“So far.”
“It will continue to work.”
Thomas met her gaze. “I hope so, because if it weren’t…” He paused. Then he said softly, “The older ones say this winter is different, harsher, it came earlier. The livestock is already dying in
and pastures because the grass is trapped under the ice. If the sheep start dying, too…”
She didn’t finish. There was no need.
Ingred understood. If winter killed her sheep, it wouldn’t matter how warm her hut remained. She would have no income, no future, no reason to stay. The wool insulation might have saved her life, but it would leave her with nothing to live for.
“I’ll keep them alive,” she said.
Thomas nodded. He turned to leave. Then he stopped.
“The Grandes have sent word that they won’t be able to get supplies until spring. The snow is too deep. You’ll have to make do until March.”
She pulled up her collar to protect herself from the cold and went back out into the snow. Ingred closed the door behind him and leaned against it. Outside, the wind was picking up. The calendar read December 1st. There were still three months left until the end of winter, and the worst was yet to come.
December fluttered by in a haze of white and wind. Ingrid immersed herself in a rhythm that eliminated all unnecessary things from her days. Waking before dawn. Stoking the stove. Checking on the sheep. Melting snow for water. Eating. Sleeping. Repeating.
The temperature fluctuated between 0 and -15 degrees Celsius. Her woodpile was dwindling at a steady pace, a fifth of a rope a week, exactly as she’d calculated. By Christmas, she’d burned little more than a rope. One remained. Seven weeks of fuel, nine weeks of winter. The odds were still against her, but now she was closer, close enough to imagine survival.
The woolen walls had become familiar, their smell of grease fading, blending into the backdrop of her days. She had learned to read them, pressing the palm of her hand against different sections to feel the cold penetrating, noting which spots remained warmer than others. The south wall, exposed to the low winter sun, retained heat better than the north wall, which was the most windy. She moved her bed to the south corner and hung a wool blanket on the north wall as a second layer. Textiles and Nonwovens
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