· Femunden, Norway
Ice on the lake.
From the journal of the Wolf of the North · a work of fiction
The Nilsen family took the lake shortcut before they saw the herd crossing ahead. Their sledge stopped on thin ice, and the reindeer surged around it. I heard the crack from the shore.
I lay flat, spread my weight, and pushed a long pine branch to them. One by one they crawled back. The sledge went under an hour later. We counted the people twice before anyone remembered the luggage.