A Heart for Home

by Lauraine Snelling

  Later, on the train heading east, he pulled his journal out of his bag to write some reminders to himself. While he didn’t keep a formal journal like his father had, this book was never far from reach. Of course his mother had told him not to bother to write – he remembered her saying that to her husband too – but Daniel also remembered her great joy in receiving letters. When traveling, his father had made it a habit to write to his wife twice a week and always include notes for the children.

  He added a typesetter to the list of needed employees and made a note to price a more up-to-date printer for Thorliff. The purchase was long overdue. Norwegians were famous for making do rather than investing in something new. He’d seen it in action with his partner. But the Bjorklunds farmed with the latest machinery, so they were forward-thinking business men too. He wrote himself some more notes before putting the journal away and bringing out his latest novel, Tom Sawyer, Detective, by Mark Twain.

  A desire to read was one thing his mother had instilled in him. While he read a great deal and a great variety, fiction was his favorite. And as of right now, Mark Twain was his favorite American author.

  When the train pulled into the Minneapolis station, he got off and made his way to the hotel his father had always stayed at. He had appointments at several farm machinery sales lots.

  By the time he left for Chicago two days later, he had enough orders to make him pleased. Selling to the sellers was the best way to do business. Let them sell to the farmers.

  Settled in his next hotel, he took some hotel stationery and sat down to write.

  Dear Dr. Bjorklund,

  I asked Thorliff if you would mind if I wrote to you, and he said he didn’t think you would, so that is what I am doing. I am in Chicago, Illinois, and have a list of appointments for this area. So far, the Twin Cities were remarkably open to our modification for seeders. My father was right when he said the product he invented would make a difference for not only wheat crops but other grains as well.

  I enjoy seeing the country from a railroad car. The trip is so much faster than any other way, as you well know. I stopped by an automobile dealership and looked at some of the new designs.

  As Hjelmer has said so often, automobiles will be the next big addition to travel. One man boasted that his Oldsmobile would cover ten miles in one hour. While I wanted to drive one, I did not have the time or the training.

  I wonder why Hjelmer sold his. He always likes the latest thing, and these certainly are. The salesman said that one day there would be roads all over America for automobile travel. There were plenty of cars on the streets of Minneapolis. I saw a team of horses panic when the automobile near them backfired, which seems to be a common occurrence. Needless to say, I will not be bringing one to Blessing, at least not yet.

  I hope the progress being made on the hospital building meets your approval.

  Sincerely, Daniel Jeffers

  He read through it again, folded it, and placed it in one of the hotel envelopes, addressing it to Dr. Astrid Bjorklund, Blessing, North Dakota. Then he wrote a letter to his mother, this time describing the flowers and houses he had seen, as well as a hat that he thought she might like, and assuring her that all was well and the trip profitable – so far, at least.

  On Sunday he walked to the nearest Lutheran church and attended the worship service. The pipe organ alone was worth the walk. Singing along with an instrument like that made him wonder if heaven would have music to top it.

  “Thank you for such an uplifting service,” he said to the pastor greeting people at the door. “Your organ is wonderful and the organist a maestro.”

  “We are very fortunate in having them both. I hope you come again.”

  “I’m just traveling through on business. If I am in Chicago again, I will be back.”

  He responded to greetings from several other folks and made his way back to his hotel. Would Blessing ever have a church large enough for a pipe organ? Even a pump organ could add to the music they already had. Did Dr. Elizabeth Bjorklund play the organ? She sure knew how to make the piano sing.

  The organ music remained one of the highlights of his trip, which was seeming longer than the days he was actually gone. When he decided to write to Astrid again, he realized he would be home before the letter got there, so he read his book instead. He was homesick for Blessing. It wasn’t as if he’d lived there for years, and he’d never really been homesick for the place he grew up.

  Was it Astrid who was drawing him back?

  24

  “Grace is coming home today!” Sophie called from the doorway of the surgery.

