A Harvest of Hope

by Lauraine Snelling

  Astrid nodded. “Thank you.” Was Mrs. Geddick in the kitchen? If so, she must thank her on the way out. She stopped at the kitchen.

  Mrs. Geddick was stirring a huge stock pot of oatmeal. And who was that slumped over in a chair by the kneading table? Astrid stepped into the kitchen.

  Mrs. Geddick turned. Astrid motioned toward the stranger.

  Mrs. Geddick waved an arm. “Mr. Huslig, this is Dr. Bjorklund. Doctor, Garn Huslig is the new owner of the grain elevator.”

  “Oh!” No wonder he looked so utterly crushed.

  He grimaced. “Dr. Bjorklund,” he said and started to rise.

  She sat down in the chair beside his, so he sank back. She remembered seeing him here and there around town. He was usually a bouncing, jovial fellow, always ready with a smile. This man beside her looked haggard and drawn, totally defeated.

  “I heard that one of your employees is missing. I’m so sorry to hear that.”

  “Oh, I know where he is.” The man’s voice was flat. “Oh yes, I know. So many times I warned him, ‘Never smoke your pipe in the elevator or anywhere near it. The dust will explode and burn. Grain dust is flammable. Never do it.’ And I would catch him with his pipe out anyway. He was a fine worker, but he had great trouble remembering. I’m sure that tonight he finished his chores, swept up the floor, then sat down to smoke his pipe. He is there somewhere, under all the rubble and the twisted metal. Yes, I know where he is.”

  What could she say? Nothing. He stared at nothing, a half-empty mug of coffee by his hands.

  She laid her hand on his arm, and he did not seem to notice, so she stood up to go home.

  “Miriam!” The voice was calling frantically. “Miriam!”

  Miriam ran to the hospital window, the blown-out empty window frame. “Trygve?” she leaned out to see better. The fire was still burning in the elevator next door, and men were still running about in the streets.

  “Miriam!” Trygve came racing around the corner so wildly his feet nearly slipped out from under him. He staggered, regained his balance, and dashed to her window. “Oh, thank God! Thank God!” He reached up to her with both arms.

  She reached down to him. He grasped her hands, nearly pulling her out the window as he pressed them to his cheeks, his lips. He must have been running a long way. He was gasping for breath.

  “Trygve?”

  “They said . . . Thank God it was only a rumor! I heard you were caught by the blast at that end of the hall, you and another nurse. Oh, thank God it was a false rumor!”

  Her hands squeezed his. “And thank God you are all right!” Her mind, her emotions were playing tricks on her. She felt something huge and overwhelming but could not identify it. “Trygve, we are all safe here. We’re treating many injured but are safe.” For the first time, she studied his eyes carefully and looked at them without embarrassment or the desire to look away. She gazed into his eyes, and he was gazing into hers. They were wonderful eyes, and there was so much pain in them.

  She stammered a little. “I have to get back. So many injured . . .”

  He gave her hands a final squeeze and released them. “I love you, Miriam.” He turned away even as she was backing up, standing up straight.

  What had just happened? Her mind swirled so giddily she leaned for a moment against the window frame, her hand pressed to her sternum. But she had responsibilities, duties. She was needed now. She hurried back to her work.

  Outside the hospital doors, Astrid, with Vera at her side, paused to look at Garn Huslig’s grain elevator. It was spectacular in a hellish way, a two-story pile of smoldering, smoking, stinking black rubble. The tin siding and roof sheets, hideously buckled and warped, were scattered all about. Was Mr. Huslig right and the night watchman still lay somewhere in that mess? Astrid shuddered.

  Several men with shovels stood around, but most probably, the fire was out.

  “I’ll be home later,” Daniel called to her from the ring around the pile of ruins that had been the post office. “Dr. Deming is staying at our house. My mother has been helping your mother find homes for all those displaced.”

  “Have you seen Thorliff?”

  “He just went home.”

  Astrid debated with herself. Go check on Elizabeth or go to bed?

  Daniel added, “He said to tell you Dr. Elizabeth obeyed orders, much against her desires.”

