Ingeborg had been expecting this and was grateful he’d put up with things before now. “What might we work out?”
“Strap me onto the plow. The horses know what to do well enough that I don’t need strength in that arm to guide them, especially if I drive the old team.”
“But—” She bit off her words, finishing the sentence in her mind. What if something spooked the team? Accidents happen so quickly. Lord, please give us wisdom and protection. She knew that if she disagreed with him, mother-henned him, he’d get stubborn and go ahead no matter what. All these years of marriage had taught her that much, at least.
He flexed and straightened his fingers, forcing them straighter by pushing them with his other hand against his thigh. It wasn’t for lack of effort on his part that the weakened limbs were still healing. “Haakan, it hasn’t even been two weeks.”
“I know. Two of the longest weeks of my life.” He stared out the window. “I know I could manage the plow.”
“Let’s walk on down to the barn.” She let him navigate the back steps by himself, grateful they had a sturdy railing for him to hang on to. His stride was more even than the day before, but while she was pleased with his progress, each day it ate at him more.
She and Astrid had agreed to stay out of his way, let him do whatever he decided to try, but the doing thereof was more mountain than molehill. When he stumbled, she didn’t grab him but managed to be where he could grab her.
He stopped to catch his breath. “I’m worse than an old man.”
“That’s your opinion.” She raised her face to the sun. “What a glorious day.”
When he started off again, she kept step. “Andrew said the sow would be ready for breeding any day.”
“Did he put the boar in with her?”
“Let’s go see.” The three hogs were lying on their sides in the sun. Ingeborg and Haakan leaned on the fence. “Now, that’s the way to spend the day.”
“Not if the plowing needs to be done.” He turned at the sound of metal pounding on metal. “I’m going to the machine shed. You can go on back to the house.”
“Yes, sir.” She snapped off a military salute.
Haakan swatted her lightly on her posterior and walked away. “You could at least keep the cane with you.”
His wave told her what he thought of that idea.
If he went into the machine shed, he would not be able to see her shoveling the banking away from the house. She sighed with relief and returned to her pitchfork and wheelbarrow. Pitching straw and manure did manage to work up a sweat and make her muscles ache. Spring work after winter’s respite was always hard on backs and especially hands. Even though she was wearing leather gloves, she had hot spots on her palms after an hour’s labor.
When her back screamed for relief, Ingeborg returned inside and drank a dipper of water without stopping. The kitchen seemed empty without him. After adding canned beans, tomatoes, and chopped cabbage to the soup she had left simmering, she went down to the cellar to search for more carrots. The few remaining were sending leafy sprouts through the layers of sand. She dug them out and, after grabbing a jar of raspberry jam for the biscuits and another of dill pickles, headed back upstairs. Soon it would be time to clean out the cellar too. But there was no sense in doing so until after the river thawed and they learned how bad the floods would be. While they’d built up a bit of a rise for the house, the cellar still flooded regularly.
She hummed while she measured the ingredients for the biscuits, added the buttermilk, and patted the dough into a half-inch-thick circle to cut out the biscuits. With that finished and the pan ready for the oven, she added wood to the firebox to heat the oven more and crossed to the door to let the cat in.
“No, I don’t want a mouse in here. Ishda.” She shooed the cat back outside. “You eat that out there.” Thanks to their good mouser, she rarely had mice in the pantry, and those that got in never lasted long.
“Oh, today is the reopening of the mercantile. I was going to go there this morning.” She swiped a lock of hair from her forehead with the back of her hand. “And here I am, talking to myself. Uff da.” She kept on humming to keep her mind off worrying over Haakan. He would come back to the house when he got too tired. If only she believed that little story.
Stepping onto the back step, she rang the triangle that hung on a bracket by the door. Another first for this season. The call to dinner.
A few minutes later she returned to the door to look toward the barn. Haakan was walking slowly, but he wasn’t leaning on Andrew or Lars, who were setting their pace to his. From her vantage point she could see his hands were greasy. He’d managed to do something, proving her wrong again. Thank you, Father, for keeping him safe. And restoring his strength.
The cat chirped from beside her, rubbing against the heavy woolen skirt. “Yes, you can come in now that you ate your mouse. Sorry, but I have a hard time appreciating the gifts you try to bring me.” She bent over and lifted the purring cat, rubbing the furry head with her chin. She’d better get a basin of water ready for the men to wash.
They came in talking of plans like any other workday. Had she not recognized the exhaustion on her husband’s face, it would have been easy to forget the last weeks.
He sank into his chair at the table and nodded when she placed a cup of coffee in front of him. She squeezed his shoulder as she passed and went to dish up the soup.
“Andrew, please say grace.” Haakan nodded to his son, who gave him a look of surprise. Haakan always said the grace.
They bowed their heads and Andrew began the old Norwegian words. “I Jesu navn …” The others joined in, and after the amen, Ingeborg stood to get the biscuits out of the oven.
“So how did you do?” She took her place at the table and started the basket around.
“He did really good.” Andrew grinned at his mother. “Might have slowed his hand down but not his mouth or his memory. Lars and I know exactly what to do now.”
