“Yes.”
“Then you must find her.” Tormod waved down the passageway towards his own room. “They have told me to leave. Said I was getting in the way, although Ragna has said she will fetch me in time to witness the birth.” Tormod paused for a moment and took a breath, then looked at him with worried eyes. “Do you think Aoife will be all right? After Ingrid…”
“Aoife is not Ingrid.”
“No. She is not. But my child killed Ingrid, while her lover’s did not.” The bitterness but also the fear in Tormod’s voice was clear.
“What do I know about childbirth?” Even as he spoke, nausea coiled in his stomach. He didn’t want to keep lying to Tormod, but after all this time, he couldn’t tell the truth either.
Tormod rubbed a hand over his face. “I want to do something. It is hard when my wife faces something which I, as a warrior, cannot fight.” He swallowed and reached for Arne’s arm. “It is too early for the child.”
“She needs you to be strong for her. Your child needs you to be strong. As do we all. Aoife is no Ingrid.” Arne placed a hand on his cousin’s shoulder.
“No,” Tormod said. He took a deep breath and looked at Arne. “Nor is Gemma. Please, Arne, do whatever you can to find her. I am sure Aoife would like her with her. If not now, then… after. If there is an after.”
“There will be an after, Tormod. You must believe that.”
Tormod nodded, then glanced at the door to his room and sighed. “I suppose for now, I must sit and wait. Go search for Gemma and Caelin. If she has chosen to leave, then I think wemust let her. Accompany her wherever she wishes to go. She is a guest, not a prisoner.”
“Perhaps she has been warned of an attack and has left…”
But Tormod was shaking his head. “I don’t believe that. She would not risk Aoife’s life like that. Gemma cares about her.”
Arne nodded, feeling a twinge of guilt about the way he had insisted Gemma remain in her room the night before. But that had been to keep her safe as much as the settlement, hadn’t it?
“Rhiannon overheard the fishermen say that soldiers had been seen in Ir Ysgyn, searching for them. Offering a reward.”
“Then you must find them before they do. Or anyone else.”
He returned to his own house long enough to dress in his lightly armoured leathers he used when hunting. They would offer some protection if he had to fight, and allow him to travel quickly. Then he put on his warmest cloak before he headed back out.
Ulf came running as he started towards the shore. “Where are you going alone, brother?”
“Gemma and her son have gone. I am going to search for them. Will you come?”
“Gone? Of their own free will?”
Arne shrugged. “It would seem so. Either way, they must be found.”
“Of course.” Ulf fell into step beside him as they headed for the shore.
“Tormod is remembering Ingrid today,” Arne said.
“Tormod may remember her death, but I think you are remembering her for another reason.”
Arne glared at his younger brother. Did Ulf know? Surely not. If he did, then he would have said something long ago. “If I am, then it is only sensible to do so.”
Ulf shook his head. “Caution is never a bad thing, Arne. Only be careful it does not blind you to other possibilities.”
“What other possibilities?”
“That Gemma is not your enemy, even if Ingrid was.”
Arne opened his mouth to speak and closed it again.
“Come, let us find her,” Ulf said. “Björn can stay with Tormod. They have more in common with each other than with us for now.”
“I wonder how Ylva will deal with childbirth,” Arne said.
