Sophie sighed. “I’m sorry.” She signed as well. “I get frustrated with Andrew being so grumpy.”
Grace tipped her head to the side and gave Ellie a gentle smile. “He’ll be all right again after you two are married.”
“If we ever get married.”
“Ah, but you will. You know Andrew loves no one but you. Always has.”
“I know.” She thought back to the look on his face. “But right now . . .” Like Sophie said, he was really mad. But then so was I. “I think we just had our first fight.”
“We could always sneak up on him and push him into the river.”
Ellie laughed outright at the triumphant look Sophie gave her. “We could do that, and he’d pull us in like he did those years ago, and we’d all be muddy and wet.”
A cheer rose from Trygve’s team as he shouted, “A home run. Go, Pa, go before they get it.”
Kaaren stood clapping and laughing with the others. “Come on, Lars, come on home.”
“Pa hit a home run?” Sophie leaped to her feet and joined in the cheering.
Ellie wished Andrew were here playing ball rather than fishing down at the river. I should go down there and apologize, she thought. It wasn’t his fault I caught my foot on that root. All he wanted was for us to be together, alone for a change. But while the thoughts sounded good, her foot still ached, and her feelings felt mashed into teeny-tiny bits.
“Where are you going?” Sophie asked when Ellie stood and started to leave.
“To find Andrew.”
“Oh, let him stew awhile. It’ll be good for him.”
Ellie stopped, thought a moment, then started out again. “I’ll be right back.”
“Of course you will, and I’m a whistling duck.”
“Sophie.” Grace shook her head. “What has come over you?”
“Ellie, could you please come here for a bit?” Bridget waved as she called.
“Of course.” Ellie made her way to Bridget’s side. “Can I get you something?”
“In a minute, but right now please sit down so we can talk.”
Ellie did as she was asked, but her mind wanted to head for the river.
Andrew’s cork bobbed in the languid current. Nothing. No fish biting. He heard Astrid laugh just downriver from him. It sounded like she and his mother were bringing in fish hand over fist. He and Ellie could finally have had a long talk if she hadn’t been so stubborn. Since when didn’t she like to fish? He jerked his pole, the cork and grasshopper he’d caught flew past, and he grabbed the string. Go back and see if Ellie is all right. The voice had said the same thing three times now.
He ignored it and trudged up the path to the next place he’d always caught fish and tossed the cork and line out again. Perhaps she really didn’t want to be with him after all. What could I have done that made her so mad? Sure she stumbled, but that wasn’t enough to make her mad. Or was it? I just wanted her all to myself for a change.
His cork dove, he jerked the line, and a fish flew back over his head. He might as well have been a little kid again, fish flopping around like that. He grabbed the line and overhanded it until he held the flopping fish. Even the grasshopper was still good, although more than a little waterlogged. He wriggled the hook free of the fish’s lower lip, tossed the baited hook back in the water, and broke off a stick to hold the fish.
At least he wasn’t wasting all of his time. He could have been home working on the house. Not that that seemed to matter to Ellie. Why, when he’d shown her the hay coming into the barn, how beautifully everything was working, she’d hardly said a word. He jerked the line again—another nice fish. If Ellie were here, they would be catching twice as many. Maybe he should make a pole for her. Perhaps she’d be coming down the trail any minute to say she was sorry for disappointing him, that she wanted to be with him no matter what.
Four fish later, no Ellie.
Ten fish later, no Ellie.
Andrew deliberately unclenched his jaw. Fishing was supposed to be relaxing. From the sounds of it, Astrid and Mor were having a wonderful time. Amazing they caught anything at all with all that laughter and giggling. Maybe Ellie had joined them, but when he listened, he didn’t hear her voice. He could hear the cheering from the ball game, though.
Everyone in Blessing was having a good time—except him.
And Ellie.
Wearing the baby in a sling across her chest, Dr. Elizabeth had joined Ellie and Bestemor.
