A Place to Belong (12 page)

Alfrid’s face flushed again. “I didn’t mean … Perhaps I chose the wrong words.”

Ma laughed again. “I know what you meant, Mr. Swenson. I was trying to ease the strain with a little humor.”

Alfrid looked at Ma in bewilderment. “I don’t understand.”

“To make our meeting less difficult for both of us,” Ma said.

Alfrid nodded. “I see.”

“You’re a kind man, Mr. Swenson,” Ma said. “I am grateful to you for your loan to help pay for my train fare to St Joseph. The family that employed me gave me a parting gift of a coat, which had belonged to one of their daughters, my satchel, and some money. I’ll turn the full amount over to you. It is almost enough to pay you back.”

“But I—I do not expect the money to be repaid,” Alfrid stammered.

“Nevertheless, it will be repaid. I greatly appreciate your kindness, but I’m an independent woman, and I’ll not feel right owing you a single cent.” Ma beamed and hugged Peg and Danny to her again. “Now tell me, Mr. Swenson, have these two rapscallions given you a great deal of trouble?”

Alfrid’s eyebrows shot up. “Oh, no!” he insisted. “They’ve been very good children.”

Peg giggled, and Alfrid looked confused. “I see. It was another joke.” He turned his attention to the horses. The road curved upward, and the pace of the buggy slowed as the team strained against the slope. Through the trees Danny caught glimpses of the Missouri River, silver in the thin sunlight.

“There’s much we need to learn about each other, Mr. Swenson,” Ma said gently.

“I’ll drive you out to the farm after you’ve met Mrs. Banks,” Alfrid said. “I’ll show you around the property and give you a list of my assets. The farm has provided a steady income, although there is little actual cash because most of the profit has been invested in more cattle, more land, and larger crops.”

Ma reached over and rested her gloved fingertips on his arm. “You are a kind man, and generous to want to share all this with me. But it is
you
I want to learn about,
not your property. Do you like to read books? To tell stories? Do you like to dance?”

Alfrid looked at Ma warily, as though suspecting another joke. “There have been dances at the church,” he said seriously, “but I never learned to dance. There was never time.”

“How well I know,” Ma said. “As a girl I loved to dance, but there was always so much work to be done. It’s been a long, long time since I’ve had the chance to go to a dance.” She grinned. “At the place where I worked, the houseman played the fiddle. Sometimes, when the master and mistress were away, the rest of us would gather in the kitchen, and he’d play a jig that could set boots to dancing on their own. The cook and I would pick up our skirts and away we’d go through the old steps, with the others laughing and clapping. Oh, it was grand fun!”

Danny laughed as he pictured it. It didn’t hurt so much to imagine that part of Ma’s life, now that she was here in St. Joseph.

Alfrid pulled the horses to a stop in front of a white clapboard house. He jumped down and hitched them to the post at the side of the road, then held up a hand to help Ma from the buggy.

As Ma stepped to the ground, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “The air here is clean, as it was in Ireland. Not quite the same, but close to it, and not a bit like New York.”

She led the way to Katherine’s front door “Katherine said to tell you that your room will be the second bedroom on the right,” Alfrid said.

Ma took the satchel from his hands. “I’ll wash my face and hands,” she said, “and be with you soon.”

“I want to go with you!” Peg said, and ran after her mother.

Danny followed Alfrid back to the buggy and sat beside him on the front seat. Alfrid didn’t speak. Danny couldn’t stand it, and finally he blurted out, “Well? Wasn’t I right about Ma?”

“She’s an exceptionally beautiful woman,” Alfrid said.

Danny shrugged. “I guess,” he said, “but I wasn’t thinking about that. I meant the rest of it.”

Alfrid leaned back and patted Danny’s shoulder. “I’m sure she’s everything you said she was. Even more. Your mother’s a very—um—powerful woman.”

Powerful? Was that good or bad? Just what did Alfrid mean? Danny sneaked a look at Alfrid, but it was impossible to read his face.

11
 

A
T THE FARM
Peg wouldn’t leave her mother’s side, even though Danny pulled her away, whispering into her ear, “Leave Ma and Alfrid be.”

“No!” Peg said stubbornly. “I want to stay with Ma.”

