The Nagyvradi Brothers

by Laszlo Endrody

  Big John led them back out of the dungeon, once again making them vow to never speak a word about the place to anyone. He then sent the boys to load their wagons and head on home. When they got to the builder’s yard, young John’s wagon was already loaded. Once the other wagon had been loaded they headed back to the village.

  As they went by the big warehouse that Uncle John owned, they saw that he was there waiting for them. He told the boys to give the horses some oats, and then some men led out two young spotted geldings and a spotted stud. He told the boys that the geldings had been broke to pull a wagon or to ride and the stud was just broke to lead. He told the boys that they could break him to ride later. The boys looked at each other and then smiled at Uncle John. They headed home and unloaded the wagons before dark. The girls were over to Uncle John’s and had dinner ready for everyone.

  The kids went to school the next morning. School would be out for summer recess in two more months. All of them were looking forward to that. There was only a little bit of harrowing left to do on the fields and then they would be ready to plant. They decided to plant Gizike Nény’s field in corn and plant Magda’s field in potatoes. Big John had the seed for both already.

  The boys started helping the builder take pieces of Magda’s roof off and lowered the old beams down. They used a team to drag the beams out to the street in front of the house to be cut up later for firewood.

  When the planting started, Gizike Nény got three other women to help and told the boys to dig her a garden and the ladies would plant the corn. The boys dug up her garden and raked it up so that it was ready to plant.

  Once all of the planting was done, school was out for the summer. The boys started working full time with the builder. They hauled the new beams over to Magda’s and along with all of the lumber that they needed. They also did all of the nailing and laid the floor in the extra room. Then they started working on the ceiling and boarding the upstairs floor and the roof under the tiles. They had to haul the material as needed. The girls had everything covered up below and Lydia usually worked with the girls. Everybody was very happy with the way the project was turning out.

  The builder brought out some men with him who built the dormers. They were experienced builders and they knew what they were doing. Then the men laid the tile around the dormers.

  All of the town’s people would walk by daily just to keep up on the progress of the house. They were all impressed with how it was turning out, all except for ornery old Béla next door. He was jealous.

  Béla’s third son George, by his current wife Éva, was 11 years old. When his father was working he would go over to Magda’s and help any way he could. He was a very nice boy. He said that he wanted to learn. He had a girlfriend, Helda, from across the street. She would go over and help the girls whenever she could. She was 10. She told Magda that she and George had made some bricks down at the clay pits but someone had stolen them. Magda asked her how many they had made. She told her that they had just finished 150 bricks. Lydia overheard Helda and felt that she needed to tell Uncle John what had happened.

  When Big John came by, Lydia told him about the bricks. He went across the street to talk to Helda and her parents. When he came back he told everyone that he would look into the brick theft. Magda then told Big John that the neighbor boy had stolen all of her chickens. Big John asked her if she saw him steal them. She told him no. Big John then told the girls that he would give them six chickens in the morning and told young John to set some wolf traps to see what or who they might catch.

  The girls got the chickens the next morning and the boys set eight traps while the neighbor boys were at work. All three boys stayed in Magda’s barn that night hoping to catch the chicken thief.

  At about 11:00 p.m. the boys heard all kinds of screaming coming from the chicken house. They lit some lamps and ran out to see who was in the traps. One of Béla’s boys had one of his legs caught in a trap. Three neighbors came running over to see what all the commotion was about. Paul took a stick and disarmed the rest of the traps so that no one would get hurt. They found two dead chickens lying on the ground next to Béla’s son. Béla ran out of his house shouting and demanding that they turn his son loose. Young John told him to do it himself. He went over to the trap and tried to release it but he didn’t know how. Just then Big John rode up and turned the boy loose. John told Béla to get his wheelbarrow and take his boy over to the doctor because his leg was broken. He added, “I guess he won’t be stealing chickens for a while.” The next day everybody was laughing about the chicken thief getting caught.

  The boys painted up the windows on Magda’s house and the girls were busy making curtains with Lydia. It was by far the most modern house in town. Uncle John gave Magda a nice bookshelf for her new room and suggested taking her two old pieces of furniture to Nagyvárad to have them refinished. She thought that was a good idea, so the boys loaded the furniture up and they took them to the furniture shop in Nagyvárad.

  The man working in the furniture shop told Magda that her pieces would be finished in a week. While they were there Magda took the boys around town and showed them the sites. On their way home they stopped and got some oats and some more metal roofing.

  17

  The next day a town meeting was scheduled. After everyone finished their morning chores, they waited around for the meeting to begin. All of the plowing had been finished and so had the seeding. The teamsters could hook up to their wagons again.

  The meeting started with some general announcements. Uncle John stated, “We have 45 teams plowing and all the seed is in, so if the weather cooperates we will have a good harvest. Everyone that plowed can pick up a sack of wheat flour.”

  Béla jumped up and Big John gave him permission to speak. He said, “I harrowed for several days.”

