Song of Joy (Under Northern Skies Book #4) , livre ebook

Baker Publishing Group - Lauraine Snelling

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143 pages

English

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In Minnesota in 1911, Nilda Carlson is torn between society life in the city of Blackduck and spending time with her family back home on the farm. Her employer, Mrs. Schoenleber, gives her more and more responsibility and experience, including recommending new opportunities for her philanthropy. Still new to America herself, Nilda focuses on the area's immigrant community, but she'll have to fight to get her ideas accepted by the locals and donors alike.In the meantime, one of her greatest joys is her weekly piano lesson with the handsome schoolteacher, Fritz. But just as Nilda is beginning to realize she has feelings for him, a stylish, affluent young woman moves to Blackduck and monopolizes Fritz's attention. With her humble background, how can Nilda hope to compete with such a sophisticated beauty?

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Historical fiction

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Publié par	Baker Publishing Group
Date de parution	06 août 2019
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781493418701
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	3 Mo

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0461€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

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Cover
Half Title Page
Books by Lauraine Snelling
U NDER N ORTHERN S KIES
The Promise of Dawn
A Breath of Hope
A Season of Grace
A Song of Joy
S ONG OF B LESSING
To Everything a Season
A Harvest of Hope
Streams of Mercy
From This Day Forward
An Untamed Heart
R ED R IVER OF THE N ORTH
An Untamed Land
A New Day Rising
A Land to Call Home
The Reapers’ Song
Tender Mercies
Blessing in Disguise
R ETURN TO R ED R IVER
A Dream to Follow
Believing the Dream
More Than a Dream
D AUGHTERS OF B LESSING
A Promise for Ellie
Sophie’s Dilemma
A Touch of Grace
Rebecca’s Reward
H OME TO B LESSING
A Measure of Mercy
No Distance Too Far
A Heart for Home
W ILD W EST W IND
Valley of Dreams
Whispers in the Wind
A Place to Belong
D AKOTAH T REASURES
Ruby • Pearl
Opal • Amethyst
S ECRET R EFUGE
Daughter of Twin Oaks
Sisters of the Confederacy
The Long Way Home
A Secret Refuge 3-in-1
Title Page
Copyright Page
© 2019 by Lauraine Snelling
Published by Bethany House Publishers
11400 Hampshire Avenue South
Bloomington, Minnesota 55438
www.bethanyhouse.com
Bethany House Publishers is a division of
Baker Publishing Group, Grand Rapids, Michigan
www.bakerpublishinggroup.com
Ebook edition created 2019
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
ISBN 978-1-4934-1870-1
Scripture quotations are from the King James Version of the Bible.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, incidents, and dialogues are products of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Cover design by Dan Thornberg, Design Source Creative Services
Author is represented by the Books & Such Literary Agency.
Contents
Cover
Half Title Page
Books by Lauraine Snelling
Title Page
Copyright Page
Prologue
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
Epilogue
About the Author
Back Ads
Back Cover
Prologue
H einrik Schmitz stared at his three brothers around the table. “Our discussion today will go no further.”
Jacob, in charge of the lumbering arm of the family business, asked, “Is someone going to record this meeting?”
“Yes, Jeffrey will.” Heinrik nodded to his son, who leaned slightly forward and spoke.
“It might help if I had some idea of what is going on. I have another class in two hours. What could possibly be causing—?”
Heinrik barely raised his hand. “I am getting to that.”
Jeffrey reached for paper and a pen, sending his father a slight frown at the same time.
The brothers were gathered around a small table in a private room off Heinrik’s office. The door was locked. Usually they met in the boardroom with their elder sister, Gertrude Schoenleber, sitting at the head of the table. Lately Miss Carlson, her assistant, was always at her side.
“What is bothering you?” Jonathon, who was in charge of the railroad branch, scraped a match and lit his cigar. After an initial puff, he narrowed his eyes and studied his brother.
“I had a horrible nightmare two nights ago.” Heinrik stared at each brother as his voice deepened. “I know this might be hard to believe, but I am convinced it was not a dream but a portent of things to come.”
Jeffrey looked up from his notes. “Fa—”
Heinrik’s hand came up again, just off the edge of the table. “Let me finish.”
Everyone stared at him.
“In my dream, our elder sister died and left all her property to Nilda Carlson, including her seat on this board.”
The scratching of the pen stopped, along with every other sound.
“I have made lists of ideas.” He motioned to a notebook on the table in front of him. “And the only feasible thing—actually the easiest and most brilliant—is to neutralize Miss Carlson by having her married into the family.”
He nodded to Jeffrey.
Chapter 1

