Sleigh Ride (Homespun) (10 page)

“I can understand that.  They look so precious.”  Bess walked to the table and sat down with Millie.  “When were they born?”

“Around five yesterday morning.”

“Oh!  I didn’t know they were so new!” 

“We’d have found a way to get word to you otherwise.”  She looked up as John and George came in to the house stomping the snow from their feet.  “Sit down and have lunch with us, John.”

John saw his wife was already seated and joined them at the table.  Charlotte had made beans and cornbread, which wasn’t a meal Millie would normally want to serve guests, but with no notice, it would do.

After lunch, John headed home while Charlotte and Patience saw to the dishes.  “I’m just going to make some eggs for dinner tonight if that’s all right, Millie.”

“Of course.  I think that’s fine.”
  Millie knew Charlotte was almost as tired as she was at this point.  She’d missed an entire night’s sleep as well.

James was there within a few minutes to take her and Patience for their ride.  “Is there anything I can do for you before I go?”  Charlotte shrugged into her coat and wound her scarf around her neck.

“No, thank you.  I have Bess with me.  You have a good time.”

Patience climbed into her side of the sleigh while Charlotte sat in the middle as usual.  She didn’t talk much as she tried to formulate what she wanted to say to James after she sent Patience into the house later. 

Once Patience was inside, Charlotte stayed seated in the sleigh.  “I’ve wanted to talk to you privately.”

James turned to her.  “I think we’re as private as we’re going to be allowed to get.  What do you have in mind?”

She stared down at her gloved hands, unable to meet his eyes.  “I’m not sure I can stay out here.”  She said the words straight out.  She thought it would be better that way like swallowing a large dose of castor oil.  “After watching what Millie went through when she had the babies, I know I couldn’t go through that.  I would need to have a doctor close by.”  She paused for a moment.  “It’s not that I don’t care for you, I do.  I just don’t think this is the place God wants me to be.”

James sighed.  “Are you sure you’re not overreacting?  I know it’s a hard life here, but it’s also a good life.  The people here have a genuine love for one another.  It’s not like living in a big city.  Sure, there are conveniences we don’t have here, but I think what we do have more than makes up for
them.”

“I just don’t know.  I wanted to tell you not to get your hopes up about me staying.”
  She wasn’t telling him she wouldn’t marry him, but she was sure the words would come soon.

“I’ll tell you now, my hopes are already up.  I love you, Charlotte.  I have a ring waiting at home, and I was planning
to ask you to marry me next week on our sleigh ride.”

Charlotte met his eyes then for the first time.  “I’ll pray about it.  Ask me next week, and I’ll give you my answer.”

He squeezed her hand through their gloves.  “I won’t be angry with you if you decide not to marry me, but I won’t be happy either.  I do want to marry you.”

She nodded and he helped her down from the sleigh.  She had a lot of praying to do before next Sunday.

*****

It was Friday before Millie realized how quiet her friend had been all week.  With the addition of the twins to the household, things were busier than ever.  By Friday, Millie was feeling well enough to take over part of the cooking and cleaning, but she still needed the help because of the sheer number of hours it took to nurse the twins.

After the lunch dishes were done, Millie sent Patience to do her schoolwork in her bedroom.  “You need to tell me what’s wrong.”

Charlotte sighed.  “I told James I don’t think I can marry him.”
 

Millie looked at her friend with disbelief.  “Why would you do that?  I thought you were coming to care for him.”

“I do care for him.  I love him.   I just don’t think I could do the kind of work you do every day for the rest of my life.  And I don’t think I could stand not having a doctor on call as I went through labor.  You must have been frightened to death!”

Millie shook her head.  “Everyone around me was frightened, and I knew they were, but I had a feeling of peace about the whole thing.  I knew God’s will would
win out whether there was a doctor there or not.  If he wanted me to survive with healthy babies, then I would survive with healthy babies.  If it wasn’t his will, then it wouldn’t have mattered if I had all the doctors in the world at my side.”

Charlotte sat and thought about her friend’s words for a minute.  “But you work so hard.  Don’t you ever get tired of constantly having to work?”

Millie laughed.  “I enjoy working.  I always have.  If I wanted to, I could make time to sit and do things for myself.  I have certain things I have to do, but I could pass some off on Patience.  A farmer’s wife doesn’t have to work every waking hour.  I enjoy my time in the evenings with my husband after the children are in bed.  I visit with a friend for hours every Tuesday.  My life isn’t as tough as you make it seem.”  She paused for a minute looking down at the baby in her arms.  “Honestly?  I can’t imagine a better life.  I have a husband whom I love and who loves me.  I have six wonderful children.  How could my life be better?  I used to imagine what it would be like to have a maid to do everything for me, but I could never imagine what I would do to fill my time.  I find joy in the work I do.”

Charlotte thought about that for a minute before replying.  “Now that I think about it, you never spent much time just sitting and playing when we were girls either.  You were always either helping with the smaller children or helping cook or doing something.”

“I do what I do because I love it.  Not because I have to.  Some of the things I have to do, sure, but I could make meals much easier on myself by making the same thing all the time.  I wouldn’t have to put the work into them I do.”

“I need to give James an answer on Sunday.  He’s going to bring a ring and ask me to marry him.”

Millie squeezed her friend’s hand.  “I can’t tell you what to do.  I can only tell you not to run away from someone you love because you’re afraid of hard work or not having a doctor if something goes wrong.  Trust in God.  Pray to him, and you’ll know what the right thing is for you.”

