Chapter 5
“We’ll take Judith to Helga,” his grandfather ruled as they entered the village. “She lives alone, whereas your mother has your two sisters to look after and Liv is still recovering from her illness.”
Ulf nodded. “Yes.”
His youngest sister, aged only two, had just suffered from a bad cold.
A few days of high fever had left her weak as a kitten and she needed constant supervision and love.
Besides, his mother was more a midwife than a healer as such.
Helga would be better to take care of Judith.
She was getting old and often bemoaned the fact that it was time she handed over her responsibilities to someone else, but she was as sharp-eyed and shrewd as she had ever been.
The old woman fussed like a mother hen as soon as she saw Judith lying limply in his arms.
“Bring her in here, then you men can leave us alone.”
No one argued and only Ylva remained in the hut with her friend.
“Stay here for when Helga has finished,” Torsten instructed, slapping him on the shoulder.
“Sven and I will take care of the cart and horses, while Faeir deals with Mildred. We agreed while driving that he would take her to your hut to interrogate her. He doesn’t want to risk anyone hearing her vile tales. ”
“Yes. Good idea. And tell him I will keep her in there with me tonight. I will not have her anywhere near grandmother or any of the children.”
“No.” His uncle seemed equally as determined the woman’s venom should not infect anyone else in the village. “Now, sit, you look about to drop.”
Ulf didn’t resist. In truth, he was drained of energy.
Whether it was his injury, the relief of seeing that he had succeeded in getting the women out of the house in time or the simple fact that he had spent an agitated night, he didn’t know.
Whatever it was, he felt as if this day had been a week long.
He sat down on the bench, closed his eyes and waited.
It took a long time for Helga to open her door again but finally, she came to him.
Ylva, who was following closely, looked as if she had been crying.
His chest started to ache. Had Judith been hurt that badly?
Yes, she probably had. He had heard what had happened, and he had seen for himself in what state Walstan had left her.
Would that he could kill the man a second time over.
His death had been too swift, too merciful.
“I hope you killed the animal who did that to the poor girl.” Not a violent soul, the healer was nevertheless fierce in her defense of those who needed her help.
“Yes,” Ulf growled.
“Good. Well, I can take her in, no problem. But I’m afraid I have no room for you, my dear,” she said, turning to Ylva. “You’ve seen that I have—”
“’Tis no issue,” Ulf cut in. “She can come stay with me.”
“Are you sure?” Helga cocked her head and her eyes gleamed. “Are you not afraid the girl will try to kill you in your sleep?”
“No.” Ulf looked at Ylva, who had flushed a violent red.
But, of course, Helga was one of the few people in the village who knew who had hurt him, as Gytha had needed her help with tending to his wound.
He could not help but tease the Saxon, feeling it was the best way to put her at ease.
“Should I be afraid of your intentions?”
“No, of course, not! I-I will never—”
“We know, my dear, we know. Calm yourself.” The old woman chuckled. “Forgive me, I was only jesting. I tend to do that when I meet new people, though it is not always wise. Now let me go back to your friend. Have a good rest yourself tonight. You need it.”
Shaking her head, the healer went back into the hut.
“Shall we?”
“Yes.” Ylva looked rather nervous, which caused him to frown in concern. Had he been too bold in suggesting she slept in his hut? He knew he wanted her near him, so he could ensure that she was safe, but what about what she thought? “Unless you preferred to go somewhere else? I can ask my friend—”
“No. I trust you.”
Everything within him relaxed. If she trusted him, everything would be all right. He offered his right arm and led the way to this hut. They had barely taken ten steps, however, before he came to an abrupt halt.
“Wait. There is one problem.” Damn, how had he forgotten about that? “Mildred will be there tonight, in my hut. My grandfather took her there while you were with Helga. I said I would be the one looking after her. Everyone else has wives and children and I didn’t want to—”
“It’s not a problem,” Ylva cut in fiercely. “In fact, it’s better that way, because I want her where I can see her, make sure she doesn’t hurt anyone else.”
