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“Of course,” I said and tightened my arm around her because she was still trembling. “Sleep now. No one can get to you here.”

Her hair brushed against my neck when she nodded. It took a long time before her shaking ceased and her breaths turned deep. I lay awake for even longer, a thousand thoughts and emotions whirling around my body like the snowflakes in the storm that had returned to Norstad, rattling the windows and whistling through every little gap.

Chapter Sixteen

Iwoke with Lilja’s head on my shoulder and her arm across my waist. It was still dark outside, and I couldn’t see her face, but I could tell she was awake by her breathing.

“Are you cold?” I asked because with the ovens out, the house had lost most of its heat to the night and the snowstorm.

“Not when you’re warming me,” she whispered, and her breath was hot on my neck.

It was one of the hardest things I had done, because I would have liked to lie like this with her for a very long time, but I said, “I have to get up. I’ve got a lot of work to do.”

She withdrew her arm, and I almost cursed the sense of duty Father had instilled in me. How wonderful it would be to lie in bed with Lilja a bit longer. I would have taken just an hour of dawdling, but I didn’t even have that today. I needed all the daylight hours for work, and the sun would rise soon.

In the inky blackness of the room, I fumbled my way to my dresser and changed into a clean set of clothes. Lilja was by the door, her shawl wrapped around herself again, when I turned on the lamp. She dressed in her own room, and in the kitchen, we set to making oatmeal. I poured and stirred while Lilja cut the apple. It was our routine now. Helena joined us, and with a quick Good morning, Alma whisked by on her way to pretend to wake up in her own bed.

In the workshop, I finished shaping the filly and placed it on the tray, ready for its dapples later. The next thing on my list was a hobby-horse, but I had a quick errand to do first. I walked through the store, greeting Mr. Lindberg and Lilja, who was noting down his order of toy soldiers for his son. They were damn popular, even if in my opinion they were the dullest of all my creations. They didn’t engage the imagination like other toys did. With their little rifles and sabers, it was hard to picture them doing much else than murdering.

As I stepped outside, I pulled my collar close around my neck. The cold had more than just a little bite this morning. The footsteps of the strange woman from last night had been filled in by new snow.

Alma was speaking to a customer when I entered my uncle’s store, and I made my way along the groaning shelves. I wanted to find another present for Lilja, something as pretty as her, and what better place to look than here? Although, it wasn’t the only reason I had come. My mind would overflow if I didn’t speak to Alma about last night.

I studied frames and candlesticks, silk ribbons, painted glass lamps, books bound in supple leather with gold lettering, but nothing seemed quite right. The customer left with a package under his arm, and I joined Alma at the counter. “Did you hear the wolves last night?”

“I did. I’ve never heard any so close before.”

“I’d guess they’re hungry. Their prey might have fled south with all this snow.”

Alma rolled the wrapping paper back up and placed it under the counter. “It was eerie. Helena thought so too, and she’s used to the howling from back home.”

I picked up an old clock because that shiver from last night crept along my spine. “Something even stranger happened. I opened the door very late, right before I went to bed, and a woman was walking down the street. It looked like she had stopped and stared into my store.”

“Who was it?”

“I don’t know. At first glance I feared it was Lilja’s foster mother who had found her, but this woman was too young. She was oddly dressed too, in a fur-lined cloak.”

“That’s very strange.”

I shrugged. “Probably she was drunk and went to the wrong house.”

“But you didn’t recognize her?”

“No. I figure she’s visiting someone for the holidays, had one too many cups of glögg, and lost her way.” I put down the clock. “Can I look at your jewelry?”

“Go ahead.”

Alma kept the jewelry behind the counter, in drawers lined with red velvet. They didn’t deal in gold—it wasn’t my uncle’s specialty—but they had some silver. Bracelets with glass beads, brooches shaped like birds and leaves and fruits, chains and rings.

“What are you looking for?” Alma asked.

“A Christmas present for Lilja.”

It was subtle, but because I knew her, I noticed the brief pause before Alma said, “You’re fond of her.”

I picked up a silver locket I hadn’t seen before. It was like a very small picture frame shaped like a heart. It didn’t have a photo in it now, but no doubt that was its purpose. I ran a finger over the glass and summoned my courage to say what I wanted to tell Alma. “Lilja slept in my bed last night.”

When I glanced at Alma, she had raised an eyebrow. “She did?”