The Icelandic connection - 01.09.2010, Page 14

64
ICELANDIC CONNECTION
Vol. 63 #2
greeted by an unbelievably welcome
sight. Two young men came into view
with two teams of large grey dogs, their
timber wolf ancestry obvious, even at this
considerable distance. The boy trappers
looked at what they thought was an
apparition - two men and two dogs where
they were sure none existed. As they
came nearer one of them shouted, “Joe,
what the hell are you doing way out here?
How in the world did you get to this
place?” Johann answered, “It’s a long
story and we will tell you all about it after
we catch our breath. You are sure a sight
for sore eyes. Laurence and I thought we
would never get out of this predicament
alive, but now our luck has turned and we
are among friends again”.
Then he told them the story of the
broken ice and their subsequent drifting
on the lake.
“We will get you north to Poplar
River as soon as we can,” said the boys in
unison. That said, they turned their teams
around and fixed the sleigh loads so that
their passengers could ride whenever they
wanted. They found they were better off
taking turns running as their friends did,
so they would not succumb to the cold.
Most of the time this was done to keep the
blood flowing and to produce needed
body heat. Johann and Laurence were
warmly dressed and well conditioned by
hard work so they were able to keep up
with the dog teams fairly well. Their
dogs, Grani and Surtur, after some inital
RgV. Stg-ffllAJolAflSSDIA,
ARBORG UNITARIAN CHURCH
GIMLI UNITARIAN CHURCH
9 Rowand Avenue
Winnipeg, Manitoba R3J 2N4
Telephone: (204) 889-4746
E-mail: sjonasson@uua.org
growling were quick to realize who was
the boss in the dog world and fell into line
at the back of the group without any com-
plaints.
Night was approaching but the group
kept right on going. One of the boys said,
“We will arrive at Poplar River sometime
around midnight but the moon is out and
we know this trail like the backs of our
hands. It will be alright.” After what
seemed like an endless time, they finally
saw the lights in the windows at the
Poplar River store.
The parents had not expected the
boys to come back until the next day, but
like all parents they had left the lights
burning, just in case. They entered the log
cabin store and found hot coffee on the
old wood stove in the corner and warm
food in the oven.
After they all had their fill, Johann
and Laurence spread a few big Hudson
Bay blankets on the floor and fell into a
deep untroubled sleep.
When they awoke, breakfast was
ready for them. It consisted of tea with
bannock and butter and some excellent
jams made from some of the plentiful
berries that grew on the east side of the
lake; blueberries, raspberries and others.
The trader and his wife were very
happy that their boys could help their
friends in a time of need. After Johann
and Laurence had eaten their fill, they
went into the post office, which was a part
of the store, and delivered the mail from
the island. They also picked up a bundle
of mail that they would take back to their
camp with them.
Johann held in his hand a letter from
a dark haired girl with blue-green eyes
that he had met the previous summer
when she was teaching in the Framnes
district at a school called Vestri. Strangely
enough he had just delivered his own let-
ter to her a few minutes before.
(Incidentally, these letters were both writ-
ten in their mother tongue, Icelandic).