Lauraine Snelling - [Red River of the North 02]

by A New Day Rising

“Still sore?” Haakan hefted his package up onto his shoulder.

  “Some.”

  Haakan clapped him on the shoulder. “Well, I’ve got good news for you. You can go back to working in the fields as soon as someone makes a trip to St. Andrew.”

  “You bought the plow?”

  “Two of them. We have a lot of sod to break. Everything I bought I shipped through to St. Andrew, so we need to make a trip up there to pick it up right away.” As they neared the soddy, Paws charged out from around the barn, barking to warn the family that strangers were on the land. When he saw who it was, he lowered his tail and bellied out to them.

  “Good dog. You just got to improve your eyesight, that’s all.” Haakan leaned over and stroked the caramel-colored muzzle. One white ear stood back up, and Paws leaped to his feet, rejoicing as if he was forgiven his gaffe.

  Thorliff came around the corner of the soddy and catapulted himself into Haakan’s surprised arms. The package he carried fell to the ground, but he ignored that and hugged the boy close.

  “I thought you weren’t coming back.”

  “I’ll always come back, understand? Until the good Lord calls me home, I’ll always come back. You hear me?”

  “Ja, I hear, but my far didn’t come back.”

  “I know. Do you still miss him?”

  “Ja.” Thorliff nodded. “But I can’t see him so good anymore.” He dug one grimy toe in the dirt. “Are you going to be my far?”

  Haakan nodded. “Yes, I am. That okay with you?”

  Blue eyes met blue. Thorliff nodded.

  “You’ve done a fine job taking care of your mother since your far left, and now, if you don’t mind, I’ll take over some of that. Give you more time to go fishing.”

  “You come, too?”

  “Sometimes.”

  Thorliff nodded again and a sigh escaped as if the load of responsibility had just sprung a leak and lightened with each passing moment. He glanced up at Haakan from the corner of his eye. “Good.”

  Haakan hugged the boy again and looked up to see the mother standing by the soddy.

  He felt like the sun had just burst forth from behind heavy clouds, sun he hadn’t seen for what seemed forever. If only he dared to fly to her like Thorliff had come to him. Or she would run to meet him. Instead, she stood waiting, her forehead wrinkled as if in doubt.

  “What are you waiting for, woman?” He spread his arms and braced his feet.

  She hesitated, then skirts aflying, she ran and threw herself at his chest. With both arms around his neck, she clasped him to her as if he might let go. When she raised her tear-stained face to his, he kissed her with all the warmth and passion he’d been storing since they met.

  When she pulled away, she noticed Lars standing a few steps away, a grin on his face that said he’d probably tease her about this unseemly public display of affection for the rest of her natural life and beyond. She buried her face in Haakan’s broad shirt front, the heat of the blush scorching his chest.

  “Remind me to go away more often,” Haakan whispered in her ear.

  “I cannot believe I acted the hussy like that.” She muttered the words into his third button.

  “It’s okay. Lars and Kaaren, they gave us their blessing, remember?”

  “Ja, but—”

  “But nothing. I am not so proud I cannot kiss my wife-to-be in front of our family. Now, I promise to behave in public, but Lars and that grinning son of yours are not the public.” He dropped a kiss on the end of her nose and tucked her next to his side, an arm over her shoulders as if afraid she might step away.

  He bent over and picked up the paper-wrapped package that had fallen to the dirt in Thorliff’s onslaught. “I have a present here for you.” He handed her the bundle. “Careful.”

  Ingeborg flinched when something stabbed her finger. “Ouch.”

  “I warned you.”

  “Ja, but not soon enough.” She looked from him to the packet and back again.

  “Open it, Mor. Open it!” Thorliff fairly danced beside her.

  “Thorliff, run to the barn and get a shovel.” Haakan took back the package Ingeborg hadn’t begun to unwrap yet, and with his jackknife he cut the string.

  “Oh, be careful, we need the string.” Ingeborg reached for the thin twine, carefully stuffing it into her apron pocket. Then she assisted Haakan in unrolling the layers of paper around the gift.

  “A rose bush.” She looked from the wilted stalks to Haakan’s grinning face.

