Page 15 of A Viking's Captive

Slipping out of the longhouse, Ilona took the path leading to the ocean. Her heart beat harder and faster. Nae one was about to notice what she was doing. As she descended onto the beach, the sea air buffeted her as she gazed out to the water. Ilona spied where one sailing ship lay camouflaged. Close by, she saw a small fishing boat, perfect for her use. Now she had to find out from Sigrid the men’s fishing schedule.

Ilona would sandwich her innocent questions around how often the men hunted and chopped wood, hoping it would nae seem suspicious. She returned to the woods and picked many more baskets of berries until late afternoon, when the women returned to the longhouse to wash and help prepare dinner.

Nae needed in the meal preparations, Ilona used the loom to weave more fabric for Rathnon’s wedding tunic. By the time the men returned from hunting, Ilona had finished. She spooned the ground chickweed into a piece of parchment and folded it in her healing bag. Tonight, pheasants and rabbits roasted over the fires. At dinner, Sigrid told Rathnon about the women picking berries and the elderflower syrup Ilona had made.

She asked Sigrid, “Where can I get a bow for hunting?”

Rathnon shook his head, and Sigrid told her his answer.

“Nae, the men hunt for food here.”

“At home, I hunted with my father. I want to shoot animals to use their fur and pelts to sew ye clothes. It is easier to sew outside now because the light is brighter.”

“In a few days, I will take ye hunting with me. Then we can obtain what ye need.”

“Aye, takk. I am counting on ye to keep yer word to me. I need many animals’ hides to make garments for us.”

“Tomorrow, the women will work with the pelts we have collected and prepared. Ye may see fur pelts ye like there.”

“The women will give it to me freely?” Typically, Ilona hunted or collected what she needed in nature, bartered, or did without.

“I will tell the woman in charge. She will let ye have one piece. She may give ye more depending on what the other women need. If ye are comfortable sewing with fur, ye can show two lasses how to do it.”

“I will need stronger thread. I do nae have suitable thread.”

“Aye, I can give that to ye.”

Innocently, Ilona asked her questions about how often the men hunted, fished, chopped wood, and cut peat according to the seasons and who determined the schedule.

“The elders confer with the men, and together they decide. Half of the men prefer hunting to fishing, and the others prefer fishing to hunting, so it works out and everyone is agreeable. As ye ken, the weather is a factor in every season of the year. In the winter, the men will still go hunting, though game is nae as plentiful. Many men carve wood, make furniture, forge swords. When it is cold and snow covers the ground, the women weave, sew, and cook.”

“Aye, it is similar in many respects to back home. Do ye have any books to read?”

Rathnon’s eyes glowed brighter when he heard Ilona ask this question. He raised his brow, thinking how to answer her.

Ilona expanded on her question. “I am my father’s daughter and son. He taught me to read and write when I was a bairn. My father taught me subjects one would teach their son. I studied hard to please him. I did nae wish to be a disappointment to him as only a lass. My mother taught me gardening, healing, sewing, and other things. I studied or worked at one task or another.”

“I have a few books. If ye enjoy reading, I will see about obtaining more books for ye. One book of tales ye can read to the bairns by the fire, if ye like.”

“Takk. I would love that.” Ilona smiled in gratitude as she gazed into Rathnon’s answering smile in his eyes. It seemed to please him that she read and wrote. The evening passed quickly, and Rathnon laid by her side throughout the night but rose early in the morning.

When Ilona returned with her dry clothes the next morning, Sigrid told her, “We will nae begin working with the pelts until after the morning meal. I thought ye might like to work on yer wedding garments until then.”

“Takk, I will.”

Ilona removed the fabric she had woven and carefully stitched the two pieces together. The front of the tunic had a V-neck with embroidered cloth. Pleased with how it looked, Ilona kent it would look great on Rathnon. If time allowed, she would add embroidery to the cuffs.

Ilona also removed the fabric Nanna had given her, and she stitched the hems. Then she began with outlines of the wolf and the elderflowers. The tiny delicate white flowers looked like lace upon the fabric. The wolf would take the most time and artistry.

On the other side, Ilona outlined a tall spruce tree and a long shiny silver sword leaning next to it. Nanna had given her silver thread, and she used it sparingly over the gray thread for the blade. She stood up and stretched and, hearing the voices outside, she hid her embroidery away from prying eyes.

Ilona thought about adding a sailing vessel with blue and white waves at the bottom. In a way, her wedding gown represented a story about how she’d arrived in Norway with a fierce Viking warrior.

They shared their mid-morning meal and then separated to go about their respective tasks.

Ilona joined the women in one of the outbuildings with Sigrid, hoping for large enough pieces of leather to make a warm tunic or coat for Rathnon. With luck, she obtained large pieces of hide. Ilona took the special cutting blade and carefully cut the two pieces of leather in straight lines, matching the two sides together evenly.

She intended to weave a heavy coarse wool for the back, sleeves, and hood. Afterward, she would attach pelts of fur for added warmth and decoration. Ilona would see what she and Rathnon shot when they went hunting. She envisioned a color scheme for her tunic-style jacket and designed it to be roomy and warm on a cold winter’s day outside hunting or on a sailing ship at sea. Ilona worked with two lassies and showed them how to hem the soft leather and explained how she intended to make the garment. They were intrigued, since they had neverseen a garment like it. Ilona explained that the leather could be embellished with decorations of beads or shells.