C6 Chapter 6

Vemund Tark had a serious talk with his younger brother at the estate office in Christiania. It was an elegant place with leather furniture and tastefully decorated walls. Vemund had never felt at ease there. He longed to be out in the forest, but his stylish brother was comfortable behind the solid desk.

Lillebror looked incredulously at Vemund. “I’m just not ready to settle down yet.”

Vemund’s face was tense. “You’re twenty-three years old. You ought to behave like a grown-up.”

“What about yourself? You’re twenty-five.”

“It doesn’t matter! Right now, it’s about you!”

“I would rather choose myself.”

“You don’t seem to be in a terrible hurry to do so. Do you have anything against Miss Elisabet of the Ice People?”

“Heavens, no. She’s sweet and pretty but her rashness needs to be kept in check somewhat. I’ve only met her once, after all! Give me time, Vemund!”

“There isn’t much time left.”

Lillebror speculated. “Did you say Elistrand? Is it big?”

“Not like Lekenes, of course, but it’s nicely situated and very well kept.”

“There’s a chance of obtaining Graastensholm at some time, I understand? And another farm – what was it you called it?”

“Linden Avenue. It’s small but good.”

“I could merge them. But it’s a pity about all the pretty young women I will have to turn down. Or do I need to do that? It’s quite normal for a man to have his little escapades outside marriage, isn’t it?”

“I would beware of that if I were married to Elisabet Paladin,” Vemund said wryly.

“What do Mother and Father say?”

“Oh, come on! How old are you? Of course Mother will object. She feels that you must be protected from all the evil in the world, especially sly women who want to steal her poor little lamb. Can’t you see that you need to extricate yourself while you still can? One day it will be too late, when you’re entangled in a cobweb of motherly love and care.”

“Was that why you left home?” Lillebror said, with a glum look.

“No, it wasn’t. I had other reasons for doing so,” Vemund replied impatiently.

Lillebror said: “You’ve never understood Mother.” He was hurt on behalf of his idolized mother. “Can you imagine anything more perfect? And you think I should make do with this temperamental Elisabet Paladin? Well, anyway,” Lillebror said, with a thoughtful, dreamy expression on his face. “I have a feeling that she’ll be easy to arouse in bed. Taming her would be fun ...”

“Oh, shut up,” Vemund said sharply and turned away.

“Very well,” Lillebror said. “I promise to talk to Mother and Father this evening. If they give their permission, I’ll take a closer look at the bride you have chosen for me. But what on earth do we do about her hair? She can’t walk about forever looking like that! It might seem risqué for a while but people might think that I’ve married a servant girl. Mother thought that she was sweet but rather odd ...”

Lillebror did not notice that Vemund muttered a long string of words through clenched teeth because he was standing with his back to his younger brother.

After the conversation, Vemund went into another office in the same building. A man of about forty-five immediately rose from an elegant chair and walked over to greet him.

“Well, well. It’s dear Mr Vemund! A rare guest in the office. My cousin, your dear mother, is concerned because you insist on working yourself to death when you could have a much better life! Don’t worry about the business, I’ll take care of it as well as I can!”

Vemund’s relative, Mandrup Svendsen, had the same extremely elegant appearance as his cousin and her two sons. But in his case, the good looks had almost disappeared in his gross obesity. Mandrup seemed compacted, like an over-filled sausage, with a shiny, red face under his affected wig. In his younger days, he must have been an Adonis. Everybody could see that.

Vemund asked: “Have we received payment from the people in Drammen?”

Mandrup Svendsen’s fingers moved nervously and aimlessly in front of the yellow brocade waistcoat that had great trouble reaching around his rotund body. He did not look Vemund straight in the eye.

“Er, well, yes, we got the money at long last, albeit far too little. They complained bitterly about the hard times and I couldn’t bring myself to put more pressure on them.”

All Vemund said was: “Hmm.” It was not the first time that Mandrup had replied like this. Vemund did not distrust him particularly, but it was strange that his mother’s rather poor cousin always seemed to be loaded with money. Not that Vemund had any idea of bookkeeping, but it would be interesting to have an expert go over the various accounts. The Tark business had enormous resources to draw on. So Vemund, who did not like discord, preferred to believe that everything was just fine. After all, it was so unimportant! The only things that meant anything to Vemund Tark were the overriding grief at what he had done to poor little Karin Ulriksby and taking care of Lillebror’s future. The business, with all its dirty tricks for dragging money out of people, could be left to its own devices!

