Chapter 2

2 weeks later

I hummed quietly while milking our goat Britta; the morning had been very busy. Father had gone to work early with my older brother Joakim, they were both woodcutters, although Joakim wasn't very good at it, he had quite a petite body structure and he had been ill a lot as a child. Still he tried his best to help father, but it was clear that he couldn't work as a woodcutter for much longer; his body simply couldn't handle such physical labor.

Mother was inside doing her chores and my little brother Linus was setting his traps in the woods. He was only 13, but he had always loved hunting, father had said that he was a natural. I wondered if Henrik was with him, they had been best friends for years. Henrik was such a sweet boy, polite and helpful, I liked him very much.

Unfortunately he also made me think about his brother Niklaus. I hadn't really spoken with him after he had escorted me home, but that was probably for the best, it seemed that I would be engaged soon, if my father and Bernt's father would finally reach an understand.

"Thank you, Britta," I said after I had finished milking and pet the goat's head. Then the chickens… My thoughts were cut off when I heard Joakim's voice.

"Mother! Help!"

I jumped to my feet and ran outside; Joakim, Linus and Henrik were in front of the cottage, carrying my father who seemed to be badly injured, I could saw a bone coming out from his leg. Mother appeared in the doorway and started to scream.

"Haldor! No, Haldor!"

"An accident," Joakim muttered when mother started to fuss over them in panic.

"No, no, no… No, no, no…"

"Shut your mouth, woman!" father snapped gritting his teeth. "Do something useful!"

Usually he didn't speak to mother like that, but obviously he was in a lot of pain. Unfortunately my mother had never been very good at handling difficult situations like this, she looked completely shocked.

"Bring him inside," I said quickly and went ahead in order to make sure that there was nothing on the table.

"Here," I said pointing at the table.

Father was pale and sweaty, gritting his teeth in order not to scream.

"Linus, a pillow," I said calmly when they had placed father on the table. "Joakim, we need Ayanna."

My brother nodded and left as quickly as he could. I was about to ask my mother to boil some water, but by the sounds of it, she was crying hysterically outside.

"Can I help?" Henrik asked.

I looked up, I had almost forgotten him.

"Can you boil water?"

He nodded and went quickly to the fireplace. Linus returned with the pillow and placed it carefully under father's head while I was examining his leg. It looked very bad; the open fracture was bleeding a lot. I really didn't know what I was doing, but I knew that I had to make the bleeding stop.

"Linus, a knife," I said automatically.

My brother didn't ask any questions, he simply handed me his knife.

"I also need a clean cloth."

"What are you doing, girl?" father hissed through clenched teeth.

"Hold on, father," I said. "I must make the bleeding stop."

My hands were surprisingly steady when I cut away father's pants around the area of the injury.

"Here," Linus muttered and handed me one of his shirts.

I took it and looked at father.

"Forgive me."

He screamed when I pressed the wound with the shirt, Linus backed away instinctively. I wrapped the shirt around father's leg, hoping that it would stop the bleeding. He didn't scream anymore, but his whole body was trembling. I moved next to him and took his hand; he squished my hand so tightly that it hurt.

"It's alright," I muttered and asked Linus to bring me water bowl. He obeyed immediately, apparently relieved to have something to do. Carefully I wiped father's forehead with a wet cloth, his face was getting paler.

"The water is ready," Henrik said quietly.

I looked up and tried to smile.

"Thank you."

He nodded and looked around.

"Is there anything else I can do?"

There was, but I hesitated to ask.

"Could you maybe check on my mother?"

I knew I should have asked Linus, but that would have probably been his worst nightmare, crying women made him almost panic. Maybe that was the case with Henrik too, I had no idea.

"Sure," he replied calmly and headed outside. At least he didn't seem to be panicking… Father was barely conscious; I kept wiping his forehead and even sang at him quietly. Where was Joakim with Ayanna? Finally I heard voices from outside, Ayanna and someone else. When they entered the cottage, I recognized this other woman as Henrik's mother Esther.

