Wild Heart on the Prairie (A Prairie Heritage, Book 2) (4 page)

“I am sure it is! I’m Olafsson. Are you just arrived?” He
climbed down from his wagon and shook their hands. He clapped Søren on the
shoulder. “So! This young
Norsk
wants to become an American, eh?”

Søren grinned and bobbed his head.

“This is my
sønn
Søren. I am Jan Thoresen,” Jan
introduced them. “This is my brother, Karl. Our train got here a few hours ago.
Are you going across yourself?”

They stepped into the shade of the wagon bed. “
Nej
,” Olafsson
answered. “I live in this town. I own many wagons and we help unload the
railroad cars and load the ferries.” He laughed. “Until they build a bridge for
the train here, I will have plenty of work.”

Jan couldn’t believe their good fortune. “So! We wish to
cross tomorrow. Maybe you can give us some good advice, eh?”

Olafsson looked toward the ferries. “
Ja
, sure. I will
be in line for an hour more, I think. Tell me, where are you going after you
cross?”

Karl spoke up. “We wish to file our claims and take the
railroad north until it starts to turn west again. Then, we think, we would get
off and drive wagons north.”

“Ah! There is still much good land that direction, from what
I hear. But where will you get off the train, do you think?”

Jan and Karl looked at each other. “We are not sure yet, perhaps
past Fremont.”

“And you will need wagons, oxen, supplies?”

“
Ja
,” Jan answered. “And lumber.”

Olafsson grinned. “It is good we are talking. Let me tell
you something. When you get to Fremont and beyond, it is very hard to buy the
things you will need—wagons, oxen, and such. And there is no lumber to be had.
The railroad takes all there is. I have seen some men return to Omaha because they had no way to haul their belongings from the train to their land.”

Karl and Jan raised their eyebrows in understanding. “So,”
Karl said. “Did they buy what they needed in Omaha and then drive the whole way
to their land? It would be a long, hard trip,
nei
?”

Olafsson nodded. “Some do, but if you have the money there
is a better way.”

“We are listening,” Karl replied.

“Omaha has all you need at the best prices west of the Missouri. Not cheap, but best. You already have one freight car?”

Jan nodded.

Their new friend rubbed his chin. “If you can pay for
another car, that is the way. Load your oxen into one side of the car. Break down
the wagons and load them into the other side. Then when you wish to get off,
you reassemble the wagons, load them, and go straight north.”

“It may cost a lot,” he concluded, “but paying for a car is
not more than paying the costs of things farther north—and you do not run the
risk of not finding what you need for sale when you get off the train.”

Karl looked at Jan and back at Olafsson. “And what of land
offices? Do you recommend we file our claims in Omaha or farther on?”

“You can file in Fremont. You will have to pay to have your
cars taken off the train and then put back on, but the land you want will be
listed there.”

Karl and Jan walked away from Olafsson deep in thought.

“We can get everything we need in Omaha,” Karl thought
aloud. “But can we get it all in another car?” He was thinking of the four head
of oxen they would need to pull two wagons.

“We can put more in our car. We can stack things higher.”
Jan was thinking of what Karl was thinking: the list of what they needed to buy
and how much two wagons could hold.

“I am thinking we could use a third wagon, Karl,” Jan
stated. “But six oxen?”

Karl nodded. “
Ja
. A third wagon would be good. We could
buy more lumber.”

“Perhaps Elli could drive one of the wagons,” Jan suggested.

Karl mulled it over. “We will ask her. You know, I am
thinking that we do not need six oxen on our land, eh? But after we get
settled, we could sell two of them. If they are scarce, as Olafsson says, then
they are
better
than cash money where we are going. We could trade them for
other scarce things.”

They thought silently for several minutes before Karl
concluded. “We will go across and talk to the freight master on the other side about
another car, eh?”

Olafsson arrived with a wagon the next morning to unload
their freight car and take the Thoresens and their belongings to the ferry.

“Look for my friend Svens Jensen on the other side,
Thoresen,” Olafsson told Jan. “Tell him Jakov Olafsson sent you. He will treat
you fairly.”

