Read Online A New Day Rising by Lauraine Snelling - Free Book Online
Authors: Lauraine Snelling
Tags: Fiction, Historical fiction, Romance, Sagas, Large Type Books, Christian, Westerns, Red River of the North, Norwegian Americans, Dakota Territory, Frontier and Pioneer Life
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finally turned back to the Lord to beg forgiveness and accept His gift of love and healing. Her winter had indeed been a long and dark time of the soul. She still missed Roald, of course, sometimes deeply; but the pain of it had lessened, and the bitterness she'd harbored those many months was gone. Praise be to God!
Finished inside, she joined Thorliff as he took Haakan outside to meet the oxen, the horses, and the lone mule-the other had died with Roald in the blizzard. The three milk cows-two heavy with calf while the third was still producing-and the six-month-old calf came to have their heads scratched and stretched their necks for the stroking they so loved. This year they would have two sows, since they'd kept one of the gilts to breed come spring. They shared a boar with the Baards, as they did a bull and machinery. One neighbor to the north had a heavy stallion, so Ingeborg's dream of providing stock for the families heading west was becoming close to a reality.
"We have seventy acres ready to plant," Thorliff said proudly. "Mor can bust sod good as any man."
Ingeborg gave a wry smile at the raised eyebrow from their guest. "You do what you have to in this country."
"And we ain't going to lose our homestead, are we, Mor?" Thorliff puffed his chest. "Since we now got a ride-on plow, soon as my legs are long enough to reach the pedals, I can plow, too. I already know how to drive the team."
They leaned on the slender tree trunks, stripped down for poles, that comprised the corral for the cows and horses. Out across the prairie they could see more rich brown dirt appearing through the snow.
"You have a good start here." Haakan rested his chin on his hands, his hat tipped back, and a curl of blond hair caught on his forehead. He nodded and put one foot up on the lower of the four rails.
Thorliff nodded in return, as if talking man to man like this was an everyday occurrence.
Ingeborg felt her heart bursting with pride in this son of hers who worked so hard and had assumed a man's responsibilities long before his time. She knew he seemed so much older than eight, with a seriousness that left little room for the boy to come out and play. He needed someone his own age, like the Baard boys when they all met for schooling.
She heard a lusty wail from the house. "Andrew is awake. Why don't we go over to Tante Kaaren's now and share our letter and our new relative."
"Tante Kaaren bakes the best cookies in Dakota Territory," Thorliff added. "You'll like her and Lars."
Andrew sat howling in the middle of the bed, but the minute he saw his mother, he clamped off the tears and waved his arms, ready to be picked up. While he could walk well enough, Ingeborg was grateful he hadn't taken to climbing out of the bed and coming to find her. She even thought about creating a gate to put in the doorway, so if she didn't hear him right away, he couldn't get out and get lost on the prairie.
"Den lille guten," she said with a smile, always telling him what a good boy he was. She had come too close in the winter of her rebellion to giving both boys away to Kaaren's care. "Come, let us go visit Tante Kaaren." She scooped him up in her arms, took the letter off the table to put in her apron.pocket, and headed out the door. Each time she went out again, she marveled at the warmth that hadn't yet penetrated the soddy. The thick dirt walls kept the house cooler in the summer and warm in the winter but didn't change temperature easily. Perhaps by the fly and mosquito season, they could put a screen door in place and another screen over the window. Such a treat that would be.
"I could carry him for you." Haakan turned from his study of the western horizon when she came out the door.
"I ... I don't know. He's not used to strangers." Ingeborg looked from the man to the child who clutched her around the neck. "He can walk, but it takes so long to go the distance with his toddling steps. Besides, he gets mud all over."
"1 can ride him
Finished inside, she joined Thorliff as he took Haakan outside to meet the oxen, the horses, and the lone mule-the other had died with Roald in the blizzard. The three milk cows-two heavy with calf while the third was still producing-and the six-month-old calf came to have their heads scratched and stretched their necks for the stroking they so loved. This year they would have two sows, since they'd kept one of the gilts to breed come spring. They shared a boar with the Baards, as they did a bull and machinery. One neighbor to the north had a heavy stallion, so Ingeborg's dream of providing stock for the families heading west was becoming close to a reality.
"We have seventy acres ready to plant," Thorliff said proudly. "Mor can bust sod good as any man."
Ingeborg gave a wry smile at the raised eyebrow from their guest. "You do what you have to in this country."
"And we ain't going to lose our homestead, are we, Mor?" Thorliff puffed his chest. "Since we now got a ride-on plow, soon as my legs are long enough to reach the pedals, I can plow, too. I already know how to drive the team."
They leaned on the slender tree trunks, stripped down for poles, that comprised the corral for the cows and horses. Out across the prairie they could see more rich brown dirt appearing through the snow.
"You have a good start here." Haakan rested his chin on his hands, his hat tipped back, and a curl of blond hair caught on his forehead. He nodded and put one foot up on the lower of the four rails.
Thorliff nodded in return, as if talking man to man like this was an everyday occurrence.
Ingeborg felt her heart bursting with pride in this son of hers who worked so hard and had assumed a man's responsibilities long before his time. She knew he seemed so much older than eight, with a seriousness that left little room for the boy to come out and play. He needed someone his own age, like the Baard boys when they all met for schooling.
She heard a lusty wail from the house. "Andrew is awake. Why don't we go over to Tante Kaaren's now and share our letter and our new relative."
"Tante Kaaren bakes the best cookies in Dakota Territory," Thorliff added. "You'll like her and Lars."
Andrew sat howling in the middle of the bed, but the minute he saw his mother, he clamped off the tears and waved his arms, ready to be picked up. While he could walk well enough, Ingeborg was grateful he hadn't taken to climbing out of the bed and coming to find her. She even thought about creating a gate to put in the doorway, so if she didn't hear him right away, he couldn't get out and get lost on the prairie.
"Den lille guten," she said with a smile, always telling him what a good boy he was. She had come too close in the winter of her rebellion to giving both boys away to Kaaren's care. "Come, let us go visit Tante Kaaren." She scooped him up in her arms, took the letter off the table to put in her apron.pocket, and headed out the door. Each time she went out again, she marveled at the warmth that hadn't yet penetrated the soddy. The thick dirt walls kept the house cooler in the summer and warm in the winter but didn't change temperature easily. Perhaps by the fly and mosquito season, they could put a screen door in place and another screen over the window. Such a treat that would be.
"I could carry him for you." Haakan turned from his study of the western horizon when she came out the door.
"I ... I don't know. He's not used to strangers." Ingeborg looked from the man to the child who clutched her around the neck. "He can walk, but it takes so long to go the distance with his toddling steps. Besides, he gets mud all over."
"1 can ride him
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