PART 1
KADLIN SAW the seabird’s nest a moment before her brother, Bjorn, did. She parted the reeds and scooped up the eggs.
“I filled mine first!” She raised the basket she had decorated with bits of colorful yarn for egg hunt day and howled to the sky like a berserker.
Bjorn laughed. “You sound like Uncle Grimolf.” Their father’s brother was a quiet, gentle soul, but according to the tales they overheard their father tell, Uncle Grimolf sometimes turned into a wolf-man during battle.
Kadlin’s heart beat faster at the thought of her father and uncle returning in their longship. Yesterday, Grandmother Thora had cast her runes and learned from the signs that the men’s homeward journey would soon come to a favorable end. Mother had been so relieved, she had laughed out loud and hugged Ref, Kadlin’s goat.
All the families living along the river valley had suffered a poor harvest and harsh winter. Two of the farmers had turned sour against Father, who governed the area as the local. When he caught them setting fire to the shed and stealing his ox and cart loaded with the last of the provisions, Father banished the men as outlaws. He offered to take the rest of the desperate farmers a-viking across the sea in his longship if they would pledge loyalty to