  John said, “Well, then you can have a sack of wheat flour too.”

  John then asked the school teacher to announce who the three best students that had finished school were. The teacher stood up and said, “The best student to finish is Fehér Magda.” Everyone began to applaud. He then announced, “The second best student is Kowács Janos.” Once again, the crowd applauded. “And the third best student is Horváth Éva,” followed by more applauding.

  Big John congratulated the three and told them that he would talk this over with them and would make all the necessary arrangements for their higher education as promised. He then told them that they could start making some plans.

  Big John then stated, “There is one problem that I need to report on. It has come to my attention that Béla’s son, George, and his friend, Ference Helda, have been making bricks for some time now with the hopes of building a house sometime in the future. They had 150 bricks that were stolen. The storekeeper tells me that Béla’s two older boys have been in trading bricks for wine. Stealing is stealing and this is something that will not be tolerated in this village.”

  Béla jumped up and said, “I will be the one to discipline my boys.”

  John replied, “I am glad to hear that, Béla. Along with whatever discipline you decide, you need to see that George gets his half of the 150 bricks back, which is 75. We will put that down as family business; however, Helda owned half of those bricks, another 75, and they will have to be replaced.”

  Béla chuckled and said, “She don’t count.”

  Big John told him, “Let me be the first to inform you that every person in this village counts and is entitled to his or her own rights. That includes little Hilda. Now, the 75 bricks that were stolen will have to be replaced and as an added penalty for stealing, your boys will need to make another 300 bricks for Helda. Young George is a good brick maker and he can show them how to make the bricks. Their wages will be held until I personally check the numbers.”

  Everyone clapped until big John held up his hand for them to stop. He then said, “Béla’s son Joseph is off work anyway. His fo
ot is broken because he got it caught in a trap while stealing chickens. He can sit and fill the molds and tend the fire while his brother does the foot work.”

  Uncle John had a few more announcements that he wanted to make. He said, “For the young people that just finished school, there are several apprenticeships available that can be filled here and also in Nagyvárad. We will need builders, stone cutters, stone masons, carpenters, furniture makers, blacksmiths, wheel writes, shoe makers, and harness and saddle makers. If any of you are interested, the school teacher can help you apply for these jobs.”

  He then looked around the room to make sure that no one else had anything to say and stated, “That is all the announcements we have for now. If anyone would like to bring up any business or other issues, now is your last chance.”

  Just then a man stood up and big John told him to speak. His name was Tibor. He stated that everyone was running low on firewood. Big John told him that everyone was welcome to cut up the big beams in front of Magda’s house for firewood. He also stated that there were about 40 dead trees that had been marked in the forest but they would have to go out in groups to cut the trees as there were a lot of wild boars around. John stated that he would line up a group to go into the forest to cut the wood.

  The meeting was then adjourned and the kids all went over to Ilonka’s house to see what Gizike Nény was cooking. The boys noticed that Gizike Nény was short on firewood too. Paul suggested that they take the two wagons and cut down some trees and bring them in. They asked the sergeant what he thought of the idea and the sergeant asked big John what he thought. Big John told him that he would go with them in a few days, but he had some other business to take care of first. Lydia wanted to go too, so she asked Luke to come along for protection.

  Big Luke and Uncle John went on horseback and the girls rode in the carriage. When they got to the forest, Uncle John showed them how to spot the markings on the trees that were to be cut down. The boys decided to cut down some of the smaller trees so it would be easier and faster. They would lay a tree down and then start sawing away on it. The girls carried the smaller pieces to the wagon. Magda spotted some berries so she and little Tilda went to pick some. Big John told the girls not to go too far.

  Paul had his Sharps 45-70 in the wagon. He took it out and leaned it against a tree and then started splitting some smaller pieces of wood for the girls to carry. All of a sudden they all heard Magda scream followed by a terrible roar. They looked in the direction the girls had gone and saw a bear. Paul couldn’t shoot at first because there were too many trees in the way. He ran towards Magda and shot at the bear’s neck. He then began to reload as he ran toward the girls. The bear angled towards him and Paul started shouting, “Not my little sister!” He finished loading, came to a stop, and aimed for the bear’s head, a brain shot. The bear went up on its hind legs and roared one more time. It was the largest bear that Paul could have ever imagined. Then he shot. A half second later his rifle was suddenly slapped out of his hands and it flew against the tree and busted in half. The bear then came down on Paul. Paul sidestepped and drove his knife into the bear’s throat just under its chin and slashed downward towards the bear’s shoulder making a terrible wound. He remembered Nighthorse telling him and young Luke that if a bear every got that close they would have to use their knife and cut a deep and terrible wound. He was covered in the bear’s blood. His hand was actually inside the wound when the bear went down on its side.

  When the men got to Paul they were amazed that Paul had killed the bear with his knife. Magda was sobbing and big John hugged her to him and told her she was safe. Big John then said, “Paul killed scar face. This bear has killed seven men that we know of in the last ten years.”

