Chapter 9: Share and share alike - Summer 886 AD

Scott's demonstrations had clearly affected Sigurd and his men. They looked around themselves, stunned by the noise, fire, smoke and destruction of his grenade and the cannon. Some men had dived to the ground and covered their heads; others had jumped up and now stared at the Bay and Scott's ship.

Sigurd was no less affected. The Viking was almost like a deflated balloon, his bravado gone like the smoke from the cannon fire on the wind over Kirkwall harbour.

"So Sigurd, can I take it that a trade agreement is the way forward?"

"You are a dangerous man mac Fergus. What magic is this that you seem to be able to conjure from the air? We have heard stories of how you used fire to defeat longships in the past and Erica tried to describe the way you defeated my men in the snow, but I would not have believed it if I hadn't just witnessed it with my own eyes."

Scott was pleased at how well his cannon had performed on their first outing. He had had them cast when he had visited Oban some weeks before but found he had to change the mix of gunpowder, enriching the saltpetre content, to make the firing of balls effective. The impact on the Norse was all that he had hoped.

"Some might call me dangerous my friend, others, those who work with me, count me a valuable ally. Where would you want to count yourself Sigurd?"

"I admit that the description of the resources you have in Dalriada that Erica has given me moves me to strike a bargain with you for trade, but as I have said, we have little here you would want."

"Come Sigurd, let us speak privately, for I believe there is an accommodation to be made where we can both improve things for our people."

Sigurd waved everyone else out of the tented structure, intrigued by what Scott was going to share with him next. Scott reached into his bag and brought out his map book, watching the Viking's eyes light up. For a seagoing race, nothing is more valuable than accurate maps and Sigurd could see the detail on Scott's.

"Sigurd my friend, I'm going to share with you some of my maps. There are great lands to the north and west of here, some will take many weeks of sailing to reach perhaps, but these lands are rich in natural resources. You and your kind are looking for new lands to settle, well here is an opportunity. Here are what I call Iceland and Greenland, there is enough land to found two, three, new Norways. If you were to venture further, to the Americas, then there is land beyond your imagining."

"Why would you share this with me mac Fergus?" Sigurd asked, still suspicious.

"There are resources in the Americas that I would like to get my hands on - rubber, precious metals for instance - but I have no desire to sail all that way. I have my own renegades to deal with inside Scotland and I would like to turn my energies in that direction."

Scott could see that Sigurd was already coveting the maps, his eyes glowing with the possibilities they represented.

"And you would ask nothing in return for these maps other than the prospect of future trade?"

"You may copy this one map and then we will see what you make of it, what the future holds. I ask but that you give me one hostage as a surety of your goodwill towards the Scottish mainland."

"And who would this hostage be? One of my sons?"

"No, Helfe would do. I think she has already found something that interests her deeply in Dalriada so she might not be too concerned at returning."

Scott was once more amazed at the total lack of regard for women in this time when he saw that Sigurd appeared relieved at Scott's suggestion.

"The girl? You only want to take the girl? Then I think we have reached a bargain my friend!" Said Sigurd, standing to clasp Scott's arm to seal the deal.

The copy of the map was made with alacrity; Sigurd desperate to get his hands on the knowledge it represented. Quickly thereafter Scott sought to take his leave, his two wives heavily pregnant and his desire to be close to them urging him on. In any event, he had not been comfortable in the alien environment of the Norse base, despite the calm face he showed to his hosts.

Helfe seemed to be delighted at the prospect of returning to Dalriada with Scott, indeed hugged him gratefully, although her mother showed signs of extreme jealousy that it was not her returning to the luxury of life in Inveraray.

Scott's leave taking of Sigurd was as blunt as their other exchanges.

"I will not say that it has been a pleasure meeting with you mac Fergus, but perhaps it will be to our advantage. I wish you a following wind."

"I have enjoyed your hospitality Sigurd and look forward to building trade rather then enmity in the future, so be it that none of your hordes descend on Scotland!"

There was no arm clasping between them as Scott and Helfe clambered into the small boat, followed by Scott's still nervous men. Helfe waved at her father and mother as the boat rowed across the harbour to Scott's ship, but it was telling that there was no answering wave from the shore.

