Vikings: Nordic women

Chapter 4 Recruiting people
"Has your brother not returned yet? How long has it been since you last tasted food?" she asked anxiously. Although she had a premonition in her heart, she still longed for a definite answer.

Ralph shook his head slightly and continued his silence.

A bitter feeling welled up in Ouni's heart. Ralph's silence was like a sharp blade, evoking the painful memory of losing her father.

However, she understood that sadness could not change the current situation, and she had to be strong, both for herself and to set an example for the child.

Originally, her nose was filled with the fragrance of the earth, a mixture of musk, fresh soil and an aroma similar to vegetable oil.

But at this moment, a gust of wind brought the smell of Ralph, and she couldn't help but wrinkle her nose, feeling nauseous, and her mind went blank.

Ralph exudes a rich scent of compounds produced by the breakdown of sweat by minerals and microorganisms.

White people have more developed sweat glands, and this catastrophic smell that almost makes people faint is also the reason why she has always been a germaphobe.

She takes a bath almost every day, and if she neglects to clean herself, she will smell bad, which is the main reason why she hates sweat after exercise.

In the past, Field did not like to take a bath, and young Eunice was extremely disgusted by this, so the father and daughter often quarreled about this matter. In the end, Field would always make concessions after a few days of cold war and eating smoked fish and dried seabird meat for several days.

Ralph slowly raised his face, which was covered with tears and snot. He shook his head but remained silent.

"Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle~" Suddenly, a loud bowel sound broke the silence.

Ounnie stroked her belly with a confused look on her face. At first she thought it was her hunger rumbling, but then she realized it was Ralph's stomach protesting.

"Come with me!" Ou Ni stretched out her hand without hesitation and pulled the "naughty kid" up.

At this moment, she was determined that even the cats passing by would not escape the fate of being forced to take a bath.

She led the shy Ralph back to her home and began to prepare food and hot water for him.

After listening to Ralph's bulging cheeks, O'Neal made a decision: "From now on, you will live with me. But you have to abide by my rules and take a bath every day, understand?"

Ralph looked at her with a puzzled look. After thinking for a moment, he raised his head and met her eyes. His heart beat faster involuntarily and he nodded slightly.

She was one step closer to forming a warband.

Ou Ni took out the sulfur soap made of animal fat and wood ash, which smelled like rotten eggs and was used to kill bacteria and mites.

The hot water slid over Ralph's thin shoulders, and O'Neal carefully used sulfur soap to wash the dirt off his body.

Every wipe is an erasure of past sufferings; every rinse with clean water is a baptism of hope for the future.

After taking a bath, Ralph was placed in her father's room, hoping that this would add a little liveliness to the home.

The sadness of Field's departure seemed to be alleviated, and she felt as if she could get a good night's sleep.

However, gradually, the dream began to change.

In the dream, she stood at the bow, holding the rope of the sail tightly, a thunderstorm roared in the distance, and the rain hit her face mercilessly, soaking her hair.

The sails had already been lowered, and the heavy armor made it almost impossible for her to breathe.

"Conspiracy! This is all a conspiracy! We can't go back, we shouldn't have gone out to sea!"

Behind him, two rows of Viking warriors paddled hard, and some were cursing loudly, affecting everyone's morale.

The storm ahead could not stop their warship from sailing against the wind and waves, but as fate would have it, the thunderstorm and huge waves created by Thor striking the anvil eventually overturned the ship.

Ouni struggled in the water. The huge waves made it impossible for her to float to the surface to breathe. It seemed that she was about to die in the sea.

"It's her! It's her, damn it, this is all a conspiracy, Loki is targeting her!"

Amid the accusations, Ounnie suddenly woke up from her dream, her collar soaked with sweat, and she felt extremely uneasy.

The storm in the dream symbolizes the confusion and fear in Ouni's heart. She knows that she must face it, whether it is the unattainable challenges in reality or the demon called fear in her heart.

She wiped off the sweat, cleaned herself with cold water and soap, and changed into clean clothes.

