A Touch of Grace

by Lauraine Snelling

  “What do you want for the pair?”

  The man named a price higher than she wanted to pay, but her heart got in the way.

  “I’ll give you sixty dollars and a good meal.”

  The man tipped his fedora back, scratched his several-day-old whiskered chin, and hitched his overall strap higher on his shoulder. “Guess I’ll take it.”

  “You can put them in that corral by the barn. Give them a good drink at the water tank first.”

  “Thank you, missus. Lord bless you.”

  Ingeborg returned to the house to fix a plate of food and fetch the cash from her strongbox. After slipping the bills into her pocket, she sliced bread and cheese, poured a glass of buttermilk from the crock Astrid had brought in, added the last of the gingerbread from the night before, and headed back outside. The cows were still drinking, and the man had soused his head in the tank too. Water drops darkened his shirt, but he looked a mite refreshed.

  “Why don’t you sit down in the shade of the well house and let them graze while you eat. Then you can put them in the corral.”

  “Be glad to do that.” He took the plate and the money and sank down cross-legged in the shade. After a couple of bites he looked up. “You know what time the train comes by going east?”

  “About another hour or two.”

  “Good. I’ll be on it.” He held up a piece of bread with cheese. “Mighty fine, ma’am. Mighty fine.”

  Ingeborg returned to the house, and the next time she looked out the window, the cow and heifer were in the corral, and the man was down the road on his way to town. She found the glass sitting on the plate on her back porch. Glancing out over the fields, she saw the two teams mowing hay, one slightly ahead of the other, the way they’d always done it. Lars and Haakan would move from field to field, the sickle bars laying the grass out flat behind them. The breeze carried the fragrance of newly mown grass and clover across the fields, a summer scent that promised a bountiful year. She probably should have gone out and asked Haakan what he thought, but one milking and one due to freshen soon didn’t make a whole lot of difference in the milking time. Surely he wouldn’t mind. Besides, the cheese house could always use more milk.

  When Haakan came in from the fields that evening, she told him about the man and her purchase. “He looked so down and out, I couldn’t refuse.”

  Haakan shook his head. “Leave it to my Inge.” He lifted his hat and wiped his forehead with his forearm. “You got something cold to drink?”

  “Buttermilk?”

  “Sounds good.”

  “I’ll bring it out. They look to be a good addition to the herd. They’re both bred. I was going to ask him if the heifer was out of the cow, but I forgot.”

  “They look similar enough. I’ll get the harnesses off. The boys are milking already.”

  “They started early.”

  Ingeborg brought a glass of buttermilk out to her husband, thinking he looked mighty tired himself. But she knew better than to suggest he let the young men finish off the chores and he take it easy. At the sound of a trotting horse, she looked around to see Astrid turning into the lane, Inga waving beside her. When Astrid stopped the buggy, Ingeborg held out her arms and swooped Inga into her embrace.

  “Gamma, I come see you.”

  “I know. I am so happy, I could squeeze you forever.”

  “Mr. Jeffers said thank you and he’ll be out as soon as the store can be closed. Thorliff and Elizabeth will be along soon. What did we bring for Grandma?”

  “Candy. Good candy.”

  “I see you already had some.”

  Inga held up one finger. “One, that all.”

  “Andrew and Ellie are here too,” Ingeborg told Astrid. “Ellie brought a rhubarb pie. And yes, the chocolate pudding is ready for the topping.”

  “I see you bought the cows.”

  “Ja, I couldn’t help it.”

  “Down, Gamma. See Gampa.”

  “You stay with me until he gets the horses unharnessed.”

  Astrid backed the buggy into the shed and jumped out to release the horse. She stripped the harness off, handing it to her father, and led the horse to the corral, where he couldn’t get a drink yet. “You want me to put the cow in the barn?”

  “Ja, thanks.” Haakan lifted the harness onto pegs on the barn wall. “You go on and help your mother if we’re having all this company. We’ll finish the milking.”

  Ingeborg stretched the table out to its longest length in order to seat all the guests. Ellie did her best to help with Carl on her hip. He gave a huge yawn and laid his head on Ellie’s shoulder.

