by Paty Jager
“Mr. Halsey?” Tobias stood at the office door.
“Yes?” Hank shook off the worries that made him wonder if he should have waited a year.
“I’ve counted every log that’s been used for building, and Karl gave me the measurement for the chute we’ll build next. I’ve calculated the logs we’d need for that. Would you like to take a look at my numbers?” The younger of the Nielsen brothers had a strong mind but was a bit timid. The work in the office suited him better than the hard labor and hollering orders to the other men even if he was the same size as Hank.
“Yes, I’m still not certain what a chute is. Could you tell me about it?” Hank, took the wooden stool behind the counter while Tobias pulled out a large piece of paper with a drawing on it. He spread the paper across the counter and began explaining.
“This being an operation on a mountainside with no large streams to float the logs down, we will build a channel of logs shaped like a trough that the logs we fall will slide down and land in the stack yard. Smithy and the other teamsters will drag the logs to the chute with the horses and then greasers and gaffers will see that the logs keep moving down the mountain.”
The idea seemed ingenious but… “How fast do the logs come down the chute? What stops them at the bottom?” Hank didn’t like the idea of the logs slamming into visitors or the women.
“The chute is built to keep them moving but not at such a steep pitch the logs can’t be controlled especially when the weather warms and the logs could get warm from friction. At the bottom, the chute curls up to stop the logs.” Tobias smiled broadly. “We’ve only lost one man to a chute operation and that was his own doing. He didn’t give the force of the logs the respect they deserve.”
This wasn’t the first time he’d heard one of the crew talk about the logs in such a reverent fashion.
“Have you worked out in the woods or always in the office?” Hank couldn’t wait to get out in the woods and be a part of the group that came in sweaty, dirty, and exuberant every evening for dinner.
“All Nielsen’s have to work at every job for a while. It is how we find out what we are good at and can be called upon when there is someone sick or injured to fill in.” Tobias studied him intently. “Are you planning to learn all the jobs?”
“Yes. I want to learn everything, so in the future I can step in and help when needed.” Hank planned on making logging his future whether just on his family’s mountain or by traveling. He was tired of mining. His future was in the trees he’d marveled at from a young age.
“You’ll start out greasing the chute, move to gaffer and then up the line. The last thing you’ll learn is climbing a tree with a rope.” Tobias shuddered. “I hate that and will leave it to Kelda. She loves climbing the trees high in the air.”
“I noticed that when she took me out to talk to your father the other day.” Remembering the exhilaration in her voice talking about the sights from high in the air chilled his bones more thoroughly than standing in a winter blizzard.
“She’d be out there every day falling trees if Far would let her.” Tobias shook his head.
“It’s not your father keeping her in the cookhouse, it’s me. I won’t have a woman working out in the woods.” Hank wasn’t surprised when the young Nielsen raised his brows.
“You told this to Kelda?”
“Yes, she knows where I stand on this.” Hank wondered if she was coming around to his thinking. They had shared a laugh a few moments ago.
“That explains her anger the other night after you two talked.” Tobias shuffled some papers. “You might want to watch yourself around her. Kelda doesn’t like having anyone tell her she can’t be in the woods.” He scratched his head. “I’m surprised Far hasn’t said anything to the rest of us.
“If Mor could still work the long hours or had other help than Kelda, Far would have Kelda out there working. She is the best.” Tobias nodded and rolled up the diagram of the chute.
“You would work beside her. A woman?” Hank stared at the young man.
“Ja. Far only hires the best. His children are the best, and he likes everyone to know.”
Kelda might be one of the best, but he’d make damn sure she never worked alongside the men. She had to be a distraction. He couldn’t keep his eyes off her the other day when she was swinging an axe. He frowned. Neither had Peder. Allowing Kelda in the woods on a permanent basis would only cause problems.
Chapter 6
Kelda stepped out the back of the cookhouse to toss the dish water and caught sight of Hank and Tobias unloading a bed into the office. Tobias already had his cot set up in the small room beside Hank’s office. Did Hank bring him a bed?
Curious, she leaned the dish pan against the back of the cookhouse and wandered toward the office, drying her hands on her apron. Hank stepped from the office and hefted a trunk up on his shoulder.
“Are you moving into the office?” she asked, walking up behind him.
Hank spun. She ducked to avoid the trunk corner colliding with her head.
“Yes. I want to be here from the start of the day to the finish and the ride back and forth to my cabin is taking up too much of my day.” He motioned with his free arm for her to enter the office. “It’s cold out here. Tobias has a fire stoked in the office.”
Kelda stepped around Hank and the trunk and entered the office. Tobias looked up from behind the counter and smiled.
“Hank and I will live in the office.” Tobias held out a tin cup and motioned to the coffee pot on the small pot-bellied stove in the corner.
Hank brushed past her, disappearing with the trunk into the room that was to be his office. When he returned, she swept her gaze the length of him and would have sighed audibly if not for her brother watching them keenly and her vow to not be friendly with the man.
“Your office won’t be very private if you sleep in there.” She sipped her coffee and watched him over the rim of the cup.
