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    Mrs. Claus and the Viking Ship
    Mrs. Claus and the Viking Ship
    Mrs. Claus and the Viking Ship
    Ebook63 pages38 minutes

    Mrs. Claus and the Viking Ship

    By Laura Strickland

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    Scottish chief's daughter Tinnie MacAieth can think of only one way to ransom her clan's folk, defeated by the fierce Viking, Claus — agree to his demand that she become his bride. She hopes the faith she holds to and the love she has for her people will give strength to endure a lonely, loveless future in the cold north. Claus has claimed Tinnie for his wife, but the prize he truly wants is her heart. Determined to win it, he offers her many gifts, but not until he undertakes a dangerous winter voyage for her sake does he dare hope. And on one magical Christmas Eve, while delivering toys by sleigh to her clan's children, he begins to believe she may grant him the one gift he desires...
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherThe Wild Rose Press
    Release dateNov 19, 2014
    ISBN9781628302875
    Mrs. Claus and the Viking Ship
    Author

    Laura Strickland

    Born and raised in Western New York, Laura Strickland has been an avid reader and writer since childhood. Embracing her mother's heritage, she pursued a lifelong interest in Celtic lore, legend and music, all reflected in her writing. She has made pilgrimages to both Newfoundland and Scotland in the company of her daughter, but is usually happiest at home not far from Lake Ontario, with her husband and her "fur" child, a rescue dog. She practices gratitude every day.

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      Book preview

      Mrs. Claus and the Viking Ship - Laura Strickland

      Inc.

      Mrs. Claus

      and the

      Viking Ship

      by

      Laura Strickland

      This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales, is entirely coincidental.

      Mrs. Claus and the Viking Ship

      COPYRIGHT © 2014 by Laura Strickland

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the author or The Wild Rose Press, Inc. except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

      Contact Information: info@thewildrosepress.com

      Cover Art by Diana Carlile

      The Wild Rose Press, Inc.

      PO Box 708

      Adams Basin, NY 14410-0708

      Visit us at www.thewildrosepress.com

      Publishing History

      First English Tea Rose Edition, 2014

      Digital ISBN 978-1-62830-287-5

      Published in the United States of America

      The GUARDIANS OF SHERWOOD Trilogy

      by Laura Strickland

      DAUGHTER OF SHERWOOD

      CHAMPION OF SHERWOOD

      LORD OF SHERWOOD

      Available from The Wild Rose Press, Inc.

      Dedication

      To Cheryl,

      who read aloud with me, for the gift of her friendship

      Chapter One

      Strathaidh, Scotland c. 850 AD

      Mother, what is it? Breathless, Tinnie burst into the great hall of the dun to find her mother alone and pacing like a woman gone mad. Swiftly she appraised Mairi MacAieth’s appearance—wild eyes, wild hair, desperate expression—and her heart twisted in her breast. Dread gripped her, hard and merciless. What has happened?

      Ah, and what more could happen? Tinnie feared to imagine. For the past two seasons, Clan Aieth had been at war with an enemy so cruel and terrible they could only call him the monster. He came by sea, this vile beast, out of the far north like all his fellow marauders, and brought a host of warriors with him. Their great longships appeared on the horizon like water dragons riding the foam. And, when they did, even hardened warriors trembled, for they came to plunder, maim, and subjugate without mercy.

      Daughter, the monster has sent a message. He wishes to meet with us and talk terms.

      A frantic quaver accompanied the words. In response, Tinnie’s stomach tightened further and her thoughts raced through a thousand doubts and terrors, all of which she hesitated to express.

      Mairi MacAieth raised both hands to grip her head as she paced the worn stones beside the hearth. The room, once a comfortable chamber, had long since been converted from a meeting place for clansmen and family into a space for feeding orphans and treating the wounded.

      Aye, for it had been such a long and terrible fight. Back in the beginning, Clan Aieth, determined to stand strong, had striven to resist. Tinnie’s father had organized his warriors and made a fortress of his own dwelling where his folk could take refuge during times of attack. Last winter had been hard, a time of deprivation, even once the monster retreated over the icy waves. Want rode Clan Aieth every bit as brutally as the Northmen.

      Their neighbors along this north Scottish coast, under attack by still other marauders, had little help to offer. Deep in the harsh winter, having given all of himself to his people, Tinnie’s father, Cormac MacAieth, perished.

      Tinnie’s mother, courageous to the core and unwilling to fail her husband’s legacy, tried to carry on. Looking at her now, though, Tinnie wondered if that had not been the moment when Clan Aieth truly lost the fight, when Cormac died. Oh, aye, they had taken up arms again when spring came and the longships returned like terrible harbingers of the season. But now the Chief’s house contained only two women—mother and daughter.

      Strange to think in all this time they had not so much as set eyes on the leader of these men who beleaguered and sought so determinedly to ruin them.

      Tinnie took a few tentative steps farther into the room, which lay cold and full of gloom. Rain pounded down outside. Aye, the north of Scotland might be no stranger to rain, but now it came blown by a merciless autumn wind. Already they faced another winter of want and

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