“She does not need to do that,” Erik replied. “I told her that it was a gift from me.”
“That may be so but she is concerned about the amount of money it cost you to set her friends free as well. She wishes to repay you for them. She tells me that Inger will never be able to repay you herself.”
“She is old,” Erik agreed. “But she is a fine cook. If she had remained in Taft’s household, he probably would have killed her once she got too old to work.”
“No!” Leopolda gasped. “Surely not.”
Erik shrugged. “It is not uncommon,” he said. “A slave that cannot work is still a mouth that needs to eat. And there is no kindness in Taft’s heart.”
“So you have saved Inger from a horrible death.”
“Thanks to Tara,” Erik replied. “But she has been cooking me wonderful meals and keeping the longhouse neat and clean and the garden well-tended. She has been an asset. Besides, I have enjoyed hearing the tales she has to tell. She reminds me a little of my amma.”
“You have a kind heart,” Leopolda said.
Erik shook his head. “No, it is Tara who is responsible,” he said.
“She is a wonderful young woman,” Leopolda said. “It is sad that she cannot return to her family. I know she misses them.”
Erik hadn’t given a lot of thought to the fact that Tara might wish to return to her homeland. “Why can she not return?” he asked.
“She needs funds to travel. And she needs men to go with her to protect her from being taken as a slave again. It would be very tempting to anyone she meets along the way to simply take her as a captive and make money selling her again.”
“I guess you are right,” Erik said. “It is an impossible journey for her to make. I hope she will become accustomed to living in this land and will consider it her home.”
Leopolda looked at him. “You know as well as I do that she will never have the same rights in this land as a freeborn woman does. She will never escape the taint of slavery. She assures me that she escaped becoming a bed-slave and I believe her. But she is not an eligible match as a wife.”
“She is worthy in my eyes.”
“But if you take her as a wife, you need to be willing to be married to someone who has lesser rights than other women do.”
Erik thought about it. “I am,” he said at last.
“Well, do not waste time, then. Go to the garden to see her.”
Erik rose and went to the back of the house. He could see Tara’s bright head sticking up above a row of cabbages.
“Heill!” he greeted her.
She looked up and a smile spread across her face when she saw him.
“Greetings, Erik,” she said.
“Have you been in good health?” he asked.
“I have. Leopolda has been so very good to me,” she replied. “Oh, thank you, Erik, for setting me free!” She jumped to her feet and hugged him impulsively.
He felt his heart soar. Could it be possible that this beautiful woman would return his feelings? He put his arms around her and hugged her in return. He wanted to hold her close forever, but she stepped away and looked at him.
“What brings you here to the garden?” she asked.
“I have come to tell you that I am leaving to go away on another journey,” he said.
Her face fell. “So soon?”
He nodded. “When the winter comes, I will be home more often,” he said. “It is difficult to travel with the wagon in winter; this will be my last journey until the spring.”
“Will you come to see me again?” she asked.
He nodded. “I actually came today because I wanted to ask you something,” he said.
“What is that?”
“Shall we go for a walk? The trees between here and my village are in their full autumn color. I think you would enjoy seeing them.”
A few minutes later, they entered the forest understory, where the reds and golds of the birch trees blended with the everlasting green of the spruce. Erik inhaled the crisp, clean air, noticing as he did the chill that warned of the cold months ahead.
“It is special,” Tara said softly. “I had not appreciated the forest before today. The colors are so pretty.”
Erik took her by the hand. “I set you free because you are special,” he said.
“What made you think I was special?” she asked, her hand securely in his.
“I know not. I just know that from the moment I saw you, I could not allow you to live a life of slavery.”
“Oh, Erik, I can never thank you enough,” she exclaimed, pressing her cheek against his shoulder.
“But there is a problem,” he said gravely.
“What is that?”
“Because I bought you, I cannot court you. There are many reasons for this.”
“Do you wish to court me?” she asked.
“Yes, I do,” he replied.
“And you cannot because I have been a slave?”
“It is not the custom to court former slaves. But there is something else, too.”
“What is that?”
“For you to be truly free, you must choose me. I cannot choose you and give you no choice in the matter. If I do that, you are still a slave.”
She stopped to consider the matter. “You are right,” she said at last.
He turned to face her, placing his hands on