“Thank you. I swear I won’t let her anywhere near you.”
He gave her arm a squeeze and they carried on. As the hut appeared in sight, he felt Ylva slow down. Was she having second thoughts?
“Before we go in, I would like to tell you what Judith and I want to do with Mildred.”
Yes. They were the ones who had suffered at her hands, they should decide what happened to her. The men would respect their decision and ensure it was carried out. “What is it?”
“We want your grandfather to hand her over to a slave trader. We want someone to buy her and treat her the way we, along with so many others, were treated. We want her to know what it’s like to be bought and—”
Ylva stopped, overwhelmed by emotion.
Earlier, she and Judith had agreed that being handed over to a slave trader would be the most appropriate punishment for the woman. They would do to her what she had done to others. Not kill her, but make her suffer every day for the rest of her life.
It would be hard to knowingly send someone into captivity, but it was nothing less than what she deserved after all she had done.
She had taken her away from her brother, sent countless children to be bought by cruel masters, abused dozens of poor boys, blackmailed her into killing someone, allowed Walstan to rape Judith…
The list went on and on. It was time she paid for it all.
And thanks to the Norsemen, they were finally in a position to ensure she did.
Ulf looked straight at her, eyes brimming with fury. “It is the perfect idea. We’ll do that. I’ll speak to my grandfather. Tomorrow, I swear, we will take her to a trader. And you won’t have to worry about her ever again.”
Her eyes started to burn. “Thank you.”
What would have happened if she had attacked someone who had not agreed to listen to her story, who had not believed her, who had not seen it as his responsibility to go and check that she had indeed been freed? It didn’t bear thinking about.
Her first word to Ulf had been a cry for help.
How oddly appropriate it seemed now. She had called out to him, pretending to need help so that she could throw herself into his arms, and be close enough to stab him.
And despite what she had done, when she had really needed help, he had been there, solid as a rock.
“You don’t need to thank me. We should thank you, for giving us the opportunity to punish someone we wanted to punish.” He paused. “All this makes me think…that we really were destined to meet.”
“What do you mean?” It had not been destiny. It had been Mildred, forcing her to do something despicable, it had been her cowardice, making her choose the weakest man of the family—or so she’d told herself.
“Well, for one, I have not spent much time in the village in the last few years. I’ve been going to every fair in the area, in a bid to try and find out what trade would appeal to me. I only came back from Ipswich a few days ago.”
In time to be killed.
“I see.” He was right. Had she come a week earlier, he would not have been here. And he might be gone again before the month was over. Who she would have chosen as her victim had he not been an option, she had no idea.
“For another, we have been named after the same animal. Ulf, means wolf in Norse. And your name also comes from the animal. Ylva.”
Ah. Now she understood why he’d been surprised to hear her name the day before. Because it matched his. And she had to admit that she rather liked the idea.
“Yes. Then perhaps we were destined to meet.”
They stared at one another a long moment, then he gave her hand a squeeze and nodded toward the hut. “Ready?”
“Ready.”
But when they reached the door, he gestured that she should wait outside while he told his grandfather he could go back home.
It was not long before Wolf appeared through the door, smiling at her.
That smile made her feel in her gut how much she had missed a protective, masculine presence in her life.
She did not remember her father, and she had been denied her brother’s love.
The only men she had seen while growing up had been the slave trader, his equally vile son and, of course, that bastard, Walstan.
No one had looked at her the way Wolf was looking at her, like a benevolent grandfather would. It brought a lump to her throat.
“Are you sure you can stay in the hut tonight?”
He meant because of Mildred, not Ulf. But her answer was the same. “Yes.”
“Very well. I’ll see you tomorrow, then.”
“Thank you. For all you and your sons did today.”
“No. Thank you. I had meant to punish the trader’s daughter and you finally allowed me to do that.”
Yes, this was what Ulf had said. If that were really the case, she was glad to have helped. But that didn’t mean she was not grateful. She had benefitted from the intervention more than him, and they both knew it.
Taking a big inhale, she entered the hut.