Bound for Home

By Michael E Wills

The concluding book in the series. After three years in the service of the emperor of the Greeks, Ahl and his Viking friends have become very rich. Now the crew longs to return home with their wealth, their problem is that the emperor will not permit them to leave. They make a daring plan to escape. The route home is perilous as they navigate un

• Language: English
• Publisher: Michael E Wills
• Release date: Feb 2, 2023
• ISBN: 9781739297602

Michael E Wills

Michael E Wills was born on the Isle of Wight, UK, and educated at Carisbrooke Grammar and St Peter’s College, Birmingham. After a long career in education, as a teacher, a teacher trainer and textbook writer, in retirement he took up writing historical novels. His first book, Finn’s Fate, was followed by a sequel novel, Three Kings – One Throne. In 2015, he started on a quartet of Viking stories for young readers called, Children of the Chieftain. The first book, Betrayed, was described by the Historical Novel Society reviewer as “An absolutely excellent novel which I could not put down” and long-listed for the Historical Novel Society 2016 Indie Prize. The second book in the quartet, Banished, was published in December 2015 followed in 2017 by the third book, Bounty. Bound For Home completed the series in 2019. His book for younger children, Sven and the Purse of Silver, won bronze medal in the Wishing Shelf Book Awards. His most recent books are from periods in history with an enormous time span between them. Izar, The Amesbury Archer, (runner-up for indie historical fiction book of the year 2021) is based in the Neolithic period, a Viking story, For the Want of Silver, is based on the message carved on an actual runestone and a series of children’s books called The Children of Clifftop Farm, is about WW2.Though a lot of his spare time is spent with grandchildren, he also has a wide range of interests including researching for future books, writing, playing the guitar, carpentry and electronics.You can find out more about Michael E Wills and the books he has written by visiting his website: www.michaelwills.eu

Book preview

Map

Chapter 1

The huge Greek warship was at anchor in the sea near the shore. The water was as blue as the sky overhead. Ahl was sitting on a stool by the steering oar. Just like the slaves who were leaning forward over their oars, he was half dozing. The dark, swarthy Greek warriors in the centre of the ship were chatting amongst themselves. Some were sharpening weapons; others were playing dice. The heat was intense; it had been like this for many days, but these warriors were used to the extreme heat of the sun. The Varangian crew, young men from the Nordic lands who were serving the emperor of Greece, tried to find what shade they could by creeping under the awning, which had been hoisted up over the stern. The fair-haired sailors had long ago discarded the clothes they had worn in their own country. The climate here was far too hot. Now they were dressed in light, white cotton tunics and wide trousers. The tunics were gathered at the waist by wide leather belts, which were richly decorated with silver charms. Apart from the colour of their hair and their height, they were generally taller than the men of this country. Another thing marking them as different was that they had retained their long knives in scabbards which hung, Nordic style, across their stomachs. However, there was another indication that they came from a country far away, though this was hidden under their tunics. They all had silver chain necklaces with good luck charms. Some had a gold or silver image of Thor’s hammer, for Thor was the god of fire and iron, the god who had the power to control giants. Other crew members had images of spears, axes and swords. These indicated that they believed in the power of the god Odin, the god of battle, wisdom and death.

One of the fair-haired men, Ulf, passed a leather water bottle to his friend Ahl and said, How long do you think we can wait here before we are all dried out by the sun?

Ahl, leader of the Varangians, did not reply immediately. He scanned the high hill below which they were moored. The sparse vegetation on the barren, rocky landscape was mainly short, thick bushes. Here and there a thin pine tree protruded through the brush.

Soon the sun will be behind the mountain, then we shall have shade.

There was a long pause and then the sound of Ulf taking a deep breath. He was clearly exasperated.

And how much longer do you want to go on with this life? We have made a fortune from the work we do, but we can’t spend it. The boys want to go home.

Do they?

Haven’t you heard them complaining? We have been in the service of the emperor for three years. They are longing to go back to the Northlands.