“Then at least keep quiet and let Ma and Alfrid talk to each other,” Danny insisted.

Peg simply jerked out of his grasp and ran to hang onto Ma’s hand.

Danny went back to the house. As he walked into the kitchen, Melba was saying to Gussie, “She’s pleasant enough, I guess, but hardly the type I’d expect Alfrid to like.”

“Why shouldn’t he like her?” Gussie asked. “I do. She’s as friendly as down home, and a beauty.”

Melba carried a tray into the dining room. “I’d hardly say that. She’s a little thin for most men’s tastes, I would think.”

Gussie suddenly spotted Danny. “Well, Danny,” she said, “I like your Ma.”

“Thanks,” Danny answered.

Melba returned to the kitchen, her cheeks pink with embarrassment, the empty tray at her side. She didn’t acknowledge Danny as she began loading the tray again with platters of sliced bread and meats. “Gussie, we need another place at the table,” Melba said. “You’ve set it one short.”

Gussie counted on her fingers, then shook her head. “There’s a place for everybody.”

“I’ve asked Ennie Pratka to join us for dinner,” Gussie said.

“Mrs. Pratka!” Danny blurted out. “Why?”

“She’s a near neighbor and a good Mend,” Melba said. “Your mother will want to meet the neighbors, won’t she?”

“Uh, I guess,” Danny muttered, not knowing what else to say. He wandered into the parlor and kicked at the footstool. Mrs. Pratka would probably be her usual bossy self, and Danny didn’t want anything to hurt Ma’s good impression of Alfrid and his home. Aunt Melba, with her sighs and resigned looks, was bad enough.

Ma came in glowing, her cheeks pink and her eyes sparkling. A few strands of her hair had come loose, and she tried to tuck them back into the bun at her neck. “The land is beautiful, and there’s even a cluster of young birch trees off to the south that could well be a faerie ring if it were in the right place.”

“What’s a faerie ring?” Gussie asked.

“It’s a part of the Irish magic,” Ma said.

“Ma tells the best stories,” Peg said. “I like the scary ones—like about the pookas who change shape in the night and thunder down the dark roads.”

Gussie leaned forward eagerly. “I love a good story!”

“Then you’ll hear them all,” Ma promised.

Alfrid had come in behind Ma, and Danny was aware that he was intently studying her.
He doesn’t understand her
, Danny thought.
Was there something else I should have told him? Something I left out?

The kitchen door suddenly burst open, and Ennie Pratka sailed into the room. In her hands was a large, fragrant mince pie. She stopped and stared at Ma. Danny was surprised to see that the look in Mrs. Pratka’s eyes was exactly like the look in Wilmer’s eyes when he and Danny had first met and he was sizing up Danny for a fistfight.

Melba stepped forward and hugged Mrs. Pratka with one arm, taking the pie from her with the other hand. “Dear, dear Ennie,” she said. “Let me introduce you to the children’s mother, Mrs. Kelly. Alfrid, don’t just stand there. Help Ennie off with her wrap. Mrs. Kelly, Ennie has long been Alfrid’s and Olga’s dearest friend.”

Ma was taller than Aunt Melba and Mrs. Pratka. She had to look down at them. She held out a hand to each. “Ennie, it’s my great pleasure to meet such a good friend,” she said. “And Melba, how kind you have been to Alfrid and to the children, too. Alfrid hasn’t had to tell me all that you’ve done. I can see it.”

“Oh. Well. My goodness,” Melba murmured, suddenly flustered.

“I hope that you’ll both be my friends, too,” Ma said, “so please call me Noreen.”

Gussie turned from the stove. “Dinner’s ready whenever you are,” she said cheerfully.

“Gussie,” Melba mumbled, her lips thin with irritation. “It’s my place to invite our guests to dinner, not yours! What will Mrs. Kelly think?”

Noreen laughed and winked at Gussie. “I’m thinking that it all smells so grand I can’t wait to eat it.”

Danny trailed at the rear as they filed into the dining room. Gussie stopped him by grasping his shoulder.

“Watch out for Mrs. Pratka,” she said. “She hasn’t given up yet.”

It didn’t take Danny long to realize that Gussie was right. Mrs. Pratka immediately steered the conversation to cooking, and Ma admitted that she probably couldn’t hold a candle to Ennie as a cook.