J UNE 1911
L ife in America certainly wasn’t like Nilda had dreamed.
She closed her eyes for a moment, letting memories of home float through her. The house with the big kitchen, the farm, the seter where she had helped take the cows, goats, and sheep to summer pasture.
Making cheese. School, friends, the church. But mostly her family, the laughter in their house, all the parts of home.
Now, looking out the window again, she could see that farming here and farming in Norway were similar, but here it was so flat in comparison and so much larger. Cattle, horses, and farm animals dotted the pastures, while wheat and corn and other crops stretched for miles. This land used to be covered with gigantic pine trees, but loggers had cleared this land and moved north. Her onkel Einar’s farm in Blackduck, Minnesota, grew white pine or red pine trees like the thousands of acres left to be logged. Like many other immigrants, he paid for the tickets for other family members to come help him clear the land so they could farm it. First, her brother Rune and his family immigrated, then she and their younger brother, Ivar. While helping on Rune’s farm, she had hoped that one day she would meet a young man, and they would have a farm of their own.
Little did she know what God had in mind for her.
Indeed, who could have dreamed such a life as she was living now? A verse her mor had often quoted tickled her mind. “God would provide far beyond anything she could dream or imagine.” True, she had scrambled the words a bit, but still, her life now fit that verse.
She stared out the window of the train as it rocked from side to side. Two fishermen in a boat on one of the sky-blue lakes caught her attention. How her nephews loved to fish. And hunt. The bounty of the trees extended to the land and the water too.
Not once since arriving in this country had she gone to bed hungry. Nor had any of the others. Porridge was no longer their staple food.
And look where simple, country-bred Nilda was riding now. Mrs. Schoenleber’s private railroad car was as lavish as her home, with flocked wallpaper, a lovely little writing desk and other fine furniture, a separate sleeping compartment, and a small private room with porcelain fixtures in which to answer nature’s call.
The towns, roads, and farms grew closer together as they drew nearer to St. Paul and the quarterly meeting of Schmitz Enterprises. Accompanying her employer, Mrs. Gertrude Schoenleber—mentor, employer, and friend, and a driving force in her town—to these meetings had become a part of Nilda’s life.
“Are you concerned about the meeting?” Mrs. Schoenleber, slim and slight, smiled from the seat across from Nilda.
Nilda thought for a moment. “Not so much concerned as . . .” She paused, the movement of her seat setting the feather on her navy hat to nodding. She had lifted the veil to be more comfortable. If she had her way . . . But she didn’t.
Mrs. Schoenleber waited. She was good at that. Even with her back straight, not touching the seat, she still looked comfortable and patient.
“I think I am a bit apprehensive, but then, these meetings often cause that.” Not that she’d been to the Twin Cities more than three times. “I just want to do my best. I believe they want to intimidate me to the point of being ineffective.”
“Of course they do. That is their way of doing business, especially with a woman, and a young woman at that. My brothers will do anything to succeed, and right now they are worried about the timber running out, where to get more, and how to compensate for its loss with other branches of the company. I often wonder how none of them inherited the kindness of our father. After all, he accomplished all he did without destroying other people.”
“I wish I could have met him.”
“He would have loved you.”
Nilda stared at her. She felt her mouth drop. Never had Mrs. Schoenleber said anything like that to her. While she was generous with approbations, this . . . Nilda closed her eyes and swallowed. The clickety-clack of the train wheels nearly drowned out her words. “Thank you.”
“Fifteen minutes until arrival in St. Paul,” the conductor called as he passed by.
“Excuse me while I visit the necessary,” Mrs. Schoenleber murmured as she stood.
Nilda nodded. “Can I get you anything?”
“No, thank you.”
When the door closed, Nilda stood in front of the mirror on the inside of the door.
Never had she dreamed she would be wearing a dark navy traveling suit of heavy silk with a gored skirt that swished her ankles, a fitted jacket decorated in jet beads, and fitted long sleeves banded at the wrists with the same beads. A hat with veil and feather finished the ensemble. She tucked a light brown strand back into a chignon at the base of her head and smoothed her eyebrows. Satisfied, she picked up her navy leather gloves from her seat and slid her hands into them. Ready. She knew she looked every inch the formal traveler of 1911. Mrs. Jones, the dressmaker, made sure of that. But getting used to this fashionable look—in fact, this entire new life—took exquisite and dedicated training. Training that continued every day.
Speaking, reading, and writing in English; proper etiquette, dress, and manners; how to assist with correspondence; business principles, history, and politics; music; and overall confidence. Between Mrs. Schoenleber, her friend Miss Walstead, and those serving them, Nilda had time to visit her family near Benson’s Corner only one weekend a month. While Nilda ached to see her mor, who had immigrated to America after her husband passed away, and the others more often, whole seasons seemed to fly by.
Mrs. Schoenleber returned to the small room. “I think we will have supper at the hotel tonight. I bel