She sipped her coffee. “Now you just go on to work and leave me here to drink my coffee. I know the way back to my room.” Her eyes twinkled, another thing he’d been missing.
“Thank you, Mother.” He wiped his mouth and tucked his napkin back into the ring. Rising, he dropped a kiss on the top of her head and, waving at Miss Christopherson, headed for the office.
The rasp of saws and the ring of hammers announced that the carpenters were hard at work on both projects. The grinding stones of the flour mill were strangely silent, as they were being cleaned and readied for the upcoming wheat harvest. The local harvest would start in two to three weeks he had heard, barring unforeseen catastrophes. A grasshopper invasion had taken out wheat fields, gardens, and anything growing farther south last year, thus cutting back on flour production. At least his father’s invention was one more asset for the farmers to help them improve the grain production. It seemed that with so many possible strikes against them, a good year was almost more of a miracle than something to take for granted.
Thorliff was setting type when Daniel arrived.
“Do you never sleep, man?”
“I just came in early,” Thorliff said. “I sure wish Astrid were here. She could set type faster than anyone I ever saw.”
“I’d say setting type might be a bit beneath her skills now that she’s a doctor.”
“Of course, but if I said I needed help, she would be here if she could.”
“I take it she takes after her mother?”
“Come to think of it, I’ll bet Mor would be good at this job too.”
“Maybe you should ask Inga, or does she not know all her letters yet?”
“Give her a couple of days and she probably would.” Both men chuckled at the thought of the little girl standing on a stool to set the type in the tray.
“Her arms probably aren’t long enough.” Thorliff studied the layout before him. “She’d have to grow some first. I hear there is a big to-do today.”
“Mother is so excited. It’s the first time I’ve seen her this interested in anything since Father disappeared. I knew coming here would be good for her. I know for certain it has been for me.”
Thorliff paused and smiled at his friend. “For all of us.”
By the time Daniel had finished telling Thorliff about the teaching job for his mother, both men were talking so fast it was amazing either understood anything the other said.
“I ordered one of those typewriter machines the other day,” Daniel told him. “You know, the one we saw advertised in the Grand Forks paper. Wish we could find someone here who wanted to learn to use it besides me. They say women learn to use it even faster than men. Fast as your fingers go setting type, you would be a natural. Anyone who plays the piano is good too.”
“What about Gould?”
“Maybe he’s already learned to use one. Lots of eastern companies have been using them for some time.”
“Maybe I should expand the help-wanted ad to include this qualification.” Thorliff raised one eyebrow.
“Did you send it out yet?”
Thorliff nodded. “To the Minneapolis Star, the Grand Forks Herald, and the Chicago Tribune.”
“What about Bismarck and Fargo?”
“I’ll add those to the list. I need to send it to Duluth too. Uff da!”
“What happened?”
“I messed up this line.”
“I’ll leave you alone.” Daniel went into his office, which was not much larger than the desk and the file cabinet in the corner. Where would he set up the new machine when it arrived? More space was going from a good idea to a critical one. Thorliff’s mention of his sister brought her to Daniel’s mind. He wished he’d had a chance to talk with her more, but they were rarely in Blessing at the same time. He’d sure heard a lot about her, however. It was amazing how much she had accomplished already for someone so young. It almost seemed miraculous. What a mind she must have. Besides the fact that she was a lovely young woman.
He pushed thoughts of the younger Dr. Bjorklund out of his mind and sat down to begin writing letters, which seemed to be his primary job lately. Setting up appointments for his next sales trip took an inordinate amount of time. By dinnertime he had a stack of mail ready to take to the post office, so he stopped there on his way back to the boardinghouse to eat.
“Why hello, Mr. Jeffers.” Mrs. Valders leaned forward. “We are so delighted to be honoring your mother today. Thank you for bringing her here to us. And, of course, for bringing your business here. I’ve been putting your mail in the newspaper box, but any time you would like to take out a separate one, you just let me know.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Valders.” He handed her the packet rather than sliding the letters through the slot. “I’ll let you know.” He turned to leave and nearly bumped into a young woman he’d not met before. “Pardon me.”
