Chapter 10: A Warm Welcome

With white skin and lips tinged with blue, Katalin struggled to keep her eyes open against the overwhelming weight of exhaustion. Her shoulders drooped under the burden of supporting the ox driver as she stumbled towards the door. Rollo staggered along on the other side of the unconscious man, lending whatever strength he could. Finally reaching the door, her task complete, she turned and slid down the rough surface and let herself collapse, unable to form any coherent thoughts about what to do next.

Beside her, Rollo struggled to support the bulk of the massive ox driver. After tottering for a couple of strained minutes, the mismatched pair crashed to the muddy ground in a tangled heap of sodden clothes and flailing limbs.

Fortunately, their clumsy collapse made plenty of noise, including repeated bangs against the unyielding door.

A minute later, the door was yanked open by a tall, solidly built blonde woman. Though fine lines marked her pretty rounded face as likely nearing forty years, any aging was offset by the fire still smoldering in her green eyes as she glared out into the dark storm.

"What is all this racket?!" she exclaimed, her voice carrying over the raging wind. But noticing the bedraggled pile of bodies on her doorstep, confusion replaced temper. Spotting the ox driver, recognition flashed across her face.

"Dover!" she cried, stepping out and reaching to grip his shoulder and give it a shake. "What madness has happened to you now?"

Getting no response from the dazed ox driver, the woman turned to the two young women crowded behind her in the doorway - presumably her daughters based on their resemblance. The elder, a slim blonde of around fourteen years, peered out curiously while her sister, ten by Katalin's guess and sporting light brown hair over a slender build, looked on anxiously.

"Adrianne - go heat the sauna, quickly now!" The elder girl rushed off to obey. Next the woman addressed the younger, "Nadine, run fetch Henry and Lulu!" Looking anxious, the girl dashed into the tempest toward a neighboring hut.

With the pair dispatched, the sturdy woman bent down to bodily haul Rollo up and in from the heap of tangled bodies. Though the young soldier was soaked through and shivering violently, she managed it with little difficulty - strength clearly not lacking in her stocky frame.

Stepping back around the trembling Rollo to get outside, she eyed the massive unconscious driver, after studying him a few moments she gave a shake of her head.

Instead, she reached for Katalin who sat silent and unmoving, rivulets of water tracing skin nearly blue with cold. Placing a palm on the girl's shoulder, the woman fully expected to have to take her weight. But at the contact, Katalin instead calmly stood. Surprised, but relieved for the cooperation, the blond woman coaxed gently, "Come along then dear, you're all frozen half to death. Inside by the fire, that's it..."

Halfway in the door Katalin paused, looking back in the direction she had come, causing the woman to stop also. "What is it dear?" the woman asked. In reply Katalin made a small gesture toward the road and answered, "The bridge..."

The woman nodded and led the glacially composed Katalin over the threshold into blessed warmth, situating the girl directly before the hearth. No sooner had she guided Katalin to sit upon the woven rug there, then garbled shouts and thuds echoed from outside - the neighbors arriving to manage the ox driver Katalin presumed.

The blond woman went back to the door as another woman entered the house - similar sturdy build nearing plumpness, perhaps a decade older than her rescuer.

The woman shouted to someone else outside. "Get him in here!"

She and the other woman came in followed by the younger daughter from earlier.

The blond woman pointed the girl back the way she came. "Nadine, go help your sister."

Next she indicated Rollo, instructing the other woman, "Lulu, get him out of those wet clothes."

The woman approached where Katalin sat quite contentedly before the warming hearth, hands stretched toward the mesmerizing flames. Her hands were almost in the fire. The blonde looked startled.

"Careful dear! You are going to burn yourself, I know you can't feel it right now." She gently pulled Katalin's hands back from the fire's reach.

"Now come along, we have to get you out of those wet things."

Katalin looked up at the fretting woman with a slight smile and carefully stood, her sodden clothing dripping onto the woven rug.

"Well you're already half undressed anyway dear," the woman gently tutted, helping the girl out of the meager garments still clinging to near blue flesh. As she worked, she kept up a comforting patter:

"Everyone calls me the Widow Helga, no need for formalities. You saw my daughters, Adrianne and Nadine - lovely girls."

"Can you tell me your name?" Getting only a tired smile in return, she patted the girl's shoulder. "No matter. Let's just get you warmed up."

Leaving Katalin standing before the fire and moving away, Helga called over her shoulder, "You just wait here a minute dear."