  “Ja, a white one. We will plant it on the other side of the doorway, and since this is a climbing variety, you will have an arch of roses over your door. The woman who sold it to me said they have the sweetest perfume.”

  Ingeborg stroked a wilted petal. “We will water it well to bring it back to life.” She leaned her head against his shoulder to veil the tears that swelled at the thoughtful offering now cradled gently in her hands.

  He turned his head and covered her lips with his. “Pure sweetness, like you,” he whispered against her mouth. “But you must watch out for the thorns.” He nipped her bottom lip gently.

  Ingeborg’s laugh rang out across the prairie, lifted by the wind and blessed by the sun.

  “If you two are going to keep up such nonsense, I believe I’ll take myself home where I am needed.” Lars clapped Haakan on the shoulder. “Are we going to St. Andrew today or should we get an early start in the morning?”

  Thorliff returned with the shovel. “Here.”

  Haakan took it. “Now, how about a bucket of water?”

  “Okay.” The boy headed for the well.

  “Let’s go tomorrow. I don’t want to drive home in total darkness. There’s not even a moon tonight. Remember what happened last time we tried to make a fast trip?”

  Lars tipped up his open-toed boot. “I’m not likely to forget that. But it can’t snow in July.” He glanced at Ingeborg. “Can it?”

  Ingeborg shrugged. If only they had listened to her last time—she stopped that train of thought. One couldn’t change the past, that much she’d learned.

  “Well, I’ll be heading home. Ingeborg, you have some produce you want to send to The Mercantile in the morning?”

  “I should take a load to the Bonanza farm. They’ve grown accustomed to regular deliveries.” She thought of the hours she spent after the field chores, cutting the curd and draining it for cheese, then firming it and letting it ripen. And the pounds of butter churned in her wooden churn. How many dozen eggs did she have ready to send? And what could be pulled from the garden? The young hogs weren’t ready yet, and while she had a couple of hens not laying, they would eat those themselves. She did have that haunch of smoked venison.

  “Ja, I think there is enough to take to the Bonanza farm. I will have it ready.”

  “Would you rather go? You could pick up the plows and the other supplies on your way back.” Haakan motioned Thorliff toward the corner of the house where the man began digging a hole for the rose bush.

  What she really wanted was to go with Haakan, just the two of them, no children, no other family, just them.

  Lars winked at her. “Why don’t the two of you go. Leave Andrew with Kaaren, and Thorliff will be out with the sheep until his lessons. That sounds the best arrangement to me.”

  Ingeborg could have thrown her arms around him and kissed him.

  Lars winked again and took a step back as if he could read her mind.

  Haakan pushed the dirt in over the rose’s roots and beckoned Thorliff to pour water in the hole. He looked up at Ingeborg. “Sounds like a good idea to me. If you can be ready to go on time, that is.”

  Ingeborg nudged him with the toe of her boot. “Try me.”

  “Oh, I will. You can bet I will.” Haakan sent her a look that painted her face with the rosy glow of sunset, only the sun wasn’t anywhere near going down. Ingeborg’s hands involuntarily covered her cheeks.

  “Haakan Bjorklund!”

  “With that, I’ll be on my wa
y.” Lars left whistling, his hands in his pockets.

  “Pour more water, son. Let’s get this bush in the ground so we can get on with other things.”

  The promise in Haakan’s words sent Ingeborg into the house with enough heat in her face to start the stove. But once inside, she giggled.

  Still grinning, she scooped the yawning Andrew out of his bed and blew on his tummy, causing more giggles. He wrapped his arms around her neck and laid his head on her shoulder. With a departure from her normal scurrying, Ingeborg sat down in the rocker, settled the little one into her arms, and set the chair to rocking. Andrew popped his first finger in his mouth and began sucking contentedly as he leaned against his mother’s shoulder.

  Haakan found them that way a few minutes later. The scene tugged at his heart and brought a lump to his throat. Much as he already loved these two boys of hers, the thought of Ingeborg birthing and rocking a son of his brought a picture of the future and the joy of it to his soul. While he hoped for more sons, he dreamed their daughters would have golden hair and a firm jaw like hers, and at least half her spunk to carry them through life’s difficulties.

  He knelt beside the chair. “I’m going out to start chores. Is there anything you need before then?”

