Signe looked to Rune, who looked as puzzled as she felt. His shrug told her the decision was hers to make. She was urging Gerd to step forward, to be strong; in her own way, she too would now step forward.
“No.” She said it firmly. “We will bind the arm tight so it cannot move, and Rune can take him to the doctor on Rosie. She does ride double, doesn’t she?”
Einar scowled. “Ja, she rides double. But I will take him, because I know the doctor and where he lives. I can go directly there. At least it will cost less than his coming out here. Faster too.”
She heaved a sigh. Was that a victory to celebrate? Most important, was she doing what was best for her boy? “We will splint it and bind it to his chest. The ride should be easier on him than the wagon. The wagon springs are practically gone.” There, the decision was made. She looked at Einar. “Do you have any smooth flat pieces of lumber out there, the length from his shoulder to elbow?”
“I know where some are. The kindling box. I split some.” Leif scrambled to his feet and ran out of the room.
Rune called, “Bring several so we can choose. Knute, help Onkel Einar saddle up.”
The door slammed behind them.
Bjorn blinked and opened his eyes. “Hurts.”
“I know,” Signe said only to herself. She pushed herself to her feet and paused a moment. Sucking in a deep breath, she headed for the shelf where she had gathered up any medical supplies she’d found, including the strips of sheeting she had torn and rolled in case someone was injured. At least they had that.
Leif ran back into the house with an armload of kindling, the door slamming behind him. She paused for a moment to listen for Gerd’s normal shriek, but it didn’t come. She chose two pieces of wood that matched and wrapped towels around them to pad them well. She gestured what she needed to Rune. “You hold his arm right here, with one hand under his shoulder, and use the other to lift his elbow, here.”
“I need a third hand.”
“I know. I will place one splint on the top and the other underneath. You ready? You’ll have to hold the splints too so I can wrap.”
“Ja.”
She glanced at Bjorn’s face. His eyes told his fear. “We will work fast.” She paused a moment. “Now.”
Rune slid his hands where she told him, and she laid the splints in place, making sure she had room to bend Bjorn’s arm. Her son cried out. Chewing her lip, she wrapped the strips snugly around his arm. After tying off the ends, she positioned the bent arm over his chest.
“Now for the sling.” She folded a pillowcase into a triangle and slid the triangle under his arm. “Bjorn, sit up.” But of course he couldn’t hear her; she kept forgetting.
She and Rune lifted him into a sitting position. He moaned. The bulging lump on his head would make an egg look small. She wrapped torn strips of sheeting around Bjorn’s middle and around the sling, binding it all snugly in place.
“Do you think he can walk out the door?” she asked.
“Let’s see.”
Rune slipped a hand under Bjorn’s good arm and tried to lift him up. Signe grabbed the boy’s waistband in both hands and pulled. Apparently Bjorn was alert enough to know what was happening, for he took slow unsteady steps, his parents keeping him erect. Leif held the door for them, then followed them over to the horse waiting just beyond the porch.
Bjorn whimpered, then groaned. “Nei, hurts.” Signe kissed his forehead.
Knute stood at Rosie’s head, holding her firmly.
Einar positioned himself on the far side. “In case he slides clear over the top.”
Bjorn was trying to assist—feebly, but trying. Rune slipped Bjorn’s left foot into the stirrup. Together he and Signe boosted him up; Bjorn cried out again in pain, but he got his right leg swung across the saddle. He was on!
Einar came around to their side. “Tie him on.”
Signe hurried into the house and got another roll of bandaging. Gerd screeched from her bedroom.
“I can’t right now,” Signe called and ran back outside.
Einar had swung himself up behind Bjorn. His legs both dangled free behind the stirrups. He looked absolutely, thoroughly displeased.
Signe and Rune slipped Bjorn’s feet into the stirrups and tied his legs to the stirrup leathers with the bandaging. Now Bjorn would stay on until someone untied him, even if he fainted or fell asleep.
