Читать книгу The Ice People 15 - The East Wind - Margit Sandemo - Страница 6

Chapter 1

Until now very little has been told about the branch of the Ice People that followed Leonora Christina’s family and settled in Scania.

So it might be best to go back in time a little.

It all started with Cecilie, who looked after Christian IV’s children alongside their mother, the notorious Kirsten Munk. They were two women with colourful personalities who couldn’t stand the sight of one another. But given the fact that Cecilie enjoyed the goodwill of two powerful men, namely the king and her husband, Alexander Paladin, there was nothing Kirsten Munk could do. Moreover, the children, especially Leonora Christina, were strongly attached to Cecilie.

Eventually her daughter-in-law, Jessica, took over the role of lady-in-waiting to Leonora Christina. And in that house it was the daughter, little Countess Eleonora Sofia Ulfeldt, who became particularly attached to Jessica. When the Ulfeldt family had to flee Denmark and go to Scania because of their father Corfitz Ulfeldt’s numerous corrupt and shady business dealings, Jessica could not go with them. She wanted to remain with her Tancred. Instead, her daughter, Lene, became the lady-in-waiting and personal confidante of Eleonora Sofia.

Lene was Tristan’s sister. She married the Scanian Örjan Stege and settled down in Scania, where she would remain for the rest of her days.

Lene and Örjan were happily married. Their relationship was stable and pragmatic, and they were devoted to one another. The only problem was perhaps that things were too good. They both grew somewhat plump over the years and treasured their tranquil life at home on their beloved old farm near the Andrarum alum factory in East Scania. They adored their little daughter Christiana, a child of little significance who grew up to be a woman of equally little significance, but whose formal demeanour belied a hidden compassion.

The Scanian branch of the Ice People had been spared from the curse, something that the other members of the family found rather unfair since they had suffered a great deal from having to bear the burden of it. And so perhaps it was for that reason that the Scanian lineage was especially fearful that it would strike them as well someday. But it never did.

Eleonora Sofia Ulfeldt was married off to someone equal in rank to her, namely one of Karl XI’s gentlemen-in-waiting: Lave Beck of Andrarum, Gladsax, Torup and Bosjo Abbey, all of which were magnificent castles and manor houses in Scania. His father, who had once been one of the richest men in Denmark, had gone bankrupt over the Andrarum alum factory, but the family was still well-to-do. Especially Lave. Eleonora Sofia’s mother, the domineering daughter of the king, and her greedy husband Corfitz Ulfeldt had had the foresight to buy up not only Torup but all the other castles for their children. Lave Beck now enjoyed the benefits of this decision. And both he and Eleonora Sofia knew how to keep up appearances in the world.

They insisted that Lene, who was a respectable gentlewoman, should continue in her role as companion to Eleonora Sofia. In other words, Leonora Christina was adamant that Lene should keep her title of lady-in-waiting. Countess Eleonora Sofia was, after all, the granddaughter of Christian IV.

Eleonora Sofia did not live for long. She died in 1698, the same year as her renowned mother. But Örjan Stege remained in Lave Beck’s employ, so the Stege family stayed on at the farm in Andrarum and it wasn’t long before Christiana took over a good many of her mother Lene’s domestic chores there. She became a kind of female steward to the Beck family. She performed the task with honour, calm and pleasant as she was. But as to Christiana’s own marriage, she soon discovered that she had made a grave mistake. She had married a leading farmer in the area, Søren Grip, who lived close by. But he turned out to be far from the gallant gentleman he had appeared when he was courting her. Not until after she consented did his true nature come to light, and it had little in common with the Ice People’s innate generosity and ability to take things in their stride. It didn’t help much that Christiana had gone into the marriage with a kind of humble gratitude for the fact that anyone wanted her for a wife, since she wasn’t anything special to look at. That attitude often brings out the worst in men if they have the slightest tendency to act like bullies. Poor little Christiana did everything she could to conceal the dismal state of her marriage from her parents. But perhaps they knew anyway. Perhaps they could see it in her forced smile or hear it in the strained tone of her voice. But they were too tactful to say anything and instead tried to be as supportive of her as they could.

Søren Grip saw things only in terms of his own personal gain. He judged people on the basis on their clothes and the size of their purse and he associated only with those who could be of benefit to him. He constantly reminded Christiana that she needed to take full advantage of the farmhands. Christiana defended herself, which always resulted in a full-blown argument between the two of them. She was usually the one who gave in, though she did have her limits.

“You deceived me!” Søren Grip shouted at her. “You lied to me! You said you were rich and that we would associate with the Becks as their equals!”

“I didn’t lie to you,” Christiana wearily answered as she sent their little son, Vendel, out of the room so that he wouldn’t have to hear his parents speak in such harsh tones. “I told you that I had worked as their housekeeper and my dowry wasn’t so bad.”

He snorted, “That may be, but I couldn’t have known that that was all you’d be getting. Well, thank God you’re an only child, at least there’s a chance that you’ll get a decent inheritance some day. I hope we won’t have to wait an eternity for that day to come.”