“Aren’t you afraid you’ll bump her or something?”
“She’s perfectly content this way. I learned of the sling like this from an old woman in Chicago. She brought her grandson in to see me when I worked at the hospital. She said in Ireland all the women carried their babies this way, so I decided that when I had children, I would do the same. It makes sense. The baby can still hear the mother’s heart and feel her warmth, although on the outside now rather than safe inside.”
“The things you young people do these days—so different.” Bridget held out her arms. “Let me hold her, please. It’s been too long since I’ve held a baby.”
“We came to visit only a few days ago.”
“Did you?”
Elizabeth handed over the baby. “This is your great-grandmother. Be nice to her, little Inga.”
Ellie watched as the baby stretched and wriggled a bit, then settled back to sleep. “She seems a very contented baby.”
“She is—most of the time. But when she decides it is time to eat, her mother better not be long about getting ready.”
“She and I have a lot in common.”
“Oh, really?”
“Sure. I graduated from high school, and she graduated into the outside world almost on the same day.”
“True. I hadn’t thought of it that way.When she decided to come, she wasn’t waiting around long.”
What will my baby be like? The thought made Ellie swallow. Not a blue one, please Lord. A baby. Why think about a baby right now when she was still upset with Andrew? She’d overheard snippets when women were talking about having babies, but they always hushed when they realized she was listening. After all, things like that were not for a young lady’s ears. But oh, did she have questions. And who better to ask than Dr. Elizabeth? But not right now. Bestemor would be shocked. And appalled. And there were too many other ears close by.
“That’s it! That’s the ball game.” The shout went up, and the victors pounded each other on the back.
The losers promised that the next game would be theirs.
“Do they always play the same teams?” Ellie asked.
Elizabeth shook her head. “No. It all depends on who shows up. I’m sure Andrew was missed. He’s always good for a hit or two.”
Thorliff dropped down on the blanket beside them. “I never got one hit.”
“I’m sorry.”
“No you’re not.” He leaned toward Bestemor. “How’s the best baby in the world?”
“Go on with you. You’d think this was the first baby ever born.”
“She isn’t?” He sat up in mock surprise, only to earn a thump on the shoulder from his grandmother.
“Oh, you.”
Inga stretched and turned her head from side to side.
“Now look what you’ve done.” Bridget rocked the struggling baby, but the motion failed to bring the desired results. Another stretch, a frown, a twisted face, a sucking motion, a whimper, and then came a full-blown howl.
“See? What did I tell you?” Elizabeth reached for her daughter.
Ellie watched as two wet spots appeared on the front of Elizabeth’s gown.
“As your father says, uff da.” Elizabeth tucked child and blanket over her shoulder and glanced over to Ellie. “You want to come visit with me while I feed her?”
Ellie got to her feet. “Yes, I’d love to.”
“What? Did someone pinch that baby?” Haakan joined them, wiping the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand and shirtsleeve.
Inga screwed up her little face and screamed louder.
“Sorry,” Elizabeth said. “Please excuse us.”
“You want a ride up to the house?” Haakan asked. “We’re heading up to the barn soon for milking anyway.”
“I thought we’d just sit in the buggy.”
“Whatever you want. Let me take her, and you climb up, then I can hand her to you.” Haakan took the angry child. “Hush now, your grandpa has you. Ma will be ready in a minute.”
The crying stopped.
“What did you do?” Elizabeth reached from the buggy seat for her daughter.
“Just explained things. That’s all.” Haakan handed Inga up, then gave Ellie a hand. He tipped his hat and headed back to the gathering, whistling as he went.
Elizabeth settled the baby under a blanket on her shoulder and leaned against the seatback with a sigh.
“So now. I take it you and Andrew had a bit of a spat.”
“How did you know?” Ellie shook her head at the knowing look Elizabeth gave her. “I s’pose everyone figured that one out. It was our first fight.”
“Don’t feel bad. There’ll be plenty more. Making up makes a good disagreement worthwhile.”
