Both women nodded, but their usually ready smiles were not visible. Lord, please make them feel at home here. Feel safe and comfortable. Give us wisdom in caring for them and training them. Could they speak with Red Hawk on the telephone, or would that frighten them even more?
After they waved good-bye to those in the wagon, Thorliff carried her bags over to his house, where Astrid had taken up residence before she left for Rosebud Reservation. “It sounds like your dream was answered – to make a difference?”
“Yes, it was. But all those deaths were so unnecessary. I don’t know how to prevent the measles, but those people were nearly starving to death in addition to suffering from the disease. There is no excuse for our government not keeping its word and getting them the necessary supplies. I know there can be mix-ups and the previous Indian agent was a crook, but is there no one to oversee these things?”
“I have a feeling it will be a long time until this is all sorted out. Too many people hate the Indians, and the Indians hate the whites. We are so fortunate to have had Metiz as a friend. Other places have both nations living in peace, but too many are not. And too many in the government are Indian haters. They hate the Negroes too. You know the term white supremacy. They are wrong, both according to God’s Word and according to the laws of our land.”
“Maybe you should run for a government office.”
His snort made her smile. “If anyone runs for a public office again, it should be Hjelmer. He likes that kind of thing. I have enough to do here to keep three men busy.”
“Couldn’t Hjelmer help you out here?”
“Ja, if he didn’t want to keep his own businesses going.”
“Isn’t it interesting that instead of farming, you and your partners are building business companies and houses, and you run a newspaper? You are out of time and out of enough men to do the work. Do you ever think about how God is blessing us here in Blessing? Pastor Solberg and I had some good talks about this. He’s right in that we need to keep deep in God’s Word and listen closely to His guidance.”
“Now you sound just like your mother.”
“And that is a bad thing?”
“No, not at all. Mother is one of the wisest people I know, and Far is close beside. They have trained us well.” He carried her bags into the house and, dropping the black bag in the office, carried the other one up the stairs and into the spare bedroom she always slept in when she was there.
“I could do that, you know.”
“I know, but give me a chance to do something for you for a change.”
“Where is Inga?”
“Playing over at Sophie’s. And Elizabeth is sleeping, or she would have met us at the door.”
“Is she worse?”
“No. Much better, but she has learned to take her rest when she can. I put that one up on the list of miracles.”
His chuckle as he left made her smile. Should she take that bath now or wait until that night?
“Astrid, is that you?”
Tonight would be bath time. “It is,” she called. She dumped her bag out on the floor. Everything in it needed to be washed. Picking up her hairbrush, hairpins, and toiletries, she set them on the top of the chest of drawers and bundled the clothing to carry back downstairs to the wash.
“Give me a couple of minutes, and I’ll come see you.” When Elizabeth agreed, Astrid carried the clothing down the stairs, dumped it all in the laundry baskets, and greeted Thelma as she came in from the garden with her apron full of just picked vegetables.
“You don’t know how hungry I am for fresh food. It was too late to start gardens down there for this year, but Far plans on going back to help in the spring.”
“We will keep extra seeds this year, then.” Thelma emptied her apron onto the counter by the sink and looked Astrid up and down. “You’ve lost weight.”
“I know, but it is hard to eat one’s fill when others need the meal more. Far made sure I took time to eat more often than I’d remember.”
Astrid picked up a carrot and twisted off the feathery top. Scrubbing it under the faucet, she waved it at Thelma. “This is good for both body and soul.” Back up the stairs she went, munching as she climbed. She stopped in the doorway and watched Elizabeth sitting on the bench seat in front of her dressing table, brushing her hair. With color returned to her face, along with some of the weight that had melted off her during her illness, Elizabeth looked better than she had for months. Thank you, Lord. She caught Elizabeth looking at her in the mirror. “You have improved greatly.”
“I know. My skirts no longer fall off me.” She smiled, the wide smile of the Elizabeth she used to know. “Welcome home. It feels like you’ve been gone for months.”