~~**~~

Jan and Elli, keeping a tight hold of the rail and their
children, watched the shore of Council Bluffs disappear, while ahead Omaha
drew closer. The city was the capital of the Nebraska Territory, but Jan and
Karl had read things in the Norwegian papers about statehood coming, perhaps
soon, for parts of this vast land.

Elli looked down and shuddered. The river churning beneath their
feet was a thick, muddy brown from upstream runoff. As placid as the wide river
appeared on the surface, they had been told of its treacherous currents. A man
falling into the river might be sucked down into the silty waters and not
resurface for miles. Elli gripped Kristen tighter.

When they reached the other side, the ferrymen herded them
off and began the task of unloading the ferry’s cargo into a holding enclosure.
Jan and Karl made sure everything of theirs was stacked together and that nothing
was missing. Over the rails of the enclosure, wagon masters clamored for their
business.

“Is there a Svens Jensen?” Jan hollered in Riksmaal.

“Here!” A wiry man with sandy colored hair and a great beard
pushed his way toward them. “I am Svens Jensen. Are you Norwegian then?”

“
Ja
,” Jan returned. He introduced Karl. “Olafsson
told us to look for you. Said you were a good man.”

Jensen stroked his beard and laughed. “
Ja
; I treat my
customers well and my friends even better. Come! What do you have for me to
haul?”

The Thoresens and Jensen began to shift the Thoresens’ cargo
to his wagon.

“
Pappa
.” Søren’s crestfallen face peered up at Jan.

“What is it,
Sønn
?”

“
Pappa
, the pigs. Two have died.” Tears stood in his
eyes.

Jan and Karl quickly ran to the pigs’ crates. Sure enough, two
of the weaners lay dead inside their crates. The other three looked fine and
squealed, hoping to receive some food.

Karl took one of the dead pigs out of its crate and looked
it over. “I cannot tell why it died,” he muttered darkly, “so now we must keep
the rest separate from each other.”

Jan nodded in agreement. If the pigs had died of something
infectious, their best chance of keeping any alive was to keep them from each
other.

Jan noted that one of the dead pigs was a male. Their hope to
establish a herd of their father’s Landrace pigs in America depended on keeping
at least one of each gender alive. They now had two females and one male
remaining.

While Søren disposed of the dead piglets, the men washed
their hands and separated the pigs’ crates from each other. When the cargo was
reloaded into a new freight car late that afternoon, Karl and Jan took pains to
place each crate as far from the others as possible. They both carefully washed
their hands after handling one crate and before touching another.

Karl secured a second car from the freight master before
leaving the rail yard. Then Jensen drove them past a hardware store and gave them
directions to the stock yards before delivering them to a boardinghouse.

“This store is owned by Petter Rehnquist, a Swede,” Jensen told
them, pointing to it. “If you have questions, he will help you. Tell him I sent
you!” He scratched under his beard. “Maybe he will let his boy, Sauli, take you
around. He speaks English and could help you a lot.”

“We thank you,
Herr
Jensen, for all of your help and
kindness. God bless you,” Jan said.

He and Karl shook Jensen’s hand with real gratitude as they
parted. They would remain in Omaha until they had bought and loaded everything
into the two freight cars. It would be an arduous undertaking.

In yet another boardinghouse not far from the rail yard, the
two Thoresen families bathed and rested that night. Jan and Karl worked on the
list of supplies and other necessities to buy on the morrow. Elli and Amalie
composed a list of staples and other foods the families would need for their
journey and after they reached their land.

Over breakfast Karl and Jan planned their day. “We should go
to the hardware store first,” Karl suggested, “and introduce ourselves. It
would be good if the hardware man’s
sønn
comes with us to the stock
yards, don’t you think?”

Jan agreed. He, Karl, and Søren walked into town and toward
the hardware store. The bell on the door tinkled, announcing their entrance. Both
men immediately liked what they saw.

The store was large and well stocked; out a side door was a
fenced yard filled with cut lumber. The owner greeted them pleasantly. Jan and
Karl introduced themselves and Søren, saying that Jensen had sent them.

“We must buy wagons and oxen today and then come back to
make our purchases. Would your
sønn
be willing to come with us? We do
not know the town or the language. He would be a great help to us.”

