A Promise for Ellie

by Lauraine Snelling

  “You’ve come home.”

  “Indeed.” She clapped one hand onto her hat to keep it from being knocked askew as his lips met hers in a kiss of welcome, of promise. His arms encircled her waist; his heart beat against hers. He smelled of sun and clean wind, starch in his shirt and shaving soap on his cheek. Andrew. Stepping back, she laid a hand to her throat. Ah, the pounding of her heart and the warmth of her face.

  He grabbed her again, this time swinging her around. “I have so much to show you, to tell you. The house came. The barn is nearly done. Tomorrow we start haying, and you’re here. You’re finally here.” He ripped his straw hat from his head and waved it at the leaving train. The conductor waved back.

  Ellie clung to his arm. I’m here. I truly am here.

  “Let’s go look at our barn and then go home.”

  “All right.” She tucked her arm through his as they strolled down the platform, watching the train shrink while it headed down the tracks. She felt like skipping and twirling, as Rachel did, enjoying the swirl of her new gingham dress. Up ahead huge stacks of lumber, siding, and trusses took up all the platform and spilled onto the dirt. “There’s so much.”

  “I know.” Andrew laid his other hand over hers and squeezed. “Big enough to have several children before we have to add on.”

  Babies. Why did he bring up babies today? When can I talk to him about my fears?

  Andrew didn’t seem to realize her withdrawal. He bent over to pick up a packet. “This must be the plans.” He turned it over to find a line drawing of their house.

  Ellie stared at it. “Andrew, that isn’t the one we chose.” I didn’t like this one nearly as well.

  He shrugged. “I know, but I figured this one would be better.”

  “How could you make that decision without asking me?” She knew a note of querulousness colored her voice, but really—the nerve of him to do that.

  Andrew assumed patience like putting on a cloak. “You weren’t here, remember? And I decided this was a better deal. After all, it was fifty dollars cheaper.” He spoke slowly, as if trying to explain something to someone who was a bit slow.

  “But you didn’t even tell me.”

  “I didn’t think it was that important. It’s a great house, and it’s all ours.” He took her hand and tried tucking it back into his arm.

  While she resisted for a moment, Ellie gave in and let him have his way. You should be grateful you’ll have a brand-new house, the little voice inside chided. Most people don’t start out with a brand-new house and barn.

  “Let’s go home.”

  She nodded. Home was with Andrew. Ignoring the voice inside her head, she said, “Oh, my things.”

  “They’ve already loaded them into the wagon.”

  “My chickens?”

  “If that squawking crate is your chickens, yes.”

  “Do we have a place for them?”

  “Well, we can put them in with Astrid’s chickens, or we can put wire over a stall in our barn to keep them in. I’ll build an outside run as soon as I can.” He helped her up into the wagon, then paused, looking up at her. “I am so glad you are finally here.”

  “Me too.” And while I can’t wait to see all the others, I am so glad you came alone to pick me up. She settled her skirts, glanced over her shoulder to make sure all her trunks and bags were there, and watched Andrew step up on the wagon wheel and take his place beside her. I wonder if I will ever tire of watching Andrew. The thought made her smile again. Not anytime soon, that was for sure.

  They swung by the store, and Penny must have been watching for them, for she burst through the door as soon as the wagon stopped. “Welcome home, Ellie. I’ve been afraid you might not come until fall, and I need help so badly. Mr. Valders is home with the grippe, and Astrid is helping Dr. Elizabeth. I need help.”

  “And Hjelmer has been out working on our barn with the rest of us.”

  “Along with every able-bodied man in town. Ingeborg said she had room to store your things, so just bring what you need. You’ll make a fine shopkeeper.”

  “I’ll see you later this evening, then?”

  “Right, and you’ll stay in our spare room. I’ve moved the children up to the attic for the summer.”

  “Where are they now?”

