"Then what happened?"
"The monks held up the staff and the Vikings mocked its power. The monks prayed to St. Oswin for help."
"Did he help?"
"St. Oswin appeared on the beach. He held up his hands and a storm came. It took all but one of the Viking ships out to sea and dashed them on the rocks. The Vikings fell to their knees on the beach and begged the saint’s forgiveness. Oswin held up the staff before them and they were humbled before it. He bid them to leave in peace and they went."
Rose looked down the hillside. "What’s that down there?"
Ahead of them was a wood and beyond that the smoking fires of a small village. Dusk was drawing in and he could make out the glow of candlelight. "Southdean. If we hurry through the wood we will be there before dark."
"Are you afraid of the dark, Mr. Big Bad Highlander?"
"It is not the dark that troubles me."
"What then?"
A howl echoed down the hillside from far above them. "Wolves," he said. "Hold on tight."
They galloped into the wood. Lennox brought the horse to a stop about twenty yards in, looking back at the hillside. The wolves were bearing down on them.
More howls, these ones closer. He tried to count them, but the cries rose and fell over each other, the noise disguising their numbers. He urged the horse on, but it dug its hooves into the ground, refusing to move. Cursing it made no difference. "Get on with you or we'll all be torn to shreds," he shouted. "Move!"
The rustle of leaves to his left moved his attention from the horse to the wolves. They were getting closer. "We need to do something," he said, spotting movement. There were too many to deal with by sword.
He leaped from the horse and then grabbed Rose around the waist. She was moving far too slowly. They only had seconds to spare. "Get up the tree," he said, shoving her up onto the nearest branch, ignoring her protests. He swung himself up after her as the horse bolted. "Now you’re willing to move," Lennox shouted after it as he followed Rose up the tree.
The wolves burst through the undergrowth into the space below them. He looked back down, at least a dozen of them. Too many for him to take on by himself. Rose continued to climb, and he followed until the branches became too thin to bear their weight.
"What now?" Rose asked, sounding terrified.
"I've no idea," he replied as the wolves tried and failed to climb after them, leaping up only to fall heavily back to the forest floor. "If only I'd brought my bow, I could pick them off one by one."
The wolves circled the tree trunk, glancing up and sniffing from time to time. "They know we can't stay up here forever," Lennox said, accepting the inevitable. "I'll take them on. You make a run for it."
"No," she replied, grabbing his shoulder. "They'll tear you to pieces."
"But at least you'll have a chance to get away."
"Don't be stupid, Lennox. I don't want you to die for me."
"What's the alternative? We stay up here until we can't hold on any longer, and then we both die?"
"I don't know, all right. Just don't leave me."
The tone of her voice said more than the words. He didn’t move. The sun set slowly, the light dying away until all Lennox could see was the glinting eyes of the wolves below him.
Above the canopy of the trees, the moon was hidden behind clouds. He held onto the branch with both arms, tiredness and cold both slowly creeping over him.
Looking across at Rose, he could see her eyes starting to close. "Stay awake," he commanded. "You have to stay awake."
"I can't hold on much longer," she replied, starting to cry. Her hands almost let go. He grabbed her, holding on tight.
A noise like a whistle from below them, somewhere over to the right. Lennox replied to it with his own whistle, the sound faint and almost lost in the rustle of leaves.
Another noise like an arrow shooting through the air and then a yelp. Lennox looked down. More arrows were flying. The wolves were scattering in all directions in panic, howling as they went.
Silence fell again until a voice called out. "When you've finished fooling about in that tree, you can come back down."