A smile curved his full lips. “From what I’ve seen around here so far there isn’t a whole lot that is private in this camp.”
She had to agree there. Everyone’s business seemed to be everyone else’s. “True.” She took another sip. “You could have slept in a bunkhouse with the other beasts.”
“I like my privacy. I’ve been living alone for so long now that I’d make bad company for a room full of men. Besides I grew up with five brothers and our parents in a one room cabin. I prefer having walls around me and not snoring, noisy bodies.” Hank held up a hand, “No offense, Tobias.”
“I understand.”
“Me, too.” Kelda stared point blank into Hank’s eyes. “That’s why I don’t mind sleeping in the storage room.”
A spark lit and quickly disappeared from his dark eyes. What had her comment triggered in his mind?
“I better get back. I stepped out to toss the dishwater when I saw you unloading. My curiosity pulled me away from my chores. Mor is probably yelling out the door wondering where I wandered to.”
“Come by any time,” Hank said, taking a step toward her.
Their gazes latched, and she wished she had more experience with men other than working beside them. There was something in his eyes she couldn’t cipher, but it made her heart quicken.
The door to the stove slammed shut. Her eyes flinched closed from the noise and cut off the connection from Hank. Without another word or glance she strode to the door and out into a flurry of snowflakes. A late winter blizzard veiled the camp in white as freezing wind blew down off the mountain. She needed the jolt of cold to knock her back to her senses and to help her remain neutral to the man.
Her teeth chattered by the time Kelda arrived at the back door of the cookhouse. She picked up the dishpan and entered the building to find her mother flushed.
“Where have you been we have to get the lefse made for Far’s birthday dinner.” Her mother worked the masher up and down in the large pot of boiled potatoes.
Kelda moved her mother aside and took t
he utensil. Her height helped when it came to mashing the large pot of potatoes. “Get the other ingredients ready, I’ll mash these.”
“Where were you?” Mor placed salt, butter, sugar, canned milk, and flour on the table.
“I spotted Tobias and Mr. Halsey carrying a bed into the office. Mr. Halsey will now be sleeping in his office.” Kelda smashed the potatoes making them as fine as she could. The idea Hank would now be sleeping at the camp meant she would see him more. Her heart banged against her ribs. When had seeing him become so important to her? His being around all the time would make it harder for her to work in the woods. How would Far find a way for her to work for her brothers if the boss was always under foot?
“I invited him to Far’s birthday not to move in.” The unease in Mor’s voice drew Kelda’s gaze.
“What is wrong with him sleeping here? He will be ready to work earlier and not be exhausted to ride back to his cabin.” How could she dread his staying one moment and stick up for him the next? She frowned and mashed harder on the potatoes.
Mor placed her small thin hands over Kelda’s. The size difference was that of a woman and child, with Kelda’s being the woman and her mother’s the child.
“Daughter, I have eyes. I see the way the two of you look at one another.”
“Mor—”
“Don’t deny it. Even your brothers have come to me worrying you will be hurt.” Mor shook her head. “Your father sees only good from this. But I…Kelda promise me you’ll be a good girl and not get compromised.”
Kelda sucked in air and stared at Mor openmouthed. “H-how…I…” She was at a loss for what to say. Her mother thought Hank would…She would…
Her heart slammed into her ribs like a ten pound axe, vibrating her body and knocking the air out of her.
“It is hard to remain good when a man shows you how special you are.” Mor’s eyes glassed over all dreamy.
Was she thinking of her youth with Far? Had Mor and Far kissed and touched before marrying? She wanted to ask and learn more about the feelings between a woman and a man. Mor shook from her reveries and carried the pot of potatoes to the table.
Kelda’s hands trembled and her knees wanted to give way. If this was how mooning over a man made her feel, she had to stop these thoughts. She couldn’t be weak and do the work Far expected of her.
~*~
Hank took the time to clean up and put on a new shirt before tramping through the snow flurries to the cookhouse. From the way Mrs. Nielsen talked about the birthday meal it was a special occasion.
The others were already seated around the table when he stomped through the door. He nodded at each one and clasped Arvid’s hand wishing him a happy birthday. Before he sat, he scanned the back of the room and found Kelda in a dress that accentuated her wide shoulders, firm breasts, and smaller waist than he’d imagined. The dark skirt flowed over her hips to the floor. He grinned at the man-sized boots peeking out from under the skirt as she walked toward the table carrying a plate piled with rolled up pancakes.
“Hank, this is lefse a Norwegian favorite,” Arvid said, taking several of the pancakes.
Ingrid placed sliced venison roasts at both ends of the table as Kelda followed with pitchers of gravy and bowls of potatoes.
The feast continued longer than usual meals with each man being served a glass of beer and ending the meal with a cookie Tobias called fattigmann. They were fried, lightly coated with powdery sugar, and had a spicy bite Hank liked.
After the loggers left, the family remained around the table. Ingrid and Kelda joined them and Arvid poured a yellowish liquid into small cups. He passed them out until each person at the table had one.
Hank raised the glass and sniffed. It had a spicy fruity aroma.
