“Enough.” Einar’s gravelly voice was music indeed. They laid him back prone.
“I don’t know how he hasn’t more frostbite.” Gerd set the cup on the table. “Could have lost fingers and toes so easily.”
“Oh, the custard.” Signe started to stand, but Gerd motioned her to stay seated so as to not wake the baby, who had slept through all the commotion in the sling around her mor’s chest.
Gerd pulled the custard out of the oven and set it on the stove. “Leif, hand me a knife from the drawer.” She cut into the custard. “Ja, it is done. This will be good for him to eat.”
“Good for all of us. What a treat.” Signe smiled at her husband and her boys.
Rune looked at his boys. “Let’s get the chores done.”
“I unharnessed the team and put all the horses in the barn,” Knute said. “I gave them some extra grain too.”
“Good, I forgot all about them.” Shaking his head, Rune looked to Gerd. “Need anything more before we go?”
“Nei, you have done far more than he—we deserved.”
“We are family, and families take care of each other. As my mor so often reminded us, God is in His heaven, and all is well.” He smiled at her. “However, custard and cookies are good anytime.”
“We will get the cookies baked.” Signe motioned to the custard cooling on the counter. “We’re halfway done. You all be careful out there.”
“We will. And we’ll put up the beds after chores.”
Gerd frowned. “You don’t expect Signe to go up those stairs yet, do you?”
“Nei, but soon.” He smiled at his wife. “I will carry Kirstin up.”
The next morning, Einar was sitting in the kitchen when the others returned from morning chores. Gerd and Signe were putting breakfast on the table.
Signe smiled at Rune and their sons. “Your dinner pails even have cookies today.”
“Mor, this is Saturday. We don’t go to school today.”
Gerd and Signe stared at each other. Signe shrugged, her smile running into laughter. “I guess we forgot.”
Knute grinned at his far. “So I can go out in the woods with you.”
“No woods today.”
They all stared at Einar, who was dishing up his eggs as if he had not spoken.
“What?” Rune looked to Gerd, who shrugged, but her eyes might have been dancing.
“You and me, we are going to Blackduck for the ceiling grate.” Einar held up his bandaged hand. “You can pick out wood for a cradle for that baby, and we’ll get lumber to close off that end of the machine shed so we can work out there at night or when it is storming.” He went back to eating as if nothing had been said.
Rune felt his mouth drop open. He looked at Signe, who was staring at Einar as if he had sprouted horns or wings. Rune sucked in and blew out a breath. “You better get a list ready.”
Gerd nodded. “We will. Now sit down and get to eating before Einar finishes off all the eggs.”
Had the frostbite gone to Einar’s head? Thank you, Lord, for miracles do still happen. And this most surely is one. Who ever would have dreamed of this?
He squeezed Signe’s hand as he headed for his place at the table.
One Sunday, two weeks later, Rune loaded Signe and their three boys into the sledge, well fortified with blankets and hot rocks for their feet.
“Where are we going?” Signe looked around her. How wonderful to be out of the house on such a grand and glorious day. Blue sky, sun glittering on the snow, a crow calling from the woods.
“It’s a surprise.” Rune clucked, and the team headed down to the barn and then, instead of following the track out to the big trees, swung off to the right and across the field. White hats crowned the fence posts, and drift shadows blued the pristine white covering the ground. When he pulled the team to a stop, Rune pointed to a tall pine standing to their left.
“See that pine tree? That is the northeast corner of our five acres. Einar and I paced it off yesterday. There’s a cleared area for the house we will build come spring. We’ll cut the lumber from our own trees, just like Einar did.” He turned to Signe. “We will have our home here.”
“And still be here to take care of Gerd.”
“Ja, and work with Einar. Bjorn, Knute, and Leif, we will all work five days each week for Einar because he needs us. The sixth day we will fell our own trees to build our home. And Sundays we will save for church.”
Signe laid her head on his shoulder. “Church. A house of our own. A family. Just what we dreamed of. Someday.”
“Our someday has already begun. I see promises of dawn every day when the sun touches the tops of the big trees, the smoke rises from the chimney, Kirstin fusses for her morning meal, and the cow bellows that we should hurry. And now we will have our own house too.”
“The promises of dawn, I like that. And perhaps one day, someone else will come from the old country, and we can all build new homes here.” She swung her arm to include the fields and the unlogged land before them. “All of us together. Family.”
