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There was a definite feeling of satisfaction amongst people on their return to Dalriada, a feeling of a job completed, unfinished business dealt with. Scott and Gabrain made their way slowly through the snow back to Inveraray and to the girls' welcome home. Scott and the two girls celebrated by christening the sunken bath, which had been finished in his absence. As he had suspected, Fiona had planned a bubble bath and her liquid soap worked perfectly. They had great fun playing around in the tub, water splashing everywhere.
Gabrain took to training his wolf cub with great application. He had discussed how to approach it with Scott and had listened attentively to the tips he was given. He carried a supply of treats for the cub and kept his commands short and clear, rewarding him when he got things right. With the imagination of youth he had named the cub - Wolf! The pair became a common sight as they trooped round the camp; the cub bouncing playfully through the snow that was almost deeper than it was high. His first task had been to house-train the cub and everybody was pleased when he achieved that and the girls could escape having to clean up after him.
The Inveraray cold store provided variety to their winter diet and shellfish and fish from Loch Fyne augmented that. There were plenty of vegetables and grain/flour and the people in the camp knew they had never had it so good. Scott experimented making various different types of pasta, some of it utilising the shellfish. Gabrain and the girls were quick to complement him on his culinary skills. All this of course meant that they didn't need to slaughter any of their valuable livestock unnecessarily.
As has been his practice during previous winters, Scott also took time out to review what had been achieved in the past year and to think about new ideas that could be taken forward in the next one. He and Gabrain spent some evenings looking out over Loch Fyne. The house had a balcony designed into it especially for this purpose and they huddled round a glowing brazier as they chatted about where they would take Dalriada next.
Scott spoke about crop rotation, helping to replenish the nutrients in the soil and keep it productive. He also remembered other techniques for preserving food such as bottling. Gabrain wondered about trying to develop better protection for horsemen, his memories of Scott's wound still clear in his mind. Scott thought about this and discussed armour with the young man, now nearly fourteen. He explained the weight of armour and why their horses weren't strong enough to cope with that. He did think they could do something with metal shields however, perhaps a different design that allowed the shield to protect the upper legs as well as the body.
As they sat in companionable silence Scott stared vacantly into the fire in the brazier, daydreaming, as motes of ash rose into the night air. His focus slowly returned and he realised he was watching the ash particles, fascinated by the way they floated upwards. There was something about the motion that tickled at his thoughts, suggested something he should be aware of.
"Convection!" He said.
"Scott?"
"Hot air rises Gabrain, see the way the ash from the fire rises? It's to do with a phenomenon called convection. Hot air rises above cooler air."
"And what does that make you think of Scott?"
"Hot air balloons Gabrain, hot air balloons."
"Explain Scott, what is a hot air balloon?"
Scott explained how an envelope of material could be used to capture hot air and that this could be used to lift the envelope up into the air. If the balloon was big enough it could carry several men high up into the sky.
"Why would that be of benefit Scott? We're not birds."
"No, but if we could raise men in a balloon we could see what our enemies are up to or even drop things on them from above."
Gabrain had great difficulty in picturing what Scott was trying to describe, the concept completely alien to him. He could see that Scott was very excited however. Wolf yipped in his sleep at Gabrain's feet, never far away from his young master.
Hella's school was a busy place during the remainder of the winter. The structure was heated at both ends by large fireplaces and all of the children of Inveraray were sent to study, no other gainful use for them being available during the snows. At first the children were resentful that they weren't being allowed to spend all of their time playing in the snow, but eventually they were bitten by the education bug. Hella's bright and fun approach to teaching helped enormously, as the children began to view the lessons as a new form of play.
As the snows began to melt, Scott was busy setting new projects in motion. He had some of the women sew together a double thickness of linen into the shape of a balloon and had his woodworkers make a basket to sit under it. He tried various methods of heating air to raise the balloon but without any real success. Once more the people of the camp thought this was one of his crazier ideas.
He also started strengthening of all his camps through the erection of concrete ramparts, limestone proving to be in short supply however.
Scott next began to think of trade again. He had persuaded Murdoch in Fife to open up a port there and he had been working with him to build up exchange with various merchants. He felt there should be something more however, and racked his brains to think of a way of accelerating things. Eventually he decided that if the goods he needed wouldn't come to him, he would have to go to them. He would need to go to where the merchants picked up their cargo himself, see what was available and try to establish a demand for his own goods.
