Page 126 of The Reluctant Viking

“Mom, can I go to Greg’s house after football practice? His mom said I could sleep over. We’re gonna rent videos.”

“I guess it would be all right, Eddie, as long as his parents will be there,” Ruby said, the normalcy of her voice striking her as odd. Actually, she was thankful to put off her painful discussion with her sons about their father’s leaving. “Make sure you behave yourself, and don’t forget to thank Mrs. Summers for having you.”

Ruby realized then, with a rueful giggle, that maternal instincts must kick in automatically. They didn’t require sanity at all.

“Oh, yeah, I’ll behave,” Eddie promised with sick teenage humor. “I promise not to puke all over their carpet during the beer party.”

“Eddie, that’s not funny.”

“Lighten up, Mom. It was just a joke.”

Ruby realized then that David should have been home from school. “Do you have any idea where your brother is?”

“Are you losin’ it, Mom? You told him this morning that Grandma was pickin’ him up after school and that he could spend the weekend with her.”

“Oh, that’s right. I remember now.”

“Mom, are you all right?” Eddie asked worriedly.

No, I am definitely not all right, Ruby thought, but she told her son, “Sure, hon, I just woke up from a nap and I’m a little groggy.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon then.”

“Bye-bye, hon.”

Ruby walked into the kitchen and made herself a cup of instant coffee. Sitting at the kitchen table, she drummed her fingers distractedly. Thoughts twirled at random in her head.

Okay, these were the facts. Something had happened to her today, Ruby was convinced of that. It didn’t matter that only two hours had passed. She could never have dreamt all those characters and events—Jorvik, Gyda, Olaf, all their daughters, including lovable Tyra, Dar and Aud, Eirik and Tykir, gossipy Ella. Ruby grinned at that last thought. Imagine dreaming of a Viking version of her cleaning lady! Not to mention all those other people—Sigtrygg, Byrnhil, Selik, King Athelstan, King Harald.

And Thork! Most of all, Thork!

Ruby’s heart ached for her Norse husband who was Jack but not really Jack. Her sweet, ferocious Viking who had suffered so and then died. They’d had such a short time together.

It was all so confusing.

Suddenly inspired, Ruby went back to Jack’s library where she pulled several encyclopedias off the shelf. With each enlightening paragraph she read, Ruby’s heart beat faster and her head spun. Good Lord! York, England, had indeed been called Jorvik during the Viking period. A Norse king, Sigtrygg One-Eye, did marry a sister of the Saxon King Athelstan, and the vain Harald, high-king of Norway, did have many wives and children who fought bloodily among themselves for his crown.

“How could I have known all those things?” Ruby wondered aloud.

Reading more, she found that eventually Eric Bloodaxe, Thork’s half-brother, became the king of Jorvik, and, in fact, was the last of the Norse kings to reign in Northumbria. Young Haakon, Thork’s other half-brother, later called Haakon the Good, ruled Norway. Perhaps Athelstan’s scholarly court had influenced Haakon in the right direction.

The revealing information stunned Ruby. Unable to absorb any more for now, she put the books down.

“Mizzus Jordan, I’m leavin’ now.”

Ruby jumped in alarm at the voice and went out to the hall. “Rhoda, what are you doing here so late?”

“I was jus’ finishin’ up the ironin’. Do ya want me to come two days next week soz I kin start on the windows?”

Ruby nodded, then smiled, seeing the National Enquirer rolled up under Rhoda’s arm.

“Ya okay? Ya look awful funny.” Rhoda scrutinized her myopically through her bifocals.

Oh, yeah! I’m just bloody wonderful. Did you happen to see a longship in the backyard? Ruby quipped silently, but kept her thoughts to herself. She didn’t need ditzy Rhoda involved in this nightmare. Calmly she answered, “I’m fine. Just tired.”

“’Member what I toldja ’bout that bug that’s goin’ ’round. Read about it in my papers. Came all the way from China. Only thing that kin cure it is garlic pills.”

Ruby paid her, with a grin, and shooed her out the door before Rhoda launched into retelling one of her tabloid stories. She’d probably explain Ruby’s whole time-travel experience as something involving aliens from outer space.