Chapter 5

When I awoke the sky was bright above me; I was hot and my mouth felt dry. I tried to sit up but I felt hands on my chest pushing me down. I didn’t have the strength to fight so I lay back and the ground was soft, softer than I remember it. The darkness washed over me again. When I awoke again I realised I was naked and that there were walls around me. I was in some sort of room but from where I was, I could not tell exactly what sort.

I tried to sit up but could not. I managed to roll over slightly to give me a better view. I looked around and found I was in a bedroom, there was a door in the far wall. There were several other pieces of furniture and on one wall was a rough wooden cross. I was on a low bed and there was a candle flickering to my left. I lay back and winced as the pain from my shoulder shot through my body. As the pain hit my head, the room went black.

The water dribbling on my wound roused me from my slumber. I opened my eyes and looked at a rough wooden ceiling. I felt water on my wound again and looked around. Two nuns were standing by the bed, one was holding a bowl of water the other was using a cloth to wash the gash where the arrowhead had ripped into my flesh. They were both in habits and just their faces were showing. I could tell from their faces that they were both young and pretty.

As I moved, the pain raked through my body and I cursed. One of the nuns looked at me and smiled. Her face was amazingly gorgeous. I lay back on the bed, biting my lip as the pain raced from the wound all around my body. They finished washing the wound and the prettiest nun dried it with another cloth. She was trying to be gentle but the wound was still painful.

I sniffed and there was no rancid smell that was always a good sign, a wound that smells is a wound that kills you.

I guess I had drifted off to sleep again and when the door closed I opened my eyes. There was a jug of water on the table next to the bed and I drank from it, my shoulder was painful and my head was spinning. I lay back on the bed and soon sleep took over my body. Sleep is good for a wound they say...

The door opening woke me; it was the pretty nun entering the room. She had a tray in her hands and I watched as she sat it down on the bedside table. On the tray, there was a jug of wine plus a bowl of broth and some bread. She sat on the edge of the bed and smiled at me.

“Are you hungry Sir?” she asked. Her voice was soft but sexy.

“Yes very!” I replied trying to sit up, “What do I call you?”

“Sister Annemarie.” She replied with a smile.

I winced as I tried to move up the bed again, she helped me to sit up by putting more pillows behind my head.

She smiled again and I smiled back at her. She handed me the bowl of broth and I ate it noisily. I felt like I had not eaten for weeks and I mopped up the broth with the bread. As I was eating, Sister Annemarie sat and watched me intensely. She passed me a goblet of wine when I placed the empty soup bowl down. I gulped it down quickly.

“So what do I call you?” she asked as she refilled the goblet.

“My friends call me Uthred,” I said in reply.

“Well Uthred, welcome to the Convent of Our Blessed Lady,” she said as wiped broth from my chin with a wet cloth.

I sipped at the wine this time, it tasted of fruit.

“How long was I asleep?” I asked.

“We found you by the lake a week ago, we brought you here and tended to your wound,” she said, “You had a fever and your wound had bled quite a lot. How were you injured?”

“I was in a fight, and got shot with an arrow,” I said trying to judge how she took that news.

“Are you a Dane?” she asked as I lay back on the bed.

“Yes, I am Dane, a Viking,” I replied, “Does that worry you?”

“Not at all; God will protect me and keep me safe!” she said as she gathered up the crockery.

She left the room, leaving the door open. I could see out, onto a grassy courtyard. I saw other nuns going about their business. It was bright and sunny outside and the fresh air made me feel tired so I soon drifted off to sleep.

When I awoke the door was still open and but outside it was now dusk and it was a little colder. Sister Annemarie was sitting on a stool by the bed; she was doing some needlework. She must have sensed that I had woken as she looked up at me and smiled that sweet smile. Several candles lighted the room and they filled the room with a hazing smoke.

Sister Annemarie stood up and looked at my shoulder. There was little pain coming from it now, I looked at the wound it was not infected which was good. It was well known that more men die of the infections that get into wounds days after battles than die on battlefields.

“Your wound is healing well!” she said, and she took a small jar from the bedside table. There was a brush sticking out of it, she painted a sweet sticky balm onto the wound. It smelt of honey and herb I could not quite place.

