Rebecca's Reward

by Lauraine Snelling

  “Probably not in a sleigh.”

  The three of them laughed together and then looked around to see if anyone else was near enough to overhear. “I can see all of us dancing in front of the congregation on Sunday morning. You think they’d join us?” Ingeborg balanced the soup pot on the side of the sleigh to get a better grip. How good it felt to laugh like this. Due to a couple of snowstorms and blizzards, the women had canceled the last quilting meeting.

  “Not ever. We’d be banished.” The three shared another laugh and trooped up the stairs to the church door.

  Ingeborg waited for Kaaren to open the door. Warm air, overlaid with the hum of female voices, bid them enter. Greetings from those in the room welcomed them, with Mrs. Valders turning and taking the pot of soup from Ingeborg.

  “I’ll set this on the stove while you get your coat off.”

  Ingeborg thanked her but stared a little disoriented after the portly figure on the way to the flat-topped cast-iron stove. Since when did the other woman offer to help, especially to Ingeborg? The relationship that had never been the best had nearly disintegrated those several years earlier when Andrew attacked Toby. Hildegunn Valders had a hard time forgiving.

  “Did what I think I saw happen, really happen?” Kaaren whispered as she took Ingeborg’s coat to lay over the chairs designated for such with her own.

  Ingeborg nodded and then turned to answer a question from one of the other women.

  “Is your Ellie coming today?” one of the women asked.

  “No, the baby has been sleeping in odd time spurts. Only a couple weeks old and wants to be awake for all the activity. Ellie’s pretty tired.”

  “Oh, too bad. I love holding the new little ones.” Mrs. Magron’s sweet smile blessed everyone. “Seems like so many years since I had a baby to cuddle.”

  “That’s because it has been years.” Ingeborg dug in her basket to find her shears. “Just think, of those of us here from the beginning, most of our children are grown.”

  “And some are giving us grandchildren.” Mrs. Valders heaved a sigh. “I would indeed love to have grandchildren.”

  Ingeborg and Kaaren exchanged looks of surprise bordering on shock. Hildegunn actually expressing such a thing?

  “Those two fine sons of yours will surely find wives one of these days,” Mrs. Geddick said, her heavy German accent indicative of her homeland. She shook her head. “We need more young women here. That is for sure.” Having four sons and one daughter, she had mentioned the need before.

  Ingeborg kept the comment she wanted to make inside her head, keeping careful guard on her mouth. But one look at Kaaren’s face told her she was thinking the same thing. There was not a chance in heaven that any young woman would be good enough for either of the Valderses’ sons, not in Hildegunn’s eyes, at least. Heaven help the girls they fell in love with.

  “Perhaps friendships could lead to romance,” Kaaren said. “I know that Gerald and Rebecca have been good friends for a long time.”

  “Huh,” Hildegunn puffed out. “That one, no. Too giggly, and her head in the clouds. Wanting to open a soda shop—here in Blessing? What kind of an idea is that?”

  The door opened, and Dr. Elizabeth blew through the doorway. “Sorry I am late. Even with Astrid there, I just couldn’t get away.”

  “Did you bring Inga?” Kaaren asked.

  “No, she is staying with Thelma, much to her dismay. But I think she is coming down with something, and I didn’t want any others to catch whatever it is. Yesterday she was fussy, and today she has a fever and isn’t eating.”

  While she talked, Dr. Elizabeth handed her food basket to Kaaren and removed her outer things. “This is such a treat to be able to join you all.”

  Ingeborg took her coat. “You being here is our treat.”

  “I told Astrid to send Thelma over here if there is an emergency she cannot handle. I am so proud of her, I could just burst my buttons. She knows so much more than I did, even when I first started work at the hospital in Chicago.”

  “That’s because you are a good teacher, and you have given her so many opportunities to learn.”

  Mrs. Valders clapped her hands and raised her voice. “All right, ladies, let us get organized and get started. Take whatever places you want. We need six around each of the quilting frames. Mrs. Geddick brought another quilt top to be put on the frame. I brought an old wool batting that I thought we could use. When we finish this one, that will be five quilts we’ve made for the reservation, along with the hats and sweaters we have knitted.”

