Chapter 14: Vikings return

The surly atmosphere in the house drove me out early the next morning. I determined that I might as well ride to Crinan to begin my investigation into the existing trade routes rather than leave myself available for further frosty treatment. I was encouraged to find out that my tributes of salt to King Fergus were already in much demand apparently with his trade partners. The trade seemed to be with merchant captains who sailed from Roman dominated Gaul, Denmark (incongruous given our trouble with the Norse) and with the Angles and Saxons of England.

A merchantman happened to be docked at Crinan when I was there and I tried to persuade him to add a stop at Aird Driseig in future, enticing him with the prospect of even more salt being available. He indicated some interest and I thought I had probably achieved as much as I was going to.

Aird Driseig held a number of shocks/surprises for me on my return. First of all, tragedy had struck. I knew something was wrong as soon as I rode into the camp. Men looked away from me, glancing up at my house and I realised something was wrong, something had happened. Fearing the worst, I urged my horse up the hill and jumped from its back, rushing into the house. No one was to be seen in the main part of the house but I could hear sobbing behind the curtain that separated the sleeping area we had added for Bridhe and Fiona. I strode over to this and whipped the curtain aside to find Kirsty sitting with her arms around Fiona, holding her head to her chest and stroking her hair. Fiona it was who was tearful.

"What's wrong?" I demanded. "What has happened?"

Kirsty looked at me. All the frostiness was gone and in its place was a deep sadness in her eyes. She explained haltingly that Bridhe was dead, drowned somehow while out gathering rushes. No one knew how she had got into trouble at the loch-side doing something she had done countless times before but she had. Fiona had found her, having gone to look for her mother to tell her it was time to eat. She had found her face down, floating in the shallow waters of Loch Gilp.

My heart went out to the achingly beautiful young girl. First her father and now her mother, both dead within the space of a few weeks. Such terrible loss, tragedy indeed. I sat down on the bed beside her and I too wrapped my arms around her to try and comfort her. We sat there the three of us for some time before Kirsty indicated that Fiona had cried herself to sleep. We laid her down gently and covered her over before leaving the sleeping area quietly.

"Scott, I'm so sorry I have been angry with you." Kirsty whispered to me as she hugged me in the main part of the house. "I shudder to think that something like this could have happened to you and I could lose you. I realise now that our time together is precious and not to be wasted with arguments and moods."

"There, there lassie. It's okay, I know you love me and I love you too." I said as I rubbed her back, holding her to me tightly.

"Fiona has been distraught. She has suffered much through your rejection of her and now the loss of her mother and my own news on top of that have really hit her hard."

"Your own news?" I queried on hearing these words.

"Scott, I am with child. Your child grows within me."

She looked up at me then, perhaps a little hint of concern on her face as she didn't know how I would react to this news.

"In the midst of all this tragedy here is a wonder." I said, a huge smile creasing my face. "Not my child princess, our child, made together from our love. And if it inherits even half of its mother's beauty it will be blessed indeed."

Kirsty was relieved that I had responded positively to her being pregnant. She managed a small smile herself.

"You must understand why this news has added to Fiona's sense of loss." She whispered to me. "Losing both of her parents, suffering your rejection and then finding out I am with child..." Her voice tailed off for a second. "In many ways it would perhaps have been better if she it was who was with child." Again she raised her eyes to look at me; almost beseeching me to do something it seemed.

"She is your wife Scott and now she has been left all alone in this world. Will you not cherish her, give her something to live for?"

I didn't want to open this argument again. My thoughts on this matter had not been changed with these latest events and I knew if I said so we would be at odds again. Instead I simply rubbed Kirsty's back and held my peace.

"I must check on her again." She said, freeing herself from my arms and returning to Fiona's sleeping area.

I left the house and sat on the grass outside, realising that someone had taken care of my horse for me. It was strange how events in my own life and household already seemed to have a marked effect on the entire camp. Everywhere men and women were subdued as they went about their business. I looked down the loch, seeing that my two longships now floated close to the shore, four other smaller boats there too. Some kind of jetty would need to be constructed I thought, trying to think about something else other than the tragedy within the house

Kirsty's words preyed on my mind. Fiona was indeed forlorn and alone and I could do something about that. I decided that I could show her more attention, cherish her, as Kirsty said but not in the way she meant. I could certainly spend time with the girl, show her more kindness, make sure she felt part of our family rather than an outsider. It would be like adoption I thought. I felt better for having sorted that out in my head.

