Katrina of Hairy Hill

Chapter 1

The Kovals of Hairy Hill 

School was out at four o’clock on this wonderfully warm spring Friday in May 1933, and all the students were looking forward to the weekend. Katrina Koval linked her arm in Rosie Halwa’s, and the two high school friends strode down the hill toward home. As they chatted away, their peals of laughter could be heard echoing back from the hill behind them. Ah! Think of it, Rosie, next week, we will be through with high school! We must do something special this weekend! What do you say to that?

Katrina, you understand that I get very few breaks. What with two little sisters and two little brothers and now with our baby Larisa, all needing attention, I have precious little time to myself. I really do want to help my mother. She is the one who needs some diversion. But go ahead. Tell me what you have in mind. It would be wonderful to do something exciting for a change.

Actually, I was wondering if you would be game to go up Hairy Hill into the cool woods and then climb higher to the crater. I really feel that spring fever hit me. Katrina stopped to see Rosie’s reaction.

Rosie released her arm from Katrina’s and gave her friend a questioning look. Going into the woods is fine, but going higher up to the crater, I’m not sure. That crater has been so mysterious and scary for as long as I can remember, and you know the Cree Indians say that it has been cursed and brings bad luck.

They were almost home by now, and when Rosie turned to go through her gate, they had not come to a decision about climbing the hill.

Alisa Koval, dressed fashionably in a suit of brightly colored cotton print daytime pajamas, was in the front garden, weeding the rose bed. She was enjoying the balmy spring day and looked up as she heard her seventeen-year-old daughter’s voice.

Mom! Katrina called. Are the twins home yet? I have plans for tomorrow’s outing, and I am sure Stacie and Sophy will be quite delighted. Maybe you could come to the woods with us too. That would be a nice change for you, wouldn’t it?

Oh, my dear Katrina, the twins will love that, but count me out. I still have flowers in the hothouse that need to be transplanted into the flowerbed. There should be no more frost to damage them. But let’s go in. I think Hanika is making some pierogies for our supper. We can help her pinch the dough together.

But before mother and daughter went in, they stopped on the front doorstep and looked out over the vast, seemingly endless expanse of beautiful grassland and early green grain fields that rippled in the breeze, like waves on the sea.

Mom—Katrina spoke in a hushed voice—is it possible that this is where the buffalo used to graze and the Indians made their home? That wasn’t too long ago. Actually, you were born in 1900, only five years before Alberta became a province. Isn’t that so?

Alisa started to add that her parents immigrated to Canada in 1896, but she did not get to finish her sentence, as the twins came charging through the gate.

Guess what we saw? Sophy squealed.

Two crows! Stacie shouted.

Together, they chanted, One crow sorrow, two crow joy, three crow letter, four crow boy! They were thirteen years old but still had a lot of childhood in them. Sometimes they were quite grown-up and at other times just plain childish, like now.

What’s all this racket? Hanika, their Ukrainian live-in helper, came out. Her hands were dusted with flour and tucked into the pockets of her apron. I’ve got the water boiling and ready to put the pierogies in to cook. So now that the girls are here, let us go in and get ready for supper. How about Mr. Alex?

Hanika, Alex is still in Edmonton and will not get back till Monday. So we women can enjoy our supper in the kitchen tonight, Alisa responded as she ushered her daughters into the house.

While Alisa set the table, Katrina went out to the backyard and took care of her white goat, Patsy. Stacie cleaned the canary cage, which was in the kitchen. As for Sophy, she had a little black dog, Nikie, and all she had to do was fill his bowl with water. He ate scraps from the table, and the family enjoyed tossing food out for him to catch.

It was a quiet supper until Sophy said, Mom, then stopped to wipe the sour cream off her mouth. Mom, she said again and looked intently at her mother to make sure she had her undivided attention. You remember you promised that we could go to the farm in July, right?

Indeed you shall, young lady, and Dad and I plan to take off for a holiday in the Rockies. How about that! I am already relishing the thought of soaking in the pools of the Pocahontas Hot Springs. Only our Hanika will be home. She turned her attention to Hanika. I do hope you will be all right here on your own. You know you can always have your friends, the Bilaks and Roman, over anytime you feel like it. I’m sure that shy Roman Steppa would be delighted to help you with the chores.

Hanika blushed, put her apron over her mouth, and gave her habitual little expression. Oy, yoi yoi, I say, not to worry, Alisa! You know the garden needs to be taken care of, and I love gardening, and so does Roman. The goat and the chickens need to be looked after, so don’t worry about me. You all go and be happy and give no thought about me. I won’t be lonely or bored.

There was a coy friendship between Hanika and Roman, the Bilak’s hired hand. The family enjoyed and encouraged this courtship and loved to tease Hanika about it at every possible opportunity. The Bilaks were older immigrants from Ukraine, and they had Roman come to Canada from their native village to work for them. Roman was like a son to the Bilaks, as they did not have any children of their own. He appreciated them and respectfully called them Papa and Mamma.

Alisa, Hanika, and the girls continued to study the calendar until they agreed that the last two weeks of July would be just fine for their holiday time. Mom, Katrina reasoned, the first two weeks of July are already full, you know. I have high school graduation, and there are some parties that I want to attend. But I am really happy that we are going to Edmonton to celebrate my graduation.

Yes! Stacie clapped her hands. After the school field day and picnic, we can go to Grandpa and Grandma Radomsky’s farm! Goody goody goody!

