"I killed him," Iris quietly cheered, her cheeks red from the cold and excitement. "I HOLY HELL WHAT IS THAT?!"
"Get moving!"
Iris and her father jumped from their hiding spot and ran forward. She slid on her white overall covered knees next to a bloody body that laid face down in the snow. The person's clothes were torn and smoking. Quickly she scooped up some snow and threw it at the smoldering fabric. Her dad pressed his fingers against their neck, feeling for a pulse.
He must have found one as he sighed in relief only to swear. They weren't breathing! Together they rolled the person onto their back. A large gash sliced through their chest from right shoulder to left hip.
"Start CPR while I get something over his chest wound," her dad instructed.
First kiss with a stranger, she thought ruefully. At least it would be sacrificed to save a life. She pressed her lips against the unbreathing man's mouth, pinching his nose shut and using her other hand to tilt his bearded chin up. She blew once, twice, three times before placing both hands, one on top of the other and interlinked, and began rhythmic pushing. Her dad had gotten the wound covered and started working on an injury on his leg.
"Staying alive, staying alive, ah ah ah ah." Thank you Bee Gees for the life saving song.
She repeated this twice more. Panic was starting to set in when he finally started coughing. Thank God he was breathing! However he tried to get up, grunting weakly.
"Hey stay down," Iris instructed. "You're injured! What the hell were you doing? Jumping out of an airplane or something?"
"Take it easy son," her dad said. "Iris, stay with him. In this state he's not much of a threat if he's dangerous. You have your knife for self defense either way. I'll get the sled."
"Okay!"
She looked back at the man only to find brilliant green eyes staring at her. For a second she got lost in those eyes that reminded her of evergreens. They went well with his deep red hair.
"Av gudene er en Valkyrie her for å ta meg til Valhalla," he said weakly.
"Huh?" She recognized a heavily accented Valhalla. "Wait, you're not dead! Oh shit you better not die on me! I cannot have the start of my adult life involve a dead guy!"
"What are you babbling about?"
"Dad! He talked and all I knew was Valhalla!" The man groaned, wincing. "What should we do?"
"First get him on the sled. We need to get him back to the homestead for further treatment."
"But my moose!"
"I'll bring the sled team out to bring it back. Come on."
With a panicked groan Iris helped her dad with the stranger. He lifted him up a little by looping his arms up under his armpits and heaving him upwards to drag him closer to the sled. The man cried out in pain but it was better to be hurting now than dead or suffering from frost bite. Iris tucked emergency blankets in around him once he was in the sled as he shivered.
"Ready?" She nodded, tying one of the ropes to her waist. "On my count. Ready, one two three four. One two three four."
Her dad counted off their steps to keep them in pace. Her snowshoes crunched in the snow as she leaned forward to pull the sled through the snow. Adrenaline kept her moving and kept the pain of sore legs and back at bay.
"Vivian," her dad shouted as a roughly built cabin came into view. "Vivian! Emergency!"
"Oh my God is it Iris?" A woman flew out of the cabin in a panic.
"No Mom," Iris shouted. "Its a stranger. He fell from the sky!"
Her mother gave her a dumbfounded look but didn't ask the obvious question. She hurried over to them as they continued to pull the sled towards the cabin. The man was unconscious. Which was a good thing as five dogs came flooding from around the cabin to investigate him.
"Get," her dad barked and the dogs backed up.
"He's freezing," her mom said. "And his pulse is weak. Jon, he may need more serious medical attention."
"It'll take the nearest rescue squad half a day to get to us," her dad answered as he untied the rope from his waist. "Choppers can't get here, its already getting dark. Let's get him inside and do more first aid for now. Iris, you stay and help your mother. I need to get that moose back here before the wolves decide to claim it."
"A person is more important than a moose Jon," her mom snapped.
"We need the meat," he said rationally. "Plus we have an extra mouth to feed until help can get here. Besides you know my feelings about wonton waste. How is that giving nature the respect it deserves?"