  Paul was in shock and just sat on a stump trying to get his wits about him. He was so tired that he could hardly move. Big John told his corporal to get on his black and ride for the butcher. Young Luke had already started skinning the bear. It took four of them to turn the bear onto its back. Janoska, one of the boys’ friends, started skinning one of the bear’s legs. Ilonka asked Paul if he was all right.

  He told her, “I’m a little shaken up but I feel too tired and weak to stand.”

  She told him, “That was the bravest thing I have ever witnessed. Little Tilda saw it too. She was on her knees praying the whole time.”

  Lydia told Magda that Paul was shouting at the bear, “Not my little sister.”

  Magda said, “He’s my big brother forever.”

  Lydia then suggested that they take his jacket off and she told Ilonka to get him a blanket from behind Luke’s saddlebag. Paul was covered in blood.

  Uncle John joked, “Save those clothes. We can wring them out and make up some blood sausage.”

  Big Luke told the girls to take Paul home. The sergeant turned the carriage around and they loaded Paul inside. All of the girls got in and they headed home. They would all come back for wood some other time.

  The corporal left on big John’s black and the sergeant just waved him on. Not long after, the butcher arrived with his wagon to load up the meat. There were two more wagons that were each carrying three men. When they reached the sergeant, one of the men asked the sergeant if it was true. The sergeant assured him that it was true; the bear that had been killed was in fact scar face. The sergeant then told a few of the men to load up Paul’s wagon and take it back to the village. They saluted the sergeant and away they went.

  When they got home, Lydia told the girls to put on some water to boil. Paul needed a bath. After Paul had his bath, he lay down and went to sleep.

  As soon as the bear got to the village, the butcher organized his crew and they started to bone out the carcass. The butcher’s crew worked all night long. They even got some extra men to operate the grinder. By morning they had eight smokehouses going smoking the kolbasz (Hungarian sausage), and the butcher made a bunch of liver sausage (hurka). It was very popular with the villagers. Gizike Nény explained to Lydia that every time a wild boar or sow was shot they would make kolbasz out of it. They would mix the meat with beef.

  The sergeant told the boys that his widows were running low on firewood and told them to start cutting up the beams in front of Magda’s house. He gave them a crosscut saw and some axes. Some of the beams were very hard; most of them were over 100 years old. They loaded the wood on their wagon and later delivered it to the widows.

  Later that afternoon some men showed up at the beam pile with some tools. The pile was slowly dwindling down. The kids stacked up a bunch for Magda on her new back porch.

  That next Saturday they went to Nagyvárad. Uncle John loaded their wagon down with hides, including the bear hide, to be taken to the tannery. They went with two wagons because they also needed to pick up some metal roofing on their way back. Several houses were going to be fitted with new metal roofs. The girls rode in the carriage and were going to pick up some dresses that they had ordered. Lydia was having fun dressing the girls up.

  Lydia was very interested in Magda’s higher education. She had been discussing it with her a lot and found out that Magda was interested in medical things. Lydia told Magda that she could study to be a doctor. Magda and John were both very fluent in Latin. Sometimes when they didn’t want anyone else to know what they were saying, they would speak in Latin to each other. Lydia noticed this and told Magda that knowing Latin would help her with becoming a doctor.

  Lydia asked Uncle John if there was a medical school in Hungary. He said, there was a three-year school in Budapest but the graduates were not really credited for surgery. Most hospitals didn’t want to teach them. They were good for the small villages where they were the only ones available. The good schools were in Austria, France, and Germany. Big John then said that there was a woman doctor running the orphanage who was from Austria and they could go and talk to her. Lydia wanted to see her right away.

  Uncle John went with the boys to pick
up the furniture while the girls went to pick up their new dresses. The furniture shop did a nice job refinishing Magda’s items. They looked as good as new. Uncle John told the boys to load a nice new dresser onto the wagon too. They put a lot of padding around the furniture and tied everything down real well while the shop master supervised them to make sure everything was loaded right.

  When they got back to Magda’s, the girls were all dressed up in their new dresses, which were the latest in Paris fashion. They looked beautiful. They all went over to the old warehouse where the orphanage was and got introduced to everyone. Uncle John told young Luke and young John that there were 14 rooms at the castle that were almost finished and he was planning on moving the orphanage there when the rooms were ready. The castle would be quite the upgrade for the orphanage.

  The doctor’s name was Heidy Van Baden. When Lydia was introduced to her she said, “I know a Colonel Van Baden, any relation?”

  “Yes, he is my father,” replied Heidy.

  Lydia told her, “I am General Van Stollen’s daughter.”

  Dr. Van Baden then told Lydia that her father used to be on Lydia’s father’s staff.

  The two women continued to chitchat until a wagon pulled up carrying some sacks and bags. The driver called out and said that he needed to be paid before he unloaded the items. Dr. Van Baden told him that she had no money and asked if he had asked the bishop to pay for the groceries.