Walking to work in the dark on Wednesday, January 6, 1927, with Oregon mist drifting from leaden skies, Kyllikki’s father, Emil Saari, died of a heart attack. He was buried on Sunday in Pacific View Cemetery, located just below the mouth of the Columbia River on a hill overlooking a small lake nestled between two lines of sand dunes. Beyond the westernmost dune line, the rolling surf of the Pacific Ocean thundered onto a beach stretching for seventeen miles, unbroken by a single home or river, from the mouth of the Columbia south to the little town of Neawanna, hugged in close to Neawanna Head, a promontory with thousand-foot-high basalt cliffs pushing westward from the coastline nearly a mile into the sea.
As expected, Hilda Saari put out coffee and cake for everyone at the house.
Aksel squatted next to Eleanor, who was looking out the window at the river. Aksel was looking fine. Six months of logging could erase years of soft living. He and Eleanor watched the river together, talking quietly. Aino knew that Aksel saw Eleanor whenever he stopped at her brothers’ farms, and the brief thought occurred to her: maybe he was trying to get closer to Eleanor so he could get closer to herself. Then Eleanor laughed. Aksel grinned and Aino had the horrific thought that he was doing it just because he liked Eleanor—period. Then it dawned on her how much she liked Aksel. She fled into the kitchen to help Hilda Saari.
* * *
The nonfamily guests left. Aksel already had his coat on and the Bachelor Boys were at the door saying goodbye to Kyllikki and Hilda when Matti walked up to the group. “You know I have two parcels of spruce left over by Neawanna. I’ve got another diesel yarder coming in the next couple of weeks. I want you boys to run the show.”
The Bachelor Boys looked at each other, quickly nodding their approval to Aksel. Aksel said, “We don’t mind, but it’s a long way from Svensen.”
Before Matti could open his mouth, Kyllikki said, “You can stay at the poikataloja. We’ll give you free rooms.” She looked quickly at Matti. “And board.”
“Wait a second … Kyllikki, I …” Matti was spluttering.
Kyllikki touched him on the arm and with her back to the group looked up at him and made eyes toward the kitchen and then toward Aksel. Matti looked up to heaven for help. Kyllikki grinned and squeezed his arm. Turning around with a bright smile, she said, “So, it’s a deal then. You’ll do it.”
The Bachelor Boys just looked at each other. It seemed the deal was done. Aksel suddenly caught on, started to shake his head no, and Kyllikki looked at him with that look that told a man: “This is my department. I know it’s good for you, so you might as well enjoy the ride, because you’re on it.” Aksel and Matti just looked at each other, suppressing smiles. Sometimes being manipulated for your own good felt like being loved.
“OK, it’s a deal,” Aksel told her. Then he turned to Matti. “Can you come outside with us?”
Kyllikki, knowing her job was finished, smiled and went back into the house, leaving her husband and his friends to finish whatever job was on their minds.
Aksel led Matti to the big Oldsmobile, looked around, then reached into the back seat and pulled out two very heavy army surplus duffel bags. Matti looked at them, puzzled. “If we’re going to move to the poikataloja, I’ll need you to store these for us. We can’t have them at the poikataloja.”
“What’s in them?”
“Rifles,” Jens said.
“Rifles?” Matti repeated.
“And some pistols and a tommy gun,” Aksel added. “You know, from the old business.”
“Some ammo,” Kullervo added.
“Why not sell them?”
“Maybe we’ll need them someday,” Aksel said. Aksel transferred one bag into Matti’s arms and the weight made Matti buckle slightly for a moment.
“It’s not illegal,” Jens said. “It’s in the Constitution.”
“Yes,” Matti said. “But if one of the kids finds them and then Kyllikki finds out—”
Aksel said, “Just do it for me.”
Two weeks later, the big Oldsmobile roared up in front of the poikataloja with the Bachelor Boys and their gear. Aino showed them to their rooms. When she held the door open for Aksel to get his suitcase through, it bumped against her right thigh. Aksel mumbled a quiet apology, but she saw his eye travel down from where the suitcase had bumped her. Hemlines were even shorter now than they’d been in Chicago. She’d bought silk stockings at Grimson’s Ladies Apparel two days earlier, and when she put them on that morning she was taken by surprise at how she wanted Aksel to notice. His eyes rose quickly to hers but took in all of her on the way up. He hadn’t looked at her like that since before Jouka—and Lempi. It was more than desire. It was delight. It was appreciation. He certainly noticed the new silk stockings.