The Journey Home

by K'Anne Meinel

  Cass went out to the barn, it was dark but the sun would be up soon. It would be cold without any cloud cover, the sun’s rays bouncing off the blindingly brilliant snow. It was frigidly cold already. If she had spat the cold air would have made the spit bounce on the snow when it hit because it would have frozen mid-flight it was that cold. She quickly milked all the cows, it took a while and the sun was coming up when she finished. She fed and watered all the animals, a feat with so many more, they had several people taking on these jobs these days, it took quite a while to do it all by herself. She ran the cows and horses around and around in the paddock after she milked the cows to warm up their systems before allowing them back in the barn to eat and drink. She remembered the warm days in the South Seas and as the sun came over the tree tops she raised her arms to ‘capture’ it and laughed at herself and her folly.

  Stephanie was watching to see if anyone showed up to work and she saw Cass out in the paddock and then raising her arms as though in supplication to the sun. It looked funny and she wondered what she was doing but then the sun shone so brightly it blinded her and she had to look away.

  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

  In February Cass welcomed the cold as she had plenty of help with cutting ice from the now deeper and wider pond. In years past she had cut it all carefully by herself and loaded the small rectangles onto a sled pulled by the horses. Worrying about plunging into the pond out by herself she hadn’t let Stephanie or the boys help her. Now with the men on the farm working in tandem they soon had their summer supply of ice stored in the bottom of the well house well packed with the sawdust from the mill. Ice could be used in so many ways on the farm from cooling the cider and juices to preserving some of the fresh meat they cut up. The new icebox on the porch used a cube cut carefully from these rectangles every few days.

  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

  When March came and the North Woods showed no signs of letting up the grasp that winter had on it Cass began to worry a little that Cal hadn’t returned but then she figured he was having a fine year of hunting and trapping and just hadn’t returned because of it. She hadn’t worried in years past though when he would be gone for months on end, seeing him once or twice in a year hadn’t bothered her. She didn’t know why this year was different, maybe it was just a feeling, maybe it was twins, they were growing so fast and he was missing a lot of firsts. Already both babies were sitting up on their own and it wouldn’t be long before they began to walk, they sure wanted to try. Cass and Stephanie were both enjoying them.

  Stephanie too had an odd feeling. The time spent away from Cal was a relief to her and yet she felt guilty. He was her husband. The father of her two youngest children, and yet she didn’t treat him very well. She realized she had to change, it wasn’t him, it was her. She resolved to be a better wife to him when he returned and not treat him like a mere employee. When he returned she would ask him to be her husband in the fullest sense of the word and while it pained her to let Cass go in that sense, she knew it was the right thing to do.

  Stephanie was in the prime of her life, young, spirited, smart, and she needed the physical side as well as the emotional side of a relationship. She had naturally looked to Cass who had provided all of that previously but refused to even go beyond a close friendship now that she was married to her brother. Since she had married him, not once had they touched, even in accident and she hoped she hadn’t let it get so bad that she couldn’t try again, that he wouldn’t want to. It was hard to tell with Cal, he didn’t speak much and went along with almost anything she wanted to do on the farm.

  The sugaring off went well with the crew they now had collecting from every maple in range around the farm. Crews went out constantly to collect from the many maples they had tapped. They would pour their findings into the bigger caldrons and when that was nearly full the horses would pull it back to the yard. Cass preferred the old cauldron over a fire to boil it but Stephanie kept more than one large pot on the new stoves boiling but not boiling over inside where it was warmer. It made more sense to do it Stephanie’s way but Cass sure missed the ‘old’ ways.

  It really took so much work to get the syrup that sometimes Cass wondered if it was worth it. They did it anyways and the cute little maple leaf bottles that Stephanie had ordered in bulk were filling up fast. Row upon row of the boxes containing the syrup filled up the walls of the storehouse. Weekly someone took the products to the stores in Merrill, Medford, and even far away Wausau. Having a Model T made a difference for such trips. They were there and back in hours instead of all day. Cass missed the quiet time behind the horses as they plodded along.

  They still used the horses to haul trees out of the woods as they expanded the fields and opened up new ones. As long as there was snow on the ground to pull it over they continued to cut and saw up the logs. It was as Cass was pulling logs to the their little mill that she saw Running Beaver coming out of the trees to the north followed by Cal’s mules that were heavily loaded down, another unfamiliar horse behind them equally loaded down. It looked like quite a catch and then she realized the horse wasn’t carrying furs but rather a body. A sense of trepidation went through her body as she called to one of the men in the mill, “Take her and log off for me will you?” She headed to the house and Stephanie to call her, running.

  Stephanie heard Cass calling and looked out the window, she looked beyond her across the farmyard towards the mill and the glanced over at the well house and its addition. Beyond that she could see the mules and thought perhaps Cass was calling to tell her Cal had come home. Remembering her promise to herself she wiped her hands on a towel and headed out the back door to welcome Cal home, preparing a big smile that soon left her face as Running Beaver came around the corner of the well house and into the farmyard. He was walking determinedly leading the mules, both packed down with furs, a horse followed the last one and while at first she thought it was covered in furs she soon realized it was a body wrapped in furs tied to the pack the horse was wearing. Her hand went to her mouth.

