Streams of Mercy (15 page)

When the telephone jangled, Ingeborg listened to make sure it was her ring, then went to answer it. “You all keep on as you are doing.” She couldn’t help but smile as she picked up the earpiece. “Hello.”

“Mor, I’m just calling to find out how Clara is doing.”

“Oh, Astrid, you won’t believe this is the same person. Manny is reading aloud and Emmy is teaching Clara to sign. She might not be able to talk now, but she can communicate somewhat, and with sign she will be able to be part of the world.”

“How is she doing with her terror of men?”

“She has accepted Manny, and now I think it is time she meet some of the men. I have asked John to come tomorrow and have dinner with us, since it is Saturday. Then I think either Lars or Trygve. She has watched them out the windows going back and forth to the barn, and yesterday Trygve came and dug out the straw stacked against the house. We’ll go spread it over the garden tomorrow. She is used to working; she is not used to kindness. But we are working on that.”

“Ah, Mor, I knew you would work miracles.”

“Never think it is me. Only our God works the miracles. We get the privilege of being His hands here. Think of all the wounded He has brought to us here in Blessing.”

“So true. Oh, by the way, have you heard from Anji and Rebecca?”

“No, what?”

“We’re going to have a housecleaning on Monday, as many women as can come. Some men would be helpful too, I am sure. We’re going to clean the Valders’ house from top to bottom and Anji and her family will live there.”

“What a wonderful idea. I will be there, and perhaps Freda too, but I think it is too soon for Clara.”

“Will we see you in church?”

“Ja, I will be there.”

“Good, I’ll talk to you then.”

Ingeborg hung the earpiece back on the prong and paused in the archway to listen to the babble.

“The end.” Manny closed the book. “I’m thirsty. How come readin’ aloud makes me want to drink a gallon?”

“Good for you, Clara.” Emmy looked up to see Ingeborg. “Come on, let’s show Grandma.”

Ingeborg nodded as Emmy showed off her pupil. “Well done.” She reached out and patted Clara’s shoulder, fully expecting the girl to withdraw. Instead, she tipped her head and laid her cheek against Ingeborg’s hand. Her eyes said all the thanks that Ingeborg could ever need.

C
HAPTER 12

I
t doesn’t feel right being here without Hildegunn,” Anji said as she looked around inside the entryway.

“Not that we were ever invited when they lived here.” Ingeborg shook her head.

“Really?” Anji welcomed them into the kitchen. The house cleaners were starting to gather to scrub the Valders’ house from attic to cellar. “I know I was never invited, but I didn’t think that applied to everyone. As soon as everybody is here, I’ll let people choose where they want to work.”

“We should start by taking all the curtains down and hauling the rugs out to the clothesline to be beaten. Then, while the rugs are airing, we can wash and hang the curtains out.” Ingeborg frowned as she looked around.

Sophie arrived next. “All the children who aren’t old enough for school are invited to my house. Linnea says she will make them all dinner. I brought a hamburger and noodle hotdish.” She planted her hands on ample hips—the leftovers from birthing babies. “You know, this is the first time I’ve seen the inside of this house.”

Ingeborg smiled. “We were just commenting on that. Kaaren and I will start upstairs with the curtains. Thorliff said he’d have a crew here later to do the outside and carry out the rugs.” She looked around the kitchen. “Looks like the walls need scrubbing in here too. Is there a bathroom?”

“No, but a hand pump in the kitchen. The outhouse is out back by the garden. We should have hot water shortly. I started the boiler.” Anji pointed to the no-longer-shiny cast-iron stove. “I remember Mor polishing her stove. She was so proud of that stove with a big oven, a reservoir, and the warming shelf.”

“Ja, for those of us who had cooked over a fireplace, those stoves were our greatest treasures. They came in on the train even before Penny’s store.” Kaaren wore a half smile—remembering. “We didn’t have cookstoves until we built houses. There was no room in a soddy for such a big thing.”

“The first one came to the boardinghouse. Remember? We all went to admire it and dream of owning one too.” Ingeborg turned to greet Amelia Jeffers.

“Daniel said to tell you they’ll be right over, and he is bringing his machine class over to help too.” She glanced around the kitchen, up to the ceiling and the windows. “Well, it looks like we have our work cut out for us. Sophie, let’s you and I start on the kitchen. Several of the other women are coming too. Mrs. Sam will be sending over dinner so we can get done in one day. Anji, what will it feel like having your own home again?”

