The sound of the trackers entering the yard alerted Dagmar.
She rushed out of the longhouse, anxious to see her rival"s downfall. “Where is she?”
“We"ve not found her,” Erik replied. “She"s a clever little b***h and gave us the slip. She went alongside a stream and then entered the water. Instead of continuing in the same direction, as we thought she would, she returned the way she had come. We made the mistake of searching along the bank for a while before realising what she"d done.”
“Well, why are you back? Why aren"t you still out there chasing her? I want those boys, Erik, and I want Helgha.”
Erik sighed. He wanted his sons, too, but this had become an obsession with Dagmar.
“We’ll catch her quicker on horseback. They can"t travel very fast with two small boys. They"ll need to car
