Chapter 8: return to Dalriada II

The Fife shipwrights had still not managed to complete any ships by the time the snows were beginning to melt. Scott had been frustrated at having to leave the two Viking longships behind after the small battle during the winter, but the weather conditions had ruled against him being able to sail these along the Firth of Tay. Now that the weather was improving he led a force of men back to the shores to see whether the ships were still there. He was surprised, but delighted, to find the two ships still floating where he had left them and embarked his men to sail them up the Tay, round the hook and south past St Andrews.

As they were sailing along the Fife coast Scott saw smoke and flames coming from a cliff. At first he thought this was a signal of some sort and he ordered the ship's captain to steer in towards the land. It became apparent that the fire was untended and Scott was curious as to how it had started. One of the men on his ship was local to this area and explained that this wasn't unusual, the area in fact was known locally as the fire cliffs.

Brining the longship in closer to the cliffs Scott could see that there had been a significant landslip here and it had exposed a broad seam of black looking rock. It was directly above this that the fire burned and Scott decided to investigate. Beaching the ship he jumped over the side and made his way to the rock that had fallen from the cliff face. He picked up a piece and brought it to his nose.

"God be praised!" He whispered to himself.

"What is it Sire, what has grabbed your interest so?"

"Oil shale! This is oil shale!" Shouted Scott; his men still in the dark as to why this was so exciting.

Scott knew Scotland was rich in oil reserves, but these were almost exclusively under the North Sea and therefore out of his reach. He hadn't imagined that he could find a source of oil so readily accessible and guessed this shale must be a continuation of the 'fields' under the sea. He had been cursing the lack of access to oil because he knew finding it would open up the opportunity for many improvements, the text books he had brought back giving details of the various uses hydrocarbons could be put to.

Now highly excited, Scott returned to the ship, but had it sail close to the shore for the rest of the journey south. He identified another three possible sources of oil shale and was well satisfied with the trip - two longships and a number of possible sources for oil were a good return for one small journey.

Scott's few conversations with Erica had provided him with some quite surprising intelligence. He discovered that the majority of the Vikings he had been fighting over the years were in fact almost exclusively from Norway. He had been blithely using the terms Viking, Norse, and Danes interchangeably as if they were all one and the same. Now he found out that there were few if any Danes involved. Erica explained that there was insufficient productive land in Norway to support the population and that was why so many of the Norse had been voyaging across the seas.

These same Norsemen had not been limiting their raiding to Scotland and England, but had turned renegade and had been hitting Norway too. The Norwegian King, Harold Fairhair, had taken them to task over the past two or three years and the result was that Norway had 'tamed' Orkney and Rognvald and then Sigurd had been placed in charge of it, to keep it from causing Norway further trouble.

Scott guessed that the troubles Scotland had been facing, including the unusual large-scale land invasions of a number of years ago, must be the result of renegade Norsemen from Orkney being forced out by the Norwegian forces. This intelligence changed his thinking with regard to the Norse and he knew he would need to consider this further.

Spring was definitely here and Scott decided to make a trip to see how things were progressing in his lordship of Loarne. He missed the dramatic scenery of his favourite part of Scotland and he had missed the company of his friend Gabrain. There was also the task of returning Erica and Helfe to Orkney to consider, getting rid of that arrogant woman reason enough to make the trip. He sent a carrier pigeon to advise Gabrain of his plans and then told his family to pack for the trip.

Before setting out he had a long session with Donald mac Niall, agreeing the things that Scott wanted to see taken forward, including a close watch on their northern borders in case Viking activity increased. He also spoke to the other Donald, his geologist, about the need to begin mining oil shale and what to do with it once it had been recovered in sufficient quantities.

With things in Fife largely sorted they set out for Inveraray, the bulging bellies of Scott's two wives showing their pregnancies were at an advanced stage. Scott had made sure a wagon was secured for the girls to travel in, its inside lined with pillows to ease the bumpy passage.

