A Winter's Promise (15 page)

Albert
’
s eyes widened.
“
We will?
”

“
Sure will,
”
Al continued.
“
The telephone was in
vented way back in 1876, and here it is
1892. It
’
s
high time we got
‘
em out here where we need
‘
em.
”

Emma stared out the window.
“
Wouldn
’
t that be something.
. .

Al chuckled.
“
One thing, we won
’
t have any trouble getting poles for the wires around these parts!
”

“
Would I be able to talk to my ma? That
’
s over
three miles.
”

“
Sure you
could.
You could talk
to Kate, too.
That
’
s called
‘
long distance.
’”

Emma
’
s eyes
brightened.
“
But what
’
ll it cost to buy one?
”

“
As I understand it, you don
’
t buy it. You pay rent on it. The telephone company owns it.
”

“
How soon do you think...

Al shrugged.
“
Oh, I
don
’
t
know
five, ten years, maybe.
”

Emma blinked back tears. Al would be home instead
of
in camp by then. Now was when she needed it.

Al didn
’
t notice her misty eyes and went on telling the boys there would be all kinds of inventions by the time they grew up.

“
What
’
s an invention?
”
Albert wanted to know.

“
Well, now, an invention is something someone
makes that hasn
’
t been made before. Sleighs had to be
invented, and wagons
—
even stoves. You
’
ll learn a lot about inventions when you go to school.
”

Albert took a hasty drink of milk, leaving a white
mustache above his mouth.
“
When kin I go to school?
”

“
Maybe this fall.
”

“
Will Miss Clark be there?
”

“
I s
’
pose so.
”

“
She
’
s purdy.
”

Al and Emma chuckled.
“
He
’
s a Verleger all
right,
”
Al said to Emma.
“
Knows a pretty girl when he sees one.
”

Emma ignored the comment.
“
Jenny Clark looks a lot
like Kate
’
s girls, don
’
t you think?
”

“
Hmm, same red hair, if that
’
s what you mean. Only
saw her once, at that corn husking party at Gebers
’
.
”

“
Albert took a shine to her, and so did Fred,
”
said
Emma.
“
She told me she
’
s English, but it looks to me
like some Irishman got over the border. She seems like a nice young lady, but she sure has an odd way of talk
in
’
.
”

AI laughed.
“
That
’
s why the county superintendent
of schools sends these English girls out in the country.
They hope the Germans and Swedes and Norwegians will learn proper English.
”

“
Your ma would rather have her speak German.
When I told her I thought Miss Clark must be pleasant
company for her, she started complaining–
”

Al interrupted,
“
You know better than to pay att
en
tion to Ma. She
’
d com
plain about the Angel Gabriel,
if
he boarded with
them.
”

Albert tugged on Al
’
s arm.
“
What
’
s
‘
boarded
’
mean?
”

“
It means a person who pays a family to live with them,
”
Al explained.

“
Miss Clark hasta
pay
to live with Grandma and Grandpa Verleger?
”

Al nodded and exchanged a smile with Emma. He knew she was wondering, too, if Albert was thinking that someone would have to pay
him
to live with
his
Grandma Verleger. Though Emma wouldn
’
t allow the
children to speak disrespectfully about their elders, Albert was free to think his own thoughts, and many un
pleasant incidents had not endeared Grandma Verleger
to him.

Al scraped his chair back from the table.
“
Gotta get the
snow shoveled and the barn cleaned.
”

He had hardly gone outside when he came in again.
“
Em ... come here.
”
He draped her coat around her shoulders and ushered her toward the door.

Immediately Albert and Fred scrambled down from
the bench.
“
No!
Not you fellas! Get back to the table and
finish your breakfast,
”
Al ordered.
“
Your mama
’
ll be right back.
”

He drew her out into the crisp, gleaming-white,
morning.
“
We just have to take a minute to enjoy look
ing at all
this,
”
he said.

Emma pulled her coat close around her and shivered.
Al stepped behind her and wrapped his long arms around her, his chin resting on her head.

“
I like the spruce and balsam up along the edge of the
field,
”
he said softly.
“
Don
’
t even notice the shape of
‘
em till they
’
ve
got snow on
‘
em, like now.
”

Emma let her eyes rove from the far edge of the field
beyond the barn to the pillow-topped barn roof where
the snow hung i
n
g
raceful
sc
allops along
the east side
of
the building. Her eyes followed the intricate curves the
wind had carved in the drift close to her feet. It was pret
ty,
all right. But the beauty wasn
’
t penetrating that hol
low spot inside of her. It was like trying to pour water
into
a jar with the lid on. She pulled her thoughts back and tried to
listen
to Al.

“
. . .
and man thinks he
’
s so smart,
”
Al was saying.
“
Like to see
‘
em make something this perfect.
”

Emma sighed,
“
I wish it would stay this white.
”

“
You want snow all year?
”

“
Oh, no! I can
’
t wait for spring, but it
’
s so pretty and clean. Look at it sparkle now that the sun
’
s getting
high!
”

Al made a wide, sweeping gesture with his right
hand.
“
They
’
re diamonds for you, Em. Probably the only kind I
’
ll ever be able to give you,
”
he said wistfully.

“
Only
kind
I want,
”
she said softly.
“
What use would
I have for real ones?
”

A bellow from the barn startled both of them

Al
’
s arms tightened around Emma in a quick hug,
then he trotted off toward the barn, calling over his shoulder,
“
It
’
s Molly. Forgot to tell you, she
’
s calving. Looks like a big one, judging by the hooves.
”

Molly bellowed again, and Emma cringed.
Poor thing,
she thought.
She
’
s such a little cow to have a big calf.
She turned to go
in
the house, amazed that she h
ad forgotten Molly was due to drop her calf at any time. She
shook her head and muttered,
“
What
would I have
done if the calf had come yesterday
?
”

With one foot on the doorsill, Emma hesitated.
Maybe if she really tried to think about the snowscape,
she could feel the usual happy feeling such beauty
brought her. Yesterday
’
s boisterous wind had blown far
away, leaving an eerie stillness behind. Soundlessly a
ridge of snow toppled and fell from an elm branch near the river. Soon, Emma knew, these branches would all
shed their ermine coats;
the sparkling snow
blanket
would become track-marred and dull. Now was the time to take in its beauty.

But the more she tried to absorb it, the emptier she,
felt, until the sparkles wavered through her tears.
“
What
’
s the matter with me?
”
she groaned.

Molly bellowed again, and a chill raced up Emma
’
s
spine. She had never heard a cow carry on like that.
Maybe she should help. No, the children would be at the door any second.

Still she lingered, her coat wrapped tightly around,
her. What if they lost the calf after all that time and e
f
fort to get Molly bred? There had been a thousand things
to do last spring, when they first came back from Phil
lips. Right in the middle of that first week, Al had to
lead Molly ten miles to Spirit Falls to have her bred.
When Emma had fretted because Al had to spend all
that time on the road, he had reminded her that he
might have had to go clear to Tomahawk, if Mr. Bradley hadn
’
t bought a bull and kept him at Spirit Falls for the convenience of the farmers in the area. She had agreed
that Mr. Bradley had certainly done them all a good
turn, but just the same, there was ground to be tilled and seeds to plant.

Al had reminded her, too, how fortunate they were to have Molly. If Al
’
s mother had had her way, they would have had only Bessie, the cow they had left with his parents when they moved to Phillips—and Cora, of course. Grandma Verleger had been only too glad to get rid of,
Cora. She had wanted to keep Molly, but Grandpa said
his rheumatism was worse than ever and he couldn
’
t
lead her all the way to Spirit
Falls.
So Molly had
become theirs.