Marta imagined the sorrow Liam must feel and shuddered at the thought of losing Bernhard. How would she bear it? If Bernhard was to become ill, how long would it take to reach a doctor? She must learn enough to doctor him herself. Her mother had shown her the medicinal herbs that grew in the Alpine meadows, but she would have to order a book on what grew here in this windswept prairie.
Leaning over, she ran her hand lovingly over Bernhard’s blond head.
Marta prayed constantly for Rosie and Arik. She prayed for her brother, Hermann. She prayed Switzerland would stay out of the war.
The hens began laying more eggs than the family could eat. Marta took only what she needed and let the hens sit on the rest. Soon she had a dozen chickens and two roosters fighting for dominance. Having watched Niclas do it the first time, Marta built a second coop and separated the males, giving half the hens to each. She beat out and ground enough grain for feed.
The cow’s health improved under Marta’s watchful care. One Sunday when Liam Helgerson came over for his chicken dinner, she asked if she might pasture the bovine with one of his best bulls. “You can have the calf when it’s weaned or a portion of the cheese I hope to make.”
“I’ll take the cheese. You’ve got yourself an enterprising wife, Waltert.”
“She had her own boardinghouse when I met her in Montreal.”
“Then what are you doing out here on the plains?”
Marta gave a short laugh. “I asked him the same thing.” When Niclas’s face tightened, she changed the subject. “You can change your mind about the calf, Mr. Helgerson. Being Swiss doesn’t mean I know how to make cheese.”
He laughed. “Maybe not, but I’ve no doubt you’ll learn.”
Niclas plowed and sowed winter wheat. While he waited for the crops to grow, he hired out to clean wells. Sometimes he would be gone for several days. Marta tried to get used to the silence and loneliness of the prairie, but it wore on her nerves.
“Helgerson said there’s a soft-coal mine five miles from us,” Niclas announced one evening. “I can dig out whatever we can use and sell the rest in Brandon.” He stored the coal in the basement. Marta covered the coal with a tarp to keep the black dust from seeping through the floorboards.
When the weather turned, Niclas moved the coops into the barn and piled bales of hay around three sides to keep them warm. Then the snows came, and Marta looked out on a frozen wasteland.
Niclas and Mr. Helgerson went out with axes to cut holes in the frozen river so the horses and cattle could drink. Niclas returned home so stiff from cold he needed her help to walk through the door. Marta spent the rest of the night tending him, afraid he would lose his ears, fingers, and toes.
“We’re going home to Montreal when the thaw comes!”
“No, we can’t. I signed a four-year contract.”
Four years? She wept. “I hate this place! What happens when the holes you chopped fill with snow and ice? What if you end up in a blizzard and can’t find your way home? What if-?”
“I’m all right.” Niclas gripped Marta’s head between his bandaged hands and kissed her hard. “Don’t frighten our son.”
Bernhard sat in his crib, crying loudly.
She put her hands over his. “And what will our son do without his father?” She stood and went to lift Bernhard from his crib.
Niclas wiggled his fingers at them. “See? I am thawing nicely.” When she glared at him, he sighed. “Bring him to me.” Bernhard never cried long in his father’s arms.
Marta threw more prairie chips into the woodstove while Niclas played with their son. “You can’t keep the cold out of this house!” She left the stove door open and rolled rags, stuffing them tightly against the space under the door. “If we have to stay three more years in this godforsaken place, then we’re going to dam the creek so you won’t have to risk your life cutting holes in that frozen river.”
Shortly after they began the project, a neighbor to the south appeared on horseback. Niclas had gone hunting with Mr. Helgerson, leaving Marta alone to fill in the gaps between the larger boulders he had set. Seeing the rider coming, Marta waded out and untied her skirt from above her knees. She lifted Bernhard and set him on her hip as the man came closer. “So that’s why the water’s so low. What do you think you’re doing? You can’t dam this stream. The United States owns the water rights.”
“No one told me.”
“Consider yourself told.” He swung his horse around and rode back the way he came.
Marta set Bernhard down and put her hands on her hips, watching him until he disappeared in the distance. She went back to stacking stones. When Niclas returned that afternoon, she told him. He ran his hand around the back of his neck and rubbed.
“Well, if it’s the law, we’ll respect it.”
“If it’s the law, it’s unjust! The stream goes through this land, Canadian land! Our animals need water in winter. Why should you go two miles to cut a hole in the river when we can make a pond half a mile from the house?”
“I’ll see what Helgerson has to say.”
Mr. Helgerson came over to help dismantle the dam. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Waltert.” He heaved stones onto the bank.
“Not half as sorry as Niclas is going to be by the time he finishes digging us a well!” Swinging Bernhard up in her arms, she headed back for the house.
Robert Madson came after the second harvest. Marta took an immediate and intense dislike to the man with his bulging belly and fancy new automobile. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Waltert. I see you’re expecting another baby.” He bent and pinched Bernhard’s cheek. “You’ve got a grand little fellow here.”
Marta served dinner and noticed how Madson didn’t hesitate to take the platter of chicken first and pick the best for himself without thought of leaving an equal share for anyone else. When the men went out onto the new porch Niclas had built, she overheard Madson say prices were down this year and he hadn’t made as much profit as he had hoped. When she came to the door, Niclas took one look at her and suggested he and Madson take a walk about the place to see the improvements he and Marta had made.
Furious, Marta left the dishes stacked and brought a chair outside. She let Bernhard play in the dirt while she watched the two men. They didn’t walk far, but stood talking outside the barn. Niclas walked out toward the field and Madson headed back toward the house. Marta noticed the stoop of Niclas’s shoulders. She stood as Madson came closer. “Leaving so soon?” She didn’t try to take the chill from her voice.
“I’ll have someone come and get the cow.”
