Wedding Preparations
Ilona still contemplated how she might escape, yet when Rathnon held her in his arms and kissed her, she forgot everything else entirely.
Tomorrow, when they searched for berries and herbs, she would hike up the mountain to search for routes to get away.
She would find which way the men took to get to the sea.
In the mornings, a low mist hung over the hills and valleys since they were close to the ocean.
The next morning, she rose early, just missing Rathnon, who had held her during the night.
She walked among the buildings, trying to determine where best to hang the herbs she’d collected the day before.
Looking up into the rafters, Ilona found a warm and dry corner in the barn to hang the herbs.
Pointing to a string, she asked a man if she could have some.
The man motioned for her to follow him and pulled out a roll of twine and cut a length for her, to which she replied, “Takk.” The man smiled in response and nodded.
Outside, Ilona spied the area where a couple of men had slipped away to the shore.
To be successful in her efforts to escape, she needed to prepare by taking water, dried meat, and a cloak to protect her from the elements. She would start preparing today. Ilona feared that if she waited until after being wed to Rathnon, her traitorous heart would thwart her attempts to flee.
Later, she joined the women, and Sigrid gave her a water bag as well as bread and dried meat in a piece of fabric, which Ilona placed in her pocket.
She followed the women, carrying a bucket of water and a basket for the herbs and berries.
Ilona had already cut the twine into the right lengths in her pocket.
She checked her garden and sprinkled water from the bucket over the rows of plantings, looking forward to seeing the crops grow and their harvest. But she wouldn’t be here to see it if she was successful, she reminded herself, since she’d try to escape again as soon as possible.
Ilona followed the women and found berries to pick, filling her basket. A woman took her full basket and gave Ilona another one to fill, sending one lass back to the longhouse with full baskets of berries.
Filled with excitement at discovering several types of healing herbs, she cut bundles of them and laid them in her basket.
She searched and found a few more. Ilona picked yarrow, used for blood clotting, with anti-inflammatory properties.
Then she found copious amounts of stinging nettle, used for its detoxifying effects, and garlic mustard, helpful for colds and digestive issues.
She dug up a plant of roseroot, a potent herb with many medicinal uses.
With chickweed, she would make poultices and tea.
Searching for more as she climbed up the mountainside, she found aromatic white elderflowers and dug up several plants that she placed in her basket.
Ilona planned to make teas and syrups with the flowers. There was only a brief window to harvest them. The syrup would taste wonderful with fish one night. Jam made from the flowers would taste delicious. Ilona picked only the flowers ready to be harvested.
Next, she found gooseberries, which complemented the elderflowers.
Ilona thought the elderberry flowers would be pretty to embroider on her wedding gown and onto a fine linen shift—her mind filled with designs.
Under a tree, she sat down to rest and eat her meal.
She drank water and ate her food to give her energy for the rest of the day.
Now rather high on the mountain, smoke curled through the trees above the longhouse.
Ilona spied the ocean and the beach along the coast. From this height, it did nae appear there were large boulders or rocks, making it more difficult to put out to sea.
Ilona returned to her garden and planted the plants she had found.
She took the basket of cut herbs, gooseberries, and elderflowers into the longhouse.
She gave the gooseberries to a woman who graciously accepted them and called them by their Norwegian name, which Ilona repeated.
Ilona motioned with her hand for tools like a mortar and pestle.
The woman handed her a grinding stone and led her outside to a well-used stone where she could grind the flowers or herbs.
Ilona said, “Takk,” and sat on the stool beside the rock.
First, she wiped the stone free from dirt and any debris, then laid the chickweed on the stone.
She began to pound and grind the herbs. After she’d finished and collected it into a basket, she took all the herbs inside the longhouse, setting the basket on her sleeping bench.
Later, she hung her bundles of herbs upside down from the rafters in the barn and showed the man in the barn what she had done.
He nodded and smiled at her in approval.
Then she boiled water and poured it into an empty ceramic jug to clean it.
Ilona poured it out and let it dry on the table.
In a smaller pot, she added the elderflowers to boiling water.
