“From Martin?” Kari exclaimed. “What does it say?”
Anders rushed in from the direction of the tack room. “Did it come all the way from Detroit?” he added, sounding excited.
“Where do you think it came from?” Hanne retorted in her tart way. “That’s where he and Pearl live, isn’t it? Now, where’s Papa?”
“He and Jonas just left to bring the cows in for milking,” Anders said. “I suppose he can see the letter when he comes in for supper later.”
“No! There’s big news,” Hanne said. “Mama wants him to see it right away.”
Hearing the urgency in the older girl’s voice, I pulled my nose out of the bucket, though I continued chewing steadily. The name Hanne had mentioned—Martin—was one I knew. It was the name of the family’s eldest son, who had left the farm several years earlier. At first I’d thought he was gone forever, much like the old mare, who had died at around the same time Martin had gone away.
But one day the following year Martin had returned for a visit, bringing a young woman with him. The woman had a soft, quick voice, pale skin, dark hair, and very red lips. When Martin showed her around the barnyard, she’d seemed rather fearful of Millie and me, though I didn’t understand why, especially since Millie had pulled her home in the family’s small buggy earlier that very day.
Kari stepped forward. “I’ll fetch Papa,” she told Hanne. “Jingle can take me to find him.”
Anders frowned. “Poor Jingle just worked all day in the hot sun. I’m sure he’d rather finish his dinner. And Papa will be back soon.”
But Kari was already reaching for my halter. I lowered my head and allowed her to lead me out of the stall.
“It’s all right,” she told her brother. “Jingle doesn’t mind, do you, boy? Now, help me up.”
Anders shrugged and stepped forward. He wove his fingers together into a step for Kari, tossing her lightly up and onto my broad back. She scrabbled into position, holding on to my mane until she found her balance.
“Be careful, Kari.” Hanne seemed anxious, like Millie when the dogs started barking at coyotes in the woods beyond the pasture. “Are you sure Anders shouldn’t go instead?”
“Don’t be a simp. I’m fine,” Kari assured her sister. “Jingle always takes care of me.”
Anders clipped a length of rope to the halter and led me outside. Then he tossed his end of the rope to Kari. I’d been ridden this way many times. The rider tugged on the rope to tell me which way he or she wanted to go. That sort of thing worked well when I was in harness, with Lars behind me holding the long reins that ran over my back to the bridle. However, I wished I could have told Kari that her rope rein wasn’t really necessary. I could always tell which way she wanted me to go by feeling her weight shift on my back.
“Sorry to take you away from your supper, Jingle.” I felt her tiny hand rub my withers as we walked across the barnyard. “Silly Hanne gets excited about the strangest things or nothing at all, but if Mama is so eager for Papa to see that letter, there must be something important in it.” She let out a gasp. “Oh! Do you suppose Martin is coming back here to live? No, that couldn’t be it—he loves his job. He says the Ford Motor Company is the best place in the world to work.…”
She continued chattering in the same vein. I paid little attention to the words, though I liked the musical lilt of her voice. It was easy to guess what she was feeling by the type of tune it carried. Today it was lively and irregular, skittering like the kitten chasing a bug over a log.
We headed down the hill, following the dirt track leading between the hay fields and the cattle pasture. I could feel the slight shift in Kari’s weight as she lifted an arm to shade her eyes against the sun hanging low in the afternoon sky.
“I don’t see them or the herd, either,” she said. “They must be at the far end of the pasture. Come on, let’s hurry!”
Her skinny legs thumped against my sides. I spent more time in harness than being ridden, and it took me a moment to work out what she was asking. She wanted me to go faster.
My body was weary after the day’s work, but I lumbered into a trot. Kari clucked and squeezed my sides again. “Faster, Jingle,” she said. “Good boy!”
I spotted Lars and Jonas before Kari did. The two men were bending over one of the dairy cows. She lay flat on the ground, her sides heaving. The dogs were circling around, seeming agitated. The rest of the herd was grazing nearby.
After a moment, Kari noticed the group, too. “Oh! Did Hazel have her calf?” she exclaimed. “Hurry, Jingle!”
I trotted steadily on. Lars looked up as he heard me coming. His pale brows were drawn into an expression of worry.
“Kari!” he said. “What are you— Never mind. I’m glad you’re here. We need to get this calf back to the barn—it came early and needs attention.”
“Jingle can carry it!” Kari said.
“Good idea,” Jonas said. He leaned over the calf, which I could see more clearly now, lying still behind its mother. “Come, Papa. I’ll help you lift it onto his back.”
“Wait.” Lars stopped his son with a hand on the shoulder. “Let Jingle smell it first. We don’t want to spook him.”
