“Guess I could.”
“Good, then you’ll talk with the sheriff?”
Hjelmer nodded.
“Anything else we need to discuss then?”
“I think we should have a funeral for him. That way if his widow or family comes asking, they’ll know we did right by him.” Haakan glanced around the room. “I know it might help me feel better if I was the grieving party.”
“I’ll make the box,” Joseph volunteered, “first thing in the morning.”
“Thanks.” Olaf was usually the one who made the coffins.
“And we’ll bury him here in the cemetery.”
“What if he weren’t a believer?”
“Since only God knows that, we’ll do what we can.” Solberg looked at each face. “Anything else?”
When they all shook their heads, he bowed his. “Let’s close in prayer then.”
At the “amen” they all stood. “See you tomorrow, then, those who can come. Otherwise, remember the debate here at ten on Saturday morning. The women have planned a dinner for afterward.”
“To keep them politicians from talking all day long.”
“And talking our ears right off.”
They all left chuckling.
That sunny Saturday people began arriving an hour before the debate, tying their horses and throwing down hay for them. The men started the cooking fire and helped set up the tables on the south side of the church while the women set out the food, all covered and ready for the noon meal.
Some had brought coffee in jugs they emptied into buckets to hang over the fire to warm. Huge coffeepots were hung on tripods and filled with water to make coffee later.
The church filled to standing room only, so they opened all the windows in order that the people outside could hear.
At ten o’clock Pastor Solberg stepped to the front and raised his hands for silence. As the crowd quieted, the younger children could be heard playing at the schoolhouse. “Welcome, everyone, to our first political debate here in Blessing. Let us ask our heavenly Father to bless this day and us.” He waited until the shuffling and throat clearing stopped. “Father in Heaven, God of all the universe and God of this great country of ours, we thank thee for putting governments on earth to help and guide us. We thank thee for all the folks gathered here and our interest in being wise citizens who understand the issues and choose carefully the people we vote for. Bless thou this day and this meeting. Please grant us wisdom and peace. In Jesus’ precious name.”
The crowd joined him in the “amen.”
Pastor Solberg waited until everyone took their seats again. “Thank you. I now have the honor of introducing to you two gentlemen who have come here to inform us of the issues as they see them. Please stand, gentlemen, so everyone can see you.” As the two well-dressed men rose from the front pew and took their places on either side of him, Solberg nodded and shook their hands. “Now, on my right we have Mr. Walter Muir, who has a reputation as an excellent farmer from up near Pembina. On my left is Mr. Porter J. McCumber, who is known for his association with the railroads.” A slight shuffling greeted that announcement. “I believe our two guests have decided who will speak first.” Solberg looked to his right.
“Mr. McCumber will go first.” Walter Muir nodded to his opponent, so Muir and Solberg took their seats, leaving McCumber in front.
“Friends, fellow citizens of this great territory of Dakota, Pastor Solberg, thank you for your kind invitation to share the floor with my esteemed colleague, Mr. Muir. Thank you also for coming today. I know you all have plenty of work to do, so I will keep this as brief as possible, yet there is much to cover.”
Penny, Ingeborg, and Agnes left the debate several times to check on the coffee and the children.
“That McCumber must think we don’t have a brain between us,” Agnes grumbled after the first man finally sat down. “I wouldn’t vote for him if my life depended on it.”
“You don’t have to worry. We won’t be able to vote. I heard there’s talk of letting the women vote in school elections, however.” Penny shook her head. “He’s pretty condescending though. Probably thinks that since we are Norwegians we don’t understand English.”
They returned to the back of the church in time to listen to the beginning of Muir’s speech. He was one of the Farmer’s Alliance leaders and knew how much he needed the farmers’ votes. Looking around the room, Ingeborg knew right away who was the favored speaker here. The question and answer time would be downright interesting.
Noon came and went and still the discussion continued.
The audience began to cough, shuffle their feet, and raise hands to ask questions.
Finally Pastor Solberg stood. “We’ll entertain a few questions now.” He pointed to a man in the back. “Yes?”
“What I want to know is how they are going to regulate the railroads so they can’t rob us blind!”
The more questions that came, the more obvious it was that McCumber was on the side of the railroad companies. Muir talked about the proposed legislation concerning shipping and elevators.
Finally Pastor Solberg called a halt as the tempers heated up. “You can talk with these gentlemen over the dinner that’s all set up for us outside. How about letting our guests go through the line first? They deserve a good meal after sharing such important information with us. Let’s give them a hand, shall we?”
The applause was less than thundering.
“And now we’ll have grace before we dismiss.” He said the grace, and some were out the door before the second half of amen.
“That man never did recognize one woman who had a question,” Agnes muttered to Ingeborg. “I’m half tempted to—”
“Don’t even consider whatever you—”
“I just thought to be the coffee pourer. Wouldn’t be my fault if salt got put in their coffee rather than sugar.”
“Agnes Baard!”
“Well?”
“They need plenty of sugar after the vitriolic talk I heard up there.” They both turned at the same time to see the two candidates shaking hands. While men crowded around them, the two made their way to the tables at the insistence of Pastor Solberg.
