A Promise for Ellie (16 page)

We are going to have to make up our minds on the colors of paint. We can paint the house and barn to match—not red for both—or paint the house white, the barn red, or paint both white with colored trim. I’m partial to a red barn myself, but as Mor has said more than once, “A man is wise who defers to his wife at times.”

Oh, I nearly forgot to tell you that Mor fainted in church last Sunday. She is staying over at Elizabeth’s surgery for a while. I think Dr. Elizabeth just doesn’t trust her to stay off her feet. This way she can make sure. That gave us all a bad scare, but they say it is nothing time won’t take care of. Far as I can tell, that means some female something they don’t want to talk about in front of the menfolk.

Ellie tried to swallow.
Not Ingeborg. Please, God, make her well
again
.

I’d best get to bed so I can be up early to check on the barn before milking. We had a big windstorm Saturday night when we had the barn frame only partially up. You can imagine my relief when I went out there before sunrise and saw that it was still standing.

That is all the news I can think of. I am counting the days until you come back here where you belong.

All my love,
              Your Andrew

Ellie dabbed at her eyes. All his love. And yes, he was hers.

Rachel dropped down on the grass beside her. “I made a line to mark how far I jumped when the swing was still high enough to give me a good push.”

“If you break your leg, I won’t be here to take care of you, so you might want to be a bit careful.” There, she’d given a remonstrance without sounding like her mother.

“Pish fish, I won’t break my leg.” Rachel held one straight out and pumped it up and down. “Harold sprained his ankle real bad jumping off their barn roof. He thought the sheet he tied to his suspenders would help him fly.”

“It didn’t, I take it.”

“Nope.”

Ellie tucked the letter into her pocket. “I’m going to spend the afternoon sewing your dress. You need to stay around so I can try it on you.”

“All right.” Rachel stretched the words out on a prolonged sigh.

“If you’d rather sew it yourself . . ?”

“I helped you cut it out.”

“That you did. When I’m ready, you can help me hem it too.”

Since her mother was so busy with Arne, Ellie had been teaching Rachel to sew, just as Goodie had taught her, starting with hemming dish towels and napkins. When the young girl paid attention, her stitches were very neat and tiny.

Although, if Ellie thought about it, hers were that way when she was ten. She’d started learning to sew at five at her mother’s side. Ellie stood and reached down to take Rachel’s hand. “Come along. We should have brought Arne with us to play in the park.”

“Tante Goodie said that Hans is coming home for a visit.”

“He was coming for my wedding, but I forgot to write and tell him it was postponed. By the time our wedding comes around he’ll be back in college again. One more year, and he’ll graduate.”

“I don’t want to go back to school.”

“Whyever not?”

“That mean Claus—he stuck my braid in the inkwell.”

“That’s because he likes you.”

Rachel stopped walking and stared up at Ellie openmouthed, horror filling her round blue eyes. “Likes me? He hates me.”

Ellie took her hand again. “We’ll see.”

“Are you excited for the party tomorrow?”

“Yes, are you?”

The women of the church were giving a party for Ellie. She didn’t know what to expect, but she was looking forward to the gathering.

By evening Ellie had Rachel’s dress ready to be hemmed, so she stood her cousin on a box to mark the hem.

“You cut it long enough so you can put in a deep hem that we can let down.” Goodie kept the knitting needles flying while she watched Ellie and Rachel. “Land sakes, that child is sprouting up right before our eyes.”

“Of course, Ma. Three inches, at least.” Ellie folded the hem up to show the depth and took another pin from her mouth to pin the hem in place.

“You be careful you don’t go swallowing one of them pins, missy.”

Ellie rolled her eyes and made Rachel giggle.

“That’s what pincushions are for.”

“Could you move that lamp a bit closer to the edge of the table, please?” Ellie asked.

Goodie did so and nodded her approval. “You look nice in that dress, Rachel. Make sure you don’t outgrow it before school starts.”