"Just get him inside before he freezes to death."
"Yes honey."
Iris mentally rolled her eyes at her parents interaction and helped her dad. The man was heavy that was for sure and her mom helped as well. They half carried half dragged him to the closest spot, the kitchen table her mom quickly threw a woolen blanket on. He groaned but didn't wake back up.
"Is he going to be okay?" she asked her mom.
"He's pretty tore up," Vivian sighed. "Get my medical kit. Its in the cupboard by the door. I'll heat up some water to wash his injuries and get a better idea of what I'm deal with."
Iris nodded and quickly opened the rough cut cupboard door. Inside was well organized chaos of medical needs from elderberry syrup to treat colds to rolls of store bought bandages and everything in between. In the very back were even some antibiotics and pain killers kept only for the most severe injuries. She grabbed the homemade first aid kit and brought it to the table.
Her dad had done a good job quickly patching him up but the man's chest wound was bleeding again. Some of the bandages were already coming off from their man handling. Iris winced at the long gashes she could see on his bare arms as well as the ones under his torn shirt.
"Hand me the scissors," Vivian instructed. "I'll need to cut off his shirt to get a better look at his torso wounds. His pants will need to go to. I see his legs are cut up."
"I'm not doing the pants," Iris muttered with burning ears. She didn't have much in the way of interaction with men other than her dad and the bush piolit Paul that brought them supplies.
"Obviously." She cut at the shirt, frowning as the cut fabric seemed to unravel. "This is a very old style shirt. Hopefully he didn't pay too much for it."
"Can't be any more than our clothes." Iris began peeling off her layers of winter clothes, wincing at the red smudges on her white camo coat and pants. Her hat was safe from any blood stains.
"You would have gotten blood on your coat anyways." Her mom must be a mind reader. Iris swore she knew everything she was thinking. "The water should be hot enough. Pour some in that bowl for me."
The large metal kettle sat on the ever burning stove, whistling ever so softly. She grabbed it with a nearby pot holder and carried it by her mother As she poured it in she eyes the man and his now bare torso. Under all the blood and mess he had nice looking muscles but also some scars. What did this man do for work to look like this?
As Vivian began to wash his skin the water turned from slightly cloudy, thanks to the soap she had added, to a faded red. Bruises showed up thanks to the blood being washed away and more scars appeared. Iris winced to herself as her mom began cleaning the gash on his chest, changing the water so it was clean of any foreign matter since her mom's goal was to clean out anything from the big wound.
"What in the world happened," Vivian muttered. "Did a plane crash?"
"Not that I saw," Iris offered. "Didn't even hear one fly by. I shot the moose and was about to go look at it when he crashed through the tree branches and landed next to the moose! He's lucky there was snow to cushion his landing."
"He couldn't have appeared from thin air."
Quiet settled over them as Vivian began stitching the big wound. The man grunted as she stabbed the extremely sharp needle into his flesh. Iris knew exactly how he felt as she'd had the same needle stabbed into her a few times. Life off grid offered plenty of surprises and being so far from civilization meant home medical care was common. Including home given stitches.
She held his hand like her dad had done for her. Even though he was unconscious, his hand tightened around her's. This must have given him some comfort as he didn't grunt again as Vivian continued to stitch the wound.
"Hey Mom."
"Yes?"
"What does Av gudene er en Valkyrie her for å ta meg til Valhalla mean?"
"Your pronunciation is horrible. Its Norse for By the gods a Valkyrie is here to take me to Valhalla if I understood you right. Why?"
"Cause that's what he said when he was conscious and looked at me." Her mom paused. "What?"
"He thought you were a Valkyrie. Interesting."
"Hey!"
"Oh honey you are beautiful. I just wonder why his first thought was to think he was dead. Valkyries were winged warrior women who took warrior souls to Valhalla to feast with Odin and the other old gods until the end of days. However your hunting clothing doesn't exactly scream warrior woman."
