The Beachcomber by Ines Thorn

Author:Ines Thorn [Thorn, Ines]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781542048958
Publisher: Amazon Crossing
Published: 2018-03-12T22:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 15

The village boys knocked on every door to collect fuel for the Biikebrennen bonfire. Their laughter and cries penetrated the thickest walls. Etta was sorting supplies in the larder. “We don’t have much left,” she said to Jordis, who was carding wool. “It’s time you went to the beach again one night.” She smiled as she said it, but her granddaughter didn’t react. She hadn’t been beachcombing for a long time. Not since Arjen had asked for her hand in marriage. She had thought she’d have to prove she was worthy of him. If she’d married him, she wouldn’t have had to rely on beachcombing, because Arjen would have provided for her and Etta. But how could two women survive on the island alone? They couldn’t fish like the men. They owned only two sheep and a few chickens. They still had their nice home and some beautiful things because Jordis’s father had been a whaling captain, but he’d died a long time ago, and it was harder and harder for them to support themselves. In the spring, Jordis collected seagull eggs in the salt marshes, and in the autumn she picked sea buckthorn berries, but what could they live on in winter, if not beachcombing? There were several other poor widows in Rantum, but they were cared for by their families. Jordis and Etta had no family on the island. What else could they do? How would they survive if they didn’t gather what they needed from winter shipwrecks?

When Arjen had broken their betrothal, the sorrow hadn’t just eaten at Jordis’s soul, but also taken away her courage and drive. Since then, she’d done only what was absolutely necessary for survival. Her grandmother was right; she had to go back to the beach. Maybe even that night. It was the night of the Biikebrennen, and the whole village would be out dancing at the fire. No one would miss Jordis. Tonight was a good opportunity. The day before yesterday, a large ship had run aground on the rocks. Yesterday, the storm had still been too strong to get to the wreck. But she would try tonight because the wind and waves had lessened.

There was a knock at the door. Etta opened it and gave the boys what little wood she could spare.

“Are you going to the Biikebrennen tonight?” Jordis asked her grandmother after the boys left.

Etta shook her head. “The Biikebrennen is a pagan custom. It comes from the north and celebrates the Norse gods. The fire is to drive away the winter and burn away the quarrels and strife of the dark months. If I go, they’ll say I’m paying homage to my gods. If I don’t, they’ll say the same because I won’t be there when the pastor reads his psalms and the villagers say the Lord’s Prayer. Whatever I do, it will be wrong. Others will avoid me. No one will want to speak to me where Mommsen can see.” She shook her head. “No, my dear, I will stay here.

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