“Tante Goodie, I’m not growing that fast.”

Ellie’s mind flipped back through the years, hearing her mother say the same things to her. Was that what having children of your own was like? Replaying your own childhood over again but from a different angle? Was that how one learned to live and love, by watching those ahead and doing what they did? But things were changing, and how did one learn to make wise choices? She knew if she asked her mother, she would say that you had to depend on the only source of real wisdom—God’s Word—and you must ask for His help and listen for His answers.

Ellie slipped the last pin in place and stood to help Rachel step down without dislodging any of the pins. “I’ll iron that in, and then we can begin hemming it. Oh, pish fish”—she grinned at her cousin—“I forgot to put the sadirons on to heat.”

Rachel walked carefully into her aunt’s bedroom to take off her dress. “I’ll put them on as soon as we’re done here.” She stood perfectly still while Ellie lifted the dress over her head, only snagging one pin on her hair.

“Ouch.”

“Sorry.” Ellie untangled it and hung the dress on a hanger.

“This is such a pretty dress.” Rachel stroked the red and white gingham, trimmed with a white collar and cuffs on the sleeves.

“We need to make you some warmer ones for winter.” Ellie found a thread hanging and took the scissors out of her apron pocket to cut it.

“I’ll never get my sweater all knitted.”

“I’ll help.”

“But you’re going to move away.”

Ellie nibbled on her lower lip. While going to Andrew was the dream of her life, leaving her family behind was getting to be a terrible wrench. She already felt it, like some part of her inside was being torn from the rest, leaving a suppurating wound. If only Pa hadn’t moved them to Grafton. It would be so much easier if they all still lived in Blessing.

She turned at the clang of the heavy flatirons hitting the stovetop. “Did you put fresh wood in first?”

“No.” Iron scraped on iron as Rachel pushed them back, opened the front lid and set it aside, then shook the grate and added more wood, setting the lid back in place and moving the flatirons forward to the hottest part of the stove again. Just listening to the familiar sounds made Ellie see what was going on. One day soon she would be the one doing all of this. Fixing the meals, baking, sweeping and scrubbing, putting by food for the winter.

“I hope Andrew is taking care of my garden.”

Olaf looked up from reading his paper. “If he is building the barn from dawn to dark, I doubt he has time for a garden.”

Ellie heaved a sigh. She would have to go before the weeds made it impossible for her vegetables to grow.

“Sure hope Andrew has built a coop for the chickens I promised you.” Goodie looked to Olaf. “Do we have a crate for them?”

“We will by tomorrow night. Shame you can’t get them there overnight so they don’t quit laying.”

Ellie knew what he meant. Chickens moved during the night and settled before dawn kept right on laying.

“I’ll send a couple of pullets that aren’t laying yet and a young rooster. That should get you started.”

Ellie sniffed back tears. These parents of hers were so dear. Olaf had made a bed, a dresser, and a table and chairs for them, and he was just finishing a rocking chair for her. He said every woman needed a rocking chair. She and Andrew were starting their married life so rich, thanks to their families and friends.

Late the next morning the three of them left Arne with the neighbor and strolled six blocks to the church, where the women were gathering for a special dinner and party for Ellie. Rachel carried a gift she had made and wrapped in secret, Goodie had a basket over her arm, and Ellie carried her parasol to keep the sun off all three of them.

“You both look so lovely.” Ellie glanced from her mother to her cousin. All three of them were wearing straw hats with ribbons, new dresses, and both she and her mother wore cameos pinned to ribbons at their throats. Rachel skipped a couple of times and twirled once to see her red and white gingham skirt swirl about her.

“Ladies don’t swirl and twirl. They walk properly.” Goodie shifted her basket to her other arm.

“Let me carry that, Ma. You take the parasol.” Ellie winked at Rachel, now walking primly beside her. She handed the carved wooden handle to her mother but had to tug a trifle to get the basket.

“Don’t look inside it.”