The Scots didn't waste time before hoisting anchor and sailing out of the hostile harbour of Kirkwall, despite the cannon on board. There were over fifty longships in the Bay and Scott estimated there were close to six thousand Vikings at this one centre alone.

They made good time on their voyage back south and sighted Oban on the fourth day out of Kirkwall. Scott thanked the captain and crew and then rustled up some horses for himself and Helfe, continuing their journey back to Inveraray. His wives and sons were delighted to see the young girl had returned, already having developed a deep fondness for her. Eilean was delighted that she would have her assistant back too.

Gabrain joined Scott and his family so he could hear how the trip to Orkney had fared. Scott had shared his plans for using the cannon with Gabrain and his friend was now delighted at how effective they appeared to be.

"Effective when ships were stationary and in a sheltered Bay Gabrain. I fear that they will be less accurate when ships are sailing and we are in the open seas. But yes, they served their purpose well."

Helfe excitedly pitched in at this point to describe in detail Scott's negotiating technique, painting a vivid picture of the impact his grenade and cannon had made. Scott hadn't been aware Helfe had been watching, but her description showed she had.

Later that night Scott's two wives ganged up on him after their gentle lovemaking. It was clear that he had been wrong in thinking that Eilean had been unaware of Helfe's teasing of him, and they now wanted to know his motivation for returning with the girl.

"Are we to have another sister wife Scott? I am fully aware of how that little baggage has been rubbing herself against you at every opportunity these past few months!" Enquired Eilean.

"It is not like that! She is but a hostage to guarantee Sigurd's promise not to attack Scotland in future." He argued.

"Nonsense! We have seen the way your eyes follow her tight little bottom when she leaves the room my Lord! Admit it, you want the little hussy!"

Scott knew when to call it quits and he threw up his hands, conceding that he did find Helfe much to his liking.

"Good my most puissant Lord, for we have a liking for her too and two wives will never be able to satisfy the staff-beast alone."

"Well it would seem as if that is settled then. There's just the small matter of how Helfe feels about all this." Said Scott.

"Oh just you leave that to us Scott, she's already panting at the prospect of sharing you and Eilean and I will just have to turn up the heat a little more before the hussy explodes!"

Scott had seen his wives in action before and had little doubt that Helfe was now set for merciless teasing and exposure to much of the detail of his sex life as the girls sought to increase her desire for him. Not a bad prospect he thought to himself.

He spent the next few days with Gabrain working on plans for consolidating their position in the various sub-Kingdoms, leaving the girls to work on Helfe. The friends reviewed the various resources they now had at their disposal and what their next priorities should be.

"Gabrain, my agreement with Sigurd should hold good for a number of years. We have estimated that it may take as long as four or five years to rebuild Dalriada's full strength. I suggest we look to consolidate our position over the next three years or so and then look to tackle Giric and Eochaid."

"Why wait so long Scott? Dalriada may be weakened but Fife, Ayrshire and Galloway can still field many men. And with your gunpowder and cannon we could surely take these two down easily."

"Aye, you might have the rights of it Gabrain, but see you, Giric's lands border Dalriada in your north and it could be that Dalriada would suffer much before we could win out. No, I would rather we were better prepared my friend, besides, if my history is accurate, there might well be an opportunity to achieve all that we want without having more Scots blood on our hands."

Gabrain was intrigued by this, but Scott refused to elaborate. Instead he shared his plans with Gabrain for upgrading their already extensive road network by building rails on them. He explained what his purpose was, using the example of the rails he had already installed at Oban to help with the loading and unloading of trade goods. Gabrain could see that wagons on rails would greatly increase the speed of travel and when Scott suggested establishing a rail link between Dalriada and Fife he sucked in his breath at the scale of Scott's plans.

"That alone would take three years or even longer Scott."

"Aye my friend, but we will need those years to rebuild our stock of the Rouncey horses that Murdoch all but destroyed. We can also use the time to forge more artillery pieces and to exploit the oil shale I have discovered in Fife. I have plans for the oil - plastics and synthetic materials, also, if I can secure the services of an effective alchemist, I believe we can develop even more powerful explosives than gunpowder. More ships are also required, for I don't believe Sigurd will keep to our bargain forever!"