Chapter 9

Nothing else disturbed the night, except the clock downstairs announcing the hour and quarter hour, and the group did get some sleep. The annoying rooster woke them at the "crack of dawn." Despite the fact that this was the second time Elijah had been in the room that had belonged to Mrs. Anderson, he had not really gone through her things. Perhaps it was because he had thought she was alive. Or because he had felt no interest in what she had left behind.

Now that he knew she was dead, he thought it might be wise to search through her things and see if there was any indication of why she had killed the man in the garden. As for her own death, since she had had no wounds and because she was probably in her late sixties, she likely had died from a heart attack. Burying a man's body was strenuous business.

So, as the room brightened with the dawn light, he got up, pulled on his trousers and set to work looking through the drawers and the armoire. There were assorted dresses, skirts, blouses, aprons and stockings. Undergarments consisted mostly of petticoats and lace-up corsets. In those days, women usually did not wear any kind of underpants. Several pairs of lace-up shoes rested on the armoire floor. A winter coat hung on one of several pegs on one wall, as did a cloth bonnet.

There was also a small chest of drawers, and there he found some inexpensive jewelry, a comb and brush set, scissors (both small and large), needles and threads, and a hand mirror. There was even a toothbrush and a jar of tooth powder. On the mantle over the fireplace was a set of flint and steel.

He found that she had left what appeared to be a journal or diary and a couple of pencils in the bedside stand, but he left them there, intending to read it later. In the meantime, he finished dressing without his usual coat and tie, and joined the others out in the hall. Both women carried their chamber pots with the lids on, obviously having no intention of using the outhouse until really necessary. Both men elected to empty their bladders at the outhouse.

"We should just pee on the backside of this privy," Kol said to his brother.

"Go ahead. It cannot smell any worse," Elijah said as he opened the wooden door and stepped inside. He was used to modern flush toilets these days, so the pit under the privy seat smelled obnoxiously.

While Rebekah got the fire going in the kitchen, Freya trudged down to the barn to milk the cow, put out a small amount of grain for the horse, cow and calf, and to take some grain to the chickens. She gathered up newly laid eggs, put them in her apron pockets and took them to the house, along with the milk. The men brought in fire wood and two buckets of water. Elijah set coffee beans to roasting. It was the beginning of a routine that would continue for the foreseeable future.

"I found some of Mrs. Anderson's personal items, such as clothing, comb, brush and toothbrush," the older brother told the others as they sat around the kitchen table. "Did anyone else find anything useful?"

No one else had found a useful thing except for Rebekah. "I think the dead man was using my room. The bedding smells of a man and I found a straight razor in the back of one drawer. Whatever else he had, is gone. I wonder if he was in the process of leaving."

"He didn't get far," Kol observed, shoveling eggs into his mouth.

"Assuming it is the same man," Freya added.

"We will have to share what items there are," Elijah said after a swallow of coffee, which was better than that of the first afternoon. "I assume no one is squeamish about using the same toothbrush."

Freya made a face, but said, "I'll manage."

"So, the ladies have a possible change of clothing," Kol said. "Looks like you and I are doomed to wear what we have on, big brother."

"Unless you believe we should dig up the fellow in the rose garden and strip him of his clothing," Elijah suggested with a small smirk.

"Oh, that's gross," Freya said, making another face of disgust. "But if you plan to do that, do it soon. The clothes will have to be washed to try to get rid of the dirt and smell."

"You can always wear a dress while your clothes are being washed, Kol," Rebekah said with a grin. "I'd rather that, than have you running around nude like a three-year-old. Of course, there's more to you now than back then."

He knew she was referring to the episode some hours ago. He was not embarrassed and he grinned back at her. "I should certainly hope so."

He recalled that he had been around two years old when his mother had given birth to Rebekah and it was the first time he saw that the girl baby was different from himself. He had felt alarm and had thought something had happened to her private parts, but his mother had explained that hers were inside her body. Around a year later, his sister finally noticed that he was different from her, and their mother once again gave an explanation.

