the austerity witches

'Prodding the slurry with his foot, he tried to separate its layers to see if any remained, but none revealed themselves easily. He knew that he should put his hand down into it and sift it through his fingers to find any grains of silver. He stood staring down at this thick goo and contemplated this option, but despite what was at stake, he just couldn't bring himself to do it. Nothing on earth could ever get him to put his hand down there to rummage.'

Boasting can be such a dangerous game to play - you never know when you will be put to the test and forced to prove yourself. No-one knows this better than Chris. Having grumbled too many times about his lack of money and made too many wild claims that he could earn it easier himself, his granddad decides to teach him a lesson. He is thrown back to the Viking era to prove himself and earn the Viking currency, hack-silver.

Armed with nothing more than a few scrappy history lessons and an abundant supply of arrogance to help him, Chris finds the challenge much tougher than he had expected, and almost impossible at times. This lazy boy is not used to the grubby and physically-demanding lifestyle that he encounters and almost immediately he annoys his new boss. But worse still, his foolish behaviour attracts the attention of some very sinister characters and events unfold that threaten everyone.

But how can he ever get out of there when there seems little hope of him ever succeeding? Sometimes you just need to roll up your sleeves and do what it takes - after all, money doesn't grow on trees!