Wild Heart on the Prairie (A Prairie Heritage, Book 2) (12 page)

In February Amalie welcomed another son into the world. She
and Karl named the baby Kjell after his great-grandfather on Amalie’s side.

That same month Jan and Karl asked Henrik Anderson and
Norvald Bruntrüllsen to write their letters of testimonial for Jan and Karl’s
homestead claims.

“We know you will not have time for this during planting
season,” The Thoresens told them. “If you have already written them, we will mail
them to the land office in Fremont at the right time.”

“We are glad for you,” Norvald said the next Sunday as he
handed his letters to Jan and Karl. “You have worked hard and have much to show
for it!” He and Henrik shook Jan and Karl’s hands, grinning with them.

Two days later, Henrik walked to their house through a
bitter wind. Elli let him in the kitchen door, and he went directly to the
stove to warm himself, greeting Amalie and Elli as he shivered in front of the
stove’s open door.

“Ach. I bring sad news,” he told them. “Will you call Karl
and Jan?” Elli immediately rang the bell to call them from the barn. Jan and
Karl shook Henrik’s hand and waited for what he had to tell them.

Henrik sighed. “I have heard from Norvald. Tomas passed away
in his sleep last night.” He choked a little as told them. “Norvald heard it
from Rikkert. Adolphe sent for the elders of the church to come to Tomas’ house
to plan the burial.”

Silence reigned in the kitchen as they digested his news. While
Elli served coffee, the adults sat at the table and mourned Tomas’ passing.

“Poor Heidi! She will be so grief-stricken.” Elli’s tears
for Heidi filled her eyes and ran down her face. “They had an exemplary Christian
marriage. I do not know what she will do now.”

“Adolphe will take over Tomas’ fields,” Karl stated,
matter-of-factly. “He and I have talked of this.”

“That is good,” Jan murmured. “Heidi will not be alone in
her grief.” But he and Elli exchanged concerned glances.

At the service Jan was surprised to see the three elders wearing
new suits as dark and sober as Adolphe’s. “In respect for Tomas,” Jan decided.

To be sure, the mourning for the gentle lay minister was
deep and heartfelt. Heidi was also dressed all in black, her head covered in a
thick veil. Jan and Elli had never seen the sweet, gap-toothed old woman as
solemn and quiet as she was that day.

The women of the church had baked and cooked for the Veichts
and for the meal after the service. Unfortunately, the weather was too bitterly
cold to eat out-of-doors and the number of funeral attendees greater than what the
meeting room could accommodate.

The men of the church began setting up tables in the barn
for the meal afterwards. Jan and Karl hurried to help so that the barn would be
ready when the service ended.

As they were hauling tables, Jan noticed Ernst and Frank
laboring under a tree in the far corner of the yard. One glance was all Jan
needed to see that they were struggling to dig their grandfather’s grave in the
frozen earth.

Jan nudged Karl and tipped his head toward the young men.
“They need our help,
Bror
. Let us find some picks or pry bars and help
them,
ja
? This is too much for them.”

Jan was surprised that digging the grave had been put off so
long and that the two boys were doing it alone.
Where is Adolphe?
he
wondered.
Why is he not helping to dig his father’s grave?

Jan found some additional tools hanging in Tomas’ barn. He
and Karl walked over to where Ernst and Frank were struggling.

“Let us help you,” Jan said quietly. He noted the unshed
tears in the boys’ eyes and their gratitude. The two Thoresen men totaled at
least five of Tomas’ grandsons in height and weight.

Karl and Jan drove the picks into the frozen earth again and
again, gradually loosening the icy soil. When they moved back, Ernst and Frank stepped
in with shovels to dig out the hard clods of dirt.

Before long, several other men came to help, spelling Jan
and Karl with the picks and Ernst and Frank with the shovels. It was past time
for the service to start and the grave was not yet ready.

More men brought their fresh energy to the task. Jan and
Karl, sweating in the bitter air, herded Ernst and Frank into the house. “We
should not be outside in the freezing wind covered in sweat,” Jan said. They
climbed the steps to the house, hoping to get close to the fire and dry off
quickly.

