Free An Untamed Land by Lauraine Snelling Page A

finger, all the while trying to stifle a sneeze. Failing in that effort, she sneezed hard enoughto splatter his lapels. Instant mortification stained her cheeks. She could feel the heat as if she’d just stuck her head over a bubbling wash boiler.
    “Bless you.” He whipped a white handkerchief from his breast pocket and handed it to her.
    “Mange takk.” Was that all she could say? Between her hat, her now throbbing ankle, and his handkerchief, the earth opening up and swallowing her could happen none too soon.
    “Mange takk, again. And for your kind assistance.” She started to hand him back the used handkerchief, but better sense prevailed. How could she possibly return a dirty handkerchief? Where were her manners? If only she could run down the street and hide in a doorway. But if she started to run, where would she stop? And how would she ever get back to the boardinghouse? Visions of Roald roaring through the streets looking for her made her chin start to quiver.
    She smiled bravely up at her savior and thanked him once again. Then turning on her right foot, she tried to make a graceful exit. And failed. Or at least her foot did. Walking was extremely difficult, if not impossible, for a sharp pain sliced clear to her knee. She bit back the groan but failed to hide the flinch.
    “You are hurt.” Instantly he appeared at her side again.
    “It is nothing. I am fine.”
    “It is more than nothing, and it is my fault. I bumped into you.” He tucked her arm in his. “Now, you must tell me where you are going, and I will take you there.” As he spoke he waved at a passing hansom cab.
    “Nei, nei, you mustn’t.” Ingeborg tried to draw back but, as in everything else so far this day, failed miserably. Before she could protest any further, he had lifted her into the still swaying cab and stepped in after her.
    “Now, where do you need to go?”
    Ingeborg knew an angel when she met one. She just didn’t expect to see one wearing a rich gray topcoat and a black beaver hat. She gave a sigh of surrender and told him all that had happened since their arrival.
    “. . . and so I came out to pay the grocer and lost my way.” She clasped her hands in her lap and raised her gaze to meet his. The genuine concern in his warm brown eyes made a lump form in her throat.
    “Would you recognize the place if you saw it again?”
    She nodded. “I feel sure I would.”
    “Good. Then we will return to Castle Garden and proceed from there.” He leaned forward and gave what Ingeborg assumed to be instructions to the driver. Not understanding the language was proving to be a greater barrier than she had ever dreamed it would be. As the driver clucked to the large black horse, she made herself a promise. She would learn the language sooner rather than later. All the reports they had received in Norway had said that immigrants could live in this new land without taking time to learn to speak Amerikan. But Ingeborg now knew differently. All that had happened since they stepped off the boat had proved that. She would learn Amerikan, and she would learn it well.
    As the horse trotted down the street, she leaned back against the leather seat. She could hear Roald, like her mother, saying she must get out immediately. Who knew where this stranger was taking her? After all the admonitions she’d heard about immigrants being robbed and suffering other unthinkable things, here she was riding the streets of a bustling city in the company of a man whose name she did not even know.
    What does one do? The thought nagged at her sense of propriety. In all her life, she’d never done such an outrageous thing as this. What would Roald say?
    He’s not going to know. The thought flitted through her mind and lodged securely in a corner as though made for that place. And what he doesn’t know won’t hurt him . She raised her chin and straightened her spine. So I will enjoy every moment, for such a time shall never come again. She watched out the