Christiana turned away. She hoped to have her parents for as long as possible. They were her only consolation in the world. They and her little Vendel.

The years passed. Christiana and Søren’s marriage continued to falter. To a certain extent they did have one thing in common. He could be tender and kind in intimate moments and then she would feel a kind of affection for him. He was her husband after all and she desperately wanted to have a happy marriage, just as her parents had had all these years.

But in 1707 all the bonds between them were broken. Sweden was at that point a more or less ungoverned country. The new young king, Karl XII, was a born military commander. He didn’t concern himself much with his country, and even less with women. For several years he had been away fighting campaigns across Europe, which many people couldn’t really see the point of. He had lost a lot of men along the way, but he stubbornly continued eastwards, determined to conquer the Russian giant.

He needed more men. So he sent word to Sweden, calling for another nine thousand recruits. He wanted them dispatched to East Prussia, where he was stationed, so they could accompany him on his journey east. There, in a small town called Slupca, he would await their arrival. Among those selected to go was the young Corfitz Beck, son of Eleonora Sofia and Lave.

Corfitz Beck was an officer and in addition he was of noble birth.

He needed a ... no, aide-de-camp would be much too fancy a word. What he needed was a servant. He wasn’t exactly a high-ranking officer, after all. It was Søren Grip who insisted that the servant should be Vendel.

Christiana was in complete despair. “We can’t do that! Vendel is still just a child and Mr Corfitz will be on the battlefield!”

“Mr Corfitz is no more than 22 himself. Having a young boy to go along with him will be perfect. And think of all the benefits Vendel will get. He’ll be able to rise through the ranks and be decorated for heroism.”

“Heaven forbid,” Christiana mumbled. She refused to send her son off to a crazy war that was only about prestige and that seemed to have no end. And under a king who had no respect for his own people. A people who were paying more and more for the high cost of the war in terms of money and human lives.

But Søren Grip didn’t perceive war in the same way she did. He merely saw the dizzying honour that Sweden would gain if it succeeded in conquering the Russians. And so he went off to the big estate by himself, without her knowledge, to speak in favour of his son to the young officer.

Corfitz Beck liked the idea, as did his ageing father, Lave Beck. They considered Lene and Örjan Stege and their daughter Christiana to be thoroughly reliable people. They also liked the young Vendel and would often talk about how lucky it was that he resembled his mother as opposed to his greedy father.

Christiana never forgave Søren Grip for this stab in the back. She couldn’t prevent Vendel from being sent to war. But each and every piece of clothing she prepared for him was stained with her tears. And the general mood in their home was never happy again after he left.

Three years after this, in the year 1710, the plague would reach Scania and claim the life of Lave Beck as well as that of Søren Grip. Christiana, who was one of the Ice People and therefore had a stronger immune system, stood looking down at her dying husband and tried to feel some sense of sorrow. But she could only feel that her face was frozen and expressionless, almost dead. She felt completely empty inside. She retained the same hard look during the funeral and she couldn’t get rid of it no matter how hard she tried.

But by that time Vendel was far away in Russia.

And it is his fate the following story is about.

Christiana received one letter from Vendel written from Slupca. It was a carefree, cheerful letter, in which he expressed an adventurous enthusiasm, and she could almost picture his sparkling eyes before her. But after that an alarmingly long time passed before she heard from him again. His next letter didn’t arrive until the end of 1708 and it was with great effort that Christiana finally forced herself to open it. But the letter was in his handwriting, which she assumed meant he was at least still alive. It had been sent from Grodno in Lithuania.

The letter did not show the same signs of optimism as his previous one had. He had seen the horrifying face of war grinning at him – she could clearly discern this between the lines. They had been on a death march through snow several metres deep in the Masurian Lakes. Many of the men had died from fatigue or had fallen into poachers’ traps ... It was a brief letter and there wasn’t much to be happy about in it. Apart from the fact that it had actually arrived, of course! And that she had heard from him, and that he was alive. At least, for the time being.

“Stupid King, come back home!” Christiana moaned; she didn’t care in the least about the lese-majesty she had just committed. “There is absolutely no point in crawling around in a swamp all winter, and so far away from Sweden! They’re our boys. All they’re doing is drowning in all that misery! How can that possibly benefit Sweden in any way? What would we do with a huge country like Russia, how would we feed all those starving wretches in that all too distant land? It would be better for you to take a moment and think of your own country instead and return home and do something about the misery here! And bring home our husbands and sons!”

She sighed deeply and sat for a little while with her eyes closed, then she got up and went to the Andrarum estate to start work.

As she reached the door she met Lave Beck.

“There’s a letter from Corfitz, Mrs Christiana! And he speaks so well of young Vendel. Would you like to hear it?”

“Yes, very much!”

She told him about her own letter, and then he read a segment from the letter he had received:

My young servant and friend from the estate, Vendel Grip, is a very capable boy. He was severely injured in the Masurian Lakes when he got stuck in the mud, but not a word of complaint came from his lips. There’s no doubt that he’ll make a brave soldier some day.

