Fire and Ice - By J. E. Christer Page 0,2

but Juliana had little appetite, not only due to the lumbering, ill-mannered pig sitting next to her, but that day she had also buried her beloved father and mourned his passing in silent agony.

By the time evening came de Gant was incapable of speech let alone anything else and Juliana was relieved when his men put him in a downstairs room to sleep off the excesses of the day. If it had been up to Juliana she would have thrown him down to sleep with the dogs but at least she was safe for one more night. Her mother had visited her chamber and she was pleased to see that she looked normal again except for a couple of bruises on her cheeks. Her mother warned her of what she might expect if she continued to displease this new lord. Juliana’s temper, she said, would get them all into trouble so she must be careful and think before she acted.

Juliana took heed of her warnings and the next day made sure she was up and awake early to help her mother with her duties in the village. Some of the men-folk had died protecting her father so she visited their families, giving coins and a promise of food from their stores. The men who had been wounded were also recompensed and their gratitude was heartbreaking when they spoke of her father’s care for them during his lifetime. For a few days she found work to do with the servants away from the Hall and kept herself far from home and out of de Gant’s sight as much as possible, sneaking in when he was drunk enough not to see her and going out early to help sow seed for the next harvest. Thanks to de Gant setting fire to some of the barley fields the current harvest would be scant.

Chapter 2

For the first few days after de Gant had left, Juliana and her mother enjoyed a freedom they had not known in weeks. They decided to visit her mother’s old friend Sara who lived near the Ings and who was clever at making potions from herbs and fungi. Sitting in front of the fire in her hut, Sara and her mother spoke in hushed tones about her father and what they would like to do to the Normans who now defiled their home but Juliana made excuses and went outside to enjoy the warmth of the new spring. Sara was what the villagers called a healer and could often be seen visiting huts where illness abided in order to treat their suffering. Outsiders called her a witch but she ignored them and waited until they too needed her to work her ‘magic’.

Juliana stretched in the sunlight, raising her hands in thanks to the Lord Jesus for this respite from their troubles. She looked out across the river and saw occasional ships passing by but then her eyes became fixed on a figure waving to her from far along the bank. She looked again but could not make out who it was but the figure began to run towards her and eventually she recognised Erik, whom they all thought had died with her brother. She ran towards him and he caught her in his arms and swung her round and round.

“Put me down, Erik, I beg of you, you’re making me dizzy,” she said breathlessly.

“And I, Juliana, am dizzy with delight at seeing you again. I thought I’d never get home. How are you and your mother and father? I hope you’re happy to see me.”

“Of course I’m happy to see you. We thought you had died with my brother at Senlac.”

His eyes clouded with sorrow, “Aldred is dead? I didn’t know, Juliana. I was injured but not mortally, so I made my way back on foot. My horse was lost to me and I had to rely upon loyal Saxons to feed me until I was well enough to travel. I managed to get a ship to bring me this far but you were the last person I expected to see here. I haven’t even been home to see my own mother and father yet.”

She looked into his deep blue eyes, and compassion filled her so much she could hardly speak, but he needed to know what had happened in the past months and of course about her father’s death. She choked out her story but did not mention de Gant and saw the conflict of emotions pass across Erik’s