Something knocked him sideways and backwards. He staggered, caught his balance, and found himself shoved aside again by the figure of Edrich, bellowing something in his ear. As he glanced round Shef realized that while he exchanged blows with their leader, the tip of the Viking wedge had broken through. Half a dozen English nobles lay on the ground. Wulfgar, still on his feet, was backing dazedly toward Shef, but a dozen Vikings were facing him, pouring through the broken line. Shef found himself shouting, brandishing his sword, daring the foremost of the Vikings to come on. For a heartbeat the man and the boy stared into each other’s eyes. Then the man wheeled left, following his orders, moving through the gap to roll up the English line and drive the flankers into the swamp in disorder and confusion.
“Run for it!” shouted Edrich. “We’re beat. Nothing to do now. Run now and we can get away.”
“My father,” shouted Shef, lunging forward to try to grasp Wulfgar by the belt and haul him back.
“Too late, he’s down.”
It was true. The dazed thane had taken another smashing blow on the helmet and staggered forward, to be enveloped by a wave of enemies. The Vikings were still fanning sideways, but at any moment some would press forward and overwhelm the few men left standing in the center. Shef found himself seized by the collar and hustled, half-choking to the rear.
“Damned fools. Half-trained levies. What can you expect? Grab a horse, boy.”
In seconds Shef was cantering down the track the way he had come. His first battle was over.
And he had run from it within seconds of the first blow being struck.
Chapter Four
The reeds at the marsh’s edge moved slightly in the morning breeze. They moved again and Shef peered out at the empty countryside. The Viking raiders were gone.
He turned and waded back through the reeds to the path he had found the previous evening. The small island was hidden by low trees. Edrich the king’s thane was eating the cold remains of their dinner from the night before. He wiped greasy fingers on the grass and raised his eyebrows.
“Nothing in sight,” Shef said. “Quiet. No smoke that I could see.”
They had fled the battle, knowing it was lost, seeking only to save their own lives. There had been no sign of pursuit when they abandoned their horses and fled on foot into the marsh where they had spent the night—an oddly comfortable and pleasant night for Shef. He thought about it with mixed feelings of both pleasure and guilt. It had been an island of peace in a sea of anxiety and trouble. Just for one evening there had been no work to do, no duty that could possibly be performed. All they had to do was hide, protect themselves, and stay as comfortable as possible. Shef had splashed off into the marsh and quickly found them a dry island in the midst of the pathless fen, where it was certain that no stranger would ever penetrate. It had been easy to put up a shelter made out of the reed which the marsh-folk used for thatching. Eels had been snared in the sluggish water, and Edrich, after brief consideration, had seen no harm in making a fire. The Vikings had other things to do and weren’t going to come splashing all the way over here just because of a bit of smoke.
In any case, before darkness fell, they could see smoke rising all around them. “The raiders on their way back,” said Edrich. “They don’t mind sending up signals when they’re retreating.”
Had he ever run from a battle before? Shef asked cautiously, nagged by the worry that kept on surfacing every time memory brought back the picture of his stepfather going down, engulfed by a tide of enemies. “Many times,” Edrich replied, in the curious camaraderie of this day stolen out of time. “And don’t think that was a battle. Just a skirmish. But I’ve run for it often. Too often. And if everybody did that we’d have a lot fewer dead men on our side. We never lose very many while we’re standing and fighting, but once the Vikings break through it’s just a slaughter. Just stop a moment and think of it—every man who gets off the field is saved for another stand-up fight on even terms another day.