept his arm in a short arc about the campsite. ‘Not here, in this unfamiliar place with these unfamiliar people.’ He rubbed at the raised pink tissues of his cheek. ‘And with my face scarred and hurting all the time.’ He shrugged his shoulders and took a deep breath. ‘But here I am. At the bidding of Wulfham’s Lord, until the task is done or I am dead.’ He looked wearily toward the west. ‘With any luck, he’ll set this all to rights and there’ll be an end to all this out of sortness.’

By this time, one of the newcomers, Sythric he called himself, an older man, had gone back to one of the horses, returning with a deer carcass. He’d thrown it at their feet and spoken in a harsh, accusatory manner, or so it seemed to Brand’s ears. Brand’s cheek’s reddened, his fresh scars burning with the sudden rush of blood to them. He bit back his first thoughts which were simply to tell them he would be more than happy to see the hind end of their horses as they rode out of the camp. The one young man, though, Fion, did not look in any shape to be traveling.

Brand schooled his tongue to some civility and apologized for the actions once again, the Wulfhamers had taken against the two scouts. He offered no excuses, as the man seemed not in the mood to hear any. To his own surprise, he found himself inviting the other group to stay for supper and to bed down with them for the night if they wished. ‘You’ve so graciously brought in the deer we killed, you might as well share in it.’

He stepped away from the older man, leaving him to speak with Leod. ‘I’m Brand, from Wulfham,’ he said nodding in greeting to the other older newcomer. Brand pointed round to his little group, naming each. Eostre was greeted next, and then Meghan. ‘Please do stay with us the night and share a meal,’ he said taking them all in with a glance about. ‘A simple journey meal . . . plenty of meat, I think, to satisfy hunger. And whatever else we can pull together from your packs and ours.’