Raven Boy

Chapter 11

Together, the twins went to swim and then joined the Vikings for the evening meal.

"Hey, Olaf," whispered Hrafn halfway through their meat and cream soup. "Have you seen mother since yesterday?"

Olaf nodded, "Mmm... A couple of times. But she didn't talk to me."

"I haven't even seen her. Is she avoiding us?"

Olaf looked terrified. "You think she knows we were spying? Oh... she must be angry."

Hrafn shrugged, "I don't think she knows. At least, the rune caster didn't say he told her."

"Then what's wrong?"

"No idea. We should find her and make sure she's all right."

They hurriedly finished eating and ran home.

The house was empty. They had just missed Turid, because the fire was burning, everything was clean and tidied, their beds and clean clothes ready for them.

They made a tour around the house, but their mother was nowhere to be seen.

"Where do you think she is?" asked Olaf, worried.

"Dunno..." shrugged Hrafn. "But we need to find her!"

"All right.... You search the west side of the town, and I'll take the east. Whoever finds her brings her home."

With that they hurried in opposite directions.

Olaf ran down the paths, briefly greeting people as he passed and asking them if they had seen Turid, but he was told that she was at home, which was not very useful.

He searched the big hut that served as the kitchen for the Vikings, but with no success. He went to the sea and checked both ships, and the Viking on guard took him for Hrafn, but it was useless. Tired and hoping that his brother would be more successful, Olaf headed home, staying alert and double-checking everything on his way for any sign of his mother.

Meanwhile, Hrafn tried to do the same kind of search on the west side. Unwilling to raise any suspicions, he sought no help from others. He quickly checked the great hall - where the assemblies were held - and other buildings, but with no result.

Recalling what his mother normally did at that time, he decided that it was too late for visiting the neighbors and did not bother to ask them. Instead, he just ran down several paths, and then stopped in the crossroads, perplexed. Without his raven, searching was too difficult. In addition, he was exhausted; his whole body ached from the fight with Sveinn. Still, there was that disturbing feeling of unease for his mother. He was sure there was a problem there, and he could not leave without resolving it.

Hrafn sighed and lowered himself on a big stone by the road. Rubbing his forehead with both hands, he tried to calm down and think of how his mother felt. It was unlikely she knew of their spying. So why would she avoid them? The only possible explanation seemed that the prophecy made her upset and she was trying to hide it and pull herself together alone. If that was the case, he had to find and help her, like his father would have done. The boy imagined himself in her shoes. Only last night he had been very upset, and what did he do? Instead of sleeping at home, he went wandering in the forest with his raven!

Jumping to his feet, he ran toward the forest. Night had fallen. Edging the town, the forest stood dark and mysterious, filled with animal life and rustles. But Hrafn was not afraid; he had been to the forest at night countless times with his raven. No forest spirit or troll would ever harm him.

Just like when he hunted, he carefully examined the paths until he found his mother's footprints. He followed them and got to a small clearing lit by a patch of moonlight. There on a fallen tree trunk, Turid sat, her arms tightly wrapped around her knees. She looked so lonely, sad and small that the boy felt like crying.

He moved closer and stepped on a dry branch. It made a loud crack.

Turid shivered and threw one quick glance in his direction. Fast and noiseless, she was already running away.

The boy called after her, before she would disappear. "Mother! It's me..."

Shefroze - a dark, slim shadebetween the trunks of the trees. Then she slowly turned. Hrafn could only makeout her silhouette. Slowly, he stepped into the moonlight and begged, "Mother,I want to talk to you!"