Dawn's Rising

Chapter 15; You Can Not Buy True Friendship

Christmas Day dawned bright and glorious and little Kristina awoke with sunshine in her heart. After she finished eating her breakfast she turned to her mother and pleadingly asked for permission to go and visit her best friend, Hilde. Silje dismissed her youngest daughter from the table and watched smiling as the little red headed girl bounded gleefully for the front door. With a light heart filled with the afterglow of Christmas Eve's magic, Kristina wrapped around her neck her new scarf which she had received from Hilde, and put on her new mittens which her Aunt Ingrid had made for her. She then ran the short distance over the snowy ground to the Vidhammer home.

When Olav answered the door Kristina entered in with a warm greeting. Seeing Auntie Ingrid seated at the dinner table Kristina waved one of her mitten covered hands. "Thank you Aunt Ingrid, for the lovely mittens. They are very warm and soft. And see, they fit me perfectly!"

"I am glad to see it and you are very welcome, Kristina. I am glad you like them."

Kristina then looked over where her good friend Hilde sat at the table with her back still turned towards the door. The little blond haired girl hadn't so much as looked up at her friend when she entered. Appearing oblivious to everything else around her, Hilde sat straight backed as she knitted another row to the scarf which she was working on.

As she approached her industriously working friend, Kristina had no problem discerning that the girl was upset about something. Even as trepidation began to fill her heart Kristina managed to speak out in a cheerful voice, "Thank you, Hilde for the pretty scarf. Did you knit it yourself?"

Without looking up from her knitting, Hilde finally answered, "Yes I did. I am glad you liked it." Then after a moment of weighty silence, the harsh sound of Ingrid clearing her throat brought all eyes to her. As Hilde looked up at her mother and was confronted by the woman's stern gaze, the little girl caught the hint and finally added, "And thank you for the nice drawing paper and pencils."

"I am sure you will make many lovely drawings with them. You are so great at drawing; at so many things in fact. I wish that I was even half as talented as you are." Kristina said with a sigh.

"Now Kristina," Ingrid said, looking up from her own knitting to consider the young girl standing in front of her, "I am sure that you have many hidden talents. You just haven't discovered them yet."

"I hope you are right, Aunt Ingrid," Kristina said with a small smile before she turned back to her friend. "Can't we go up to your room, Hilde, and play a while? Mamma said that I had to be back before the noon meal."

"Sure we can," Hilde said with a smile that didn't seem to reach her eyes. Hilde carefully sat down her knitting and followed Kristina up the stairs to her room.

As soon as Hilde entered through her bedroom door, she closed it and turned around to face Kristina. With her arms crossed over her chest the petite angelic seaming child finally allowed all the anger and disappointment which she had been suppressing since the night before rise to the surface. As Kristina caught sight of the seething rage in her best friend's eyes, she blanched and took an unconscious step backwards. In shock and fear she stood petrified before Hilde, unable to so much as form a question in her mind, let alone speak out loud.

As her green eyes flashed with the flames of her anger, Hilde finally broke the stifling silence and spoke out, "I thought you had bought the doll for me! How could you give it to Merethe when I am your best friend?"

"I-I'm sorry Hilde," Kristina finally managed to stammer out. "I didn't know that you wanted the doll too. Me and Julianna saw Merethe looking at the doll and decided to buy it for her because she has been lonely. Anyways, you don't often play with dolls."