Many of the Hairy Hill children lived on the prairie farms. Some of them had to walk several miles to and from school; a few of the older students came by horse and buggy, and some came on horseback. Only a few of the high school students were privileged enough to use the family cars. In sunny Alberta, the summer days are long, so the boys and girls did not have to rush home to get their chores done before dark.

The Koval girls all had their own chores to do. Katrina had to milk her goat, which was in the shed in the woods way out in the backyard by the chicken coop. Goat milk is really quite healthy and tastes lovely and creamy when it is fresh, but it begins to give off a sort of goat odor when it sits out a while. Fortunately, Hanika made the best goat cheese whenever there was enough milk left over in the cool icehouse.

Sophy’s lively little black dog, Nickie, was a family pet. But he obeyed Sophy exclusively. On school days, he would sit on the back of the sofa in the window and watch for Sophy to come home from school. Then when she came in, he would jump up and down like a yo-yo until she picked him up. One of her responsibilities was to bathe Nikie, as he would often dig in the garden and come in covered with dirt.

Stacie’s canaries were great fun for all the neighborhood children. Dickey chirped from morning till night, but Daisy just sat on her perch and preened her feathers. But they did mess up their cage, and it was Stacie who had to clean it up.

Hanika, a recent immigrant from Odessa, Ukraine, lived with them and helped Alisa with the housework and cooking. She was very grateful for the kindness of the family, and the housework was not difficult. Hanika was considered a member of the family, and everyone was quite willing to pitch in and help her with the housework. Hanika would often offer to take care of the pets, especially milking the goat, because she and her grandmother had goats in the old country, and she enjoyed them.

Alex, however, wanted each girl to be responsible for her own pets and wanted Hanika to take over their care only when the girls were away. Alex had moved the family to Hairy Hill from Edmonton when the twins were born because he wanted his daughters to grow up in a quiet, rural atmosphere.

Alisa had her vegetable garden in the backyard and the flower garden in the front, and she spent most of the summer days tending to them. This particular evening, she and Katrina took a leisurely stroll outdoors after supper. Mom, I think I find as much peace and pleasure in your flower garden as you do, sighed Katrina.

Alisa took special note of her daughter as they walked together. My goodness, Katrina, you certainly have grown lovely, and you are as slender as a willow sapling. I shall have to keep an eye on you or all the boys will be coming over to court you.

Mom, you’re just prejudiced because I’m your daughter. Katrina tossed her dark brown hair back and slipped her arm through her mother’s, and together they walked slowly to the woods in the backyard. They tossed some grain for the chickens, and Katrina petted her goat, and then they walked through the paths in the vegetable garden back to the house.

Quite often, Hanika had to give up her room to overnight guests. There was no hotel in the village, so people driving through would find hospitality with the Kovals. At times like this, the guests were given Hanika’s big room. She did not mind, as she got to sleep on the couch near the kitchen stove. She enjoyed being in the kitchen, particularly during the long winter nights, sleeping by the stove. It reminded her of the log house in her village in Ukraine where she had lived with her grandmother. Together, they used to climb up on the large clay bake-oven where it was warm and cozy during the cold, stormy winter months. Oh, how she loved to have the extra warmth. There were times when she was homesick too, and she would cry quietly with her head buried under the covers.

Hanika often sang sad, nostalgic songs about her homeland, especially about the beautiful Black Sea coast. She was seven years old when the Russian Revolution broke out in 1917, and she and her grandmother were the only survivors in their family. Her grandmother took her young orphaned granddaughter to live with her on her little farm by the Black Sea, not far from Odessa. When her grandmother died in 1932, Hanika immigrated to Canada, and the Kovals asked her to come and live with them; it was a good arrangement for the family and for her.

When Hanika came to live with the Kovals, everyone had to speak Ukrainian with her, as she was just learning to speak English. This was exactly what Alex Koval wanted for his daughters; he always stressed that the more languages you knew, the more friends you would have. It became a rule that their family would be bilingual and retain their ethnic heritage. Alex encouraged his daughters to study French as well, and he often brought his French friends over for evening get-togethers.

Chapter 2

Hike Up Hairy Hill 

The sun came streaming through the girls’ bedroom window on this particular Saturday morning and seemed to lull them into a really sound slumber. There was a gentle stillness in the air, and they slept in later than usual. Hanika peeked into their room several times, sighed heavily, and shook her head, as she softly moaned, Oy, yoi yoi. However, she did not have the heart to wake them up.

Hanika had been invited to spend the weekend on the Bilaks’ farm. She was very excited about this visit and took extra care in choosing the green dress with yellow roses printed all over it, as it was very becoming on her. She had washed her hair and made a neat pile of golden curls on the top of her head. Yes, indeed, she was looking forward to seeing Roman, as they were both rather fond of each other.

Oh, Hanika! Alisa looked Hanika over from head to toe and remarked, That dress suits you so nicely and brings out the green light in your big brown eyes! You do look lovely!

Even though she was twenty-three years old, Hanika blushed like a schoolgirl and smiled at Alisa. Well, this is the dress you made for me, Alisa. It is really the best dress I have ever had, and I do thank you for it. You are so kind. Then she sat at the table in the kitchen and softly sang, It’s time to get up, little lazy bones. But she would not wake the girls up, and she would not leave until she had breakfast on the table and the whole family sitting around it.

Finally, one by one, the girls came to the kitchen, sleepy-eyed and still in their nightgowns and bathrobes. Alisa saw right away that this would be one