An Untamed Land by Lauraine Snelling Page A

afraid she is hungry again,” Kaaren said apologetically.
    “She is always hungry.” Carl could feel his arms growing weak already, and they had only gone three blocks. How far had that map said?
    “I’m sorry,” Kaaren whispered.
    “You needn’t be sorry.” Carl tried shifting her weight so he could breathe more easily. “Babies are supposed to be hungry. Now if we can get you eating like she does, you’ll be back on your feet in no time.” His straining breaths punctuated each word.
    Roald strode on ahead of them, seemingly unaware of his brother’s discomfort.
    Carl sagged against a brick wall, letting the rough surface hold him while he caught his breath. Roald, can’t you have the decency to wait—or at least look back to see if we are still following?
    “Let me sit on those steps for a bit.” Kaaren nodded to the entry of the building.
    “No, just give me a moment.” Carl grinned at her around hisefforts to inhale. “Now, if I could just sling you over my shoulder like a sack of wheat, I could carry you for half a day with only a tiny backache.”
    “I am . . .”
    “Nei, don’t say that anymore. I’ve heard enough sorrys to last a lifetime.” He hefted her higher in his arms and started off after Roald. “If we don’t catch up to that brother of mine, we’ll both be sorry, for I don’t know the way.”
    Right then the baby let out a wail, drawing the attention of several people walking by. Carl shrugged when he caught their inquisitive gazes and walked on. Where in heaven’s name had Roald gone? Why couldn’t he have the heart and sense to wait for them? Carl stopped at the corner and looked both ways. There, off to the left, he could see the top of his brother’s black hat, bobbing above the bustling crowd. Thank God we’re so tall , he thought. Otherwise I’d just have to wait for him to realize we were left behind .

     
    When both families and all their goods had been transported to the boardinghouse, they ate a simple meal of bread, milk, and a bit of cheese before collapsing onto their beds.
    Kaaren and the baby had fallen asleep long before Carl was able to shut off his thoughts and let his body succumb to the comfort of a real bed with a straw-filled pallet. He rolled to his side and wrapped one arm around the waist of his sleeping wife. They were in Amerika and soon would be on their way west. God be praised! How strange it felt to be on solid ground again after twelve days on a pitching sea. Were it not for the months spent on his uncle’s fishing boat, he might well have suffered as miserably as Kaaren did. On the first fishing trip, it had taken several weeks for him to gain his sea legs. What good would sea legs do him in this new land, he wondered. Better that he be grateful for a strong back to plow all the acres he would soon claim as his homestead.
    He fell asleep with another Thank God, God be praised pacing the hallways of his mind.
    In the other bed, Ingeborg let her thoughts roam back over the events of the day. If someone had told her she would go through such a harrowing time as she had, she would have thought them ready to be locked in shackles. She turned her head upon the pallet. And the losing of Thorliff—God be thanked, they had found him.
    “Oh.” She stifled the sound, fearful of waking her sleeping husband.
    “What is it?” Roald lifted his head, speaking in a bare whisper.
    Ingeborg bit her lip. He hadn’t been asleep, after all. How could she tell him what was wrong?
    He shifted on his side and rolled over to face her. “Are you in pain?”
    “Nei, I mean, not really. I have a problem is all.” She could feel the strength of his gaze upon her face. Even in the dark, she could feel the heat of it.
    “Ja, don’t we all?”
    Ingeborg breathed in deeply and let it out, being careful not to sigh. Sighing wasn’t done; it might show weakness. And heaven forbid that anyone in this man’s family should show weakness. She cut off her troubling