Otter's Tale. Susan D. Guyer

so were many of the other young men working in Wira Bruk. With the money he saved from his first paychecks and from not going to the tavern so often, he had the village tailor make him a short jacket and baggy breeches in the latest style to wear with a new ruffled white shirt with its large detachable linen collar. It was important that the collars be snowy white, which is why they were made to be easily taken off and washed separately. He left his reddish golden hair long, but shaved off his beard and trimmed his moustache in the latest fashion. A new broad-rimmed hat with a feathery plume topped it off.

      Finally, with his new look he managed to catch the eye of one of the most attractive girls in Wira Bruk. Adelia Andersdotter not only came from a wealthy family, she was also very pretty and had nice manners. Some of the other young men thought she was arrogant and spoiled because she would not flirt with them, but Elof soon discovered that she was actually extremely shy, which is why she kept herself aloof from the romantic efforts being made by the young men on her behalf. After tenaciously begging Adelia over a period of several weeks, Elof was finally granted permission to walk her home from church, sometimes exchanging a few words, sometimes not talking at all. After a few weeks, though, he managed to gain her confidence and they were able to have lively conversations about all kinds of things.

      When Adelia's father realized that their relationship was growing more serious, he invited Elof to spend a Sunday afternoon with them. After reading out loud from the Bible, they enjoyed some cakes and tea while he asked Elof about where he came from and what his future plans were. He took a liking to the young man, who came across as a practical person, but who also had a vision of what he would like to do and be in the future. Although Elof did not possess much, Adelia's father had no doubt that he would find a way to be successful in life. It was obvious that Adelia and Elof were in love and his daughter's happiness meant everything to him. So when Elof had asked for his blessing to marry Adelia, he said yes.

      After their wedding, Elof continued to work at the smithy, and his skill as a bladesmith grew rapidly with experience. Soon he was being given work commissioned by officers of the Swedish army and he delighted in the beautiful blades he was allowed to create. Adelia had turned their new home into a cosy and happy place to return to in the evenings. When she told him that she was expecting, he considered himself one of the luckiest men alive.

      Looking down at the sleepy child Adelia had handed back over to him while she got the table ready for their meal, Elof suddenly remembered the other baby he had so often held and played with, his little half-sister Otter. Although there was an eleven-year difference in age, he and his sister were very close. Perhaps it was because in those first years when Raija and Sunna came to live with them, he had attached himself to Raija and followed her around everywhere. When his baby half-sister was born, he helped out as well as he could, especially after Raija got sick. Just before Raija passed away, he had solemnly promised her that he would take care of her daughter. Now he felt a little guilty about having left Otter at home with his nasty sister-in-law, Jutta. But both Isak and Sunna had been adamant about him leaving for Wira Bruk.

      He had often been homesick in those first years at Wira Bruk before his marriage. Once he even experimented with a different metal, making a small silver charm in the shape of an otter, which he had sent to Nordmark for Otter, along with a pair of steel scissors for Sunna and a dagger he had made for his father. Elof was good with figures and math because he needed it for his work, but he had never learned to read or write very well, so he had included no letter. Nobody at home could read anyway, so there was not much point in trying to write one.

      He wondered if that package had ever reached Nordmark safely and tried to imagine what Otter looked like today with the small charm tied around her neck. He hadn't seen her for about four years. She must be about eleven years old now, he realized with a start, on the verge of becoming a woman. She would still have that long brown hair that Sunna fought to keep untangled by putting it in tight braids. But what was most remarkable about Otter were her dark blue eyes. She hadn't inherited them from her grandmother. Sunna was a Sami from the very north of Sweden, short and chubby, with a round face and brown eyes. Sunna's daughter Raija, on the other hand, had been tall and very fair, with almost white-colored hair and blue eyes. Sunna had told him that Raija looked like her father, Tero, except that his eyes were a much darker blue, like Otter's.

      Elof looked down at his son and then at his wife, trying to find similarities. The baby didn't have much hair yet, but what he had was reddish like Elof's. On the other hand, there was something about the nose that looked like Adelia's. He was a delicate-looking baby, but his hands and feet were large, so he might grow to be as big as his father, Elof mused. The most important thing was that he was healthy, he figured. He got up and put the sleeping child in its crib, looking forward to his evening meal.

      That night was so windy and cold that Adelia decided to take the baby into their bed to keep him warm. When Elof woke up the next morning, he pulled open the curtains on his side of the bed, realizing from the position of the sun that it was later than normal. The baby had been unusually quiet, allowing both parents to get a good night's sleep. Adelia woke up too and rubbed her eyes sleepily before sitting up and reaching for the baby. She held him in her arms for a moment before looking at Elof with panic in her eyes.

      "Something's wrong!" she exclaimed. "He's not breathing!"

      Elof took the baby in his arms and went closer to the window for better light. The baby hung limply in his arms, his eyes closed. Even without the light, Elof knew his son was dead, although he could not comprehend how or why it had happened. He cuddled the child close to his chest, tears running down his cheeks, his back turned to Adelia so she wouldn't see him crying.

      But Adelia sensed that something was very much wrong and rushed over to him, pounding him on the back he had turned to her. "Give me my baby!" she howled. "Don't take him away from me!"

      Elof turned and silently handed their son over to her. With a strange calmness she went over to the bed and wrapped the child in her shawl. Then she climbed back into the bed with the baby and pulled the curtains shut.