“My fault. I wasn’t paying attention.” She stepped to the side, as did he, both at the same side. First to one side and then the other. He stopped and smiled. “If there were music, we could dance.” He lifted his brown felt hat. “I am Daniel Jeffers, and I know this is not a proper introduction, but – ”
“I am Deborah MacCallister.”
“Haven’t I heard your voice before?”
She smiled. “You might have. I have a part-time shift on the telephone exchange board. I am glad to meet you.”
“And I you. Have a pleasant day.” He touched the brim of his hat and continued on out the door. She was probably married, like all the other young women in Blessing. He shoved his hands into his pockets and whistled his way toward the boardinghouse. Other than the lack of marriageable young women, Blessing was still the town of his dreams. And his dreams were growing bigger by the day. At least they would be if enough trained men could be found to build his father’s machinery.
12
“Are you sure you feel up to attending the tea?” Freda asked, standing arms akimbo, a frown adding wrinkles to her forehead.
“Of course. What do I have to do but sit there and be polite?” Ingeborg smiled gently. “I have told you and told you that I am fine. In fact, I feel better than I have in a long while.” She took a basket off the kitchen counter. “The peace of God is mighty restorative, you know. Now, you go change so you will be ready too.”
“I am not going.”
“Freda, why is it you refuse to attend the few social events we have in Blessing?”
“I guess I am just not a sociable person. I’d rather hoe the garden or wash the cheese molds than sit there and make polite talk. Besides, I never know what to say. Please don’t make me go.”
Ingeborg shook her head at the piteous tone. “I won’t make you go. Short of wrestling you to the ground and tying you up to drag you . . .” She blew out a disgusted breath. “But you can’t work all the time.”
“Look who’s talking.”
Ingeborg heard the grumble, although she had the feeling she was not supposed to. Freda had gotten up before dawn in order to be at Ellie’s to start the bread and pies for the haying crew – the final day, according to Andrew. They would have only a couple of weeks before harvest started. With everything late this year, the beans would be ready to can about the same time they were cooking for the threshing crew. While the threshing crew was working the wheat fields around Blessing, the women all brought food to the kitchen wherever the big steam engine was set up to separate the wheat kernels from the straw. Farmers from the smaller farms hauled their sheaves of wheat to the steam engine and threshing machine and hauled home the straw, which was blown into that same wagon. The burlap sacks of wheat went directly to the flour mill and the storage granaries. None of the local farmers sent their wheat to the Twin Cities flour mills any longer, and so were not forced to pay the outrageous shipping costs. The farmers in the Dickinson area, in the southwestern part of the state, had done the same thing. Their flour mill was even older than the one at Blessing.
“I thought you weren’t s
upposed to take anything.” Freda nodded toward the basket.
“I just tucked in a jar of raspberry juice and some of the cookies you baked yesterday. I know there will be a lot of children there, and you know how they love cookies and swizzle.”
“Meaning Inga and Carl. You’d take the moon along for those two.”
“Anna is staying with little May. I am delighted that Ellie is getting to go. She misses out on so many things during the winter because Carl catches so many colds. I keep thinking there must be some kind of remedy to help that. Maybe I need to do more research again.”
“Ellie is picking you up?”
“Yes.” Ingeborg checked the mirror to see that her Sunday-best straw hat was on straight. “I hear them now. You can telephone me, you know, if something happens.”
“Like what would happen? I’ll be out in the garden or out at the cheese house.”
“I do wish you would come.”
“Have a nice time. And don’t let Mrs. Valders irritate you.”
Ingeborg rolled her eyes. “Heaven forbid.”
“Grandma, Grandma!” Carl bounced on the seat of the buggy. “Sit with me.”
“Where else would I sit?” Ingeborg set her basket on the floor and stepped up into the swaying buggy. “There now. Thank you for driving today, Ellie. Andrew said he’d hitch up the horse, but I’d rather ride with you. How is May today?”
“Just fine. You’d never know there had been anything wrong.”
