Dawn's Rising

Chapter 7: A New Home

After a tearful parting with Thomas Clancy, the Jakobsens then continued for the remaining few hours of their long journey. Then at last, they arrived at Fort Smith, Arkansas. In all haste, Karl and his family gathered their possessions and made their way to the nearest exit. With a sigh of relief, Julianna finally set foot on solid unmoving ground once again.

"Karl," at the deep bass voiced call, all eyes turned. Karl had no problem spotting his older brother in the crowd milling around them. Like himself, Jarle stood over a head taller than anyone else. With a broad smile the Viking of a man strode up to Karl and immediately gathered him into a fierce bear-hug which lasted some time. At last, the two men separated from each other. Jarle continued to hold fast to one of Karl's arms as he looked deep into his eyes, "My brother, it has been too long since last."

"Yes it has, but now I and mine are here, never to leave you again." Karl blinked back tears as he spoke. Jarle then turned and greeted each of his little brother's family. Each of them received in turn a huge bear hug and a kiss on the cheek.

Kristine, who had never met her uncle Jarle before, took to him at first sight because he looked almost exactly like her own father. The only visual difference between them was that Jarle was a few inches taller. And if you looked very closely, Jarle's nose was a bit crooked from being broken when he was a boy. Otherwise, they could be mistaken for identical twins even though Jarle was in fact two years older. Kristine looked back and forth from her father to her uncle, staring in fascination from one to the other of them.

It had been over six years since they had seen Uncle Jarle, when he and his wife Kari and their three children Jakob, Marit, and Sophia left for America to seek out a new life in the untamed wilderness of the great United States. During the following years Merethe and then Leif had been born to Kari and Jarle.

Jarle Jakobsen could clearly see the weariness of his little brother and his family so he wasted no more time with idle conversation. Without asking, he took hold of the nearest trunk and hefted it up. He then quickly led the way through the groups of chatting people and industriously working men scattered along the station platform. As they turned the corner, Jarle suddenly stopped at the first wagon and hefted his burden into the already open tailgate.

As soon as all the baggage was securely stowed and all found places to sit, Jarle gave his horses' reigns a flick and sent them on down the road. Throughout the entire five-hour wagon ride to their new home, the wagon's six occupants busied themselves with trying to catch up on lost time. As she listened quietly, Julianna felt relieved that her uncle appeared to be the same gentle, tenderhearted man she remembered him to be. However, as the hours crept on by, she felt her eye lids sag more and more. As she stifled a yawn, she wearily leaned her head onto her mother's shoulder ready to take a little nap. But suddenly Jarle interrupted what his brother was telling him.

"Just a moment, Karl. We just crossed the boundary of our land. You now officially come to your new home. And just over that rise is Fredensdal where we built our houses."

Julianna immediately sat bolt upright and looked all around her with eagerness. Ahead of them, the forest-clad landscape rose upwards in a series of gently rising hills. Here and there, birch and oak trees were sprinkled in among the tall standing pines, adding the brighter hues of their green foliage to the dark green of the pine bows. Julianna scanned the tree lined horizon ahead of her, trying to see where their path would cross over the hills and lead them into the valley she would from then on call home. However, only an uninterrupted line of pointed treetops met her searching gaze. Then as the road led them under the cover of tree bows again, they suddenly swerved to the right and drove deeper into the seemingly endless sea of forest.

As the evening sun sent forth its final blazing rays, the path without warning immerged into a wide-open clearing that stretched out towards a cleft in the protective embrace of the hills ahead of them. With admiration, Julianna gazed out over neatly formed lines of diverse vegetables that filled the clearing on both sides of the road. She exchanged a delighted smile with her mother before she continued her perusal, attempting to identify each plant they passed, most of which were heavily ladened with ripening vegetables. Then as they entered into the opening in the forest-clad barrier surrounding Fredensdal, Karl Jakobsen and his family finally caught sight of the homestead constructed inside.