Northern Lights Trilogy (34 page)

As they left the ship, Stefan and Riley walked on either side of her. Two other sailors walked behind, and both were armed. In a town of olive or dark-complected people, the sight of a fair-haired woman caused quite a stir. People reached out to her hair, and though the men batted their hands away, some still touched her. By the time they reached the center of town, Elsa’s chignon had come undone. Unable to pin it back up without the lost hairpins, she allowed her hair to fall over her shoulders.

“You should always wear it down, Elsa,” Stefan said, looking at her boldly, open admiration on his face.

Elsa frowned at the first mate’s familiarity. Riley scowled and stepped between them. “This way,
Missus
Ramstad.”

They turned and walked down a narrow alleyway, led by a small, half-dressed boy who had been promised two bits if he would get them to a doctor. Peder was too ill to move, so they had no choice but to bring the doctor to him. Besides, who knew what other illnesses lurked in a poorly kept city such as this? Elsa refused to risk Peder getting a secondary infection.

The boy paused in front of a doorway covered by a bright-colored cloth. He turned and grinned, holding out a hand for his reward.

“Le’ me go in first, ma’am,” Riley said, stepping in front of her.

He emerged minutes later, looking grim. He spoke in broken Portuguese to the boy. The boy nodded. Riley looked back at Elsa. “Only doc in town, I’m afraid.”

Elsa took a deep breath and walked through the curtained doorway. Inside, people moaned from benches that lined the small, dimly lit room, and there was an awful stench. An old woman waved them into an inner room, and as they passed through into an open courtyard, Elsa felt some hope. But her hopes were soon dashed as Riley introduced the doctor. The man grinned, showing his few remaining, stained teeth. His fingernails were rimmed with dirt, and as he took her hand to kiss it, she had to fight the urge to yank it away. She must try to be gracious, for this man might be Peder’s only hope.

Then she looked around, examining the room closely. There were dead cockroaches in the corner and mud on the stucco floor. The examination table had dried blood on it, and there were rusty instruments on a nearby table. Elsa looked no farther. “We’re leaving,” she announced.

“Wait, Elsa,” Stefan said. “Maybe it’s not so bad if we remove the doctor from this place.”

Elsa looked at Riley. “Ask him how he treats malaria.”

The despicable doctor listened to Riley and reached for a mask and a rattling shaker then a jar of dried leaves.

“Why, he … he is a witch doctor,” she said in disbelief. Suddenly the room felt closer, a sense of evil oppressing her heart. “We’re leaving. Now.” Without another word, she turned and walked out, hurrying, wanting to run.

The men caught up with her outside in the alleyway. She took deep breaths, wanting to claw at her high-necked collar. Her heart was pounding with fear. Everything in her warned against this nasty, evil place.

“He might be our only choice,” Stefan said.

“He’s not much of a choice at all, in my opinion,” replied Riley, looking belligerently up at Stefan. “Let’s abide by the lady’s choice.”

Stefan looked from Elsa’s determined face to Riley then shrugged. “Fine. If the Cap’n dies, it’s on your heads.”

“Listen to me, Stefan,” Elsa said, infuriated at his insolence. “If I thought that man could help my husband, I would be the first to drag him to the
Sunrise
. But he’s a
witch
doctor. I can do better than that by simply looking at Cook’s books on doctoring.”

“Fine,” Stefan said, offering his arm. “Now can we get you back to the ship?”

“Fine,” Elsa said, ignoring his proffered arm and stepping forward.

Riley left them three blocks later to search for fresh fruit, corn-meal, and fresh water. They still had quite a bit in supply, but since they were already here, he thought it best to restock. Stefan agreed and sent him away.

As they resumed their walk, Stefan and the other two sailors again protecting Elsa from the crowd, Stefan looked at Elsa admiringly. “You’re not afraid?”

“No,” she said, swatting at a hand on her shoulder, wincing as someone tugged at a lock of hair. “They are simply curious.”

“You realize that if we were not here, you’d be carried off ?”

She glanced at him and bristled, not liking what she saw in his eyes. He was looking at her as if
he
would like to carry her off. Was this what Peder had feared? That he might not be around to protect her from wanton sailors? Well, she could stand up for herself. After all, his best friend had kissed her! If she could deal with that, she could certainly fend off a few misguided souls. With this thought, an idea took root. A little Bible reading would do the whole crew some good! That would put a damper on this sinful mate’s wandering eyes!

Within minutes, they reached the docks and their longboat. As the sailors rowed them away from shore, Elsa breathed a sigh of relief. They had not found a doctor, but they had at least returned safely. The sailors would return for Riley later and board with fresh fruit, which Elsa could grind up and spoon into Peder’s mouth. Also, she
would reread Cook’s doctoring books to see if there was any remedy she had missed.

Later that night, dressed in her nightgown, Elsa sat at the desk and struggled to read the dim letters on the yellowing pages of
The Contemporary Medical Journals of John B. White
. The flickering light of the kerosene lamp, the rocking of the boat, and Peder’s loud, rhythmic breathing soon lulled her to sleep, her head resting on her arms over the book.

