3

“Are your parents better?” Mrs. Korpi asked.

“A little, thank you. Father talked to me today but he’s still weak and needs to sleep,” Mary replied. She stopped when she saw Mrs. Korpi seemed to recoil as she got closer.

“Who’s running the shop today?”

“I am. We need to bring in some money to be able to buy meat in the market.”

“Is it really wise to open the shop? You should perhaps wait until your father or some adult can take care of it.”

“I’m sure you’re right, but I have to take care of my parents, so I don’t have a choice.” Mrs. Korpi seemed to hesitate a little. She looked back into the shop and then examined Mary for a while.

“How are you, Mary?” she asked.

“Thank you, I’m fine,” Mary replied honestly.

“You don’t have a fever or cough?”

“No, I’m perfectly healthy.” Mrs. Korpi looked at her again.

“Mary, I think you’d better come live with us. You shouldn’t be alone here; you’d be better off at our home.” Mary looked at Mrs. Korpi in surprise. Did she really want Mary to leave her parents?

“Thank you very much, but I can’t leave my parents alone. They’re not strong enough to fend for themselves right now,” she said.

“Mary, you know your parents won’t make it. They’ve got the sickness, and no one survives the sickness.”

“That’s not true. Father is feeling much better now, and there are some people who survived the sickness,” Mary said defiantly.

“I know it’s hard to hear, but someone has to say it. You are welcome to join us, but the offer is only valid today. I’m sorry, Mary, but the longer you’re in this house, the greater the risk of you getting sick. I can’t risk my family contracting the sickness. If you want, we can go to our house now, but if you don’t come with me now, I can’t let you come later.” Mary was shocked. Did Mrs. Korpi think she would abandon her parents now they would soon be healthy?

“I am grateful for the offer, but I cannot abandon my parents. They will soon be cured, so I won’t have to live anywhere else.”

“I hope you are right, Mary. I have to go home now, but I will pray for you and your parents.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Korpi. It was very kind of you to come, and thank you for your prayers.” Mary hesitated for a moment before saying, “Mrs. Korpi?”

“Yes, Mary.”

“Do you think that God only listens to the prayers of those who are rich and important?”

“No, my child, God listens to all our prayers.”

“Thank you. I hope so. Have a good day, Mrs. Korpi.”

“And you,” Mrs. Korpi said before turning around and continuing down the road. Mary went back to the stool behind the counter and sat there again. She thought about what Mrs. Korpi had said. What would she do if her parents died? She didn’t know if she had any other relatives. Her mother had told her she and Mary’s father had married in their home village and then they moved to the city so her father could open the shop. He had already lived in the city since he was young but had gone home to their small village to marry Mary’s mother. Mary had always thought it sounded so romantic, but now she couldn’t remember the village’s name or where it was. What would she do if she was alone? She couldn’t stay in the store; without her father’s craftmanship there was nothing which could be sold, and she didn’t think children could live by themselves. Would she end up on the street? She knew there were children living in the alleys of the city. Sometimes she and Erik fought with them when they were out on their journeys of discovery. She was a little scared of those kids and she shuddered at the thought of becoming one of them herself. But no, she wasn’t going to think like that. Her parents would be fine. They would live here in the house and sit around the table and laugh at the time Mary had been forced to open the shop all alone. Her father would tell everyone what a good daughter he had, who had taken care of the family, and how she had managed to sell a beer flagon for 11 kresi. Yes, that was how it was going to be, Mary decided, and got up from the stool. It wasn’t time to close the store for a few hours yet. But Mary needed to check on her parents and besides, she had received the money she needed. She went out and closed the shutters, and on the way in she locked the door behind her before packing up the goods in the box and locking it.

When she got upstairs, she went straight to her parents. They both slept, and they both were coughing at regular intervals. Mary put her hand to their foreheads and could feel they were both warm and sweaty. She hurried to put the key back where she had found it and went downstairs to pick up a bowl of water and a piece of linen she could use to bathe her parents’ faces and chests with. She hoped the cool water provided some relief while she went down again to heat some of the leftover broth from the previous day. She couldn’t get her parents to drink more than a couple of spoonfuls of the broth and neither of them seemed to want to wake up completely, even though she shook them as hard as she could. Eventually, she gave up and sat in front of the fireplace. The rest of the afternoon and evening she sat and looked into the flames, occasionally checking on her parents and trying to get them to drink some more broth. When the winter darkness descended over the city, she thought about the offer to move home to Erik’s family. They were probably sitting in front of the fire now. Mrs. Korpi might be patching a pair of old pants while her husband sat and told the children stories. Erik probably sat and listened to some exciting story his father told and felt calm and safe. She sat alone in front of the fire. A lonely tear ran down her cheek. Mary didn’t notice it herself. In a small part of her heart, she regretted her decision to stay, but her love for her parents was too great to abandon them when they needed her most. She remained in front of the fire. Before changing for the night, she put more firewood on and checked on her parents one last time.

When she woke up the next morning, she performed her routines as quickly as she could. Today she would go to the market. Mary was both happy and nervous. Would she dare to take all the money with her? What if someone stole it? She knew there were plenty of thieves in the square. But if she brought too little money, she might not be able to buy the food she needed. She stood for a long time, looking at the purse. Eventually she decided to bring all the money, but she put the coins in different pockets, hoping if someone were to rob her, they wouldn’t get it all. She ran upstairs and kissed her parents on the forehead one last time.

“I’ll be back soon,” she said cheerfully, though her stomach had clenched when she felt how warm they both were. “When I get back, I’ll cook you something really good,” she said as she began walking down the stairs.

Mary didn’t like having to leave her parents alone, but she saw no other way out. When she came down to the kitchen, she took out the basket her mother always used when she was going to the market. It was a little big and unwieldy, Mary thought, but she needed something to put the goods in. A noise made her look up but she saw nothing, so she continued to prepare. There it was again. It seemed to come from the door. She opened the door carefully. On the other side of the courtyard was Erik. He had pebbles in his hand. He must have thrown a couple at her door. Mary thought it was weird; he used to knock if he wanted to see her. She waved happily at him. It’d been a long time since they’d seen each other, maybe five or six days ago, and she’d missed him. Erik waved back but didn’t seem so happy.

“Hello,” said Mary.

“Hello.”

“I met your mother yesterday,” Mary said, looking at him. He was still standing on the other side of the courtyard with the stones in his hand. He seemed unsure.

“I know, she told me,” he said after a while. Was he angry with her because she didn’t want to move in with his family? Mary wondered.

“Are you mad at me?” she asked.

“No.”

“Why are you standing over there looking so weird?” she asked.

“Mom says I can’t see you anymore,” he said as if he didn’t really wanted to admit it. Mary didn’t understand anything. She couldn’t see Erik again? But he was her best friend. She felt the tears coming but stubbornly fought them away.

“Why?”

“She thinks I’m going to get sick if I see you,” he replied, looking at her as if he hadn’t decided if it was true or not.

“I’m not sick,” she protested.

“But your parents are, and Mom says we can’t take a chance when it comes to the sickness.”

“So I won’t see you again?” asked Mary desperately, feeling her lower lip start to tremble.