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Chapter Twenty-Five

We divided ourselves up. After telling my uncle we would be leaving, Alma and Helena were to fetch the provisions while Lilja and I got the horses and the sleigh. Both were difficult tasks on Christmas Day, but we had many friends in Norstad.

There was only one place for us to go, and side by side, Lilja and I set off toward Jonsson’s house. Except for a few playing children, the streets were empty, and despite it being morning, the smells of frying and baking wafted out from kitchens. For everyone else, this was a feast day.

I took Lilja’s hand in mine, and she smiled a brave smile up at me. “Are you frightened?” I asked.

“I’m less frightened than I have been in a long time. But yes, I am.”

I squeezed her gloved fingers.

“Are you frightened?” she asked.

“Of course, but mostly of losing you.”

“You should be more scared of Alfrun.”

I pulled her close to my side and put my arm around her shoulder. “But I’m not.”

We found Jonsson in the barn feeding his animals. Some tasks needed doing even on Christmas Day.

“Merry Christmas, Selma,” he announced with a wide smile when he saw us. “Miss Norling,” he added with a friendly nod at Lilja.

“I’ve come to ask if I could borrow a sleigh and two horses from you,” I said. “Helena’s mother is very sick, and I want to take her north so she can see her, and so we’d be gone for a while. How much to borrow two horses and a sleigh for two weeks?”

“For you? Free.”

“That’s too generous.”

“Not for you, Selma.” He patted Poppy’s neck. “All I ask is that you take good care of them.”

“Of course. Thank you. We’ll be back for them in two hours.”

“Better yet, I’ll bring them to your house. It’s easier for you that way.”

“Thank you.” I shook his hand. “I’ll make the girls a doll each when I come back.”

He laughed. “I have to hold you to that promise. They’ll squeal with excitement.”

On the way back to the house, we passed by the tailor. A long red cloak lined with marten fur hung on a mannequin in the window. I stopped, halting Lilja too. “I want to get you that,” I said. “For the journey. It’ll be cold.”

“It’s too expensive.”

“I have the money I was going to pay Jonsson.”

Before she could protest again, I marched up to the door and knocked. It took five more knocks before Mrs. Andersson appeared. Her greeting was sullen, the corners of her mouth sagging, and for once I couldn’t really blame her for being surly. It was a holiday, after all. I told her my errand. The price for the cloak she gave was high, but I paid it without bargaining. It was worth the money for Lilja not to be cold.

I carried it over my arm the rest of the way back to the house. Alma and Helena had returned too. On the floor in the corridor stood a crate and a basket, both packed with bread, sausages, the last of our apples, oats, coffee, jars, and undoubtedly other things I couldn’t see.

Helena and Alma appeared from the workshop. Helena, in her new fox fur mantle, had a rifle slung across her back.

“Where did that come from?” I asked.

“I bought it.”

“You know how to shoot it?”

She pulled it from her shoulder and positioned it in her hands, running one along the polished wood. “My father had one. Not that he let me borrow it, but I did anyway a time or two.” The way she was holding it, she did look decidedly like she knew what she was doing. “We might need to defend ourselves,” she said. “Many things lurk in the forest.”