by Kris Tualla
Thor looked up at his tall uncle. “You look like my Pappa.”
“Do you know any English?” Kyle asked Teigen after she translated her son’s comment.
“A little.” Teigen squatted down so his eyes were level with Thor’s. “And you are just like your Pappa,” he managed in heavily-accented English.
“Everybody says that.” Thor pulled his hand from Kyle’s and held it out to Teigen. “It’s nice to meet you, Uncle Teigen.”
Teigen laughed, sounding so much like his older brother that Kyle’s chest tightened.
He grabbed Thor’s hand and shook it. “It’s nice to meet you, Thor Hansen.”
Then he straightened and looked down at Kyle. “Shall we go?”
*****
Hansen Hall was built on the top of a bluff about a mile west of the center of Arendal. Looking exactly like Tor described, the structure was dominated by a round stone tower which stood three stories over the road. There were no windows in the tower, only the vertical slits which allowed archers to defend the inhabitants.
Viking archers.
Extending off one side of the tower was the two-story medieval structure with glass windows leaded in a multitude of small diamond-shaped panes. Peeking over the flat roof of the medieval façade were several tall chimneys and slanted slate roofs declaring the presence of the “modern” wing—built over two hundred years ago.
Kyle climbed out of the car and breathed in the salt air of the North Sea, wondering how far down the water was. The view from the bluff was spectacular. The sound of the big black sedan’s engine seemed to awaken the old building and doors opened, spilling people onto the drive.
Kyle knew Matilda and Nikolai immediately.
Tor’s mother was thin and a bit fragile looking, but she wrapped Kyle in a tearful hug that was surprisingly strong. “I am so happy you are finally here.”
Kyle hugged her back. “As am I, Mamma Hansen.”
Matilda loosened her hold and stepped back to look at Thor, who was walking shyly around the back of the car. She looked as shocked to see her grandson as Kyle had been to see Teigen.
“Oh my word. He really is the image of Tor at that age.”
Kyle smiled at her mother-in-law. “I hope you have pictures. I’d love to see them.”
Nikolai hefted one of the suitcases while Teigen claimed the other. “Welcome to Hansen Hall, Kyle. We have all been eagerly waiting for this day for a long time.”
“Thank you, Pappa Hansen.” She rested her hand on Thor’s shoulder. “We are so happy to be here.”
A petite woman with short, light brown hair and pale blue eyes stepped forward, smiling. She had a baby on her hip, and a pretty little girl held her hand.
“Hello, Kyle. I’m Selby.” She lifted the hand held captive by her daughter. “And this is Torhild.”
Kyle squatted down to her niece’s eye level the same way Teigen had to Thor. “I’m your Aunt Kyle, and my son Thor is your cousin.”
Torhild chewed a finger and looked at Thor who was now leaning on his mother.
“How old are you?” Kyle asked even though she knew the answer.
Torhild held up five fingers.
“Five years old? That’s wonderful. Thor is five years old, too.” Kyle put her arm around her son. “But he doesn’t speak very much Norsk, so you’ll have to teach him.”
Kyle straightened and tucked her finger into the baby’s hands. “This must be Jans. How old is he now?”
“Just turned four months. We waited to have him christened until his Aunt Kyle got here.” Selby lifted her free shoulder. “We figured everyone would want to meet you, anyway.”
Kyle looked around at the people gathered together: Nikolai and Matilda, Teigen and Selby, Torhild and Jans, and knew that she and Thor were exactly where they should be.
Teigen and Nikolai carried her suitcases to the door while Matilda linked her arm through Kyle’s. “Let’s get you settled.”
Kyle took Thor’s hand and walked into Hansen Hall.
We’re here, Tor. We finally made it.
Now read the story of the Viking apparition and Tor’s modern day great-granddaughter:
An Unexpected Viking
A Restored Viking
A Modern Viking
Sveyn Hansen was a Viking in 1070—until Norway’s king declared the country Christian, sparking deep-rooted conflict. Sveyn, caught in a violent clash and run through by a sword, lay bleeding on the ground while at his head the priest gave him last rites. But at his feet, the devil was pulling Sveyn toward a different end. A blinding flash and deafening boom shook Sveyn to his bones. Once he could see and hear again, he wasn’t certain what had happened. Only that he was not dead. And he was no longer alive.
Hollis McKenna’s boss, insisting that she take a break after several grueling months at the Arizona History and Cultural Museum, banishes her to a relaxing weekend event. When Hollis arrives, she spies a cover model standing off to the side. Surprised that no one is conversing with the gorgeous six-foot-plus man wearing the Viking costume, she winds through the crowd to speak with him herself. He insists that Hollis hold her “lighted rectangle” to her ear while she converses with him. Frustrated at his repeated insistence, she holds out her phone and demands to know why.
“Because you are the only one who can see me.”
NOTES ABOUT THE 10TH MOUNTAIN DIVISION:
AUTHOR’S CONFESSION #1: The American soldiers climbing Riva Ridge did not actually have their skis with them. But because those were Tor’s final scenes, and the training info about Camp Hale focuses so heavily on the famous skiers that trained there, it felt wrong not to have Tor go into his final battle without his beloved skis. The same goes for Torger Tokle, who did die there.