“He might need to stay there overnight or something.” Einar stared down at Signe. “But I’m not going to. We go back into the woods tomorrow like usual.” He turned Rosie’s head, and they were on their way. The horse’s splack-splack-splack in the mud grew fainter.
Signe’s heart ached as they rode away. I should be the one going with him.
When Rune said they must pray for their son, it was all she could do not to shake her head. Why bother now? Where was God when He sent that lightning bolt? If He could see all and know all, why would He injure her son like this? If that arm didn’t heal correctly, Bjorn would suffer all of his life. This wouldn’t have happened if they had not left Norway and come here.
“Signe!”
She turned and forced herself up the porch steps. They needed a railing on the steps if they were ever going to get Gerd outside again. What an impossible idea—Gerd couldn’t even stand up by herself let alone walk up or down steps.
When Gerd screeched again, Signe told her she’d be there in a minute. Now’s the time, she promised herself. Tante Gerd, if there is any way possible, you are going to get stronger, starting right now.
In the bedroom, she folded back the blanket and sheet, then extended a hand. “Come, take my hand, and I’ll help you sit up.” There would be no more spending all day in bed. And no more meals in bed.
“I-I can’t.”
“Ja, you must. Take my hand.”
The glare Gerd shot at her would have stopped a charging moose. Signe waited, hand out.
“I cannot do that.”
Signe steeled herself. Just assisting as usual would be far easier. “Ja, you can. Take my hand.”
Still glaring, Gerd reached for the offered hand. Signe barely pulled, but it was enough to get the woman started moving, and she sat up.
“Just like when you need to use the pot, you stand up, and then turn to sit in the chair.”
“I’m hungry.”
“Ja, I’m sure you are. We will sit you on the commode, then move to the chair, and I will bring you some bread and jam. The coffee is probably cold by now. I have been taking care of my Bjorn, and I let the fire die down. It will be a while before the stove is hot again.”
“What happened to him?”
“Lightning struck a tree near him when he was watering the horses. They panicked and knocked him into the brush. He broke his arm and cannot hear anymore.”
“Why didn’t anyone come tell me?”
“We were busy caring for him. Plus, you were asleep, and we didn’t want to wake you.” Signe returned to the kitchen and rattled the grate to liven the coals, then added kindling and smaller hunks of wood. After adjusting the damper, she returned to the bedroom to help Gerd up from the commode.
“Back to bed.”
“Nei. You can eat more easily in the chair.”
“I want to go back to bed.”
Signe ignored her and together they shuffled two steps to the chair. One day soon, Signe planned to move the chair to the window so Tante Gerd could look out over the garden. Someday she wanted to plant trees out in the yard, especially fast-growing ones to shade the house. But right now, she wanted to be with Bjorn, who would soon see the doctor.
Gerd sat glaring at her.
“You want a glass of buttermilk while we wait for the coffee to heat?” When Gerd didn’t respond, Signe shrugged at her glare. “Suit yourself.”
Shaking her head, she returned to the kitchen, where she looked up at the clock on the wall. Five o’clock. She should be making supper. The rabbit and dumplings she had planned never got started. At least the rabb
it was waiting out in the well house. Fried it would be.
Where were Rune and the boys? That thought jerked her back to Bjorn. Were they there yet? How was he? Did the doctor have some of the newer pain medicines she’d heard of?
She served Gerd her bread and jam and returned to the kitchen to feed the fire again. On a whim, she poured two cups of coffee when it was hot and returned to the bedroom.
“I had a broken arm once,” Gerd said.
Signe nearly dropped the coffee cups. “When?”
“Back in Norway. Mor set it, and it healed up.”
“How old were you?” Signe sat on the edge of the bed and sipped her coffee. How tempting it was to lie back on a real bed for a change.
Gerd shrugged. “A child.” She propped her elbows on the arms of the chair and sipped her coffee. “Supper?”
“Fried rabbit.”
Gerd nodded and drank her coffee.
When Signe finished her coffee, she picked up the empty plate and cups to return to the kitchen. “I’m going to the barn to see what Rune and the boys are doing. You want to stay up or go back to bed first?”
