[Ealasaide]

Ragnar

As Olav walked away to join the rest of the carpenters inspecting what was left of the inn’s burned stables, Ragnar found himself at loose ends. Looking around, he saw Sigrid with a bucket still standing by the windows where a few minutes earlier she had been busily scrubbing the window panes. As he watched, she finished her conversation with one of the inn’s serving girls and got on with her work. Ragnar sauntered in her direction. He was annoyed with Olav and figured the shortest course to revenge would be to spend a little time getting to know Olav’s would-be girlfriend.

“Haven’t you had enough of buckets and water for one day?” he asked idly, coming up behind her. Sigrid startled and dropped the cloth she had been using to scrub the windows into the bucket.

“Oh!” she exclaimed breathlessly, putting one soapy hand over her heart. “You scared me. I didn’t hear you come up behind me.”

Ragnar laughed. “It’s one of my special talents.”

“You have more than one?” asked Sigrid, giving him a coy, sideways glance.

“I have quite a few, if you must know,” answered Ragnar, leaning one shoulder casually against the wall. “But you still didn’t answer my question - if you haven’t had enough of buckets and water for one day.”

Sigrid smiled. “Well, the truth be known, I have seen quite enough of buckets and water, but Miss Bethberry was kind enough to give me a job, which happened to be washing windows at the moment. So, here I am back in the buckets and water again. I saw you and Olav speaking with her as well. Are you going to be working here now, too?”

Ragnar shook his head. “Not me. Olav has decided to give carpentry a try, but I don’t really have any interest in hiring myself out as a laborer. I have other business in town that I need to be free to attend to.”

“Oh.” Sigrid nodded. “I see. Too high and mighty, are we, to do a bit of honest work?”

Annoyed, Ragnar hesitated, trying to decide whether to cut her off at the knees verbally or just to let the jibe pass, when he noticed the mischievous twinkle in her blue eyes. He grinned. “Much too high and mighty,” he answered gravely, playing along with her tease. “As if you needed to ask.”

Sigrid chuckled merrily and tried to return to her work, but Ragnar caught her hand.

“Now that you work here, I hope you won’t be too busy to spend a few minutes here and there with the guests,” he said with his most engaging smile. “I would hate to think that by not becoming a carpenter, I have removed myself from your society. Or that of your friend,” he added on an afterthought, nodding in the direction of the kitchen where the serving girl Sigrid had been speaking to a moment earlier had gone just before he walked up. Very similar in appearance to Sigrid, Ragnar had noticed that she was a very pretty girl as well. Worth remembering, at any rate.

Sigrid smiled and withdrew her hand. “I can’t speak for Iona,” she answered lightly. “But I would be delighted to spend a little time getting acquainted with you. When I’m not working, of course.”

“Of course,” echoed Ragnar. He watched as she fished her soapy rag out of the bucket on the floor and attacked a new sooty window pane. “When do you finish your shift?”

Sigrid paused, soapy rag in hand, a slight blush rising in her cheeks. “You know,” she said quietly. “I don’t rightly know! I was so grateful to get the work that I didn’t think to ask, but I’m sure I will be seeing you around the inn later.”

“I’m sure you will,” answered Ragnar, pushing himself away from the wall against which he had been leaning. “Perhaps if you’re not too busy, we could get a bite to eat later.”

Sigrid nodded enthusiastically. “That would be lovely! Although, after that luncheon, I’m not sure if I’ll ever be hungry again...”

Ragnar laughed and made plans to check back with her closer to the dinner hour. Then, taking his leave of her, he turned and walked out to the courtyard. He could see Olav poking around the charred ruins of the stable with the other carpenters, but made no effort to join them. Instead, he took a course past them and into the street. He intended first to drop by the blacksmith’s shop where he had left his and Olav’s horses earlier in the day to be re-shoed. He needed both to check on the horses and to see if the smith could afford to keep them there for a few extra days until he could arrange some other accommodation what with the inn’s stables having burned. He had also left his and Olav’s belongings and weapons with the smith, which he would need to retrieve right away. He hated to be parted from his sword for any length of time, but it had needed sharpening and the smith had offered to do it for him, so there it had remained. It was high time he got it back. Olav didn’t seem to mind running about unarmed, but Ragnar didn’t care for it at all. He hated the feeling of vulnerability.

Once he finished at the blacksmith’s, there was another appointment he needed to keep as well before meeting Sigrid for dinner. That meeting would take place across town in the weaver’s shop... the backroom of the weaver’s shop to be precise. As the weaver and Ragnar’s associate were mutual friends, it seemed the most likely place for them to rendezvous, where they could converse without being seen or overheard.