RR05 - Tender Mercies Read Online Free PDF Page B

Baptiste, dark hair flying as he leaped in great strides, swung into the back of the wagon as it kept on rolling. Grandson of Metiz, the French-Indian friend of the family, and Thorliff ’s best friend, Baptiste would rather be hunting and fishing out on the land he loved. He suffered school for his friend’s sake and because Metiz insisted that he learn to live in the white man’s world. Thanks to Metiz and her grandson, the settlers of Blessing—mostly the Bjorklunds—had learned to live off the land too. Metiz taught Ingeborg about the healing herbs growing around them and how to use them.
    “He almost waited too long, huh?” Bridget said, her basket full of eggs, a crock of buttermilk, and a haunch of venison Baptiste had brought them two days earlier. Astrid carried an egg carefully in each hand.
    “Ja, that rascal.” Ingeborg drew in a deep breath. Someone already had their smokehouse going—must be Metiz with the venison. This would be her first winter in the frame house Haakan and Lars had built for her on her three acres by the river. A haze lay across the land, blurring the edges of trees and the cattle out in the pasture. Geese and ducks sang their leaving song in the skies above, their V formations nearly clouding the sun at times.
    Off in the field she could see Haakan waving at the passing wagon. Row after row of black soil rolled over from the blade of his plow as he and the team made their way back and forth across the wheat fields. All of the prairie land they owned was now broken to the plow except for the acres they kept for hay and pasture.
    Ingeborg glanced up at the sky again. What she wouldn’t give to take the gun this afternoon and go bag some geese, both for the meat and the feathers. They never seemed to have enough down for pillows and feather beds, and roast goose would be such a treat. If she were lucky, she might even get a deer. With all the land settled around them, the deer had become more scarce so close to home.
    All good reasons. With the boys back in school, they wouldn’t be able to hunt as they had lately, so . . . so why not me? If Bridget is too scandalized by my britches, well, she . . . she can just live with it. So what if it isn’t exactly ladylike .
    Haakan would roll his eyes and tease her about her need to be out in the woods, but as long as she didn’t insist on working the fields, he’d allow her this. Kaaren would shake her head, but it would all be worth it to walk free in the woods and fields. Maybe she’d find a hazelnut bush or a bee tree.
    She could feel the anticipation welling within her like a spring newly uncapped. Freedom! Freedom from the hot kitchen, four walls, and hampering skirts.
    But in the meantime, she’d better get the bread to rising.

    We’re going to need more desks , Pastor Solberg thought as he counted the children lining up from the smallest to the largest in front of the school door. A bit of a scuffle ensued toward the end of the ranks where the bigger boys vied for position. A wagon coming from the north promised more pupils. He’d have to talk to Olaf Wold and see when he would have time to build a couple more tables and benches, but for now they’d have to crowd closer together.
    “Children, quiet now. Please count off.” He nodded to Ellie Peterson Wold. “You begin—one.”
    “One.” She glanced over her shoulder to Andrew Bjorklund.
    “Two.” He looked toward the wagon. “Deborah will be three.”
    Two girls jumped from the wagon and raced toward the lineup. “Sorry,” Manda Norton MacCallister panted as she skidded into her place in front of Thorliff.
    “You’re three,” Andrew whispered to Deborah, loud enough for the crow flying above to hear.
    “No, I ain’t. I’m five,” Deborah hissed back, stepping into place behind him.
    “We’re numbering off,” John explained, hiding the smile that tugged at his lips. He’d learned early on that if he was strict and stern the first few days of school, he