I have never wanted to physically damage someone as bad as I did today. I was too angry to even be afraid, which I guess wasn’t very smart of me. I will forever owe Thorliff a debt of gratitude for hauling Jeffers away and booting him out the door.
She sipped her tea, inhaling the rich fragrance of real tea from China, not the dried leaves and stems of local plants, although many of those had medicinal value, according to Ingeborg. Was there a medicinal for a wounded spirit?
The dog barked again, and she rose to look out the window. Thorliff, Pastor Solberg, and Mr. Knutson? What were they doing at her house on a weekday like this? She opened the door at the knock.
“Come in, come in.” Stepping back, she motioned them in. Her questioning gaze flew to Thorliff.
“It’s all right. I … we … I mean, I felt I needed to talk this over with my folks… .”
“But I thought …” Why? How embarrassing! Mortification made her blink and want to run and hide.
“Please, we want to do what is best for you. And make sure he never repeats his behavior.”
Pastor Solberg stepped forward. “Rebecca, you needn’t be embarrassed with us here. All we care about is you and protecting you.”
She nodded but still could barely look him in the eye. They all knew what had happened. And if they knew, how many others? If that was indeed Jeffers on the horse, had he told anyone else? Was he talking with her brothers? The thought that followed made her flinch. No, she did not want them to kill him. He was not worth anyone going to jail.
“Mor would like you to come stay with her a couple of days, if that would be all right with you. With Haakan laid up—”
“The apoplexy?” At his questioning look, she added, “Gerald told us. I had coffee at the boardinghouse with him and Sophie.”
Thorliff nodded. “Mor could use some extra help.”
But so could Dorothy. Rebecca nibbled her bottom lip. Maybe for just one night, and she could pretend Ingeborg was her mother. One night to feel cared for. “I could come tonight for a day or two. Let me get some things together. I don’t have any coffee ready, but how about some tea?” She nodded to her mug on the table.
Pastor Solberg chuckled. “That’s all right. Is Gus around?”
“He and Knute are over at Knute’s doing chores.”
“I think we’ll go on over and see them for a bit.”
“You won’t tell him what happened?” Please, please, just let this fade away like fog when the sun burns through.
“We’ll be back in a few minutes.”
Rebecca hesitated. “I saw a man ride over there. It looked like Jeffers.”
The men exchanged looks.
“Thanks for telling us,” Pastor Solberg said.
As they filed out, with Lars touching the brim of his hat and giving her a comforting smile, she failed at keeping a smile in place. If her stomach hadn’t been upset before, it surely was now. An awful taste burned at the back of her throat.
She put her letter writing back in the kit and tied the leather strip that held it closed. What else did she need to take along? Would Dorothy understand?
Gerald stepped out from the back porch as the men returned to the sleigh. He tipped his hat. “So there is some kind of trouble, then?”
Thorliff hesitated for a moment. “Why do you ask?”
“I saw you throw Jeffers in the snowbank earlier on but couldn’t get out to help. Later I saw him staggering toward the livery. Decided I’d better check on Rebecca, since the boy at the stable said he kept swearing her name. Is she okay?”
“Yes, a little shook up but otherwise she’s fine.”
“May I join you?” Gerald asked.
“We’re trying to find a way to keep this from escalating, Gerald,” Pastor Solberg answered.
“Despite whatever it is he deserves, I agree with you,” Gerald said. “Violence doesn’t solve anything. That’s one lesson I learned clearly in the war.”
“All right, then, climb in,” the pastor said.
“Do you have any idea where else Jeffers might have gone in town?” Thorliff asked.
“No, but he had a Closed sign in his store window, and I saw some people standing nearby in heated conversation,” Gerald said. “T he stableboy also said he was pretty drunk.”
“I feel like a vigilante,” Thorliff said as he drove the horse and sleigh across the snowy field.
“We are emissaries of peace. Keep that in mind.” Pastor Solberg settled his hat tighter on his head and shrugged his scarf over his ears. “Whatever happened to that warm wind?”