“Bed.”
Signe helped her back into bed. Gerd had actually sounded—what? Almost pleasant. Would wonders never cease?
Rune and Knute were in the machine shed, sharpening the axes and the saw. Rune had taught Knute to use the grinding wheel, so he was filing the saw teeth. Leif had let the cow and heifer into the barn for milking. The heifer didn’t like to be left in the pasture alone, so she was getting trained to use her own stanchion. A scoop of grain was a good reward.
“We need wood split,” Signe said, wishing she could stay here where no one screamed at her. The whine of the sandstone sounded pleasant compared with Gerd.
“Figured. I’ll be up to the house to do that,” her husband answered. Was that a smile or a grimace?
“Knute can manage the grinder?”
Rune nodded. “Ja, he is capable.” He raised his voice to be heard over the scream of axe on stone.
Peaceful. That was what she felt down here at the barn and machine shed. Like working in the garden. That was peaceful too. She watched Rune deftly file the teeth on the seven-foot crosscut saw. “Has Leif fed the chickens yet?”
“Nei, nor gathered the eggs. He was cleaning up around here, but the cow told him it was time to milk. Since the rain has stopped, I thought after supper we could all work in the garden. You want to?”
She’d planned on going after the dust in the attic so they could move out of the parlor and up to sleep where there would eventually be beds. A sturdy set of stairs would make access easier, but the ladder was better than nothing. “Ja, I do.” Keeping busy was the only way to keep her mind off Bjorn. What if the jolting of the ride made his arm worse? Surely the doctor would not keep him there. When might he and Einar possibly be home again?
“I need to go make biscuits.”
“Good, you make the best biscuits.”
She turned back and smiled at Rune. Compliments as rare as his demanded to be savored like a treasure. “Takk.”
She was just sliding the pan of biscuits into the oven when she heard Leif laugh. No one laughed much around here. Then came the slam of axe heads and the thunk of split wood being tossed in a pile. Within minutes Leif brought in his first armload and dumped it in the woodbox. “Smells good in here. Knute and Far said the sow might farrow anytime. I want to watch.”
“She will probably wait until late at night.”
“Far said that too. Maybe me and Knute could sleep at the barn.”
“Maybe.” She watched him run out the back door, the screen slamming behind him. She needed to remind him that Tante Gerd did not like the screen door banging like that.
Setting the table, her mind leaped back to the man carrying her eldest son to the doctor. Were they there by now? How long would it take to ride five miles? He wouldn’t lope that horse all the way, would he? Oh, so many questions.
She lifted the pieces of rabbit from the frying pan onto a platter to set in the warming oven and checked the biscuits. Almost done. She sprinkled flour into the drippings and stirred to smooth it out for gravy, then stirred milk into the sizzling pan. She had made enough biscuits for both buttering and smothering in milk gravy.
When Leif dumped another load into the woodbox, she told him to call the others in for supper.
“One more load.”
“All right, but I am dishing up now.” Buttermilk to drink, biscuits still hot, and she had poured the gravy into a pitcher. With the food all on the table, she stood back and nodded. “Oh, jam.”
Knute brought in an armload of wood too, and they lined up at the sink to wash. Leif splashed water at his brother, giggling when Knute splashed back.
“Enough.” Their far’s voice held laughter too.
“Come and eat.” Signe could feel a smile twitching to be let loose.
“Mor, if we carried Tante Gerd in her chair to the table, could she have supper with us?”
Signe stared at her youngest son. The woman had done nothing but holler at them, and here Leif wanted her to join them. Only Leif. She looked at Rune, who was nodding, his face smiling without moving his lips.
“Not tonight, but we will ask her and help her get strong enough to join us. That is very kind of you.”
They all sat down at the table.
“I think we should say grace and pray for Bjorn and Onkel Einar to come back safe and soon.” Rune bowed his head, so the others did too.
Signe swallowed the words that lurked at the back of her tongue. If Rune wanted to pray, so be it, but if left to her preference, she would not. Why bother?