Well that was interesting. Did he think he was dead? Wait, did that mean he was trying to die? Her heart jumped at the thought. All life was precious and everyone deserved a good life. Well, certain people didn't but she didn't think of those types of people as people.
"How's the patient?" her dad asked over an hour later. His eyelashes and eyebrows were white from frost.
"You're just in time." Vivian said. "Get out of those cold clothes and come help me. I need this pants off to clean up his leg injuries."
He gave a grumbled but started peeling off his clothes. Unlike Iris' coat the front of his winter camo coat was red with blood as were his pants. He tossed them to the side and tossed his gloves, hat, and scarf on top of them.
"Shoo," he said flicking his hands at Iris. She rolled her eyes and busied herself with gathering up her and her dad's hunting clothes. "Well shit. He's beat up. Think anything is broken?"
"He might have a broken rib or two. Cracked at the very least. He's lucky to not have broken anything else. Iris told me there were no planes or anything."
"She's right but there was a loud boom that did not come from her gun. Sounded like dynamite going off."
"Wait there was?" Iris asked in surprise. "I didn't hear it."
"You were focus on your first moose," he replied. "Its no surprise. I didn't see any planes or anything in the sky though. Just a flash of lightning. Then this boy came smashing through the trees like someone dropped him off a building."
"I didn't hear anything," Vivian muttered. "His legs are pretty bruised up but his pants took the brunt of everything. Is that seriously a loincloth? I haven't seen anyone wear one of those in real life."
"Maybe he's a off grider like us. These pants are made of some thick cloth. His boots are old fashion as well."
"Are you two done ogling at him?" Iris drawled.
"Yes little Valkyrie," Vivian teased. Jon made a questioning grunt. "He called her a Valkyrie when he looked at her. He assumed she was taking him to Valhalla."
"Interesting," Jon mused. "Let's get him on the cot. Iris, set up the cot would ya?"
With a grumble she walked over to a chest and pulled out some blankets to toss on the cot they used as a bench most of the time. Jon and Vivian slowly carried him over and laid him on it. He barely fit, his feet almost off the edge. She avoided looking at his mostly naked body as her mom took the other blankets and covered him up.
"All we can do is wait now," Vivian sighed. "You both must be hungry. Here, help me clean off the table and we can eat."
Later they sat at the kitchen table, a bowl of steaming stew before each of them. Iris took large spoonfuls and scarfed it down, dunking a hunk of homemade bread into the liquid to chomp on. She was starving from all the crazy excitement but stared at both of her parents as she chewed.
If anyone should be called a Valkyrie is should be her mom. Long pale blonde hair was braided back to hang down her back, stopping at the middle of her back. She was tall and slender like a willow with pale skin that always burned. However her face was sharp with a perfect nose, high cheekbones, and a defined chin. Add in her bright blue eyes, throw some old Viking armor on her, and her mother was a war maiden from tales of old. It didn't hurt she was a full blooded Norse who married her father and moved to the middle of no where Alaska.
Her dad kept his black hair cut short in a military style. His time in the Marines gave him strict grooming standards though he did let some stubble grow out now and again. Like now. His face was covered in a dark five o'clock shadow. He was taller than her mom but stockily built. Hazel eyes sat above his crooked nose that had been broken more than once so Iris never knew its true shape. The first time he'd broken it was when he was six years old and it wasn't the last time.
Between the two of them Iris felt a little plain. Her hair was black and ever wavy like her dad's hair if he ever grew it out and was kept in a braid most of the time like her mom's only not as long, only stopping between her shoulder blades. She got his hazel eyes as well but with far more blue than his. He teased her that they were dragon eyes as the colors shifted depending on her mood. At the young age of eighteen she gave up hope of being tall as either of her parents with the very average height of five foot four inches while her mother towered at five foot eleven and her dad topped her at six foot three.
Living off the grid she never had a chance to carry extra weight. Her body was stockily built with muscle and child bearing hips as her grandma commented before, giving her some curves at least. Unlike most eighteen years old Iris could live off the land without any reliance on modern technology. Her dad had made sure of that.