“Sure would be welcome,” Thorliff agreed.
“Go to the barn,” Lars said as they neared Knute’s house.
Thorliff did as suggested. After all, that’s most likely where the men would be at this time of day. He stopped the horse and dug a blanket out to throw over him before the four men headed for the small door. Pastor Solberg had his hand on the wooden handle when they heard loud male voices from inside. He glanced at the other men, and all of them shrugged.
Thorliff groaned aloud. “No wonder Jeffers wasn’t at the store. His Closed sign meant he was on his way out here. You were right, Gerald.”
“Sure would have been a lot easier if he had kept his mouth shut.” Lars shoved his hands into his coat pockets.
Solberg nodded as the voices grew louder.
They stepped through the door and let their eyes adjust to the dimness.
“You attacked my sister?” Gus grew three feet in stature.
“No, no. She attacked me! I was just tryin’ to tell her we was to get married.”
“You asked to court her, and we said it was up to her, but you could ask her.” Knute took a step forward. “We didn’t say she would marry you.”
“It ain’t my fault, I tell you.” Jeffers staggered slightly on his step forward.
“What isn’t your fault?” The roar from Gus made the cows shift their feet and turn to see what was happening.
“That Thorliff, he threw me outta my own store.”
“What’s that got to do with Rebecca?” Knute shook his head, obviously getting more confused all the time.
“Well, see, it was this way,” Jeffers started. He shook his head and kept on wagging it.
“What happened to your lip?”
“The little she-cat, she bit me.”
Gus leaped forward, hands reaching for Jeffers’ neck.
Gerald’s hands clasped into fists despite himself.
“That’s enough!” Pastor Solberg roared. The action froze the three men as if they’d been doused in ice. “Knute, take care of your brother. Thorliff, you seem to know how to handle Jeffers. Feel free to do so again. Lars, let’s you and I take the middle ground of common sense here.”
Jeffers backed away from Thorliff, stepped in the manure-filled gutter, and stumbled against one of the milk cows. The cow shifted away from him, dumping him on the pile of dung. He scrambled to his feet and found himself backed against the wooden line of stanchions. Somewhere inside he dug out a bit of courage and came out swinging. Thorliff sidestepped, and the man kept going until he crumbled against the grain bin.
“Dunk him in the water tank?”
“No. He’d freeze to death before he got to town, and I’m not going to let Dorothy have to take care of him.” Knute still held Gus’s arms.
“Who else did you talk to?” Thorliff asked, taking a step closer. Jeffers tried to disappear through the wooden walls that held cattle grain.
“Nobody.” Jeffers braced his arm on the lid and slouched to his feet. He paused. “I think. I’m not remembering too clear.”
“Where’d you get the horse?”
“At the livery.”
Thorliff shook his head, watching Pastor Solberg. Jeffers wasn’t known for being close-mouthed. Mr. Sam wouldn’t tell anyone, but who knew who else had been within hearing distance. By now half of Blessing knew there had been an altercation. He might as well have taken an ad out in the Blessi
ng Gazette.
“Let me loose, I’ll kill the—”
“Calm down, Gus. Rebecca is all right,” Solberg said, his voice gentle. “We were hoping to keep this from escalating into a mob scene.”
Knute released his brother. “Now, you going to calm down?”
“But he attacked our baby sister. Pa’ll kill me.”
“He can’t. He’s in heaven.”
“When I get there, I mean.”
Knute kept one eye on his brother and asked, “So what are we to do?”
“Well, there’s no sense trying to talk to him until he’s sober.” Solberg glared at the mess of a man whimpering on the grain bin.
“We’re hoping he’ll leave town without any fuss,” Lars said. “Wish we could put him on today’s train, but it’s long gone.”
“We’re taking Rebecca to visit Ingeborg for a couple of days,” Thorliff told her brothers. “I’d suggest we put this disgusting thing on his horse, but the critter will take him back to the livery.”