In the meantime, two men - one perhaps in his fifties, the other a strapping youth - had managed to drag the massive inert form of the ox driver halfway into the front room.

Catching the younger man stealing a glance at the nakedly bedraggled girl before the hearth, Helga snapped severely.

"Eyes to yourself Stefan! This poor thing needs care, not ogling!"

Embarrassed, the young man looked like he wanted to protest but then went back to helping get the ox driver inside.

Helga returned carrying a thick wool robe which she helped Katalin to don over her bare, chilled flesh.

With the girl covered, Helga went to assist the other woman with disrobing shivering Rollo. Together they got him out of the wet clothes and into a dry woolen robe as well.

They turned to see the two men had finally managed to drag the entire mass of the unconscious ox driver inside. Exhausted from their efforts, the pair slumped down beside his inert form.

At that moment, the two girls returned to the room. The elder exclaimed "It's ready mama!"

Helga issued swift orders to the daughters. "Get everyone up! Send a group to check the bridge. Little Sally is still missing out in this mess!" The girls' eyes went wide with dread at the news before they raced back out shouting into the storm.

Seeing the men lounging in their moment of respite, Helga chided them harshly:

"What are you lolling about for? Get that soaked jerkin off Dover before he catches his death!"

Helga moved to help the other woman wrestle Rollo's bare feet into a pair of leather sandals. Returning to Katalin, she similarly began guiding the girl's feet into the worn but cozy shoes.

Spotting Katalin's torn, muddied stockings on the floor, the woman clicked her tongue woefully. "You've been running about out there with nary a boot? What misfortune befell you dear?"

She carefully inspected the tender bare flesh of feet and hands for damage from exposure. "Well bless me if you don't show any sign of frost! However did you manage that little miracle?"

Securing the sandals' straps, she took Katalin gently in hand and led her toward the door. Over her shoulder she called last instructions to the other woman still kneeling by Rollo.

"Mind that one Lulu! Wait for some help before hauling him about. Check him thoroughly for any blackened skin afore bringing him to the sauna."

Helga led Katalin back out into the storm toward a squat central structure set amidst a curving line of huts to either side. Rain pelted exposed skin until they reached the meager awning shielding the weathered wooden door.

Pulling it open, Helga guided the girl into the enclosed hallway beyond, unadorned apart from the peg-lined walls and a large shelf stacked with towels. It was chillier than the house but not uncomfortably so - warmed somewhat by heat emanating from within.

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Helga removed her woolen nightdress and hung it from an empty peg, before helping Katalin shed the heavy robe to hang it from the next hook over. From the shelf she grabbed two wool towels.

Guiding Katalin through a second doorway, dry air enfolded them, permeated by soothing heat that wrapped her chilled body. She grinned in delight, reveling at the glorious warmth that enveloped her bare skin, relieving the aching chill in her bones.

Helga led the girl deeper inside the blessed sanctuary and began laying out one of the woolen towels she carried upon a long bench.

"Dragging that overgrown brute all the way from the bridge in just your stockings of all things!" Helga tutted as she helped Katalin sit before inspecting her ears, nose, hands and feet once more for signs of damage from the exposure.

Satisfied, she positioned her own towel right beside the girl, close enough to support her should she list to either side from exhaustion.

Settling herself, Helga patted Katalin's knee comfortingly. "Well, no matter now dear. We'll have you fixed up again soon enough. Got to get wee Sally back safe first." She shook her head, worry creasing her brow. "Poor mite out there, hopefully we find her quick before the cold..." Again, she sighed heavily.

At that moment Lulu came into the sauna supporting an unsteady Rollo between herself and another woman. All three were nude.

Lulu held Rollo up while the other laid out three towels on the bench. Together they assisted him to sit then Lulu sat on one side.

While Lulu kept the wavering man upright, her companion knelt to vigorously rub warmth back into Rollo's feet.

Helga asked after his condition.

The one rubbing his feet said, "It was close, but he will be fine."

"Any news of the others?" Helga asked.

The seated woman said, "Drengar, Bryon and Orso have headed to the bridge to see what happened and see if they can find Sally."

At that, Katalin stirred with sudden concern. "Sally? The little girl?" she murmured.

"Yes, the little one - Sally," Helga asked urgently. "Do you know where she is?"

"Yes. Safe... in town with my friends," Katalin slowly replied.