Sauli, a thirteen-year-old boy, was pleased to be asked to
help. Although five years separated them, Sauli and Søren grinned and began
chatting away, some in Swedish or Riksmaal, some in English.

Jan was glad for it.
Søren could use some time with
another boy
, he thought.
And, who knows? Maybe he will learn more
English today.

Even with Sauli’s help, it took most of the day to find
three good wagons and three sound yoke of oxen for sale. And the purchases were
more expensive than Jan or Karl had imagined.

“So!” Karl allowed grudgingly. “They will be worth that much
more when we get off the train,
ja
?”

The wagons they bought were not covered like “prairie
schooners.” They were large, plain boxes with high sides. Jan and Karl did not
expect the trip from where they left the railroad to their land to take more
than three days, if that. They planned to cover their goods with canvas
tarpaulins during the trip and sleep under the wagons at night.

The men tested the wagons and the oxen for an hour, driving
up and down a worn track outside the stock yards. Karl was concerned about one
of the oxen that had a particularly surly and unpredictable temperament. Jan
and Karl gave both boys sound warnings not to stand within reach of any of the oxens’
horns or hooves, especially the temperamental one’s.

They then looked for and found a wagon repair shop and
purchased two spare wheels and a spare axle and tongue. When Jan and Karl were
satisfied with their purchases, they allowed Sauli to drive one of the empty wagons
to his father’s store.

The boys rode together, Sauli pointing out interesting
things to Søren as they wound through town. With every hour he spent with
Sauli, Søren picked up new English words.

The three wagons pulled to a stop in front of the Rehnquists’
store, spanning the full length of the storefront. It was past three o’clock in the afternoon and they had not stopped to eat at midday.

Each driver set the wagons’ brakes; Jan and Karl tied the first
team to a thick post. They tied the second and third teams to the wagons in front
of them. Jan left Søren with the wagons with orders to keep the oxen calm.

“Mind their hooves and horns,
Sønn
,” Jan reminded him
yet again.

Karl produced the list he and Jan had worked so hard on and
began to read it off to Mr. Rehnquist:
Two plows, two sickles, an axe, two hatchets,
a whetstone, a pickaxe, a pry bar, a shovel, two hoes, a rake.

“May I suggest that you also buy a sod cutter?” Mr.
Rehnquist explained the sharp, plow-like tool’s use in cutting through prairie
grass and removing blocks of thickly rooted sod. “Even if you do not use the
blocks for building, you will want to cut the grass and its roots out so you
can plant in the soil beneath.”

“
Ja
, one of those,” both Thoresen men spoke at the
same time.

Two hammers, a saw and extra blades. Two sizes of nails,
one keg each.

Mr. Rehnquist pointed out smaller tools. “Will you need a
rasp or an auger? Chisels? A planer?”

“My brother is a woodworker,” Karl replied. “We brought his
finer woodworking tools with us.”

Candles and matches. Lamps, wicks, cans of kerosene. A cask
of grease. A washtub. Two large cast-iron cauldrons. Cast-iron skillets, pots,
and Dutch oven. Grain grinder.

The items stacked up; Mr. Rehnquist had Sauli fetch some
boxes and crates. Sauli and Jan packed the items in them as tightly as they
could.

Two iron bedsteads. Yards of ticking and burlap. A dozen
spools of thick, cotton thread. Waterproof canvas tarpaulins and yards of oilcloth.
Lengths of rope, twine, and wire.

Buckets and tin pails. Boxes of jars and paraffin. Another
strong lock and key. Oats, seed corn, and hard wheat seed.

“Will you not plant a green garden? It is not yet June,”
Rehnquist suggested, pointing to his selection of seeds.

“
Ja
, we will,” Karl answered. “We have brought many
seeds from home with us.”

Chicken wire. A bag of feed. A dozen chicks.

Sauli lined a box with flannel and lifted the chicks in one
at a time. He tacked on a slatted lid, but lightly so it could be easily
removed.

As they packed the items and loaded them into the middle
wagon, Mr. Rehnquist listed them and their cost on a piece of paper. “Your
wives, will they wish to buy dishes also?” he asked.

