A Land to Call Home Read Free Page A

there, but other than needing a wheelbarrow in front of me, I’m fine. He said we should take bets on whether there’s one or two in here.” She patted the huge bulge as she spoke. “If it’s two, we’ll need the money.” With a sigh she sank into the rocker. “Maybe what I should do is put my rocker in the back of the wagon for traveling.”
    Ingeborg and Agnes exchanged looks. “What a wonderful idea. Why didn’t we think of that earlier?” Ingeborg gave Andrew, who had buried himself in her skirt, a gentle push. “You and Gus go play now. See the blocks?”
    “I fixed them up a pen in the back of the house with hog wire from the edge of the lean-to to the back of the soddy. That way they can dig in the dirt and not head out across the prairie.” Agnes went to the door. “Penny!” She turned back to her guests. “She can leave off with the churning and help Anji get these little ones settled. Wegot something to discuss before she comes in to help with the quilting.”
    Penny wiped a strand of hair from her sweaty forehead with the back of her hand as she came through the door. She greeted the two women, took the hands of the little ones, and led them out the back door.
    “Now, quick.” Agnes seated herself in the chair she pulled away from the table, making a triangle of the two rockers and the chair. She leaned forward and dropped her voice to a whisper. “I thought maybe we could make the next quilt for Penny and Hjelmer.”
    “She’s heard from him then?” Ingeborg asked.
    Agnes shook her head. “No, only that one letter, and it is worrying her some awful. That scalawag. When I catch up with him, he’s going to wish he’d been faithful about putting pen to paper. I keep telling myself it’s only two months since he’s been gone, but I got a bad feeling about this.”
    “We haven’t heard either, and I’m sure he hasn’t written home. His mother asked about him in her last letter.”
    “Be that as it may, and knowing how long it takes us to get something finished, I’d like to start a wedding ring pattern for them. Every bride needs that quilt on her wedding bed, and maybe the stitching of the quilt will bring Hjelmer home sooner.”
    “Fine with me. I just thought maybe we could quick piece up another baby quilt, just in case.” Ingeborg nodded toward Kaaren. “We could work on that today while Penny is helping us. I’ll ask around at Sunday meeting tomorrow and find out who else wants to join us.”
    “Good.” Agnes nodded. “We could do the baby a nine patch or a four square and plain.” She rose to go to her trunk under the window. “I have some scraps in here. We could do a crazy quilt.”
    Penny came in just as her aunt knelt in front of the chest. “Here, let me do that. You know Onkel Joseph said to—”
    “Don’t care what he said. A woman’s got to get in her trunk now and again, and you can see I’m not climbing on anything.” She tempered her words at her niece with a gentle smile. “You go ahead and pour us all a cup of coffee.”
    Penny started to say something, thought the better of it, and flashing a grin that asked “what to do with her?” went to the calico-skirted cupboard for cups.
    Before long the women were taking turns cutting pieces, laying the squares out in a pleasing color pattern, and stitching them together.Their conversation flashed as fast as their needles. The fragrance of beans baking with salt pork and molasses, the laughter of the children outside, and the comfort of one another’s company made the morning fly by. As soon as they’d served all the men and children, they ate quickly and returned to their stitching. Penny washed up the two small children, tucked them into bed for a nap, and returned to the job at hand.
    “I have some of the head and leg wool from the spring shearing carded for quilt batting,” Ingeborg said, smoothing her latest square out on her knees. “There now. Don’t that look nice?” They all admired their