Sleigh Ride (Homespun) (5 page)

Patience got dressed in her warmest clothes, including a scarf to cover her face.  Millie sent her out with two extra quilts, in case James didn’t include enough for them.  Millie stood at the door watching as James helped the two young ladies into his sleigh.  Patience sat at the far right and Charlotte in the middle.  James tucked the quilts around both of them tightly and away they went. 

Millie said a quick prayer asking God to help her friend determine if James was the man He had for her.  She would love to have Charlotte living so close, but not if it was against His will.

The boys played quietly in a corner for the afternoon, while Grace napped.  Millie and George sat at the table, and Millie worked on piecing the quilt she was making for the baby.  “What do you think of my friend?”  The words were spoken quietly to make sure the boys didn’t hear them.

George looked up from the paper he was reading and sighed.  “I think she’s been a lot more helpful the past couple of days.  That first day, I was ready to send her right back to Boston.”  He paused for a minute, rubbing his temple.  “That’s one complaint I’ve never had about you, Millie.  You have never complained about any of the work you’ve been asked to do.  You’ve just put on your apron, rolled up your sleeves, and gotten to work.”

“Charlotte’s a hard worker, too, but she’s never had to do most of the type of work I do here.  She’s always been such a good seamstress she was given the job of mending clothes or making new clothes.  No one ever considered taking her away from the job she was best at.”  She pulled her needle through the quilt smiling at the way the small quilt was taking shape.  “She’s not lazy.  She just needs to learn.”

George grunted.  “She did seem to really pay attention to the sermon today.  That’s in her favor.”

Millie just smiled.  “Give her a little time.  She’ll be cooking and cleaning circles around me.”

“She’d better be.  You’re supposed to be off your feet as much as possible!”

Millie laid down her sewing and stood to stir the soup for a moment.  “How would you feel about having Bess and John and James over for Christmas dinner?”

George looked around and thought about it.  “We could do that.  I can hunt a wild turkey if you want.”

Millie nodded eagerly.  “That would be wonderful!  And I’ll make dressing and potatoes and gravy.  A couple of Christmas pies.”

He immediately began shaking his head.  “No you won’t.  If we do it, you have to have Charlotte and Patience do the cooking.  You can sit right there and supervise them.  Any cooking that can be done sitting down, you’re welcome to do.  Otherwise, I want you resting.”

Millie sighed, rubbing her stomach.  “It’s so hard to sit and watch everyone else doing for me.  I want to jump up and help them.”  She sat down across from George wishing she didn’t have to be babied so much.

“Millie, I’ve been through four pregnancies with Martha, and not one of them scared me like this one does.  You had those fainting spells before Charlotte got here, and we just can’t risk that happening again.  Our baby needs her mama to be there for her whole life.”  The fear in George’s eyes had Millie covering his hand with hers.

“I’m going to be okay.”

He shook his head.  “You need to rest more.  You should be taking naps every day, but instead you’re out here supervising the housework and cooking.  Charlotte can handle things.  Just get her started, and then you climb in bed with Grace, and take the nap the midwife wants you to take.”

She sighed.  “Patience is already so worried.  If I started napping every day, it would be even worse for her.”  She paused not sure how to say the next words.  “She’s so afraid of losing another mother.”

George nodded.  “I’m just as scared of losing another wife.  You need to nap.  I’ll talk to Patience.”

Millie nodded, resuming her sewing of the quilt.  “I’m really glad Charlotte is here to help.”

“Just so she helps and doesn’t add work, I’m happy, too.”

*****

James seemed to be a man of few words.  Charlotte asked him question after question, and got short once sentence answers.
He must be shy
, she thought.  After thirty minutes of trying, she finally hit on a topic that got him talking.  “How do you like farming?”

“I love it.  I couldn’t imagine being anything
but a farmer.  God meant for us to work the land.  I have a big farm, and my brother and I help each other out at harvest time.  I enjoy walking behind the plow and watching the dirt turn over.  I love planting the crops and watching them break from the ground.”

