Ida's New World

by Lise Muusmann

  “We can say good-bye to Copenhagen in sunshine,” said Frederik kindly as he dried her eyes. Then he turned away and Ida saw his shoulders shaking. Her mother hid her face in her headscarf.

  Anna took Ida’s hand in hers and pulled her aside.

  “It is going to be fine,” she whispered and smiled.

  Just then some young men from the ships kitchen came along the deck hauling trolleys with big soup cans, filled with ‘sweet soup’ a popular Danish soup of sago with fruit syrup.

  “Sweet soup for everyone!” the waiter called out.

  ”Oh, I love sweet soup,” Ida said.

  So they all sat down with Anna and her husband, Rasmus, on their luggage and ate the soup out of small metal bowls provided.

  “Well, we are getting a bit of breakfast on this ship after all”, said Anna smiling.

  Ida’s parents ate silently and hungrily. Suddenly Ida got up and spun around dancing. She flung out her arms and started to sing:

  “Let’s cross the sea

  a long trip for a bee

  I hope not to ache

  too much in my stomach.”

  People around her laughed and began to enjoy slurping the sweet soup. Anna smiled and looked up at the sunshine, that fought back the clouds.

  “Yes, now we are sailing towards different skies,” she burst out.

  “I want more soup,” murmured Anna’s husband and held out his bowl. Ida took care of that swiftly. Rasmus had no teeth in his mouth at all, and he drank the soup directly from the bowl. Ida went back twice to get more soup for the old couple.

   Chapter 4

  “We are packed in like sardines,” Katrina said and sighed. They were lying close to strangers, berth by berth. “One can hardly breathe.”

  Ida lay between her parents in the same berth. Anna and her husband Rasmus were together in the berth beneath them. They had helped Anna in getting the old man into bed. He was quite weak.

  “Why are you travelling all the way to America?” Frederik asked wonderingly, “You are not so young anymore.”

  “Ah, we seem aged before our time. But we are here for the same reason that you are travelling to America,” Anna answered. “We are being beaten out of our home land. It is only the priests and the Aristocracy that have any sort of life in Denmark, now.” Anna said bitterly.

  Later in the night, they felt the ship come alongside in a harbour. They heard whispers in the cabin that they were now in Christiania, in Norway. Then they heard more passengers coming on board. It did not take long before they were filling up the lowest deck to find a place to sleep.

  “Where are these people going to stay?” Anna complained, as the new passengers struggled to get past the berths with all their luggage. When there were no more berths available, the rest just had to settle down on the floor. People were shouting and complaining, but there was no help to be had.

  “Well, we all are only third class passengers,” whispered Frederik. “We do not have any rights.”

  Within an hour, they were underway again, out on the open sea and that brought on sea-sickness. Soon, people became sick and many had to throw up. Not everyone managed to reach the upper decks in time, and before long there was a stench of vomit on the lower decks.

  “Oh, I think I am going to die!” Katrina moaned and put her hand over her mouth. It did not help as she soon threw up and they now had vomit in the berth. “I want to go home,” she cried. “I am so sick.”

  “That is not possible, mother dearest,” Ida whispered, who was also dizzy with seasickness. She kept herself as motionless as possible, because when she didn’t move, it helped her feel better. Katrina wanted to go to the upper deck.

  “The stench is awful,” she lamented. “I have to get some fresh air.”

  “I will come with you,” said Frederik and jumped from the berth to the floor.

  “I am staying here,” Ida said, thinking she could occupy their berth and prevent others from taking it over. The ship rolled from side to side. Ida closed her eyes and tried to forget she was at sea. She forced herself to think about what it was going to be like in America. Maybe the trees were blue, the flowers were black, while the sky was drooping to one side and looking all wrong. The houses had no doors or windows, so one would have to crawl down the chimney. No, that was too crazy, they could not possibly be that crazy over there.