“That’s what Mor said. I wasn’t home much after medical school and missionary school. But we did what we needed to do on the reservation, and I know lives were saved because we went.”
“That is the right answer. Did you bring the Indian women with you as you mentioned in your letter?”
“I did. Kaaren has taken them under her wing. I heard that Mrs. Jeffers said she’d like to teach English to the immigrants, so I hope she will work with Gray Smoke and Shy Fawn too. Remember the brave who almost died from fever? It so happens he is not only the tribe’s future chief, by the name of He Who Walks Tall, but is also a cousin to Dr. Red Hawk. Their resemblance is truly amazing. I do hope Red Hawk will be able to work with this small band. They need so much, from food to farming to sanitary conditions.”
“You didn’t sound too pleased with the wife of the Indian agent.”
“Not at all. Mrs. Moore is pregnant but insists on wearing corsets and the tightly fitted styles. She hates living on the reservation and wants to return to her mother’s house to have the baby. It was all I could do not to scream at her and walk out. She also wears the white powder on her face that I have read is poisonous.” Astrid shook her head. “She is also young and afraid.”
“I can tell you are still upset with her.”
“She refuses to sit out on the front porch in the breeze. Instead she sits in the stifling house. I pity the poor Indian woman whom she is teaching, if you can call it that, how to be a household servant.” Astrid shuddered. “Enough of that. It just makes me angry, and there is nothing I can do about it. We did what we could there. Both Johnny and Samuel did men’s work. I was really proud of them.”
“So now you are back. And besides ordering the supplies and readying the hospital when it is completed and tending our own patients, you want to start a nurses training program, not only for Deborah but for the Indian women too. Anything else?”
“Yes. I want a bath and clean clothes.”
“That is the easiest wish of all to manage.” Elizabeth’s smile dimmed. “Thorliff said Joshua made a comment about building his house for you.”
“Oh. I thought we dealt with all that.”
“You don’t care for him, then?”
“I thought I could care for him if there was any chance we could make a marriage work, but he cannot accept that I am a doctor first and would be a wife and mother second and third. I won’t be yoked that way. So no. I do not love him, and I will not marry him.” Astrid heaved a heavy sigh. “I thought I had made that clear.” Why, then, did she feel a rip in the vicinity of her heart? “What is it you are thinking?”
“I’m just trying to see how much this is common sense talking and how much is Astrid, my beautiful sister-in-law, who felt so strongly that she had found the man of her dreams.”
“Some dreams die hard.”
15
“As soon as Grace gets home, we are going to have a girl party at my house.” Sophie spoke in a way that left no room for arguing. Some things never changed.
“I think that is a grand idea. Will we stay all night?” The telephone call from Sophie caught Astrid just after her discussion with Elizabeth. And before her bath.
“I doubt it. Too many are mothers now that want to go home to take care of their b
abies. I said we have plenty of room, they should bring them along, but I doubt they will.”
“Do you know when Grace is coming?”
“We’re not sure. She was supposed to be here in June when Jonathan came home, but they offered her a nice bonus if she stayed at the school for the summer.”
“What about Maydell?”
“I’ll see. I think she is feeling better. Your mor gave her something that helped.”
“Oh good.”
Astrid looked down at a tug on her arm. “Just a minute.” She bent over to hug Inga and scooped her up in her arms. “Uff da. You are getting so big.”
Inga kissed her tante on the cheek before announcing, “Ma said to tell you we are going out to Grandma’s house for supper.”
“We are?”
“Uh-huh, but you can’t stay there. You live here now.”
“I do, eh?”
Inga nodded and slid back to the floor. “Ma is out on the porch with cookies.” She grabbed Astrid’s hand. “Come on.”
“Let me finish my telephone call first.”
“All right.”
Astrid smiled and returned to the call. “I’m sure you heard all that?”