“But I said . . . He said . . .” Ellie shook her head. “It was ugly.”
“Arguments can be like that. You have to talk things out later, is all.”
Andrew Bjorklund, when I get a chance, we’re going to do some talking all right, and you might not like hearing some of the things I have to say.
I HAVEN’T HAD THAT MUCH FUN fishing in a long time. Not that I’ve gone fishing recently.
Ingeborg thought back over the day. If only they could do things like this more often. A picnic, a ball game, a fishing contest that she and Astrid won easily, and then a fish fry to top it all off. The only sour note in the day was the spat between Andrew and Ellie. She brushed her hair a few more strokes and paused. Oh, my son, it takes a lot to rile you, but when you get riled . . . She shook her head and went back to brushing. She still wished she’d not heard every word, but sound carries down by the river.
Haakan came in from the outhouse and paused in the doorway. “You look like a young girl sitting there like that.”
“I was old when I married the first time. You never saw me when I was young.”
He sat down on the bed beside her and took her hand. “You weren’t old then, and you aren’t old now.” He planted a kiss in the palm of her hand. “We had a good time today, ja?”
“We did. I was just wishing we could do things like that more often. All you men have been working so hard, getting the barn done, the fieldwork, and the haying.”
“Andrew finished up the last of the barn roof. All is weathertight now. And if the rain holds off a few more days, all the hay will be in.
I been cutting at Solbergs’, and Lars is over at Baards’.”
“Like I said.” She leaned into his shoulder while she loosely plaited her hair. “And before we know it, harvest will be here.”
“The days go by so quickly. Is it because we are older, do you think?”
She shrugged. “And wiser, I hope.” She tossed her braid over her shoulder. “Would you like to be young again?”
“How young?”
“Oh, in our twenties but know all that we know now.”
“Ah, my Inge, you think too much about things that are not possible. The Bible says we are to live in the day, this day, not years before or years hence.”
“I did live this day, and I loved every minute of it.” She turned, her smile teasing. “Especially winning the biggest number of fish caught.”
“Ah, but you and Astrid teamed up. That was not fair.”
“No one said we couldn’t.” She kissed his cheek. “You and I need to go fishing more.”
He nodded. “But who caught more? You or Astrid?”
She shrugged again. “I don’t know.We didn’t keep track, just kept on pulling in the fish. They tasted so good. Remember how Metiz used to dry the fish? That was one of her winter foods.”
“She taught us many things.”
“At times I still miss her so. I look over to find her cabin by the river and then remember that the flood took it away. Sometimes I wonder if she and Agnes are visiting up in heaven.” She blinked to stop the tears that burned at the back of her eyes and nose. “I know I should be grateful I had them for friends as long as I did . . .” A pause lengthened while she sniffed again. “And I am.” She heaved a sigh. “I really am, but I sure miss them.”
“You have Kaaren.”
“I know. And now we have Elizabeth and little Inga. Remember how for the first years Metiz would go home to visit her family in the winter and come back in the spring? But finally she quit doing that, and I think she counted us as her family instead. All the horrid stories that go around about the Indians. They make me sad.”
Haakan nodded. “I wonder how Baptiste and Manda are doing.”
“We haven’t received a letter from her for a long time.” Ingeborg scrunched her eyes to remember better. “Christmastime perhaps. Yes, that was it. But Deborah shares her letters when she gets them. Just think, they have three children now, perhaps four. It’s hard for me to imagine Manda with four children. I only remember her as a child herself.”
“Sometimes your memory plays tricks.” He yawned. “I need to get to sleep. You’ll blow out the lamp?”
“Ja.” She stood and, cupping her hand around the chimney, blew out the kerosene lamp. Darkness made the moonlit square on the floor even brighter. She folded back the sheet and lay down on the bed. The breeze tossed the sheer white curtains and cooled her neck, kissing her toes as it passed. She stretched against the mattress, listening to the rustling and creaks of the rope-strung bed. Looked to be about time to tighten the ropes again. Haakan’s lips puffed beside her, not deep enough in sleep to snore yet. Staring up at the ceiling, she found his hand with hers, loving the warm feel of it. Even in his sleep he squeezed back when she clasped his hand.