  Astrid excused herself and stepped into the hallway, closing the door behind her. She strode out to the waiting room, which at that moment was empty, thank goodness.

  “Sophie, this is a doctor’s office. You must be polite here.”

  “Not when Grace is coming home, this time to stay. I had to tell someone, and you were the closest.” Sophie clapped her hands and would have spun in place like she did as a little girl had Astrid not been trying to look stern.

  Astrid hugged her cousin. “I have a patient, but if you will sit outside on the porch swing, I’ll be out as soon as I can. It shouldn’t be long.”

  “Where’s Elizabeth?”

  “Over at the hospital, talking over some changes with Thorliff.”

  “All right, I’ll wait. But you hurry. The train could be here pretty quick.”

  Astrid glanced at the watch face she wore pinned to her apron. “It’s at least an hour before the train comes.”

  “Maybe Thelma has something good to drink in the icebox. See you on the porch.”

  Astrid assured the little girl sitting on her examining table that the hair her brother had shaved off her scalp would come back and the cut would heal quickly. She turned to the mother. “Head wounds bleed severely, but this was just a surface cut. If you come back in three or four days, I’ll remove the stitches. Or if you have a slender scissors, you can do that at home. Just slide the tip of the blade under the stitch and snip. Pull it out with a tweezers or your fingernails. Don’t worry if a drop of blood appears. It will scab over.”

  “Thank you, Dr. Bjorklund. I can’t believe he did this to his sister.”

  “We were just playing barber, Ma. He didn’t mean to hurt me.”

  Astrid rolled her lips to keep from grinning. This was a first. “Maybe you should play school or store instead. It would be a lot safer.” She accepted the payment and ushered them out the door.

  Thelma was already in the room cleaning up. Even she snorted when Astrid told her the story. “Children nowadays, tsk, tsk. Too much time for playing.” She shook her head and bundled up the bloody cloths. “Mrs. Wiste is out on the back porch. She has your glass out there too.”

  “Thank you, Thelma. You do such a good job of caring for all of us.”

  Astrid wasn’t sure what Thelma’s mutter said, but she left the examining room with a light heart. One needed a good laugh now and then. Well, really more now than then.

  She had another laugh when she told Sophie, who laughed and asked for the barber tale again.

  “Playing barber. I never.”

  “Good thing he didn’t try to pull her teeth.”

  That brought on another spate of giggles.

  “You should tell that story to all the others at our girl party. Don’t forget, it’s tomorrow night.”

  “I won’t forget.”

  As they sipped their glasses down to the tiny ice chunks, they shared the town news, being careful not to gossip.

  “How do we know when it is gossiping and when it is just sharing the news?”

  “I guess it depends on what our motive is and what the news is.”

  “I suppose so.” Sophie laid her glass against her cheek. “Every bit of coolness counts on days like today.”

  “Put your feet up, Sophie. Your ankles are swelling.” After the advice, Astrid continued with her thought. “I’m thinking we’ll be having
a thunderstorm.” She nodded toward the west, where dark clouds were massing. “Feels like one too.”

  “I know. We need the rain, and it should help clear the air.”

  “Remember when we used to go puddling with Mor and Tante Ingeborg? Washing our hair in the rain and then sitting on the porch to brush it out and dry once the sun came out?”

  “Even though we have running water, I’d rather wash my hair in the water from the rain barrel to this day.”

  “Me too. And with a lemon rinse. Mor was livid one time when we took the precious lemon and rinsed our hair with it. But it sure felt good and smelled wonderful.”

  “What about when you cut your hair in a fringe?”

  Sophie rolled her eyes. “Anything for excitement and something different. I think going to Seattle killed that adventurous spirit I had.”

  “I’m glad it didn’t kill more than that. You could have been in so much trouble after Hamre died. I cried for you for days and was so happy when you came back.”