  Ingeborg sat down at the frame with the quilt already half tied. Since they were making quilts for the reservation, instead of quilting the top, batting, and backing together, they used yarn and tied them off, speed being more important than perfection. Early in the fall, they had sent a wagonload of supplies to the Indian agent who disbursed the quilts and clothing among the members of the tribe. Unlike the agents on some other reservations, the husband and wife who managed the Lakota site were honest and deeply caring people.

  Ingeborg smiled at Elizabeth as she sat down next to her. “So good to see you getting a chance at something besides doctoring.”

  “And here I’ll be knotting stitches. Could just as well have remained at the surgery.”

  “You could go cut pieces or use the machine to sew pieces together. I remember our first years when every stitch in every quilt was done by hand, and every little bit of fabric was shared and used. A red or yellow piece was prized. Now we can have so many choices and buy fabric just for quilts. So many changes these years have brought.” While they talked, Ingeborg folded the yarn over the end of the needle to get a sharp fold and threaded the fold into the large eye of the darning needle. When she’d finished one, she handed it to Elizabeth and repeated the action.

  “Thank you. You make everything look so easy.”

  “You do things long enough, and they better get easy, or you might want to find another way of doing it.” She checked to make sure the batting lay smoothly between the top and the lining before taking the first stitch down through and back up an inch or less apart. Then she tied off the double knot and clipped the yarn. “Just make sure you tie a firm knot, or it will work its way loose one day.”

  “I see.” Elizabeth repeated Ingeborg’s actions. “I received an answer to my letter to Dr. Morganstein. She is so excited that she can offer that surgical rotation to Astrid.”

  “Now to convince that stubborn daughter of mine to take it.”

  “I know. Any suggestions?”

  Mrs. Valders clapped her hands. “Ladies, ladies.” Everyone quit talking and looked up.

  “Mrs. Knutson will now take suggestions for the Scripture reading for today. I will write them down.”

  The usual suggestions were made: First Corinthians thirteen, the Twenty-third Psalm, and Psalm ninety-one before Ingeborg requested John fifteen. Mrs. Valders busily wrote down the choices, including a later request of First John one and a couple other psalms. She handed the list to Kaaren.

  “Now let us pray.” Without waiting for any settling, Hildegunn commenced, “God in heaven, we ask that you bless our gathering today, comfort any who are sick, protect us all from the weather, and show us thy will. Amen.”

  I wonder if she ever thanks God for anything. The thought caught Ingeborg by surprise. She’d not noticed that of Hildegunn’s prayers, but while Kaaren found her place for the first reading, she let her mind rove back through the years. Gratitude was not one of the woman’s habits. For a long time Kaaren had led the prayers, and then everyone was invited to join, but in the years that Hildegunn had been leading the group, she’d offered short prayers, almost as if telling God what to do. Of course, she tried to tell everyone else what to do, so was this surprising?

  The words Love is … washed over Ingeborg, seeping like sweet spring rain into the cracks and fissures of her soul and mind. Patient and kind. Love is not boastful nor rude. Lord, I want to be all this. I know that only Jes
us is everything herein, but please help me to love more deeply, more willingly, looking only for the good in people.

  Including Hildegunn? The name whispered through her mind, making her flinch inside. She sighed and shoved the needle through the fabric with a little more force than necessary.

  Mrs. Garrison on her left leaned closer. “Are you all right?”

  “Ja, I am,” she whispered back. Or at least I will be when I recover from the smart of that little prick in my heart. Thank you, Father. I will try to do better. She concentrated on her stitching and tying, letting the age-old words flow around and through her. Such a pleasure it was to be read to. All of the women often commented on the delight of this part of their day.

  After a while Ingeborg got up to stir the soup and put some more coal in the stove. Dorothy Baard was replacing her cool flatiron with a hot one.

  “So when is our girl coming home again?”