  “Why don’t you go lay Carl on one of the beds, Ellie,” Ingeborg suggested. “His eyelids are looking heavy.”

  “I’ll give it a try. He didn’t sleep long enough this afternoon.”

  Inga helped Astrid set the table while Ellie took care of Carl.

  “Each plate gets a spoon,” Astrid said as she handed Inga spoons and set the rest on the table, where she could reach them.

  “For pudding?”

  “How do you know there is pudding?”

  “Gamma said.” Inga placed the spoon very carefully on a plate and looked up to Astrid, who shook her head.

  “Beside the plate.”

  Inga moved the spoon. “Here?”

  “Good.”

  “She talks more every day,” Ellie commented as she sliced the bread. “Carl has someone to keep him on his toes. When he starts walking, that is.”

  “Don’t rush him. At least you can catch him when he’s crawling.” Ingeborg pulled a pot of beans from the oven and checked on the roast. “We’re going to have to butcher one of those steers pretty soon. I’m running out of meat.”

  “One of the sheep is limping. Pa said he’d butcher it and hang the hindquarters to dry in the haymow.”

  “Some venison would taste good.”

  “They won’t take time to butcher now that haying is begun.” Astrid watched as Inga, the tip of her tongue showing between her lips, placed each spoon precisely.

  “Now I do knives?”

  Ellie glanced at Ingeborg. “How does she know all this so soon?”

  “She’s helped Astrid set the table before. You only have to tell her something once and she’ll remember.”

  “Are all children this smart?”

  “Not that I know of.” Ingeborg dropped a kiss on the little tow-head at her side.

  “Takk, Gamma.”

  The three women burst into laughter, making Inga giggle too, her little hands clapped over her mouth.

  “Oh my, what a good girl you are.” Ingeborg wiped her hands on her apron and swung her granddaughter up onto her hip.

  Inga looked toward the door. “Gampa coming.” She pushed away to be set down, and when her feet hit the floor, she ran to the screen door. “Gampa!”

  “Coming.” Haakan’s voice floated through the screened kitchen window above the wash bench, where the milkers were cleaning up.

  Inga pushed against the screen door and, when it opened, started out.

  “No, you stay inside. Watch your fingers.” While Ingeborg cautioned, Astrid swooped the little one up and danced around the room with her.

  “See Gampa!” Inga glared up at her aunt, making Astrid laugh again.

  “He’ll be here in a minute.” Astrid spun them in a circle, bringing a smile back to the stern little face.

  When Haakan came through the door, Inga ran to him, her face beaming and her arms raised. “Gampa, up.”

  Haakan lifted her and kissed her cheek, holding her against his chest. “Your pa and ma are here,” he said when he heard a buggy. She nodded but kept her arm around his neck, even when Thorliff and Elizabeth came through the door.

  “Smells good in here.” Thorliff sniffed deeply a second time.

  “Pudding,” Inga informed him.

  “You don’t say. Did Grandma make you chocolate pudding?”

  “Uh-huh.” She stuck a forefinger in her mouth a
nd leaned her forehead against Haakan’s chin. “Gampa milk cows.”

  “Did Pa help milk cows?” Astrid asked.

  Inga shook her head. “Pa no milk cows.” Her serious look at her father made them all chuckle.

  “She has that right.” Thorliff held up his hands, still ink stained from printing the newspaper. “But I never had hands like this milking cows.”

  “No matter what he scrubs with, we all know when it is printing day.” Elizabeth reached for her daughter. “You come sit with Ma.”

  They were all taking their chairs when they heard a buggy nearing the house. Ingeborg looked out the window. “Mr. Jeffers is here, just in time.”

  “Welcome, Mr. Jeffers,” she said, meeting him at the door. “Please come in.”

  He looked short next to all the Bjorklund men as he shook hands around the table and said howdy to them all. Extra girth usually hidden by his shop apron added to the impression. With his mouse brown hair pomaded to stay back and his slightly darker mustache newly trimmed, he’d obviously cleaned up to be company. A wandering left eye made one wonder where he was looking.

  “Thank you for the invitation,” he said, turning to Ingeborg. He handed her a brown wrapped parcel from his other hand.

