Katerina's Wish (18 page)

When I was with Mark, I could almost forget the empty feeling inside me from my lost dreams. I cooked and cleaned for them, thinking that this is what it would be like to someday marry Mark. I was glad to have work that kept me from my wrecked dreams in the backyard at home.

Unfortunately, the more time I spent with Mark, the angrier Aneshka seemed to be about it all. Whenever we made beds or washed dishes or scrubbed laundry together, she was surly and uncooperative. I tried to ignore her, thinking it would pass. But after several weeks, I lost my temper one afternoon, when she threw an armload of shirts into the washkettle, nearly splashing the scalding water over the edge and onto me.

“What is the matter with you?” I shouted, feeling almost as close to the boiling point as the washwater.

“What do you care what's the matter!” she shouted back. “You don't care about us anymore. You just care about Mark!”

“Mark's been very sick! He needed me,” I protested.

“But he doesn't need you anymore. I think it's that you
like
Mark,” she said, making the word
like
into a taunt. Then she puckered up her lips and made kissing sounds.

My cheeks flamed with anger and embarrassment. “Stop it, Aneshka!”

“Well, you're always with him! It's not fair!”

“What's not fair?” my mother said, arriving with a bundle of laundry from Old Jan's house.

Aneshka crossed her arms and glared at me. “It's not fair that Trina's always with Mark when she's supposed to be getting us a farm.”

Momma gave an exasperated little sigh and began vigorously stirring the shirts in the tub. “Don't be silly, Aneshka. Trina can't get us a farm. Whatever put such an idea into your head?”

Aneshka only glared harder. “Trina knows what I'm talking about,” she said.

“I don't,” I said stoutly. At least I didn't know how she had pried the secret of my wish out of Holena. “Besides, Mark has nothing to do with it.”

Aneshka scowled and stomped her foot. “It's not fair!” she said again.

“Stop that, Aneshka,” Momma said. “We have work to do.”

Aneshka did as she was told, but she was surly for the rest of the afternoon. I was too. I could not explain the truth to her. The wish had not failed because I was with Mark. The truth was, I was with Mark because the wish had failed.

SOON MARK
was up, doing his own chores and walking to help rebuild his strength. He went striding by our house, up and down the road, farther and farther each day. Though his strength was coming back, his gait was still awkward. He could not seem to flex his foot upward properly, causing it to drag when he walked, and it did not improve with practice.

Old Jan wanted to consult the doctor about it, but Mark refused. They were out of money and a month behind on their rent as it was. The mine had extended them credit; however, rumors were spreading of another round of layoffs. Karel was one of the few bachelors left at the mine, and the family feared he would lose his job as well, and Mark would have no job to go to even when he recovered. Everyone in town was struggling and praying their jobs would last. Martina, who could not bear to return to her parents' home, had resolved to sell Charlie's clothing and whatever of her own possessions she could spare. She hoped to pay off her debts to the mining
company and have enough left over for train fare to Denver, or perhaps Kansas City. There she hoped to find a factory job. I did not dare ask what she might do if there were no jobs to be had. The thought of being alone in a big city was too terrible for me to imagine.

When Karel and Mark heard of Martina's plan, they went to her house, though they themselves were in debt. Mark came back up the road a short time later with Charlie's old boots. They were worn, but he needed something to replace the boot that had been ruined in the accident, he said. He could not go back into the mine without boots.

“Where is Karel?” I asked.

Mark sat down on the porch step. “It's Saturday, his night off, so he's taking his time coming home. He stayed to visit with Martina.”

I thought nothing more of Karel's absence that evening, or the next day when Old Jan and Mark came to our house to share our Sunday dinner. We were just about to sit down to eat when Karel and Martina came walking up the road toward us. They stopped and stood before the porch, Karel looking up uncertainly at his father while Martina's eyes stayed shyly on the dirt before her.

Karel took a deep breath and cleared his throat. “We've gotten married, Papa.”

We all stared, our mouths hanging open stupidly. When there was no response, Karel continued.

“The priest was here, and he won't be back for two weeks. This is best for everyone. I'm not a bachelor now, so the mine will keep me on. And Charlie would have wanted Martina taken care of. I'll do that.”

Momma was the first to recover her composure. She stood
and beckoned to them. “Come in, come in. You are family here now.”

Karel took Martina's hand and led her up onto the porch. Momma clasped her and gave her a kiss on either cheek in congratulations. Old Jan leaped up to do the same, and the rest of us followed. I did not know what to think as I kissed her blushing cheek. It had been barely two weeks since she had wailed at Charlie's funeral. Perhaps it should have been shocking, but all I felt was relief that she would not be alone and penniless in a distant town.

“Dinner is almost ready,” Momma said. “It will serve for a wedding feast, I think.”

We all went into a flurry of activity at that. Papa and Karel carried the table and chairs out into the yard. I spread Momma's fine linen tablecloth on the table. In the kitchen Momma mixed up batter and used the last can of plums to make dumplings. She had been saving it for a special occasion, she said, and this was it.