Christiana listened tight-lipped. Had Vendel been injured? “Did he recover?” was the only thing she could say.

“It would seem so,” old Beck answered. Then he read out another section of Corfitz’s letter that expressed his admiration for the ascetic king and a fighting spirit she hadn’t detected in Vendel’s letters.

My boy, she thought, completely beside herself. My boy!

After this, a long time passed before they heard anything more.

Then a long letter arrived, the last one they received from Vendel:

Poltava, June 1709

Dear Mum and Dad,

Oh, Mum, if you knew what I have seen! My heart aches for the men and the animals. Today we buried a soldier who had been in battle for more years than I have been alive. He has seen his sons die on the battlefield; his hair was white even though he was still young. And he’s not the only one. They are so tired, so weary from fighting for all these years in a strange country far from their loved ones. They have been away since the end of the last century. Without a moment’s rest or the chance to see anyone back home.

“The boy is soft!” Søren Grip thundered. “What kind of fancies are these? Leading a soldier’s life is one of the most honourable things you can do, and it has been one of the great disappointments of my life that I never did it. Anyway ... read on!”

Christiana’s voice was even more strained as she continued:

Today His Majesty was also injured, in his foot. Disciplined as he is, he did not let anyone know about it and went on giving orders until you could see the blood seeping through his boot and his face was ashen. He has now been forced to take to his bed.

It has been a hard journey to Ukraine, where we are now. I have seen men cutting away the frostbite in their feet and I have watched entire battalions drowning in the swamps. General Lewenhaupt, who was to relieve us with troops from Livonia and Courland, set out from the Baltic coast with eleven thousand men. They encountered the Russians all alone and when they finally reached us there were only six thousand of them left and they had lost all their courage.

Everyone is suffering from consumption, but strangely I have pulled through. I don’t understand why.

The Ice People, Christiana thought. The blessed blood of the Ice People!

Many of the men have managed to contract other nasty diseases. While we were in our winter quarters they went to the local inns and frolicked with diseased girls – they are now so weak that many of them are left to die on the road.

Vendel shouldn’t know about things like the French disease, Christiana lamented.

My daily work consists of taking care of my and Mr Corfitz’s horses; they have to be ready at any moment. As well as that, I have to see to Mr Corfitz’s uniform and boots, clean his weapons and not least attend to his injuries, fetch and carry for him, run errands and be his messenger. Believe me, it’s enough work to fill a day!

But, of course, we have mostly been marching. We have taken part in several big battles and small encounters with Cossacks, Tatars, Poles and of course, Russians. Our greatest and most honourable engagement was at Holowczyn, where we had a great victory over the Russians. But please forgive me, I would rather not write about the battles.

“Damned coward!” Søren Grip snorted. “It would have been fun to hear about how they chastised the Russians! That cowardice of his is something he’s inherited from you. He’s a real mummy’s boy!”

Christiana made no comment. She continued to read:

You have to understand that I have such awful memories of all of this that just thinking about it makes my head spin and my heart ache so that I feel I can’t breathe. My best friend, a boy from the Småland cavalry, was killed at the battle of Holowczyn.

“Oh, no!” Christina screeched like a bird.

“Oh, stop whining! The boy is all of fifteen years old now. That’s a good age for a boy who wants a future career as an officer.”

It was with great difficulty that she read the rest of the letter.

We’ve lost so many battles that we can’t afford to lose a single man now. But I have to admit that we have all grown tired and lost heart. Some of the men are suffering from diseases because we have to settle for whatever food we get and more often than not getting slaughterhouse waste is pure luxury for us. It’s not uncommon for us to get nothing but contaminated water for several days in a row, water that we have to pick the dirt out of.

Oh, Vendel, Christiana thought, how could your father do this to you?

We have besieged Poltava. And we all know that this will be a decisive battle for us, it will be the ultimate test for our forces. Tsar Peter has finally managed to assemble all his troops ready to meet us.

Pray for us, Mum and Dad!

Mum, please be sure to give little Måns, the farm manager’s son, my bow and arrow! He always wanted it and I’ve outgrown that sort of thing now. And be sure to take good care of the horses and the dog for me! And that oak tree I planted, has it survived? Has it started to grow?

My thoughts are always with you and our safe, cosy house in Andrarum.

God bless you, my dear ones!

Your devoted son,

Vendel

That was the last they heard from him.

Of course, they later learned of the crushing defeat at Poltava, which was partly due to the fact that King Karl had been laid up with a fever brought on by his injured foot, but probably first and foremost a result of the worn-out and dejected state of the troops.

They also heard the alarming news that after the defeat Karl XII had headed, not home, but southeast towards Turkey, and that the Swedish soldiers who followed him consisted of a mere thousand men. The rest were Cossacks who had fought on the Swedish side. But there was no news of what happened to the surviving troops under Karl XII. And before the battle the Swedish army had consisted of twelve thousand men!

Lave Beck and Søren Grip died of the plague without knowing the fate of their sons. They didn’t hear another thing from young Vendel or his master Corfitz Beck, only silence.