“I was going to check on the board at the store to see if anyone has puppies,” Signe said. “A dog would be helpful.”
“And more cats in the barn.”
“I have a feeling that is going to be taken care of soon. The orange tabby is looking fat.”
Nilda giggled. “A tomcat found her, eh?”
“Or she has been eating far more than Gra. Besides, she does not mind the barn anymore. And why else would she be hunting?”
“Perhaps she will have a litter in Einar’s pants on the floor one night.”
A laugh burst from Signe. “Nilda Carlson, you have an evil mind. Those cats know better than to get near him.”
“Cats have been known to get even.”
The two were still laughing when they stopped Rosie at the back porch.
Nilda hopped down. “I’ll unhitch her and bring the churn to the house. Need anything else from the well house?”
Signe shrugged. “I’ll ask Gerd.” She could hear Kirstin starting to fuss from the doorway.
“Just in time,” Gerd said. She set the stove lid back in place and turned to Signe.
Signe could hear Einar grumbling from the bedroom. “Nilda is bringing the churn from the well house. Need anything else?”
Gerd shook her head. “Not right now. You take care of Kirstin. She has been such a good girl.” She glanced at the bedroom and shook her head, but only slightly. She sighed.
“Why don’t you let Nilda take care of him? You take a cup of coffee out on the porch and sit for a bit. In fact, pour two cups of coffee, and Kirstin and I will join you out there.” Signe laid a hand on Gerd’s shoulder. “Please.”
The muttering continued. Signe scooped her daughter up in her arms and kissed her head. “Tante Gerd says you have been a good girl.” She nuzzled her baby’s rosy cheek. “I know what you would like. You need dry diapers first?” She checked. “Here we go.”
“Coffee will be hot in a minute or two,” Gerd said.
“Gerd!”
The order from the bedroom made Gerd close her eyes. “I will be there in a minute,” she said.
Nilda called from the porch, “I’m putting the churn out here.”
Kirstin nuzzled her mor’s chest, whimpering. “Yes, baby, yes.” Signe joined Nilda on the porch. “Gerd is bringing coffee out. Will you please see to Einar?”
“De-lighted.” Nilda’s eyebrows wiggled. “Here, let me bring out the rocking chair for you.”
“Gerd!” Einar yelled.
“Be there in a minute,” Nilda called back. She brought out the chair and set it down for Signe and her questing baby.
“I hear Nilda. Not her. I want Gerd,” Einar growled.
Gerd started toward the bedroom, but Nilda motioned her to the porch. “He can yell at me just fine. You go sit out there for a few minutes at least. Keep Signe and Kirstin company.” When Gerd reached for the coffeepot, Nilda shook her head. “Please, let me. I’ll take him some too.”
“Takk.” Gerd went outside without arguing.
This wore her out today, Signe thought as Kirstin settled in to nurse. She flipped a piece of old sheet over her shoulder. Gerd sank down on the porch bench and leaned up against the wall.
“Has he been like this all day?” Signe asked.
Shaking her head, Gerd took the cup of coffee Nilda held out. “He slept most of the morning, I fixed him a tray, and Rune got him settled with it. Then he slept some more and decided to sit in the chair. He did really well with it right by the bed like that. Then when he heard you two come home, he started in.”
Kirstin made her usual nursing noises, but Signe and Gerd listened to the conversation happening in the bedroom through the open window.
“I brought you coffee, Onkel Einar,” Nilda said.
“Where’d you go?”
“Signe and I went to Ladies Aid.”
“I paid your way for you to work here, not go off to church!” His voice rose on every word.
“Be careful, your coffee’s spilling.”
Einar roared.
Gerd started to stand, but Signe waved her back down.
“Now look what you’ve done,” Nilda chided. “Coffee all over the bed and your head is killing you. No, you are not falling to the floor.”
They heard her grunt. The bedsprings shrieked. Einar groaned.
“You just never seem to learn, do you?” Nilda chided. “Laudanum or not? I’ll get it for you. You know, if you would let us help you, you just might get better faster.”
