The Larsen Family

Morten Larsen sat in his office surveying the workshop through the plate glass window overlooking workers hard at work shaping timbers and cabinets to be used on the construction he was contracted to do on the outskirts of Sigtuna. His ancestors had been in this industry as far back as his family tree indicated before he lost track of his ancestry. In those early times Scandinavians had been on the move so who knew how and where his distant family members resided around the world now apart from a few of the Larsen extended family who’d chosen to remain in their ancestral home.

Morten was very grateful the movement of time had produced labor saving devices for them to work with today and he marveled at how his ancestors must have constructed their buildings with some of the rough tools now gathering dust and rust in the corner of his workshop. Every now and then he’d go and inspect them and marvel at the skill and patience it must have taken to construct buildings in those ancient times.

Most of those buildings of old Scandinavian architecture had wooden frames and basic stone footings. Vikings used boards, wattle, and daub to build the walls. The supporting timbers were probably hacked out of the forests with primitive axes although pit homes were also common. Morten was happy to be born in this era with all modern tools to see he was competitive with other builders and his workers were loyal. He was also happy the demand for modern architecture did not favor old methods and materials as it was easy to work with what was now industrially manufactured and easy to access locally.

The town Sigtuna was reputed to be the first town in Sweden. King Erik the Victorious established the town in 970 CE according to tradition though this has been disputed by some in academic circles. Initially the town was a political centre, but also a religious centre, for centuries. The main street of the town, Stora Gatan had retained its name for a thousand years. It was also believed; the first Swedish coin was made in 995 in Sigtuna. The king brought silver and a coin master from England to Sigtuna to mint coins. There was evidence this was an ancient trade centre with political entities as far afield as Byzantine, Russia, Poland, Ukraine, and the Middle East. Therefore, Sigtuna is and was a worldwide meeting point and Morten was very proud to be a part of that tradition.

He missed his wife Kajsa who’d produced five beautiful children for him. She’d been a great help to him as she took on the supervision of home and family. It had been difficult for her to juggle home duties and help when she could with the workshop administration when he was out of town supervising a rural contract. She was a stern disciplinarian and each of the children knew in no uncertain terms what their duties were and respected the boundaries set.

Each of the children had been serious about learning through their school years. Kajsa insisted they excel in their schoolwork and the only fights she had with her husband Morten were her insistence her children get as high an education as was possible in Sigtuna as opposed to Morten’s view that they needed little education apart from learning trade skills.

Morten planned on his three boys Niels now 18 Mads 15 and Ludvig 10 working at his trade to carry on the Larsen name in this community. The girls Annika 19 and Tuva where to be skilled in-home management by Kajsa in preparation for marriage but his plan had been turned on its end when his beloved wife Kajsa died along with the sixth child at the town birthing centre.

Morten had been beside himself with grief and poured himself into the workshop leaving the eldest Annika in charge of the home and her siblings. Each of the children grieved over the loss of their mother who was their director and defender so there was chaos in the home as Annika attempted under her father’s orders to bring her siblings in line.

Niels and his brother Mads who were the instigators of the revolt were soundly thrashed by their father to bring them into line and Annika had no more trouble exercising her authority in the home. She also proved to be adept in minding the workshop when her father had to travel to places under construction far from town. And despite all this responsibility Annika managed to maintain her high grades at school but it was plain to her father it was time for Niels to step up and take more of the responsibility as eldest son and Morten would begin the process of seeking an appropriate match for Annika in marriage.

Once again Niels rebelled. He was not interested in carrying on the family business but wanted to seek other horizons and opportunities and determined that as soon as he’d graduated and received his completion diploma, he’d secretly gather his documents and belongings and head for Stockholm to try his luck in the business world.

He knew Mads would welcome a chance to leave school and help his father manage the construction workshop and would thank Niels for moving aside to give him the position of primacy in the family after his father. Tuva and Ludvig would have to learn responsibilities in the home along with their continuing education.

Niels knew his father would never agree to him going to Stockholm, so it had to be done secretly. It was about forty kilometres from where he lived so if there were to be any crisis in the family, he could be there to offer support within an hour by public transport. When he’d made a success of his life in a career of his choice, he’d make sure his father was cared for in old age and looked forward to an eventual reunion as he loved his family but had no interest in carrying on the family trade tradition.

Mads would do a better job as he was passionate about his father’s trade and had often grumbled because he’d not be the one to inherit the business and would have to work for his brother. In the farewell note he’d leave for his father after a future planned night escape he’d urge his father to place the responsibility on his brother Mads when he was ready to hand over the reins of management to his family.

Weeks later in possession of his graduation and other personal documents and a small case containing his clothes Niels was on his way to Stockholm with borrowed money from the family funds under Annika’s management in a small tin box on the kitchen shelf. It was taboo to touch those funds without permission of father or his sister in charge, but Niels was confident he would soon have a job and would replace what he’d taken as quickly as possible. It had all been explained in the letter he’d left in that money box which he knew would not be accessed by Annika until the following day. Niels knew there’d be an explosion in the home when the letter was read and smiled to himself as he saw the familiar scene of his angry father in his mind and hoped Morten’s anger would not be taken out on his sister Annika.

It had been reasonably easy to make the getaway. His case had been packed when the rest of the family were out of the house and deposited behind bushes at the back of the house for him to pick up when family were distracted in the evening. They were used to him taking evening walks so alarm bells would not commence until he’d been gone for more than an hour. He’d rushed to the public transport hub and quickly paid the fare to Stockholm glancing around frequently to see whether he was being observed as he waited for the bus to depart. But on the way it suddenly occurred to him the family would be worried sick all that night until they found that letter next day. His exhilaration over the escape was now tempered by guilt he was probably putting his family under enormous stress wondering what had happened to him at that moment.

To be continued.

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