Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow - Jessica Day George [9]
“Nils!” Jorunn greeted her husband merrily when he came in with the other boys from the barn. “Only see, my littlest sister has taught the dog some tricks.”
Nils laughed and came forward, and the dog dutifully performed his new feats. When their mother was not looking Jorunn crumbled a bit of yellow reindeer cheese off the wedge on the table and gave it to the dog.
“I wish you were as good with the reindeer,” Einar said wistfully as they sat down to dinner. “There’s something wrong with our oldest doe.”
“What’s that?” Jarl looked down from the head of the table. “Is she not giving the usual amount of milk?”
“She’s not giving any,” Einar grumbled. “She just tries to bite me when I come near, and after I get her hobbled and tied so that I can milk her, nothing comes.”
“That’s a concern,” Jarl said, rolling some dried fish in a piece of lefse and chewing it thoughtfully. “That white-faced doe has always been our best.”
“If she’s too old to give milk, she’s ready for the stew-pot,” Frida said. “Butcher her tomorrow. Torst, you’ve a good hand with that.”
Jarl shook his head, and Jorunn’s husband, Nils, skillfully turned the topic to something more pleasant. The lass was eager to continue talking to the dog, but it had been banished to the barn while they ate. He was not brought in that night, and she was forced to lie awake in the big bed with her mother and sisters, wondering if she were going mad, or if God had simply found an odd way of blessing an otherwise overlooked girl.
The next morning the lass went to the barn to see how Einar was doing. She had listened to the chickens, but only briefly. They were talking, all right, but it wasn’t very interesting, and they didn’t notice when she talked back. She was more concerned over the reindeer, because, like her father, she did not want to see the white-faced doe butchered. She had never cared much for reindeer, but that particular doe was the prettiest of their small herd.
Thinking of reindeer gave her pause, and she stopped just inside the barn. She had spoken to the white reindeer. Had it done something to her, so that she could talk to animals now? She thought of the kiss it had given her, the way its soft nose had felt touching her forehead, and the warmth of its breath. A certainty grew in her breast: this was not a gift from God, but from the strange, ancient spirits of the earth.
“Are you going to help or not?” Einar was in the far corner of the barn. He was holding a pail in one hand and a stool in the other, using them as barriers to keep the doe backed into a corner. She was lowing piteously, and her brown eyes were rolling.
“It hurts, it hurts, it hurts,” she moaned.
“Einar, stop that!” The lass went up to her brother and punched him lightly in the shoulder. “She’s hurt.”
“She’s just stubborn,” Einar grunted, waving the stool in the reindeer’s face.
Giving a sort of bark, the normally gentle animal ducked its head and actually charged at Einar. The lass stepped up and caught hold of the frayed rope collar as the doe lunged. The large reindeer dragged her several feet before stopping, and Einar dove into a pile of sawdust and dry moss that they used for reindeer bedding.
“Hush, now; hush, now,” the lass soothed the animal. “Ignore that silly boy, and tell me what’s wrong.”
“It hurts,” the doe panted, leaning against her. The reindeer was shaking and there were damp patches of sweat on her thick brown coat.
“What hurts?” the girl cooed.
“My udder,” the reindeer replied, and shuddered.
Einar was standing a few paces away, gaping at his youngest sister. “Is it really talking to you?”
“Yes,” she said shortly, and knelt down by the reindeer. “Please let me look. I promise I won’t hurt you,” she said. The doe shuddered again, but nodded her head all the same.
The lass crouched lower and looked at the doe’s swollen udder. It was hard to see with all the thick, shaggy hair, which was probably why Einar hadn’t noticed the problem before. There was a bite mark near one teat, and it was infected.
“A fox bit her,” the girl said to her brother. “Look here.