Ahl thought for a while. It was true, they had been away for a long time. He and his crew were just boys when they had set out from the village of Birka, more than four years ago, in a ship they had borrowed, the Eagle. He looked round at his friends: they had left their homes as teenagers, boys without beards and not much muscle, either. Now they were men – seasoned sailors. They were strong, confident and experienced in battle. They had never planned such a long journey, a voyage which ended with them travelling to Greece, things had just worked out that way. Moreover, Ahl was an orphan and had no family to return to; his only relative, his elder sister, was married to a Rus nobleman and lived many weeks’ journey from where they now were. He reluctantly admitted to himself that his friends, the Varangian crew, did have family at home whom they longed to see.

And what about you?

Yes, I have to say, I think we have been here long enough. Each of us has been well rewarded for our work hunting the enemies of the emperor, the pirates. We get good wages and each of us has valuable plunder stored in Miklagård. We would be wealthy men in our own country if we could get there.

But the emperor won’t let us go. We have to serve him until he decides that we can leave.

Ulf was about to reply when Ahl stood up.

Look, look, there’s the signal!

He pointed to a man on the crest of the hill. He was silhouetted against the blue sky, frantically waving a long green banner.

He has seen ships coming, muttered Ahl. Ulf, go to tell the commander and order the oarsmen to be ready.

Oleg, Ingemar and Ruric, take the awning down and prepare to leave. Harald and Ragnar, go to the bows and get the slaves ready to raise the anchor.

Within a short while, the ship had come alive with the Nordic crew members and the Greek warriors all preparing to go to sea. By the time they were ready, the man who had been waving the banner at the top of the hill had run down to the shore and dived into the water. He swam quickly out to the ship and two of the warriors pulled him aboard. He hurried along the deck to the stern where the commander of the Greek soldiers had joined Ahl.

Panting for breath, he said, Three, three dhows, sailing through the channel towards us.

The commander looked at Ahl and said in Greek, a language which the Nordic captain now knew well, Our ambush has worked. Let’s go.

But can we take on three pirate vessels at the same time?

Ahl knew from experience that the pirates were fearsome fighters and did not give up their stolen goods easily.

The Greek commander was not a man to argue with. He was a short, powerful figure who was proud of his status as a military officer. He expressed himself in an aggressive and very superior manner that made it clear no one should dare to contradict him. He scowled through his thick, black beard and growled, We planned the ambush because we knew that the looters would have to sail through this narrow channel to get back out into the open sea. This is our chance to win great favour with the emperor if we can sink three of his enemy’s ships in one battle.

Although Ahl was the captain of the vessel, it was the commander of the soldiers who made decisions about fighting the pirates. He would have to accept the commander’s orders. He turned and waited for the warriors to sit on their benches and start to drag their thick leather breastplate armour over their heads as they prepared for battle. As they armed themselves, their commander barked orders at them.

Ahl could see Harald and Ragnar at the bow waiting for his order to supervise the slaves pulling up the anchor. The two Varangians seemed a long way away and they were. This was one of the great ships of the emperor’s navy. It was very long and much wider than the Eagle, the ship’s Nordic crew had sailed in from home. There were no sails: the ship was driven by the muscle power of eighty slaves, men who had been captured in battle and were now forced to work, they occupied the outer part of both sides of the ship; the hundred warriors were amidships.

Ahl raised his arm to signal to the two crew that the winding of the wooden wheel should start. This would pull on the heavy rope and drag the anchor from the bottom of the sea. After a few minutes, they turned and waved to Ahl. He understood that they had done their job. He nodded to Ulf, who was standing waiting. In his hand, he had a heavy wooden stick with a rounded end. With it he struck a drum in front of him, the signal that the rowers should have their oars ready to dip into the sea. Ulf banged again and the men started to row. He beat a slow rhythm on the drum to indicate the speed at which they should row. When he was satisfied that they were all in time with each other, he started to beat faster. The men strained and pulled with all their might and the ship gathered pace. One of the Greek warriors walked up and down the lines of rowers. He carried a short whip and was ready to punish any rower he considered was not working hard enough, by lashing his back. Ahl glanced at the man with some distaste and then, turning to survey his intended course, he pushed the steering oar. The ship headed out