  “Why, thank you.” Ingeborg almost said, “You didn’t need to do that,” but restrained herself and slipped off the string instead. She laid it on the counter to add later to the ball of string she was saving and unfolded the paper to reveal two packets of needles—one for hand sewing, one for the machine—and several yards of inch-wide eyelet. “How nice of you.”

  “Thought perhaps you could use those.”

  “I surely can. Please, won’t you sit down?” She indicated a chair next to Haakan.

  As soon as the guest sat, Haakan folded his hands. “We’ll say the blessing. I Jesu navn, går vi til bords… .”With all of them joining in, they finished with “amen.” Inga said it after they all did, setting a chuckle around the table.

  “So how’s the store going?” Haakan asked after everyone had helped themselves from the bowls and platters that circled the table.

  “Fair to middling.” Mr. Jeffers laid down his fork. “Guess it takes some time for folks to adjust to a new owner, Miz Bjorklund being part of the family and all.”

  “Our Penny ran a good store all right and catered to everyone around. If she didn’t have something in stock, she’d order it right quick,” Ellie said.

  “She loved finding new gadgets, especially for housekeeping.” Ingeborg buttered half a slice of bread and handed it to Inga, receiving a wide grin in return.

  “I’m hoping to move out some things been sitting there awhile.”

  “Well, we hope you join into the life of our town,” Thorliff said. “We’ll be putting up some new houses if you decide to bring your family out.”

  “No family to speak of,”Mr. Jeffers told them. “I was hoping there might be some marriage-minded ladies out here. Although my sister from Wisconsin said she’d come out to help me if I needed her.”

  “Is that where you’re from?” Dr. Elizabeth asked over Inga’s head.

  “Oh no, back east. Had no idea about life in the west.”

  “How did you hear about the Blessing General Store being for sale?” Thorliff asked.

  Wonder why he didn’t say where exactly he was from. Ingeborg started the meat platter around again. “Here, help yourselves. I don’t want anyone to go away hungry.”

  “As if that would happen.” Thorliff gave his mother a teasing grin.

  “Oh, a friend been through here on the railroad told me about the store.”

  He’s very tight-lipped, yet he doesn’t appear to be shy. You don’t look like the kind of man who would have amassed a nest egg. Where did the money come from to buy Penny’s store? Ingeborg kept her thoughts to herself, knowing she and Haakan would discuss this conversation later.

  “You been a storekeeper before?”

  “Worked in one since I was old enough to push a broom. Our family’s been keeping stores since they come from the old country.” He passed the bowl of baked beans after spooning more onto his plate. “This is the best meal I’ve had since I left the boardinghouse. Never been much of a one to cook for myself.”

  “You come to church on Sunday and we’ll make sure you’re introduced to the rest of the folks.” Ingeborg nodded to Astrid to get the coffeepot. Didn’t say which country his family was from either. He is a man of few words.

  “Don’t see how I can do that and keep the store open too.”

  “You’re going to be open on Sundays?” Andrew asked.

  “Nothing is open on Sundays except the boardinghouse.” Thorliff paused in slicing his meat.

  Mr. Jeffers laid his knife across the top of his plate. “There a law against a man keeping his business open on Sunday?” His tone had tightened.

  “No, not really. It’s just the way things been done here. The Bible says Sunday is a day of rest, and—”

  “I see some of the farmers working on Sundays.”

  Wait until the women get wind of this, Ingeborg thought, rolling her lips together. I can hear Mrs. Valders now.

  “Well, I’ll say you just might get some opposition from the folk around here, but what you do with your store is your business.” Haakan spoke slowly and easily, dousing a possible fire rather than adding to it.

  Talk turned to other matters, and not long after they finished the meal, the guests headed homeward, since it was nearly dark already. Haakan and Ingeborg waved from their back porch, and Ingeborg blew sleepy Inga one last kiss.

  Astrid and Ellie were finishing up the dishes while Andrew held his still sleeping son.

  “Don’t imagine he’ll get much business on Sunday,” Andrew said. “He’ll be boycotted for sure.”

