Vulgar the Viking and the Rock Cake Raiders Read Free Page A

proper Vikings are about – sea serpents and battles.”
    “And bogies,” Knut reminded him.
    “Yeah! And bogies,” said Vulgar, grinning.
    Knut sniffed. “It was a bit shorter than I expected,” he said. “Not really ‘History Day’. More like ‘History Five Minutes’.”
    “But what a five minutes !”said Vulgar, sighing happily.
    “What do you want to do now?” asked Knut.
    “Well, I’m not doing basket-weaving,” said Vulgar.
    “I’ve got my pocket money. We could go buy some cakes from Ivar the Baker,”suggested Knut.
    Vulgar jumped to his feet. “Buy cakes?” he scoffed. “ Buy cakes?! Vikings don’t buy cakes – we pillage them!”
    Knut didn’t look convinced. “Can you pillage a cake?”
    “You can pillage anything if you try hard enough,” Vulgar told him. He was hopping from foot to foot. “Ivar’s shop is on the other side of the fishpond,” he said. “We should sail across it in our longboat, pillage the cakes, then sail back here and eat them.”
    “Um, we don’t have a longboat,” Knut reminded him.
    “Loki’s kneecaps!” cursed Vulgar, punching his fist against his palm. “You’re right.”
    He thought for a moment, then clicked his fingers. “But wait! We’re in the Great Hall. They keep all the building suppliesin the cellar. Nails. Wood. Things like that. I bet there’s even cloth for a sail. We can build our own longboat!”
    Kunt’s face turned several shades paler. “The cellar?” he whispered. “I heard there are trolls down there.”
    Vulgar grinned. Grabbing Knut by the arm, he darted past the few remaining children, ducked into a corner, and creaked open the thick wooden door that led to the cellar steps. “If there are trolls,” he said, “they’d better stay out of our way!”
    The stone stairs leading down into the Great Hall’s cellar were dark and narrow. What little light snuck in through the open door soon faded as the two boys crept down the steps.
    “Are you s-s-sure about this?” asked Knut, sticking close to Vulgar as they finally reached the bottom.

    “It’s just the door,” said Vulgar. “Stop being scared, Vikings don’t get—”
    “ Ssssh! ” hissed Knut. “Listen!”

    Vulgar stopped talking, and that was when he heard it. The slow clop-clop-clop of footsteps on the stairs behind them. Something was with them in the cellar. Something was moving in the shadows.
    And whatever it was, it was getting closer.

CHAPTER FOUR
THE THING IN THE CELLAR
    “It’s a troll!” screamed Knut. “Or a dragon! Or … or a dragon troll !”
    “Shut up!” hissed Vulgar, clamping a hand over Knut’s mouth. He was too late, though. Whatever was coming down the stairs had heard them, and now it was moving faster, clomping down the steps, closer and closer and—
    “Hello,” said a voice from somewhere right behind them. This time both boysscreamed, before Vulgar recognised the voice.
    “Freya?” he groaned. “What are you doing here?”
    A candle spluttered to life, and lit up the princess’s face. “I would ask you the same thing,” she said, “but I know exactly what you’re doing here. I heard you talking upstairs.”
    Vulgar shot Knut a nervous glance. “What did you hear, exactly?”
    A sly smile spread across Freya’s face. “ Everything ,”she said. “The pond. The cakes. Building your own longboat. I heard it all, and I’m going to tell your mum you skipped basket-weaving. Unless…”
    “Unless what?” demanded Vulgar.
    “Unless you let me play, too,” she replied.
    Vulgar looked horrified. “Play?” hesaid. “ Play? We’re not playing, we’re looting!”
    “And pillaging,” Knut reminded him.
    “Yeah, and pillaging,” agreed Vulgar. “We’re proper looting and proper pillaging, like proper Vikings do. It’s not a game!”
    “Look,” snapped Freya, bringing her face close to his. “If you don’t let me join in, I’ll tell my father what you’re up to, and that you tied my hair to the pillar.