The Memory Painter

She pinched him again, harder this time.

“Ouch! Stop pinching me. I’m just telling you like it was.”

“But I can hear your smug smile.” She opened one eye and peeked at him. “A horse and a cow?”

He rolled his eyes back at her and continued. “The morgen-gifu—the gift he gave her the morning after their wedding—was the most generous in all of Greenland.” Bjarni had given Garnissa clothing and jewelry that he had purchased through his trades, as well as livestock and the land he built their longhouse on, to ensure that she and their future children would have security after he was gone. Michael fought to keep his voice steady.

“They married during their first year in Greenland and stayed with Bjarni’s father, Herjólfr, until they could build their own home. Garnissa became pregnant the next summer with their son, Anssonno.”