“Of course not.” Not that she could see anything beneath the neatly folded dish towel anyway.

“Ellie, stop a moment.” Goodie pulled on the edge of the basket.

“Of course. Is something wrong?”

“No, no. I just wanted to thank you for staying for this party. I know you’d rather be with Andrew, but . . .”

Ellie bit back tears. “I’m glad too, Ma.”

“We better go on before we all start to cry.” All three of them sniffled and picked up the pace again.

The pastor’s wife stopped them at the door. “Please wait a moment,” she said after greeting them. “Goodie, you and Rachel go ahead. I’ll bring the guest of honor in a few minutes.”

Curiosity swelled like a beesting. Ellie smiled at the woman, who reminded her of a mama bunny. “And how are you today, Mrs. Washburn?”

“Just fine, dear. We are going to miss you so much. It seems like you have been here all your life, not just a couple of years.”

“Thank you.” Ellie heard laughter and some giggles from behind the door. What was going on?

“Oh, ignore that.” Mrs.Washburn glanced at the door and turned back to Ellie. “How is that young man of yours?”

“He’s building our barn right now. I don’t believe the house has come yet. He ordered one from Sears and Roebuck.” Was she bragging on Andrew? She hoped she didn’t sound prideful, but how could she help doing so when Andrew was so wonderful?

The door opened and one of the other women peeked out. “We are ready now.” She pushed the door open all the way and motioned for them to go before her. Women and girls of the congregation lined the stairs going to the basement and each one shook Ellie’s hand as she descended the steps. She paused at the doorway to the parish hall and put her hand to her throat.

“Oh, how lovely.”

White cloths draped all the tables, and pink ribbons decorated the pint jars holding sprays of white bridal wreath, purple irises, and lilacs. Pink paper hearts and pink napkins lay at every place. The room smelled as sweet as it looked. A table off to the side held gifts wrapped in paper or dish towels or colored fabrics.

“This is too much.”

“You and your mother and cousin will sit up there, with me and Mrs. Saunders.” Mrs. Washburn pointed to the front of the room. Most of the other chairs already had women standing behind them. She followed her hostess down the center of the room between the two lines of tables, smiling and nodding to all those present. Some had been her teachers in church school, some were her friends, like Maydell, some the mothers of her friends—not all members of the congregation—and some were from school.

I never knew I had this many friends here,
Ellie thought as she made her way forward.
If only Andrew could see all of this
. She took the chair indicated, and after they all sang the table prayer, they sat.

Women brought out plates already filled with small sandwiches cut in triangles and squares, two kinds of salad, and rolls, each with a tiny heart of extra dough baked on top. One woman poured tea into cups on saucers in front of their place settings, while another woman wheeled in a white-draped cart with a pink-frosted sheet cake in the center.

Ellie could not quit shaking her head. This was too much. What had she done to deserve a party like this? She turned to her mother. “Did you know of this?”

“Some. But I am as surprised as you, although much of the lilacs and bridal wreath are from my bushes out by the fence.”

The meal passed swiftly, visiting and laughter filling the room with a scent as sweet as the flowers on the tables.

Mrs. Saunders, head of the Ladies Aid Society, stood and tapped her cup with her spoon. “I want to welcome all of you this fine summer’s day as we honor one of our own dear daughters about to embark on the sea called matrimony. Ellie Wold has come into all our hearts, and today we will bless her as she begins her new life.While the ladies are clearing, Misses Beth and Mary will share some of their songs with us.”

After the lovely music ended and everyone had clapped their appreciation, Mrs. Washburn continued. “Now if any of you have something you’d like to say, please raise your hand.”

Mrs. Wilson, who’d led the high school girls in music, stood. “Dear Ellie, I just want to tell you how much your willing heart has meant to me. So often you saw what I needed before I did and took care of it, like finding the music or setting out the chairs. I will miss your smiling face next fall.” She sat down to applause. Ellie knew her face would either crack with smiling or the tears would burst forth.