“Where he can spout off to the whole town, most likely.” Gus took a step toward Jeffers but stopped when Knute grabbed his arm.
Pastor Solberg looked at Gerald and Thorliff. “How about you two escort him back to the store and his bed? Lars and I’ll take Rebecca out to Ingeborg and Haakan’s and then head on home.”
“Maybe I’ll tie him to his bed. Go let him loose in the morning,” Gerald said. “We did that sometimes during the war when we didn’t have enough men to watch captured soldiers.”
Solberg and Lars exchanged looks. “Not a bad idea. He won’t freeze to death that way.”
“He’s too stubborn to freeze to death.” Gus’s glare could melt the snow off the barn roof.
“And you two will just stay home and not talk to anyone about this?” the pastor asked.
Gus and Knute nodded.
“If Dorothy hears about this, I’ll be sleeping in the barn.” Knute shook his head. “How can something you thought to do right turn around and take your leg off?”
Pastor Solberg leaned closer and lowered his voice. “That’s why the Bible says to seek wisdom and stay away from fools.”
“So who was the fool in this situation?” Knute asked, grabbing the bucket of grain. “You start milking, and I’ll feed.”
Gus glared daggers in Jeffers’ direction. “There’s the fool.”
Thorliff and Gerald each took Jeffers by an arm, hauled him out the door, and propped him up so he could mount. When he couldn’t get his boot in the stirrup, Thorliff held the stirrup with one hand and pushed the foot in it with the other. “You need to be tied on?”
Jeffers looked at Gerald and shook his head.
Thorliff turned the horse around and, after letting loose of the reins, clapped the animal on the rump and sent him off toward town.
“Promise me, Gus, that you won’t take matters into your own hands,” Pastor Solberg said from the doorway.
“He won’t,” Knute hollered.
“I promise, but you’re asking a mighty hard thing.”
“We’ll talk tomorrow.” Solberg held out his hand. “You’re a good man, Gus, and you don’t want to go messing up your life.”
“Just Rebecca’s?”
“No. By the grace of God, Rebecca will be fine. One thing about tests, we come out stronger in the end.”
Pastor Solberg and Lars climbed into the sleigh to take Rebecca to Ingeborg, while Gerald and Thorliff followed Jeffers to town, keeping a safe distance. Pastor Solberg was right, yet every bone in Gerald’s body desired to pummel Jeffers to the ground. All the hunger for violence that had sickened him now seemed to crawl back inside him.
Together, Gerald and Thorliff managed to get Jeffers inside the general store and up the stairs to his bedroom. They dumped him onto the bed, covered him up, banked the stove, and went through the house and the store, dumping out the bottles of whiskey they found and leaving the empty bottles lined up on the counter.
“Can you stay a little while longer while I check in at home?” Thorliff asked, looking around the disgusting bedroom.
Gerald brushed off a chair and sat down. How could anyone live in this filth? “Of course I can. I just hope I don’t catch anything while I wait. There must be fleas and lice everywhere.” The two men shared looks of distaste.
Some time later, Thorliff returned to the store, carrying a plate of dinner for Gerald in one hand and a quilt draped over the other arm. He found Gerald in the combination kitchen/sitting room on the main floor. “I thought of asking Elizabeth to give him a shot so that he’d sleep through the night for sure, but I don’t want her anywhere near him. Besides, her eyes were flashing when I told her.”
“I didn’t tie him down, but I sure thought about it.” That had been the most generous of his thoughts. The rest weren’t worthy of mentioning.
“I have bad news for you. According to Elizabeth, it’s all over town already.”
“Oh no. My mother, most likely.” Gerald ran his fingers through his hair. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s not your fault, and considering Jeffers, it was probably an unlikely hope anyway, even though we tried so hard to protect Rebecca. Elizabeth heard it from Thelma.”
“Someone might need to protect Jeffers now, much as I hate to suggest that.”
“I think we have something on our side.”
“What’s that?”
“A storm is coming in. The north was as black as night.”
“This would be the first time I’d be grateful for a blizzard.”
