Freya woke up before her grandparents the next morning, changing into one of her many plain, light blue, short dresses made for farm work and slipped on her brown, worn boots. Stepping over to her mirror, she sighed at the frizzy, out of control hair and her tired face. Quickly placing her hair up in a bun on the top of her head, she splashed her face with water and headed toward the stairs.
Careful not to wake anybody up, she went to the pantry and grabbed a loaf of bread from the market. Hopefully her grandma wouldn't notice, but there were useable excuses she had in mind to cover it up. She left the house and walked across the yard toward the barn, bread in her hands. Hopefully Axel was okay. She looked cross the distance, noticing that dawn still wasn't quite here yet, she was awake before the sun. Freya thought about his leg and whatever was wrong with it. She would ask him if she could look at it and try to figure it out. She could heal a broken leg, she had nursed Cadence back to health before when she had broken her front leg after a run.
Opening the barn doors, she was greeted by the horses, who swung their long heads toward her and nickered softly, probably wondering whether she had food or not. She looked up toward the loft, hearing no movement at first, and then heard a soft whisper. She narrowed her eyes and climbed up the ladder, keeping the bread in her left hand as she used her right to support herself as she made her way up.
She arrived at the top, and immediately looked toward the haystack where Axel was left the night before. Sure enough, he was still there, laying against the haystack, wide awake as he petted Mouse, the cat laying on his lap.
Mouse swiveled her ears toward Freya as she stood up on the loft, then mewed and hopped off of Axel, causing the soldier to wince slightly as the cat jumped off his legs. Axel then noticed why Mouse had left, looking up toward Freya. Mouse brushed up against her legs, hoping for some left over food scraps and Freya looked down at the pretty cat before walking toward Axel.
Axel looked tired, as if he hadn't slept much last night. He was positioned comfortably in the hay, but his one leg was still twisted oddly. He looked up at her, hair dry now and set in short, black waves. His green eyes were tired, worn and weary as he gave her his attention. But almost as soon as he saw her, his gaze flickered down to the loaf of bread in her hand and he blinked a few times.
"Here, it's for you." She held out the loaf and he eagerly reached out, taking it from her and tearing off a small piece, bringing it to his mouth.
She watched him eat it and then she sat down a few feet away from him on the wooden floor, his eyes focused on the half eaten bread. By the way he was eating, he must have been really hungry. She hadn't been able to get him food the night before. Her grandpa most likely wouldn't have let her go back outside. He finished the loaf quite quickly, swallowing the last of it and sighing in contentment, eyed a little brighter than before as he focused his gaze back on her. Freya looked toward his leg, concern spreading across her face.
"Freya." He said softly, looking at her curiously, eyes studying her. She stayed still, unsure how to answer to her name.
"Yes." She ended up saying, waiting.
He just looked back down after a few moments, and she got the idea he also didn't know what to say. Or maybe he did want to say something, he just knew she wouldn't understand him. He wouldn't understand her.
"Y-yes?" He questioned, voice deeper and huskier than the night before, his eyes narrowing in a question she couldn't quite understand.
Maybe he wanted to know what yes meant. "Yes, it means..." she searched for the correct words to describe yes. She began nodding, then said, "Yes," As she continued nodding.
He stared at he as she gave the example, the emeralds narrowing skeptically.
"Ja." He said after a moment. "Ja, yes." He began doing the same thing she had done, nodding his head up and down as he repeated the word, "Ja."
Ja must be the german word for yes, then. But, she wasn't completely sure he was german yet. He honestly looked more Italian than german.
She smiled. "Okay, well that's figure out. Ja is yes." He just returned the smile, revealing two dimples as he nodded.
"Ja."
She paused. What about no? She began shaking her head, saying, "No."
He seemed to get the idea, and asked quietly, "N-no, nein?"
She paused, laughing a little, then nodded. "No."
He blinked and she thought he looked lost for a moment. "Nein, no, Ja, yes?"
She smiled softly. "Ja means yes, Nein means no." At least, that's what she thought. She would have to get a german dictionary or something soon.
