Elise: No Longer a Virgin. Not Yet a Wife

People on the frontier didn't live like monks. Life was too short and unpredictable for long courtships. In a town divided into blonde, well-spoken, optimistic Danes and gruff, hulking Bulgarians who honestly believed that waking up in the morning was doubtful, the relationships between men and women was as uncomplicated and empty of ritual as the coal mines or the cow pastures that brought money into town.

As the local school teacher, Elise Sevensen worked to mend the divide. She managed to get along with most of the Bulgars. They believed that education was the key to success in their new America, and she was respected.

Except for Emil Genkov, the leader of the Bulgarian minors. She winced every time she looked at him. He was big, strong and handsome in a rough sort of way. It didn't matter, he radiated resentment as often as he breathed.

The man known as the Commandant, the man who ran the town and had twenty men with guns to back him up, lost patience with the town. He announced that everybody, Dane and Bulgar alike, had to leave. He was going to burn the town in a week. The fighting between the two sides was taking too many of his scarce resources. The town would be history in seven days.

Elise suggested that one of the unattached Danes might marry an available Bulgar. Both sides didn't fight with family. It could heal the division. The commandant laughed at the suggestion. "No time", he said. Elise replied that it could be done that day. She knew several eligible Danish women who would do it, and men in a mining camp were hungry for women.

The Commandant made it easy. He pointed his finger at Elise and told her that she was the lucky bride-to-be. He pointed his finger again at Emil, and said he was the happy bridegroom. If they didn't marry immediately, he would burn the town.

His unpleasant smile grew. He made it plain that the wedding night would be immediately after the ceremony, and he would listen to make sure it happened.

All of the eyes in the hall looked at Elise. Emil agreed to the match. Elise hadn't spoken. What would she say? Would their town burn because she wouldn't accept Emil? What about the future she'd planned for herself with a happy Danish husband and small, blonde children?

Dettagli