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“Looks like a trading ship,” Andor said.

“Another batch of timber?” Fridstein asked.

“No, we have all the timber we need for now.”

“It is best we warn the men,” Fridstein said. “A new trader wouldn’t be coming here hoping for business. Not while everyone in Norway thinks the village is still empty. The news could not have spread so fast.”

“Tell the men to take their swords. Let us find out.”

While Fridstein called the men, Andor grabbed his sword and strode down the path towards the wooden jetty. The banging and the thumping halted as some of his men followed him while others stood where they were, weapons in hand. Fridstein walked by his right side.

They stood on the jetty and watched the ship approach, and when it was close enough to distinguish individual people, Andor thought he had been blinded.

Among the brown and the gray of the furs on men’s shoulders, among the pale yellow of the linen tunics, long golden hair flew in the wind. Then he saw a tall figure dressed in a rich brynja chain mail, with a shield in her hand. A shield-maiden?

She had Cathy’s hair and height.

“Do you see that, Fridstein?” Andor asked.

“I do,” Fridstein said, and the surprised murmur of the men confirmed the unusual sight. “It’s a woman!”

Andor’s skin tingled everywhere, even his scalp.

Andor felt Fridstein’s eyes on him, but he dared not look away from the ship, afraid that the beautiful vision would disappear.

Could it really be Cathy? Or was he going mad from missing her? His fists clenched, one around the handle of his sword.

“Can this ship crawl any slower?” he growled.

His stomach was so tight he might have a spasm, and his heart beat so loudly, the thumping was all he could hear. Moments stretched into an eternity. He was considering taking a fishing boat and rowing towards the ship himself, just to end his suffering.

And then the vision raised her hand and waved it in quick, broad swipes.

“A Valkyrie,” Fridstein murmured in awe.

Andor still could not see her face, but he raised one hand in return, his heart bursting with hope. He was not afraid of ghosts any longer, but oh, he was afraid to hope.

If this turned out to be some mean joke of the gods, he wasn’t sure how he’d recover.

The ship glided closer and closer.

“Andor,” he heard. “Andor!”

Cathy.

But still he wouldn’t believe it until he saw her face.

And then he did.

A smile ear to ear, those sparkling gray eyes, the rosy cheeks, the lush full lips he’d longed to kiss since the first moment he saw them. That beautiful, dear face of the woman he loved.

“Andor!” she screamed again, even jumping up and down a little.

“Is that really Cathy?” Fridstein said.

Andor did not even reply. He walked in a broad stride to the very edge of the jetty, impatient for the ship to dock. He did not see anyone else, though he knew the boat was full. She was his sole focus.

Finally, the ship arrived, and his men took the ropes to dock it, but Cathy did not wait until it was secured. She jumped off the boat and right into his arms.