“Our Father in heaven, please bless this food and all of this house. Takk for Signe making us such good meals, and we ask you to bring Onkel Einar and Bjorn back safe. Takk there is a doctor to help Bjorn’s arm. Make it heal properly. Amen.”
After supper, Signe joined the others out in the garden to hoe and pull weeds.
“The chickens and the pigs sure like the weeds.” Knute loaded their pile into a wheelbarrow.
“Can we sleep down at the barn tonight?” Leif tossed his pile on top of the others. “To see if Daisy has her babies. I want to watch.” The boys had named the sow after her favorite flowering weeds.
Rune shrugged, then shook his head. “Perhaps tomorrow night. So much going on tonight.”
The boys frowned, but that was all.
When the long dusk had nearly slipped into dark, the boys took a lantern down to the barn so they could see the sow.
“She was up eating the weeds,” Leif announced when they returned to the house.
“Then she won’t be farrowing tonight,” Rune told them.
Knute stared at his far. “How do you know that?”
“She will stop eating and get restless, even build a nest of sorts. When she is ready, she’ll lie down.”
“Really?”
Rune smiled. “We’ll keep checking on her. But right now, it’s time for bed.”
After the boys left the kitchen, Signe looked at the clock for the millionth time. She knew she’d never be able to sleep until horse and riders arrived home. She went into the parlor, where the boys were sound asleep. Rune looked to be joining them soon.
“Come to bed. Remember they might not return until morning.”
She shook her head. “Einar will not miss a day out in the woods. Horses can see in the dark, you know.”
He patted the pallet beside him. “Just lie down and rest, then.”
She folded back the sheet on Bjorn’s pallet so it would be ready for him. What if he was deaf or crippled for life? Or both?
Chapter
13
Help!”
Signe heard it again. “Help us now!”
Onkel Einar! It wasn’t a dream. She shook Rune and staggered to her feet. “Coming!” she called.
She headed for the door, glancing back to see Rune shoving his feet into his boots. The clouds had
long since moved on, and brilliant moonlight made it possible to see Knute getting up too.
Einar sat behind the saddle as before, holding a sleeping Bjorn, who was slumped back against his chest. The moonlight painted his face in shadows.
Signe shook her son’s knee. “Wake up, Bjorn. Wake up.” She’d forgotten again that he could not hear.
“The doc gave him a sedative, so he slept much of the way home.” Einar shook his charge carefully. “Come on, Bjorn. We’re home.”
Bjorn muttered and blinked. “M-mor.”
Rune went around the horse and shook Bjorn’s leg. “Swing your leg over the saddle, and you can slide down. Come on, wake up so we can get you to bed.”
“You got him?” Einar asked. “I’ll get down and help. Better if he stays asleep.”
Between them, they dragged Bjorn off the horse and half carried him up the steps and into the house, where they laid him on his pallet.
“I’ll take care of your horse.” Knute left before Einar could answer.
Bjorn’s whole arm, from his shoulder nearly to his wrist, was encased in a thick white cast. Signe paused only a moment to admire it—it looked very neat and professional—before she knelt and untied her son’s boots so she could pull them off. “Takk, tusen takk. What did the doctor say?”
“He said you did a good job splinting and stabilizing that arm. Made his job easier. Bjorn is not to use the arm for six weeks.” Einar shook his head. “That’s a long time. Too long.”
Signe nodded. “Ja, but he will be able to use his arm again. That is the important thing.”
“Mor, thirsty.” Bjorn’s voice was oddly loud. Signe realized anew that he could not hear himself speak.
Rune dashed to the kitchen and returned with a cup of water. “Anything else?”
“Nei, takk.” She helped Bjorn sit up so he could drink and then laid him back down.
Einar handed her a few paper packets. “Doctor said to give him this for pain. He figured we’d need some on the way home, so I used one of the packets already. Figured the ride would be easier if he slept. Long ride in the dark, even with the moon.”
The Promise of Dawn Page 12