wife curled in her corner of the seat, pale and shaking. “Ingeborg, what is the matter?” He laid a hand on her forehead to check for fever, but she shook her head. “Are you ill?”
Ingeborg shook her head again as tears leaped up her raw throat and threatened to spill from her eyes at the kindness and concern in his voice.
“Then, what is it?”
“I . . . I wanted to tell you at a better time, but this child of yours seems to be causing all kinds of problems.”
“This child of . . .” The light dawned on his face like that of a bright sun rising. “You are carrying my son?”
Leave it to a man. Ingeborg shook her head and smiled in spite of her misery. “Bear in mind that this one could be a daughter. But yes, we will have a baby before fall.” If I carry it that long. She refused to allow the thought to take root. She would bear this child. She would .
She watched her husband’s strong face as he thought through the news. He nodded his head, and when he turned to look at her again, the smile she’d always dreamed of lifted the corner of his mouth.
“That is good.” He nodded again. “That is very good.”
Ingeborg’s tide of emotion burst, but she hid her tears in his shoulder. He had smiled! A smile that rode an arrow directly to her heart and spread throughout her chest. Within moments, her stomach settled, and she fell back asleep, exhausted, but peaceful.
They reached Chicago six hours past the designated morning arrival time. Coming in, they’d passed acres of stockyards filled with thousands of cattle raising a cloud of steam on the frigid air.
“Look, Far. See all the cows. We are going to have cows on our farm and sheeps, too.” Thorliff bounced in front of the window as if during the night someone had filled his pant legs with springs. “So many cows. Why are they all in the pens?”
“They are ready to be butchered so people will have meat to eat.” Carl set the child back on his feet after a particularly hard jolt of the train sent the boy careening into his uncle’s knees.
“We will have milk from our own cow. I’m going to learn how to milk it, Far said.”
“Don’t you want meat too?”
Ingeborg watched the wheels turning in her small son’s mind. He’d been part of the butchering that fall before they left and understood that to have meat, the animal must die.
“Ja, but”—a grin stretched his rosy cheeks—“we will have to have two cows and calves too.”
“You are a smart one, you are.” Carl tousled the boy’s curly hair. “How about we go out on the platform so you can see better? Get your coat and hat; it’s cold out there.”
Ingeborg watched them go, grateful for the reprieve from Thorliff’s unending questions.
“Now, you will tell me what frightened you so terribly.” Kaaren had shifted Gunhilde to the opposite arm and was carefully keeping the nursing infant covered with a quilt over her shoulder.
“I found bleeding.” The stark words stabbed anew.
“Has there been more?”
Ingeborg shook her head.
“Then you needn’t worry.”
Ingeborg shot her complacent sister-in-law a look of total disbelief.
Kaaren shook her head again. “I know, I know, it’s frightening.But many women show spots sometimes. You must take life easier for a time.”
Again, the look, this time accompanied with raised eyebrows.
The train slowed, and the women glanced out to see the brick station looming ahead of them, the tiled mansard roof thrusting above the surrounding area. A huge American flag, flying high above the flat roof, snapped in the wind off Lake Michigan.
Bedlam broke out in the car, with children racing from one end to the other, passengers grabbing their belongings from the overhead shelves and from under seats, and a cacophony of languages, all shouting to be heard.
Baby Gunhilde jerked in her mother’s arms and let out a wail fit to be heard above all the noise. Thorliff, returned by Carl, clutched Ingeborg’s skirts with one grubby
Ingeborg shook her head again as tears leaped up her raw throat and threatened to spill from her eyes at the kindness and concern in his voice.
“Then, what is it?”
“I . . . I wanted to tell you at a better time, but this child of yours seems to be causing all kinds of problems.”
“This child of . . .” The light dawned on his face like that of a bright sun rising. “You are carrying my son?”
Leave it to a man. Ingeborg shook her head and smiled in spite of her misery. “Bear in mind that this one could be a daughter. But yes, we will have a baby before fall.” If I carry it that long. She refused to allow the thought to take root. She would bear this child. She would .
She watched her husband’s strong face as he thought through the news. He nodded his head, and when he turned to look at her again, the smile she’d always dreamed of lifted the corner of his mouth.
“That is good.” He nodded again. “That is very good.”
Ingeborg’s tide of emotion burst, but she hid her tears in his shoulder. He had smiled! A smile that rode an arrow directly to her heart and spread throughout her chest. Within moments, her stomach settled, and she fell back asleep, exhausted, but peaceful.
They reached Chicago six hours past the designated morning arrival time. Coming in, they’d passed acres of stockyards filled with thousands of cattle raising a cloud of steam on the frigid air.
“Look, Far. See all the cows. We are going to have cows on our farm and sheeps, too.” Thorliff bounced in front of the window as if during the night someone had filled his pant legs with springs. “So many cows. Why are they all in the pens?”
“They are ready to be butchered so people will have meat to eat.” Carl set the child back on his feet after a particularly hard jolt of the train sent the boy careening into his uncle’s knees.
“We will have milk from our own cow. I’m going to learn how to milk it, Far said.”
“Don’t you want meat too?”
Ingeborg watched the wheels turning in her small son’s mind. He’d been part of the butchering that fall before they left and understood that to have meat, the animal must die.
“Ja, but”—a grin stretched his rosy cheeks—“we will have to have two cows and calves too.”
“You are a smart one, you are.” Carl tousled the boy’s curly hair. “How about we go out on the platform so you can see better? Get your coat and hat; it’s cold out there.”
Ingeborg watched them go, grateful for the reprieve from Thorliff’s unending questions.
“Now, you will tell me what frightened you so terribly.” Kaaren had shifted Gunhilde to the opposite arm and was carefully keeping the nursing infant covered with a quilt over her shoulder.
“I found bleeding.” The stark words stabbed anew.
“Has there been more?”
Ingeborg shook her head.
“Then you needn’t worry.”
Ingeborg shot her complacent sister-in-law a look of total disbelief.
Kaaren shook her head again. “I know, I know, it’s frightening.But many women show spots sometimes. You must take life easier for a time.”
Again, the look, this time accompanied with raised eyebrows.
The train slowed, and the women glanced out to see the brick station looming ahead of them, the tiled mansard roof thrusting above the surrounding area. A huge American flag, flying high above the flat roof, snapped in the wind off Lake Michigan.
Bedlam broke out in the car, with children racing from one end to the other, passengers grabbing their belongings from the overhead shelves and from under seats, and a cacophony of languages, all shouting to be heard.
Baby Gunhilde jerked in her mother’s arms and let out a wail fit to be heard above all the noise. Thorliff, returned by Carl, clutched Ingeborg’s skirts with one grubby
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