Read Online New Found Land by John Christopher - Free Book Online

about. You have to come.”
    â€œNo.” Her mother was heading in their direction. “I must go.”
    Later Simon said: “We’ll take her by force if necessary.”
    â€œI can see us doing that,” Brad said, “—carrying her kicking and screaming down to the longships. At least, I can just about imagine you or Bos trying it. I doubt I could lift her.”
    â€œWhen it came to the point, she might not resist.”
    â€œOn the other hand, she might, and it would only take one yell to have them on our necks. She sleeps in her parents’ hut. How do you feel about getting her out at dead of night, without waking anyone else?”
    â€œWe can’t just leave her to be slaughtered.”
    â€œShe may not be. They can never be certain, unless she tells them. And she is Wulfgar’s daughter.”
    â€œThat wouldn’t save her—she said so.”
    â€œAnyway, they can’t be sure. We might have overheard something one of the Vikings said. Or figured things out from their laughing when Bos said he’d seen no eagles.”
    â€œYou don’t really believe that.”
    â€œI believe we have to face facts. There’s no way of taking her except voluntarily, and so far she’sdetermined not to come. We can keep trying to persuade her.” He grinned. “You’re probably better qualified for that job.”
    Simon did his best. He worried at first that the change in the weather might come before his persuasive powers had time to take effect, but days of cloud succeeded one another unremittingly, while on the other hand Lundiga seemed to grow stubborner as time went by.
    One morning they woke to find a blizzard sweeping in from the west. It snowed all day, and as night came with snow still falling, Simon realized that the invisible moon would be three-quarters full. The moment was approaching when they would have to take their chance without moonlight. And without Lundiga.
    Next day the snow had ceased, and the clouds were breaking; patches of sunlight made the whiteness dazzle. Bos and Curtius were jubilant, seeing this as the signal to go. When Simon argued for giving it another day, Curtius said: “Another day may mean another blizzard. It must be tonight.”
    Brad said: “He is right, you know. We can’t afford to wait.”
    Bos said: “It is true, Simonus. I am sorry for the girl, but she must take her own chances now.”
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    Lundiga was clearing snow from the paths with the rest of the women, but they managed to get her on her own. Simon explained that they would be leaving that night. She listened in silence, leaning on a broad wooden shovel. He spoke urgently, though with no real hope of convincing her. “You must come with us, Lundiga. Please!”
    She was silent.
    Brad said: “We’d better not stay long talking. It’s something that could be remembered tomorrow, and make things trickier for her.”
    Simon said: “Lundiga . . .”
    â€œIt is not proper.” She paused. “But there are some things which cannot be denied. I said I could not bear the thought of you being killed, but it was not just that. All my life I have lived among my people and known no others. When you came here, I saw you as outlanders and, worse, as Romans. Even when I smiled at you, I remembered what your ancestors had done to mine. But my heart has changed as I have come to know you better—one of you, in particular.”
    Her look fastened on Brad. “I have thought about it through many wakeful nights, and I know what I must do because my heart commands it. I cannot bear the thought of losing you, Bradus. Since you must go, I shall go with you.”
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    Before supper that evening Bos slipped away; on a reconnaissance, he said. Brad urged him not to do anything suspicious, a warning which the big man treated with amiable