“Is there anything you’d change about your farm?”
  Since the farm topic seemed to be working for him, she’d continue asking questions until she couldn’t think of any more.

He thought about that for a moment before answering.  “The main thing my farm doesn’t have that it needs is a wife.  I need someone to be there in the evenings when I come home.  I want what my brother has.  Not Bess, of course.  She’s too much like a sister to me.  I love how my brother knows he’s got a good meal waiting every night.  I know Bess gets tired of cooking for me, too.”  He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye.

“I’m just now learning to cook.  Millie’s teaching me.”   She felt like she needed to let him know she wasn’t an expert cook, so he wouldn’t want to jump into a marriage with someone who wasn’t what he was expecting.

“Word around these parts is Millie is a fabulous cook.  You couldn’t have a better teacher.”

Patience didn’t say anything, but sat smiling.  She was proud of her new mama and wasn’t shy about admitting it.

“I’m always shocked at how much work goes into being a farmer’s wife.  Millie does more in one day than most of the women I knew in Boston do in a week.  Of course, she had four children as soon as she married.”  She smiled at Patience.   “I don’t know what she’d do without Patience to help her.”

“Millie started out with more work than most, because of the extra children, but it’s a lot of work for anyone.  A farmer and his wife work from sun up to sun down six days a week.  There’s one day of frivolity, and that’s Sunday.”  His voice was clear and even as he talked about his life.  It was one he loved, and he made that obvious, but he wasn’t shy about admitting there was hard work involved.

Charlotte nodded.  She’d seen that, and honestly wasn’t sure it was what she wanted.  She decided to keep those thoughts to herself
, though.  She may not be suited to be a farmer’s wife.  Living in a city may suit her a lot better, and she needed to think hard about that.

By the time James dropped her and Patience off at the house, it was almost suppertime.  She hadn’t asked Millie about inviting James in for supper, so she smiled and thanked him for the ride.  Patience jumped down on her own and ran into the house to warm herself.  “I really enjoyed getting to know you.”  She hoped he wouldn’t think her words were too bold.

His gloved hand covered her mittened one.  “Would you be willing to go again next Sunday?”  His eyes met hers steadily as he asked the question.  His nerves seemed to have disappeared during the long ride.

She nodded eagerly.  “I’d love that.  I’m sure Patience would enjoy it as well.”

“I’ll plan on calling for you around two again then.”  He got down from the sleigh and held her hand to steady her as she climbed down.  “I’ll see you Sunday.” 

She nodded shyly.  “Next Sunday.”  She turned and forced herself to walk gracefully into the house, when what she really wanted to do was run.  Sometimes it was hard acting like a lady.

The following afternoon, Millie brought up the idea of having Bess and John over for Christmas dinner along with James.  “You’d have to do the cooking, though.  George is very insistent about me staying off my feet as much as possible.  He’s lost one wife, and the thought of losing another terrifies him.”

Charlotte looked at her friend.  “Are you in that kind of danger?”
  She knew Millie hadn’t been well, but the idea of losing her friend had never occurred to her.

Millie shrugged.  “The midwife is worried.  I’ve had some fainting spells, and I’m getting a lot more tired than I should be.  I’m sure it’s all nothing, but no one will listen to me.”
 

“I’m going to make sure you stay off your feet then.  You can tell me everything I need to do from your chair.”  She paused for a moment
, thinking about the original topic.  “I do like the idea of everyone coming for Christmas dinner as long as you can walk me through cooking it.”

“I’m hoping I can talk George into getting us two turkeys so you can practice on one before the big day.  Also, if we’re inviting others, we need to think about what we’re going to do for Christmas gifts for everyone.  We
have to have gifts for them if they’re going to be here.”

Charlotte sat for a moment and thought about it.  “I have some pretty yarn I purchased in Boston, and I could make Bess a shawl.  It could be from all of us.”  She’d planned on using the yarn to knit a sweater for herself, but she’d much rather make something for Bess.