We did not have time for many wedding traditions, since the marriage had already occurred, but Mark did tie two spoons together with a ribbon. As we sat down to eat, Mark brought a bowl of potato soup out for the newlyweds to share. We all watched as they struggled to eat it with their joined spoons. It was supposed to bring good luck, but mostly it was good fun. We laughed as they spilled, and yet I thought they did very well for two people joined on a moment's notice as a practical necessity. There was a careful, tender courtesy between them that seemed very comforting. It occurred to me as I watched them that there was a certain wisdom to my mother's views—that accepting what life gave you and being grateful for it could bring a comfortable life.

Mark was seated across the table from me, and I couldn't resist a glance at him. He was looking at me, too, and when our eyes met he smiled. I smiled back.

After dinner was complete, Momma and Aneshka took the broom and mop and marched off to Martina's house to prepare it for the new couple. Holena and I stayed behind to wash the dishes and though it was her wedding feast, Martina insisted on helping.

“I'll not have Karel thinking I'm a lazy wife,” she said.

We began working in silence, but soon she spoke. “Do you think poorly of me for marrying now, with Charlie barely in the grave?” She kept her eyes on her work, but I could see tears welling in her eyes. “I loved Charlie, and I wouldn't do anything to dishonor his memory. But I was afraid, Trina. And Karel is a good man. He was Charlie's friend.”

I stopped her flow of words with a hand on her arm. “You haven't done anything wrong,” I reassured her. “Charlie would not have wanted you alone in the city. And Karel
is
a good man; he'll be good to you.”

“He was Charlie's friend,” she said again. “He was afraid of being laid off. With his father and brother unable to work, he had to keep his job somehow. And I had nowhere to go. Maybe that's not a good reason to marry, but I swear I'll take good care of him, Trina.”

I nodded. “We are glad to have you in the family,” I said. Not that Karel and Mark were my family yet, but we spent so much time together it felt like it.

I heard a noise from the doorway and turned to see Mark.

“Your groom awaits you, Mrs. Kocekova.” He gave a stiff little bow and swept his arm toward the porch.

Martina startled a little at the sound of her new title, but
then she smiled and went outside. Everyone was gathered there and applauded her. Aneshka gave her a little bouquet of flowers, mostly dandelions and grass, and the family paraded the couple to Martina's house. Karel swept Martina up and carried her through the doorway, and the rest of us returned home. We all settled comfortably into the shade on the porch.

“Do you think they will be happy?” Mark asked, to no one in particular.

Aneshka gave a little snort. “How can they be when they are so poor? Martina shouldn't have sold her things.” “Aneshka,” Momma said sharply.

“They will have a hard time of it in that respect, I'm afraid,” Old Jan said. “They are at her house for now, but she can only keep it through the end of the month. I'm afraid until Marek is back to work, they will have to crowd in with us, and that is not pleasant for newlyweds.”

“It can't be helped,” Momma said. “Some things in life we simply must accept, and the sooner we do that, the better off we are.”

I had worked hard to believe that view of things in recent weeks. Still, it didn't seem the same as being happy.

“What do you think, Trina?” Mark asked. “Do you think they will be happy together?”

I thought again about the gentle courtesy I had seen that day between Martina and Karel. I sighed. I wasn't sure I knew what happiness was anymore.

“I think they are kind to each other, and that is a good start,” I said.

“A very good start, indeed,” Old Jan said. “Kindness and respect are more important than all the riches in the world.”

Aneshka, sensing that Old Jan had a story to prove his
point, scooted closer to him. Holena watched him eagerly as well. He smiled at them obligingly.

“Let's see. There once was a shepherd who was cheated by his rich neighbor. For his work, the shepherd was to receive a fine heifer, but when the work was done, the neighbor refused. So the shepherd and the neighbor went before the burgomaster, a young man, new to his position. The burgomaster did not know who was in the right, so he decided the case by saying, ‘Each of you go home. Return tomorrow with the answer to this riddle: Of all things in the world, tell me, what is the swiftest? What is the sweetest? And what is the richest? Whichever of you answers best shall have the heifer.'

“So the two men went home with their questions. The rich neighbor consulted his wife, who was as greedy as he was. The poor shepherd had only his clever, gentle daughter at home, but he told her the riddle too.

“In the morning, the two men returned to the burgomaster, who put his question to them again. ‘What is the swiftest thing in the world? What is the sweetest? And what is the richest?'

“The rich neighbor gave his wife's answer. ‘It is simple, sir. The swiftest thing is my fine gray mare, for no one passes me on the road. The sweetest is the honey from my hives, for they are the best in the world. The richest is my sack of gold ducats, for I have been saving them away for years.'

“‘Hmm,' said the burgomaster. Then he turned to the humble shepherd and asked him. And thanks to his clever daughter, the shepherd answered, ‘I believe the swiftest thing in the world is a kind thought, for a kind thought comforts a loved one in no time at all. The sweetest thing is another's love, for it can soothe any suffering. The richest thing is the earth itself, from which honest labor brings forth all other riches.'

“At once the burgomaster saw the shepherd had answered most wisely, and so he gave the man the heifer and sent the rich neighbor home to quarrel with his wife. But to the shepherd he said, ‘I must know who gave you this answer.'

“‘My clever daughter, Manka, told me these things,' the shepherd replied.