“You have no idea. I never dreamed I’d have one this big. I loved my house when I lived here, but the family house in Norway . . .” She shook her head. “Let’s just say I am glad to be home.”

As the women scattered to their stations, several others arrived and were set to other rooms.

In the parlor, Anji eyed the oak rolltop desk in the corner,
collecting dust like everything else. Shaking her head, she returned to the kitchen and picked up the telephone earpiece. “Can you get Gerald Valders for me, please.” While waiting, she took the dustcloth from her pocket and dusted the top and down the sides of the wall-hung instrument. Had Hildegunn not cleaned in a long time, or could things really get this bad so soon? “Gerald, we are cleaning in the parlor. What do you want us to do with your father’s desk? Clean it out or leave it be?” She heard his sigh and knew he didn’t really want to even look in it. And yet as the elder of the two sons, he should. So she suggested, “Would you like me to take everything out of it and put the papers all in a box for you to go through later?”

“Thank you. That would be ideal. Perhaps Toby and I can take an evening and get through it all.”

“How about I do the same with all we find?”

“Good. Toby said he’d be working on the outside. I would, but I need to fill in here today.”

Anji hooked the earpiece back on the prong. She should be the one to do this chore, much as she hated to. Returning to the parlor, where Kaaren was just handing the heavy drapes down to Ingeborg, she hurried over to assist. “Shouldn’t you let the younger women do the stepladder part?”

“Uff da. And take all the fun out of it?” Kaaren blinked and wrinkled her nose, then sneezed hard, another and a third, earning a
Bless you
for each. “If we do nothing more today than get all the dust out of here, we’ll have accomplished miracles.”

“I think we should beat these like we do the rugs.”

“Do I have to put them back up?” Anji asked. “They make it so dark in here.”

“Anji, this is your house now. You can do whatever you want. To tell you the truth, I hate to block any light out, although they do help keep the house warmer in the winter.”

“Fine. Let us wash them and hang the lace ones back up and pack the heavy ones away until winter.” Feeling like she had just made the first move to make this her house, Anji returned to the formidable desk. She tucked her fingers under the lip of the rolltop and lifted. “It’s locked. Where do you suppose Anner would have kept the key?”

“On his keychain.” Kaaren felt along under the flat front drawer. “Nothing.”

Anji got down on her hands and knees and inspected the underside of all the surfaces. “Nothing.” She felt under the bottom drawers and under the rolling chair.

Ingeborg came in. “Think like Anner.” She tried to see behind it. Between the three of them, they pulled the desk away from the wall. “About anything could be buried in the dust and cobwebs.”

Kaaren returned with a broom and swept both the back of the desk and the wall. A dull clunk caught their attention, and Anji dropped to her knees, fingers sifting through the mess on the floor. “Here!” She polished the key on her apron, then held it up, all the while getting to her feet again.
We did it, ha!
Now, why did she feel she was outsmarting Anner Valders? After all, he had run the bank.

She slid the key into the lock and turned. A click and the spring to the rolltop released. At the same time, all the drawers could now be opened too.

“I’ll go find you a box. Any idea where that might be?” Kaaren and Ingeborg bundled up the curtains and headed for the kitchen.

Amelia pointed out the back door. “They are washing curtains on the porch. Two young men are beating rugs on the clothesline, and Thorliff said to tell you Astrid is sending over two of the nursing students, and Thelma is sending coffee and cookies with them. She figures we must be due for some food by now.”

Anji giggled. “Thelma always thinks someone is running out of food.”

Mary Martha Solberg, with a basket hooked over her arm, a broom and mop over her shoulder, hustled up the steps. “Sorry I am late. Where do you want me?”

“Set your basket on the table with the others and join Anji in the parlor. I imagine we ought to clean the ashes out of that stove too.”

When the telephone rang the Valders’ rings, Ingeborg answered, since she was closest. “Oh, Thelma, of course. Ja, we have a coffeepot on the stove and . . .” She glanced out the window. “Looks like the men started a fire, and there’s a pot of water heating on that too. Bring another broom if you can. And stove black. We need stove polish. Ja, I think everyone is ready for coffee.” She hung up, shaking her head. “She’s bringing cinnamon buns too. Uff da. We suffer so when we get together.”

