A castle guide came over, face creased in worry. “Everything okay here? Do you need an ambulance?”
Cameron stood quickly, guided the concerned young man away. “No, no, it’s fine. She just came over a little dizzy. Thank you, though.”
Rose closed her eyes, tried to grab at thoughts that flitted through her mind like moths around a bright light. “My memories are Aella’s,” she said quietly. “And I’m certain, at least I think I’m certain, that this is where he sealed up the hammer.”
“It’s real?” Crowley asked. “And how can you know that?”
“It’s somewhere down below. Ragnar’s sons killed me…Aella, but that was because Aella had been the one to kill Ragnar. But before Ragnar died, Aella got the location of Mjolnir from him. And because it was, in Aella’s mind, an evil and dangerous pagan thing, though he was tempted by its power, he tried to ensure that it would never be found. I know, I remember, that the hiding place was here!”
Crowley looked nervously at Cameron, who stood near the door keeping an eye out. Cameron raised his hands, Crowley shrugged, so Cameron came back to them. “We need to get ourselves organized,” he said.
Crowley nodded. “Rose, what can we do?”
She squeezed her eyes closed in concentration. “Ragnar’s apostasy from the Norse religion cost him everything, that’s what Landvik told me. Aella was sure the hammer itself would lead him to ruin, because he was a pious Christian man. He feared what it could do. I have his memories of learning that this is where Ragnar hid it, and of Aella coming here to seal it up, but I can’t see clearly. I can’t see where, apart from it being somewhere low, somewhere dark.”
“How is that possible?” Crowley asked.
Rose flashed him an angry look. “How is any of this possible?”
“It’s all feasible,” Cameron said, looking slowly around himself. “The crag this castle stands on would have reminded someone like Ragnar of the special rocks and hills in Scandinavia where the dead were believed to dwell. He might have even thought of it as an entrance to Valhalla. It’s a good place to hide something of such importance.”
Rose frowned. “Isn’t Valhalla supposedly in the sky? Like Viking heaven or something?”
Cameron shook his head. “Valhalla, or 'hall of the fallen' derives from valhallr.” He spelled it out. “That means 'the rock of the fallen'. I think Ragnar would have found in this place a connection to his gods.”
“Okay,” Rose said. “So it makes sense that Ragnar would hide it here, and it’s just as good a place for Aella to have sealed up Mjolnir forever.”
“If that’s the case,” Crowley said. “If the hammer is actually a real thing, and it’s really here, we can save our lives if we find it first.”
Chapter 50
Landvik, Jarn and Levi hurried along the cobbled path and went to enter the gate leading up to the castle entrance. A young man ran from the wooden shed they had passed.
“Excuse me! You need a ticket.”
Landvik paused, sucked a breath in through his nose, and turned to the young man.
Jarn leaned close. “Best to keep as calm as possible, sir. The trouble back there will catch up soon enough.”
Landvik allowed himself one curt nod. The young pragmatist was an asset in this instance. “You’re right. Thank you.” He turned a smile to the ticket officer. “My apologies. How much?”
A few moments later they were on their way up the long, uneven cobbled steps.
“I feel like I’ve just been robbed,” Landvik said.
Jarn laughed. “That’s these kinds of attractions for you. They gouge the populace to keep them open.”
A few small groups of tourists were braving the inclement weather and Landvik moved impatiently around them. The rain had eased again, back to a gusting drizzle more like a thick mist than anything that could really be called a downpour. But he was already soaked, his skin wet and icy. A soft shiver kept rippling through him and all he wanted was to be somewhere warm and dry. All this running around after Rose Black and her incessantly annoying boyfriend was beginning to shred his nerves. But a little more patience and they’d have them. This was a dead end, and it had the feeling of an impending conclusion.
They climbed the steps to the lower battery and paused to get their bearings. A tourist tapped Landvik on the shoulder.
“Excuse me, could you take a photo for us please?” He pointed to a woman and three children standing against the battlements, the gusting rain and ocean behind them like a Turner seascape.
“No, I could not!” Landvik said and turned away.
He heard the man mutter, “Well, how rude!” then he was striding into the main entrance hall.
“You think Rose has been holding out on us?” Levi asked. “Like, she knew all along it was here?”
“No idea, but it must be here. Why would they run here otherwise?”
“Perhaps they were just running.”
Landvik paused, shook his head. “No. Something has drawn all of us here. Fates are at work this day. We are meant to be in this place, at this time. I’m sure the hammer is hidden here somewhere.”
“But I checked the history,” Jarn said, his voice nervous. No doubt he knew he was on thin ice contradicting Landvik’s conviction. “The first recorded structure here on this rock was built in the sixteenth century.”
Landvik turned to him, one eyebrow raised.
Jarn paused, and then continued. “This rock, it’s called Beblowe Crag. The first recorded structure here is Beblowe Fort, not built until 1548. That’s nearly a thousand years after Ragnar Lodbrok’s time.”
“You think nothing was here before?” Landvik asked. He gestured forward. “That way. Look for Miss Black and her friends.”
They moved on. “Well, history says…” Jarn began.
“History is written by the winners and by politicians. This island was raided by the Vikings in 793. They had a presence here and they would have established various places of habitation and worship. They absolutely would not have ignored a rock like this, a possible gateway to Valhalla.”
Tourists blocked one room and Landvik turned the other way, stalking along a narrow passage.
“So if the hammer was hidden here, then the castle was built on top of it, you think the hammer was moved?” Jarn asked. “Taken away? Hidden in the new construction?”
Landvik shook his head. “I’ve been researching thoroughly. This is my life’s work. I’m certain the hammer has never been discovered. It must be hidden beneath the castle, perhaps in the remnants of the old fort that stood here.” He paused, thoughtful, then shook his head. “It’s somewhere here.”
“How can you know for certain, sir?” Jarn asked. “That the hammer has never been found, I mean. No one knows what it looks like, right?”
“If it had been found, the world would know,” Landvik said. “That’s surely true, because there’s none like it. Now move. We must find them quickly!”
Chapter 51
Crowley led the way into the castle’s “Ship Room” at the far end of the corridor. They were fast running out of places to search or hide. A large model of a Dutch ship hung from the ceiling above, presumably giving the room its name. The room itself was not unlike the hull of a ship turned upside down, the walls rising and curving in to meet high above in a slight point rather than a smooth arch. Deeply recessed windows let in wan light to either side, the floor a herringbone of red bricks, like most places throughout the castle.
Crowley looked about the room, thankfully empty of tourists. People seemed to be heading off, perhaps about to join a tour outside or something. It worked for them, allowing more freedom of movement, but they had little left to explore. And he was increasingly concerned about Rose’s state of mind. She was plagued by these flashes of memory. They had a physical impact on her, made her dizzy and uncertain on her feet. Whatever that bawbag Landvik had done to her, it seemed to have long-lasting effects.