  “Out to Tante Kaaren’s. Ilse is teaching the girls to sew, and George is teaching the boys about woodworking, just like Onkel Olaf used to do. Don’t know what Kaaren would do without the two of them. George is so good with the students, being deaf himself.”

  Andrew flicked the reins and headed out.

  “What are the twins doing?”

  “Most likely hoeing and pulling weeds at Tante Kaaren’s. Mor’s strawberries will be ripe soon, and then the canning begins.”

  “I will make jam for us.” Us—what a wonderful word. Us—as in Andrew and me. I will spread the jam I made on bread I made—for us. Ellie hugged the thoughts to herself. Us.

  “Once I show you the barn, I need to go help with shearing the sheep. Mor said she would give us a fleece or two.”

  There it was again, the magic word—us. She tucked her hand through the crook in Andrew’s arm. “How wonderful. Do you suppose she would let me use her spinning wheel too?”

  “Oh, I’m sure. And the sewing machine, the loom, whatever you need.”

  “The women from church gave us a braided rug to put in front of the stove. Andrew, wait until you see all the lovely things we have.”

  “Not just chickens?” He turned his head and grinned at her.

  Her heart turned over with love for him, but she poked him in the ribs. “Do not make fun of my chickens. I have plant starts too and both flower and vegetable seeds.”

  “I suppose you want me to dig up more garden space.”

  No, but I sure wish you’d told me about the house. All you had to do was tell me.

  They waved at the children playing in front of one of the houses, and a dog ran barking at the heels of the horses. Out of town he clucked the team to a more lively trot.

  As they drove past the home fields, he pointed out to her what was planted where, the wheat now tall enough to bend in the breeze. Bluebells nodded beside the road. “If the corn keeps growing like it is, knee high by the Fourth of July won’t be a problem. I let the sow and her piglets outside today for the first time. The little ones ran and squealed, their tails curled tight. The first one to dig in the dirt with his snout thought he was some special.

  “There it is.” He pointed toward the north, where two men were up on the barn roof nailing shakes in place.

  “Oh, Andrew, it looks huge.”

  “Not as big as the home barn, but that loft should hold plenty of hay. The hay stand looks good too.We had a little rain. Now if it just holds off until after the hay is in . . .”

  The closer they came, the rounder grew her eyes. How did we afford such a barn? Should I ask him about that? She knew that both of their gifts from Mr. Gould went into buying the house.

  “We’re going to go pick up the house materials this evening. Now that will be a caravan of wagons almost like harvest.” He stopped the wagon near the barn.

  “Is that Toby Valders up there?”

  “Yes, and Gerald too. They’re both out of work until haying starts, so they’ve shown up every day.”

  Ellie turned to stare at Andrew. The tone of his voice said more than his blank face.

  “What could I do? Tell him to go away?” He shook his head. “Someday I’ll work on his house or barn. Half of Blessing has pounded nails or split shakes or carved pegs. Maybe we should just call it the Blessing Barn. Mor is planning a party if we have time between haying and harvest. Other than graduation, there haven’t been too many parties around here, and a big empty barn works good for a dance.”

  “Empty but for my chickens.” She thought a moment. “Maybe it’s not a good idea to bring them out here until we are living in the house. If a fox or something gets in, we won’t be here to hear it.” />
  “I plan on moving out here as soon as the roof is on the house.” “Before we are married?”

  He nodded and swung down from the wagon. “I’ll ride back and forth for the chores at home, but I think someone should be here—just in case, you know.”

  “Oh.” For some reason, the idea disappointed her. She’d dreamed of walking into their brand-new, unlived-in house after the wedding. The other house. Not the one they now owned. It would still smell of paint and wallpaper, and together they would decide where to put their new furniture. She would put away all the lovely things she’d made through the years and all the gifts so generously given.

  He smiled into her eyes as he lifted her down from the wagon, and all thoughts of disappointment flew right out of her head. The feel of his hands on her waist and the muscles in his arms bulging under her hands all sent a shiver straight to her middle. It was a good thing he held her for a moment after setting her feet on the ground, for her knees might well have buckled.