“No one can work on an empty stomach. That is Thelma’s motto, you know that.”

“Call everyone in,” Thelma said a bit later after she spread the buns and cookies out on the rewashed table. “Glad I didn’t get here earlier. Good thing we have so many hands helping. This place is a mess!”

When Ingeborg and Kaaren rolled their eyes, Anji glanced at them and started to giggle. The giggle ran around the room, leaping over chuckles and landing as full-blown laughter. “A mess!” someone else said. “A terrible mess.”

“What’s so funny?” Thorliff asked as he came in the door. That made people laugh even more.

“I bet this is the most laughter this house has heard in all its life,” Sophie said.

“And that is downright sad,” Kaaren said. “Anji, dear, we are blessing your house with laughter, and I pray these walls will ring with joy and laughter the rest of the years.”

In a short time, everyone returned to their work, and the house seemed to come alive as they stripped away the accumulation of dust, cobwebs, and spider and rodent droppings. By the end of the day the windows sparkled, the floors shone with wax, the woodwork had been washed and waxed, and soon the beds were made with clean sheets and blankets, rugs returned to the floors, and curtains rehung. What a huge task—done! The outside of the house glowed too, after a fashion, with the repairs and sweeping. They threw their dirty water on the fire outside and tipped over the tubs to drain dry.

“This house needs a blessing,” Thomas Devlin announced. He and Reverend Solberg and some others had come to help after they were done with work.

Solberg nodded. “I agree. I’ll go get my Bible.” He paused and looked to Anji. “Unless you’d rather wait until Sunday after church, and we’ll all come over?”

“No, thank you. Let’s do it now. Drive away any ghosts or . . .” She shivered just a bit. “This is a cold house. Don’t you feel it?”

“I’ll be right back.”

Devlin dug down in the woodbox. “A good fire will help.”

Anji went to stand by Ingeborg, her hands cupped around her elbows. “I know this is a strange thought, but Ingeborg, I feel this house needs something.”

“Besides love and laughter?”

Anji nodded. “And light?”

“And singing. I don’t imagine there has ever been much singing here. Say, will you answer a question I’ve been wondering about? I thought Toby lived here.”

“Yes, Toby slept here. Maybe he made coffee, but I think he had most of his meals at the boardinghouse. Or with Gerald and Rebecca. We fed him a lot.” Anji paused. “I should ask him.” She shook her head. “No, like Mor used to say, ‘
Better to let sleeping dogs lie.
’ But his plan now is to live at the boardinghouse while he finishes his house.” She removed a shiny clean chimney off the kerosene lamp and, borrowing a tinder stick from the stove, lit the lamp and set back the chimney. “There now, that helps.”

“Do ye want me to start the parlor stove burning too?” Thomas Devlin asked. “Get the heat going up to the bedrooms?”

“Thank you. That would be nice. We’re having supper at Rebecca’s.”

“I think we need to give you a housewarming.” Ingeborg and Kaaren nodded at the same time. “All food things. The cellar is empty, and there’s not much in the cupboards either. No wonder Toby never cooked here.”

Reverend Solberg came in through the back door. “Gather everyone who’s still here together.” As the room filled he raised his hands. “Let us sing together, ‘There Shall Be Showers of Blessing.’”

“‘There shall be showers of blessing; this is the promise of love.’” As she sang, Anji looked around at her friends, relatives, and neighbors, all their voices raised in the hymn. Kaaren took one of her hands and Ingeborg the other. When they finished the song, Reverend Solberg said, “Let us pray.” When the rustling ceased, his calm voice spread peace among them all. “Lord God, creator of our universe, of our land, of this home, of each of us, we thank you for all the myriad blessings you so freely pour out upon us, our homes, our families, our friends, and neighbors. Father, this house is yours, this family is yours, and you have brought them back to Blessing to be part of us all. Remove from this place all animosity, all strife, all hard and hurt feelings. Take away the dark and fill it with your most glorious light. Bring joy, peace, contentment, and above all, love to reign here today, tomorrow, and always. You, O Lord, are head of this family. Keep them safe and secure in the shadow of your mighty wings. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.”

Kaaren started the next song. “‘Blest be the tie that binds our hearts in Christian love. . . .’” By three notes into it, the others had joined in and followed Reverend Solberg into the parlor. At the end of the verse, he lifted his arms again.