He talked such a venture over with Gabrain and the girls and was surprised at how positive they were about it. He believed this year was less likely to see much by way of Norse raiding and it could be a good time to venture across the seas to Europe. His knowledge suggested that a visit to the Mediterranean would be worthwhile, the convergence of Arabic and African cultures surely giving access to resources that he didn't currently have?
Plans were made for an early departure. Scott decided he would take five longships, loading them up with trade goods and armaments for defence. He was doubtful about taking the girls with him but it was clear they were not going to be denied and once more he knew it was pointless arguing. He called a conference with Lachlan and Colmgil to tell them of his plans and agree arrangements for the Kingdom in their absence. Both thought the planned trip was foolhardy in the extreme, but agreed to make sure that they maintained the necessary defences.
Towards the end of April they set out from Oban, five ships loaded down with wine, whisky, salt and soap. They even took a dismantled wagon. Also loaded was a supply of oil pots and thousands of spare bolts for their crossbows. They sailed out to sea and then headed down the coast of what Scott knew as England and Wales, navigating the Irish Sea. All he had to go on now was his compass and a general knowledge of European geography.
He set course in a southeast direction once they had passed the isles of Scilly, in the general direction of Spain he hoped. The winds were favourable and they made good distance, sighting land three days later. They followed the coastline south until they arrived at what Scott thought must be the narrow entrance to the Mediterranean, then headed east.
They spotted signs of people, fishing boats, merchant ships and also began to notice the weather was becoming noticeably hotter. One area looked like it was a centre of activity, along what Scott knew as the Spanish 'Costas' from his own time. They decided to investigate. Scott had been on vacation in Spain many times and he had picked up quite a bit of the language, enough to make himself understood he hoped. When they pulled into the bay and up to a man-made harbour they created quite a stir, the locals no doubt thinking they were about to be attacked. When it became clear that no attack was going to be forthcoming, people began to approach their ships at the dockside.
Scott was surprised to see that most of the locals were actually black in colour, not at all like the Spaniards he had known. It hit him then that Spain's history had been just as violent as that of Scotland, this far back in time much of the country would have been in control of the Moors. He was not surprised therefore when he couldn't make out any of the local language nor make himself understood. He fell back on that age-old remedy - sign language. It transpired they had docked in the shadows of the Sierra Nevada mountain range and nothing would do but that a small party of them had to climb one of the peaks to view the Mediterranean from on high.
The view was magnificent, the sunbaked, brown land giving way to the dazzlingly turquoise sea. Flat roofed houses dotted the landscape, presumably made from mud or clay bricks and brightly coloured.
The trade however, was not quite so magnificent! They did manage to conduct some, but not very much, surprisingly the soap proving to be in most demand with these Muslims. In return Scott received some fantastic bolts of cloth, silk if he wasn't mistaken. They also traded for fresh food and were soon on their way once more.
They passed the Balearic Islands and sailed on towards Sardinia and Italy, landing for a while at Civitavecchia. Here Scott hired some horses and twenty of them rode the twenty or so miles to Rome itself. All agreed that Rome was an impressive sight, historic buildings existing even in the ninth century. Of course, the locals looked at them with great curiosity given their 'strange' garb and everywhere they went they attracted crowds. Too much of this made them feel extremely uncomfortable however, and they weren't long in returning to the ships.
Two more weeks of sailing in the Mediterranean and calling at various ports allowed them to trade a little but to be honest, Scott was very disappointed. His own goods were not much in demand and he didn't see a lot that would progress Dalriada much. His biggest discovery was books. He had brought several churchmen, one who had studied Latin and this stood him in good stead. This was, he discovered, the period of Charlemagne and the nobility had access to schools of learning. He traded hard in Rome for a small stock of books covering what were being described as the seven 'liberal arts', all written in Latin. He felt this was his most significant find of the trip so far. The 'arts' were rhetoric, grammar, argument, music, geometry, arithmetic and astronomy. His monk assured him that the books could be translated for use back in Dalriada and Scott knew this would be a huge step forward for his education plans.
Other small things were secured too. He found a source of rice and of herbs - sage, rosemary, thyme and oregano. He also found some chickens and thought these would be a useful addition to the food chain at home. Scott re-discovered the joy of eating prawns cooked in wine and garlic - delicious. He set up a range of barrels on each ship, filling them with seawater and live varieties of prawn - from the small shrimps to the larger langoustine. He was determined to try and keep them alive to see whether he could establish a stock in Loch Fyne.
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