Landmark Roses

by Nancy M Bell

  The engine hissed and smoked and with a great release of steam screech of wheels the train slowly started to move. Elsie stood on her toes and waved her handkerchief, shouting well wishes with the rest of them. Sadie leaned out the window, hanky fluttering in her hand from the increasing wind caused by the train’s movement.

  Elsie kept on waving until the train was out of sight. Sinking back off her toes, she tucked the handkerchief into her pocket and smoothed the wrinkled dress with her palms. Beside her, Susan wiped tears from her cheeks. Martin came and stood beside her, slipping an arm around her waist. Together they turned and walked toward the car. Ike appeared at Elsie’s elbow and smiled down at her.

  “Well, they’re off. Do you remember what it was like?” His gaze was warm on hers.

  “I do. I think it was easier to be the ones leaving than the ones left behind.”

  “I think you might be right.” Ike took her arm and they moved toward the parking lot.

  Elsie paused to look down the track where the east bound train had disappeared around a curve. “I hope she doesn’t regret it and things turn out exactly the way those young people want it to.”

  “It will be as God wills it,” Ike said, turning her back toward the car and home. “It worked out just fine for us, didn’t it?”

  Elsie glanced up at him with a tremulous smile. “It did, didn’t it?” Her step was lighter as she accompanied her husband to the borrowed car and the trip home.

  Epilogue

  June 1948

  Elsie stepped into the cool dimness of the kitchen with a sigh of relief. Placing the full pail of strawberries on the table, she wet a cloth and wiped her overheated face. Only the second week of June and it was as hot as the height of summer. Ike was worried about the hay and grain crop. They needed rain badly, and not the deluge a thunder storm would produce, but a nice steady down pour that could soak into the thirsty earth.

  Wringing the damp cloth out she hung it on the towel rail to dry. Not that it would dry quickly in the close humid air, she thought wryly. Elsie reached up to take the big butterscotch coloured pottery bowl from the top of the cupboards. She sat down and prepared to clean the berries. Her gaze fell on the small pile of mail propped against the sugar container in the middle of the table.

  She was surprised she hadn’t seen it until she sat down. Her hand trembled a bit when she picked up the sheaf of envelopes and started to sort through. Ike must have run into Landmark for something for the tractor and decided to pick up the mail at the same time. Her assumption was borne out by the dirty thumb print that smudged the last envelope. Elsie’s heart leaped in anticipation at the sight of the foreign post mark. Mexico! She pressed the unopened envelope to her breast and closed her eyes to give thanks to the Lord.

  News from Sarah had been brief and sparse. In the months since she and Arnold had emigrated there had been only a few letters and the last one almost nine months ago. Even though the mails could be slow, the lack of communication worried Elsie. There must be trouble, or something Sarah didn’t want to share. That had to be the reason. Sadie was a better correspondent that her Taunte Sarah, sending letters regularly every month. They were of course out dated before they arrived, but it was a pleasant feeling to still be part of Sadie and Corny’s lives.

  Sarah on the other hand had been positively miserly with her news. Taking a breath, Elsie slit the envelope open and pulled out the thin sheaf of folder paper. She should wait and read it with Ike and the rest of the family, but she couldn’t wait. If there was bad news, Elsie needed time to process it and come to terms with whatever it was. She took another deep breath and closed her eyes, offering a silent prayer before starting to read.

  April 30, 1948

  Manitoba Colony

  Cuauhtemoc, Chihuahua, Mexico

  Dear Mome, Pape and Family,

  I must apologize for not writing more often. We have been very busy here getting settled and arranging for our own portion of land. It hasn’t been as cut and dried as it was made to sound before we got here, but I’m sure Arnold will get it all worked out.

  Mary and her family are well. The weather here is unendingly hot. Sometimes hot and dry, then hot and wet. I almost find myself missing the cold of a Manitoba winter. I know I sent a letter to Agnes after Anna’s death, but honestly I still find it hard to realize she’s really gone. I can’t imagine how Agnes must feel, but I’m sure the Lord will lend her and Walter the strength they need.

  But enough about that. I do have some good news and once you hear it you’ll understand why I’ve been such a bad correspondent these last few months.

  Elsie quit reading for a moment and wiped her eyes. Her heart hammered in her chest. What was the girl going to say next? She did say it was good news…Elsie pressed a hand to her heart and turned back to the letter.

  There’s a photograph taped to the last page of the letter, but don’t peek at it yet.

  Elsie’s fingers tested the papers in her hand and indeed the last page was a tiny bit thicker than the rest. Resisting the urge to flip to it immediately, she read on.

  I hope you didn’t peek. I want to tell you this myself first. Mexico has been everything I thought it would be for Arnold and I, the land issue notwithstanding. I feel wonderful and happy, maybe because there aren’t any old memories waiting around every corner to haunt me. The climate seems to suit me and there is a doctor here who came from Paraguay and he knows some different things to keep my malaria from flaring up. It’s called Rimijia and he gets packets of it sent up from South America. It tastes quite strong, but it seems to work better than anything I’ve tried.