  Cass turned around in time to see what Stephanie saw. She also heard her exclamation.

  “Oh no!”

  Running Beaver brought them into the farmyard and halted well away from the women. One by one employees popped out of the well house, the mill, and then the barn. All work seemed to come to a halt.

  Cass waited to see what Stephanie would do but seeing that she looked frozen to the top step Cass took charge and walked over to Running Beaver.

  “What happened?” she asked him knowing that he spoke English quite well.

  “Hunting accident,” he grunted, not one for many words and English wasn’t his language and he only knew a few of its words or so he told himself.

  Cass soon had some of the men help her with the body, putting it in the ice deep in the well house while others took boards from the mill and began to make a box. She sent someone into town to tell the minister and made arrangements for the funeral for the following day. She did not tell Stephanie about the wounds her brother sustained when she changed him from his leather hunting outfit to a suit that Stephanie unearthed somewhere before closing him in the box. Running Beaver had said hunting accident and she hoped it was an accident but she had her doubts from the angle of the knife that had killed him.

  Stephanie was having doubts of her own. She felt guilty that soon after realizing to her horror that Cal was dead she thought of Cass and her being together. She locked those thoughts firmly away as they felt like she should be punished for having such thoughts. She was punishing herself. Her thoughts over the guilt she felt, the anger over not being given a second chance, the dismay at realizing that once again she was a widow, all of it was punishing to her mind as she fought these feelings. She dutifully dressed all of them in black, putting the children in their Sunday’s best, even the twins she found little outfits for as Cass made all of the arrangements.

  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

  Cass, Stephanie, the five children, all went in the Model T together. Cass
and a few of the men had taken the body to town late yesterday. There would be a service at St. Matthews with internment in the yard beside the large church. As the minister droned on about what a good man and father Cal had been Cass couldn’t help but wonder had anyone ever really known him? Even she, as close as they had been hadn’t known some things about him.

  Stephanie was in hell, she felt so guilty as she heard the minister talk about Cal. He seemed so certain about what a good man Cal had been. How could he say he had been a good father, he hadn’t had a chance and while he had been step-father to her other children they had been afraid of him and not very close.

  “Mrs. Scheimer, Miss Scheimer?” A man stepped up after they lowered the coffin in the burial plot Cass had purchased the previous day and each of them had thrown a handful of dirt on the lid.

  Both Cass and Stephanie looked up at the stranger. The boys crowded around Stephanie as she carried Cal Junior and Cass carried Daisy and held Summer’s hand.

  “I’m Brian Matthews, Cal’s attorney,” he introduced himself holding out his hand first to Stephanie and then to Cal.

  “Cal had an attorney?” they said together, looked at each other and laughed but quickly sobered.

  Brian smiled and then with a stern look answered, “Well your husband and brother,” he began looking from Stephanie to Cass. “He felt with a family that he should have a will, I have it here if you would care to go over it, or I can follow you home and we can go over it.”

  The two women looked at each other in surprise. That Cal had been that responsible surprised them both.

  “How do we know this is Cal’s will, he never mentioned you before?” Cass asked perplexed.

  “Yes, Cal never mentioned you. And, how did you know about his death?” Stephanie asked.

  Brian grinned unrepentedly. “Cal said you two were close, that you ganged up on him on occasion. This is really quite funny.” He paused for a moment before continuing. “Hank called me in Wausau. Cal came to see me before he left to head up north; Hank had recommended me to him. He said a ‘responsible man’ with responsibilities such as his, should have a will.”

  The two women exchanged a look. They had frequently argued between the three of them, Cal of course taking a step back most of the time, especially if the two women disagreed with him. Many times the three of them let Stephanie take the lead with her ideas but every now and then Cal had something to contribute and Cass more often than not disagreed with Stephanie and how she wanted things done and why until they reached a compromise.

  “Now ladies, would you like to discuss this here?” He gestured to the cemetery. “Or, would you like to adjourn to your farmhouse?” He smiled charmingly showing perfectly straight teeth. “I’d kind of like to see the place your family…” He looked at Cass. “Has lived for three generations.”

  Cass pulled back to say, “Wow, Cal did talk to you didn’t he?”

  Brian nodded. “He wanted to make sure the property was maintained and continued in the event of his death.” He gestured to the grave.

  The two women glanced back at Cal’s grave. Cass had arranged for a gravestone to be put on as soon as they were done carving it and the blank spot looked like it was waiting for it.

  “Let’s head back to the farm,” Cass suggested. “Do you need a ride…?” she began.

  “No, I came up in my own automobile,” he gestured to a shiny new Ford Roadster that sat near the church.

  “Follow us,” Cass decided, she was relieved he didn’t need a ride, with five small children it was already crowded in the truck.

