Torvig's Gift

Keith Rayner

Description

Torvig is a twelve year old boy, son of a Viking farmer in Denmark in the ninth century.Times are hard for the Viking population as the population grows, so farmers are looking for more land in order to raise more crops and animals.This leads Torvig's father and some of his farmer friends to try their luck settling in a new land across the sea.The result leads Torvig to face new challenges, adventures, and some danger.The Vikings are helped however, because Torvig possesses a unique 'Gift', which helps him and his people.A gift over which he has no control.

Sujets

• Historical fiction

Informations

• Publié par: eBookPartnership.com
• Date de parution: 01 mai 2011
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781908400055
• Langue: English

Extrait

Torvig s Gift By Keith Rayner
T orvig is a twelve year old boy, son of a Viking farmer in Denmark in the ninth century.
Times are hard for the Viking population as the population grows, so farmers are looking for more land in order to raise more crops and animals.
This leads Torvig s father and some of his farmer friends to try their luck settling in a new land across the sea.
The result leads Torvig to face new challenges, adventures, and some danger.
The Vikings are helped however, because Torvig possesses a unique Gift , which helps him and his people.
A gift over which he has no control.

About the Author
K eith Rayner has lived all his life in the North of England, and is now happily retired with his wife Maisie.
He has a daughter, Lynn, and a son Neil, who are both married with families. When not writing, Keith sings with a Barbershop Chorus and gardens.
Chapter One
T orvig had come to a decision.
It may prove to be a very unwise one, but, if all went well, then he would realise a long-standing ambition. If it went wrong, then he could be in a great deal of trouble.
Being a Viking was a hard life. Being a small boy, and a Viking was even harder.
Being smaller than all the other Viking boys was the hardest thing of all. Not only was he smaller, but he was also thinner, and not as strong as most of the other boys.
The only good thing that he could think about himself was that he was a very good runner, and could outrun all the other boys his age.
This, however, didn’t count for very much.
Vikings were judged by their strength, size and power.
He knew that he would probably never be as tall as the other boys. After all, his father wasn’t as tall as most of the other men in the village, but he was one of the strongest.
All these thoughts about his weaknesses didn’t prevent him from helping his father on the farm. His father was also a worker in wood, making many things, including farm implements, which he did in the evenings, and when the weather was too bad to farm. His father was also a metalworker, which all farmers had to be, as they needed this skill in the making of tools. Living on a farm was good. Torvig loved being in the open air. It was also strenuous work, and helped to make him stronger, although his father only let him work until midday. Still, he was only twelve summers old, and would be expected to work longer and harder as he got older.
Torvig enjoyed helping his father on the farm, but his greatest pleasure was going fishing with his father. Feeding the family was a problem, and the food could be boring, so to catch some fish meant a change at mealtimes.
The trouble was, that they needed a boat to go fishing. His father knew a fisherman in the next village, which was by the sea, and his father would take the fisherman some of their farm produce in return for borrowing his boat for the day.
This way they both enjoyed a change of diet for a couple of days.
Torvig enjoyed the fishing trips. He felt more relaxed and peaceful when on the boat.
The gentle rocking motion of the boat, along with the soft lapping of the water against the hull, seemed to have a very soothing effect on him. He wasn’t too keen on the fishing part, but he enjoyed the sailing, and of course, eating the fish when they got home.
Ever since the beginning of last summer, his attention had been taken by the work going on in the shipbuilders yard. He had seen boats being built before, but for the past year the shipbuilder had been building a longship. This ship was ten times bigger than any boat that Torvig had ever seen in his life.
What worried him now, was that he had heard that the ship was now complete, and was going to be sent to its new owner, a warrior chieftain living many miles away. If Torvig didn’t get to see it soon, then he would probably never see it again. In fact, he may never see a longship in his entire lifetime.
He had asked his father if he would take him to see it, but his father had said “No”. It was his father’s busiest time on the farm, and he couldn’t spare the time. The harvest had to be brought in. So, Torvig had decided to go on his own. He knew that if he had asked his father if he could go on his own, then his father would have refused him.
He knew that he would be in big trouble if the local boys spotted him, as there was keen rivalry between the boys of the two villages. This rivalry had been going on for years.
In fact it had gone on for so long that nobody could remember what had started it in the first place.
Anyway, he had now made his decision, and he was going to stick by it.
