Chapter 37

Tension around Erik’s fire was thick. No one spoke. No one made eye contact.

Erik was sitting on a log, so Mato tugged Hilda around the fire and invited her to sit next to Erik. She looked into his eyes then gave him a fleeting smile and sat. Mato went and sat on Erik’s other side.

He got a piece of snake and skewered it on a stick, then sat roasting it. Hilda did the same on her side, and Erik watched them. Slowly his face softened. And the despair in his eyes faded.

When the snake was finished cooking, Mato extended the snake to Erik. The giant pondered, then took it and ate it.

“Thank you, Mato.”

“You’re welcome, Dad.”

Erik snorted and patted him on the back.

“I’m really angry with you,” Hilda said.

Erik nodded and his face closed off again. “You’ve a right to be.”

“I don’t want us to hate each other.”

He put his arm around her, and she scooted up against him. “No need to worry about that, Daughter. I’ve done something I can’t undo. Something I promised I would never do to you.”

“We’ll figure it out,” she said. “We live where we are, not where we’d like to be.”

Mato winced.

“It could be worse,” Hilda continued. “It could have been Sten.”

“Oh, go blow a goat,” Sten said from behind them.

Erik snorted. He was obviously trying to be cheerful, but wasn’t in the mood to laugh.

“I would like to introduce you to my mother,” Mato said.

Hilda stood and walked around to his side of the log. “That sounds lovely. Thank you for sharing your fire and food with us, Mother, Father.”

“Come back whenever you like,” Thyra said.

Hilda pulled him to a stop in the semi-darkness between fires. “I’m sorry, Mato.”

“What for?”

“I’ve spent the entire day thinking about myself, and you’ve been patient and kind to me the entire time. I want you to know that I noticed.”

He squeezed her hand.

“I also noticed that I made you unhappy when I said it could have been worse. I don’t know how to change the way I feel, but you need to know that there is no man in the world I would rather be forced to marry.”

He couldn’t think of anything to say, so after a few seconds he blurted, “I won’t force you to do anything you don’t want to do.”

She bent down and kissed him on the lips, then pulled him close for a while. “You’ll have to make me do something I don’t want to do now and again, and I’ll have to make you do things you don’t want to do. That’s how marriages work, Mato.”

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“It sounded dumb when I said it, but I couldn’t think of anything better.”

“Come on.” She took his hand and tugged him toward the family fire.

“Mato, Hilda, welcome. Please sit by our fire. Have you eaten?”

“We would love something to eat,” Hilda said.

Mato settled in next to his sister, Meda, and watched his nephew poke a stick into the fire. He didn’t really feel comfortable around Erik and Thyra. Welcome, but unsure of the right moves to make. Around his family he felt natural.

“I wanted to apologize to all of you,” Mato said. “I would have invited you to the wedding, but it sort of snuck up on me.”

Hilda settled beside him and swatted his knee. “That’s a terrible joke, Mato.”

“I loved it,” Ohanko said as he walked up behind Meda. “Do, uh, we need to worry about things like that happening often?”

“No,” Hilda said. “I’m not sure why he got so angry today, but it’s not like him.”

“We saw you at their fire,” Meda said. “Is it going to be alright?”

“Yes,” Mato said. “Obviously there’s going to be some arguing first, but it’s going to work out.”

“Well, Hilda, welcome to the family. Anytime you need help, you come to us. And of course, when Mato is out on the trail, you are always welcome to share our food.”

* * *

Mato and Hilda had assigned sleeping that night. The women had hung shade cloths from one of the wagons, making a nice shelter underneath.

There was a good deal of giggling among the others as they crawled in and laid out their bedrolls.

“Are you embarrassed?” Mato asked in a whisper.

“No. Why would I be?”

“Well, you know why they’re laughing and stuff, and they made sure we had some privacy…”

She rolled up against him, and he put his arm around her.

“You’re naked,” he blurted.

“You should be too.”

He couldn’t believe how smooth her skin was. He stopped himself before he got too adventurous.

“I thought you didn’t want to marry.”

“I didn’t. But you’ve been making that choice really difficult. What I said to my father, about living where you are, instead of where you want to be, I meant that. I’m going to love you, and we’re going to be happy together. Now take your pants off before we have our first fight.”

* * *

“Mato, wake up,” Hilda said.

He pried his eyes open. She was peeking into the little shelter where they’d spent the night.

“What’s going on?”

“Ezhno is assigned to lead scout today. He wants you with him.”

Mato got up and dressed, then put their bedrolls on their packs.

“Nice night?” Ezhno asked with a wink.

Mato looked around, then whispered. “I think she might be too much for me. I almost died. My little spirit might be broken.”

Ezhno put his head back and laughed. When got his breath back he slapped Mato on the shoulder. “That’s how it’s supposed to go when you’re young. Come on, we need to get started.”

“I have a really important question, Ezhno.”

“What is it?”

“You have to take me seriously. It won’t sound serious, but it is.”

“Okay. This should be good.”

“I want to teach Hilda to be a trail master. Will you help me?”

Ezhno rubbed his chin, and studied Mato. “You’re serious, that I can see. What about her?”

“I haven’t asked her yet, but I know she’s going to say yes. I just wanted to make sure I could do it before I offered.”

“Hilda,” Ezhno called.

She jogged over, blonde hair shining in the sun.

“Mato wants to train you to be a trail master. If you accept, I’ll expect both of you to do the work, and do it well. It isn’t easy, and it would mean spending a lot of time on the trail, eating dried meat and sleeping wherever we can find spots.”

She gasped, and her eyes went wide, then her face split into a massive grin. She wrapped her arms around Mato in a crushing hug, then picked him up and spun him in a circle.

“Yes, I’ll do the work. You’ll be so happy with me, I promise. I’ll study, and I won’t complain--”

“Excellent,” Ezhno said. “Get your pack. We’re running late.”