“What is that?” I asked. I was intrigued by its smell and the way it made my arm feel warm as she applied it.

“Our Mother Superior makes it from an age-old recipe,” she replied and continued painting my skin.

“It aids the healing of wounds,” she said as she worked, “and it’s worked wonders on your wound.”

When she had finished she wished me good night and left the room, taking a candle with her to guide her way across the courtyard. I blew out the other candles and drifted off to sleep.

The next few days seemed to pass by very slowly. Each day Annemarie would wake me with a breakfast of fruit, bread and water. She would wash the wound and then paint on the secret balm. She fed me three times a day and we chatted as I ate. She told me of the workings of the convent, and of how she had found God when her parents had died.

After a week, I was already feeling strong enough to make my way in the world. I had decided that in a couple of days I would continue my hunt for the boats and my men.

I hoped that the Saxons had stopped their search for me and that my men had not left the area. It was a long way to back to Danish ruled lands and it would be perilous on my own. The plan was to ask Sister Annemarie for some food and then start the hunt. I really wanted to find a way to repay her and the other nuns for their kindness but I had only the clothes I was found in and nothing of value to give to them.

The sound that woke me came from above my head. Someone was walking on the roof of the building I was in; I guessed they had clambered over the convent wall and onto the roof of my current abode. I heard footsteps and then a thud as something or someone dropped to the floor outside my door. I guessed it was a man, and then there were more footsteps and more thuds. I was sure I heard the thuds as four men hit the floor, I slipped out of bed and moved to the door.

There were some gaps in the wooden slats that made up the door, and I could see four men walking across the grass. They were all armed with spears. I looked around for something to use as a weapon but could see nothing. I waited until the men had slipped into a doorway on the far side of the courtyard and slowly slipped out of the door. I made my way across the courtyard as quietly as I could.

I glanced into the doorway they had gone into; there was no sign of the men. The corridor was well lit and there were doors on both sides. I was not sure which they may have gone into and what their goal was. If they were looking for me, I wondered if the nuns would give me up. If they were not looking for me then what were they looking for. Four against one was not favourable odds, and they were armed and I had nothing to fight with; my predicament was not good.

I decided to wait outside and see what was happening. I hid in some shadows and waited. I did not have to wait long. The first man came out carrying a box, it looked heavy and he was struggling to carry it on his own. He was closely followed by two men; each had a nun trussed up and tossed over his shoulder. I figured they were vagabonds just looking for some loot.

I was wondering where the fourth man was when I heard a scream from within the convent. The two men carrying nuns placed them down on the ground and ran back in. the man that had carried the box out had his back to me and I walked to towards him. I tapped him on the shoulder and as he turned I smashed him on the chin with my right fist. The pain shot through my arm and shoulder as the wound reacted. My first punch only stunned him and it took three more to fell the thick-skulled brute. His nose broke with my second punch.

The vagabond dropped to his knees and my own knee hit him hard in the nose, he was unconscious as I dragged him towards some bushes to hide the body. The odds were now looking a little better now.

I walked back towards the box and the bodies of the nuns. Flipping open the lid of the box I saw it was full of gold and silver coins. I untied the nuns and told them to go and wait in the room I had been in and to keep the door closed. When they were out of sight, I slipped back into the shadows and waited for the other men to come back out.

When they came out they had four nuns with them, they were leading them out using spears to prod and poke them to keep them moving. The first nun was older and I guessed she was the Mother Superior. The other three were all younger and I could see that Sister Annemarie was amongst them. I had to help her, as she had been so good to me.

The vagabonds were looking around for the first two nuns and their friend. I could not hear what they were saying as I was too far away. It was obvious from their agitation they were worried about their friend.

I was sure that they were not warriors; but if I rushed them, they may hurt the nuns. I decided to front up and see what happened. I stepped out of the shadows.

“Good evening gentlemen,” I said and they all turned to face me.

“Who are you?” the leader asked. He was still looking around for his friend.

“My name is Uthred and who are you?” I replied, trying to put a tone of authority into my voice.

“You’re the Dane what Lord Smyness is looking for!” he said with a snarl and he started to move slowly towards me.