  Brian watched as the two women easily loaded all the children including the two toddlers of Cal’s effortlessly into the truck, settling everyone before Cass drove off and he began to follow. It was beautiful on the way out to the farm. Everything was sending out leaves, shoots, and the grass and trees were an ethereal green. It smelled and felt like spring as only the great North Woods could. He loved it up here and Wausau allowed him to be close enough that he could head up North to fish and hunt and enjoy himself whenever his duties as a lawyer didn’t get in the way. They pulled into a driveway with tall sweeping trees lining it and a large set of fields on the other side and paddocks when they got closer. Large old apple and pear trees were in the front yard surrounded by a nice lawn. The old farmhouse looked well lived in with a newer addition of the greenhouse. As they pulled around the side by a screened house he could see the garage, the barn, the well house and then the mill. Today because of the funeral everything was rather quiet as he got out of his Roadster in the well-kept yard.

  “That’s not too long of a drive,” he commented as he looked around pleased.

  Stephanie didn’t like how ‘proprietary’ he looked to her and she didn’t trust lawyers. A will was the furthest thing from her mind and she had thought about it all the way home lost in her thoughts.

  Cass too had been surprised that Cal had the foresight to have a will drawn up but she had to wonder if the death of her brother had been an accident or not, she had seen the cut and she was certain… “We have to get the children settled, would you like to eat lunch with us and then we can go over the will in the living room once they are down for naps?”

  He nodded as he followed them into the farmhouse, through the glassed in porch and into the well-appointed kitchen. He appreciated the fireplace which was still used and despite the warmth outside of spring there was still a chill in the air and Cass fed the fire a few logs which were soon crackling merrily. He sat at the kitchen table with the children who all stared at him. He was a stranger after all. Cass went into the den and returned wearing trousers and a flannel shirt and took over from lunch preparations for Stephanie who went upstairs with the two older boys to change out of her black dress and then had the boys change out of their Sunday best. Cass sent Summer up after she had listened for a while to have her change as well. She set dry cereal before the two toddlers that sat in nearly identical wooden high chairs and it kept them quiet as they attempted to feed themselves reaching for the pieces of cereal and shoving them in the mouths all the time staring at the strange man in their kitchen. He tried to make faces at them and make them smile but they barely acknowledged his efforts.

  Stephanie returned to the kitchen with the children and between her and Cass they soon had hot ham, mashed potatoes, and a light gravy along with canned corn on the table for all of their dinner. After blessing it was a rather quiet meal which surprised Brian but he thought it a somber time and possibly why. He was surprised they hadn’t hosted a meal with their friends and neighbors as was frequently done after funerals but given who Cal Scheimer had been he thought perhaps they hadn’t wanted one. It was apparent that Scheimer Meats were delicious and he appreciated the ham on his plate, even the corn, obviously canned last fall during harvest was delicious and fresh tasting. They obviously knew how to diversify their various interests and profit from them.

  Brian watched as the two women rocked and burped the little ones after Stephanie took each one of them out of the room and fed them from her breast. The boys were soon done and teasing their little sister Summer when Cass ordered them to wash up and take naps. Protests ensued but she was firm and she rocked Summer while Stephanie took the babies up one at a time. They had a system he could see, two more compatible women he hadn’t seen in a long time. He wondered where the girl he knew who had been hired to take care of the little ones was today but he supposed they just wanted family around.

  “Now, Mr….” Cass began when the children were quiet upstairs.

  “Please call me Brian,” he insisted.

  “Okay, Brian, the will if you please.”

  Stephanie nodded from the other chair where she sat, her hands on the arm rests and she looked a little tense.

  “Well, as you know the farm was left to you and your brother fifty fifty,” Brian began and at Cass’s nod he continued, “There is no legal document to that effect and in the State of Wisconsin they tend to favor a man in t
hese cases so technically your brother owned the land and everything outright.” He paused as he saw Cass tense up ready to interrupt.

  Cass was furious. It had been she who kept it going for so long and done all the work while he went off to hunt and trap in the deep woods. She who had offered Stephanie a place in their home and it was Stephanie who had made the business what it was, especially why Cass had been gone to war.

  “Don’t worry, your brother was well aware of your contribution to the farm,” he quickly added.

  “Contribution?” she said angrily.

  “He was aware that the farm would not exist without you doing all the work on it. He made that very clear.”

  Cass relaxed a little but she was still angry that according to the State of Wisconsin she hadn’t owned it.

  “He wanted it clear that the farm was half yours and half his and we drew up papers that he signed to that effect,” he drew out the papers and handed them to Cass.

  Stephanie looked at them wondering how this would affect her as his wife. She should inherit his half then right?

  “What about when I returned from the war and he signed over my half?” Cass asked remembering back to when her ‘estate’ had gone to him.

  “That wasn’t legal what you two drew up but this is,” he indicated the papers he had before them.

  Cass nodded angrily but the papers he had handed to her showed she owned half the farm, legally now.

  “In the event of his death as we have here now,” he began but Stephanie interrupted.

  “Aren’t you supposed to read the will or something?” she asked.

  Brian nodded. “I thought explaining it first before I read it would make it easier,” he explained.

  Cass nodded in agreement. “Please continue.” She shot a warning glance to Stephanie to shush her.