A few days passed before Lillebror could steel himself to talk to his parents about his possible marriage. In the meantime, Elisabet and Miss Karin quietly plodded the broad streets around the house – every day, a little bit farther than the previous day. Karin was gaining weight from the food that Elisabet made sure was healthy and did not consist of only sweet cakes and coffee. She had been compelled to pull out one of Miss Karin’s teeth and she would probably have to extract a few others, but they would have to wait until the patient had forgotten the pain from the last time. The poor woman was beginning to get some colour in her cheeks, her steps were quicker now, her back straighter and she had become far more alert and healthier.

Then it began to rain and they had to abandon their walks for a few days. It rained and rained, and the street outside looked more like a slow, brown river. They could hear tired screams and agitated quarrels from the slum. Elisabet hardly dared to think how the poor people were doing in their miserable shacks.

Vemund called a few times to see how the two ladies were getting on. He repaired the leaks in the roof and carried logs indoors because the weather had turned cold. He would usually stay until fairly late in the evening and have supper with Elisabet. These were delightful moments, where they would sit in the evening light, talking quietly about their thoughts on life. One evening, to his great surprise, Karin joined them at the table. Vemund could hardly recognize her.

“Well, Miss Karin,” he said enthusiastically. “You look splendid!”

Karin became slightly coquettish. “Do you really think so? You don’t find my complexion too coarse or weathered?”

“On the contrary. Your cheeks are rosy and your eyes sparkle. It has given your face more glow and you want to look at it time and again.”

“Oh, Vemund, you’re such a sweet little boy,” she giggled, slapping his hand archly. A fourteen-year-old might get away with that without looking ridiculous but a woman of forty-five ...?

Elisabet was afraid that Miss Karin would notice the tactless aspect of Vemund’s compliment – that she had not been worth looking at before – but Miss Karin was delighted. She was bound to be desperate for compliments. Vemund gave Elisabet an approving glance. “You’ve done this very well,” it said. She returned the compliment with a smile.

In her confused way, Karin said eagerly that her fiancé had told her via Elisabet that he was in despair because he was unable to come for a while. He had had to travel to Germany on business but had promised to be back in good time before the wedding so Karin was not to worry.

This time, Vemund did not seem quite so pleased. The expression in his eyes told Elisabet: “Don’t pull the wool over Karin’s eyes. Don’t encourage her madness!”

But Elisabet knew better. In her worst, most unhappy moments, Karin had said that the women who had taken care of her before had cruelly tried to tear her life lie to pieces. “You mustn’t imagine things,” they had said brutally. “You’ll never see him again!” Karin had sobbed her heart out when she told Elisabet about it, and crying so hard was not good for her. “Why do they say things like that, Elisabet? Why are they horrible to me? I haven’t done them any harm!” The very next moment, Miss Karin had forgotten that there had been any women there at all. Then she waited excitedly for Bubi to come and knock on the door. It was only one day since she had seen him the last time, and he had just said goodbye to her with a kiss on her cheek because he had gone to find lilies-of-the-valley for the bridal bouquet.

The terrible event that had robbed Karin of her senses must have occurred at this final goodbye, or perhaps she had drawn a veil over the reality. Elisabet guessed that Bubi had passed away, probably in a very barbaric way that Karin was unable to accept. She clung to her dream.

“He’s always been good at business affairs, so it’s obvious that the Germans want to do business with him,” Karin said with a smile. She seemed so at ease now that she knew that Bubi would not turn up this evening. The hectic expression had disappeared from her eyes. Bubi had a valid reason for not coming. Now and then, Elisabet wondered how much she actually understood behind her silly, wishful dream.

Hell broke out the day after Karin had supper with Elisabet and Vemund. Elisabet was busy brushing Karin’s thin hair in her room up on the first floor when they heard desperate cries for help from the streets farther away. They ran over to the window and saw a policeman come running as he was blowing his whistle for help.

Elisabet opened the window. “What’s the matter?” she shouted. The policeman, who knew that distinguished people lived in this house, saluted sloppily and said hastily: “Those miserable hovels they live in have fallen into the river. Many are wounded and I must get hold of a doctor and other assistance.”

“I have medical skills,” Elisabet said. “I’ll come straight away.”

He stopped, baffled. “A nice young lady can’t go there; the conditions are terrible over there ...”

“Nonsense! I’ll be on my way.”

As soon as she closed the window, she remembered Karin. She could not leave her!

Karin trembled as she looked at her. “Will you be on your way, Elisabet? What am I to do then, because I won’t have a companion. I forbid you to ...”

