Page 90 of The Very Virile Viking

"I think I know what happened." It was Kirsten speaking, and every one gaped at her with astonishment.

"My grandmother, Lady Asgar, was a Christian. She always said that she could not accept all the Norse legends and mystical ideas, like dragons and trolls and such, but she did believe in miracles. She said her One-God could do anything. That is what I think happened to us."

"A miracle?" Torolf scoffed. "For what reason?"

Kirsten shrugged. "That is not for me to answer."

"Why would the papist God care about us Vikings?" Njal wanted to know.

It was not such a ludicrous question.

"I suspect that God doesn't differentiate between cultures and peoples as much as we do," Angela said.

"And I must tell you all, my grandmother has been praying a novena for a miracle for some time now…

some knight in shining armor to come save the Blue Dragon."

"And she thinks I am that knight?" Magnus was horrified and pleased at the same time.

"Unfortunately, yes."

"Why unfortunately?" Magnus put his hands on his hips, a mite offended at her choice of words. It wasn't that he wanted to be a knight in shining armor, precisely, but he did not like someone—anyone—thinking he could not be one if he chose.

"Don't get your jockeys in a twist," she said with a laugh. "I just meant that if you were indeed the miracle she pleaded for, you were given no choice in the matter."

Mollified, he nodded his understanding. I will show you a knight, m'lady skeptic. Just you wait and see. I can be knightly… especially at night. My brain is melting here .

"Perchance you are correct, and the reason we time traveled is because Grandma Rose conjured us here with her papist beads, but methinks there may be another reason, as well." Torolf was rubbing his chin in a bemused fashion as he spoke. "I have been wondering if mayhap Uncle Rolf and Uncle Jorund time traveled, as well, and that for some reason we were meant to join them here."

A half dozen jaws dropped with amazement at this theory… a theory that was not entirely implausible.

Actually, when he had first left the Norselands, Magnus had had a notion to search for his brothers, but somewhere along the way he'd forgotten, or been distracted by all the other things that had happened.

Never had he considered, though, way back then, that his search might involve travel through time.

"And I have another idea," Jogeir spoke up, his chin jutting out defiantly. It was so unlike the boyling to appear belligerent that they gave him their full attention. "Has anyone… just one person… considered that in this new land, with all its modern inventions… there might be a way to repair my clubfoot?"

It was such a simple question and so fervent that Magnus felt immediate guilt that he had not brought it up himself. He put a hand on Jogeir's shoulder. "You shame us, Jogeir… with good cause. We have all been so full of ourselves and our own complaints that we did not consider your greater need." Magnus looked toward Angela with an unspoken plea for help.

"I cannot promise anything, Jogeir, but as soon as I get back to the house, I will make an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon. We will find the best possible doctor. I should not say this without seeing a doctor first, but I cannot imagine that there isn't an operation to help you." She cocked her head in question then, staring at Magnus. "Didn't you ever consult a doctor about his… uh, handicap?"

"Of course. But those were tenth-century healers. I did my best, but that was then; this is now."

They were silent for a while, pondering everything that had been said and the implications.

"Okay, assuming I believe all this time-travel or miracle stuff, and I'm not sure I do, what next? Are you guys all going to bop off back to the past without warning one day? Are you deliberately going to try to go back? Or are you here to stay? Do you even have a choice?"

"That is the question," Magnus said, and he could tell by the somber expressions on all his children's faces that they agreed. Angela had good reason to ask the question, too, because she was involved in a relationship with a man who might disappear any moment.

"I do not want to go back," Kirsten said vehemently. "I like it here."

"It would be hard fitting in here… at first," Torolf said, "but I think I could adapt. Mayhap someday I would want to go back, but right now my vote is to stay… if our voting even matters."

"Me, too. Me, too. Me, too," the rest of the children said.

Magnus looked at Angela, held the eye contact, and said in as meaningful a way as he could, "Me, too."

"What would we do here, Father? What work would you do? Where would we live?" It was the ever-logical Storvald speaking.