  Ingeborg looked at him as if he’d left his mind on the steamboat. No one ever asked if she needed anything, and he would only be out in the barn.

  “Ah . . .” She couldn’t gather her thoughts back from where they’d roamed the past and make a sensible answer. “No, but mange takk for asking.”

  He patted her arm and laid a gentle hand on Andrew’s head before he rose to leave.

  She listened to the sound of his footsteps until they died out. Why on earth was she doubting that marriage to this man was anything but God’s will? Surely God brought him here, and surely He had put the love within their hearts.

  But—there was that but again. Was it too soon? Was it for the best? Was it a selfish move on her part? No . . . yes . . . no! And contrary to the gossipy murmurings of Mrs. Strand, there had been no improprieties. He slept in the barn, as did Hjelmer. And both of them spent most of their days in the fields. What gossip could come of that?

  Andrew sat up with the smile of an angel for her, slid to the floor, and headed out the door. “Bye, Mor,” he called. “See Tor.”

  Ingeborg sat still only a moment more. She took off after the child. Who only knew where Thorliff was? “Thorliff!” She called him as she snatched Andrew off his feet and swung him in the air.

  “Here, in the barn.”

  She set the little one back on his feet. “Andrew is coming to see you. Watch for him.”

  “All right.” Thorliff stuck his head out the open barn door. “Come on, Andrew, run.”

  Paws trotted by the child, reaching to lick his face any chance he got. More than once she’d seen the dog edge the baby out of harm’s way, like the day he tried to toddle under the team of horses. Thanking the Lord for His constant presence, she turned back to the house to begin getting things ready for the trek in the morning.

  “Who was that out in the field with you,” she asked at the supper table after fixing Andrew’s plate. She looked up to see a scowl on Hjelmer’s face.

  “Mary Ruth.” His curt reply invited no more questions.

  “Aha, still bringing you afternoon refreshments, is she?” Haakan bit into his slice of buttered bread.

  “I didn’t ask her to.” Hjelmer reached for the bowl of stew.

  “No, I don’t suppose you did. I have a feeling no one needs to ask that young lady for anything once she sets her mind on you.”

  “What do you mean by that?” The words snapped across the table.

  “Easy, son.”

  “I’m not your son.” Hjelmer pushed back from the table. “And what I—what she—well, it’s no one’s business but my own.” The screen door slammed behind him.

  Haakan and Ingeborg exchanged looks of total bewilderment.

  “What was that all about?” Ingeborg shook her head.

  “Heaven only knows, but methinks that young man is about to be caught in a triangle not of his own making.” He glanced at Thorliff, who had quit eating to watch what was going on.

  Thorliff licked his fork. “I like Penny better than Mary Ruth.”

  “Eat your supper.” Ingeborg fought to keep the smile from her face. He spoke her thoughts exactly.

  “I am.” He took another mouthful and chewed. “Is Hjelmer going to marry up with Penny like you and Haakan?”

  “Maybe.”

  “I saw him kissing her.”

  Haakan and Ingeborg swapped glances of consternation. “Really, when?”

  “Out behind the barn. They didn’t know I was there.” His wrinkled nose said what he thought about kissing. “But if you want to kiss Mor, that’s okay”

  Ingeborg felt the familiar heat begin on her neck and work its way upward. “Finish your supper.” She knew if she looked at Haakan she’d see a grin that would make her cheeks even hotter.

  That night Ingeborg wrote a letter to the families in Norway, knowing that Kaaren would be doing the same. She asked them to thank Haakan’s mother for sending him west to help out the widows and finished with the news of the coming wedding. She didn’t mention much about Hjelmer, other than to say he was hard at work in the fields. While she wanted to ask if he’d always been so surly, she didn’t. He certainly wasn’t the same lad she remembered from home.

  She went to bed praying for him, wondering what she had done to cause the friction and what she could do to make matters better.

  When she was loading the wagon in the morning, Haakan came in from milking. “I think we should have Lars make the trip. I can do the fieldwork where he can’t.”

  Ingeborg nodded. “It would do Kaaren good to go along, too; she needs a time away. She can skip the boy’s lessons for today.”

  With that decided on their part, she crossed the field to the other soddy. “Good morning,” she called as she approached the soddy.