  Thank you, Lord.

  Vera turned aside toward the boardinghouse. Astrid walked home and trudged up her stairs. She had a house to come home to, a husband who made sure she was all right, and a bed to fall into. What more did she need?

  Chapter 22

  Tonio so often accused Miriam of wanting all her soldiers to march in an absolutely straight line. He would say it as if it were a bad thing. Well, just now it was an impossible thing. No matter how she tried, Miriam could not get the hospital running in a halfway orderly manner. As soon as she got one area organized and operating smoothly, another fell apart.

  The front doors slammed open. Again. Two men brought a third man in, pressed between them, steadying him. He staggered drunkenly.

  “He vomited and collapsed on the bucket line, like he can’t get his breath.”

  “Bring him in here.” She pointed them to the examining table. At least she’d had time to clean this room up since the last bandaging. She listened to his heart, which was beating steadily.

  “We have to get back.” The two men left.

  She called after them, “Thank you!” but they were out the door.

  She pressed the stethoscope to his side. The air whistled but did not seem to get into the lungs much. He was gasping.

  Dawn appeared beside her.

  “Get me some pillows, please. We have to get him sitting up.”

  Dawn returned shortly and they propped the man up. “The smoke got him?”

  “Right. You watch him. Don’t let him fall off.” Miriam headed for their medication supply. Oil of something . . . she’d read about it back in Chicago. Something that helped clear airways. Menthol? Eucalyptus. That was it. She found it in the cabinet Mrs. Bjorklund rummaged in so often. She drew the bottle out and, taking a square of muslin from the drawer, dampened it and added a couple of drops to it.

  She returned to the man and laid the cloth over his mouth and nose so that he was forced to breathe through it. He tried to push her hand away, but in a couple of breaths he started to cough. Violently. Dawn stared at her, but Miriam pointed her to the other side of the bed and put an arm around his shoulders to sit him up straighter. When the coughing eased, his eyes fluttered and opened. He sucked in another deep breath, and she felt his shoulders relax.

  “Just try to breathe normally now,” she said softly. “You stay with him. I’ll check the front.”

  She left them and quickly checked the front. What she needed was a few minutes to think. Minutes? Hours! Days!

  And she realized one big thing: She had not taken time to eat. Suddenly she was very hungry. She turned aside to the kitchen. “Mrs. Geddick? Do we have any soup available? Or something?”

  “Ja, dear child. I was wondering when you would finally slow down enough to eat. Sit.”

  Miriam sat.

  Mrs. Geddick plunked coffee, milk, and sugar on the table.

  “Thank you. Who is that helping you?”

  “Mrs. Moen, Anji. She came back here to live. Asked if I needed help. She beckoned the woman over and introduced them. Miriam hoped she smiled.

  After they returned to their work, Miriam took a deep breath and immediately thoughts of Trygve bombarded her. Trygve. He loved her. He’d said so. But then, she’d already known that full well. What were her feelings? That was what she must sort out.

  A bowl of soup appeared in front of her.

  “Beef and barley,” Mrs. Geddick announced, “and plenty for seconds if you want more.” She set the butter dish beside the bowl, along with a plate holding three thick slabs of fresh bread. Very thick soft slices with a heavenly aroma.
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  Miriam picked up the soup spoon and stopped to simply look at all the food in front of her. Rich food, nourishing food, and so plentiful. She thought about her brothers and sisters in Chicago. Their meals were scant and expensive by comparison and not nearly so fresh. She buttered a piece of bread and sipped the hot soup. Delicious. But then, nearly all the food she’d ever tasted in Blessing was delicious.

  Whatever had made her think that her family could do as well by staying in Chicago? Trygve said there was ample work here, and indeed there was. And ample food. And ample opportunity. Why was her mind so set on living in Chicago? All the while she kept spooning in the soup and enjoying the fresh bread.

  Because that had been her plan. Finish school and then work where the family was. Once a plan is in place, a goal, never deviate from it. But she had choices now she hadn’t then.

  For the family didn’t have to be in Chicago. Indeed, they would be better off here. Why must she adhere to a plan that was no longer even the best plan?