Signe and Gerd both shook their heads.
Chapter
24
Nilda glared at her younger brother. “But you said you would go.”
“Finishing the cellar is more important right now.”
“Then I will come and help dig.”
“You two go to the class. Then you can teach me.” Ivar grinned at her. “This way you can catch up with me.”
Exasperated, Nilda turned to her older brother. “Rune.”
“There isn’t room in the hole for another shoveler. We all take turns pushing the wheelbarrows up the ramp now. I should have devised something else to haul the dirt out.”
Nilda listened for a moment. Had Einar’s snoring changed tempo? While he was now able to walk a few steps, the headaches forced him to lie down again. More than a week had passed since his accident, and he was a long way from being himself.
“Maybe we better stay here with Gerd,” Nilda said.
“No, you two go.” Gerd made a shooing motion with her free hand. “Supper and the dishes are done, and Kirstin and I are going out on the porch to rock in the evening breeze. We like this time of day. Don’t we, little one?” She paused to jiggle the baby on her hip. “Go now, or you will be late.”
While the others headed for the new cellar, Nilda and Signe climbed up into the wagon and clucked Rosie into a trot down the lane.
“Stubborn Norwegians,” Nilda muttered under her breath.
When they arrived at the church, several other horses and wagons were already tied to the hitching rail. Nilda shuddered. “We should not have come, I know it.”
“We are here now, so come on.” Signe climbed down and tied up the horse. The two women followed the sounds of talking and joined the others in the front pews.
“Welcome.” The man who must be the teacher, Mr. Larsson, smiled around at those gathered. “I am glad you are here. Since this is a beginners class, no one from last summer is here, but someone told me these sessions gave him enough help to be able to carry on decent conversations. I hope to do the same for you. Let me introduce myself. I am Fritz Larsson. Most of you know me as the man playing the organ in church on Sunday. Some of your children have been students of mine. I speak both German and Norwegian because of my parents. I grew up in a village near Stuttgart, and while my pa wanted me to go into lumber, all I ever wanted to do was teach at a school and play the organ in a church. Here, I have both.”
Nilda felt like turning around to see who he was smiling at, but when Signe nudged her, she shook her head.
“He keeps looking at you,” Signe whispered.
“Nei. He is looking at everybody.”
“Mrs. Carlson,” Mr. Larsson said, “your sons have been in our classes. Would you please tell us where you came from and when?”
Signe stood. “I am Mrs. Rune Carlson, and we came from Valders, Norway, last June to help some relatives on their farm.”
Nilda noticed she did not mention the name Einar Strand.
Mr. Larsson smiled. “Thank you. And would you please introduce the woman next to you?”
Nilda swallowed the block in her throat as she stood up. “I am Nilda Carlson; her husband is my older brother. My younger brother, Ivar, and I came several weeks ago. We took some lessons in English but not enough.” She sat back down and watched and listened while the six other people in the room introduced themselves.
Mr. Larsson nodded. “Now I will explain how I run this class. I will give you
a list of words and phrases that you can study during the week, and we will review and answer questions the following week. Halfway through our class time each week, we will switch into speaking only English.” He looked around the group. “We will keep it simple, and we are not in a hurry. You will enjoy the class more if you do the homework each week. Each class builds on the week before.”
Every time Nilda glanced up, it seemed like the teacher was looking right at her. Was her hair falling down, or was there a smudge of dirt on her face? He was tall, six foot or more, and comely. Not overly handsome, but not plain either, with a wide forehead and hair that waved slightly away from his face. His eyes were his best feature. Amber with crinkles at the edges and thick dark eyelashes and brows. Kind was the word that kept coming to her mind. His hands did not know hard manual work, but those long slender fingers could make the organ sing and dance.
Handsome was no longer a draw for her anyway, not after that handsome devil at home. Like her mor often said, sometimes evil came in pretty packages.
“Are there any questions?” Mr. Larsson looked around the room.