AUTHOR’S CONFESSION #2: On June 22, 1944 the 10th Mountain Division was actually shipped to Camp Swift in Texas to prepare for maneuvers in Louisiana, which were canceled. Why the Army would send a ski-and-mountain-climbing patrol to this low-altitude and hot climate is unclear. I left it out intentionally because it didn’t fit my plot. And frankly—it was boring.
NOW FOR THE REAL STUFF:
The creation of an elite ski corps was a national effort after Charles “Minne” Dole, founder of the National Ski Patrol, persuaded the U.S. Army in 1941 that they needed a division of trained skiers and mountaineers.
Camp Hale, constructed in 1942 at an altitude of approximately 9,300 feet, was located between Red Cliff and Leadville in the Eagle River valley of Colorado, as a United States Army training facility. Enough men were recruited to create three army regiments: the 85th, 86th, and 87th. They became the 10th Mountain Division and were deployed after training. By the time the division went into combat it had trained for 3 years and numbered over 10,000.
On February 18, 1945 in Italy, and under the cover of darkness, 900 men from the 86th Mountain Infantry Regiment used ropes to climb Riva Ridge in complete silence to surprise and capture the German lookouts. Once on the ridge, Field Artillery was able to fire on Mount Belvedere, aiding the 85th and 87th regiment in a successful assault on that strategic position.
By the time peace was announced on May 2, 1945 the 10th Mountain Division had outrun its supply lines and pushed the Germans into the Alps. The men of the 10th also paid the heaviest price of any U.S. Army division in Italy: 992 dead and 4154 wounded. The 10th Mountain Division served in combat for only four months, but had one of the war’s highest casualty rates.
On July 1, 1943 with passage of the Women’s Army Corps Bill, the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corp (WAAC) became simply the Women’s Army Corps (WAC) and gained full military status. Altogether, more than 400,000 women served in various branches of the United States Military during World War II.
The presence at, and contributions of, the two hundred women who formed the Women’s Army Corps Detachment at Camp Hale have largely been lost from the historical record. The Camp was built and created for training elite mountain and ski troops, so the focus of the militar
y and the media was the men’s activities.
In 1914 the ACE (“All Cotton Elastic”) bandage was invented by a group of scientists at Becton Dickinson Corporation. When writing historical novels, one has to research all sorts of random things. This was one of them.
Camp Hale was decommissioned in November 1945.
Early in the spring of 1959 Torger Tokle was elected to the Ski Hall of Fame in Michigan. Tokle came to America from Norway in 1939 and, after a spectacular career, laid down his life for his adopted country a short six years later at Riva Ridge.
WAC Armorers maintained and repaired small arms and heavy weapons, but WACs were not allowed to be trained in their use until 1978 and were not issued firearms until the 1980s.
Army Technical Sergeant Carl V. Cossin chronicled his experiences with the 10th Mountain Division and was the inspiration for the character of Private Keith Kossin, in addition to providing some anecdotal information included in this story:
http://www.mywarhistory.com/browse/printPreview.aspx?serviceHeroId=78
THE HANSEN FAMILY TREE
Sveyn Hansen* (b. 1035 ~ Arendal, Norway)
***
Rydar Hansen (b. 1324 ~ Arendal, Norway)
Grier MacInnes (b. 1328 ~ Durness, Scotland)
Eryndal Bell Hansen (b. 1327 ~ Bedford, England)
Andrew Drummond (b. 1325 ~ Falkirk, Scotland)
***
Jakob Petter Hansen (b. 1485 ~ Arendal, Norway)
Avery Galaviz de Mendoza (b. 1483 ~ Madrid, Spain)
***
Brander Hansen (b. 1689 ~ Arendal, Norway)
Regin Kildahl (b. 1693 ~ Hamar, Norway)
***
Martin Hansen (b. 1721 ~ Arendal, Norway)
Dagne Sivertsen (b. 1725 ~ Ljan, Norway)
Reidar Hansen (b. 1750 ~ Boston, Massachusetts)
Kristen Sven (b. 1754 ~ Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
Nicolas Hansen (b. 1787 ~ Cheltenham, Missouri Territory)
Siobhan Sydney Bell (b. 1789 ~ Shelbyville, Kentucky)
Stefan Hansen (b. 1813 ~ Cheltenham, Missouri)
Kirsten Hansen (b. 1820 ~ Cheltenham, Missouri)
Leif Fredericksen Hansen (b. 1809 ~ Christiania, Norway)
***
Tor Hansen (b. 1913 ~ Arendal, Norway)
Kyle Solberg (b. 1919 ~ Viking, Minnesota)
Teigen Hansen (b. 1915 ~ Arendal, Norway)
Selby Hovland (b. 1914 ~ Trondheim, Norway)
***
*Hollis McKenna Hansen (b. Sparta, Wisconsin)
Kris Tualla is a dynamic, award-winning, and internationally published author of historical romance and suspense. She started in 2006 with nothing but a nugget of a character in mind, and has created a dynasty with The Hansen Series, and its spin-off, The Discreet Gentleman Series. Find out more at: www.KrisTualla.com
Kris is an active PAN member of Romance Writers of America, the Historical Novel Society, and Sisters in Crime, and was invited to be a guest instructor at the Piper Writing Center at Arizona State University.
“In the Historical Romance genre, there have been countless kilted warrior stories told. I say it's time for a new breed of heroes. Come along with me and find out why: Norway IS the new Scotland!”