“
Nei
,” Karl replied. “We have brought much of that
with us. Even my sister-in-law’s cookstove! But we will need a second stove
since we will build and live in our barn first. One for heating. And some stove
blacking.”

He and Jan looked over the stoves. “This one, I think.” Karl
pointed to a square one with a large burn box. Jan agreed. Mr. Rehnquist
selected pipe for it while Jan and Karl started to break down the stove.

“Do you have a gun?” Mr. Rehnquist asked. “Do you need
shells?”

Karl and Jan looked curiously at the hardware man’s
selection of guns and at each other. “Our father has guns we hunted with, but we
did not bring any,” Karl answered.

Rehnquist raised his brows. “Ach! You cannot be without guns
out on the prairie! You both must have one—perhaps even one for the boy. To
hunt, yes, but also for protection.”

“So? Protection from what? Indians?” Karl and Jan both
frowned. They had not anticipated this need.

“No, no, that is not likely, but you will surely have
coyotes and wolves sniffing around your animals. Those you
must
shoot.
Foxes and weasels, too, although you might trap them and rabbits.”

“And you will want to shoot antelope and quail for meat. You
might even see buffalo! Good meat and a very good hide.”

After a long discussion between the two brothers, they
selected a shotgun and a rifle. Mr. Rehnquist added bullets and shells for the
guns.

Karl pulled at his bottom lip. The costs were piling up—even
after eliminating some items on their list. Things were more expensive than
they had thought they would be.

Then Jan and Karl began on the lumber. They told Mr. Rehnquist
how much of each type of board they wanted and how much black tar paper. After Mr.
Rehnquist wrote the order down, Sauli started pulling the lengths. Jan and Karl
stacked and carried them out the yard’s gate and laid them into the last wagon
in the row.

The lumber wagon was full. The front wagon was nearly so. Karl
studied Mr. Rehnquist’s numbers and told the total to Jan.

“And still we need to buy food supplies, eh?” Jan remarked
wryly.

“Ah! We almost forgot!” Karl tsked. He turned to Mr.
Rehnquist. “Can you recommend a good grocer to us?”

“Surely. Go around that corner two blocks. You will see the
sign. It is owned by a German, Evard Koehler. An honest man. You will like
him.”

Karl paid the man and thanked him for his excellent service.
Jan and Karl took turns shaking hands with Sauli and his father.

Jan cleared his throat. “Your
sønn
has been a
blessing to us,
Herr
Rehnquist. He is a good boy, a good man already.”
Jan said this in front of Sauli because he wanted the young man to hear what he
said.

Jan turned to Sauli. “You have earned a good wage today.”
Jan placed a quarter in Sauli’s hand. “We thank you.”

The boy glowed under Jan’s praise and clasped the coin
eagerly. His father smiled with pride.

“Come, Søren!” Jan called. “We’ll take all this to the train
now, eh?”

Søren was glad to get underway. He had spent two hours in
the late afternoon sun minding the oxen. Now he took up reins—his
far
had
said he could drive the empty wagon behind them to the rail yards! In reality, his
wagon’s oxen were still tethered to the wagon in front of his.

Karl pulled ahead of them in the lumber wagon and set a
sedate pace. Jan followed with the front wagon. Søren waved goodbye to Sauli
and called to his oxen. They moved out smartly behind Jan.

The Thoresens labored for another two hours unloading the
wagons and packing their purchases in the freight cars. They stacked much of it
into the first car atop their other cargo.

All the lumber went into one end of the second car except
for some lengths Karl kept back. Jan found the crate with the tools and nails
and kept it back, too. Then Karl and Jan set to work building a sturdy fence across
the car separating the lumber from the rest of the car.

The fence was nose high to the oxen, high enough and strong
enough to keep the lumber on one side and the oxen on the other. The six oxen
would have two-thirds of the car to travel in.

Finally, they unhitched the oxen and led them into a pen.
Jan paid a man to feed and water the beasts. The freight master assured them
that the oxen and wagons would be safe overnight.

It was dusk when the three Thoresens dragged themselves back
to the boardinghouse, exhausted and hungry. Even after eating a hearty dinner,
Jan closed his eyes against a bad headache.