“Good. Elizabeth said I did the right thing. A child not breathing like that is so terribly frightening.”
“Seeing you fall to the floor was just about as bad.”
“Grandma sick?”
“No, Grandma is not sick.” She kissed the little boy’s nose and then his cheeks, making him giggle. “Grandma feels better than she has for a long time.”
“Grandma sick on floor.”
“That scared him pretty bad too. He plunked himself down beside you and kept crying and patting your hand. Talk about having the whole family involved.”
“That’s just the way it should be. I asked God if it was time for me to go home, and He must have been smiling, because there was such a radiant light around me. He said, ‘Not yet,’ but that I must rest for a while. I guess I did just that.”
“I guess so.” Ellie covered Ingeborg’s hand with one of her own. “I am so grateful He left you here with us. I never would have forgiven myself.”
“Oh, Ellie, please don’t think that way. You would do anything to save your child, as would I, and that’s the way it is supposed to be. If we don’t forgive ourselves, it’s like saying the crucifixion didn’t count. That Christ died for nothing.”
“I hadn’t thought of it that way before. No, I believe that Jesus died for us and forgave our sins.” She puffed a sigh. “We sure do have the most enlightening discussions.”
“Me too,” Carl said.
Trying not to laugh out loud, Ellie and Ingeborg stared straight ahead.
“I received a letter from Ma yesterday, to say she cannot come next week.”
“Oh no, I was so looking forward to seeing her. What is wrong?”
“She says she cannot leave Pa alone.”
“Oh, Goody . . .”
Ellie handed Ingeborg the letter.
Ingeborg looked up when she finished reading. “Ellie, I am so sorry. Maybe you should take the children after harvest and go see her.”
Ellie nodded. “I’ll talk to Andrew. Maybe you could come too.”
“We’ll see.”
Ellie tied up their horse in the shade of a cottonwood tree at Sophie’s house, and the three of them walked through the gate of the picket fence and up to the door.
Ellie picked up Carl. “Do you want to knock?”
“Yes.” He leaned forward and banged the heel of his hand on the wooden door, more like a thud than a rap. “Use your knuckles, like this.” Ellie showed him how, and a nice rap sounded.
Carl grinned at his mother. “You good.” At her nod he copied her actions.
“How about we do this together?” Mother and son rapped on the door, and it flew open, with Inga and five-year-old Grant as greeters. Carl flailed his arms until Ellie put him down, and he ran to the other two cousins.
“Play now?”
“Come with us.” Grant took his hand, and the three dashed off.
“I think the welcoming committee is headed to the backyard to play. We’ll just go on in.” Ellie and Ingeborg followed the sound of female voices to the parlor, where all their friends were gathered.
“Oh, Ingeborg, Ellie, I didn’t hear the doorbell.” Wearing a dress designed to disguise her expanding middle, Sophie crossed the room and took their hands. “Let me introduce you to Mrs. Jeffers. She is such a delight.”
Ellie and Ingeborg allowed themselves to be led across the room and waited while Hildegunn Valders chatted with the newcomer. Finally Sophie interrupted. “Mrs. Jeffers, I’d like you to meet Ingeborg Bjorklund and her daughter-in-law, Ellie. Ingeborg is one of the original settlers who founded Blessing. Ellie is married to Ingeborg’s younger son, Andrew.”
Ellie nodded and smiled. “I am glad to meet you. Welcome to Blessing.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Bjorklund.” Mrs. Jeffers turned to Ingeborg. “My son has spoken of you and your husband so often that I feel like I know you already.”
“Thank you. We did meet the day you arrived on the train, but you were so weary, you probably don’t remember.”
“I remember being greeted by a gentle-voiced woman. Thank you for making me welcome that day too. My time here has been greatly recuperative, and now I am glad to meet so many delightful people.”
“You have a fine son, Mrs. Jeffers. I know he will be a great asset to our community.”
“He most certainly is,” Hildegunn said. “Why, think how much we’ve needed a real business to come to Blessing. Producing machinery that will be available to farmers across the country,” she said, waving her arm in a wide circle. “Isn’t that just marvelous?”