  She almost laughed out loud at herself. She had sat down here just needing food and a bit of a breather, and here she was thinking about her feelings toward Trygve and concern for her family. And her plan pounced on her, all because of Trygve and his declaration of love.

  So what about her feelings, feelings that seemed to want to run and hide behind . . . behind what? The catastrophe here—right now, that was what. But he had taken time to come and see how she was. And to say again that he loved her.

  Attraction? Yes. Caring? Yes. Love? Yes. But did she feel the kind of love between a man and a woman? How did one know for certain? He was so certain. But her feelings?

  They were intense. They were uncontrollable. They were frightening. They did not march in a straight tidy line. And that terrified her.

  Astrid awoke to a bedroom window full of bright sunlight. What time was it? Nearly noon! She should have gotten up hours ago. Wait. She was up hours ago. The whole town was. She rose, dressed, and walked downstairs.

  Daniel, at the dining table with a pile of official-looking papers, twisted around. He stood up, took her hand, and kissed her cheek. “You should have slept longer. You have circles under your eyes the size of serving platters.”

  She sat down at her place. “Perhaps tonight we can get back to regular hours. How is it out there?”

  Daniel sat back down and laid aside the papers he’d been working on. “Still some hot spots, and there was a grass fire out by Ingeborg’s, but Lars managed to put it out by himself. No threats of new fires anymore. Tent Town is gone and everything in it. We think everyone had a place to stay last night. How did they do at the hospital?”

  “Lots of burns, lacerations, and smoke inhalations. When a patient came in, his family, or hers, usually came in as well. We released as many as we could, but where would they go? When I left there were no beds available, all the pallets were in use, and some children were sleeping on the floor. I suppose Thorliff is crazily trying to get a paper out.”

  Daniel chuckled. “You know your brother. The news is all important. Oh, and that general bank meeting is still on as scheduled. Financing was important before. It’s paramount now. We’ll almost surely have to go outside for loans.”

  Astrid sighed. “The grain elevator was full of our farmers’ major source of income. It’s gone.”

  Daniel nodded grimly. “A good portion of the wheat harvest had not been shipped out yet. At least the flour mill can get wheat from the surrounding area, so it can continue operating.”

  Astrid stared at nothing. “I remember Mor and Far’s stories about when they arrived here so many years ago. Even before there was a Blessing, the farmers built the grain elevator so that they could ship their wheat. In a very real sense, it helped build this town.”

  “And now it tried to destroy it.”

  Astrid stared at him, opened her mouth, then closed it. She smiled. “Yes, but Blessing is smarter than a grain elevator and more resilient too.”

  He laughed out loud.

  Amelia entered with the coffeepot, paused in the doorway, and came over to the table. “You’re awake earlier than I thought you would be. Breakfast is coming right up.”

  “Thank you.” Astrid turned her attention back to Daniel. “Like so many other buildings in town, the hospital is going to need windows. And scraping and sanding on the elevator side. There is probably some charring there. Toby thinks the roof should be patched before it rains. A week ago if I heard the roof might leak, I would have leaped into action. Now? Who cares about a little water?”

  “One’s priorities do change, don’t they?”

  Amelia brought out a bowl of oatmeal and the brown sugar. “We have half a dozen people sleeping on floors in the parlor and upstairs, and we’ll feed about fifteen or twenty people here at dinner. I have a pot of stew on the back of the stove and bread in the oven. We can serve folks as they show up.”

  “Wonderful!” Astrid picked up her spoon. She smiled at Daniel. “I did say resilient. We’ll all come through this just fine.”

  An hour later, Astrid threw a shawl across her shoulders and walked to the hospital. She looked again at the elevator side of the building. The siding was blistered and scorched in places, but someone had tacked bed sheets over the blown-out windows. So close. They had come so close to losing everything. And if the hospital had burned down, no doubt it would have ignited other buildings around it. How blessed of God they were!

