More Than a Dream (48 page)
‘‘Well, I better be getting on home. Kaaren will have supper ready. You take good care of that cow, Andrew. She’ll calm down the way you keep petting her.’’ Lars headed out the barn door.
Just then Ingeborg called them for supper.
‘‘I’ll stay here,’’ Andrew said.
‘‘No. She’ll be a while yet. She knows what she’s doing, not like a dumb young heifer.’’
The two of them walked up to the house.
‘‘Will be good to have a cow to milk again, huh, Far?’’
‘‘Ja, that it will.’’
After washing up, Haakan sat down at the table where Thorliff was already seated and waiting, something apparently on his mind. ‘‘Far, you know how you and Pastor Solberg always say there is a Bible verse for everything?’’ Thorliff laid the Bible on the table next to his father’s place.
‘‘Ja, and I’m about to hear one, right?’’
‘‘Right.’’ Thorliff pointed to the page. ‘‘It says here that God will restore all that the locusts devoured. I figure if you substitute flood for locust, the meaning stays the same.’’
‘‘Ja, well . . .’’ Haakan stirred in his chair and glanced at the others. ‘‘Elizabeth still out?’’
‘‘Ja, she might be there all night. That baby must be thinking it’s too dangerous to try his way in the outer world yet.’’
Astrid looked up. ‘‘You think babies have a choice on when to be born?’’
‘‘Seems that way at times.’’
‘‘I read where a wild mare can be having her colt and if something spooks her, she can stop the birthing to run, then have her baby when it is safe.’’ Andrew wiped his hands and sat down.
When everyone was seated, Haakan bowed his head. ‘‘Heavenly Father, we thank thee for this food we have and for the health to eat and talk and work. Amen.’’
‘‘So you think that verse might be a good one to chew on?’’ Thorliff glanced at his father with one eyebrow raised.
‘‘Please pass the potatoes. Good thing your mor canned so much last summer.’’
Ingeborg shook her head with just the smallest hint of a smile. ‘‘He heard you, son.’’
After a rather silent meal, Andrew headed back out to the barn. When Haakan finished smoking his pipe, he followed. Thor-liff finished a letter to Benjamin before joining them.
Maple lay on her side, two small hooves protruding from under her tail. Andrew sat in the corner, his back against the wall. He smiled up at Thorliff when he joined his father leaning on the stall’s half wall.
‘‘She’s doing just fine.’’
‘‘I see.’’ Thorliff returned his brother’s smile.
With each contraction, the hooves emerged farther, retreating less with each relaxation. With a final push from the cow, the calf slid out onto the straw. Andrew picked up a handful of straw and wiped the mucus from the calf’s nose to make sure it was able to breathe. The calf shook his head.
‘‘Strong one, eh?’’
‘‘Ja, and a heifer.’’ Andrew used the straw to clean the sac away from the calf. He glanced over his shoulder to catch his father’s eye. ‘‘The first in the new herd that God will bring us. Like Thor-liff said, to repair what the locust has eaten.’’
Haakan looked from one son to the other. ‘‘You know, eating one’s own words is never easy, but when it is your own son pointing out the error of your ways . . .’’ He shook his head. ‘‘Like your mor says, ‘I give up.’ ’’ He raised his hands and let them fall to his sides again. ‘‘Sometimes accepting forgiveness is harder than giving it.’’
Maple surged to her feet and began licking her calf, emitting soft moans encouraging her baby to get to her feet so she could nurse. On the third try, the little heifer tottered to her mother’s side and, after bopping the full udder, latched on to a teat, her metronome tail flashing in the dim light.
Two weeks later Thorliff and Elizabeth stood at the Blessing train station.
‘‘You could stay longer.’’ Thorliff looked down at her, his eyes sending a message not yet uttered.
‘‘I know, but I am not needed here any longer.’’
Yes you are. I need you.
He reached for her hands. ‘‘You are going back to Chicago, then?’’