“People have been hurt and wounded, they’re about to die, Miss Karin. I don’t want to leave you either. Here, put your hood on and join me! Then I can help you at the same time!”

“To that place?” Karin said, taking a step back with a grimace. “Aren’t the people who live there commoners and good-for-nothings?”

“They’re also human beings,” Elisabet interrupted her. “And it hurts just as much when they’re injured as when you are.”

“I can’t feel their pain,” the patient said with disgust in her voice.

“Neither can I, but I can imagine it.”

While Elisabet spoke, she hurried down to her room leaving Karin standing on the stairs, protesting loudly.

Elisabet was ready in the hall. “Well? Have you made up your mind?”

“You’re so tough, Elisabet. I’m too ill to be bossed around!”

“I’m not bossing you around. I just want to know whether you will help me do my duty. Everybody who is able to help is needed over there.”

“Will I have done a good deed then?”

Elisabet answered: “Absolutely! Mr Bubi would be very proud of you if he knew about it.”

“You must tell him about my feat. What if he thinks I’ve sunk too low?”

“Mr Bubi would no doubt rush to the place to lend a helping hand, don’t you think?”

“Yes,” Karin said after thinking about it for a moment. “I’ll put on my black silk cape with the hood so that nobody will recognize me, I only wore it once for a ball at Bode. I’ll put on my gloves as well. Do you think I should put a spot of red on my lips?”

Elisabet moaned with impatience but bit her lip instead. “No, Miss Karin. You mustn’t look too conspicuous in the crowd because it may irritate people.”

“Of course, I can’t help over there, I’m only there so that you can be near me and be my servant if I need your help.”

Oh, for heaven’s sake, Elisabet thought in exasperation, but finally they were on their way.

The men the policeman had summoned came running down the street. The screams from the slum were agonizing. “Help! My children are drowning!” a woman yelled, and Elisabet took Karin’s bony hand and dragged her along.

It was impossible to describe the confusion on the bank. You could no longer tell the streets, gates and wooden shacks from each other; everything was mixed up in a muddy mess. Elisabet heard piercing yaps underneath a toppled wall, and a man helped her lift it. Out came a puppy, which a child took care of immediately, running off with it. Several men had thrown themselves into the river to help those who were fighting for their lives between the wreckage of the shacks they had lived in. Others were trying to clear up the chaos that had occurred on the bank when the houses collapsed on the steep slope.

Karin moaned: “Good heavens. I certainly can’t stay here!”

Elisabet had no patience any longer: “Then go home, you damned doll,” she hissed. “Can’t you see what’s going on? Can’t you see beyond your ridiculous thoughts about yourself and your miserable appearance? For decency’s sake, do try to imagine how these people are coping right now – destitute in the rain and without any shelter in winter! Look at the children who are lying there, bleeding! Listen to how they’re calling out for their parents and siblings, their loved ones who have disappeared, while you stand here making a fool of yourself just because you got dirt on your shoes!”

Miss Karin stood there, speechless and offended. Her lips quivered but she straightened her back. “You’ve never spoken to me like that before, Elisabet,” she said accusingly. “And I who thought you were sweet. I won’t allow you to be my companion any more. I don’t want to hear such oaths and that kind of language. You’re dismissed!”

“I honestly couldn’t care less!” Elisabet said, turning her back on Miss Karin. “Go home and look yourself in the mirror. That’s the only thing you’re good at!” She was so furious that she no longer thought about what she said. Vemund Tark could say whatever he wanted; Elisabet was now facing a choice and she could only choose the right one: helping those poor people.

Karin stood there while Elisabet pulled two girls to their feet, bringing them farther up the steep bank. She left them with a woman from one of the undamaged houses. Then she was ready to begin her task.

Elisabet had already seen quite a few of the wounded that had been dragged up and onto safe ground, where they lay in the mud and the pouring rain and nobody had time to take care of them. The people from those parts of the slum that had never been in danger were screaming orders and calling out without lending a helping hand. Elisabet asked them to shut up and knelt among the wounded. Karin stood by, whining that nobody seemed to like her, but Elisabet did not have time for her.

When the others saw that the girl with the auburn hair knew her job, they gave her good advice. Elisabet had brought a few old sheets with her from Karin’s house and she got one of the more sensible women to tear them into strips. The men brought more wounded from the river, leaving them confidently to Elisabet who had her hands full.