She snuck a peek at her husband’s face. His smile said he knew Andrew was teasing. Her glance at Andrew earned her another smile.
“He did well, Mor. We’re trying to figure a way to adapt the plow so he can drive it. We’ll harness him up and send him out to the field as soon as the land is dry enough.” He paused. “It’ll be okay, Mor.”
Ingeborg nodded and kept from heaving a sigh. This was worse than her two young sons trying to do men’s work when they were still little boys. Keep reminding me, Lord, that you carried them safely and will carry Haakan too.
Later that afternoon Ingeborg and Kaaren turned to smile at each other as they approached the store in the buggy. A steady stream of customers was going up the steps to the store and others were coming back out, everyone with at least one package. While there’d not been this kind of business when Penny had owned the store, it had been some time since the community had had a fully stocked general store.
“We aren’t the only ones out of things.”
“At the rate this is going, Rebecca might be out of some items by now too.” Kaaren glanced at the list in her basket. “And I ordered supplies for the school directly, like Sophie did for the boardinghouse.”
The women climbed out of the light buggy and mounted the steps to the open door. The warm day felt almost like summer and time to pack away the woolen clothes.
“Look at her window display,” Ingeborg said as she pointed.
“That child has good ideas. You’d think Penny was back. My favorite was the one with the sewing machine.”
“The washing machine was better.” The two entered the store and paused just inside. “A whole new world.”
“How can I help you today, ladies?” Rebecca sang out. “We’ll be right with you.”
“We?” Ingeborg gave Kaaren a raised eyebrow look. Kaaren shrugged and pointed to the left, where Gerald, sleeves rolled back and a pencil above his ear, was waiting on a man they recognized as a farmer from south of town who rarely came to Blessing. “News g
ets around fast.”
Together they strolled to the housewares aisle and picked up various packets of needles and thread, and then fingered the lace. “Inga would love a dress out of this.” Ingeborg held out a fold of yellow gingham. “I could smock the bodice.”
“Add this narrow lace at the neck and sleeves, and won’t she think she’s the prettiest little girl ever?” Kaaren smiled. “I need to make something for Joy and Hamre. I haven’t taken time to sew for so long. Perhaps when Grace comes home for the summer, she’ll get some sewing done.”
“Couldn’t have anything to do with the curriculum you’ve been developing for the school for the deaf in New York?”
“I never dreamed that would take so much time. But when Mrs. Wooster wrote and asked if I would think on it, how could I say no?”
“Did you find what you needed?” Rebecca stopped beside them and leaned closer. “Wait until I tell you the news of today.”
From the sparkle in her eyes, Ingeborg figured it was good news. She took two bolts of fabric off the shelf, added the notions, and carried the stack to the counter for Rebecca to cut and figure up. After telling her what she wanted, she found the bluing in another aisle for her laundry, as well as starch for her ironing.
As soon as Rebecca wrapped their packages and rang them up, she told Gerald she was taking tea with her guests and led them back to the kitchen. A fresh pot of coffee waited on the stove. “Would you rather have coffee, since it is ready? We’ve given out more free coffee today than I ever dreamed we would. I had to go next door and buy some more. The people of Blessing do like something that is free.”
“Coffee will be fine.” Ingeborg glanced around at the nearly empty room. “I see you brought in your mother’s sewing machine.”
Rebecca set two coffee-filled cups on the table. “Yes. I didn’t think Gus would need it.” She carried her own cup of coffee over, and they all sat. As she related the story of the cash register drawer, Ingeborg and Kaaren shook their heads.
“Well, I never. Strange that Jeffers never mentioned a patent. You’d have thought he’d have bragged on it.”
“There was something strange about that man,” Kaaren said as she set her cup down. “I have a feeling we’ve not heard the end of this yet.”
33
EXHAUSTED AS SHE WAS, Rebecca still couldn’t get to sleep.
A dog barked somewhere in town. With her window open, she could hear other night noises too. She wasn’t used to houses being so close together. Thinking on that brought her brothers to mind. None of the Baards had come to the store today. Her first day in business, and they’d not come to wish her well. Did they hate her that much? Or perhaps they’d not heard that the store would be open again. She turned onto her other side.
Tomorrow night after the store closed she would walk out there and ask for a kitten. She who had always had a horse available or horse and wagon, whatever she needed, no longer had those services. She didn’t have time for a horse here anyway. Besides, if she walked, she’d not get mired down in the Red River mud.
She’d given the envelope from the cash register to Thorliff. It wasn’t her place to have to deal with that. But what did it all mean? She turned again, punching her pillow up in the process.
Gerald had spent his whole day off helping her in the store. Not that they’d had time for more than “Where is this,” or “You need to order that.” But she would not have made it through the day without him. The line would have been so long that some people wouldn’t have waited. She had so much to learn about running a store. It wasn’t as simple as just ringing up the cash register. But Gerald had made it seem so easy, and his smiles had lifted her tiredness all day.
She sat up and stacked her two pillows behind her. Lighting the candle took too much effort, and besides, the moon cast window squares of white on the floor. A kitten would be good company. Come Saturday, she would have a houseful of friends. What would she serve to eat? Talk about a bare kitchen; that’s what she had. What kind of person invited people to a party with no food?