  So, now for the good news. I became pregnant late last summer, near as I can tell sometime near the end of August. It’s hard to tell, as you know I’ve never been regular. (Don’t read that part to Pape or Walter or anyone). I was quite sick for a time, not with malaria thank goodness, but with morning sickness that lasted all day and more than the three months everyone else seemed to endure. I didn’t want to write and tell you about this because I was afraid it would end like all the others before. Somehow, if you didn’t know I thought I would find it easier to bear. So I waited until I was sure everything was going to be okay.

  On Friday April 16th, 1948 I gave birth to a baby boy! There, I never thought I’d get to say that! I’m a mother and Arnold is a pape. He’s so thrilled it’s funny to see. You’ll most likely hear from his mome about this as he sent off a letter to them the same day I mailed this one. We’ve decided to name our son Isaac Arnold, after both our fathers. We’ll call him Ike for short. Mary’s mome told me that Ike means ‘He laughs’ or ‘laughter’. I didn’t know that. Arnold and I liked the name Ike not only because of Pape but because he was the only son of Abraham and Sarah in the Old Testament.

  The doctor isn’t sure I’ll be able to have any more children, so our Ike may be our only child as well. Are you crying, Mome? I am as I write this. I can’t describe how much love I feel for this tiny perfect person. It is overwhelming. Sometimes I get up in the middle of the night and just watch him sleep. I’m sure you will think that’s silly of me and I can’t see how you would ever have had time to do something so silly with all of us underfoot. But Ike is my one and only, and I don’t think I’ll ever get enough of looking at him and holding him.

  So, now, if you haven’t already, take a look at the photograph. Mary took it for me right after Ike was born. Look at the grin on Arnold’s face! I’ve never seen him so excited about anything in my life.

  I’ll be sure to write more often now and send photographs when I can get them taken. I love you all and I miss you, but now I know I was right in coming to Mexico. I’m sure Arnold will be able to get the land we were promised soon. Right now we’re working some common land with other couples waiting to be allotted a spot of their own.

  With much love,

  Sarah, Arnold and Baby Ike

  oxoxo

  Elsie flipped the last page and stared at the grainy black and white p
hotograph with the scalloped edges. Sarah’s face fairly beamed out of the frame and Arnold had the silliest expression on his face as they held the tiny bundle between them. Elsie peered closer and could make out the tiny face of her newest grandson, his eyes wide open, seemed to look right at her as if he was saying hello.

  Clutching the papers in her hand she almost ran out of the house toward the machine shed where Ike was clanging away on the old tractor.

  “Ike, Ike!” she called. “You’ll never guess what’s in the letter from Sarah and Arnold. Oh, Ike! It’s such good news.”

  The End

  Glossary

  Danksheen, Mutti Thank you, Mom

  Dominion Land Grant This act allowed each applicant 160 acres of land, which is 65 hectares, at no cost except for a ten dollar fee to cover administrative costs. The applicant had to be a man of at least twenty-one years and he had to agree to cultivate at least forty acres of his land and build a permanent dwelling within three years. It was referred to as ‘proving up the homestead’.

  Gesangbuch Mennonite hymn book

  Groottaunte great aunt

  Grootonkle great uncle

  Grosspape Grandfather/Grandpa

  Grossmama Grandmother/Grandma

  Kjinja children

  Mome Mom

  Oberschulze overseerer of Mennonite colony in Mexico

  Oma grandmother

  Onkle Uncle

  Opa grandfather

  Pape Dad

  Shiplap fit (boards) together by halving so that each overlaps the one below.

  "shiplapped pine used as facing for the first floor"

  Taunte Aunt

  Vorsängers men who lead the hymns in church, also called choristers

  Author’s Note

  This novel could not have been written without the help of Margaret Kyle, Helena Hiebert, Peter S. Hiebert and Lynda Hiebert. A great deal of research has gone into this book and any errors are mine, so many people have helped bring this story to fruition and it is immensely better for their contributions.

  I thought a brief history of the Mennonites and their journey to Manitoba might be helpful here.

  In the early-to-mid 16th century Mennonites began to move from the Low Countries, Friesland and Flanders to the Vistula delta regions. They were seeking religious freedom and exemption from military service. At this time they gradually replaced the Dutch and Frisian languages with the Plaudietsch or (Low German) spoken in the area and blended it with their native tongues. Today that language is recognized as the distinct Mennonite language. The difference between Low and High German is that Low German developed in what were referred to as the ‘low countries.”

  In 1772 most of the Mennonites’ land in the Vistula region became part of Prussia in the first of the Partitions of Poland. When Frederick William II of Prussia took the throne in 1786 he imposed heavy fees on the Mennonites in exchange for the right to military exemption,

  In 1763 Catherine the Great of Russia issued a Manifesto inviting Europeans to settle various parts of Russia, particularly in the Volga River region. For various reasons this appealed to the Mennonites. A delegation from the Vistula delta region of Prussia went to negotiate an extension to her Manifesto. Crown Prince Paul signed a new agreement in 1789. The migration to Russia from Prussia was led by Johann Bartsch and Jacob Hoeppner. They were given land northwest of the Sea of Azov. Most of the Mennonites in Prussia accepted the invitation and established the colony of Chortitsa on the Dnieper River in 1789. A second colony named Molotschna was founded in 1803.