  Frederik had been talking at length about the freedom and justice in America. All that they did not have in Denmark. Ida often wondered what they done wrong, to be treated so badly in their home land? She had often been so hungry she felt her belly would turn inside out, and the clothes she wore were miserably thin and worn. She did not care about that so much, except that during winter she was cold to the bone in her thin overcoat. When the Lord of the Manor passed by in his fine clothing and beautiful riding boots, he glared at her and shook his head.

  “Raggedy tosser!” he shouted at her.

  Why did he shout such things at her? He paid them such a miserably low wage, that they could hardly exist. How could her parents, who toiled and scrubbed so hard, be able to buy better clothes for her, without any money? But she knew that they saved everything so they could get away. On this awful boat!

  She heard the two old people below, both snoring heavily. A little while later, her parents came tip-toeing back to the berth.

  “How are you now, mother?” Ida sat up and looked at her.

  “Ida, you poor little thing, I am better. It was nice to get some fresh air. There is sea all around us, so we have travelled quite a distance already,” Katrina whispered. “Now we had better get some sleep, so that we can manage tomorrow. The oil lamps down here are smelling badly.”

  “Yes, and it stinks of vomit, excrement and urine,” Frederik whispered.

  Ida’s parents crawled up onto the berth. It was nice to have them on each side of her again, so that she felt safe. It did not take long before they were sleeping and snoring along with all the other passengers on the lowest deck. Thingvalla braved the big waves and set course for New York.

  Chapter 5

  Ida woke up when her father rolled over onto her. The ship had just taken an extra heavy pitch. She could hardly breathe.

  “Oh. Sorry, Ida. Being out to sea is a bit unusual for me.”

  “Ouch, you hit my head,” whimpered Ida and sat up.

  There was lively activity on the lowest deck. Everyone was climbing out of the berths or getting up from the floor, where they had spent the night.

  “We had better get up on deck and see if there is some breakfast for us,” Katrina said and looked down at herself. “I am afraid there is no water to wash ourselves,” she said with regret, and tidied her clothes as best she could. “It smells so badly of dirty people down here.”

  On the open deck the young men from the kitchens came along with big pots from which breakfast was served. Porridge with a little bit of sugar. “Can I have a bit of butter in the middle of my porridge?” asked Ida and smiled at one of the young men. “It tastes so much better.”

  “Well, we shall have to see what we can do about that,” he said and put a big lump of butter in the center of her porridge.

  “Oh thank you!” Ida shouted happily and settled down next to Anna, who had just come up from below deck. “Don’t you want any breakfast? Ida asked. Anna looked pale. She shook her head. “Where is your husband, Rasmus?”

  “He is still in our berth. He does not feel well.”

  “I think you should try to eat something,” Katrina said and looked anxiously at Anna. “Then you will feel much better.”

  “I have been throwing up all night,” moaned Anna, staring straight ahead.” Sea-sick!”

  “Have you not seen, it is a bright sunny day today?” Katrina said gently and pointed up at the blue sky. But Anna just sat there and swayed slowly. She was quite pale.

  “I do not think I shall ever see the new world,” she moaned, pressing her hands to her belly.

  “It will only
be a few days before we reach the harbour in New York,” Katrina replied and adjusted her headscarf. “Don’t you want me to bring you a little warm porridge?”

  Anna simply shook her head and bent over forward.

  “Why don’t I bring Rasmus up here, so that he can get some fresh air?” Frederik asked kindly. Anna shrugged her shoulders. He was on his way immediately. He came back a little while later, dragging Rasmus along. Rasmus did not seem to be feeling any better than Anna. He sat next to her and the two old people leaned against each other.

  After breakfast it was time for dancing and fun on the open deck. One of the young men who had served breakfast, had an accordion. It produced a cheerful sound and the sun’s rays danced along with them on the deck. Ida was quick up to dance with her doll, Per, in her hands. She spun about and glanced a few times out to the sea that rolled along by on big beautiful waves. Her mother and father held hands and also got up and took a couple of turns.

  “I love sailing,” cried Ida when she came to sit down again.