  Don’t be silly, she ordered herself. This is only Andrew, remember?Only Andrew, my right foot. Even her fingertips felt like she’d touched a hot stove. A little voice inside snickered. Wanton. Where was a fan when you needed one?

  “Welcome, Ellie,” Haakan called from the board he was standing on so he could hammer shingles in place on the gambrel roof.

  “Thank you. I can’t believe how far along this is.” She pulled the strings of her reticule over her hand and set it up on the seat.

  “Come, I’ll show you the inside.” Andrew took her hand, and she had to almost run to keep up with him. They stepped in through where the main door would be.

  Ellie stared up through the floor joists of the haymow, clear to the rafters, where shingles covered some of the one-by-fours, but most of the eastern side still showed blue sky. “Will you have enough shingles?”

  “The boys are trying to keep up, but a square of shingles doesn’t go very far up there. We should have been splitting shakes all winter.”

  “Did you really know it was going to be this big?”

  “Well, we added an extra fifteen feet in length, but the width stayed the same. Far decided that since we were doing it, we might as well go the whole size.” He turned to the western wall. “Over there in that corner is where we’ll put the chickens at first. I doubt we’ll get a chicken house built this year. The pigs will be over there too. The milking stanchions down the east side.”

  “So you won’t milk over at the home barn?”

  “Not if we get more cows like Mor wants. I thought at first I’d have all the hogs here, but the cows need to be inside in the winter, so we’ll see. I can always add more stanchions later.”

  “Andrew Bjorklund, I am so proud of you I could just pop.”

  He turned to look down at her. “Why?”

  “You are so sure of what you are doing. I’ve been dithering about leaving home, and here you talk like you’ve been farming for years.”

  “I have been. All my life.”

  “No, I mean with your own barn and livestock. It’s different.”

  “Not really. Now if we moved west and homesteaded or bought a homestead someone didn’t prove up, that would be different.”

  Ellie rolled her eyes. “You just don’t understand.”

  “Come on, I’ll show you the cellar for the house. We got part of that dug out.” He took her hand, and she trotted beside him across the packed earth to a hole in the ground, squared off with strings tied to stakes pounded into the ground.

  “Our own cellar.” When she closed her eyes, she could see shelves against the walls, filled with jars of peaches, apples, green beans, corn, and pickles. The jams would glow like jewels. There would be bins for the potatoes and carrots, barrels of apples, crocks of pickles and sausages.

  And if the tornadoes came, they would hide down there, safe from the storms above.

  “Ah, Andrew, we must be grateful for all that God has given us.” She turned to look back at the barn. “So much.”

  “Well, we work hard too, you know.”

  She stared up at him. “Yes, but still, all this comes from His hands.”

  He half shrugged. “I didn’t get to the garden.”

  “Oh.” She crossed the grass to her plot. Someone had been hoeing. The radish row was recognizable with carrots interspersed. That way when they pulled the radishes, it left room for the carrots, which were much slower to grow. Her mother had taught her that trick. She looked closely, checking the stakes at the ends of the rows, not that she’d forgotten what she’d planted where. The corn and potatoes were up, the beans struggling against the weeds. The opportunistic peas were using the weeds as climbing posts. She let out a sigh. She’d left the garden in Grafton without a weed.

  Glancing down at her dress, she shook her head. She needed to change into a work dress and apron and get busy. With no place to change here, she strode resolutely back to the wagon.

  “Do you want to take me back to the house, or shall I drive myself? There’s work to do here, or we won’t have anything to eat next winter.”

  “I’ll take you. Sorry about the weeds. How about if we band your chickens and put them in with Astrid’s?”

  “Fine.” She climbed up over the wheel without waiting for his assistance. She should be able to get much of the garden cleaned out before dark that night. How come the weeds grew so much faster than the vegetables? How come that little worm of discontent took up residence?

  SO MUCH FOR SPENDING the evenings with Ellie.