Further down the hill I could see my would-be long bow archers at their daily practice, half using the bows, half using the weights. The group seemed to have grown slightly again and I assumed more bows and weights had been produced.

My thoughts were drifting again. There were several issues that had been running round in my thinking for a little while now. Labour was severely limited. With all the ideas I was trying to get off the ground I was going to run into a problem given the number of men I had available to me in the lordship. Even manning these two longships would take the entire male population of this settlement.

My trips to Dunadd, Crinan and Iona had also identified that my neighbours were not picking up on my ideas. I had seen no signs that there was any salt production or land drainage as there were in Knapdale. This surprised me. Why was there no enthusiasm for something that was obviously profitable? Why was I so keen to improve things but others weren't? I came to the conclusion that the part of my twenty-first century upbringing that made the most difference was education. It was education that was required so that the importance and impact of all these ideas was clearer to the people.

I knew that I wouldn't be around forever and if I was to leave a lasting legacy I needed to make sure that I left behind me others who would take my ideas forward, build on them. But education would need teachers, teaching materials, would take time. What was my own motivation? Was I doing all this for personal gain? For the greater good of my country? Both? Or simply to survive in this time as I had begun?

How could I increase the number of men available to me? Would success in trading, improvements in lifestyle, resources, lead to a natural migration to my lands as seemed to be the case at other points in history. Did people move, uproot themselves in search of betterment?

"Too many questions, you're getting too deep here Scott my boy." I thought to myself. "At least you can make the most efficient and effective use of the people you do have and try to take forward the ideas as best you can. One thing that might help would be to establish a site here in Knapdale for the Celi De (Keledei), the vassals of god. I wonder if the Abbot of Iona could help me establish a monastery here. That could help establish a place for education."

I looked up to see that Kirsty had come to the door and was watching me quietly.

"How is she?" I asked.

"Still sleeping. It is perhaps the best thing for her just now. You were deep in thought Scott, what troubles you?"

"All this my love." I swept my arm across the scene before us to indicate I meant the lordship and everything in it. "I worry that my ideas will not make a lasting difference unless I can convince others to take them up."

She sat beside me, leaning against my side.

"I have every faith in you my Lord, you will achieve great things, already you make a huge difference."

I smiled at her use of 'my Lord'.

"I promise I will spend more time with Fiona." I said. "I will give her more of my attention if possible, help her feel she is part of our family."

The remainder of that summer in Knapdale and Jura passed peacefully and relatively productively. Much of the time of the lordship's men was taken up with harvesting crops to provide grain and winter foodstuff for animals but some progress was still made on my projects. The archers were steadily improving their abilities and although they were still not able to fully draw the long bows, the men were aware they were getting better and so remained enthusiastic. Trading ships had begun to call at Aird Driseig and salt as well as pottery was in great demand. It was through these that I saw my first coinage in this time.

The coins were small and looked like copper and silver, roman made by the looks of them and the names stamped on their surfaces. I had no reference points from which to estimate the value of these, indeed, given I had not come across any before I was doubtful whether they had any value at all. Accordingly I wasn't willing to accept them as payment for Knapdale's goods, instead bartering for other goods in return.

The goods the merchantman had on offer were not that exciting however and my plans for extending trade began to look under threat from the outset. If Aird Driseig was capable of producing everything that the traders had to offer and the coinage was useless what would I be trading for? This came as something of a shock and quite depressed me.

I was able to secure some iron ore, wine and some furniture but other than that what we were producing ourselves was of more immediate use and of a higher quality than anything they had to offer. The traders were quite distraught too as their eyes gleamed at what we had to offer but dimmed when I refused to accept what they had to exchange. My refusal of their coins also left them frustrated and empty handed. I advised them to find other commodities before they returned if they wanted to get more of our goods. I suggested things such as barrels and vines as things that we might be interested in. Barrels were something they seemed to have in abundance and I agreed to trade for some of them.