Without quite realizing what she was doing, Nilda raised her hand like a good pupil. When he nodded, she asked, “What made you want to teach school?”
He half smiled. “I love learning, and I want to help children do the same. God gave us marvelous minds, and learning to use them takes a lifetime. Helping others makes life worth living.” He shook his head like a dog coming up out of the creek. “Sorry, I get carried away at times.” He looked around the group. “Anyone else?”
“Do you teach music classes too?” Nilda blurted.
“Not at the moment, but one never knows what God has in mind.” He nodded. “All right, I am going to say a phrase in Norwegian and then in English. Please repeat after me. ‘Gud dag.’ ‘Good day.’” When he repeated a phrase, they did likewise. He led them through several more, all the while nodding and smiling encouragement. “Many of those words most of you already knew. They are on the list for this week. Now, let’s count together, first in Norwegian, then in English.”
They then did the days of the week and the months of the year, followed by identifying body parts and clothes and things around them.
Dusk had dimmed the sky when he raised his hands. “We are done for tonight. Take your papers with you, and I will see you all next week. Thank you for coming.”
Nilda and Signe stood along with the others as they slipped back into Norwegian to discuss the class.
“I was surprised I understood most of what he said, more than I expected,” the woman in front of them said. “This was good.”
“Ja, that it was.” Nilda stretched her neck and shoulders. She’d forgotten what being in a class felt like.
Mr. Larsson stopped in front of them. “Mrs. Carlson, you have learned a lot, I think, in the year you have been here. I know your boys picked up the language quickly. Did they happen to mention that they were each supposed to check out books to read over the summer?”
Signe rolled her eyes. “Not that I recall, and I did not see any books come home.”
“Not surprising.” He sent Nilda a side glance while he spoke to Signe. “We have shelves of books at the school. They could come get some on Sunday after church. Or I can choose several and send them home with you.”
“Perhaps that would be best.”
“Good, I hoped you’d say that.” He leaned down and picked up three books. “They can start with these.”
Signe smiled up at him. “Takk, er, thank you.”
He turned to Nilda. “I’m glad to meet you, Miss Carlson. Welcome to our community.”
“Takk.” She caught herself. “Thank you.”
“May I suggest you all speak English at your house? The boys will enjoy it too.”
“We shall see.”
Halfway home, Nilda swatted a persistent mosquito and chuckled. “Do you think we can do that, speak English, only English?”
“I think our conversations will be mighty short. But I would like Kirstin to grow up with both languages. The teacher said he spoke Norwegian and German and now English, and that is a good thing.” Signe paused and chuckled. “I think you caught his eye, though.”
Nilda nudged her with an elbow. “I think matchmaking does not become you.”
“We shall see.”
Nilda flicked the reins over Rosie’s back. Thinking of Mr. Larsson brought back thoughts of that lech, Dreng Nygaard. Not a good thing. She had hoped she’d left him behind, but it seemed he still dogged her steps.
They reached home just as the evening star stepped out in the western sky. A light breeze lifted tendrils of hair and the horse’s mane.
Knute stepped down from the porch where the rest of the family were all sitting. “I’ll put Rosie away.” He took up the lines and headed for the barn.
“Thank you. We’re supposed to talk only English from now on.” Signe stopped at the steps and turned her head, listening to night sounds. Nilda paused to do the same. Crickets, a bird’s call, the whine of mosquitoes. An owl hooted as it flapped past the house, and bats dipped and darted. “I love evenings like this.”
“Ja, me too. Though I think I should take up smoking a pipe to help keep the mosquitoes away.” Rune tipped his chair back against the wall. “We are nearly finished with the digging.”
“Do you have the timbers to frame the cellar?” Ivar asked.
“Nei. Got to go to the lumberyard.” Rune patted the bench. “Come, Signe, sit yourself.”
She settled beside him. “Where’s Gerd?”
“Over here. In the dark.” A chuckle announced her location.
As Signe sat down beside Rune, Nilda joined the boys on the steps.
“So how was your class?” Ivar asked.
