Bergfors Family Forces

       It began when the Twins meddled in a snowball battle for a snow fortress when their guardian brother Jonne wandered off to watch music videos on his classmate’s phone. It was difficult to keep an eye on them amidst a Christmas fair where so many temptations were abundant. Yes, the two of them were trying to assault and capture the fortress held by five boys from their class. Jonne heard the oh-so-familiar battle screeches and came to rescue. The enemy protested that it was unfair to deploy a senior high student in second-grader wars, and two of the boys called their own older siblings. Jonne and the Twins were outnumbered again. Then quiet Jukka joined the fight, explaining to his siblings amazed with his bravery that a fight around Yule time is a ritual to make next year good and fruitful. He even called Jussi to help. Jussi doubted that such violent games were a good thing (recently he was outright scared of misbehaving), but Jukka told that helping and protecting brothers (and the sister) was a good thing. The Jussi doubted he’d be of much help and thought of a better way to improve their chances. So, he ran to a tiny ice ramp where toddlers and kindergarteners were dawdling. There he grabbed his youngest (yet) brother and dragged him to the battleground. But not too fast, so that Hannu, leaning idly at a fence near the ramp, could notice his baby ward being stolen. A threat of a lecture from Mom for losing Jani was the only thing that would make Hannu move and even join the fight, and the Bergfors team needed that edge desperately. Hannu had a good aim, fast reflexes, and zero remorse. At first, Hannu tried to pry his charge away, but Jussi had prepared a vehement speech about being a family, helping brothers, standing for each other… It wasn’t very effective, and Jussi added that the snowball fight was a good chance to hit people unpunished. It didn’t move Hannu either. Jussi sighed and ran back to do what he could. It was a glorious battle full of snow, dangerous falls and deafening shrieks, taunts and miens, lost gloves, wet socks, bruises and cold hands, and flaming hearts. The Bergforses were brave and furious but severely outnumbered, and their attacking position was not convenient. And then a new deadly weapon arrived and turned the tables as surely as an A-bomb would do. All other sounds were drowned in one mighty bawling wail, so well-known to the Bergfors team. Jani the crybaby. Some mysterious force (okay, it could only be Hannu) sent him wobbling into the enemy’s lines at the fortress rears, and some stray snowball from a sibling must have tripped his crying mode. The enemy was completely demoralised and discouraged. You can’t hit such a wee little kid, it’s an endless disgrace. And Jani was crying like he had already been beaten to death. Bergfors boys (and girl!) roared and barged into the fortress, partly right through the wall, to rescue their little brother, blaming the adversaries for torturing babies. The adversaries tried to protest that they hadn’t touched him with a pinkie, but it was too late. In the commotion, Johanna sneaked to the flagpole and put her scarf on it as a banner, throwing the previous banner (a beanie, actually) far away into the snow and dark bush. Who knew how soon they’d be kicked out of the fortress, but by that time Maria Bergfors finished gossip exchange with the math teacher and came to take her kids to a promised dinner in the shopping centre café. The monthly family allowance had arrived to her account, she wanted to treat her seven little bunnies. Stop. There were only six heads. Oh geez. Hannu was missing again. But it was a standard situation with an established response procedure. Maria scooped Jani up to soothe him, ordered the twins to hold hands and walk in front of her, and sent the responsible three to look for their lost brother. Skipping the busy market stalls and the school building, still lit, all three headed for the nearest grove. Well. Hannu hadn’t had a large leeway, still he managed to disappear completely. And the grove wasn’t even that large. Hannu wouldn’t go into the noisy town behind the market lawn, wouldn’t physically cross an unfreezing brook ravine, and the grove was surrounded by vast open fields from the other two sides, where a lone figure in a dark coat would be seen even in the little light from the highway lamps. After a good twenty minutes of searching, Jonne gathered his team and suggested they look in the town anyway for another twenty minutes, and then they give up and leave the moron to freeze without doughnuts. Jussi nodded and followed him, but Jukka stood still. “You go,” he said at last. “And I must check something here.”