  Dorothy set the hot iron back flat on the stove. “She is having herself a fine time in Bismarck. We got a letter yesterday, saying that she wants to stay a week longer. I mailed her a note back and said she should do just that. She mentioned a young man she has met there. He’s taken her ice-skating and sleigh riding, and he sat with her and Penny’s family in church.”

  “My goodness, it sounds like she is having a good time.” Ingeborg leaned closer. “No big brothers to act as watchdogs?”

  Dorothy chuckled and nodded. “I try to tell them to quit acting like lawmen, but …” She shook her head. “Those Baard men, they don’t take advice very good, you know.”

  Ingeborg smiled back. “I always thought she was rather sweet on Gerald.”

  “Did Astrid tell you about Rebecca’s asking for the girls’ advice about catching a fellow?”

  “I’m not supposed to know, but Ellie let it slip the night the baby was born.”

  “I know. Me either, but maybe we should all put our heads together on how to help her.”

  “Help who?” Hildegunn asked as she stopped beside Ingeborg.

  “Uh, Rebecca.” Help, Lord. How do I answer without …

  “I heard rumors that she was chasing after my Gerald, but you can believe I put a stop to that. Why, she’s nothing but a girl yet and more than a little wild, if I do say so myself.”

  “Rebecca is not wild.” Dorothy spun around and glared at Hildegunn. “She’s the sweetest young woman and will make any man a fine wife. Gerald included, if he so feels.”

  “Running off to Bismarck like that, all by herself. Wanting to open a soda shop. Here in Blessing.” Hildegunn shook her head until her chins wobbled. “She just better not come around sniffing after Gerald.”

  “Well, of all the …” Dorothy grabbed her flatiron and, despite being in the family way, stomped heavily back to the ironing board. She flung a glare over her shoulder that should have fried Hildegunn’s hair.

  “ ‘Blessed are the peacemakers,’ “ Kaaren started, picking up her reading again.

  Ingeborg almost snorted. The Sermon on the Mount, including the Beatitudes, had not been one of the requested readings. Surely Kaaren had heard the interchange. The urge to light into Hildegunn subsided. Lord, a heavy dose of wisdom would be a good thing right about now.

  “I thought I heard you mentioning that you wanted grandchildren,” Ingeborg said to Hildegunn, keeping her voice low and gentle.

  “Oh, I do, but …” A heavy sigh followed. “Gerald needs a lot of extra care. The malaria, you know.” She paused to shake her head. “Not Rebecca. No, she wouldn’t do at all.”

  Ingeborg bit down on the end of her tongue to keep from lashing out. When she could finally think of something gentle and loving to say, Hildegunn had moved on to the far quilting frame. She is certainly a woman to try one’s soul. How does Mr. Valders put up with her?

  11

  “SHE DID IT AGAIN.” Ingeborg flicked the reins, and horse and sleigh headed home.

  Kaaren patted her arm. “I know. That woman has an absolute gift for setting people off.”

  “I had just prayed that I would be loving and not critical. I want to be like First Corinthians so bad, and then she disparaged Rebecca, and I wanted to dump the pot of soup on her, over her head, and—” She cut off an incipient tirade and heaved a whole body sigh instead. “Lord, please forgive me.”

  “He does. You know that.”

  “I know, but I get so tired of asking forgiveness for the same things over and over. All I can do is be thankful He says He forgets.”

  “As far as the east is from the west, He does. When I read those chapters aloud like today, the beauty of His love just pours over me all over again. There’s something about reading aloud that makes His Word sink in more.”

  “Sometimes I think I should just stay home so she can’t irritate me.”

  “You do know you are not alone.”

  “Uff da. Such goings on.” Ingeborg looked to the north, where dark clouds were again building. She’d not needed to scan the sky; the bite of the wind warned her that the weather was changing again. “I have so enjoyed the sun and promise of spring, and now it seems another northerner is on its way.”

  “Oh, I wanted to go by the post office. There might be a letter from Grace.”

  “You want me to turn around?”

  “Would you, please? Unless you think one of the men went to town.”