She ordered Karin to hold the medicaments and hand them to her when she needed them. But Karin’s eyes were not what they had been and she was unable to read what it said on the various boxes. Somebody else had to take over, but Karin had already managed to forget herself for a moment and now she became interested. She did not want to look at the horrific wounds but took care of a weeping child, trying to console her in her own hesitant manner. Perhaps she frightened the child more than she needed to; but at any rate, Karin began to lend a helping hand. This in itself was valuable.

Elisabet had no time to look up but she did notice that she was getting expert help. A doctor had come, who was very surprised to see the work she was doing.

“I see,” he muttered rather aggressively. “A young lady who interferes in my work! I can see that this isn’t the first time she has done so!”

“No, two people with medical knowledge taught me,” Elisabet said without taking her eyes off the woman she was treating. The woman had had one arm torn half off and Elisabet had attended to the wound. Now she was applying a tight bandage and tying strips of sheet around the arm.

The doctor immediately began working next to Elisabet, and it was lovely to have some help. Far too many of the wounded were waiting and might die under her hands. She allowed herself to snatch a glance at him. He was a grey-bearded man in his fifties, horny and without illusions but clearly expert at his job. It was obvious that Elisabet had surprised him.

“You certainly know your craft, Miss,” he muttered as he was repairing a cheek that had been torn on a sharp object. “May I ask what your name is?”

“I’m Elisabet Paladin of the Ice People.”

The doctor whistled softly. “The Ice People! Now that makes sense. They’re people who are capable of more than just healing a stomach ache with a laxative! Are you ... one of them ... you know what I mean?”

Elisabet smiled. “No, I’m not. However, as I said a moment ago, two of them taught me about medicines and herbs.”

“We’ve certainly heard about old Ulvhedin! He was said to be an extremely clever doctor.”

“He’s my great-grandfather. He’s still alive. The other one is my distant relative, Ingrid Lind of the Ice People.”

“Ah, I see. The witch of Graastensholm. I would certainly have liked to have her as my teacher!”

“You know that she’s called a witch, do you?” Elisabet said slightly uneasily. “That could be dangerous for her!”

“We doctors have the greatest respect for the Ice People. You have nothing to fear from us. They have always collaborated with the medical profession and have never intruded on our work.”

“Except right now,” Elisabet said.

“This is a different matter. Oh, what a terrible noise! Does everybody have to yell at each other? Would you mind putting your hand here for a moment? I need to stitch up a rupture.”

Elisabet finished working with her patient, wiped her hands sketchily and pulled her knees out of the mud. She straddled the wounded man the doctor was tending, thus locking his arms while she held his hand in an iron grip. The man stared at her in surprise. “Well, I’ll be damned, a woman!” he moaned.

“Yes, you can say that again,” the doctor said with clenched teeth.

Elisabet interpreted these two remarks as the compliments they were meant to be.

How could anyone work in this chaos? After helping the doctor, she searched desperately for dry ground on which she could place the wounded. The rain was still pouring down so her hair stuck to her face as she was bending forward all the time. Everything was soaking wet and muddy, and the screams from the wounded were unbearable. A close semicircle of spectators stood around them.

The strangest thing was that Miss Karin was still standing there, wringing her hands. Elisabet could not get into her head why she had not run away a long time ago.

“We need more bandages,” the doctor said, wiping the rain off his face.

Elisabet shouted: “Miss Karin!”

The distinguished lady stepped cautiously closer, proud and still deeply offended but probably far too confused to have the courage to walk home by herself.

“Miss Karin, forgive my harsh words earlier. I was out of balance and didn’t know what I was saying. I shall gladly give up my services with you if you want me to, but would you mind helping us? You’re the only one who can help these unfortunate people now.”

The deranged Miss Karin gave a stiff nod. “I’ll show mercy this one time, but you’re demoted to chambermaid instead of companion.”

“Well, all right. Miss Karin, would you mind fetching one of the yellowed sheets in the linen cupboard and sacrificing it to be used for bandages?”

Karin gasped: “In the linen cupboard? But that is my trousseau! And it’s certainly not yellowed with age! Why would it be? A fortnight ago, I embroidered the last monogram!”

Oh, dear, Elisabet thought, ill at ease. Now she had put her foot in it again. Miss Karin’s trousseau had not been touched for years!

“Yes, of course, I’m sorry,” Elisabet said quickly. “But if you have other worn sheets in the house ...”

“I can’t walk home on my own, surely you know that! That wouldn’t be the proper thing to do – I would be easy prey for the young men who roam outside my house.”