  “You’re going back out tonight?” Ingeborg set the last platter of food on the table and took her seat.

  “It would be a shame to waste the full moon.” Haakan bowed his head, and the others followed suit. “I Jesu navn . . .” They joined in the table prayer, and at the amen all reached for the serving bowls, helped themselves, and passed them on around the long table. Both Toby and Gerald, along with two of the German young men who were working for the Bjorklunds for the summer, ate suppers with the family.

  Astrid helped with the meal preparation, spending only part of her day at the surgery since her mother needed her at home too.

  “I saw Ellie today when I went for the mail.” She grinned at Andrew when he looked up. “She likes working at the store. Tante Penny said she’s the best worker she’s ever had.”

  Andrew nodded. Everyone saw more of Ellie than he did. Instead of going calling like he wanted to, he would dig the cellar by moonlight, and after the horses were put away, either Haakan or Lars would come to help him. Three men were the most that could dig without getting in one another’s way. The night before, Haakan had backed the sledge down the dug-out ramp, and they had shoveled the dirt on that for the team to drag out. Tossing the dirt over the walls had taken too much time. Leave it to Haakan to figure a way to make things easier. Now if only I could figure a way to add a few more hours of daylight. Or learn to get by on less sleep. He and the men were already milking by lantern light before the dawn.

  The girls were doing most of the evening milking.

  Andrew shoveled the food into his mouth without taking part in the almost nonexistent conversation.

  “Oh, Thorliff said he’d come over to help dig tonight.”

  Andrew nodded, finished chewing, and asked, “Did he say what time?”

  “No, just after supper.”

  “Please pass the bread.”

  Andrew did as asked, even though the request had been in German. He’d never realized the Norwegian and German languages were so much alike.

  He held up his cup when Ingeborg came around the table with the coffeepot. “Thanks.”

  She laid her hand on his shoulder and squeezed before going on to the next.

  He watched her for a moment. She looked more like herself again, no longer pale. Had she lain down today like Dr. Elizabeth had ordered?

  “Takk for maten.” He drained the coffee and pushed back from the table.

  “You don’t want dessert?”


  “Later.”

  “You go to dig?” Heinrich asked, again in German.

  “Ja.”

  “I’ll come.”

  “You don’t have to.”

  “I know. You need help.”

  Together they walked out and headed across the field, their long shadows dark in front of them. As the moon rose, the world silvered. Andrew could hear digging before they got there.

  “What took you so long?” Thorliff asked as he tossed a shovelful on the sledge.

  “You didn’t stop by the house.”

  “I know. I thought digging out dirt was more important than visiting.”

  Andrew pulled his leather gloves out of his back pocket, grabbed a shovel handle, and pushed the blade into the heavy soil. Six feet down and still the black riverbed soil lay beneath their feet. How deep did it go, he’d often wondered. Another two feet and the cellar would be deep enough. While he planned to pour cement walls, the floor would remain dirt with support posts for the house on poured concrete blocks.

  The three dug until the sledge was loaded, then tossed more dirt over the banks surrounding the sides. Haakan arrived with a harnessed team, backed them down the ramp, and hooked the traces to the double tree. With the chains jingling, he hupped the team, and the two dug in to pull the sledge up the grade and out to dump it. Heinrich went along to help shovel it clear.

  “One more night and we should be done.” Thorliff leaned on his shovel handle.

  Andrew wiped the sweat from his forehead. “I hope so. I think I milked four cows this morning before I woke up.”

  “Good thing none kicked you awake.” Thorliff tossed a couple more shovelfuls over the bank.

  “Would have been easier if the house came on time.”

  “Why? You didn’t have this shoveled out then either.” They continued digging.

  “Did you and Elizabeth talk about Mor?”

  “Of course.”

  “She’ll be all right?”

  “Yes. But she has to take it a bit easier for a while.”

  “Our Mor?”

  “This scared her. She’s trying to listen. She has to find someone to take over the cheese house, at least for a short time.”