  “Neither Haakan nor Andrew mentioned it, and Astrid won’t be home until later, I’m sure.” While she answered, she turned the horse and headed across country. As more warmer days came, they’d have to stick to the roads, but for now the ice crust was still thick enough to drive the sleigh right over the fences and fields. She stopped at the hitching post for the post office and waited while Kaaren climbed out and went into the building.

  “Get mine too,” she called, and Kaaren waved over her shoulder.

  With the moment of quiet, her mind jumped back to Hildegunn like a fox chasing a cottontail. Sometimes she wondered if the woman deliberately set out to be so irritating, or if it just came naturally. Surely she must be aware of how she drove people away. But then, why should she? People tiptoed around her, and she loved the importance that gave her. She’d noticed Hildegunn preen when she triumphed over one of the others. Lord, you say for us to treat each other with love. Is it love that lets someone go on acting this way? You say to leave the fighting to you, that you will triumph, but I’ve tried to leave this with you, and nothing has changed.

  Ingeborg stared unseeing at the space between the horse’s ears. Hmm … The women could all ignore her. But how would they bring that about without ending up in a gossip fest? And she knew what the Bible had to say about that. Something akin to murder, according to Jesus. There was even a commandment about it.

  “So, Lord, what can we do?”

  The horse’s ears swiveled to catch her words. She stamped a front foot and snorted.

  “Ja, that’s what I think of it too. Just let it go, and let God take care of it.”

  She nodded as if she understood.

  “That’s about all you can do. Just nod and go on about your business. Maybe we should learn more of our lessons from our animals.”

  “So you’re talking to the horse now?” Kaaren paused on the steps and glanced over at Thorliff ’s big house, which housed the surgery and what amounted to the local hospital too. “Sure is busy over there. Glad Elizabeth got away a bit.”

  Ingeborg looked over her shoulder. “So many people sick. This has been a hard winter for the little ones.”

  “Every winter is hard for the youngest and the oldest.”

  “You realize we are some of the oldest now that both Bridget and Henry died.”

  “Heaven forbid. Such morbid thoughts.” Kaaren climbed back into the sleigh.

  Ingeborg backed the horse and sleigh and turned toward home. “Did you get a letter from Grace?”

  “I did, and you have one from someone in Norway.” Kaaren showed her the envelope.

  “Who is it from
?”

  Kaaren shrugged. “The envelope got wet, and I cannot read the return address, other than Norge. Gerald apologized for the postal service, as if it were his personal fault.” She shook her head. “Such a fine young man. You have to admit the Valderses did a good job of turning those two young ruffians into sons they can be proud of.”

  “I know. Keep reminding me of the good things Hildegunn does or has done. I tend to get wrapped up in my feelings about her.”

  “She does manage to set you off on a regular basis.”

  “She doesn’t bother you?”

  “Not as much, but then, she hasn’t been attacking my son either.” She paused for a moment. “Or me.”

  “Today she made disparaging remarks about Rebecca. Can’t she ever say anything nice about anyone?” She chuckled a little. “Dorothy hissed back like the hot iron she held.” Ingeborg ducked her chin into the scarf around her neck and head. “Brr. That wind is making our ride colder by the minute.” She flicked the reins to command the horse to pick up a faster trot. Clumps of snow rattled against the front of the sleigh. They flew by the lane to her house and on to the Knutsons’.

  “I hope Pastor Solberg sees the storm coming and lets school out a bit early.” Kaaren gathered her baskets, stepped down, and stepped back with a wave. “Forget about Hildegunn and have a good evening.”

  “I will.” Ingeborg turned the sleigh and headed for home, not sure if the bits of ice flying by her were from the trotting horse or the coming storm. Haakan met her at the barn.

  “Drive on up to the house. I’ll put the horse away.” He stepped on the sleigh runners behind her, and Ingeborg did as he said. He helped her out of the sleigh and handed her the baskets, along with the empty soup kettle. “We’re going to milk early.” He waved as the Knutson wagon, now on runners for the winter and filled with the deaf students and Trygve and Samuel, drove past their lane, heading for home.

  “ That ’s good. Pastor let the children out early. Is Andrew milking?”

  “Ja. I told Lars to go on home, but he insisted he stay. I’ll keep an eye on the weather.”