After it boiled and cooled, Ilona took a piece of cloth and used it as a filter.
She poured the fluid into another pot, filled with hot water.
Ilona judiciously added honey to the pot and stirred, making a syrup.
She located a ceramic plug for the jug and first poured boiling water over it.
Then she poured the syrup into the jug, corked it, and set it aside on the counter.
The women had followed her every move, approving and appreciating her contributions and her skill.
Slipping out of the longhouse, Ilona took the path leading to the ocean.
Her heart beat harder and faster. Nae one was about to notice what she was doing.
As she descended onto the beach, the sea air buffeted her as she gazed out to the water.
Ilona spied where one sailing ship lay camouflaged.
Close by, she saw a small fishing boat, perfect for her use.
Now she had to find out from Sigrid the men’s fishing schedule.
Ilona would sandwich her innocent questions around how often the men hunted and chopped wood, hoping it would nae seem suspicious. She returned to the woods and picked many more baskets of berries until late afternoon, when the women returned to the longhouse to wash and help prepare dinner.
Nae needed in the meal preparations, Ilona used the loom to weave more fabric for Rathnon’s wedding tunic.
By the time the men returned from hunting, Ilona had finished.
She spooned the ground chickweed into a piece of parchment and folded it in her healing bag.
Tonight, pheasants and rabbits roasted over the fires.
At dinner, Sigrid told Rathnon about the women picking berries and the elderflower syrup Ilona had made.
She asked Sigrid, “Where can I get a bow for hunting?”
Rathnon shook his head, and Sigrid told her his answer.
“Nae, the men hunt for food here.”
“At home, I hunted with my father. I want to shoot animals to use their fur and pelts to sew ye clothes. It is easier to sew outside now because the light is brighter.”
“In a few days, I will take ye hunting with me. Then we can obtain what ye need.”
“Aye, takk. I am counting on ye to keep yer word to me. I need many animals’ hides to make garments for us.”
“Tomorrow, the women will work with the pelts we have collected and prepared. Ye may see fur pelts ye like there.”
“The women will give it to me freely?” Typically, Ilona hunted or collected what she needed in nature, bartered, or did without.
“I will tell the woman in charge. She will let ye have one piece. She may give ye more depending on what the other women need. If ye are comfortable sewing with fur, ye can show two lasses how to do it.”
“I will need stronger thread. I do nae have suitable thread.”
“Aye, I can give that to ye.”
Innocently, Ilona asked her questions about how often the men hunted, fished, chopped wood, and cut peat according to the seasons and who determined the schedule.
“The elders confer with the men, and together they decide. Half of the men prefer hunting to fishing, and the others prefer fishing to hunting, so it works out and everyone is agreeable. As ye ken, the weather is a factor in every season of the year. In the winter, the men will still go hunting, though game is nae as plentiful. Many men carve wood, make furniture, forge swords. When it is cold and snow covers the ground, the women weave, sew, and cook.”
“Aye, it is similar in many respects to back home. Do ye have any books to read?”
Rathnon’s eyes glowed brighter when he heard Ilona ask this question. He raised his brow, thinking how to answer her.
Ilona expanded on her question. “I am my father’s daughter and son.
He taught me to read and write when I was a bairn.
My father taught me subjects one would teach their son.
I studied hard to please him. I did nae wish to be a disappointment to him as only a lass.
My mother taught me gardening, healing, sewing, and other things.
I studied or worked at one task or another. ”
“I have a few books. If ye enjoy reading, I will see about obtaining more books for ye. One book of tales ye can read to the bairns by the fire, if ye like.”
“Takk. I would love that.” Ilona smiled in gratitude as she gazed into Rathnon’s answering smile in his eyes. It seemed to please him that she read and wrote. The evening passed quickly, and Rathnon laid by her side throughout the night but rose early in the morning.
When Ilona returned with her dry clothes the next morning, Sigrid told her, “We will nae begin working with the pelts until after the morning meal. I thought ye might like to work on yer wedding garments until then.”
“Takk, I will.”