She felt that she should not only recruit a group of easy-to-control Viking children as future warriors of the warband, but also build a new type of sea ship that could withstand wind and waves.

She was going out to sea, not to die! How could a small sampan cross the rough Wadden Sea?

If you do that, your life and death will be entirely at the mercy of God. How crazy!
She pulled the brown bearskin blanket over her head and thought about what she needed to do in the future. Time passed quietly without her noticing, and after a night, Ouni looked up from her busy morning.

"Ralph?" she whispered to him, who was sitting by the fire baking barley cakes. "Will you do me a favor?"

Ralph turned his head in confusion.

The morning mist had not yet dissipated when Ounnie and Ralph, each carrying a basket filled with fragrant barley cakes and smoked fish, set out on their way.

They pay special attention to remote corners, where vagrants and homeless children often hide.

Ouni's decision was not only to help the war orphans, but also to plan for her own future. She knew that those children would be the key to her dream coming true.

At this moment, she seemed to radiate a maternal glow.

The road was muddy, and Ou Ni was very careful to avoid getting her boots dirty, so she tried to walk on dry ground.

A man and a woman stopped in front of the barn. Ounnie noticed that there seemed to be a figure under the thatch. It seemed to be a homeless man.

Ralph was about to approach when he was gently stopped by O'Neal. She shook her head and quietly led Ralph around the homeless man.

"Why?" Ralph asked puzzled.

"Rule always comes from the top down," Ouni explained in a low voice, "while we are still weak, it is best not to recruit adults easily."

Ralph seemed to understand.

Just then, Ounnie discovered a "naughty kid" squatting under the eaves. She walked over, and in the other's eyes she was like a girl walking out of the fog.

She held out a barley cake and smoked fish. "What's your name, child?"

"Robert!" The child's voice was childish. He looked younger than Ralph and his eyes were fixed on the basket she was carrying.

There was a smell of food inside and he was very hungry!
"Okay, Robert, can you do me a favor?" Ounnie blinked, her voice blocked by the face towel, and asked gently.

She felt like she was Grandma Wolf trapping Little Red Riding Hood.

The other person looked up at her and took the food from Ounnie with his two dirty little hands.

At this moment, the employment agreement was reached silently.

O'Neal and Ralph's team continued to grow in the settlement, attracting six boys and two girls of different ages, including Robert.

The food in the baskets had not yet been distributed, but unfortunately, Ouni could not satisfy the hunger of these hungry children. She was worried that they would be injured or even die from eating too much.

Hungry people always eat very quickly, and often by the time they feel slightly full, they have already eaten too much.

Ouni looked at the group of children and secretly vowed in her heart that she would do everything she could to ensure that they could survive in this cruel world.

Only when they are well can she be well!
"Miss Eunice, what do we need to do?" On the way, Robert, who learned of Eunice's name, asked curiously, his eyes fixed on her basket.

"No, you need to take care of yourself. Even Frey, the god of harvest, will not deliver food directly into people's mouths. You need to get it yourself and put it into your stomach!" Ounnie replied.

Everyone looked at each other, as if they couldn't quite understand what Ou Ni meant. They gathered around her, as if being close to her who fed them would make them feel at ease.

After returning home, Ou Ni began to teach the boys in detail how to build an earthen furnace, down to the precise steps of building the frame and mixing clay with straw residue to prevent the earthen walls of the furnace from cracking in the sun.

Taking into account that they might not have a good memory, she explained the steps again in detail step by step and asked everyone to remember some of the steps.

She didn't get involved because she didn't like working with clay, it made her skin itchy.

After arranging everything, Ou Ni took the two girls up the mountain.

Standing in the woods, the breeze blowing her skirt, she looked back and overlooked the settlement and the sea, her horizons broadened and a sense of heroism suddenly arose in her heart.

She was going to do something that even she thought was crazy.

Ouni picked a plant and showed it to the two girls beside her.

(End of this chapter)