Ursula just came running and said that her father ordered her to drag her ass home faster.
– Couldn’t you also drag your ass faster and walk the girls home? – Charlotte was indignant.
– We just met Ludwig. He treated me to a hare, and I, as a sign of deep respect for him, simply could not allow myself to leave him alone and, thereby, personally insult him. So I decided to keep him company.
– Yes, – Charlotte answered with a hint of sarcasm, – Penelope will get a good husband.
– Come on – Andreas said calmly, turning to his wife. – Penelope is a modern girl. There’s very little that will scare her.
– Well, there you go – Erikson added in a satisfied voice.
– But the fact that our son grew up without good manners… – Andreas added, looking at Erikson. These words caused a grin to appear on Morten’s face, who was sitting opposite his older brother.
– Oh, stop worrying, – Erikson said as if nothing had happened. – If something had been wrong, she would have told me everything she thought of me to my face, and since she doesn’t complain, it means I’m not a man for her, but just a dream. So everything’s fine. – Then Erikson looked at his youngest brother and said: – Willie, pass the cheese.
– Did you hear, Charlotte? – Andreas said in a pompous tone. – We raised not a son, but the ultimate dream. – Then he looked at Erikson and said: – Watch out, don’t overdo it, so that your girlfriend doesn’t have a new dream.
– Yes, – Morten suddenly said. – For example, I am free.
Andreas pointed his spoon at his middle son and said:
– But you’ve gone too far.
Erikson said in a completely nonchalant tone:
– Dad, don’t pay attention. What can he even do? Give a woman a bouquet of dill?
– Willie, why aren’t you eating? – Andreas asked in an encouraging voice. – Come on, go ahead. Come on, come on. In a couple of days we’ll start making sleds.
Hearing about the sled, Willie lifted his nose and reached for the plate of porridge.
– Let me help you – Charlotte said, filling Willie’s plate, then took the dish and went to the pot to serve a new batch.
Ian entered the house when everything was already set and they were waiting only for him. His mind was still occupied with Penelope, and therefore he did not immediately hear his father’s question about whether he had washed his hands.
Martin was far from blind and understood what his eldest son was obsessing over so often. He was irritated by Ian staring at the girl next door, as if he was about to ask her out on a date. Although Martin did not openly tell anyone about it, sometimes he considered this girl to be to blame for the fact that his son had become so out of touch with reality. At the same time, he did not try to blame the boy for his daydreams, but not because he tried not to scold his son for every reason, but simply because he no longer saw the point, since such was Ian’s character, who often immersed himself in his dreams, where he was ready to get stuck for life. At the same time, Kolinda, who was only a year younger than Ian, and Klaus, who was three years younger, experienced the same approach to upbringing from their father. Martin firmly believed that a man should not just run a family, but suppress any dissent and any liberties. He would like to make a real man out of his eldest son, but a couple of years ago Martin realized that he would hardly be able to achieve this. No matter how hard he tried, Ian could not turn from a soft, peace-loving teenager into a stern man, ready to establish his own laws in the house and command someone. This approach did not justify itself in relation to Klaus, who did not understand what his father wanted from him, but simply considered his older brother as an example. He was not in the clouds, but there was no strength of character in him either. Kolinda became, perhaps, the only one of the three children who turned into what Martin wanted to see in front of him: an obedient girl, unquestioningly fulfilling any requirements, resigned to her role as a woman who does not even try to consider alternatives for a different life. But in regard to their daughter, it was Magdalena who tried. If the children were afraid of Martin, they sincerely loved her, feeling their mother’s warmth and love. She was a year younger than Martin, but she was the absolute opposite. It was largely thanks to Magdalena that their children avoided the upbringing inherent in an army barracks. Although Magdalena was a faithful and docile wife, fully accepting the will of her husband, she always consciously sought to smooth out those unevennesses in the children’s moods that were left by the harsh and demanding hand of their father.
Breakfast, lunch and dinner in their house were always the same: not a single word at the table. That is why the meal in this family took such a short time that they, if they wanted, still had time to run to the other families in the village and help with dinner.
4. Between wine and abyss
The harvest was almost finished. There were a few days of hard work left and it would be time to start winter sowing. Everything was going as planned.
It was a time when the elders, who were the heads of families, had a tradition of gathering in the barn late in the evening after dinner, playing “Tower”, dice and drinking wine.
The barn was a common warehouse for the entire village, where each of the residents could go at any time for the necessary provisions. The parameters of the barn were twenty by fifteen meters. The floor was covered with boards, under which there were wooden beams as a support. Under the floor there was a cellar for the entire area of the barn. Under the roof there was an attic, which was made in the shape of a rectangle. The attic was designed in such a way that the floor stretched from the outer walls deep by five meters, thus leaving a void in the middle, which made it possible to put a ladder and climb up from any point on the first floor. In the center of the barn there was a stove, which was heated with the onset of severe frosts. To do this, there was someone inside around the clock to ensure that the fire in the stove did not go out. For this purpose, the elders and some of their sons took turns to ensure that the provisions did not freeze.
In addition to the barn, in this part of the village there were pens for livestock, where pigs, cows, sheep, rabbits and goats were kept.
That evening the company was in full force. It was already dark outside, and loud laughter reigned in the barn.
– Who’s next? – Thomas asked cheerfully after winning “Tower” game against Karl.
The principle of the game was quite simple. Sixty wooden blocks of an elongated shape with six sides are lined up three high, alternating the direction of the blocks in a new row, after which the players begin to pull out one block at a time. The game continues until the structure collapses when trying to pull out another block. Thomas was in good shape that evening. Before Karl, he had defeated Wilhelm and Martin. Now Andreas sat opposite him.
– Now I’ll teach you how to play – he said menacingly to Thomas, starting to stack the blocks.
– Yes, yes – Thomas answered sarcastically. – You’ll tell these tales to someone else. But only after I bring you down to earth.
– You taught your boy to hunt well, – Andreas suddenly said in a restrained tone. – By the way, tell him thanks for the hare.
– No problem. It would be better if we went shooting – Thomas answered in the same calm voice, finishing stacking the blocks.
– Yes, we should do that sometime.
Suddenly Andreas turned around and said:
– Hey, Herman, come join us.
– Why not? – Herman answered, wiping the drops of wine from his lips with his sleeve. He sat