  When the Prussian government removed the elimination from military service on religious grounds, the Mennonites remaining there emigrated to Russia and settled along the Volga River in Samara. They were promised an exemption from military service for twenty years, after that they would be required to pay a special tax for the privilege.

  Nationalism became stronger in central Europe and the Russian government chose to no longer uphold the special status of the German colonists. In 1870 Russia announced a “Russification plan” that ended all special privileges by 1880. The Mennonites were most upset at the thought of being forced to participate in the military, and losing the right to use German as the language in their schools. Both these things were deemed necessary to maintain their culture and religion.

  In 1871 a delegation went to Petersburg to meet with the czar to appeal on religious grounds. They failed and another attempt was made the following year. They weren’t successful, but the Tsar’s brother Grand Duke Konstantin promised them a new law would offer a way to for Mennonites to be only involved in non-combatant military service.

  Many conscientious Mennonites refused to accept that. So, 1873 twelve delegates went to North America looking for large tracts of farmland. The group returned with reports of good land available in Manitoba, Minnesota, South Dakota, Nebraska and Kansas.

  The more conservative groups from Kleine Gemeinde, Bergthal and Chortitza came to Canada and settled in Manitoba. The more liberal groups chose to go to the United States. Between 1874 and 1880 eight thousand Mennonites moved to Manitoba, while forty-five thousand went to the States.

  The Mennonites settled in Manitoba in two Reserves, the East and the West, which fell on the east and west side of the Red River. They formed villages with German names like Blumenort, Steinbach and Gruthal. A more conservative group of the Mennonites who settled in Manitoba near the Landmark, Niverville and Bothwell areas chose to move to Mexico after World War I. This was in protest against their childrens’ compulsory attendance at public schools where English had to be spoken rather than the Mennonite ran ones where German was the first language. There were also anti-German sentiments which played into their decisions. In the 1920s and late 1940s there was also an exodus to South America, Paraguay in particular for much the same reasons. Some emigrants returned to Manitoba after finding the new lands they had chosen didn’t live up to their expectations.

  There are different groups under the Mennonite umbrella, some more conservative and some more liberal than others. The group I have chosen for this story are more liberal, dressing in a mainstream style and not shunning mechanical means of farming or transportation.

  With regards to the Blizzard of 1947, this was a real event that paralyzed the prairie provinces for well over two weeks, the storm itself lasting ten days. There are many articles and historical accounts and photographs of the event. You can find links to some of them in my Bibliography.

  Anna’s death in the blizzard is a purely fictional event, but based on facts. Some people did become lost in the storm and perished. It is further recorded that during the first winter the Mennonites were in Manitoba and living in semlins, one of the leader’s young children passed away from a fever. It was impossible to go out and bury her, so they swaddled her and placed her in a cradle which they hung from the rood of the semlin until the storm passed and they could clear the snow and hack a grave out of the frozen prairie. I had this example in mind when I put Anna’s body in her cold bedroom until the storm passed and there could be a funeral and burial.

  I hope you have enjoyed this story. If you find you are interested in learning more about the Manitoba Mennonites, please visit Steinbach, Manitoba where the Mennonite Heritage Village is located. It is a wonderful place full of authentic historical artifacts including a semlin which you can enter and admire the ingenious way the walls were made of slabs of sod and the roof attached by poles and covered with more sods.

  Other Books by Nancy M Bell

  Canadian Historical Brides Series

  His Brother’s Bride ~ Ontario

  On a Stormy Primal Shore ~ New Brunswick

  Second author with Diane Scott Lewis

  Landmark Roses ~ Manitoba

  Lead author writing as Marie Rafter with Margaret Kyle

  The Cornwall Adventures

  Laurel’s Quest ~ Book One

  A Step Beyond ~ Book Two

  Go Gently ~ Book Three

  Romancer />
  Storm’s Refuge A Longview Romance Book One

  Come Hell or High Water A Longview Romance Book Two

  A Longview Wedding

  A Longview Christmas Seasonal Novella

  Arabella’s Secret Series

  The Selkie’s Song ~ Book One

  Arabella Dreams ~ Book Two

  Co-Authored with Pat Dale

  The Last Cowboy

  Henrietta’s Heart

  The Teddy Dialogues

  She’s Driving Me Crazy

  Historical Horror

  By N.M. Bell

  No Absolution

  Nancy M Bell, writing as Marie Rafter here, has publishing credits in poetry, fiction and non-fiction. Nancy has presented at the Surrey International Writers Conference and the Writers Guild of Alberta Conference. She loves writing fiction and poetry and following wherever her muse takes her.

  Please visit her webpage http://www.nancymbell.ca

  She posts on the Books We Love Blog on the 18th of every month

  http://bwlauthors.blogspot.ca/