“Uff da,” Agnes said after listening to several men get into a shouting match. “If this is the way of politics in this country, I’m glad I can’t vote.”
“Not me,” Penny replied. “I’m more convinced than ever that the women’s vote is needed, to keep things sane if nothing else. Think I’ll write to Elizabeth Preston Anderson of the Christian Women’s Temperance Union and ask if she would like to come here and talk with all the women. If I hear anything more about how wonderful the Louisiana Lottery is, I swear I’ll scream. Gambling and drinking are two things that should be outlawed for sure if and when we ever get to be a state, or two states.”
“How do you know about her?” Ingeborg leaned over and picked up Astrid, who had again managed to escape her sitters.
“I read about her in the newspaper lots of times. She writes editorials better than most of the men, I can tell you.” Penny held out her arms. “Come on, Astrid, let’s go get something to eat.”
“Eat.” Astrid nodded as she went into Penny’s arms. “Astid hungry.”
Penny grinned at Ingeborg around the little girl. “Spoken like a true Bjorklund.”
Ingeborg laughed and turned to Agnes. “I think we should send Penny to one of the meetings of the CWTU in Grand Forks. What do you think Hjelmer would say to that?”
“If you think he would let her go . . .”
“He would if someone went with her, I imagine.”
“Inge, are you thinking what I think you are thinking?” Agnes tried to keep a straight face, but the chuckle won out. “Maybe a whole group of us should go and show our support. Women who can think for themselves don’t live just in the cities.”
“Maybe we should.”
“You have that look in your eye.”
Ingeborg shrugged. “Me?” She rolled he
r lips together and nodded. “I wonder when their next meeting is.”
Chapter 17
Please come home.
Mary Martha read the line again. Her uncle Jedediah had written the letter, one of the two or three he’d written in his whole life. She scanned the page again, trying to read between the lines. How sick was her mother? She must be bad for Jed to write.
“Who’s that from?” Katy came out of the bedroom rubbing her eyes. “Why did you let me sleep so long? I only needed a short nap.” She glanced down at her slippered feet. “See, even most of the swelling in my feet is gone. I’ve turned the corner, just as I told you I would.” She patted her rounded belly. “Young Zeb here has decided I should sleep more too. He’s calmed down from whatever was bothering him.”
Mary Martha studied her sister-in-law, the dark circles that gave her raccoon eyes were gone, her cheeks had color in them again, and she hadn’t thrown up or mentioned spots of blood for over a week now. She finally did indeed wear the bloom of a mother-in-waiting.
Mary Martha breathed a sigh of relief. “It’s from my uncle Jedediah. He lives at the homeplace. He says Ma is sick and I should come home. He wouldn’t write unless it was serious.”
Katy sank down on her knees in front of the chair where Mary Martha sat. She laid her cheek against her best friend’s snowy apron. “I don’t want you to go and neither will the girls, let alone Zeb. But if you must, you must.” She raised tear-filled eyes to see that Mary Martha wore the same sad look. “I will miss you more than I can even begin to say in Norwegian, let alone English.”
The little sally made them both smile, one no more wobbly than the other.
“I had hoped to stay until after the baby was born.” Mary Martha’s thoughts careened to the schoolhouse. Oh, how she would miss the children. Who would help them with her not there? If only she’d been able to talk her mother into coming west and leaving the homeplace to Eva Jane and her husband. After all, she was the eldest.
She could hear her mother’s voice plain as if she were in the room. “I was born not five miles from here, I buried two children and a husband here, and here I will die.” Please, God, don’t let it be that serious. Surely the doctor can do something if I am there to make her go. And beyond that, thou art the God of healing. The Bible says so. You promised.
And Pastor Solberg, John as she called him in her heart. Were they becoming more than friends? Might that even be a possibility? But if she left, then what?
God, I don’t want to leave!
“When will you go?”
“Tomorrow.” The word sounded as empty as the Dakota prairie in the winter.
“You’ll hardly have time to say good-bye to anyone.”
“Maybe it’s better that way. Easier at least.” Mary Martha folded the letter and put it in her pocket. “I’ll get the supper going and then go talk with the girls. When did Zeb say he’d be in?”
“Dark, as usual. He’s trying to get that last section plowed before the ground freezes. Valders didn’t get to it last year with his accident and all. We need to leave as much in pasture as we can and still raise enough grain for feed.”
“Now I won’t see the foals come spring.” Mary Martha kept thinking of things she would miss out on.
“You can come back, you know. The train goes both ways.”
“True. As soon as Ma is on her feet again, I promise I’ll catch the first train back.” With that said, Mary Martha got to her feet, dusted off her hands as if the sorrow were smudges of soil and, squaring her shoulders, marched into the kitchen. She only had to brush the moisture from her eyes once while she got supper started. After all, there’d be plenty of time for crying on the train.
She found Manda and Deborah in the corral with the horses, as she knew she would. Manda was leading one of the fillies around the ring with Deborah in the saddle.
“Now, you take the reins like I showed you, and I’ll just walk beside.”
Deborah picked up the reins lying crossed over the horse’s withers. “Tell me when to pull back.”
