Since your only option is to go on the strange ship or follow Leif, you choose the latter. You realize this doesn’t matter as he gruffly pushes you towards the ship anyway.
The new man is speaking to the crowd, and you don’t understand much of what he says but you do know the other boys coming up to the ship. They are servants and slaves – their masters are trading them for a few coins each.
You try to run back into the crowd, but Lief pushes you on and coins fall into his hands. The strange man’s companions now block your escape.
Only then do you remember what that cross means – this man is a Christian from far over the water. You have heard the stories of them buying boys for their missions and monasteries. Redemption and salvation they call it, but these words are meaningless to you. Instead, you think only that you will never see your brother again …