And no money to buy any. Thorliff had taken a lot of money from the cash register and put it in the bank today, but that wasn’t hers. He had been both pleased and amazed. In the morning she would place her first order on the telephone. They would have new stock within the week. Oh, the convenience, the thrill of it all.
When she finally fell asleep, her dreams included the ringing cash register and Gerald watching over her.
The next evening, as soon as she turned the Closed sign on the door after another busy day, she threw a shawl around her shoulders and, with a basket on her arm, headed across the prairie to the Baard place. Strange to be approaching it on foot like this. She stuck her head in the door of the house she’d grown up in and called, but she’d already known no one would be there. She could just go down to the barn and pick up one of the kittens, but she headed on over to Knute’s instead.
Her brothers were most likely down at the barn milking, not that three cows took much time. She tapped on the door and opened it. “Anybody home?”
“Auntie Rebecca!” Two small bodies barreled across the room and threw themselves at her knees. She hugged Sarah with one hand and Hans with the other, all the while searching for Dorothy. “Where’s your ma?”
“In here,” Dorothy called from the bedroom. “I’m not feeling too good, so I took a moment to lie down.”
Rebecca swung Hans up on her hip, and with her other hand securely trapped between Sarah’s, she made her way to the bedroom.
“Why did you move to town?” Sarah asked, her lower lip rolled out. “We never see you.”
“I know. But you can come visit me at the store. I’m not hard to find.”
“Unless you have a brand of stubborn that never ends.” Dorothy rose up on her elbows. “I’d better get supper on the table. The men will be up in a few minutes.”
“You stay right there. I can manage the supper. Sarah will help me.”
The little girl nodded. “Yesterday I put Hans down for his nap and sang him to sleep.”
“I’d hoped to see some of you at the reopening of the store yesterday. About everyone from all around showed up at one time or another, even with the roads being so muddy.”
“I planned to go, but …” Dorothy shook her head. “I just couldn’t face the ride in the wagon. The supper is in the oven in the roaster. Just put it on the table. Sarah, you set the table, please, for Auntie Rebecca.” Dorothy shook her head again. “They are acting like spoiled children.”
“I take it you mean Gus and Knute?”
“I most certainly do. They can’t admit they made a mistake, and so they are blaming you.”
“Now, isn’t that a fine way for grown-up men to act?” Rebecca heaved a sigh. Stubborn did not begin to describe the Baard men, as she had known for years. Not that the women didn’t carry the trait too, but somehow it wasn’t the same.
“We are having pork roast. I saw Ma put it in the pan.” Sarah looked up from setting the table, her cheeks creased in pleasure.
Rebecca raised her voice. “Do you have any bread or rolls?”
“No. I just couldn’t bake bread today. My back is a mess.” Dorothy leaned against the doorjamb.
“I thought you were going to stay in bed.”
“I can’t. There is just too much to do. Sarah, bring the pickles from the pantry, please.”
“How long has this been going on?”
“A couple of days.”
“Did you go see Dr. Elizabeth again?”
“No.”
“Sit down in the rocker and put your feet up. I should be over here taking care of you, and now I can’t leave the store.”
“Don’t worry. This will go away,” she said while slowly settling her bulky frame in the chair. “It has before.” When Hans asked to be picked up, she helped him crawl onto her knees, since her lap was now nonexistent.
The sound of boots on the steps made Rebecca suck in a deep breath. Please, Lord
, make this go well.
“I brought—” Knute stopped and stared at his sister. “What brought you out here?”
“I came for a kitten.” And to set things right with the two of you. Although she hadn’t realized that part of her mission until just that second.
Gus shut the door behind them. Seven-year-old Swen stood by his father.
At least Gus had the grace to look ashamed. Rebecca sucked in a breath of courage. “I just wanted to say that I forgive you both.” She caught a breath in surprise. That wasn’t what she meant to say at all. “I know you didn’t mean to have all this happen, and you were just trying to do the best you knew how.”
Knute’s jaw dropped. He blinked and turned to look over his shoulder at his younger brother. When Gus seemed as shocked as he was, he turned back to Rebecca. “We didn’t mean … I mean … I thought … What I want to say is …” He held his arms out from his sides. “We never dreamed Jeffers would act like that.”
“None of us did.” Best leave it at that, an inner voice admonished. “I’m just sorry there have been hard feelings between us. Ma and Pa would be heartbroken to see this.”
“Yes.” Dorothy gave her husband a hard stare while Sarah glued herself to her mother’s side.
“I … I’m sorry.” Knute forced the words out.
“Me too,” Gus mumbled.
“Then all is forgiven, and we can eat our supper in peace.” Rebecca lifted Hans into the high chair, and Swen came to stand in front of Rebecca. “Do you want a black kitten or a gray one? I’ll go get it for you.” His smile widened. “I’m glad you are here. I wanted to come visit you during noon recess, but we aren’t allowed to leave school without permission.” He still spoke slowly, as he had since he was a baby. For a while they had been concerned about him, but he’d finally caught up with other kids his age, just slower.
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