Once in a while lately, she’d seen the black pit yawning as it had so many years before, but now she knew what to do about it. The bigger the pit, the more she threw the Word of God against it, memory verse after memory verse. Had she only known that before, perhaps that year would not have nearly killed her. But as Haakan had said, you had to live each day as it came and dwell on neither the past nor the future. Most of the time she could do that, but banishing Elizabeth’s warning was not easy. If she had more episodes of bleeding like she’d had, they might need to consider a hysterectomy. Even the word was ugly, let alone the procedure of cutting her open and removing her uterus. Not that she needed it anymore, hadn’t for a long time, but the thought of such a thing . . .
Dear Lord, please, there has to be another way. But if it would help her not to feel so tired all the time . . . Lord, whatever you will.
Taking in a deep breath, she let it all out on a sigh and rejoiced as her eyes drifted closed. This time sleep would not be long in coming, not like some of the past nights. Not sleeping steady was another one of those aggravations of late. Thank you, Father, for Elizabeth and that I haven’t felt so crabby lately. Mange takk.
Who was that silent young man eating so fiercely, sitting in Andrew’s place? It looked like her son but certainly didn’t act like him.
Whoever took my boy, please bring him back. She knew Haakan would laugh if she told him this. Today she and Astrid would pick the peas for the first time this year and maybe find enough baby potatoes under the plants to make creamed peas and new potatoes, another marker of the changing of the seasons for her. So far they’d had radishes and lettuce sprinkled with vinegar and sugar, always the first crops. And strawberries. They should be ready for picking again too.
“You think the dun cow will calve today?” Haakan spoke toward the eating machine at the end of the table. “Andrew?”
“What? Huh?” Andrew blinked as he looked up, his fork poised halfway to his mouth.
“I
asked if you thought the dun cow will calve today.”
Andrew shrugged. “I didn’t check on her.”
“I see.” Haakan stared at his son, who’d gone back to eating.
“Were you planning on doing that?”
“I guess.”
“That means yes?”
“Yes, I’ll check on her.” Andrew’s tone cut across the table. He never looked up to see the consternation on his pa’s face.
Ingeborg forced herself to sit still and say nothing, though she wanted to go around the table and smack her son on the back. What’s the matter with him?
“Andrew, you know what? You’re being rude.” Astrid glared at him. “And that’s not like the Andrew we used to know.”
He half shrugged and frowned.
“Just because you had a fight with Ellie doesn’t mean—”
“I did not have a fight with Ellie.”
“Oh, you’re being mean on general principle?”
He ignored her comment and pushed his chair back. “As soon as it’s dry enough, we’ll haul from the north field first, right?”
“Ja, I am cutting at Baards’ with Lars,” Haakan replied.
Ingeborg watched her son leave the room, then refilled her husband’s coffee cup, her other hand patting his shoulder at the same time. “All will be well.”
“Ja, I know. But in the meantime, it might get harder.”
After the men left for the fields, Ingeborg and Astrid hurried with the dishes and, setting the roast to cooking in the oven to be ready in time for dinner, hustled out to the garden, gently digging under the potato vines with their fingers for ones big enough to eat, all the while being careful not to disturb the plants.
“I feel like I’m taking eggs from a newly setting hen,” Astrid said as she knelt in the dirt.
“Speaking of which, the hens Ellie brought—one of them was setting the other day. Is she still?”
“Yes. Won’t that make Ellie excited to have a flock of chicks to go with her others?”
“Don’t tell her.”
Astrid chuckled. “I won’t.” Once they had enough potatoes, they moved to the pea trellises and sought through the leaves for the full pea pods.
A Promise for Ellie Page 17