*****

By the time James called for her on Sunday afternoon, Charlotte knew exactly what she’d say.  He waited until Patience ran back into the house at the end of their sleigh ride, and turned to her, holding out the ring.  “Have you made your decision?  Will you marry me?”

She looked down at the beautiful ring in his hand, and then up into his eyes.  She smiled and nodded.  “I can’t think of anything that would make me happier than being your wife.  I’ll let my worries take care of themselves.
  God will help me through it.”

He smiled and hugged her tightly.  “I was hoping you’d say that!  When?”

She laughed.  “Are you in a hurry?”

He nodded emphatically.  “I want you for my wife as soon as possible.”

“Well, Millie is going to need me for another few weeks at least.  She needs to get into a routine with the new babies and be able to start doing everything for her family again.”

“Why don’t we say the first of March then?  Would that give her enough time?”

Charlotte thought about the sewing she’d need to do before she could marry, and how quickly Millie was progressing.  “March sounds perfect.  Why don’t we say the first Saturday in March?”

He hugged her again.  “I can’t wait.”

She smiled into his eyes realizing she couldn’t wait either.  March couldn’t come soon enough.

Minnesota, 1893

Chapter One

Patience forced her gaze away from the schoolhouse window.  She was worse than her students sometimes.  She had a bad case of spring fever and wanted nothing more than to walk home through the fields of flowers.  Minnesota winters were harsh and difficult, but now she was on the far side of winter, she knew it was all worth it, because Minnesota in the spring was one of the most beautiful places on God’s Earth.

Patience was twenty, and it was her third year teaching school in the small schoolhouse where she’d attended school from the age of nine on.  Five of her sixteen students were her younger brothers and sisters.  Her two oldest brothers had finished school and were helping their papa on the farm until they had enough money saved to be able to buy farms of their own.

Seven of her other students were children of close family friends.  Only four students weren’t people she had dinner with at least once per month, and three of them she’d known their entire lives.  Charlie was the odd man out, having only moved to their community a few months before.

They were too far from town to be able to go to the town school easily, so the farmers in the area had gotten together eleven years before and built their own schoolhouse.  Because the school was so small, the pay was low, and the different families had taken turns boarding the teacher.  When Patience had been old enough, and had passed the teacher’s exam, the families were thrilled to have her.  It made things simpler than having to find a new teacher each time someone got tired of the remote location.

“Charlie, you need to sit still and study your spelling.”  She sighed.  Charlie had been a problem since the first day he’d come to school there.  He didn’t have a mother, and Patience was sure that was why he was always getting into mischief.  Just yesterday he had thrown mud at several of the girls during recess.  He was only seven, but she was worried he was going to be a real troublemaker as he got older.

Charlie sighed heavily.  “My pa says spelling don’t help none with farmin’.  He said the cows and wheat don’t care how you spell.”

Patience counted to ten, trying to live up to her name, not letting herself worry about his grammar as she was trying to correct his behavior.  “Maybe the cows and wheat don’t care how you spell, but when you have to write a letter about the cows and wheat, I guarantee whomever the letter is for will care.  Now, please sit quietly and study your spelling.”

Frank, her youngest brother at seven, who was in his first year of school raised his hand.  “Patience?  I mean, Miss Stevens?  May I please get a drink of water?”  Frank was dark haired like their mama, and he fought to be good during school.  He’d rather be out running around or even helping their papa in the fields.

Patience nodded.  It had been a fight since day one to get her younger siblings to remember to call her Miss Stevens at school.  Grace was doing well, but she was fifteen, and almost finished with school.  The twins, Danny and Faith, were twelve, and Eddie was ten. There were eight children in her family and her mama had always handled everything with a smile.  In Patience’s mind her mother was a saint.

She glanced at the clock on her desk.  Only thirty minutes to go and then she had the weekend ahead of her.  She was working on a dress for the upcoming church social, and would spend most of the weekend on it when she wasn’t helping her mama with the household chores.

She called the first spelling class to the front of the room for recitations.  The first class consisted of only two students, Frank and Charlie.  As usual, Frank had diligently learned every word from his lesson, and Charlie misspelled all but three.  “Charlie, you know you need to learn these words or I have to punish you.  Go to the board and write each of the words you missed five times.”  She hated punishing the children in her class, but Charlie had not learned even half of his words once this week. 

Charlie dragged his feet as he went to the front.  He wasn’t a bad child, just boisterous, and he hated having to learn anything.  He thought he should be able to stay home with his father all day and do whatever he wanted.  She knew she needed to have a talk with his father when he walked over to get him that afternoon.  The schoolhouse was on the border of the Walkers’ land, and Mr. Walker made sure to walk over to get Charlie every afternoon.

The Walkers had only lived in their community for a couple of months, and Patience hadn’t had time to get to know them well.  Sure, she saw them at church every Sunday, but she did her best to just be another member of the congregation and not the schoolteacher at church.  It would have been much easier to use the socialization time before and after church to talk to the parents of her students, but she felt the need to keep her job and her worship separate.

She dismissed school right on time, and saw Charlie dash toward the door.  “Charlie!  You’re not finished.  You may stay after school until you’ve finished copying all of your words.”  Although she worded it as a request, he knew it was a command.

Charlie glared at her, but did as he was told.  Patience waited at the door hoping to see Mr. Walker so she could talk to him about the situation with his son.  She realized then she’d never had a conversation with the man, but she really needed to.

Charlie’s dark haired father stood off to the side while all the children ran toward their homes and watched for his son.  “Mr. Walker?  May I have a word with you, please?”  She did her best to use her calm schoolteacher voice, but it was obvious by the way his face changed he knew there was a problem with Charlie.