  “Got to let a man learn his lessons whatever way he chooses.” Haakan settled back in his chair, pipe and tobacco in hand. “You milked the new cow tonight. How’d she do?”

  “Stood there without a twitch. Needs some feeding up, but she gave better than half a bucket. Good-looking heifer.” He looked to his mother. “I think you got a real bargain with the two of them.”

  “Glad to hear that. Felt sorry for the man.” Ingeborg smiled across the lamplight to her son. Andrew had little Carl on his shoulder, the baby now sucking on his fist. He must be ready to eat again by now.

  “You can put her in the pasture with the dry cows and heifers tomorrow. How close is that sow to farrowing?”

  “Any day. She started pushing her nest together, so I put her in the farrowing stall.”

  Ingeborg helped put away the dishes, letting the easy conversation roll over her. Something bothered her about Mr. Jeffers, but for the life of her, she couldn’t put a finger on it. Perhaps Haakan would have the answer. More changes, and this one didn’t feel good. If only Penny hadn’t left. It was obvious she hadn’t wanted to go. Maybe Hjelmer would find life in the city less than he thought and want to come back. But that didn’t mean Mr. Jeffers would give up the store. She sighed. Wishing things undone never helped. Only you do, Lord.

  “THAT NEW COW IS LIMPING A BIT,” Haakan told Ingeborg when he came in for breakfast a couple of days later. “I’m going to check her hooves tonight. Maybe she has thrush or something.”

  “If you leave her in the stanchion, I can have Jonathan help me check her.”

  “We already let them all out. Tonight will be soon enough.”

  When they finished eating, he announced, “We start raking today. Jonathan, you ride with Andrew for a while, see how he does it, then you can take over that team and Andrew can ride with you. Then finish cleaning out the haymow. Samuel will help you. Trygve will take out the other rake.”

  “That’s good because I need to check on the sow a couple of times,” Andrew said. “She’s restless.”

  Jonathan looked over to Andrew. “What does that mean?”

  “Well, when a sow is about to farrow, which means have her babies, she star
ts pushing the straw or grass into a mound for a nest. Then she starts to pacing, quits eating, lies down, gets up—does this over and over until finally she lies down and we start getting piglets. I keep a close eye on them, because it’s really easy for a sow to roll over on her babies. Or step on them. We have a board across one corner of the stall, and after the babies nurse, I herd them under it and into the corner for protection. Cuts down on piglet mortality. When it is cold out, we keep a hot water bottle in the corner and they snuggle up against that.”

  “They can see and walk when they are born?”

  “Ja. When she starts, I’ll come and get you, and you can watch. Seeing anything being born is a real privilege.”

  “Andrew has always been our animal doctor,” Astrid filled in. “He often spends the night in the stall when a cow is calving or a sow is farrowing.”

  “Ja, Mor takes care of humans and some animals. Andrew would make a good veterinarian did he not love farming so much.”

  “I never wanted to go away to school like some do around here.”

  “Thorliff did and I want to, so it’s a good thing someone wants to stay home and farm.” Astrid patted her brother’s shoulder as she refilled the coffee cups. “You’d be lost without your animals, wouldn’t you?”

  “Well, he does have a baby boy now, so maybe that will change.” Ingeborg looked to her son to see him shaking his head.

  A few minutes later Haakan drained his cup and slapped his hands on the table. “Let’s be at it.”

  As the men filed out, Ingeborg silently blessed each one of them, something she’d started doing years before, praying for their safety.

  “Since it is our turn to make dinner, I’ll knead the bread down, and you start making pie crust.” Ingeborg began clearing the table. “I figured two rhubarb and two custard.”

  “What else are we having?” Astrid carried a stack of dishes to the sink and, after shaving soap into the dishpan and adding hot water, began the age-old task.

  “Samuel left three rabbits hanging in the well house. I’ll cut them up, brown the pieces, and set it to cooking. We can let it simmer on the back of the stove while the bread is baking. I think we have some sour cream out there. I’ll put that in when the men are on their way up. Should make noodles too.” Ingeborg nodded. “That’s what we’ll do. Along with leaf lettuce with sugar and vinegar. Sure am looking forward to fresh beans.” She picked up a dish towel and began drying those ready.