“Now, and very gently. We want her to have a soft mouth, and anyone sawing on the reins could ruin that.” The trio stopped and started, and stopped again. “Good girl.”
Mary Martha wasn’t sure if Manda meant the horse or her sister, but Deborah beamed as if she’d been given the best compliment of her young life.
“You sure have brought her along fast.” Mary Martha left the corner of the barn and put one foot up on the bottom rail.
Manda shot her what for Manda was a grin. “Okay, now forward again and turn her to the right along the fence. Lay the reins along her neck like I showed you so she learns to neck rein.”
Mary Martha let her chuckle only show a smile. That filly would follow Manda right into the house if they let her. When Zeb sold this one, which would be soon, there would be a real broken heart here, no matter how much Manda knew that’s why she was training the horse. She knew Manda was hoping Zeb would change his mind and keep the horse for a brood mare, but one as flashy as the chestnut in front of her and broken both to saddle and harness would bring in good money. Until he sold some horses, money was in short supply.
“Whoa.” Deborah tightened the reins, and the three of them faced her. If a horse could smile, this one was. Both the girls glowed like candles in the dark.
“You about ready to put her away?”
Manda nodded. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” She’d just told a lie. Mary Martha corrected herself. “I’ll tell you as soon as you’ve put the horse away.” She looked up to the little girl in the saddle. “Did you gather the eggs yet and feed the hens?”
Deborah shook her head. “Manda needed me.”
Mary Martha knew that said it all. If Manda needed something, Deborah would walk barefoot through the snow to get it if she had to. And vice versa. In spite of the home they now had with Zeb and Katy, sometimes the girls still acted as if it were the two of them against the world.
Mary Martha had hoped to be able to make life easier for them. She sighed. How could she do that from a distance? Tossing out grain for the chickens, she thought of all the people in Blessing who had become so dear in such a short time. While gathering the eggs, her thoughts and prayers continued, the foremost being Pastor John Solberg.
She sat the girls down on a bench beside the cow stanchions. “You know the letter I got today?” At their nods, she continued. “It was from my uncle Jed. He says my ma is very sick, and I need to come home.”
“But this is your home,” Deborah said firmly.
“I know, but my other home needs me worse right now, so I will be leaving on the train tomorrow.”
“I knew it.” Manda clamped her arms across her chest.
“I don’t want you to leave. Ma needs you here too.” Deborah flung herself into Mary Martha’s arms. She raised a tear-stained face. “Please say you’ll stay.”
“Don’t go cryin’ on her. ’Twon’t make any difference.” Manda took her sister’s arm and pulled her away. “Grown-ups do what they gonna do, and nothin’ we can do about it.”
“I hope to come back sometime.”
“Um.” The sound wasn’t very positive. Manda had had people go away before, saying they’d come back, and they never did. “I gotta get another horse worked ’fore it gets too dark.” She hauled herself to her feet as though a ton of hay had just fallen on her shoulders and strode out to the barn.
“You want to carry the egg pail?” Mary Martha asked the little girl who’d buried herself back in her aunt’s arms as soon as Manda let go of her arm. Stroking the fine hair and patting her back calmed Deborah down. She nodded and the two walked toward the well house to leave the eggs in the cool room.
Zeb took her around that night to the Bjorklunds, the Baards, and the Wolds, leaving the soddy by the schoolhouse until last. “So soon?” everyone asked. But she knew she left with all their blessings and many reminders to come back whenever she could.
&nb
sp; Zeb pulled the team to a stop by the hitching post to the north of the Solberg soddy. “You want me to come in or wait here?”
“Come in. You’ll freeze out here.” Mary Martha shivered in a blast from the north wind.
Pastor Solberg already had the door open by the time they got to it. “Come in. Come in. Is something wrong? Katy? Is it Katy?”
Mary Martha felt her face freeze in that moment. Still, the first thing for him was Katy. When her heart began to beat again, she forced a smile over iced lips. “No, it’s not Katy. I came to tell you that I received a summons home. My mother is ill.” Her tone sounded as formal as her face looked. “I . . . I won’t be able to help with the schoolchildren anymore.”
“Miss MacCallister, why I . . . I guess I thought you’d be staying here forever.” He motioned them in. “May I take your coats? The coffee can be hot in a few minutes.”
“No, thank you. We need to be getting home so I can pack.”
“Wh-when are you leaving?”
“On the noon train.” She amazed herself at the coolness of her tone.
“So soon?” He rubbed a hand across his forehead.
If he hadn’t asked for Katy first, she would have listened more to what sounded like a wound in his voice.
“I . . . I can’t even think straight.” He sent Zeb a look that pleaded for help, but Zeb shook his head.
“Ma needs her more’n we do right now. She’ll just have to come back when she can.”
“Yes, when she can.” Solberg nodded. “Would you like to hear from m—the children?”
“Most definitely.” And you? “I’ll write right back.”
“I—we—I guess that’s it then.”
“Yes. We better be going.” She turned toward the door.
“Wait. I mean, can we see you off at the train?”
Oh, why didn’t I just write a letter? I hate good-byes. “I guess.”
“See you tomorrow then, Pastor.” Zeb took her arm and steered her out the door.
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