Chapter 4
Hjerstedt Farm, Starn Sweden 1863
Esben was staring out his bedroom window watching the rain fall. It was very quiet outside. The family’s livestock, what they had, was moved over to Lars’ little farm. Their house was empty except for their beds and a dresser as they gave all their furniture to Lars as well. Lars would come back and get the beds and dresser later. The bark on the trees looked black in the early morning light and the leaves were just beginning their spring arrival. The day was dark and dreary as was his mood as he waited for his Uncle Lars to come with the wagon and team of horses to take him along with his father and mother to Stockholm. The forest surrounding their house was his whole world. Before he got older and had daily chores to do, he and his friend Richard would spend all day playing down by the lake where the trees were the tallest and full of wild animals. They had their own private place that they called their fort. They pretended they were in their majesty’s special army and were responsible for protecting the King and his family. But tomorrow he would be boarding a ship with his mother and father heading to America and he would never play in this beautiful forest again. He was dreading the trip. He had never been away from home, let alone on a ship. He wasn’t a very good swimmer and that bothered him. He was afraid he would drown if something happened and he fell into the ocean. How would they save him?
When his father told him that they would be leaving Sweden Esben was not happy. His father told him “Be brave Esben. When we reach America we will be traveling by train and wagon to the Wisconsin Territory. We will be staying with my sister, Inger and her family, until we have enough money to buy our own home.”
“What is wrong with our home here?” Esben asked. Esben’s best friend, Richard, didn’t have to leave his home, why did he?
“Nothing is wrong with our home, Esben. But I cannot make any money here and we have to eat. We have to go to America now while we still have some money left.
Esben heard the bells on the horses’ harnesses as they approached from the road. Sadness overcame him at that moment when he realized he would never see his home again. He walked out of his room for the last time and picked up the bag that carried all of his clothes. His father was carrying the trunk his mother had packed that contained the family’s only possessions that they would be taking with them.
His uncle Lars walked in to help Esben’s mother with the bags containing his mother and father’s clothes. The usual twinkle that was always in Uncle Lars’ eyes was missing this morning. Lars and his father were not only brothers, but they were the best of friends as well as business partners for over ten years. Esben realized that this move was going to be hard on his parents as well. Esben’s mother’s family was all dead. They were killed by the influenza that hit Sweden back in eighteen fifty before Esben was born. Esben’s mother, Corinne, was close to Lars’ wife, Candace, and Esben saw tears in both women’s eyes last night when they parted for the last time. Richard and Esben didn’t cry when they said good bye; at least not while they were together. Esben did cry when he went to bed last night and he wondered if Richard did as well. He bet he did. They knew each other all their lives. They went to school together, to the Lutheran Church together and played together every chance they got. Who will Richard play with now, Esben thought? Who will I play with? Will there be other boys my age on the ship? His Aunt Ingrid had two daughters who were much older than Esben so he couldn’t play with them when he got to Wisconsin. All of this was going through his mind as his mother called to him to come out and get in the wagon. They were ready to go.
As Esben walked out of the house, he saw his father stroking the two Belgian’s noses and speaking softly to them. There was a tear in his eye. Esben knew his father loved those horses almost as much as he loved Esben. His father felt love and compassion for all their animals and Esben loved that about him.
Esben’s father was as tall as his brother Lars, but not as broad. They both had great strength in their arms and back and there were few men in their village that could compete with them when it came to the lumberjack games they would have every winter. They usually came in first or toward the top every year.
Esben climbed up on the back seat of the wagon next to his mother as his father climbed up next to Lars. Esben’s mother put her arm around him and pulled him close as he silently cried.
Lars handed Gunard the reins and his father called out “Hiay, hiay” as he slapped the horses on their haunches. The horses strained against the load of the wagon and stepped forward with ease, taking Esben away from the only home he knew. Gunard looked back for one last time and Esben noticed the tears in his red rimmed eyes before his father turned around with an audible sigh. Lars put his arm around his brother as they headed for Stockholm for the last time.