Chapter 27: Lapland

“You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is like an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.” – Mahatma Gandhi.

York, Great Britain. October 1073

Marion sat on the balcony watching the sunset and sighed. Luke had been away for four months and wasn’t due home for another four months. She swore this would be the last time she let Luke leave the country for a long time, but knew she would have to order him to leave for some critical mission. Marion was still dealing with post-partum depression after the birth of her latest daughter, Megan MacDougall.

Megan had been born at the end of July and was the easiest of Marion’s children to deliver. She decided she would be born during a budget meeting and almost had to be delivered in Marion’s office. As it was, Marion never got to the hospital’s maternity area, giving birth in the ER, much to Alice’s amusement. Marion cursed Alice and hoped she would have the same problem when she delivered her latest child sometime around the beginning of the year.

Gabriella came up behind her and wrapped her arms around her neck. Marion closed her eyes and leaned her head back against her wife. While she loved Gabriella, Gabby wasn’t Luke. Mackenzie ran up as Gabby leaned over to kiss Marion, ruining the moment. Although Marion wanted that kiss, Mackenzie always made her laugh, and soon, Marion was laughing with her daughter as Mackenzie ran around giggling.

Soon, all the children wanted mommy’s attention, and all three ladies were buried under a pile of giggling children. Alice had walked in moments before the aborted kiss, so she shared in the children’s fun. Moments like this, when the family could gather together and laugh, were some of Marion’s greatest joys. Her only regret was that her father wasn’t there to see it, but if he had been still in the picture, she wouldn’t have been able to marry Luke.

While Marion was laughing under a pile of children, Luke was freezing his arse off. Winter had come early, and he was already dealing with snow 6cm deep. He was thankful for far simpler things than Marion, like basic shelter. The engineers had only finished building proper shelters three weeks earlier. With appropriate winter clothing, the British could continue working even though the mercury was dropping.

A few other things made the stay in Lapland tolerable for the British. If a male soldier couldn’t find a date among the women in the army, they could probably find one among the many native women living with them. The women in the army never had problems finding company when they wanted it since men outnumbered women two to one.

The locals came to live with the British after a freak late summer storm barreled up the Gulf of Bothnia, laying waste to almost everything in its path. Because Luke had ordered the seawall overbuilt, the British fleet survived, and because the fleet survived, the army survived. Although the storm knocked over a few buildings, the British engineers were able to rebuild quickly. Luke was most thankful that only six soldiers had been killed and eight wounded. It could have been far worse, and it had been for the four nearby villages.

When the storm hit, they had no warning, and many men were at sea fishing for returning salmon. Almost all their boats were sunk, and their families were left with little support. Luke had a warning of the approaching storm from the primitive meteorological equipment the fleet carried. This warning allowed the British a few hours to prepare, saving many of them.

After four days, the storm moved out of the area. Once the British had rebuilt, Luke ordered scouts to check on the nearby villages to see if they needed aid. One thing Luke never passed up was a chance to win brownie points with the locals; you never knew when you might need them.

To Luke’s surprise, the first scouting parties returned much earlier than he expected. They carried news of the complete devastation. After hearing the news, Luke offered the locals to move in with the British. They would be paid for their labor and knowledge, which was more valuable to Luke than labor. Between the six former villages in the area, there were almost 500 survivors, nearly none of whom were prime-aged men. They had been fishing or working in the forest when the storm struck, so only a few survived.

Even Luke found someone to help warm his bed. His bed partner was a local widow named Kukka. She had only started living with her man when he was lost at sea, so they hadn’t had the chance to have children yet. What drew Luke to her was that she was a little taller than Marion, 180cm, with cobalt blue eyes and crimson hair. In fact, when the soldiers first saw her, they directed Luke’s attention to her since they knew his type.

By this time, Luke could speak passible Sami, the local language, to communicate with Kukka. When he first laid eyes on her, he was tongue-tied, much to the amusement of his troops and guards. The guards had laid off Luke after his talk with them following his visit with Ingegerd.

Kukka had smiled at the tall Brit, amused by his attempts to speak to her. She knew she shouldn’t have such feelings for him, having just lost her mate, but Kukka was practical and knew she wouldn’t survive the winter without help. With that in mind, Kukka cut Luke some slack, and they got to know each other. It didn’t take Kukka long to develop real feelings for the British general, and although her mother disapproved, Kukka moved in with Luke at the beginning of October.

By that time, Kukka knew Luke well. He told her he was married to two women in Britain, one of them being the queen, and the queen was married to another woman. Kukka was confused, but Luke told her not to question it since it worked for them. Again, being practical, Kukka shrugged and went with the flow. She knew some chiefs had more than one wife. Before she moved in with Luke, he offered to take her back to Britain when he went home at the end of winter. Kukka told him she would make the decision when the time came. Now, it was Luke’s turn to shrug and accept reality.

Luke woke up one morning and noticed their room was colder than usual. Kukka was stretched across him, and to get up, he had to move her supple body. When Luke looked out the window, he cursed softly, waking Kukka up. She stretched; the cold didn’t bother her, and Luke enjoyed seeing her bright pink nipples coming into view.

Tearing his eyes away from the beautiful sight in his bed, Luke resumed looking at the winter wonderland outside. It had snowed overnight, so the British would have to fight the snow to finish their work. What made the snowfall even more aggravating for Luke was he had found the Chromite deposit he had been looking for only two days before. Now, they were covered with snow.

“Come back to bed, Luke,” Kukka begged. “I need you to keep me warm.” Luke snorted and smiled.

“Please, you could run around outside naked and still complain about being warm.”

Kukka gave him an impish grin and patted the bed next to her. Luke gave a dramatic sigh, which earned him a glare from Kukka.

“Come on, Luke.”

“Sorry, honey. I have to get to work, and so do you.”

“Aww. Work, work, work. That’s all you ever do.”

“You didn’t complain last night when I rocked your world.”

Kukka put on her innocent face, which made Luke laugh. He enjoyed her company tremendously, but they had work to do. Luke had to continue his survey work, and Kukka helped the other villagers with childcare. When she wasn’t helping the other villagers, Kukka practiced her English with the British soldiers. Once she learned English, Luke would teach her to read. At the rate she was learning, Luke figured he could start teaching her to read before December.

During the short daylight hours, Luke insisted the villagers take firearm training. Kukka found she was a natural with a firearm, which thrilled Luke. He had always loved a hot woman who knew how to use a gun. At Luke’s insistence, Kukka carried a revolver for protection.

When Luke left his small house, his guard met him with knowing grins.

“We had bets last night that you wouldn’t make it out today, sir.”

Luke tipped his head back and laughed so hard he doubled over. His guards told him because they knew he would get a laugh out of it. Unlike many nobles, Luke had a healthy sense of humor.

“Sorry to disappoint you, but I have built serious endurance living with Marion, Alice, and Colonel Smiten for so long.” “Thank God,” Luke added under his breath. “What’s on the agenda for today?” Luke asked in a normal voice.

Kukka was a wildcat between the sheets and once again proved the adage about the fiery passion of redheads. Luke pitied her first husband because he didn’t know many young men who could survive a warmed-up Kukka. He knew he wouldn’t have survived if his wives hadn’t built up his endurance.

“The survey team has their skis and is ready to go. Also, the engineering captain wants to lay out where he will put the rail line servicing the mine. That way, we can begin laying track as soon as the snow leaves.”

“Good luck with that. This damn snow isn’t going to melt until next May; then we’ll have flooding to deal with.”