Life On the Fjords

One Small Fact

When Jamie calmed down half-an-hour later, Jack sat him and Mary down inside the shed and left with a small, empty flask to collect water from the stream. When he brought it back to let the twins share, Jamie asked, "What if people back at the fjord come looking for us?" He knew Caleb, Claude, and Monty would all be broken to pieces when they discovered they had lost three friends in less than a week.

Jack sighed as he slipped his mantle back on, "If they do, they'll have a hard time finding us."

"What are we gonna do now?" Mary asked, hoping Jack already knew.

"We... I'm gonna try and speak to someone who might not be far from here."

"Is it your friend Elisa?" Jamie blurted.

Mary glared quizzically, "Who's Elisa?"

"Elsa." Jack sharply corrected. "And she's a good, good friend of mine..." Jack shuddered to think of explaining what had happened to a woman that was a few weeks pregnant. "I think she can help us or knows someone who can help us. I can't make you two walk that far, so I need you both to promise me you will not leave this shed." It was both that Jack didn't want to make the weary children walk a long way again, nor did he want the sight of their home triggering them right after what had happened. He surmised that this was his best option.

"You promised you wouldn't leave us!" Mary whined.

"I'm not." He reassured. "I just need you both here where I know you'll be safe. We can't carry all those things to the river and back again. Here you have blankets and matches for the lamp. I'll get there as fast as I can." Jack didn't mention he was betting on Elsa even being there at all. These were times where it was sometimes weeks before they saw one another again.

Jamie pulled on Jack's shawl to keep him from standing up, "What if someone finds us here?"

Jack hadn't thought about that. He figured no one would have any business checking an old, forgotten shed out in the woods anyway. Then there was the occasional hunter that might come by, desperate for shelter or somewhere to find supplies... He couldn't think of an answer. "No one's going to look in here." He hoped he'd done enough to mask the uncertainty in his voice and stood up to his full height. "I'll be back. That's a guarantee."

...

The Nordheim residence started their morning as they typically did, with breakfast and tea at the family table. Iduna Nordheim had prepared lingonberry pancakes along with other sliced fruits and meats. She started her morning smiling and humming to herself, trying her damndest to pretend nothing was wrong in their seemingly perfect life. Her husband, Agnarr, wasn't a breakfast person and quietly had his tea. Elsa, on the other hand, tried not to make it obvious that she'd been hungrier than usual lately, and subtly stuffed her face with whatever she could get her hands on.

Then, as soon as she was finished, she knew she'd either have to vomit or have one of her dizzy spells. This morning, it had nothing to do with the life brewing inside of her—she'd been worried about Jack ever since she knew she was letting him return home to a murderer. The food was a mere distraction from what her beloved might be going through.

Agnarr Nordheim did just the opposite—he couldn't eat when he was stressed. All of their money problems had shriveled his appetite even for his most favorite meals. Now with the new year a little over a month away, he worried about losing this beloved place he'd called home for the last twenty years. The home he'd brought his wife home to and raised their daughter in. Elsa could see the sadness in her father's eyes every time she looked at him. He was feeling like a failure for not being able to provide for his family, with no one to turn to for proper aid. Soon they might not even be able to have nice breakfasts like these.