“I decided I’d better spend the night over here.” Thorliff held up the quilt he’d brought.
“Probably a good idea.” Gerald finished his plate and set it on the sink. “I’ll ask my father to come over to see you. He may have some suggestions that could remove Jeffers before a mob appears. He has a lot of experience with confidential situations.”
“I’d appreciate that, Gerald. But I don’t want to cause friction in your family too.”
“Oh, it won’t be anything we can’t handle.” For the first time in several hours Gerald smiled. “Especially to get rid of this vermin. I’ve never trusted him, no matter how hard people tried to help him. So anything that is good riddance, in my mind, is worth it.”
As Gerald left the building, he glanced up at the sky. Good thing he didn’t have far to go. The wind was trying to blow him across the tracks as it was.
25
“SO GOOD TO SEE you here at the table,” Ingeborg declared as she flipped a pancake over the next morning.
“I know.” Haakan nodded to the young women on either side of him. “Thanks to you two.”
Rebecca and Astrid exchanged smiles. “Your shuffle is getting closer to real walking.”
“I was beginning to wonder.”
“Far, it’s only been three days. You really are doing well.” Astrid laid her hand on her father’s. “Like Mor said, it’s a good thing you are so ambidextrous.”
“Can you see me milking with one hand?”
“It would take longer, but then, calves only nurse with one mouth, so the cow shouldn’t mind.” Astrid smiled at Rebecca’s giggle. “When you come right down to it, milking will most likely be good therapy.” Astrid watched her hand as she squeezed and released her fingers. “Think of all the muscles it uses. Try it.” She watched as all three made fists and released them.
“So saith Dr. Bjorklund.” Rebecca grinned across the table.
“Because the other Dr. Bjorklund has been thinking of ways to help Far. And is pushing this future Dr. Bjorklund into the research.”
“For which I am grateful. I can at least say grace without two good hands.” Haakan bowed his head. “Thank you, heavenly Father, that the storm outside is over even though the one inside continues.” He heaved a sigh. “Thank you that you have promised that you will not give us more than we can bear but will provide a way of escape. Thank you for this food and the hands that so lovingly prepared it. Thank you for sending your son
to die that we might live. Amen.”
Ingeborg blinked the moisture that clouded her eyes. Thank you, O Lord, for this man. Bring him healing so that he can beat the discouragement. She passed the platter of pancakes, holding it for him to help himself. Elizabeth had reminded her not to do the things for Haakan that he could do for himself.
He set his fork down and took the plate to pass to Astrid. “You never realize how important some part of your body is until it doesn’t work right. So many things we take for granted, forget to be thankful for.”
“I’m grateful I have teeth to eat with. Elizabeth and I treated that old man from up by where St. Andrew used to be. Not a tooth in his head. He says he gets so tired of only soft food. He’d give anything to chew meat again, not just gum it to death.”
“Then enjoy the ham.” Ingeborg started that plate around. “I’m grateful that Rebecca is safe with us and that Haakan is at the table.” She glanced over to see Rebecca staring at her plate. Was her lower lip quivering? Should she say something or leave her be?
“Here’s the butter for your pancakes.” Astrid handed her friend the plate with a freshly turned molded butter circle on it.
“Thank you.” Rebecca’s voice wobbled a bit, but she sliced off butter and passed it to Ingeborg. “And here’s the syrup.” She sniffed but managed to keep the tears that sparkled at the base of her lower eyelashes from falling. Sucking in a shoulder-raising breath, she added, “Thank you all that I am here. I might have had to lock Gus out were I still at home. Sleeping in the barn would have been too good for him.”
Ingeborg shook her head, a slight smile just for Rebecca. “Sometimes being put on the spot makes one do crazy things. Wisdom comes more with age.”
“And making mistakes.” Haakan winked at Rebecca.
The sound of boots on the porch kicking off the snow caught all their attention. Andrew was done milking already? But when Thorliff opened the door, Ingeborg rose to get another setting for the table.
“Just in time for breakfast.”
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