Kirsten and the Thief

Kirsten and the Thief is part of the Short Stories collections, focusing on Kirsten Larson. The story was never published outside of American Girl Magazine.

Characters[]

Only in Kirsten and the Thief[]

Mrs. Rynd

Summary[]

Kirsten asks her father if Blackie can't move faster. She wants them to hurry on their trip to Maryville. Papa reminds her to be patient because Blackie has a heavy load; the entire family is in the wagon. However, he snaps the reins for Blackie to move quicker. Kirsten, Anna, Lisbeth, Lars, and Peter sit in the back with food packed between them. Mama holds Britta on her lap near the front of the wagon and Aunt Inger holds their family Bible, while Uncle Olav and Papa ride on the wagon seat.

They were on their way to a Sunday gathering with other Swedish settlers. The pastor had not been able to visit Maryville all winter, so they would have two weddings and three christenings that day. After the services were over, they would have a special dinner and get to play. Kirsten feels almost as excited as she does for Christmas. Anna exclaims that she can't wait for dinner, and Peter complains that he's already hungry. Mama hands him dried cranberries as a snack, and he initially turns them down because he prefers something sweet. Mama insists he take them because they won't eat til after church. When Peter asks why they can't eat before church, she says that "food for the spirit comes before food for the stomach." Peter reluctantly takes a few berries. Lisbeth asks Kirsten if she wants any and says she'd like to wait for dinner. Kirsten nods in agreement, but her mind is on the smell of ginger coming from the food by her feet.

Kirsten and Mama spent the whole week baking cookies. Kirsten bends over to tie her boot laces and realizes no one else is paying attention to the cookies. Lisbeth, Anna, and Peter were playing a counting game, Lars was sanding a wooden whistle, and Mama and Aunt Inger talked and entertained Britta. So when everyone else looks at a deer crossing the road, she breaks off a piece of cookie and stuffs it in her mouth.

Peter exclaims that she's stealing a cookie, and Mama tells off Kirsten. She blushes and she knows she shouldn't have taken anything, but Peter hadn't done any work all week for the food, and Kirsten felt entitled to just one bite for her hard work. Her face was red with shame and anger when suddenly the wagon lurched to the left with a loud crack. Papa and Olav get out and discover that some spokes came loose in the wheel, so everyone else gets out of the wagon while it's getting fixed. Mama and Aunt Inger begin to straighten all the baskets and jugs when Mama realizes that she must have left their basket with ham and bread. She's hard on herself, but Aunt Inger pats her shoulder gently and tells her there was so much to remember, it's amazing they didn't forget more than a single basket. Mama still looked as if she might cry. Ham was rare and they were lucky to have it once or twice a year. Papa salted two hams last autumn and packed them away to dry. They had cooked one for a holiday dinner, and a few days ago, she unpacked the other, soaked it to draw out the salt, and boiled it. Then she put cloves in it and baked it. This was what they would bring to the celebration dinner, but the Larsons would miss the church service if they went back to the cabin after the wagon was fixed.

Then, Kirsten has an idea that might make Mama be less annoyed at her about the stolen cookie. She offers to ride Blackie back to the cabin for the ham while the wagon is getting fixed. She'll be back by the time the men are ready to go. Mama says that she'd send Lars to do this, but he has to help with the wheel. She reminds Kirsten that although she's a good rider, she shouldn't go too fast when she carries the basket or it could spill. Kirsten promises to be careful, and with that, Papa helps her climb onto Blackie and she sets off.

It was a quick ride to the cabins, and Kirsten starts to imagine how happy Mama will be when she returns with the basket. However, as she approaches, she sees a dark figure near the cabin. The figure pauses, then goes inside. Kirsten pulls Blackie by some trees and looks through the branches. Kirsten knows that Native Americans would help themselves to food, but she also has heard that men steal guns and bullets sometimes. She creeps slowly to the cabin and wishes Papa or Uncle Olav were there to help scare the thief. She peeks through the window, and although no lamp is lit, she can see a thin person bend over the basket with the ham that the Larsons had left behind. Kirsten becomes angry at the thought of missing out on the ham they'd looked forward to since last autumn, so she runs inside and orders the person to stop. The woman hides behind the table, and Kirsten kneels to see that the woman is very young and scared; she's not much older than a girl herself. She has a loaf of bread as well as a worn bundle with a baby.

Kirsten's fear left her, and she indignantly asks what the girl is doing. Kirsten sounds like Mama when she was angry. The girl quietly puts the bread back while Kirsten lights a lamp. She can see that the girl is bony, her hair is matted, and she wears a dirty dress. She was probably only a little bit older than Lars, but her face was wrinkled and she looked exhausted. The girl doesn't answer when Kirsten asks her who she is; instead, she looks at the framed paper on the wall that certifies the Larsons were Swedish citizens who were educated in reading, writing, and Holy Scripture. Then she looks at the cloth on the table, the candlesticks, the butter box, Britta's cradle, Peter's wooden horse, and the extra shawls on pegs. The girl sullenly replies that Kirsten doesn't need to know her name. Kirsten comments that the stranger can speak English, and the girl says she went to school, too. She says the certificate is a school paper, and Kirsten affirms that it is; it was their permit to leave Sweden. She feels angry that this girl feels she can ask questions of Kirsten after going into their home. Kirsten asks where the girl lives.

