Free Blessing in Disguise by Lauraine Snelling Page A

needed a few breaths of cooler air.” Bridget put her knitting back in the basket at her feet and looked up at her son. “Why is it you are here?”
    Hjelmer sighed. “I have something to tell you.”
    “I figured that. What is it?”
    “Olaf found Augusta’s trunk in the sack house several hours after the train left. The baggage carriers left it there.”
    “So . . . so how could that be? Where . . . where is Augusta?”
    “I wish I knew. I only wish I knew.”
    Bridget rocked for a few minutes, then looked up at her son. “You must go and find her.”
    “Mor . . . I . . . ah . . . we . . .” He looked to Penny for assistance, but she shrugged and shook her head.
    “Perhaps she’ll be here in the morning.”
    “If she’s not, you will have to go look.”
    Penny felt her stomach lurch. How were they ever going to have a baby if Hjelmer was never home? Where in the whole country of America was Augusta?

Chapter 8
    Between Ipswich and Kane’s Ranch
September 1
    Augusta had never seen such hail.
    “Come on!” Only Kane’s hand on her arm pulling her with him told her what he wanted. They clambered over the side of the wagon, and she followed him under the long wooden bed. Then motioning her to stay, he crawled out to unhook the traces from the singletrees, and then with icy fingers he unhooked the wagon tongue and brought the horses around to tie them to the wheels.
    The hail had beaten his wide-brimmed felt hat down around his ears. Several hailstones the size of walnuts rested in the crown of his hat.
    Augusta stared at him, her eyes wide and her mouth trembling. The ground lay white around them, and hail bounced like popcorn on a hot stove. Mor had written of hail like this, but Augusta had really thought her mother was exaggerating a bit.
    She hadn’t been.
    With her arms clenched tightly around her raised knees to keep her skirts covering her modestly, she turned to look at the man who rejoined her under the protection of the wagon bed.
    “It will be all right. The hail doesn’t usually last long.”
    The sound of his voice and the smile he gave her did bring a modicum of comfort. If only she could understand what he said. When he smiled, kindness radiated from his face, his crinkled eyes warmed, and the cleft in his strong chin deepened. She allowed herself to study the man sitting cross-legged beside her. His dark hair with warm glints reminded her of the mink pelt one of her brothers had trapped once. Instantly, the full memory returned—the silky warmth of the fur and intricacies upon intricacies of color, just like this man’s hair. Would it feel the same? She almost flinched with such an unseemly thought threading her mind. What could she call him? Surely not “that man” or “hey, you.” She had an idea he had given her his name back at the station, but with all the worry about where she was and where her trunk had gone, his words had flown past her like birds before a hawk.
    She returned to her study. His shoulders were broad enough to match those of her Bjorklund male relatives, and he was tall enough to make her look up to him. Since she’d been given extra height for a woman, at five foot nine she’d been called a giant when she was growing up. But the teasing had stopped when she could jump farther and run faster than most of her schoolmates. If her mor had known of her unladylike behavior, she’d have been scolded for sure. But then that wouldn’t have been unusual either.
    When he stared back at her, she felt heat blooming up her neck, so she rested her cheek on her dark skirt. Right now she was grateful for the wool of her skirt and her fitted jacket. How could it have gotten so cold, so fast? What a strange country this was.
    Where was Blessing?
    She hesitated to ask him again, since every time she mentioned it, he only nodded and said something that included the word “blessing.” Oh, Lord, never did I think to be in such confusing circumstances. Now, I know you see all,