The Falcons of Fire and Ice - By Karen Maitland Page 0,138

they catch them they will tie them to the horses and run them back. It is what they always do. Most die before …’ Hinrik was plainly so terrified he could not bring himself to translate what would happen to us, if we survived long enough to reach a town.

‘Tell them if I see these people, I’ll warn them.’ Vítor was still giving nothing away.

Ari sighed, plainly exasperated by the game, and spoke again to Hinrik.

‘Ari says if he can find you, the Danes can too. They are fools, but not dead fools. They can see the glow of a fire in the dark and smell smoke and fish cooking. They know only an outlaw would be camping out at this season. If we want his help, Fannar will give it.’

‘And why would this Fannar risk his own life to help strangers?’ Vítor asked.

‘Fannar hates the Danes and they say …’ Hinrik hesitated, exchanging glances with the older man, ‘He has heard the girl is of the old faith.’

‘And he is of the old faith, the Catholic faith?’ Vítor said carefully.

Marcos suddenly stepped into the circle of firelight. ‘What are you playing at, Vítor? The three of us can’t fight off armed men on horseback. These men are offering to help us.’

Vítor tried to say something, but Marcos took a step forward, pushing him aside and addressing himself to Hinrik. ‘Tell them we’re the ones the Danes are hunting, but we didn’t attack them, they were trying to rape the girl.’

I rose from my hiding place and edged forward a few paces. ‘It’s true. They were only trying to help me.’

When Hinrik translated the older man nodded and grunted, as if he had guessed as much, then spoke to Hinrik, gesturing to him with an impatient wave of his hand to tell us.

‘Fannar says those boys are evil. But what can you expect with such fathers? But it is not safe here. He says he will hide us until the Danes have moved on. But we must come now. We –’

Fannar grabbed Hinrik and clapped a broad, meaty hand across the lad’s mouth. The boy struggled until Fannar whispered something, then he stood rigidly still. Ari motioned us to be silent. We all stood still, listening.

‘Hestur!’ Ari whispered.

Just at that moment I heard it too, drifting up from the bottom of the ravine, the unmistakable ring of horses’ shoes striking stones and the creaking of leather. Before any of us could move, Ari had tipped the contents of the pot over the fire, extinguishing the flames with a hiss of fishy steam.

I felt my hand grabbed by someone in the darkness. For a moment, frightened it might be Fausto or Vítor, I resisted, but then realized it was Ari. He was pulling me between the rocks, as if he could see exactly where we were going. I was running blind, stumbling and slipping. I didn’t know if the others were following or not. All I could do was cling to Ari’s hand and trust him. The ravine was filled with the sound of hooves, shouts and yells as the riders urged their mounts up the steep track. But we did not stop to look back. We ran for our lives into the darkness.

Ricardo

Haute volerie – ‘the great flight’, when the quarry bird such as a kite, raven, crane or heron climbs high into the air and the falcon tries to fly above it to stoop down on it, resulting in a great aerial battle of life and death.

The world was suddenly plunged into darkness as Ari extinguished the fire. I couldn’t even work out which was up or down, but when I heard the horses’ hooves clattering over the stones, I wasn’t going to stop to find out. It sounded as if there was a whole army down there. I turned and fled in the opposite direction to the shouts below. Stones were kicked down as someone scrambled up the rocks ahead of me. It’s not often a fellow has reason to be grateful for dirt being kicked in his face, but at least it meant I could follow the trail. I just hoped they didn’t dislodge anything bigger.

A broad, heavy hand suddenly clamped down on my arm and hauled me into the shelter of some overhanging rocks, nearly dashing my brains out on the stone. I yelped, but another hand shot over my mouth to silence me. We huddled together, crouching in the darkness, listening to the sounds of