  “Look, here is a menu card,” Frederik cried out happily. “We are going to have soup with peas and macaroni for lunch.” He cast a quick glance at Anna and Rasmus who were still hanging their heads.

  “How about some lunch to get the belly operational again?”

  “My belly has certainly been in operation all night,” moaned Anna, looking miserable.

  “A bit of soup will be nice,” Frederik tempted with a smile.

  “I would like to try a bit of soup,” whimpered Rasmus.

  When it was served the two old folks supported each other and swallowed the soup directly from the dish. It tasted rather good and Ida had several portions. But Anna and Rasmus had to give up. Anna still looked pale and weak. Frederik took all the bowls and went to wash them. All of a sudden the ship lurched, Frederik lost hold of the stack of bowls which rolled here and there, as did some of the passengers as well. There was both laughter and tears.

   Chapter 6

  “Oh, I dare not think about how the night is going to be,” said Katrina glumly.

  The ship was rolling heavily and they were being tossed around. Buckets, dishes, spoons and forks were again thrown from one side of the deck to the other. A stack of dishes fell on Ida, and she was so scared she started to cry loudly. Anna held her tightly and whispered, “You could dance and make up some more poems instead?” She tweaked Ida’s nose and made a funny sound. Ida put a hand on her nose to feel if it was still there.

  They would eat dinner before they went below. “Brisket of beef with sauce and potatoes!” Katrina announced in a happy voice. “I hope the sea will be calm, while we are eating.”

  “Yes, it is beautiful looking at the sea and the waves with white foam at the top,” Frederik said gazing out at the endless ocean. "I hope we shall fare better tonight.”

  The family sat down near to the dinner pots and ate big healthy portions. Anna and Rasmus did not dare eat anything. Anna just shook her head and Rasmus dozed.

  “No, I can’t. It won’t be long before everything comes up again,” she said regretfully and held on to Rasmus tightly as he was leaning up against a sack of potatoes. He looked very poorly.

  When they once again were packed tightly in their berths down below on the third class deck, the ship started to pitch and roll worse than ever before. Everyone on the deck moaned loudly. Occasional loud bumps were heard, as people fell out of their berths and there was much crying and whimpering. Ida lay at the edge of the berth and held on tightly in order not to fall out. There was very little space, and the stench of the vomit floating from side to side on the floor, was horrible.

  “Oh my head,” whimpered Ida and wished sincerely that she was back in Denmark again. They only had a tiny leaking house on the Island of Lolland, but everything stood still and never rolled around like this, at sea. “I want to go home again!” Ida cried. “I do not want to go to America!”

  Katrina had to put a hand over her mouth so that no one could hear her. She cuddled her and held her tightly.

  The ship forged ahead, leaping over the tall waves and finally most of the people on the lowest deck managed to fall asleep. The family woke up when Anna suddenly howled aloud in the berth beneath them.

  “Rasmus? Wake up!” she shouted and shook her little husband, who lay quite still in the middle of the berth.

  “He is so cold,” she whimpered. Frederik jumped to the floor and put his head into the lower berth.

  “He is way too still,” he said and put an arm around the elderly woman, who collapsed in his arms. “I want to go home,” she cried.

  “It is not possible right now, Anna.” He comforted her as best he could and held her tightly. “Rasmus is dead.”

  As morning arrived, the family and Anna stood around the berth and looked at Ramus, who looked like a little sleeping grey doll.

  “What are we to do?” Katrina asked wringing her hands.

  “We have to get the captain,” Frederik said. “Katrina, take good care of Ida and Anna and I will go and find the captain.”

  It took only a couple of hours before the deck filled with people who wanted to witness the funeral. A plank holding the deceased covered by sailcloth, was held steady out over the railing by two sailors. The captain stood with Bible in hand and read out a couple of lines. Psalms were sung before the sailors tipped the plank downward and the body slid off into the deep blue ocean. Anna ran to the railing, screaming her husband’s name.

  “Rasmus! Rasmus! Come back. We are to go together to America!”