The wagon slowed them down somewhat and it took four days of travel before they were passing down the head of Loch Fyne and nearing Inveraray. As they emerged around a bend and the camp came into sight; Scott's chest puffed out at the view he was afforded. Gabrain and the craftsmen had been busy and, at least from a distance, there were no lingering signs of the devastation that had been wrought here the year before. There may have been fewer trees, but the grass had re-emerged and the blackened fields were a thing of the past. Fluttering above the camp Scott could see his own Norse-slayer banner and the Saltire and it was as if something that had been badly out of kilter in his life was once more in balance.

His wives didn't fully understand how misty-eyed Scott was, not having been witness to how Inveraray had looked after Murdoch had vented his spleen on it. So far as they were concerned this was just a long delayed return home, almost three years since they had had to flee Inveraray with Gabrain.

Gabrain himself was waiting at the settlement to welcome them back and Scott clasped his arm, wordlessly expressing his thanks for the work that had been done. Of course, the population of Inveraray was much reduced. Some new people had moved to the settlement but the slaughter had been major and a single year was not going to undo that.

Scott let the womenfolk oversee the unpacking of the wagons while he walked to the water's edge with Gabrain, gazing across at Strachur.

"Well met my friend." He said at last to Gabrain.

"Well met indeed Scott. I hope the works here meet with your approval, I have tried to ensure that everything was restored to what it was before."

"Aye Gabrain, you have done a grand job of it too. Almost it looks as if the horror of last year never happened. Only the lack of people a clue."

"I see you have some new women with you. Are you adding to your family?"

Scott had to explain the death of Hella, his pain obvious to Gabrain as he did so, and then the winter battle that had resulted in the 'capture' of Erica and Helfe. Like Scott, Gabrain had not heard of Sigurd the Mighty and he scoffed as Scott described the haughty attitude of the man's wife.

"Well my friend, if the gossip of your wives is anything to go by, a good dose of your 'staff-beast' sounds like the perfect medicine for the witch!"

"Don't say it even in jest Gabrain! The sex of that woman probably has teeth I swear and I would nowise risk putting anything of mine near her. Besides, she is the wife of another. Now, the daughter, she is a different story!"

The two friends caught up on each other's news of events over the winter. Scott informed Gabrain that both of his wives were pregnant and his friend congratulated him, adding that Esta was also with child so he had something to celebrate himself. Scott explained the discovery of oil shale and, earlier in the year, silver too in Fife and his hopes for what this would mean. For his part Gabrain recounted the full losses that Dalriada had suffered after two years under Murdoch's dominion and suggested it could take as many as four or five years before the sub-Kingdom was back to its former strength.

Scott's wives settled in to the house as if they had never been away, his sons staking out some territory for themselves too. Erica and Helfe were amazed at the additional comforts available - running hot and cold water, toilets, and the sunken bath were all eye-openers for them. Scott could see that Erica in particular was much taken with these things, as she quickly settled into a much-improved way of life.

Having been away for so long, Scott determined it was important that he undertake a tour of the various Loarne settlements, Gabrain opting to travel with him. The first thing he noticed was the reduced population at all of the settlements, and he saw Gabrain's estimate as to how long it would take to recover was, if anything, optimistic. Oban/Dun Ollaigh was perhaps the least affected, Murdoch perhaps guarding the production facilities jealously for the riches they were generating.

Scott visited with the craftsmen here and renewed old friendships with many of the men, the reappearance of the Norse-slayer almost becoming a legend throughout Loarne now he knew. He discussed a requirement he had with them and shared some of the designs from the books he had brought back with him.

On their return journey to Inveraray they stopped at Kilchrennan and spent some time with the Abbot and his monks, Scott thanking the man for providing the brethren to help establish St Andrews.

A quiet and relaxing few weeks followed at Inveraray until Scott received word that things were ready for him at Oban. He called a family meeting and advised his wives and sons that he was planning to sail to Orkney to return Erica and Helfe to their people there. He was not surprised when Fiona, the boys and especially Eilean bemoaned Helfe's departure but none of them had any concern about the loss of Erica.

Scott asked to speak privately with Erica and Helfe later that day to tell them of his plan.

"The time has come to return you to where you rightly belong. I am sorry that the winter weather has not made that possible before now, but hope you have found your stay with us at least comfortable." He said.