He was going to see the longship.
He was going by himself. He would have to be very careful, and would have to make sure that he wasn’t seen by any of the boys in the fishing village.
Anyone who saw Torvig walking along the track from his village of Lostig to the fishing village of Skelby, would have immediately recognised him for what he was: a Viking. With his long blond hair, and his fair complexion, he was obviously of Viking blood. Along with this, there was his physique.
Although Torvig thought of himself as a bit of a weakling, he was in fact quite sturdy. True, he was slightly smaller, and not quite as strong as boys of his own age, but he was still of good size for his age. But size and strength were everything to a Viking, so as a result, Torvig felt that he did not measure up to Viking standards.
Torvig felt good today. He was tanned with working in the fields with his parents, and was in good health. On top of that, his spirits were on a high, due to where he was going.
As he walked along, he reflected on how lucky he was. He enjoyed working outside, so living on a farm suited him perfectly. Also, because he lived near the sea, he could do some sailing and fishing occasionally, which again was a great pleasure to him. Yes, as he walked along with the sun beating down on his fair locks, he felt that life didn’t get much better than this.
It was a perfect day for being outdoors. As he walked along, he could smell the beautiful countryside smells that he loved so much.
He could smell the new mown hay, the berries and fruits ripening in the bushes and trees, and now, as he approached Skelby, he was getting the smell of the sea and fish in his nostrils.
He was so carried away with his thoughts, that he forgot that he should be taking precautions to avoid being seen. It was only when he heard someone shout that he was brought to his senses. He immediately ducked down, diving for the cover of some bushes. He looked over to where the shouting had come from. To his relief, it was just a farmer and his wife calling to one-another as they worked away bringing in the harvest.
It was a long walk from his home in Lostig to Skelby, and Torvig knew that it would take him most of the afternoon to walk both ways.
On a bright sunny day like today, this would not be a problem.
The road to Skelby was mostly flat, and the road winding, sometimes passing through wooded areas, but most of the time passing other farms and farmland, so Torvig could compare how the other farms were progressing with their harvest, to the way things were going in Lostig.
As he was now approaching Skelby, he would have to be extra careful about being seen. He didn’t want to be set upon by the local boys.
They wouldn’t do him any serious harm, but they would certainly cause him some pain for wandering alone through their village.
So now was the time to be extra cautious.
Torvig had worked out what he was going to do. He wasn’t going to go into the village at all.
He figured that if he worked his way around the village until he got to the low cliffs just outside the village, this would be a perfect vantage point from where he could look down on the shipbuilders yard.
How he wished that his friend Haldar had come with him. Haldar had wanted to come with him, but his father needed him to help on the farm. Haldar’s father had had an accident. A cow had stood on his foot when he had been herding them, leaving him with a limp, and so he was not able to work as well as usual, until his foot got better, and so Haldar was working on the farm for longer than normal.
The two boys were very rarely apart. If they were not helping their fathers, then they were always together.
Haldar was just three days older than Torvig. Not that they remembered, but that is what they had been told. For as long as he could remember, he had done everything with Haldar.
They played together. Went everywhere together, and they fought together.
The fighting wasn’t serious of course, but all Viking boys were encouraged to fight amongst themselves. This was part of their preparation for when they became men.
Viking boys took part in races, swimming, wrestling bouts, stone- lifting and carrying contests, and fencing of course.
Haldar usually won these competitions, as he was taller and stronger than Torvig. Haldar couldn’t beat Torvig when it came to swimming or running. As a result of this, Torvig helped Haldar to become a better swimmer and runner, while Haldar encouraged Torvig with the lifting, wrestling and fencing.
Between them they were a formidable force with boys of their own age.
Having Haldar with him today would make him feel a lot more comfortable. Doing something with a risk attached was always more difficult if performed on your own.
Torvig was now getting very near to Skelby, so he would have to be extra careful. He kept close to any bushes and hedges that he could find, and kept as low as possible, crouching down as he went.
He reached a part where there was less cover.
He would have to plan his movements carefully from now on.
He was lucky that there was a hedge running away to his left, leading towards the cliffs. This would give him some cover for part of the way.
Torvig crouched down and stayed still for a while, listening, to make sure that he had not been seen so far. When he was certain that no o