‘‘For now. When will you return to Northfield?’’
‘‘Soon.’’
‘‘Will they let you graduate?’’
He nodded. ‘‘I have to take the examinations, but they will let me graduate with the others.’’
Tell her. Tell her
. He sucked in a deep breath. ‘‘I love you, Elizabeth. With all my heart.’’
Her eyes widened, and she stared into his. ‘‘But . . .’’
‘‘I know you have always said you cannot be both a doctor and a wife, but I believe we could make it work. I believe God has brought us together, and with His guidance and help, Dr. and Mr. Bjorklund could become a family.’’
‘‘I . . . I . . . Thorliff, I . . .’’
‘‘Please think about it, about us.’’ The arriving train filled the air with screeching and steam hissing.
Lord, please change her mind. Let her love me as I love her
.
‘‘All aboard!’’ The conductor stood at the open door of the first car right behind the coal carrier.
‘‘I . . . I have to go.’’
‘‘God be with you.’’ He fought to keep a smile on his lips. ‘‘I’ll write to you.’’
And plead and plead until you give in. Whatever it
takes to win this woman, Lord, I will do it
.
Instead of letting her hand go, he drew her into his arms and held her close. ‘‘Go with God.’’
Eyes glittering from the tears that spilled over and glistened like diamonds down her cheeks, Elizabeth stepped back and accepted the conductor’s assistance.
Several other passengers mounted the steps as Thorliff waited to see where she would sit. Would she wave good-bye? But all the window seats were filled with other passengers, and he resigned himself that this was good-bye—for now.
‘‘All abo—ard?’’ The conductor’s call sounded as sad as the train whistle when it wept over the prairie.
Thorliff blinked several times and straightened his shoulders.
Well, Lord, the battle isn’t over yet, is it?
The train chugged forward, the screeching of the gears and the pistons that turned each wheel laughing in derision. She was leaving.
He stood until the last of the four passenger cars showed no Elizabeth at the windows. Thorliff raised a hand and turned to go. At least at home he was still needed.
‘‘Thorliff!’’ The call rang out.
Was he hearing things? He spun back around. ‘‘Elizabeth!’’ He leaped the tracks and swept her up in his arms. ‘‘What did you do? Get off the other side?’’
‘‘Yes. It was too crowded on your side. And yes.’’
He set her back on the plank platform. ‘‘What?’’
‘‘I said yes.’’ She put her hands on both sides of his face. ‘‘Yes, I will marry you.’’
‘‘You will?’’ He dropped his arms and took her hands. ‘‘But— you said—what changed your mind?’’
‘‘I guess I never before knew what love felt like. And I had to tell you something.’’
‘‘What?’’
She stared into his eyes. ‘‘I love you, Thorliff Bjorklund.’’
‘‘And you will marry me?’’
‘‘I said yes.’’
He cupped her face in his hands and kissed her.
Ah, Lord, she
is indeed more than a dream. Thank you. Thank you
. ‘‘Thank you!’’ That last one he shouted so even the angels would hear.
Writing a book is a community project, although the actual writing is mine. When I get stuck or frustrated, I call or e-mail my Round Robin supporters or those on ChiLibris, and help comes. How blessed I am. Thanks also to Kathleen for reading my roughs and giving me excellent suggestions.
In addition to these people, Jeff Sauve, the assistant archivist at St. Olaf College, provided books, papers, and copies from their archives describing early life at St. Olaf. Otherwise I would have had little idea of what went on there besides classes. Thanks, Jeff.
No writer is her best without good editors, and Sharon Asmus and the others are the greatest. Thanks to everyone at Bethany House Publishers for your excellent work. I thank you again for the thrill of holding a new book in my hand.
My friends and family not only support me but listen to me grumble when the words are hard to come by. They remind me that this too shall pass and we’ve been here before. I love you all. And as Tiny Tim said, ‘‘God bless us everyone.’’