"Something on my face?" Vivian asked as she raised a perfectly arched brow at her.
"Just pining over your looks," Iris sighed. "I wish I had your eyebrows Mom."
"Yours are just fine," Vivian chided. Iris rolled her eyes but didn't say anything. "I can't believe you are leaving us."
"Its only for a semester Mom." This was a overly familiar argument. "I need to attend college to get hands on experience. Besides, how will I meet people if I am out here all the time? We don't even go see Mimi or Grandpa anymore."
"You know the reason," Jon said.
"Yes yes I know." Their old neighbor, Al, had passed away years ago so they had no close neighbor to help keep an eye on their homestead and animals to see family. "Still, I need to use my social skills! I'll be with Mimi and Grandpa and its only for three months."
Iris had made the decision to go to college for a semester after graduating homeschool high school. It was a local community college in the small town her grandparents lived. The only downside was she would have to live in town as the commute would take a whole day by snow machine, which they didn't use anymore. She wanted to get her certification in some classes including carpentry and welding so she packed as many classes in as she could. Her grandparents offered for her to go to a university full time but she refused.
Part of her reasoning for wanting to go to college was also to meet new people. She wanted a married life like her parents but that involved meeting someone and falling in love. Unfortunately out here there were no options unless she wanted to marry a literal bear. Three months wasn't enough time to fall in love but she could meet some people, make friends, and start sending letters. She kept this reasoning secret from her parents.
"I wish you didn't want to go," Vivian still sighed.
"Let her go honey. Besides its not for another month anyways. Its not fair to hide her away from the world." Thank God her dad was on her side.
While her parents talked about her leaving, Iris looked at the unconscious man that laid near the table. The kitchen was the second warmest part of the cabin so it made sense to keep him in here. His face was pale, her mom said it was from the blood loss, and made his red hair and beard pop as well as the blue claw mark looking tattoo on his face. Vivian had tried to scrub it off with no avail. A matching tattoo sat on his right bicep.
Bandages covered the stitches her mom had put into him. Apparently there had been a gash on his left leg that she had to stitch up. Thankfully it wasn't too deep and Vivian claimed it would heal easily. Her medical skills were top notch. They better be considering she had been a nurse before moving out here with Jon.
Iris always enjoyed hearing the story about her mom and dad meeting. He was a midwestern Marine who had gotten injured overseas and had been medevacked to Germany. There he met a Norwegian nurse who put up with no bull from any of the other patients. The first time he laid eyes on her, her dad claimed she had to be an angel stuck on Earth and wanted to ask her to marry him then and there. Instead he was a gentleman and asked her for a date once he was able to move around. Vivian humored the injured Marine and agreed to a romantic dinner in the cafeteria but only when he was back on his feet.
Lo and behold her words were what he needed to motivate him to get walking again. He had injured his back, which affected his leg movement, when his vehicle hit an IED and flipped it. With his personal angel, he dove head first into his rehab. The doctors claimed it would take him six months at the very least to start walking again. He cut it down to three, with the help of crutches. Vivian upheld her end of the deal and accompanied a very proud Marine to dine in the cafeteria. She said it was the most romantic dinner she had ever been on before meeting Jon, who had enlisted the help of new friends to make it special to include flowers and a candle.
However Jon eventually had to go back to the states to continue his rehab and Vivian had to stay in Germany where she was stationed. He asked if they could stay in touch and try the whole long distance romance. Everyone tried to talk both parties out of it, claiming the other side would get tired and move on. They were a stubborn pair and agreed to spite the nay sayers.
Jon stayed in Texas for rehab and Vivian eventually went back to Norway. Still they stayed in touch thanks to emails and video calls and long distance phone calls. Two years into their relationship, Jon was getting medically retired due to the risk of his back being reinjured if he stayed in the Marines. So he did what any sane man would do. He flew to Norway unannounced to Vivian, surprised her, lived there for three months, and asked her to marry him and pursue his crazy dream of living off the grid in the middle of nowhere. Surely, her family had thought, there was no way she would agree to that.