“What is this?” Adolphe Veicht frowned at his sons and at
Jan. “
Herr
Thoresen. Have you been interfering between me and my sons?”

Jan did not know what Adolphe said, but he knew the man was
angry with him. Not angry with
Karl
—who looked between Adolphe and Jan,
puzzled—but angry with
him
.

Jan looked about for Søren and called him to his side. “
Sønn
,
tell Minister Veicht in German that others stepped in to help dig the grave. We
were sweating and needed to come inside out of the cold.”

Søren, as carefully as his nervous thirteen-year-old voice
could muster, passed the message. Veicht stared at Søren with the same
disapproval he regularly leveled at Jan.

“Tell your father that I gave instructions to Ernst and
Frank to dig the grave—not to him. Tell him that in the future, he should mind
his own affairs.”

Søren gaped. He was not about to pass such words to his
father!

“Go on, boy. Tell him,” Adolphe insisted.

With his eyes glued to the floor, Søren mumbled Adolphe’s message.
Jan had already figured out the gist of it, and had prepared himself.

“Thank you, Søren. You are a good boy,” Jan said softly. “Do
not let this bother you, eh? Please tell
Herr
Veicht that I apologize.”

Søren reddened then took a deep breath and repeated, “My
father apologizes,
Herr
Veicht.”

Veicht sniffed and nodded. He turned to his sons. “Clean
yourselves up and take your seats for the service.” The two boys nodded mutely
and turned away to do as told.

The service was a solemn, cold affair, not representative of
Tomas or his ministry. The three elders—Rikkert, Klaus, and Gunnar—read
Scripture passages as directed by Adolphe.

Adolphe preached the message and closed the service saying, “With
my father’s passing, the mantle of leadership of this congregation has fallen
to me. We will mourn him, but not as the world does. Instead, we will carry on
our duties as usual.”

He motioned to the pallbearers to carry Tomas’ casket out to
the grave, but Jan could not move. Adolphe’s words had dropped like a stone in Jan’s
heart.

He looked at the elders after Adolphe’s announcement. Klaus
and Gunnar nodded almost imperceptibly, but Rikkert stared at his feet, a small
frown on his face.

How did this happen?
Jan wondered.
Isn’t the lay
minister elected by the congregation?

He looked around and saw others as stunned as he—but Tomas’
burial was not the time or place to challenge this
fait accompli
. He
glanced at Karl and was dismayed to see his brother nodding in approval.

The rest of the afternoon passed in a blur for Jan. He
watched as some of the men of the church shook Adolphe’s hand, publicly acknowledging
his rise to the leadership of the church. Others, like Norvald, sent troubled
glances Jan’s way but said nothing to disrupt the reverence of Tomas’ memorial
service and burial.

The wind howled about the house, but here in the kitchen
after supper it was warm, even if the icy fingers of the wind did occasionally
find their way through cracks around the doors or windows.

“Elli, put the boys to bed,” Karl said, not looking up from
the Norwegian language newspaper he was reading.

Jan looked up. Amalie was exhausted by a day of managing her
work and now four children. So too, was Elli, who had taken on many of Amalie’s
responsibilities. She did not say that she minded, but Jan frowned.

He did not like Karl ordering Elli about. Sighing, he prayed
for patience and kept his thoughts to himself.

In the Sundays following Tomas’ funeral, Jan realized how
deeply their church was changing under Adolphe’s leadership. Rikkert, Klaus,
and Gunnar now always wore their dark, somber suits to church. Their wives,
too, assumed a plainer dress.

Elli commented on her friend Duna, Rikkert’s wife. “She does
not much like dressing for a funeral all the time,” Elli mentioned on the way
home. “She says Adolphe requires the elders and their wives and children to
set
an example
.”

“As they should, Elli,” Karl said sharply. “And you should
be careful with your tongue,
Søster
! It is disrespectful to call him
Adolphe. He is Minister Veicht, and you should not be repeating idle gossip.”

Elli’s mouth fell open and her eyes reflected the hurt Karl’s
words inflicted. Jan pulled the team to a halt by the side of the road and
jumped down. “Out,” he shouted to Karl. “We will talk—right here and now.”

Karl, his face flushed with anger, jumped from the wagon,
too. Jan commanded, “Søren, take the reins. Drive on. We will walk from here.”