  Ida ran after Anna and crawled up onto the railing before Anna could catch her.

  “I will not go to America! I’m going down with Rasmus.” She shrieked.

  Her parents rushed forward and held both Anna and Ida tightly.

  “Come, come. Let us go and have breakfast now,” Frederik said in a comforting voice. Ida turned a face covered with tears toward him.

  ”Breakfast?” she cried. “How can you think of breakfast when Rasmus is on his way to the ocean floor?”

  Anna shook her head wildly and sobbed. Katrina and Frederik guided the unhappy pair over to some sacks near the the big meal pots. Frederik fetched breakfast and shared it amongst them. Anna cried for a long time, before they managed to get her to eat a slice of bread. Ida scowled deeply at the porridge for a long time, before she finally took a spoonful.

   Chapter 7

  “Now I’m not bothered if I do not see any more sea.” Declared Ida on the ninth day of their journey to America. “I do not even believe there is any land at the end of all this water.”

  Her parents laughed at her. They sat together with Anna, who was still in mourning over Rasmus. Ida and Anna were often at the railing, searching the deep for him.

  “Maybe he woke up when he hit the icy cold water?” Anna said as she stared down into the deep sea.

  “Do you think he swam after the ship?” Ida asked and kept an eye on the sea. “Imagine if he shows up on the waves!”

  “Yes, that would be as incredible as life itself.”

  “Are you looking forward to America?” Ida asked. “Who are you going to stay with?”

  Anna shook her head and had big tears in her eyes.

  “I am to blame,” she said and hid her face in her hands.

  “How, Anna?” Ida asked quite stunned.

  “It was I who wanted to go. I could not stand the Lord of the Manor beating Rasmus. He has always been such a kind and hardworking man. He didn’t deserve that treatment. It made him old before his time.”

  “I am sure he is now with our lord,” Katrina said as she came up behind them and heard their conversation.

  “Now hear this!” Shouted the captain into a big white megaphone. He was a tall slender man with red hair and beard. “We reach the New York harbour first thing in the morning!” People rushed onto the deck from all directions. Everyone stared to the west, squinting their eyes, trying to glimpse anything on the horizon.

  “
Help me up, father,” Ida cried and he lifted her up on his arm so they both stared out to that distant spot where America should be.

  Evening came with a threatening sky full of dark clouds. People stood clamped to the railing in case they could catch a glimpse of lights on the horizon.

  “No. We are going below to sleep.” Frederik said. “America will show up when we get there and we’d better be rested when it does.”

  Next morning they were awakened to screaming and shouting on the deck.

  “What is happening?” Ida asked and sat upright on the berth.

  “They are all screaming and shouting,” Katrina said worriedly.

  “Let us go up and see what is happening,” burst out Frederik and jumped down from the berth.

  The sun was already climbing up into the sky and everyone was on deck staring towards the west.

  “Look! Land!” A fat, elderly gentleman shouted, pointing eagerly with his walking stick.

  “Is it America?” Ida asked Frederik and she grabbed hold of his sleeve. “Let me get up and see the land.”

  He lifted her up on his shoulders. “Now I can see land!” Cried Ida, pointing.

  “Anna, we found it.” She cried and looked down at Anna. “Look! America!”

  ‘Yipee! I can be American

  Yipee! Yes we can

  we are over the sea

  this is so good to me!’

  “Why, this girl will surely amount to something.” Said Anna smiling up at Ida on her father’s shoulders, stretching her arms towards the new country.

  “She has to go to school first in the new country and learn a lot,” said Frederik and wondered anxiously, whether there would be any schools where they were going.

  A few hours later, Thingvalla sailed into the New York harbour. A big confusion and turmoil arose on board as everybody gathered their belongings and got ready to go ashore.

  “I have bought a big loaf of rye-bread from the stewards,” Frederik said. “Who knows when we next can eat good Danish rye-bread?”

  “Don’t you think they have good food in America?” Katrina asked worriedly. He shrugged his shoulders.