The Islands of the Blessed

“You did what?” Jack shouted. Schlaup was attracted by the noise and leaned over the ruined roof to see what was happening.

“Don’t let him eat me, sir! I just dinged it a couple of times, and it made the prettiest sound. I felt like an innocent lad again with my whole life ahead of me. But Ymma, she grabbed the bell and yanked its clapper out. Used my pliers. I can get another one, sir. There’s metalworkers all over this town—”

“Where’s the original?” Jack felt sick. There was no way to make a replacement. No mortal had the skill to craft the beautiful Salmon of Knowledge or open the way between this world and the others.

“Ymma thought it was silver. She took it to a blacksmith, but he said it was only iron.”

“Then what happened?” Jack was beside himself with fury. If it had been the old days when he still possessed his bard’s staff, he was sure he could have called up an earthquake.

Ymma was hanging over the roof, clutched tightly in Schlaup’s arms. Her sister and mother were wedged beside her. “You’d better tell him,” Mrs. Tanner said.

“Oh, be gone with you,” the girl said rudely. “You’re only trying to shift the blame.”

“You pounded it,” her mother snarled.

“You told me to,” Ymma retorted. “She said people would recognize the fish and we should beat it flat. So I did. The blacksmith traded me onions for it.”

Jack felt dizzy with dismay. This was the worst thing that could possibly have happened. That marvelous work of art had been turned into an ugly lump of iron. Could it still call up the voice of Fair Lamenting? And could he tell it apart from all the other lumps of iron the blacksmith probably had?

Suddenly, he realized this wasn’t his only problem.

The bell had been rung.

A couple of dings, Mrs. Tanner’s brother had said. It had been enough to make that scoundrel feel innocent. Had it been enough to call the draugr? Was she already on her way?

Jack heard a crow call somewhere in the distance. He looked up to see that the rim of the eastern sky had turned blue. “It’s almost dawn,” the boy said with a groan. “Schlaup, can you carry all of us? We’ll leave the man behind.”

“Sure,” said the giant.

Jack crawled outside and threw the torch away. He felt desperately tired and discouraged. “Put me on your shoulders, my friend, and don’t drop any of the Tanners.”

The giant easily balanced his captives while hoisting Jack up. The boy cradled the bell against his stomach and put his arms around Schlaup’s forehead.

“What do you think you’re doing!” cried Mrs. Tanner. “You can’t send us back to those pillaging Northmen!” Jack ignored her.

“I always said he was a nasty wizard,” Ymma said.

“It’s not Christian to take revenge,” Ythla added, weeping.

A breeze stirred, wafting away the noisome smell of the tannery. More birds called—sparrows, larks, wrens. “You’ll have to hurry, Schlaup,” Jack said wearily. “Find ship!”

The giant bounded away with the Tanners wailing and the wind whipping through Jack’s hair. They passed a farmer checking his hens, and the man ran away, leaving the cage door open. Schlaup narrowly missed stepping on a drunk sleeping in an alley. Other than that, they encountered no one.

It may not be Christian, Jack thought when he saw the harbor and Skakki’s men waiting to cast off, but it’s very, very satisfying. 

Chapter Twenty THE QUEST

“You’re right,” the Bard said when they were safely out to sea. “Ringing the bell was the worst possible thing that could have happened.”

“There wasn’t time to hunt for the clapper,” Jack said. Moodily, he watched Schlaup. Amidship, where he couldn’t capsize the vessel, the giant contentedly fiddled with Mrs. Tanner’s braid. Her daughters were draped over the side, as far away as they could go.

“It might not have made a difference,” said the old man. “The artwork was part of the clapper’s magic.”

“So what do we do?”

The Bard gazed out at the gray-green sea. The sun had just risen, and the tops of the waves seemed lighted from within as they peeled away from the prow. “I’m not sure, lad. Those two ‘dings’ may have been enough to awaken the draugr, but not enough to provide direction. That’s very worrying. She may be prowling the village.”

Thorgil brought them some of Pega’s special scones and a pot of butter. She spread the butter with her fingers and licked them. “It’s not all loss,” the shield maiden said. “My brother has found a wife.” Jack noticed that Mrs. Tanner had reestablished her control of the giant. She had pushed him away, and he was apologizing to her for being an oaf.

“Do you honestly think that’s going to be any kind of a marriage?” Jack said.

“It’s no worse than what most people have. They say it’s better to fight than to be lonely.”

“And you believe that?” Jack asked.