“Hurra for deg som fyller ditt år!” The family chorused and tossed back the liquor in one swallow. Ingrid and Kelda included.
“Happy birthday!” Hank added and swallowed the drink. The taste wasn’t unpleasant but burned in a way different from whiskey. He coughed and Tobias pound on his back with a wide flat hand. It was like being swat with a wooden plank.
Kelda giggled and pointed at him,
Tears seeped from his eyes and his nose ran.
The men all laughed and held out their glasses to be refilled. He didn’t want to be labeled as someone who couldn’t hold his liquor and held out his glass. A clucking sound caught his attention. Ingrid shook her head slightly and pointedly looked from her boys to Kelda.
She’d invited him here to keep her daughter from embarrassment. But what better way to keep them from talking about their sister than him making a fool of himself with his drinking?
He shrugged, kept the glass extended, and downed one more swallow. This time it burned clear to his toes and tingled. A sure sign he’d hit his limit. Two whiskeys were all he could handle, and this liquor would appear to have the same effect on him.
Arvid raised the bottle to refill, Hank pulled his glass back.
“You do not have to ride to your cabin tonight. Tobias tells us you have put a bed in your office.” Arvid shook the bottle at Hank.
“But I do need to be up and ready to finish the work that accumulated while I was in Baker City. I don’t mind celebrating with a couple of drinks but that’s my limit.” Hank pushed his glass over to reside by the women’s.
Karl slapped a wide hand on the table, bouncing the glasses and gathering everyone’s attention. He quirked an eyebrow and stared at Hank. “The boss wants us at a disadvantage I think.”
Hank shook his head. “No, I just like to be clear headed.”
Dag winked. “Do you think we won’t notice you looking at our sister if we drink and you don’t?”
He couldn’t stop his head from spinning Kelda’s direction. The tip of her ears fairly glowed they were so red. Her embarrassment had to be apparent even to her giggling brothers wiggling their glasses for refills.
Arvid refilled the cups, and they all downed another round.
Hank’s mind spun with how to keep Kelda from anymore of the trio’s mischief. The only way would be to get her out of the room, but that would mean giving them even more fodder to goad her with if he suggested they leave together.
“Kelda, I used more lard than I planned on the fattigmann, would you go to the cold storage and bring more for in the morning?” Ingrid looked at Hank as she spoke to her daughter.
He took that as a prompt to go with her. Mrs. Nielsen’s actions puzzled him considering the way she had behaved the day he and Kelda were alone in the storage room behind the kitchen.
Kelda immediately rose and headed to the door. Hank followed. He started to reach out and help her with her coat and realized the group at the table watched. Instead, he put his own coat on and picked up the lantern.
“I can get the lard myself,” Kelda said, reaching for the lantern.
“I need the fresh air.”
She scowled and marched out the door ahead of him. He didn’t look back. Didn’t want to see her family’s reactions.
He ducked his head and plunged into the flurry of snow. The usual packed snow in the camp was covered with six inches of fluffy snow. Kelda scooted her feet along, kicking up white plumes. Hank hurried beside her, bumping his shoulder into hers. “Let’s go sit in the office for a while. At least until your brothers wander off to bed.”
“But Mor—”
“Sent you out here so your brothers wouldn’t tease and embarrass you and sent me to keep you company.” He led the way to the office. The heat from the small stove stung his cold cheeks when he opened the door. He waved her in, followed, and set the lantern on the counter.
Her forehead was wrinkled in thought. Hank grasped her coat, drawing it off her shoulders. Kelda’s wide green eyes peered at him with so many questions he wanted to pull her into his arms and kiss her. Not a good direction for his thoughts to go. He stepped away, placing her coat across the back of the only chair, and motioned for her to sit. He made a mental note to make a
couple more chairs. This would make a nice place for men to gather and visit.
“When did Mor tell you to keep me company?” Her question came out so soft he barely caught it.
“When she invited, or rather, demanded I come to your father’s party. She said when the boys get to drinking they tend to pick on you.” He pulled the stool from behind the counter over and sat. It made him taller than her, but still not as tall as standing.
Her brow slowly smoothed, and her eyes regained the sparkle and good humor he usually witnessed bestowed on others. “Was that before or after she whacked you with the broom?”
Laughter came easy when he was with Kelda. He caught his breath and thought. “Before.”
Her eyes glittered with newfound merriment. “I am surprised she let the two of us out together. But then she did…” Kelda’s voice trailed off, and her eyes widened as she stared at him.
“She did what?” He reached out gathering her cold hand between his. The strong fingers and calloused hand were smaller than his, but not tiny like Darcy’s or fine-boned like his other sisters’. It fit his nicely. He looked down at their clasped hands then into Kelda’s face.
The uncertainty in the shadows of her eyes slowly softened into a dreamy stare as a wistful smile played at the edges of her lips. The sight reminded him of school girls.
“How old are you?” He’d believed her close to his age, but now, seeing her like this, he wondered if he’d been wrong.
“Twenty-six this May. Why?” She leaned forward, her gaze intent on his face.
“Just wondered.” He ran his thumb back and forth over the back of her hand. For all the work she did her skin was remarkably soft.
