Á Íslandi 38 - New Edition

Another instalment in the rewrite of these chapters:

In the end only Knud and Eyvind and most of the smaller grandkids were left in the hall.
"What about me?" Eyvind said. "Hilde asked me to stay close, but there's not much I can do to help."
"But you can!" Knud protested. "Most of what's to be done today do not require magic. You are good with your hands and you sure can help keeping an eye on and entertaining impatient small ones," Knud continued. "You're a good granddad, I understand, and keeping the small ones out of mischief and not underfoot would be a really great thing."
"Could we make some woodcraft and maybe have a fire out there?" Eyvind asked, encouraged by Knud's friendly words.
"Of course you can." Knud said. "In fact this is a splendid idea. I think I saw a humongous bag of marshmallows somewhere. Only please do not cut living wood, It can be dangerous here. But the wood piles and all fallen branches are yours to use."

Eyvind rose and grasped the nearest of his grandchilldren: "Did you hear that," he said "We're to make a bonfire and toast marshmallows. Let's go to the kitchen and find that humongous bag of marshmallows, Knud told us about."
He left the hall pulled off by Dora, Elsa and Gregers with all the other kids following them. He was smiling.
As he left, Rósa arrived with Anna and a man Knud did not recognize.
"Welcome Anna. It's good to see you again," Knud said, "But didn't you tell you never married, who is this?"
Anna answered: "But that's Helge, my cousin. Don't you recognize him?"
Knud looked at him, then looked at Anna and back to Helge again. "Yes, now I recognise you, Helge. Welcome back! You really have changed. You're older, no that's not what I mean, we're all older," He stopped, looked at Helge once again and continued: "Mature, grown, self-assured. Something ... I remember you as a lanky youth all arms and legs. And now ... "
Helge smiled, a big, slow smile. "Yes I was clumsy. And yes, I have changed, but we seem to have been interrupting something. Please continue and don't mind me."
"No, it's fine, Knud answered. "I have done this morning's job. I just need to stay here and wait for people to sign up for the broom race. I can do that while talking to you."

Rósa excused herself. "I still have loads to do with the old books and a lot of the other stuff. And please put me on the broom racing list as well."

Anna looked through the windows, at the garden and meadows teeming with people, at the different groups, and finally back to Knud. "Please Knud, tell me what you're trying to do here and who's who in this --- circus" she said, smiling to take the barb off her words.
Knud looked befuddled at her and Helge, then out of the windows and back again, suddenly seeing the place with foreign eyes. "Yes, I see this can be confusing. Susan and I never got to telling you everything we knew, and since then we have been more planning than looking to the past, it seems. Most of the old apprentices from the Farm is here today, as well as their children, their in-laws and their grandchildren. We're missing Kirsten and Sarah who are incapable of being here. Also Finnbogi, Fiona, Hilde, and her son Rasmus are missing, as an accident has happened to Rasmus' wife in Tømsø. Susan is away too, she should be back shortly with Aamu and some of her family ... And Olav and Monica left for home, their shop needed them, and their children have not even been let in tho what they possibly are ... "

Anna looked even more confused and a bit angry: "You tell me that almost everybody is here, and then you list up nine of the old apprentices and tell me that they are not present. That's about half of those still surviving if I can do the maths."
Knud drew a deep breath and began again. "Sarah is never going to become one of us again if I have a say there; but Sarah's son, who is a wizard, will arrive at some later date with his wife, who's a witch as well, and their four children. Kirstin - you remember her, she's Rósa's cousin - she is severely handicapped after and accident years and years ago. We hope she will be OK, but only time will tell. Finnbogi, Fiona, Hilde and Rasmus are as I said in Tromsø, where they live because ... oh bugger! this is too much to explain standing like this. Please sit, have a mug of tea, and relax." He swished his wand and two mugs came flying through the air towards them.
While Anna and Helge had their tea Knud explained in compact form, omitting all the ifs, buts, and maybes the story of Ella, Walter, who was really David, and Liisa who was Eillen Teresa's daughter. "I never told via mail, because we were afraid someone would intercept the letters," Knud ended his story.
Helge and Anna looked stunned and poured another mug of tea.

***

"Hi, Mary," Knud greeted the girl, who came walking with a determined mien. "Are you here to sign up for the racing, maybe?"
"Yes," she said. "I hope I am the first. I want to win."
"You are the first," Knud said wondering, "But that does not mean you'll win."
Mary smiled at Anna and Helge. "You just arrived, are you going to try and win the broom race as well?"
"Of course we are," Anna said. "I'm good at it and Helge is not much worse." She turned to Knud. "Please add us to the list, you know the details. After maybe Mary could show me where My is? I think she could use some help with the potions."
"You're not that good at potions," Mary said. "You'd do better helping The old lady and Jan set up the obstacles."
"Hey, you might be rigth," Anna said, "but that's not necessarily a nice thing to tell a lady you never met before."
"Sorry. lady," Mary said, "I'll show you where My is, if you like to."
"My name is Anna," Anna said. "Yes I would like to meet My again, we were good friends long ago." As they left together Anna was surprised to see Knud nod approvingly.

Knud wrote down Helge and Anna on the list of older participants, and then looked up at Helge: "You do know that you, as the oldest are destined to take over Gylfi's role as senior wizard, or whatever you may call it. I have done so until now, but that place is rightfully yours."
"By golly yes," Helge said. "I never realized, bit with Sif and Elwin no longer alive, I am the oldest. I don't really feel like ousting you. You live here, you and Susan re-discovered our magic and everything."
"Do you really think Taavi and Tähti felt ousted, or Thora, for that matter, by Gylfi being senior wizard back at the Farm? I would welcome it. I am not cut out for being a leader. But we can do it slowly if you like. People are used to me casting the Mál sameinast in the morning and cancelling it every night. You do the cancelling tonight. But tell me some more about yourself. How has life treated you?"

Interrupted by people getting written on the broom racing lists, Helge told Knud about his marriage, work, children and divorce. "We only had one child, a daughter called Annika. When my wife wanted a divorce, she wanted to leave her former life totally behind, that meant me and Annika. I was given sole legal custody, quite unusual for a father where the mother did not die. She married again, and changed her first name too. She's quite famous now, and I see her name in the papers now and then, and wonder ... I continued my work in the pharmacy, only I worked shorter hours to be at home when Annika came from school. We had a good life, she studied Icelandic, and married quite young to a nice, young man from the same course and have two children, Tommy and Emily. I visit them often, as they live near by.
After Annika left for the university, I took a part time job as a teacher on the pharmaceutical high school. It soon turned into full time teaching and more as I was made dean of the department. I kept that tenure up until my retirement two years ago. Now I write the books on pharmacology, I dreamt of writing when I taught, but never had the time for. And I have a small summer house with extensive lands - even a small lake - where I normally spend more time than in my apartment in Helsingborg. Annika spends most of her holidays there too with man and kids, as her in-laws are in a nursing home, Tommy is the youngest of 8 kids. I should be happy, but I am not. Now, after Anna found me again and gave me my old trousers back, I feel better than I have done for years, but I am still missing something."

"For how long can you stay here?" Knud asked as an answer. "I think you need to do magic, Take responsibility again, lead this school together with me, Susan and My. Let's take a tour of the premises now." Knud extended his hand and Helge clasped it. "Let's go!" he said.