“Ja, God willing. Amen.”
Acknowledgments
Starting a new series is always crazy-making, and UNDER THE NORTHERN LIGHTS is no exception. Part of the fun and the challenge was to begin sprouting a branch off the RED RIVER series, better known these days as the BLESSING series. Ingeborg’s cousin Gunlaug in An Untamed Heart, which is set in Norway, has always pleaded to see her cousin again after all these years. I want to see the two of them together again too. So . . . what if? My favorite question to begin a new story, or continue an old one, leaped into my mind, ready for more adventure.
And so began this story, set in northern Minnesota near the town of Blackduck, where the huge white pine trees were systematically logged. Gunlaug’s eldest son and his wife, Signe, and their three sons are brought from Norway at the behest of relatives Einar and Gerd Strand.
Many thanks to my agent, Wendy Lawton, for opening my eyes to a way of accomplishing this dream. She always knows how to dream big and encourage me. First readers Sandy Dengler, who helps put much-needed evil in my novels, and Ellie Delgado are invaluable. I am privileged to work with Bethany House Publishers. Publishing books is indeed a team effort. Editor Jessica Barnes took over for my dear longtime friend and editor, Sharon Asmus, who got to go home to our Lord. Jessica had big shoes to fill, and she is doing well. So grateful. Through these years, VP of Editorial David Horton has become a dear friend, wise encourager, and a good question-asker when we come up with a new idea. What a jewel. Marketing a book takes several teams with all that can and needs to be done. Again, our team is superb. As are the folks at Baker Book House, who truly believe and do business as real Christians who seek God’s will and wisdom.
The folks in Blackduck, Minnesota—especially Laraine Roach, a Facebook friend who read the manuscript and made valuable contributions, and the Historical Society, which sent me information, pictures, and answers to my questions. What great people. I hope to see them all in August of 2017 for a book release bash and thank them personally.
I am blessed to have the best assistants in the world, Opal and Cecile, who take care of things for me in many ways, from social networking to finances, along with galley reader, Judy. What a team I have!
I am so grateful to all those who pray for me. My first line of defense is my Round Robin writer-friends. We have been together since 1984, more like sisters than just friends. I have several families, my immediate family of two sons, Kevin and Brian, and husband, Wayne. Others include church family, our relatives, my Facebook family, reader family, and deep and wide friend family. We will all get to meet in heaven one day, and do we ever have a lot to talk about. Wayne has been in this since the beginning, filling so many roles in this writer business of ours. We’ve managed to visit a lot of places and many people, all part of the research it takes to make these books happen. Along with plenty of fun.
Who ever dreamed that our amazing God had all this planned from the beg
inning. To Him be all glory and honor.
Lauraine Snelling is the award-winning author of over 70 books, fiction and nonfiction, for adults and young adults. Her books have sold over 5 million copies. Besides writing books and articles, she teaches at writers’ conferences across the country. She and her husband make their home in Tehachapi, California, with basset hound Sir Winston and their “three girls,” big golden hens.
Books by Lauraine Snelling
UNDER NORTHERN SKIES
The Promise of Dawn
SONG OF BLESSING
To Everything a Season • A Harvest of Hope
Streams of Mercy • From This Day Forward
An Untamed Heart
RED RIVER OF THE NORTH
An Untamed Land • A New Day Rising
A Land to Call Home • The Reapers’ Song
Tender Mercies • Blessing in Disguise
RETURN TO RED RIVER
A Dream to Follow • Believing the Dream
More Than a Dream
DAUGHTERS OF BLESSING
A Promise for Ellie • Sophie’s Dilemma
A Touch of Grace • Rebecca’s Reward
HOME TO BLESSING
A Measure of Mercy • No Distance Too Far
A Heart for Home
WILD WEST WIND
Valley of Dreams • Whispers in the Wind
A Place to Belong
DAKOTAH TREASURES
Ruby • Pearl
Opal • Amethyst
SECRET REFUGE
Daughter of Twin Oaks
Sisters of the Confederacy
The Long Way Home • A Secret Refuge 3-in-1
Resources: bethanyhouse.com/AnOpenBook
Website: www.bethanyhouse.com
Facebook: Bethany House
Twitter: @Bethany House
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