Chapter 17
BLESSING, NORTH DAKOTA
Onkel Hjelmer, I am having serious doubts about continuing to work on the well-drilling crew. We keep having to travel farther from Blessing, and with Onkel Haakan unable to work the fields now, I need to be here.”
Hjelmer shook his head. “Trygve, I understand your feelings, but I have another twenty or so orders, and the farmers are already getting impatient with us taking so long to get to them. If I can’t send this crew out, I’ll have to cancel, and . . .” He stared down at the kitchen table. Penny had the store open and with Linnea helping her and the younger children out pulling weeds in the garden, the house was strangely silent.
“I thought of that. I hate to leave you in the lurch like this, but Gus Baard could run this crew. We’ve worked together now for more than a year, and he is as level-headed as they come. You know that.”
“I was hoping to start a second crew with him as lead. I’ve even ordered the wagon.” Hjelmer looked at the book where he kept his notes. “It should be here any day. Then we need to outfit it.”
“You need to talk to Mr. Sam about some repairs on the one we have. All the wheel rims should be reset, and that rear axle is wearing.”
“What we could do is move all the tools to the new wagon so the crew can head out again without waiting for the repairs.”
“True.” Did he not hear me? Trygve stared at his onkel. “Where are the new wells to be dug?”
“Western North Dakota and eastern Montana. I’m thinking to put everything on a railcar so you can get there more quickly.”
“Hjelmer, I cannot go out with this crew. I am needed here.”
“Well, Lars said all the seeding was done, so things will be a bit slower until haying starts, and—”
“Haying will start in a week or so. Not time enough for me to go out and come back. I’m sorry, but this is the way it has to be.”
“But Jonathan is back now. He’ll be helping.”
Did the man never think of anyone but himself? Trygve tried to ignore the bubbling and snorting of his awakening anger. “They should pay someone else to help when this able-bodied son will be out drilling wells?” For years he’d heard his mor and far’s comments on the younger of the Bjorklund brothers, who would rather be gallivanting around the country than staying home to help with the family store and raising the family, leaving all that up to Penny.
Granted, Hjelmer had a gift for making money. It seemed that whatever he put his mind to prospered, the drilling crew a case in point. He’d even done a stint in the state legislature, but for some reason, chose not to run again. Possibly because his family was so unhappy in Bismarck. When Penny was forced to take the store back from the scalawag who bought it and got run out of town, the family returned to Blessing.
These thoughts railroaded through Trygve’s head while he fought to calm himself. Instead of yelling like he wanted, he said softly, deliberately inserting a thread of steel in his voice, “I will do what I can to help you from here, but I will not be going out with this crew. Gus can take over without any problem. He has shared all parts of the job, and he knows the men. We’d need to find one more to go with him. I was thinking of the Geddick sons. Joseph and Heinz are hard workers and dependable.”
“True.” Hjelmer shook his head. “That is all well and good, but I was counting on you. How about if I give you a raise? You do this trip and—”
“No!” Trygve sucked in a deep breath and unclamped his teeth so he could talk. “You give the raise to Gus, since he’ll be running the crew. If you want I will get the wagon repaired and help get another crew on board. If not, give me my paycheck and we will call it good.” A smile was beyond what he could do with his reclamped jaw.
“Some gratitude . . .” Hjelmer muttered under his breath.
That’s it! Trygve slapped his hands on the table and pushed back his chair.
“Now, don’t go getting in a huff. We’ll work this out. I’ll have your pay this afternoon after the bank opens.” He put on a smile. “I don’t want this to come between us. You go ahead and do what you said, and if you will get this crew up and going, I’d appreciate it.”
“Takk. I’ll take care of that immediately. Do you want to talk with Gus or do you want me to?”
“You go ahead and then have him come to see me.” Hjelmer stuck out his hand and Trygve shook it.
“Will you be around?”
Trygve stood. “I’ll talk with you soon.”
Hjelmer looked up from some notes he was writing. There might have been a bit of frost in his eyes, but Trygve chose to ignore that and headed back outside.
Whistling, he stepped out on the porch. He would not be traveling with this crew. The thought both pleased him and left a bit of a pang. Haying was not his favorite job. Samuel loved farming with his father, like his cousin Andrew, but Trygve had really enjoyed traveling in the wagon, putting up a new well, and moving on. Perhaps he had a bit of the wanderlust, like Sophie used to have. Besides, if Jonathan and Grace had their way, they would be building an addition on to the deaf school in this next year.
“How did it go?” his mother asked when Trygve strolled in the door just before dinner.
“Well, Hjelmer tried to keep me running the crew, but when I stood up to leave, he talked business. I will not be going out again, but I will be helping get this crew out, with Gus as foreman.” He went on to describe the meeting, taking platters and bowls from Kaaren’s hands to set on the table. “Where are Grace and Jonathan?”
“Over at their house. They’ll be back when I ring the dinner bell.”
“Good. How do you think Onkel Haakan is really doing? I was planning on stopping there again on the way home, but after getting the wagon to Mr. Sam, I ran out of time.”
“You probably know as well as I do how he’s doing.” Hands on her hips, she surveyed the table. “Go ring the bell, will you, please?”
He did as asked and stepped back into the kitchen. “I suppose, but what I want to know is what lies ahead.”
“Only God knows that.” She greeted Ilse and turned back to Trygve. “My personal opinion is he will not be back out in the fields. He might be able to help with the milking and chores around the barn and house, but I pray he is wise enough not to insist on working machinery and a team again. And I pray Ingeborg is strong enough to dissuade him if he does insist.”
“Then I was right in what I told Hjelmer. My restless feet are ready to be back in Blessing again. There is plenty to do around here, that’s for sure.”
When they all were seated and the meal blessed, Kaaren said, “Astrid has sent out a prayer request. They had two burn victims come into the hospital, one last night and one this morning, both caused by fireworks. One is pretty severe. I’m sure grateful we decided to not do the fireworks over the river this year.”
“I don’t care if they never do them,” Grace said, in her careful way. “We had two people, newly deaf, come to the school because of injuries due to the fireworks. Losing your hearing is a terrible price to pay for a few minutes of pleasure.”
Since Trygve had been one of those who grumbled about the change in plans, he wisely kept his mouth shut. He’d seen fireworks one time in Grand Forks and thought them splendid. Especially after talking with the men who traveled the country setting off the displays.
He glanced around the table. Ilse and her husband, George McBride, who had been a student at the deaf school when he was younger; two high school students, who chose to stay and work to earn their tuition for the next year; Samuel, the youngest of the Knutson family, who’d recently turned eighteen; Grace and Jonathan, who were acting like the newlyweds they were; and his far and mor. Thinking while eating, he studied his far. Lars was indeed looking older and what? Worn? Tired? Haying hadn’t even started, and harvesting would follow quickly on that. He was not just needed at Haakan’s but here too.
Why had he not noticed this before?