Ingeborg and Kaaren exchanged glances across the room. Farming was not a real business? Inside Ingeborg could feel her fume heating up. Her cheese house was not a real business either? Leave it to Hildegunn Valders to sidle up to the new woman in town and at the same time set those who already lived there on edge. She relaxed her jaw and saw Penny standing behind Mrs. Geddick, who was whispering with Mrs. Magron.
“Shame that Mrs. Garrison could not be here,” Sophie whispered as she walked by, the set of her shoulders giving away her disgust. “I know she and her husband are too busy working at their business to relax for an afternoon tea, but I was hoping.”
“What about Maydell?”
“She says that morning sickness is a lie. Even a gentle ride to town was not possible. You think Dr. Elizabeth should go to see her?”
“Perhaps I’ll go see her. She might need a mother more than a doctor. Thanks for telling me.”
The doorbell rang, and Ingeborg went to answer it this time – a good way to get out of the room and back in control of her tongue before she said something unwise.
“Sorry I’m late,” Mary Martha Solberg said as she entered. After one look at Ingeborg’s face, she paused. “Oh-oh. Trouble already. Let me guess, Hildegunn’s mouth is – ”
“Is running away with her, as usual. I’m glad you could come, and I hope you stay nearby to pinch me if I start to respond.” They strolled to the parlor. “Let me introduce you.”
“Will we get a word in edgewise?” Mary Martha, who was excellent at pouring sweet oil on troubled waters, gave Ingeborg a bit of a nudge.
“Pardon me, Hildegunn. Sophie has asked that I introduce Mrs. Solberg to our new guest.”
“Oh, of course.” Hildegunn was all smiles and sweetness again. “Mrs. Jeffers, this is our dear pastor’s wife, Mary Martha Solberg. If you ever need anything, she is a good one to call.”
“Why, thank you, Mrs. Valders,” Mary Martha said. “I am d
elighted to meet you and so grateful that Sophie, er, Mrs. Wiste, thought to invite us all like this.” Mary Martha leaned forward the slightest bit. “I do hope you will love it here in Blessing like the rest of us do.”
“I’m sure I shall,” Mrs. Jeffers answered, leaning forward herself. “Could you possibly show me the way to the ladies’ room, please?”
“Of course. Right this way.” Mary Martha stepped back, managing to bump Mrs. Valders as she sat next to the guest’s chair. “Pardon me, Mrs. Valders, we’ll be right back.”
As the two walked down the walnut-paneled hall, Mary Martha said, “First doorway on the right.”
“Thank you. This is indeed a lovely house, isn’t it?”
“Yes, and Sophie loves to welcome people both here and at the boardinghouse.”
Mrs. Jeffers continued down the hallway to the bathroom, and Ingeborg joined Mary Martha.
“Are you all right?” she asked.
“I am. Just taking a breather.” Mary Martha gave a little snort and straightened, shaking out her skirt in the action. “John keeps reminding me that God loves everyone equally, but I sometimes think some people must try His patience more than others.”
“Of course we are not mentioning names.”
“Right. Nor are we letting a plethora of nonsense – Plethora, isn’t that a nice word?”
“It is.”
“We won’t let a plethora of nonsense disturb our serenity and joy in being together for a change.”
“Amen to that.”
“I will go brave the lion’s den, and you will escort our guest to the dining room, where the tea will be served.”
“Yes, my friend, I will do that. I suppose that escaping outside to enjoy the children would be considered a faux pas?”
“Indeed it would.” The two women smiled at each other. “We need to do this more often.” Mary Martha sailed back down the hallway and into the fray.
“Oh, Mrs. Bjorklund . . .” Mrs. Jeffers said as she emerged from the bathroom.
“Yes. Mrs. Solberg had something to attend to. We didn’t want you to get lost here.”
“I see.” Mrs. Jeffers tucked her lawn handkerchief into her waistband and paused. “Isn’t the laughter of children one of God’s greatest gifts?”
A Heart for Home Page 11