“Like Signe said, we are supposed to only talk English around here,” Nilda said with mock sternness.
Rune shrugged. “We can try.”
Gerd’s voice drifted from the dark. “At the beginning of the day when we are refreshed, ja. At the end of the day when we are weary, nei. Too much work.”
Leif popped from the steps. “Hooray for Tante Gerd!”
“How did Einar do tonight?” Nilda asked.
“Sat in his chair for a while, seemed a bit better.” Gerd’s voice sounded tired. Knute came up from the barn and sat on the floor at his far’s feet.
Signe leaned toward Knute. “Mr. Larsson sent you boys a present. What’s this about you supposed to be reading this summer, and you were to bring books home?”
Knute shrugged. “We musta forgotten.”
“To make up for that, he sent books home for you. Wasn’t that nice of him?”
“Uh-huh.”
“I have three, and I expect you each to read one chapter every evening. You finish one book and start on the next.”
“But, Mor . . .”
“What?”
“They’re in English.”
“Good, you can read to me then.”
“And me,” Tante Gerd chimed in.
Knute nudged Leif. “You think Onkel Einar would like us to read to him?”
Leif’s snort could be heard clear to the barn. He quickly changed the subject. “Far, did you check the gilts? I think they’re getting close.” Since they’d kept the two young gilts from the year before, they now had four hogs farrowing.
“Want to do it now?” Rune asked.
“Maybe we should.”
While Rune and Leif ambled to the barn, the others picked up chairs and went back in the house. Nilda heard Einar snoring in the bedroom. Good. Ivar, Bjorn, and Knute said their good-nights and went up the stairs, laughing about something. Kirstin snuggled into her mor’s arms to be carried upstairs as well.
Gerd started toward the bedroom but stopped. “I think I will sleep on a pallet in the parlor tonight.”
Nilda looked at her. Even in the light from the kerosene lamp, she could see how tired Gerd looked.
Signe asked, “Is he worse a
t night?”
“Nei, not worse, but he thrashes around and mutters, and I don’t sleep very well.”
“I know, you come upstairs with me, and Rune will sleep by the bed in your room in case Einar needs something.”
“I—I don’t . . .”
“If it is the stairs, I will help you,” Nilda said softly. “That is what we are here for, to help you.” She put the emphasis on the last word.
“I—I’m j-just tired.”
“How long since you’ve had a decent rest in the afternoon?” Nilda whispered.
“I lie down, but . . .”
“How about we help him out to the porch in the afternoon tomorrow, and you take your nap when Kirstin does?” Nilda suggested.
“We shall see. But takk, I will sleep upstairs, just for tonight.”
The next morning Nilda woke early and, grabbing her clothes, tiptoed down the stairs to dress in the parlor. When she entered the kitchen to start the stove, Rune was there already. “You got in here before me,” she said.
“No wonder Gerd wanted to sleep upstairs. I can usually sleep through anything, but I was up with him a couple of times.” Rune was building the fire while he talked. “He is so angry at not being able to be out felling those trees. The boys and I will go out there today just to try to calm him down.”
“How are the gilts?”
“One had eight, the other wasn’t quite ready.” He took a match from the holder on the wall behind the stove and lit the shavings, adding more wood when the kindling caught.
“I’ll be right back.” Nilda paused at the edge of the porch to inhale the morning. Walking barefoot through the dewy grass made her want to skip, which she did, and dance, which she didn’t. The outhouse needed lime again, so she hurried.
She was setting the kettle on the quickly heating part of the stove when Signe came in, tying her apron.
“Sorry, I did not even hear you get up,” Signe said. “Gerd and Kirstin are both still sleeping. I told the boys to dress downstairs and let them sleep. Poor Gerd, she was so terribly tired.”
The boys trailed through the kitchen, heading for chores.
At breakfast, Leif announced they now had fifteen baby pigs and two sows left to deliver. “If we can keep them all alive, we’ll have lots to sell come fall.”
A Breath of Hope Page 20