“I did,” Sophie said. “When she heard you were home, she dashed out of here like hornets were chasing her. We never get to be together anymore. Someone is always leaving, it seems.”
“All except you?”
“Strange, isn’t it? I was the one who wanted to leave Blessing behind and go on adventures, and now I find plenty of adventures right here in our own, used to be little, town.”
“It isn’t so big now either.”
“No, but it is growing and will be growing even faster. Oops, gotta go.” The telephone clicked off. Astrid hung up the earpiece and turned to see Inga watching her. “What is it, little one?”
Inga flew into her arms. “I missed you so. You were gone forever. And Emmy’s gone too. What if her uncle won’t bring her back and I never ever see her again?” She buried her face in Astrid’s shoulder.
Astrid rose from the floor and, taking Inga’s hand, crossed the room to a chair, where she sat down and pulled the sobbing little girl into her lap.
“All the Indians I know always keep their word. I am sure he will bring Emmy back if he said he would.”
“But Grandma is so sad. Her eyes never laugh anymore.”
“Oh, I think her eyes will laugh again. So we are going out to the farm for supper?”
“Ma said so.” Inga mopped her eyes with the back of her hands. She looked up to Astrid. “Emmy didn’t even get her kitten, but I kept it for her. Benny got one too. His kitten rides in his cart with him. Sure wish I had a cart, but Pa said I have two good legs and don’t need a cart.” She slid to the floor and pulled on Astrid’s hand. “You want to come see me and Emmy’s kittens? They are growing up fast.”
“Is she talking your ear off?” Elizabeth asked when they stepped out onto the porch.
Inga looked up at Astrid and shook her head. “She has two ears.”
“That’s a figure of speech about someone who talks a lot.” Elizabeth patted the cushioned bench beside her. “Come sit here by me and let Tante Astrid catch her breath.” When Inga’s mouth opened, her mother shook her head. “That’s enough now.”
“And the kittens are where?” Astrid asked, taking pity on her niece.
“Sleeping in their basket over there.” Inga pointed to a basket in the shady corner. She started to slide off the bench, but her mother touched her arm and shook her head.
Astrid smiled to herself. Elizabeth was obviously trying to settle Inga down, but that would take more than a couple of weeks. “It feels like I was gone for the longest time.”
“Or forever,” a little voice chimed in.
“We were so busy, the days flew by. Then when Pastor Solberg left and there were not so many critically sick to take care of, I had bits of time to think on our nursing program.”
“Lying around here, I’ve had plenty of time to think too. When I could stay awake, that is.”
“Has Mor been in to help you?”
“Yes, but people in Blessing have been wonderfully healthy this summer. No accidents, no babies being born, all the winter croup and coughs gone – you’d think our dream of a hospital was a waste of money, time, and effort.”
“Well, I saw many people die because they didn’t have any medical care. I cannot begin to describe how bad it was.”
“Pastor Solberg came by one afternoon and left me with nightmares. What if we had an epidemic of smallpox or something here?” She sighed and sipped her dripping glass of lemonade. “I know we vaccinate against smallpox now, but there will be other diseases.”
Astrid sipped her lemonade. This didn’t sound like the Elizabeth she knew. Had the trauma of losing another baby and nearly dying herself changed something in Elizabeth’s mind? It wouldn’t be surprising. Astrid realized she’d better keep an eye on things here at home and not be wandering off around the countryside in the near future.
“What do you think of our establishing a nursing school right now and not waiting for students to come from Chicago?”
“It looks to me like you went ahead and did just that.” Elizabeth’s smile belied any sting from her words. “I think it will be good for Deborah. And Kaaren and your mother will love doing this. If Mrs. Jeffers is serious about teaching English to the construction workers, two more students should be no problem.”
Astrid bit her lip. “I just thought of something. From what Thorliff said, the students will all be men. Will my two friends be able to sit in the same class? I’m not sure that Indian women are allowed to intermingle with men like that.”