It was the creak of the door that awakened her. The lamp still burned, and she raised her head. Then she saw him. “Stefan! You frightened me! What is it?” she asked, pulling a shawl about her shoulders. “Is everything all right on the ship?”

“Fine,” he said, closing the door behind him.

He walked over to Peder, touching his forehead and shaking his shoulders. Her husband didn’t wake. “How long has he been unconscious?”

“All day,” she said uncertainly. “What is it, Stefan? What do you want at this hour?”

He turned to her, a slow smile forming. “Why you, of course.”

“Pardon me?” Her heart stepped up to a staccato beat as he took one step toward her then another. Elsa stood and backed away. She raised her chin, trying to portray all of the courage that she could not find in her heart.

“You were involved with our previous first mate, were you not? Why not be my companion?”

“I was not! I do not know of what you speak!”

He took another step toward her, and Elsa desperately thought of weapons she could reach to defend herself.

“The captain turned a blind eye on you two on that island, but I did not. Karl wanted you for himself. I could see it in his eyes. You must have spurned him. That’s why he left.”

“How dare you speak to me this way! I take offense at such
audacity! First Mate Martensen saved me from the pirates. That is all.”

Stefan’s angular face softened, and he raised his hands toward her in a conciliatory manner. His small eyes roamed over her then to Peder. “Come now, Elsa. We’re friends, right? Your husband is out cold. I thought you might need some comfort.”

Elsa bumped into the far wall and edged back toward the desk. On it was a sharp letter opener beside her pen. “Get out, Stefan. You have misinterpreted past events and have made a fateful decision tonight. I am removing you as first mate.”

“You cannot do that,” he said with derision. “You have no power.”

She lunged toward the paper opener and quickly held it out like a knife. “I do. I am strong, not some waif waiting for you to take advantage of her.
Riley!”
she yelled at the top of her lungs.

In seconds, Riley and three others burst through the door. They studied Stefan and Elsa in wonder.

“Stefan has made inappropriate advances on the captain’s wife,” she said with shaking authority. “Put him in chains. I am removing him as first mate and taking charge of this ship. You, Riley, will be my first mate.”

Riley paused for a moment, a slow smile taking over his face. He sheathed a knife that Elsa saw for the first time, then turned to the others. “You ’eard the cap’n! Put the man in chains.”

Stefan looked at her with a combination of shock, dismay, and malice. “You will need me around the Horn. Nobody’s done the Horn as many times as I. You’ll need me!” he yelled as they led him away.

Trembling, Elsa sank into her chair. Riley watched respectfully from the door. “One adventure after another, eh missus?” he cajoled, as though trying to ease her fears.

“Yes, Riley. One adventure after another. Let’s review our course
first thing in the morning, all right? I want you to teach me more about charting. I think I’m getting rather good at it,” she said.

“Aye, aye, Cap’n,” he said jovially. Then softer he added, “Get some rest, eh missus?”

“Yes, Riley,” she said. “And Riley?”

“Aye?”

“Thank you.”

“Aye, Cap’n.”

the sorrowing spirit sings
April–November 1881

W
ith the early spring thaw came renewed health for Christina and an uneasy truce between Kaatje and Soren. Believing that they would make good money on their combined parcels of land, Soren had purchased a pair of oxen by paying down a little and securing a note for the rest. This debt made Kaatje nervous, but Soren seemed to know what he was doing and would tolerate little argument from her anyway. Wanting to live in peace, Kaatje elected to say nothing.

With Christina strapped to her chest in a sling, Kaatje hoed the soil to plant a garden. She enjoyed being outdoors, with the aroma of freshly tilled soil and the sight of Soren in the distance, clearing the land. He had insisted on tilling their new land first, and Kaatje agreed. If ultimately they could only hold on to one homestead or the other, she would prefer the new lot with the clapboard shack rather than their original quarter of land with the dirt-floored soddy. This section also had the creek nearby and the barn.

Old Lady Engvold had sniffed when she stopped by that morning, intoning that the previous Norwegian homesteaders had been
driven out by their own greedy foolishness. “If they had started with a dugout or a soddy,” she said, “They would still be here.”

“It is my gain,” Kaatje said, trying to maintain her jovial mood.

“Drafty, though, isn’t it?”

“A bit more than the soddy. But it has a better roof—
and
a floor. I have much to be thankful for.”

“ To each his own,” Old Lady Engvold said, flicking the reins over her horse’s back. “Another day,” she said.

“Another day,” Kaatje mumbled, forcing herself to wave. Why did the old woman have to be so grim?

She thought back over the encounter as she hacked and pulled at the dark soil. Perhaps the old woman was lonely, bitterly lonely, after the winter. Still it was spring, time to leave winter’s shadows behind. Kaatje looked across the field, shielding her eyes as the baby stirred against her. The late afternoon sun cast Soren’s form in silhouette. She, too, would leave her winter shadows behind, Kaatje thought.