Well they were wrong obviously. Vivian agreed to marry him. Together they got her green card, moved to Alaska, bought land with Jon and hers savings in the middle of literal no where, and began building a new life from scratch. Three years later, Vivian was granted her permanent citizenship and Iris was born.
Iris smiled. It had taken a lot but her parents spanned thousands of miles, met in the most unlikely of places, courted for two years long distance, got married, and overcame the trial of removing themselves completely off the grid. Her dad's parents moved to Alaska from Missouri to be closer to him and her mom and future grandchildren while her mom's parents completely cut ties. Their loss. She was an absolute delight to be around.
"Are you listening?" Vivian asked Iris.
"What?" she asked in surprise. "Sorry Mom I wasn't. Was thinking about the story of you and Dad meeting." Vivian smiled, glancing at Jon who was rubbing his full stomach with a content sigh.
"Sometimes I wonder what I saw in him," she teased. Jon just winked before getting up. "Anyways, you need to go check on the animals. Everything was so hectic no one went to care for them. I had just finished milking before you two came back."
"Got it," Iris said getting to her feet. She headed to the sitting room cross living room and opened the thick door.
A chill greeted her but not so bad to need a coat. Her dad was a smart man and built the cabin and the barn right next to each other, both sharing a wall and connected by a thick door. The wall between the two was thick enough to muffle most of the animal cries and keep any smells at bay while sharing some of the cabin's warmth. The barn was insulated well enough that the animals inside kept it warm with just their body heat.
Bleats greeted her as five goats looked at her from their manger that they shared with three sheep and a cow. Chickens clucked sleepily from their roosts in the barn rafters before tucking their heads under their wings and going back to sleep. Iris rubbed the nanny goats' chins, avoiding rubbing the stinky chin of the billy, and fluffed up their hay. Heaven forbid it sit there flat and anyone expect them to eat it. The sheep were already fast asleep in their pen, only flicking an ear at her approach. Moolinda gave a soft loo as she looked at Iris with her big brown eyes. Her big belly was even bigger with a growing calf inside that was due this spring.
"Who's my good girl?" Iris crooned as she scratched the wooly Highland cow's face. "Yes you are, yes you are. Mom already milked you but you still need some loving." The cow happily leaned into her scratches. "You are going to have the cutest calf of all calves. Oh yes you are."
The only thing missing in Iris' opinion was a horse. She wished she could get a Norwegian Fjord. It was the perfect horse for the harsh environment and would make things easier in the summer. Getting to the pastures with Moolinda and her posse on horseback was one of her dreams. However her dad said no, quite firmly, and her mom rationalized that Fjord's were spendy.
Saying good night to everyone she headed back into the house. A shiver crept up her back as she stepped into the warm house, the chill being chased out of her bones. Vivian already had the kitchen table cleaned off and the dishes stacked to be washed later and was checking on the still unconscious man. Jon was in the living room, cleaning his gun with Iris' next to him. She grabbed it and headed in to sit with her mom.
"Think he'll wake up anytime soon?" Iris asked.
"I'm not sure," Vivian sighed. "His color is already looking better so he may wake up soon. However if he has a head injury, granted I didn't see or feel one, he could be unconscious for days. It would be nice if he woke up."
"We could find out who he is," Jon said from the living room. "Find out what happened to him. If he's on the run I'd rather not be involved but if he needs our help and can't get professional, well."
"I still don't like that," Vivian argued. "He should go to a hospital for better treatment."
"Honey. No one falls from the sky without something serious going on. I'd rather not ask for trouble either. If he's bad news, we thump him on the head and take him to town and dump him at the warden station. If he's in trouble and needs help, well, we'll deal with that when it happens. Maybe he's just a new local?"
"Who can fly?" Iris snickered at her mom's sarcastic tone.
"Maybe."
I used Google Translate. Don't judge.