“The cook where I worked taught me how to make many dishes,” Ma said, “but when I lived with my family, we often didn’t have much to eat. We relied mostly on potatoes and cabbage, which were filling.”

Melba raised her eyebrows, and Mrs. Pratka looked smugly satisfied.

Conversation during the rest of the meal went just as badly. Alfrid didn’t speak but toyed miserably with his food. Mrs. Pratka continually alluded to Ma’s lack of experience in running a prosperous farm, compared to her own abundant skills. Danny winced when once again she quoted the late Tyrus Pratka’s remark that she should win a gold medal for her cooking.

Ma kept her peace, simply agreeing with everything, until Mrs. Pratka glanced at Danny and Peg and said, “You have such lovely children. How could you bear to give them away?”

Ma put down her fork and leaned across the table toward Mrs. Pratka. Her eyes glittered with tears and anger. “I couldn’t bear to. It was the most painful thing I have ever had to do in my entire life, more painful even than losing the husband I loved with all my heart. Each day we were apart I missed my children more than the day before.

“I have many faults, Mrs. Pratka,” Ma added, “and one is that I am a proud woman. Yet I would choose any humiliation, any hurt, in order to be with my children again.” She straightened, sitting tall, shoulders back and chin held high, and her words were spaced with determination.
“We will never speak of this again. I know you understand me.”

But Mrs. Pratka refused to bend. “I think we understand each other, Mrs. Kelly.”

After a few minutes Gussie carried the dishes from the table and brought in Mrs. Pratka’s mince pie, which she had cut into generous pieces.

“I’ll serve,” Mrs. Pratka said proudly, and reached for the pie, the serving wedge, and the plates, while Gussie handed forks around.

“Guests first, family last,” Mrs. Pratka said pointedly as she dished a piece of the pie onto a plate. “For you, Mrs. Kelly.”

Ma passed the piece on to Melba. “No, thank you. None for me,” she said.

Ennie flushed. “I made it for you.” She quickly glanced at Alfrid. “That is, for Alfrid and for you, too. At least try a small piece.” The thin smile she gave Ma made Danny shiver. “You could use a little meat on your bones.”

Ma smiled back. “You seem to have more than enough to spare.” She paused. “I’m speaking of the pie, of course.” She accepted the small wedge of pie Mrs. Pratka cut for her, took only a tiny taste, then turned to Alfrid with a series of questions about the town of St. Joseph.

Danny was relieved when dinner was over but horrified when Ma said, “I had better get busy and pack the children’s things.”

“Ma!” Danny cried. “We live here now!”

“I’ll be staying with Mrs. Banks for a while,” Ma said. “I just thought that you and Peg would want to be with me.”

“
I
do!” Peg piped up.

“You’re taking the children?” Alfrid looked astounded. “But they’re used to being here, and they have school to go to.”

Danny stood close to Alfrid. “I can’t go with you, Ma.
My—my father needs me.” As Ma’s eyes widened with surprise, he quickly added, “And the wedding will be soon, won’t it? Then you’ll come here to live.”

Danny wondered if the others had seen Ma flinch. When she spoke, her voice was so strong he decided he must have imagined it. “It wouldn’t be right not to give Alfrid the opportunity to get to know me,” Ma said. “His offer of marriage was a kind one, but he should go into marriage sure that this is what he really wants.” Quietly she added, “What we
both
really want.”

“Come on, Ma!” Peg said, tugging at Ma’s hand. “I’ll show you my room, and we can pack my things.”

Danny took a deep breath and looked at his mother squarely, hoping that she’d understand. “Take Peg if you want,” he said, “but I’d like to stay here.”

Ma’s smile was loving as she tousled his hair. “I understand, Danny. I love you very much, and I’m proud of you.”

As Ma ran up the stairs with Peg, Melba sucked in her breath, then let it out with a hiss. “Well, I never!” she said. “I do believe that Mrs. Kelly actually wants to be courted!”

“That’s not what she said, Aunt Melba!” Danny protested.

Alfrid nodded as though Melba had spoken wisely. “Thank you for your advice, Melba,” he said. “If that’s what is on Noreen’s mind, then I’ll know how to proceed.”