The girl bitterly replies that they live up the river, in a cave, without anything to cover their heads. Papa had told Kirsten about poor settlers who didn't have a cabin or sod house. Sometimes these settlers didn't have farming skills and could only eat what they could hunt. Kirsten is curious and politely asks where the woman came from. While she unsuccessfully tries to calm her whimpering baby, the girl says they came from Moravia and their last name is Rynd. She also says they've been in the United States too long and they never should have left; at least in Moravia they had a cottage and were as "rich" as the Larsons. Kirsten is surprised because she's never thought of their family as rich. Before they left Sweden, the family was hungry most nights, and they'd only arrived in Minnesota with two trunks and some bundles.

Kirsten asks if anyone else from their homeland is there, and the girl says it's just her, her husband, and her mother. She says she didn't cause any harm and she gets ready to leave. However, Kirsten is still upset that this girl stole from them and would have surely taken the ham if Kirsten hadn't arrived. She accuses her of stealing, and the baby starts to cry. The girl says her family is hungry and they don't even have salt to eat. She came to the cabins to beg for scraps, but no one was home. She wearily sits down and rests her head, and she asks if she can at least have water before she leaves. Kirsten is now worried that the girl is sick from hunger, and she quickly fills a cup for her. She also cuts some slices of bread. While the girl eagerly eats, Kirsten thinks of the ginger cookie she had earlier, and she thinks it would be awful to have to beg for food. Kirsten offers to give food to the baby, but the baby is too young for bread. She sees the baby sucking on its fist, and Kirsten can't help but think of her healthy sister, Britta. The mother explains that she doesn't have enough milk for the baby.

Kirsten sits down next to her and imagines how hard it would be to live in a cave with a baby and no food. She asks what will happen to the girl, and the girl replies that she doesn't know. They had to eat all their seed potatoes during the winter, and now they have nothing to plant. Kirsten asks how she's never seen the family with them living so close, and the girl replies that she's seen Kirsten from a distance; she recognizes her wool sweater and leather boots. She tells Kirsten that every day, she thinks of the day they came to Minnesota's shores and they saw nothing but prairie and sky. Unlike the Larsons when they arrived, the Rynds were all alone. This story reminds Kirsten of her own family's long walk to Uncle Olav's farm and the welcome they'd recieved. Her family had never truly been alone, and as Kirsten looks around, she's reminded of all the things her family had made and how much they had. The girl says that they had hope things would get better for them until this winter; now they don't have any hope. Kirsten says, "Oh, don't say so! You can find hope again if you don't lose heart! My mama says never to lose heart." The girl responds that they can't even find food; how on earth will they find hope?

Kirsten bites her lip. Bread wouldn't go far for the starving family, but the ham would be much more filling. She thinks of her own family waiting for her and the ham, and she worries that Mama might be angry if she gave the ham away. She struggles for another moment before giving the basket to the girl. Her mouth drops open, and she grabs the basket and rushes out the door as if Kirsten might change her mind. Kirsten notes that she didn't say thank you.

Kirsten and Blackie gallop back to the Larsons on the road. When she arrives and jumps off Blackie, she prefaces it by telling her family not to say anything until she explained what happened. The family crowds around her as Kirsten explains the situation. While she speaks, she looks anxiously at her parents, and when she's finished, she asks if they're angry with her. Mama hugs her and gently asks what kind of people they'd be if they feasted while their neighbors starved. She says she'd have also fed them if she were at the cabin. However, Peter's face is red and unhappy, and he says they didn't have to feed the other family with their ham. However, Mama takes his hand and reminds him that sharing isn't always easy, but it is the right decision. Papa strokes his beard and says that although the Rynds now have one good meal, they'll starve in the future if they can't successfully farm. He says he will ask the men at church to help out, and they can get the Rynds started with rutabagas, carrots, and onions. Uncle Olav also offers to take oxen to plow their fields. While Papa talks, he hitches Blackie to the wagon, and the family climbs back in.

Anna asks Kirsten for more details about the girl, and she says she must have been nice for Kirsten to give her the food. Kirsten thinks for a moment and says no, the girl wasn't nice, but that's not the reason she'd give the girl food; she gave her food because she was hungry. Kirsten scoops up a few of the dried cranberries and eats one, and as she tastes the sour berry, she imagines the Rynds eating the Larsons' bread and ham. Although Kirsten's stomach rumbled, she felt satisfied.

Meet the Author[]

Janet Shaw talks about one of her favorite books, My Antonia by Willa Cather. The story involves a settler from Europe who has a hard life in her childhood and lives in a hole in the ground. Her life gets better as she gets older, and Shaw likes to think that this "thief" will know better times as well.

References[]

↑ The family is still living in their cabin.

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[1] The family is still living in their cabin.

[1]