Chapter 18 #2
“I wanted to. And you didn’t have to look after me while I was ill. You could have sent me to Eadhild or—”
“No. You were staying here with me. There was no question of that.”
There was so much possessiveness on that statement, so much fire in his voice that she shivered.
“So,” she whispered. “While I’m here, do you have anything else that needs mending?”
For a moment she thought he would say something that had little to do with what she’d asked. Then he shook his head.
“No.”
Gytha and Haakon spent the rest of the afternoon sitting on the bench in front of his hut, enjoying the sunlight. They had just agreed to get back inside to have something to eat when two figures appeared on the bridge. An old woman and a little girl who did not live here.
The air seemed to still around them and they shot to their feet. Could this be…
Gytha gripped Haakon’s arm when she recognized the old woman, who headed straight in their direction. Hope surged through her. Was the little girl looking around with wide eyes the one they had been searching for so long?
“Haakon. There you are,” the woman said, as if the two of them were old friends and this meeting had been arranged all along.
“Is that who we think it is?” Haakon asked, nodding to the girl who was doing her best to hide. Gytha was glad he had taken the responsibility of this conversation because her throat was too tight to allow her to talk.
“Yes. Matilda’s little girl.”
At the confirmation, tears sprang to Gytha’s eyes. Finally! They had found her, and she was well.
“Care to tell us why we find out only now that you two know each other?” Haakon didn’t sound impressed at the secrecy, if admittedly relieved. “That you knew all along where she was?”
A pause.
“Osberga and I always got on well, from the moment she was born. One might say I was like the grandmother she never had. When that evil Gundulf took her away I was just as distraught as her mother. But we had no idea where the farm was and no one could or would tell us.” The woman shook her head, as if reliving the nightmare.
“Anyway. About two weeks ago, I was in my garden when I heard a voice call out to me from the bushes. It was my little Osberga, who didn’t want to be seen by anyone other than me. ”
The emotion in her voice was unmistakable. Gytha wiped at the tears now freely falling down her own cheeks.
“She explained how the farm had burned down?” Haakon guessed. “And then how she had escaped from her tormentors and decided to go back to her mother?”
“Yes. Alas, I had no idea where Matilda was, even if I guessed she would have gone looking for the farm upon leaving the village. And I did not have the first clue about where she had elected to live after finding out it had burned down. I was starting to resign myself to the fact that Osberga had come all that way for nothing when you two came, asking questions, telling me Matilda now lived in your village. That night I told the girl about what I’d learned and we decided to come to you. ”
That had been over a week ago. But then of course they’d had to walk all the way, not having the luxury of a horse.
“It took us longer than I would have liked to reach you because I cannot walk very fast,” the woman carried on.
“And we went to the first Norsemen village we met along the coast. There, I asked for Haakon but there were a dozen of them, none of them you. When I specified that the one I was looking for had been accompanied by a Saxon woman, I was told this would be the place to look, as many of the men from here had chosen Saxon wives.”
Gytha guessed she had gone bright red. Yet another person thinking they were a couple.
“Yes, well, you are here now, and we thank you. But I still don’t understand why you didn’t tell us Osberga was with you last week?” Haakon asked the question that was burning Gytha’s lips. “It would have saved poor Matilda a lot of grief.”
“I-I needed time. Forgive me, I wanted to enjoy a few last days alone with Osberga, who is dearer to me than anyone in this world. It was wrong of me, I know, but I couldn’t bear to watch you ride away with her. I know I should—”
“We understand,” Gytha soothed, unable to let the woman bear the guilt when she had actually taken the right decision. “And you didn’t know us. It is normal you would have been wary of entrusting her to us. In any case, you did the right thing. And Matilda will be overjoyed.”
“Yes. We need to tell her without delay. It’s not fair to keep her waiting,” Haakon said, already making his way to Inga’s hut. “I’ll go get her.”
“You two need a drink and something to eat, I think,” Gytha told them, gesturing that they should sit on the bench. Then she went to get a pitcher of ale, some milk and the few griddle cakes that were left over from their lunch. The two women drank deeply and ate with appetite.
It was not long before Haakon was back with Inga and a frantic-looking Matilda. As soon as she spotted the little girl, she started to run but, weakened by relief, Gytha imagined, she fell to her knees before she could reach her.
“Osberga!” she called out in a heart-wrenching cry. “I’m your—”
“Mother!” The little girl didn’t give her time to finish her sentence. Crying with joy, she closed the gap between them and threw herself into her arms.
“Oh, my love! My love, you’re safe! I’m so sorry.”
The two of them hugged for what felt like an eternity, sobbing and laughing at the same time.
Though Gytha couldn’t stop crying, her lips were stretched into a wide grin.
To know she had contributed to this reunion was the most satisfying feeling.
It had been just like she had dreamed it would be.
Matilda had been so worried the little girl would not remember her—or, more to the point, resent her for abandoning her…
Everyone had tried to tell her it wouldn’t happen, but it was always a risk. Evidently, she’d had nothing to fear.
By her side Inga was fingering the cuff of her sleeve and fighting her own tears.
“Do you think Osberga will accept what her mother and I—”
“Yes. After what she’s been through she will be happy here, with her mother and the woman who loves her. I’m sure you are ready to welcome her into your home?”
Inga threw her a grateful smile and wiped at her cheeks. “I am. She will be the child I never thought to have. I feel like I know her already.”
“Come. We’ll leave them to be reacquainted in private,” Haakon told the women, taking Gytha by the arm. Inga nodded and offered her arm to the old woman, who took it gratefully.
The four of them entered the hut, and sat around the table.
“Now. We need to talk. Did Osberga tell you anything of what happened to her after she was sold to the slave trader?” Haakon asked the old woman, who had told them her name was Elfida.
Though she wanted to know as well, Gytha dreaded hearing the answer because it seemed more than likely that a man who had bought a slave would have had no scruples in using her in every way.
And of course she could have suffered before that, at the hands of the trader himself, or during her stay at the farm or while she traveled to reach her village.
The possibilities were endless.
“Yes. Put your mind at ease. Even if it was horrific in its own way, she was bought to be a slave, nothing more,” Elfida told them, alleviating the worst of her fears.
“And the man who bought her did not have the sharpest mind, from what she told me, which was why she managed to escape after little more than a week. She’s a clever little thing, that one. ”
“Yes.” She would have had to be to survive this whole ordeal and find her way back home again. “And now she has finally been reunited with her mother.”
Gytha swallowed. Unlike her, who would never get to hug her mother again. A moment later she felt Haakon take her hand and give it a squeeze. She squeezed it back, grateful for the support.
“Now all we have to do is go tell Wolf,” he concluded, raising his cup in the air.