Søren obeyed, but his eyes were scared. Amalie stared at her
hands, saying nothing; Elli sent a silent plea to her husband to be calm.

Jan waited until the wagon passed beyond their sight, then
he said to Karl, “
Bror
, this must stop. You are not to speak to my wife
so.”

“
You
do not correct your wife,” Karl snarled, “so someone
must do it! I will not have my children listen to gossip or criticism of our
minister!”

“It is not
gossip
to wonder about the many changes
happening in our church—happening without the consent of the people!” Jan shot
back. “Who made Adolphe our minister? Eh? It is supposed to be decided by the church’s
vote! Instead, he assumed this role. And I do not like it, Karl. I do not like
what our church is becoming.”

Karl studied Jan, his face set in hard lines. “Do you wish
me to convey your feelings to Minister Veicht?”

“I do not need you to voice my concerns to Minister Veicht,”
Jan snapped, his anger growing. “If I want him to know them, I will tell him
myself! But know this, Karl: It is not your place to correct my wife or order
her about. It must stop
now
. I will not speak to you of it again.”

Jan clenched and unclenched his hands, willing himself to
keep them at his side, because at this moment, they threatened to pummel his
brother within an inch of his life.

Karl’s eyes narrowed. “So. Elli is complaining about helping
Amalie, is that it?”

“
Nei
, Karl. She has said not a word. She would not!
She loves Amalie.
I am the one complaining
—not that she is helping with
the
barn
, but that you are ordering her to do so as if she were a
servant. This is the problem, Karl—that you treat her as an underling,
a
servant
, in her own home!”

Karl looked across the fields and thought for a long moment.
Jan could still see his jaw working.

“It will be good for us to get our house built,” he finally ground
out. “Then we can be out from under your feet.”

“Do you hear yourself, Karl? It is not a good feeling, is
it? To feel ‘under someone’s feet’?” Jan blew out his breath in exasperation. “I
do not wish you to feel this way! Isn’t it better to do as the Scripture says:
And
be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God
for Christ's sake hath forgiven you?
Can’t we live together in kindness and
agree that you will take care of your family and I will take care of mine, eh?”

Karl looked down. “I don’t think I’ve heard you quote a whole
passage of
Skriften
before.” When he looked up, his eyes were softer,
less angry.

Jan laughed ruefully. “I must study to keep ahead of my
barn
.
They ask so many questions. Wait until your children are so old!”

The tension broken, Karl chuckled a little, too, and then
said quietly, “It must be hard to see Kristen growing into a little woman. Sometimes
she says such grownup, womanly things! And Sigrün is only two years behind her . . .”

“
Ja
. And Søren! He is already thirteen and doing a
man’s work. In a few years Little Karl and Arnie will be following you out to
the fields. Time is flying by so quickly.”

The two brothers looked at each other.

“I am sorry, Jan,” Karl said quietly. “I will tell Elli I am
sorry, too.”

“Thank you, Karl. That would be good. Then it will be all
right.”

“Do you really feel that way about Adolphe?” Karl asked, his
brow furrowed. “That you don’t like what is happening in our church?”

Jan took a deep breath, hoping to answer Karl’s question
well. “I am worried, Karl. Tomas taught us from Jesus’ messages,
ja
? He
spoke the deeper meanings of the
Skriften
—he spoke to our hearts and
caused us to grow in our love of God . . .”

Karl continued to frown. “And Adolphe?”

For a time Jan was quiet.
Lord, help me to say this
right, eh?

“I think Adolphe is too concerned with what Jesus already
took care of, eh? We cannot make ourselves more holy by the way we dress, can
we?” Jan answered carefully.

Jan thought a moment longer. “And Jesus said,
the tree is
known by its fruit
. I confess I do not like the fruit I am seeing—how he
treats his
sønns
? How he treats Heidi? Do you see how she no longer smiles?
And
making
people change the way they dress? This is not good fruit.”

He sighed. “I think that time will tell, Karl. Time will
tell.”

Karl nodded. “I confess I see a few . . . things
I do not like. But Adolphe has always been so friendly to me. I . . .
I am not sure.”