  She entered, but she did not go straight to her office. She did rounds first, stopping at each patient. The place still reeked of smoke and charring. Sleeping people sprawled everywhere. Many, many injured. But look how beautifully they were bandaged. What a superb staff she had: nurses and students stretched beyond their abilities, coping so powerfully. She climbed up the stairs and out onto the roof. Men were talking and calling to each other in the street below, but this was so quiet compared to last night. Wisps of smoke still rose from the elevator rubble beyond the roof. She went back downstairs and walked through the ward.

  They’d need to order more supplies immediately. She stopped at the nurses’ station. “Corabell, could you take charge of counting and ordering supplies today? Have Gray Cloud help you. We need to be prepared immediately for another catastrophe.”

  “Yes, Doctor. We don’t have a telephone anymore, you know.”

  Astrid shook her head. “Well, we got along without one for years. I guess we can again. I’ll be at Dr. Bjorklund’s for an hour or so, and then I’ll return.”

  “You think the laundry ladies will be in today?”

  “Good question.” Both of them had lived in Tent Town. “I hope so, and if not, we’ll try to find out where they are staying. Give them a while yet. They may just be sleeping. Go ahead and set things to soak. We will do it if they can’t.” She stopped at Corabell’s grin.

  “You’ve already done that?” Another nod, eyes twinkling. “You have all done wonderfully well. I am so proud of you.”

  She took a few moments to check the shelves and cabinets. Were there any supplies that needed to be replaced immediately? What was this standing out on the counter? Oil of eucalyptus.

  She carried it back to Corabell. “Who had this out? My mother?”

  “Miriam did. She and Gray Cloud used it to help one of the fire fighters breathe more easily. He had smoke in his lungs. I saw it on the chart when I did rounds.”

  “Thank you.” Astrid stopped by her office long enough to write herself a note to give Miriam a special commendation. Using that oil of eucalyptus was brilliant. Astrid herself had not thought of it. Then she picked up her bag and went outside.

  Did her hospital smell smoky? The whole town smelled smoky. She walked down to Thorliff’s and let herself in. Elizabeth was sitting at the window in her bedroom.

  She took one look at Elizabeth’s face when she arrived and shook her head. “Back to bed, my friend. Where’s Inga?”

  “They are having school today, after all.” Elizabeth dutifully climb
ed back in bed. “I just couldn’t sleep last night. I’m certain that’s all that’s wrong.”

  “Nobody slept last night.” Down inside, Astrid thought, I sure hope that is all it is.

  “I need to do the ordering today. I know you must be running low.”

  “Yes, we are, but no, you’ll not be doing it. I already have the job assigned to others.” Astrid applied the stethoscope to Elizabeth’s heart. Erratic? She held her breath and listened intently. Should she try digitalis? But would that endanger the baby? She listened for the fetal heartbeat. Strong and sure. Please, Lord, please. If only the mother’s sounded as strong as her baby’s.

  Elizabeth propped herself to half sitting. She smiled broadly when Astrid told her about Miriam’s oil of eucalyptus. “You know, if we’re not careful, some of this smoke inhalation could turn into pneumonia.”

  “That is another blessing. We had a little breeze last night. Not enough to make the fires burn hotter but enough to help clear the smoke.”

  Elizabeth nodded. “I sent a telegram to Chicago, telling them what happened and why we will no longer be in contact by telephone. Or rather, Thorliff did that for me.” She raised a hand. “I have not been out of the house, no matter how much I wanted to help you at the hospital. Believe me, staying here with all the flying debris lighting up the night was harrowing enough.”

  “I never gave a thought to what it must have been like for others. All I could think was to save the hospital—and our people.”

  “I was never so happy to see anyone in my life as when your mother came in that door. Inga almost knocked her over with the force of her run-to-Grandma hug. Poor Inga woke up when the elevator blew up. She was so frightened.”

  “I didn’t even know Mor had been here. Thank God she wasn’t out on one of the bucket lines.”

  “Then Mrs. Jeffers came to check on me. One of them would run out and check the roof. Amelia went out with a shovel to throw a burning brand off the porch. Between them and Thelma, we didn’t burn. They kept thanking God for the soaked roofs and the wet grass.”