A Harvest of Hope Read Online Free PDF

in these children, grandchildren indeed.
    By the time they got down to the river, Manny had slid down, but not by plan, sending the others into paroxysms of giggles.
    Inga looked up at her. “Grandma, your sad eyes are gone.”
    â€œGood. Now let’s catch some fish.”
    â€œIf we didn’t scare them all away. Too noisy.”
    Leave it to Carl.
    Emmy’s bobber was the first to go under, and in spite of Carl’s dire predictions, the fish were not only biting but nearly leaping to catch the worms before they hit the water. Ingeborg never did get time to throw out her own line. She was too busy pegging the fish through the gills, the stringer tied to a stake in the bank.
    â€œNext time we need to bring a bucket,” she said and turned to help Carl get a hook out of the fish’s mouth, but then Inga screamed that her pole was leaving and splashed into the water to save it.
    Ingeborg dropped the fish and went after her, grabbing her pinafore strap at the same moment Inga slipped. Dragging the soaking girl back to the bank and sending thank-yous sky high, she realized the others were nearly collapsing in laughter.
    Inga dragged the pole, and a huge fish jumped out of the river, hooked. “I didn’t want to lose Grandpa’s pole.” She turned and jerked the pole, sending the fish flying over their heads to slap on the bank.
    Good thing Ingeborg ducked. “Better the pole than you.”
    â€œGrandma, I know how to swim.” Inga handed her the pole and sloshed her way over to grab the flopping fish by the gills. “He’s a big one, all right.” Patches, who’d been barking at the fish, leaped beside her.
    â€œBiggest yet.” Carl always kept track of the biggest fish. “Inga wins today.”
    Not waiting for her heart to settle back into place, Ingeborg asked, “How many have we got?”
    â€œFourteen with that one.” Carl might not be old enough for school yet, but he knew his numbers, especially when counting fish—or eggs.
    She glanced over at Manny, whose eyes were as big as his face. “Guess we’ll have enough pretty soon for all three houses.”
    He nodded, saw his bobber go under, and jerked the pole before sitting down again. “That was close.”
    About the time the mosquitoes started making a full-on attack, they wrapped the lines around the poles and buried the hooks in the cork bobbers. After stringing the fish on two long branches, they struggled up the bank, Ingeborg taking two trips, one to help Manny, much to his disgruntlement.
    Inga stared down at her muddy clothes. “Ma is not going to be happy.”
    â€œBut we caught fish. Twenty-four fish.” Manny looked across the fields to see the cows lined up at the barn. “I’m late for milking.”
    â€œGo ahead.”
    â€œBut—”
    â€œGo.”
    He stumped along the path as fast as he could, and the others gathered up the poles, Emmy and Inga with one stick of fish, Ingeborg and Carl the other. Each of them carried poles and Carl the worm bucket. Since they’d not used them all, he would stop at the barn and carefully put the remainder back in the manure pile for the next time.
    As she listened to the children’s chatter, Ingeborg realized she’d only thought of Haakan one time . . . when they first got there, and she remembered how much he loved taking the little ones fishing.
    So sad that he’d not gone fishing more often.

Chapter 4
    Y ou let me sleep!” Dr. Astrid Bjorklund Jeffers accused when she found her husband on the porch.
    â€œI know. I checked with the hospital, and there was nothing there they couldn’t handle, so I didn’t call you.” Daniel Jeffers watched his wife carefully, trying not to be obvious.
    â€œBut I had a class to teach at one.”
    â€œDeborah took that over. She said she knew the information well enough.”
    Astrid sank down on the settee,