The women started at Katalin's unexpected assertion that the lost girl was safe. She then collapsed backward with relief, a long breath escaping her lips. She leaned over to wrap grateful arms around the girl. "I knew you were a good sort!"

Turning toward the woman still kneeling to rub Rollo's extremities, Helga instructed "Donna, go spread word that Sally's been found!"

Donna quickly stood and left the sauna. With the news shared, she swiveled back to Katalin. "What happened to cause all this chaos, love?"

In answer, the girl's stomach let out a long plaintive growl. "Hungry," Katalin explained simply.

Helga laughed in surprised understanding. "Well of course, we must feed you up!"

She stuck her head out the sauna door and bellowed at maximum volume for her daughter Adrianne, making Katalin wince. She wished Helga had been back at the bridge so she could tell Garren to retrieve her hammer.

Her yelling done, Helga plopped contentedly back down beside the girl, ready to hear more of her ordeal.

A moment later, Adrianne, the elder daughter, stuck her head through the sauna entrance. "Yes mama?"

"Bring some bread and dried fish, hurry it up!" Helga told her. "And tell your sister to grab two mugs worth from my ale barrel. Tell her to add the herbs from the blue jar, watch her closely, she never pays attention to what she's doing."

Adrianne nodded and withdrew to fulfill the requests.

Helga patted Katalin's hand as her stomach continued its complaints. "Food is coming shortly dear. Do you think you can tell me what caused all this trouble at the bridge?"

Katalin furrowed her brow, concentrating through the mental fog. "The bridge," she said slowly. "It collapsed."

Helga clicked her tongue knowingly. "I warned that arrogant ox months ago that repairs were needed!" She sighed in frustration. "But Dover brushed off every concern as if I'm just some simple village woman. He won't be told anything, won't be shown up as less than perfectly right in that bloated head of his!"

"Knowing Dover, he'd rather boast about cheating death thanks to divine blessing than admit any fault in ignoring my warnings. He won't take any responsibility at all."

At that Katalin was able to muster a surprised look but Helga missed it as in the same moment the sauna door was flung open and three men staggered in half-dragging, half-carrying an inert Dover. The three men were still dressed but Dover was nude. At least Katalin thought he was, with the thick hair covering practically the man's whole body and the way everything seemed slightly out of focus she couldn't be sure.

Katalin recognized Henry and his son Stefan straining under the burden. The third man - elderly, mostly bald but with iron gray hair on the sides of his head - stepped back out into the hall. He returned swiftly carrying several woolen towels tucked under an arm.

Moving to the farthest bench from Helga and Katalin he laid out two towels then helped the other two haul Dover's motionless form to lay him flat on his back on the towels.

While the trio situated the bulky man, Helga called over, "How fares our brute then, Henry?"

"He will live," Henry reported. "He may lose a couple of toes, but he can hobble into town for a healer when this storm passes. Barni says he took a blow on the head though."

The oldest man nodded and bent down examining Dover's head as the other two stepped away. "Big swollen knot here, but skull's not gone soft or caved. What brains he has should be intact inside, I reckon."

"Knock to the noggin might finally set him straight," opined Helga wryly.

Barni then took the remaining towel and draped it over Dover's hips and thighs. Straightening, he asked for confirmation. "We passed Donna going across the yard, she said something 'bout Sally already being spotted whole. That true then?"

Helga said, "Yes, according to this nice girl-" she patted Katalin's hand "-our little Sally is safe."

Katalin looked between Helga and Barni. Concentrating before answering slowly:

"Yes...The girl...she was in the back of the cart."

She paused, eyes narrowing slightly at the effort to recall exactly what happened, "We got her out."

Nodding slightly at Helga, she continued, "Safe on the other side...with my friends...when the bridge fell."

Katalin paused again to gather her jumbled memories. "Taking her to town. Back...in the morning."

Helga turned to address the men. "There you go then! Now off with you so we can have some peace."

Katalin spoke up once more. "Wait...The cart. It went in the river. Check the banks..."

"Alright you heard...", Helga started once more to send the men out, but Katalin reached over to squeeze her arm. "Yes dear? There's something else?"

Katalin nodded, and rallied herself once more, "The ox. Loose on this side."

Having issued this warning, she slumped back, fully exhausted from the effort.

At that Helga brightened, "Now that is good news. When you said the cart went in the river, I was afraid old Fluffy went with it."