  “I heard a line that I like. ‘Home is where they always have to take you in.’ I was afraid Mor and Far wouldn’t let me come back.”

  “Really afraid?”

  “Terrified. I knew I had hurt them badly. I was most certainly selfish and headstrong. And now I’m as happy as anyone can be. Mor has always said that God works in mysterious ways, and I am living proof of that.”

  “We all are.” Astrid checked her watch just as they heard the far-off whistle blow. “Let’s go meet Grace.”

  Jonathan and Kaaren were there before the girls arrived. The three females hung back while the young man paced the platform, as if his stomping could bring the train more quickly.

  “And here I always thought he was the model of patience.” Astrid smiled at her aunt and cousin.

  “He is a young man in love. That’s for sure.” Sophie clasped her mother’s hand and held the parasol over them both. “I wish they didn’t have to wait so long to get married.”

  “Less than a year now.” Kaaren flinched as the screech of wheels and the shriek of steam announced the arrival of the monstrous black engine. By the time it stopped, the engine was in place for the water to refill the boiler, and the passenger cars lined the station platform.

  The conductor put the stool at the bottom of the stairs, and Grace stepped gracefully down to them, only to be swung around in a hug and dance step by the tall young man who let out a whoop of joy. She clapped her hand on her straw hat and tried to look dignified but failed miserably.

  Astrid enjoyed the sight. Grace was more lovely than ever, aided by the beauty of love as she saw her Jonathan again. The two turned as one and smiled at the waiting family members. Sophie and Astrid stepped back so Kaaren could greet her longed-for daughter.

  “And you are really home to stay?” Kaaren asked.

  “I really am.” Grace spoke, but it was easy to tell that she’d been communicating in sign more than speech back in New York these last two years. She stumbled over some words, her pronunciation harsh on others. But with all the new people that had arrived in Blessing, not everyone signed any longer, so her speaking the words was all the more important.

  “Except when we visit my family,” Jonathan added, even though he stood behind Grace. “Or when she teaches at training centers.”

  Kaaren looked at her daughter. “Are things happening we don’t know about yet?”

  “I have much to tell you. We will need a wagon for my trunks, but I see you brought the buggy.” She turned to Astrid and held her arms wide. “Well, Dr. Bjorklund, you don’t look a whole lot different, but you have a wonderful title. I know you earned every letter of it.”

  “I did and I’m doing what I like best. And the best part is I am home in Blessing and not in Africa.”

  “I wondered for a while, but one day when I was praying, it was like God was speaking right to me. He said, ‘Fear not.’ That’s something He has said to me too many times. ‘Fear not.’ I always feel like He’s waiting to catch me if I trip, or waiting to make sure I am where He wants me.”

  Astrid could only nod. For Grace to make such a long speech took plenty of effort on her part. So she tapped the cousins’ secret code into Grace’s hand. And they both smiled, Astrid with one eyebrow slightly raised. Grace nodded. “We will.”

  Sophie dabbed at her eyes.

  “What’s wrong?” Astrid, ever watchful, asked.

  “I’m just so happy. My other half is back in this part of the world, where she belongs.”

  Grace gave Sophie another hug. Then at Jonathan’s nudge, they walked over to the buggy.

  “Now remember, Grace, like I told you in my letter, we are having a girl party tomorrow night in your honor. Well, in everyone’s honor, because the daughters of Blessing are all together again.” Sophie threw her arms wide as if to encompass the entire town. “And, Mr. Gould, you’ll be able to live without her for at least one evening.”

  “As if I have any choice in the matter.” His woeful look made them all laugh again. This was a good day for laughter.

  The whistle blew and the train eased forward, steam billowing again, the conductor waving from the bottom step of the passenger car. “All aboard!” His call lingered behind on the wind as the train picked up speed.

  Jonathan helped Kaaren into the buggy first and then Grace, before taking the front seat to drive.