Millie nodded, getting into the spirit of things.  “I love that idea!  I could knit a pair of socks for James, because he has no one to do that for him.  No, wait.  I’ll knit a shawl for Bess, and you make James some socks.  It would mean more coming from you.”  She grinned at her friend.  “John, though, what could we do for John?”

“I noticed his necktie at church yesterday was a little frayed.  I could make him a necktie.”  She thought for a moment.  “I don’t really have any fabric that would work, though.  Do you have a scrap bag?”

Millie nodded to a bag in the corner.  Charlotte went over and dug through it until she found some dark fabric.  “What about this?”

Millie grinned.  “That’s perfect.  That’s what we’ll do then!  I’ll ask Bess about it when she comes tomorrow afternoon.”
  She was excited at having her friend there for Christmas dinner.  She felt like a sister to her, and Christmas time was for family.

Charlotte looked at Millie in surprise.  “I didn’t know she was coming tomorrow.”

“She always comes on Tuesday afternoons, and we spend the afternoon sewing together.  She only came last Friday because she wanted to meet you before James did.”

George and the boys came stomping into the house then.  “It’s colder than it’s been.  We need to get warm by the stove for a minute before we go back out.”

Millie smiled.  She was glad they’d come back, because she had a question for George.  “How would you feel about trying to hunt two turkeys?  We have two weeks before Christmas, and it would be nice if Charlotte could have a turkey to practice on before she’s cooking for such a big crowd.”

George looked at Millie thinking about it.  “Why don’t I take Michael this afternoon, and we
’ll see what we can find?”  George rested his hand on his older son’s shoulder as he asked.  “He’s been wanting to try his hand at real hunting and not just shooting the targets I’ve made with that new rifle of his.”  For Michael’s sixth birthday, George had bought him a rifle just the perfect size for him.  They had spent many hours practicing shooting at targets, and Michael had been begging to go out and hunt for real. 

Millie nodded.  “I think Michael’s more than ready.  Maybe he can bring home Christmas dinner.”  She looked at him sternly.  “Just remember, you clean whatever you kill.”

Michael nodded enthusiastically.  “I will, Mama!”  His eyes danced with excitement over the proposed hunting trip.

“Jacob can stay inside with us girls this afternoon.  We’re baking bread today.”  She looked at Jacob.  “Would you like to bake your own loaf?”  Jacob loved to take a small piece of the dough and add sugar and butter and cinnamon and see what he could come up with. 

Jacob nodded.  He was obviously torn between wanting to go with his father and brother, and knowing he needed to stay behind.  “I’ll stay and help, Mama.”  He sighed.  “I can’t wait until I’m big enough to hunt with Papa.”

Jacob put a hand on each boy’s shoulder.  “It’s time for us men to go back out and get back to work.  There’s so much to do!”

Charlotte looked at Millie once they were gone.  “What do they do out there all day anyway?”

Millie smiled.  “They’re making Christmas presents.  I’m not allowed to know what, though.”

Charlotte smiled.  “Bread.  How do I make bread?”

Millie looked at Patience.  “Would you go get my bread recipe for Charlotte?”  Patience jumped up to do as she was bid.  Millie lowered her voice.  “Patience loves to help knead the bread, so if you’d include her that would be good.  I’ll help as well.  I can do that sitting down.”

Charlotte nodded.  “Sounds good.”             

The bread was still rising as they ate their lunch at noontime.  Michael was practically bouncing up and down in his chair, because he was so excited about going hunting.  Millie had to reprimand him twice to get him to slow down and stop eating so quickly. 

Once they were gone, Millie took the small amount of dough they’d held in reserve for Jacob, and let him add whatever he wanted to it.  He was five now, and so hated not being able to do everything his big brother and Papa did.

It was almost supper-time before the “men” returned from the hunt.  Michael’s face was glowing as he stomped off his feet and opened the door.  “Mama!  I shot a turkey and so did Papa.  We have two!”