"How is he?" Ayanna asked calmly.

"He was bleeding a lot and I tried to make it stop, I hope I didn't cause more damage."

Ayanna looked at the bandage I had made and nodded approvingly.

"You did well; making the bleeding stop is always the first priority."

"Here," Esther said handing me a small bottle. "This should help for the pain."

"Thank you," I said, I wasn't going to ask what this was. "Father?"

He was too weak to react when Esther and I lifted his head and I made him drink the liquid in the bottle. Ayanna waited until we were finished until exposing the wound, she was probably going to push the bone back in.

"Hold him still," she said firmly.

I swallowed, trying my best to concentrate. Surprisingly father didn't scream, although he squirmed when Ayanna started to push the bone. The whole thing was bloody and messy, but Esther and Ayanna didn't even blink. I felt nauseous, but I managed to stay more or less calm. Together Esther and Ayanna splinted father's leg, they seemed to really know what they were doing. Despite of the situation I tried my best to observe them, in case I would have to someday do that myself. Father was unconscious, but at least he was breathing calmly.

"There," Ayanna said, wiping sweat off her forehead. "He must rest now."

I nodded.

"Thank you so much, both of you."

"You are welcome, dear," Esther said smiling.

I looked around, but my brothers were nowhere to be seen, they were probably outside. After making sure that everything was alright with father, I headed to the door. Mother was sitting on the ground, sobbing and leaning on poor Henrik's shoulder. Joakim was standing next to the stable; he seemed tense to say the least. Esther walked past me and went to my mother.

"Everything is alright, Gerda," she said calmingly and touched my mother's shoulder.

She looked up with her tearful eyes.

"My Haldar is not dying?"

Esther shook her head.

"No, but it will take a while before he will recover."

My mother was quiet for a while before she started to cry again.

"How will we survive if Haldar cannot work?"

I was wondering the same thing, although I didn't think that we would starve. We had Britta, few chickens and we could hunt. Esther tried her best to calm my mother down; I went back inside and sat next to father.

"You did well, child," Ayanna said and touched my shoulder before leaving.

"Thank you," I muttered.

I was sure that we would be alright; at least father was still alive. Everything would be just fine.

I week later

Silent tears coursed down my cheeks when I milked Britta, this was the only time when I could be weak; for a brief moment I could lean on Britta and cry. How could things go from bad to worse so quickly? Father would most likely lose his leg, he could never work again and poor Joakim couldn't take much more, he was in so much pain every night after returning from the woods.

Linus didn't say much anything and mother kept crying. I would never be Bernt's or probably anyone's wife, we couldn't afford any kind of dowry. What would happen when the winter would come? I dried my eyes and continued milking, what else I was supposed to do. When I went back inside, I noticed that we had a guest; Esther was sitting at the table with my mother.

"Hello, Valana," she greeted me.

"Hello," I replied and noticed that mother was smiling.

"There is finally some good news," she said and shed few tears, but this time they seemed to be tears of joy.

"There is?" I asked.

She nodded.

"Esther has just offered you work."

My eyes widened, that was the last thing I had expected.

"Yes," Esther said smiling. "I could use a hand around the house, and I have considered hiring someone, I thought you might be interested."

I was still stunned, but I nodded quickly.

"Yes, I am."

I didn't know or care what she would want me to do; all I knew was that I could help my family.

"I am glad to hear that. Your mother and I have already discussed about the details, I assume you wish your family to have your earnings?"

"Yes," I replied immediately.

Esther nodded.

"My family will provide you food and accommodation; we have a small spare room."

"What?" I blurted out and wanted to bite my tongue. "I mean, you wish me to…stay at your house?"

"Yes," she replied calmly. "The days will be long and the journey is too long for you to travel twice a day unescorted, your mother and I both think so."

I wasn't sure what to say, I hadn't prepared for something like this. I would have to live in a strange house… But I would help my family; that was all that mattered.

"I am honored to accept your generous offer," I said without hesitation.

She smiled.

"We should get going then, there is much work to do."