Elisabet looked about and chose a woman who appeared reliable. “Would you mind accompanying Miss Karin to her house and waiting outside while she fetches some sheets? Please take good care of Miss Karin! She’s very sensitive and needs protection.”

The woman nodded and after a few subdued protests, Karin allowed herself to be walked home. The doctor looked questioningly at Elisabet, who was trying to calm a hysterical child who had a torn eyelid. It looked worse than it was.

Elisabet tried to explain above the head of the child. “Miss Karin has lost her sense of reality after a shock. Actually, she’s a nice woman but she has no idea of time or proportion or anything else.”

“I heard you scolding her when I came. I’m surprised that she didn’t walk away.”

“I’m all she has,” was Elisabet’s reply. “Everybody else has left her – apart from a young man who takes care of her but stays in the background. Of course, her self-centredness is intolerable but I think it’s nothing but a façade.”

“That’s quite possible. Will you allow me to examine her one day? Mentally, I mean.”

“Yes, please. I would really appreciate that. Provided you don’t lock her up in a lunatic asylum because she has already spent far too long in one. The person who hired me as her companion says that her memory must not be aroused. He asserts that it would kill her.”

“What happened?”

Elisabet shrugged her shoulders. “Who knows? Isn’t there anybody who can take care of these homeless people? They’re drifting aimlessly about, moaning.”

“That’s not our business.”

“No, but if only we had some place where we could take care of the wounded indoors!”

“Where?”

She looked at the misery around her. The small, miserable hovels that were still habitable ...

“That’s a good question.”

Karin Ulriksby returned, and proudly handed over three sheets that needed to be thrown out. The doctor thanked her warmly and praised her. Karin beamed.

Elisabet thought what a sensible chap, relieved at having an expert to share the burden with. But I can’t make sense of her. I gave her a jolly good telling off – and she comes back again! I just don’t understand!

Suddenly, they heard a strong voice. An angry, grim voice. “What are you doing?”

They looked up. There was Vemund Tark, looking like a mad ox.

Elisabet replied just as belligerently: “What do you mean?”

“Have you brought Karin with you here?”

The doctor said curtly: “Miss Karin has been of invaluable help.”

Thank you, Elisabet thought.

Karin heard them and literally beamed. She was surrounded by children who wanted to touch her fine clothes, and she was proudly showing them her dress.

Vemund gave the doctor a hostile look and continued in a lower tone of voice: “She mustn’t go out among other people. She might meet someone she knows!”

Elisabet was overworked and did not weigh her words. “Don’t stand there talking about trivialities. Look at all this misery, you big, strong man!”

Vemund was just about to utter an oath but realized the truth in Elisabet’s words. Karin had already seen who he was and came trudging through the mud.

“Oh, finally somebody has come that I can talk to,” she chirped. “Elisabet is so busy and she was so evil to me. Really wicked, and I had to put her in her place, which she deserved. But I’ve forgiven her. Vemund, I’ve given a helping hand! And this wonderful doctor said that I was efficient!”

“That was good,” Vemund muttered absentmindedly. He asked Elisabet if he could help her but she sent him off to do the heavy chores. That was where he would be of most help.

He nodded. “But remember to keep an eye on Karin,” he said.

“I will,” Elisabet replied. “We’re helping one another.”

“Yes, we are,” Karin interrupted unexpectedly. “The three of us: Elisabet, the doctor and I, are working together.”

Vemund and Elisabet exchanged glances. This was a new Karin, whom they could not quite make out.

Vemund left. Now and then, Elisabet would look up and see him down by the bank where he and the other men were working hard to keep a check on the chaos.

It felt good to have him there.

Elisabet was beginning to feel tired. She no longer knew how many people she had tried to piece together. A demolition squad had come to tidy up and the worst of the chaos was over. You could detect a kind of order in it all. Nevertheless, a lot needed to be done to house the wounded and so on. Elisabet could not see at all how this could be done. After she and the doctor had attended to the wounded, their relatives and friends took over in their miserable shacks. The children were placed in temporary homes wherever possible. Now the destitute felt sorrow, despondency and despair for the future. As far as Elisabet could see, nobody had lost their life in the disaster. But you could hear children crying everywhere.

The doctor had walked over to another group of wounded people farther down by the river. They were the ones the water had carried some distance and they had been dragged onto the bank. Elisabet helped the last ones that were left, ordering the police and other men to find places for them.

What happened next marked the turning point for all those involved in the enigma surrounding Karin. Three small girls walked up to Elisabet. They stopped at a respectable distance. It was obvious that they had something very urgent to say.