work on deck. However, they paid no attention to Einar as he darted from one spot to another. He managed to remain unnoticed until he reached the bridge, where he nearly bumped into First Officer Ulf, who was just about to launch into a lecture about how he shouldn’t have come on board without permission, and how dangerous it was in general; but, seeing the pleading look, he merely glanced at his captain and waved his hand, sighing heavily. Einar thanked him silently and, in a few bounds, found himself at the railing behind his father. The brothers were staring intently at the deck, so no one had noticed him yet.
‘If your mother found out about this, you’d be in for it!’ Jarl tried to shout as quietly as possible. ‘What were you thinking? That no one would notice?! That you’d manage to bring something like that into the town?!’ It seemed his father was only just getting started, so this wasn’t about something that had happened during the expedition, but something fresh. ‘You blockheads! You’ve really lost the plot!’ Olaf put his hands on his hips and leaned forward, casting a shadow over his sons. ‘Where on earth did you dig up books like that?!’ Einar tilted his head with interest. Whatever else might be said, he’d never heard of the brothers getting a telling-off for reading books. Usually, they had to sit through lectures for not doing so. Strange. ‘If your mother finds out, she’ll give you empty-headed lot a proper telling-off! And me along with you!’
‘It’s no big deal,’ Bragi muttered boldly, but quietly.
‘No big deal?!’ Jarl bristled even more. ‘I can just see Astrid saying it’s no big deal!’ The man slapped his side with his massive hand. ‘What on earth am I to do with you lot?’ he added, more calmly. ‘One big headache in four acts,’ said the father, shaking his head in resignation. ‘What if Einar or one of the younger lads had found it?’ he asked his sons quietly.
‘We’d have hidden it well,’ replied the twins in unison.