  Kaaren came to the door, letter in hand. “You are early, where’s the wagon?”

  “Haakan is finishing the loading. We think the two of you should take the trip to St. Andrew and on to the Bonanza farm. It’s been months since you’ve been away from the farm, and—”

  “Oh, Inge, that’s a wonderful idea.” Kaaren’s eyes sparkled in delight. She nodded. “I know, I will buy cloth to make you a dress for the wedding.”

  Ingeborg shook her head. “No, I have the blue silk Roald gave me, remember? I have been thinking of cutting that out, but I just haven’t had time.” She blinked at the bit of a lie. The truth was she hadn’t wanted to take the time, as if cutting the cloth given to her by a former husband might cause a jinx on the new marriage.

  “That will be a beautiful dress.”

  “But so impractical. Where would I wear a dress like that?”

  “To church. By winter we will have a church and school building.”

  Lars came to the house, carrying two frothing buckets of milk. “Where do you want these, the house or the cellar?”

  “Pour them into the rising pans. How would you like to drive me to town today, dear husband?” Kaaren gave him a mock curtsey.

  “I’d be honored. What about the boys?”

  “I will oversee their lessons. Surely they can put up with me for one day. You two just go and have a good time. Haakan will be over with the wagon in a few minutes.” She handed Kaaren the letters. “The top one is for Roald’s family, so it can go in the envelope with yours if you wrote them.”

  “Maybe I’ll be bringing back a letter, too. What a marvelous day.” Kaaren clasped the papers to her bosom. “I’m going to town.”

  Ingeborg nodded and turned to leave. “You know, Lars, perhaps you could take this ecstatic woman to dinner at the hotel in St. Andrew. I think you both earned the treat.”

  “Inge!” Kaaren stopped stock still, her mouth dropping open. “We can’t afford something like that.�
��

  “After you sell all the produce to the Bonanza farm, you will have cash.” She watched Lars go into the cellar. Lowering her voice, she leaned closer. “Please tell Mrs. Carlson that I am getting married.” At the questioning look on Kaaren’s face, Ingeborg continued. “Ja, the last time I was there, her son, George, asked if he could come calling on me.”

  “Inge, a suitor.”

  “Ja, well, I’m not like Hjelmer, dangling two on the string. One is enough for me.”

  “And a better man you’d find only in my Lars.”

  “And he is taken. Mange takk and have a good time.” Ingeborg turned and headed for home.

  “Thorliff will tell you what the lesson is,” Kaaren called after her. “He can come over and pick up the slates and books.”

  Ingeborg waved to say she heard and continued on. There would be no time to take a team out to plow, that was for certain.

  She appreciated Kaaren’s teaching skills more than ever when she finally had Thorliff and Baptiste washed up and sitting at the table. Both heads, one dark and the other fair, were damp from the wash basin, and the spots of clean on their tanned chests showed the paths of a water fight. They hadn’t worn shirts or shoes since the frost left the ground.

  In sheer desperation, she sat Andrew in his chair and tied the dish towel around his middle. Each day she threatened to tie him on a long line to the clothesline so he wouldn’t wander off. Today she’d caught him beyond the barn. “See Tor, Mor. Me see Tor,” the little one insisted.

  Baptiste grinned at Andrew and reached over to tickle the little one’s tummy. As usual, no one could resist his giggling and both boys fell in with the distraction.

  “Now, that’s enough.” She moved Andrew out of tickle range and gave him a hard cookie to gnaw on so she could go back to teaching. “Thorliff, please read page 126 aloud, and, Baptiste, you be ready to ask him questions about what he read.” When they’d finished that, she made them switch places. Baptiste was much better at asking questions than reading aloud. Thorliff helped him sound out the words. Since they were reading in English, half the time Ingeborg didn’t know if they were saying the words right or what they meant.

  When they finished the reading assignment, she handed them slates and told them to write a description of something they had seen that day. When they read them aloud, she was amazed. Both boys showed a remarkable ability to see with more than the eye. Baptiste wrote about his grandmother working to soften a rabbit pelt so he would have warm mittens in the winter. Thorliff described the newly hatched chicks out in the barn and explained how the mother hen kept them under her wings to be safe from the hawk.