The men exchanged grim, worried looks. Henry said sincerely, "Thank ye, miss." Then they hurried out.

As warmth returned to her thawed limbs, Katalin gloried at the permeating heat melting away the bone-numbing cold. She flexed her hands and toes, arched her back, straightened her legs out in front of her, and slowly swiveled and rolled her head. She could feel the strength seeping steadily back now that winter's paralyzing numbness had been peeled away. She might have even said she was comfortable in that moment if not for the hunger. She wondered if her bag of torvgras had survived being dipped in the river.

For a moment Katalin was distracted from thoughts of food by the sound of a low growling. She leaned forward thinking maybe there was a dog in the sauna. Then set back in embarrassment when she realized the growling was her own stomach.

As if summoned by the rumbling of Katalin's stomach, Adrianne bustled in bearing a hand-woven basket which she handed over eagerly to her mother.

"Mama, please may I stay?" the girl asked brightly. "I'll not make a peep, I promise!" She was practically bouncing on her heels with anticipation.

Considering for a brief moment, Helga gave a good-natured nod. "Yes, but first, hurry back and get the hairbrush and some combs, this poor girl's locks are in quite the state!" Helga clucked sympathetically as she gently brushed tangled, snarled tresses back from Katalin's wan but smiling face.

Giggling gleefully, Adrianne bolted swiftly out the door on her crucial mission.

Helga removed a generous portion of crusty bread from the basket, broke a piece and passed it over to Katalin who fell ravenously upon the treasure. Crumbs flecked off as she endeavored to cram a huge mouthful past her lips all at once.

Helga opened her eyes wide watching the starving girl eat with abandon. She opened them wider when Katalin's complaining stomach let out an even louder eruption of hunger pangs in response to the first bites.

Both Helga and Lulu burst out laughing at the plaintive sound. "Poor girl," Helga said sympathetically.

"Here now, not too fast," Helga gently warned, handing over a piece of dried fish. "Smaller bites, don't want you choking!"

Meanwhile Lulu requested some bread from Helga's basket. She broke off a tiny portion and turned towards Rollo who was now groggily taking in his surroundings. Lulu used the bit of bread to coax him into swallowing a few manageable pieces.

The younger daughter soon came in bearing two large steaming mugs. "Here you go mama," she sang, holding them out to her mother.

"Adrianne says you told her she could stay," Nadine explained hopefully to Helga. "Can I stay too?"

Laughing good naturedly as she took the mugs, Helga nodded assent. "Of course, child! Fetch your robe and help your sister with the combs and you can stay for a little while."

As Nadine rushed eagerly off to follow her mother's directive, Helga handed one mug to Lulu before taking up the second. Talking softly to Katalin, she gently held it to the girl's lips to encourage her to take a small nourishing sip.

Katalin's eyes widened in happy surprise, and she carefully reached up to grasp the mug in both hands. Tilting it back, she drained the contents in two long pulls.

"Well, seems you like The Widow's Ale as much the rest of the village!" Helga chuckled.

In response, Katalin loosed a long and resounding belch, and then slumped back against the boards - sated at last. Helga and Lulu sat in wide eyed wonder for a moment, and both laughed as Helga took the mug back from where it dangled from Katalin's loose hand.

Shaking her head in amusement, Lulu started to hold her mug up to Rollo's lips.

"Go easy there, don't let him suck it all down at once like she did," Helga cautioned wryly.

Rollo took a tentative sip, eyes still bleary. Lulu tried tilting the mug further to offer him more, but he only managed another small swallow before lapsing back.

Just then his eyes went very wide as awareness of his surroundings sank in - three nude women surrounded him! Glancing down in shock, he realized his own unclothed state and yelped in mortified surprise.

Spotting a woolen bath towel beside him, Rollo snatched ineffectually to try placing it across his lap, but in the flustered process he only succeeded in yanking the fabric out from where it had lain under him. With another even more distressed cry, his bare skin made contact with the heated wooden planks below.

Clucking in sympathy at his bashfulness, Lulu efficiently rearranged the errant towel across both bench and his thighs once more.

"I suppose he's the modest sort," Lulu remarked in amusement to Helga.

"Let him keep his modestly then," Helga replied indulgently. "If these two saved little Sally they can keep anything they want."

With the last dregs of her energy before drifting off to sleep, Katalin managed to shake her head at Rollo in fond exasperation and mumble faintly, "Idiot..."