How many times had she done that? To Freya when Finn was born? To Finn when he noticed? There had been no more girls born to their mother Esther until Rebekah had come along. How early in life had Elijah and Nik found out that girls were different in the private parts department, and who had given them an explanation? Had it been their father Mikael?

His father had been a strong male Viking and had never hesitated to tell his sons how important it was to be a man. He had trained all of them to be fighters and he had praised them. Except poor Nik, who somehow had never lived up to Mikael's expectations and had been unfortunate enough to have quick tears come to his eyes. Kol often wondered about things like that. The world was full of situations he wondered about, but he often didn't take the time and energy to find the answers.

After a pause in conversation at the breakfast table, he spoke up. "I'll do it."

"Do what? Dig up the body or wear a dress?" Rebekah asked.

"Dig."

"Then take those clothes down to the creek and let them soak," Freya insisted.

Kol did as he said he would, and Elijah helped him. They reburied the body now wearing only the "long johns" underwear. Kol then took the smelly, dirty and bloody garments down through the pasture to the section of the stream that was within the imprisoning dome. The horse, the cow and the calf followed him and watched him as he swirled the clothes in the water and then anchored them with a couple of rocks so they wouldn't float away.

He did wonder if they could float right out of the dome, but he didn't test that idea. However, he studied the west side of their enclosure and saw that a small tree branch had floated from upstream and was now apparently blocked from further travel by the invisible barrier. Still, the water and some tiny fish were able to pass.

When he returned to the house, he told of the branch and little minnows. "I wonder if the barrier is full of holes," he said to his siblings. "We get a breeze. If it rains, we might get that."

"The holes must be small or the birds would be passing through," Freya said. "I do think the bees are moving through. I'm sure I saw one fly away." She had shown the others that there was a bee hive near the fruit trees and they planned to get some honey from it. "If we had a spray bottle, we could test the barrier."

"Or we could just throw a bucket of water on it and see if some passes through," Kol added.

"You could pee on it," Rebekah suggested.

The other three just looked at her. Elijah shook his head. Such children, he thought.

"I just might do that," Kol growled at his sister.

"The bucket of water is probably the best solution." Elijah rather liked the idea. "The breeze today is coming out of the west. Let us test the eastern side."

All four of them went out the back door with Elijah carrying the water bucket that was full. None of them had tested to see how far from the side of the house the barrier was located. It was Rebekah who held an arm forward until her fingers ran into what felt like a sheet of plastic with a light electrical charge.

"It's right here."

"Stand back if you do not want to get wet," Elijah said and when the other three were behind him, he tossed the water at the barrier. The stream of water hit the barrier, sizzled and half of it splashed back at them. However, they all saw that some of it passed right through. For a brief moment the invisible wall was visible. It was full of small holes.

"At least we get fresh air," Kol observed. He had not really doubted it, since there was definitely a breeze.

"How far away is the town?" Elijah asked Freya.

"About three miles. Over that rise."

"Funny no one has come to see Mrs. Anderson. That's not very neighborly," Rebekah said.

"Something else that is odd is that there is only one horse," Elijah said as they walked to the back porch. He set the bucket down. "The dead man probably had one. You said the one in the field belonged to Mrs. Anderson."

"So where is the other horse," Rebekah nodded. "And what happened to the guy's stuff?"

"There were two saddles in the barn," Kol said. "I used the regular one. The other was a woman's sidesaddle."

"Mrs. Anderson was a widow. I think there were always two saddles," Freya said. "But I know she used the horse and buggy to shop in town."

"What difference does it make?" Kol asked. "We can't ride anywhere except the pasture."

"I would like to know if anyone on the outside could see or hear us," Elijah said.

"I think we are about to find that out," Rebekah said. "Look over there."

A/N So, who or what is coming? Will they be able to communicate with the "outside" world? Thanks for reading, everyone. Love you all.