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youngest ones were back in school. Now that Tonio and Mercy and Este had steady jobs so they could support the family. How could Mercy go into nurses’ training without finishing high school?
    If I married Trygve, my family could come to Blessing, and they could all go to school. She slammed her head back against the seat. Where had that thought come from? That would be a terrible reason to marry a man. She could feel her drooping eyes widen and reminded herself to close her mouth. Glancing around at the other passengers near her, she was gratified to see no one was staring at her. She had a job promised at the hospital in Chicago. Then her younger sisters at least could go back to school.
    But what about Mercy and Tonio and Este? Now guilt had names.
    Go to sleep! Somehow her mind refused to obey the order and instead rampaged ahead. Blessing, the people there, the clean air, the hospital that was so in need of good help, the training of new nurses, the dreams of the Bjorklund women and others for the hospital and the town. A house of her own. That one stopped the parade!
    She pulled the last letter out of her reticule again and held it up to the dim light. Trygve Knutson wrote a good letter, and he lived up to his word. He cared about the people around him. She could feel the grief. Haakan, Mr. Bjorklund, was a fine man. How was Ingeborg bearing up? Probably like she was. You do what you have to do and cry into your pillow.
    At least in Blessing she would be as busy as she could handle. And then some.
    Miriam and Mrs. Korsheski had talked about the little hospital and how she could help the most. Her mind drifted back to that conversation, safer than the visions of a certain broad-shouldered, very good-looking young man. Would he be at the train?
    Oops, back to Mrs. Korsheski and their talk.

    â€œWe are dreaming that one day soon we can send our interns out there for experience also,” Mrs. Korsheski had said in her office the other day. “If we can develop that as a true arm of our hospital, our program will be so much more beneficial to both our doctors and our nurses. That Blessing hospital is going to need someone to run it, an administrator to take the burden off the doctors Bjorklund. I wish I could send one with you now.
    â€œI’ve even thought of bringing Astrid’s mother, Ingeborg, back here to teach a few weeks on the uses of the ancient healing ways she is so versed in. Our medical world likes to think the new is always better, but I have seen too much to put all my confidence in the new.” She’d leaned forward in her chair. “Enough about my dreams. I have here some things for you to take with you—some for the hospital, and a packet for each of the Indian nurses. Dr. Bjorklund’s letter says their names are Dawn Breaking and Gray Cloud. Also, I haven’t had any reports from that hospital since you left, so when you get there, please let me know what has gone on.”
    â€œI will.” The idea of adding to their fund of knowledge appealed to Miriam. During her time in Blessing, she had come to respect and admire Ingeborg and had gotten only a glimpse of her wisdom. “I think a lot about how quickly our young patient Manny healed. It was due in large part to Ingeborg’s dedication to both his mental and physical ability. You should have seen how she worked with him. He did not have time to lie around and feel sorry for himself. She made him work, and sometimes when I went in his room, he was dripping with sweat from hisefforts. His muscles did not atrophy, as happens to so many with severe breaks and surgery like that.” She didn’t mention all the hours she had known Ingeborg and others spent praying for the boy, since she herself doubted the efficacy of prayer.
    And she told Mrs. Korsheski, “I’m afraid I feel torn in two directions.”
    â€œOh, and how is that?”
    â€œBetween here and there.”

    The train whistle blew