Her focus returned to Axels leg and she pointed to it. He looked down at it for a moment. She saw him wince as he shifted himself toward her, his leg out and pointing toward her direction. She got the feeling he was inviting her to check it out so she scooted forward, anxious over the wound. She sat over him, studying his leg and looking for the injury. He stayed still, his eyes settled on her calmly. She wasn't sure whether it was broken or not, so she slowly rolled up the pants, up to his knees. They were pretty loose down toward his ankles so she could easily roll them up, and when she finished that she pulled his sock off.
What Freya saw made her eyes widen, and Axel glanced nervously down. His shin bone was okay, but toward his ankle the bone was slightly bent. She identified it as a break. Not too bad of a break, but he wouldn't be able to walk on it for a while. She looked up, watching his eyes trace the curve of the break and his eyes closed. She looked back down.
"Just some wrapping and a splint should work. You'll be fine, up and walking in no time." Her voice stayed high and encouraging, which caused him to open his eyes, hope shining in them although he couldn't understand anything she had said.
Freya stood up and climbed back down the ladder, walking over to the table where a roll of tape and a few wooden sticks were. Grabbing a few other materials, she returned up to the loft where Axel waited.
Freya wanted to ask him if it hurt, but she assumed it must have to hurt a little because after all it was a small break. She placed the small beams on either side of his ankle and then tied it together with a string, then wrapping tape around it so he couldn't move it. He watched her work in silence, staying still and cooperative.
Once done with the splint, she looked over him. He had a few scratches on his face, but they weren't too deep. He would be okay. She stood up, unsure what else to do. Then she remembered her fathers clothing. Axels current uniform was still half soaked, and the seawater carried sand and probably wasn't that comfortable.
"I'll be right back, I'm going to go get some clothing for you." She said, climbing down again.
She walked into the house, her grandparents still asleep. But, the sun was rising and soon it would be morning. She couldn't be up in the loft all day with Axel, she would have to make some type of schedule to visit him. Walking across the smooth, wooden floors of her home, she made it upstairs and went into the door across from her room. An empty, neatly made bed sat in the middle of it, and on the bed there was a folded American flag. She walked briskly past it, then stopped.
Beside the flag, there was a framed picture of a middle aged man standing net to a few soldiers. He was in a uniform also, his smile large and wide as his uniformed friends had an arm around him, laughing and smiling at something in the distance. Freya stared at her father for a moment. This had been the last picture taken of him before he had died. Before he had left for the war. Freya turned away, returning her focus to the dress next to the bed, which had a few drawers attached. She opened them, finding a plain button down shirt and a pair of jean shorts, then she grabbed some sock and a pair of his underwear, hoping all of this would fit Axel. Then, she grabbed one of her fathers leather belts and put it all in a small bag near the bed, grabbing a few blankets in the bottom drawer and stuffing it into the bag.
She headed back down the stairs, out the door and into the sunlight, heading toward the barn. Climbing up the ladder with the bag in her hands, she set it down near Axel as he glanced inside, curious. He pulled out the blankets and clothing, smiling softly as he began to take his shirt off and change. Freya turned around, not needing to be there while he changed and she climbed down the ladder. She decided she would go into town for a bit and try to see if there was a german dictionary or a book on german somewhere.
After about five minutes, she cautiously climbed back up, unsure whether he was done changing yet but she prayed he was. Thankfully he was, and he was sitting in the hay with the blanket spread over him, waiting.
"I'm going to go into town for a little bit, to try and get some more supplies and also find some sort of translation book we can use. Stay here and be quiet, please." She asked of him, holding out her palm toward him in the 'stay' signal, and then raising her finger to her lips to say, 'shh.'
Axel looked up at her and Freya saw gratitude in his green eyes as he replied softly, "Yes," and raised his finger to his lips and raised his eyebrows.
Freya smiled in return and Axel chuckled slightly, looking away as he tossed his wet uniform aside. "Well, I'll be back soon. Goodbye." she said quickly, climbing down the ladder and guiding Cadence out of her stall.
Saddling Cadence up and pulling her reins over her head, Freya hopped onto the horses back and broke into a steady trot, leaving the barn. She decided not to tell her grandparents she was heading into town. She wouldn't be too long. Freya and Cadence trotted along the dirt road, heading into the town.
She felt as though this was the start of a friendship. But, also a challenge.
She wasn't sure how this would all end, though.