Elizabeth stared back at her. “I think we need to be making a list of questions for Dr. Red Hawk and set up a time to telephone him.”
“Maybe there could be two classes. What if Mrs. Jeffers spent time out at the deaf school at the same time as Mor and Tante Kaaren taught nursing techniques?” Astrid cocked her head. “Where is she going to teach the immigrant laborers?”
“I think you and I need to go to the boardinghouse and talk with her. Maybe this is more than she wants to do.” Elizabeth glanced over to where Inga was sitting by the kitten basket, singing softly to them, trailing one finger over a furry body. “She so loves the kittens. She’s calling hers Emmy.”
“Emmy being taken away is so sad.”
“It’s been hard on both your mother and my daughter. The other children miss Emmy too.” She shook her head slowly. “But not like those two.”
“This continuous sadness isn’t like Mor.”
“I know Tante Kaaren is concerned. She said that years ago Ingeborg fell into the pit of despair, and it took a long time for her to be free of it.”
“Mor has often spoken of the pit. She says that only the Word of God can free one. I wonder if she has been lax in her Bible reading.” Like I have? How does one put God and His Word first and still have time for all the things that need to be done? Like caring for His so very ill children?
“What is it?” Elizabeth asked, her voice soft in the still afternoon air.
Astrid released a sigh that sounded as heavy as the humid air they breathed. “I think I am beginning to understand my mother more. Down on the reservation I had no time to read God’s Word, or feed upon it, as the Scripture says. I learned the value of that at Bible school, and I thought I would always put Him first, but I failed. And the thought of that can be very destructive.”
“That is a harsh word.”
“Destructive?” She nodded. “True. But which is worse? The failing or the self flagellation? Are they equal sins? While I know that Jesus died to forgive my sins, I didn’t want to commit these particular ones again.”
Elizabeth smiled and nibbled on her lower lip. “We are so impossibly human. That’s the problem.”
“And confession is good for the soul?”
“True, but so is accepting forgiveness.”
Astrid leaned her head against the back of the chair. “How can it really be so simple?”
“Simple maybe, but not easy. I think you need to spend some time with your mor. The two of you can help each other.”
Astrid stared at Elizabeth. “When did you get to be so wise?”
“Nearly dying and spending all that time in bed, much of it contemplating, would change anyone, I imagine. Astrid, I am so grateful to be alive and growing stronger that I feel like shouting it to the world. God healed me. He let me live on this earth longer. Rejoice and be glad!”
The words fell with such intensity that Astrid sniffed back tears, blinking several times before sighing again. “Rejoice, indeed.” The two clasped hands across the narrow space between chairs.
“Are we going to Grandma’s now?”
“Soon, little one. Soon.” Astrid turned her attention to the little girl. “Do you need to change your pinafore?”
Inga looked down and scrubbed at a dirty spot, then looked at her mother, who nodded. “I guess. But if I go out in Grandma’s garden, I will just get more spots.”
“She’s right, you know.”
“I know. But one must try.”
Astrid stood. “I’m going upstairs to freshen up. I guess that bath will have to wait until later.”
“Or you can take a bath now, and we’ll wait until you are finished.”
“No. I want a long soak, and Inga will drive you nuts with waiting.”
“I will take her out now, and you can come with Thorliff when you are ready. And no arguing. I get enough of that from you know who.”
Astrid started to say something contrary, but the call of a bath grew siren loud. “Thank you, I will.”
Later, with the water cooling for the second time, Astrid stirred herself to let the water down the drain, then rinsed off. Her hair would never dry in time, but she toweled it vigorously and resolved to go brush it in the sunshine until it started to dry. Being clean again had been far more important than going home with dry hair. She dressed in clean clothes from the skin out and, brush in hand, headed to the back porch. The house was so still, she felt like tiptoeing, until she found Thelma ironing in the kitchen.
A Heart for Home Page 14