“Jingle?” Kari laughed. “He never spooks at anything.”
“True enough.” Lars smiled, reaching for my halter. “He’s as steady as they come. Still, let him have a look first.”
He led me forward a few steps. The cow grunted and rolled into an upright position. My baby, my baby! she lowed anxiously.
There was nothing strange to me about a calf—several were born on the farm every year, and Millie and I grazed among them nearly every day. I also saw nothing alarming about the men hoisting the calf between them.
They carried it past my head and lifted it higher. I raised my head and rolled back my eyes. Now what were they doing?
“Good boy, Jingle,” Kari said, reaching down toward the calf. “Steady, boy.”
A moment later, I felt the calf’s twitchy, sticky weight settle over my withers, resting just in front of Kari. The creature’s legs hung down on either side of me, the tiny hooves moving weakly against my shoulders. It felt odd, and for a moment I laid my ears back in consternation.
Then I felt Kari patting me and heard Lars speaking my name, and the moment of worry passed. I could smell the calf and feel Kari’s legs against my sides. This was no different from the times the humans had used my strength to transport sacks of potatoes or freshly cured cheeses, which meant it was nothing to worry about after all. Just another job to do.
“Good man.” Lars patted my neck and took my lead rope from his daughter. “Come now, we’ll take it slow and steady.”
“That’s just the way Jingle likes it,” Kari said with a laugh.
We started out. Once or twice I felt the calf slip, and stopped long enough for Kari and her father to move it back into position. The whole way back to the barn I could hear the anxious cow mooing along behind me with Jonas at her head, but I paid her little mind. Even the dogs seemed to sense that we were on important business and trotted along with minimal barking or silliness.
Anders and Hanne were waiting for us outside the barn. “What took you so long?” Hanne complained, shading her eyes to peer at us. Then she saw the calf and her expression changed. “Oh! What happened?”
There was a flurry of human talk that I didn’t try to follow. Hanne kited off toward the house as quickly as a dog after a rabbit, returning moments later with her mother and a pail of hot water. In the meantime, Lars and Anders had lifted the calf down carefully and laid it in the pile of hay sweepings near the barn door. Jonas tied its anxious mother nearby.
Kari slid down from my back and fetched a rag and a stiff brush to clean off my withers and sides where the sticky calf had lain. But she paused often to watch as the others worked over the calf. Hanne and her mother were watching, too. I glanced toward the stall where the rest of my supper waited, but nobody seemed to remember that except me. So I cocked a hoof and dozed as Kari groomed me.
Finally Lars backed away from the calf, smiling. “I think she’ll be all right,” he said. “We found her in time.”
“Thank goodness!” Frida clasped her hands.
Hanne tugged on her sleeve. “Mama, the letter.”
“Oh! I’d nearly forgotten in all the excitement.” Frida reached into her apron pocket and pulled out a scrap of paper. “Lars, you’ll never believe Martin’s news!”
“Another letter from Martin?” Lars wiped his hands on a rag, sounding surprised. “Didn’t we have one just last week?”
“Yes,” Anders said, rolling his eyes. “He couldn’t stop bragging about his wonderful job at the Ford Motor Company and his wonderful life in the big city.”
“Hush, Anders,” Frida chided. “As I said, Martin has big news that couldn’t wait. Here!” She shoved the letter toward her husband.
Lars smiled and held up a hand. “You know I’m not much for reading, my dearest. Puzzling through a letter would take me all night, and there’s still the herd to bring in and the milking to do. Why don’t you read it to all of us?”
“Very well.” Frida cleared her throat and looked at the paper.
Greetings from Detroit, family!
I trust you are all well. I know you probably weren’t expecting another letter from me so soon, but our news couldn’t wait. My beloved bride, Pearl, just found out she’s expecting a baby. It’s due to arrive a month before Christmas! I’ll telephone soon with more details.
Yours faithfully,
Martin
The family erupted into a tempest of exclamations. The dogs, sensing the excitement, leaped and barked and twisted themselves nearly inside out. Kari dropped her grooming tools and rushed to her mother, insisting on examining the letter herself. Finding myself free, I took a step toward my stall, and then another. I could smell the remainder of my dinner still awaiting me in its bucket. However, the newborn calf lay between me and my stall, and I stopped short, trying to work out a way around it. That was when Lars finally noticed me.
“Ah, Jingle!” he said. “Kari, don’t just leave the horse standing loose—he could decide to wander off and leave us, and then how would we manage the plowing?”
“Oh, Papa,” Kari said with a laugh. “Jingle would never leave us!”
She grabbed the dangling lead rope and took me around the calf and into my stall. There, I settled into enjoying my feed as the humans rushed off toward the house.