  Astrid and Sophie waved good-bye, laughing at the stack of luggage that belonged to Grace, and strolled off the platform.

  “I think we need a soda.”

  “I think you are right.” Astrid and Sophie turned left instead of right to the boardinghouse. They pushed open the door to Rebecca’s Blessing Soda Shoppe to find it empty.

  “Rebecca?” Sophie called.

  “Back here. Just a minute.”

  “Where’s Benny?”

  “Knute and Dorothy took him out to the farm for a couple of days,” she said as she emerged from the back. “He is having a wonderful time.” Rebecca finished tying her apron in place.

  “She’s going to have her hands full when her baby arrives in November,” Sophie commented.

  “She’ll handle it with ease, I’m sure,” Rebecca said. “Now, what can I get for you ladies?”

  “Ladies?” Astrid and Sophie turned to look at each other.

  “Ladies?”

  “Sophie might be but not me, at least not yet.”

  “Dr. Bjorklund is not a lady? Now, that sounds strange.”

  “Dr. Bjorklund is Elizabeth. Isn’t it funny that I still feel that way?” Astrid paused and made a huff in her throat. “When I was at Rosebud, I felt like Dr. Bjorklund. I forgot how young I really am and did what had to be done. Then I come back here and sometimes I feel like I’m playing at being a doctor. That I really was never away, and – ”

  “Astrid, sometimes I wonder about you,” Sophie said, shaking her head. “Give her your latest kind of soda and wake her up a bit. Stitching heads and setting broken bones and birthing babies is not playing at doctor.”

  “I agree.” Rebecca turned to fetch a glass, and Astrid could see the mound growing under her friend’s apron.

  “Are you feeling all right?” Astrid asked.

  “Sometimes I get a bit tired, so I do what you told me and go sit on the porch in the shade with my feet up. That’s what I was doing when you came. After all, I am not due until January.”

  “Good for you.” Astrid turned to Sophie. “Guess I can’t be playing at it when even my friends do what I tell them.”

  “Don’t get too smug. Not all your friends and not all the time.”

  “Right. Some things will never change. You are the one that needs your feet up, Sophie. Your time will be here before we know it.”

  “It couldn’t come soon enough for me. Being so close to term in the summer is not the best of situations. Winter is much better.” Sophie took a quick look at the menu. “Make three sodas, Rebecca, whatever kind you recommend, and we’ll all sit on your back porch
. If we sit in front, half the town will decide they need to come and visit.”

  But when Sophie put down the money for the three sodas, Rebecca argued.

  “I can too buy you a soda, if I want,” Sophie insisted.

  “Sophie!”

  “Just hush. Let’s go hide on the back porch.”

  The next evening the daughters of Blessing gathered at Sophie’s house as ordered.

  “Where are the children?” Deborah asked.

  “Next door at Helga’s. She will take May too, Ellie, so you can forget about anything else but having a good time.”

  Ellie went next door and handed her baby into Helga’s waiting arms. “Are you sure you want to take her? I didn’t expect this. She’s been fed and is sleepy, ready for bed. I can just put her down here. Carl is home with his pa.”

  “That’s all right. I’ll take her.” Helga smiled down at the sleepy little girl. “So precious she is.” Helga Larson and her family moved from Minneapolis to Blessing to be close to her brother Garth, Sophie’s husband. Helga’s husband, Dan, worked at the flour mill.

  Back at Sophie’s, Astrid led a frustrated Sophie into the parlor, where a wing chair and ottoman sat in front of the tall windows overlooking the backyard. “Why don’t you sit here? With the fan going, this will give you some real relaxation.”

  “Oh, Astrid, I don’t have time for this.” But she sank into the chair with a sigh. “I know putting my feet up will indeed feel good, but I’m the hostess.” Sophie tucked her full skirt around her legs while Astrid removed her shoes.

  “As if we don’t know where things are.” Astrid probed Sophie’s ankles. “When did this puffiness start?”