Tracie Peterson - [Land of Shining Water 02] (4 page)

“Thank you.” She trudged to the porch and settled the chairs on the rough floor before hiking her skirts to make the high step up. Her father burst out the front door, nearly knocking her aside, and without so much as a “by your leave,” made his way to the wagon for more goods.

Back at the hotel that evening, they found their mother asleep. Emmalyne wanted nothing so much as a hot bath and something to eat. She was famished, but she knew she could never settle down to enjoy a meal in her current condition.

“I’m going to have a bath,” she announced.

“There’ll be a charge for that,” her father said, frowning.

“Aye, but I cannot go to supper in this condition,” she said, looking down at herself. “Please don’t feel you have to wait on me. I can eat alone.”

“We can bring your food to you,” Angus offered.

Emmalyne thought on the offer momentarily. “That would be good. That way you can go and enjoy your meal without delay.”

“And ye won’t be needin’ to spend good money on a bath,” her father declared.

“Father, please.” Emmalyne pointed to her filthy attire. “I must have a bath.”

“Ye’ll only get jest as dirty on the morrow.”

“It’s but a wee expense,” Mother offered quietly from her place on the bed.

Father glared. “And a wee expense here and a wee expense there is takin’ ma coin much more quickly than ye’d know.”

“I’ll pay for it myself,” Emmalyne said under her breath, knowing better than to prolong the argument. She gathered clean clothing and her hairbrush without another word.

On the way down the hall to the bathroom, she couldn’t wait to lock the bathroom door and isolate herself from the rest of the world. Especially from her father.

Emmalyne sat in the back of the wagon beside her mother. The rest of their things, including newly purchased groceries, were stacked around them. While Father squared the bill with the hotel proprietor, Mother questioned Emmalyne about the new house.

“Is it very big?”

“No,” Emmalyne said slowly, scrambling to find positive things to say. “But it has some lovely grounds. Of course, there’s weeding and planting to be done. There’s been no one on the property for some time.”

“But the house is in good condition?” Mother looked so hopeful, but Emmalyne knew she couldn’t lie.

“It was very dirty. Parts of it still are. There are repairs to make, but I think we can set it to good order in the days to come. I’m hoping perhaps to purchase some whitewash so we can at least freshen up the inside walls.”

“And what of our things?”

“Father and Angus brought everything by yesterday. We stored it all in the front room, and today as I get more of the house in order, I will see to helping you arrange them.”

“Oh, I’m hardly well enough for that.” Her mother put a hand to her forehead and sighed. “I’m quite weak. I shall need to go straightway to bed.” She sighed again and slumped against the side of the wagon. “I feel so tired.”

“Well, Angus and I will need to set up your bed before you can rest properly,” Emmalyne told her. She wasn’t at all sure where she’d get stuffing for the mattress. Seeing her father approaching from the hotel, she figured it would be best to question him now, before they left town.

“Father, what are we to use for mattress stuffing?”

He looked at her and narrowed his eyes. “What do ye suppose?”

“Well, some fresh straw would work well enough for a time. I thought it might do us well to purchase some bales before heading too far from town.”

“Always somethin’ to spend more of ma hard-earned dollars on.”

“I was hoping, too, that we might purchase some whitewash for the walls. They’re in very poor shape, and painting would help—”

Her father’s sputtered oath stopped her comment. He shook his head. “Mebbe ye’d like to be buyin’ eiderdown instead of straw, as well.” He climbed into the wagon seat and grabbed up the reins. “I swear, wimen cannae leave a man his coin.” He continued to mutter after putting the horses in motion.

Emmalyne said nothing further. It was best to let him rant and vent his anger. For whatever reason, her father was of the mind that the entire world had one purpose: to rob him of his cash.

They drove away from the heart of St. Cloud, and Emma
lyne tried her best not to worry about the matter. Her father would relent on the straw; after all, he would have to sleep somewhere, too, and she knew he wasn’t about to make his bed on the floor. He might even give in on the whitewash, because she knew he expected a tidy and well-managed house.

Lord
, she finally prayed,
you know our needs. It does little good for me to fret over them. Please provide for us.
She caught sight of her mother dabbing a handkerchief to her face.
And please help Mother to feel better. Amen.

They were well to the west side of town before Father slowed the wagon and stopped in front of a hardware and feed store. He motioned to Angus and came around to the back of the wagon.

“Ye’ll need to arrange things here to make room for the straw,” he told Emmalyne.

“Aye, Father. I’ll see to it now.”

She wasted no time as her father and brother disappeared into the store, almost fearful that if she delayed, Father might change his mind. The wagon now held only the things they’d traveled with from Minneapolis and some crates of food items her father had purchased earlier. Emmalyne quickly stacked the three small trunks atop each other and pushed the crates together toward the front of the wagon.

It wasn’t long before her father and brother reappeared. “We’re to drive around back,” her father announced abruptly.

Emmalyne didn’t dare to ask about the whitewash, but she continued to pray that God would influence her father’s choices. Her father might be of a mind to ignore God, but Emmalyne was quite certain that God wasn’t likely to ignore Luthias Knox.

Her father parked the wagon near an open barn behind
the store and climbed down once again. Angus went with him to where two men were standing. Emmalyne saw her father produce the bill of sale, and the men sauntered off to retrieve the goods.

To her surprise, her father had purchased ten bales of straw. It was most generous, given his earlier comments, and Emmalyne felt very fortunate. Ten bales would go a long way to making their beds comfortable.

As they continued to bring bale after bale, Emmalyne had to assist Mother from her perch on the wagon bed and exchange it for a seat on one of the bales.

“This should prove more comfortable, anyway,” she told her mother with a grin. “You can lean back against the trunks.”

Once the bales were loaded, Father stepped toward the front of the wagon. Angus, however, turned and went back to the barn. In a moment, one of the workers appeared with four tins of whitewash, two in each hand. Emmalyne watched in silence as Angus took the cans and hoisted them into the back of the wagon. He threw Emmalyne a wink, then lifted her into the back, as well. Before he left her there, he pulled a broad paintbrush from his back pocket and handed it to her.

God had heard her prayers.

Once Father had the horses move out, Mother began to again question Emmalyne.

“Is there a good fireplace?” Her voice was low.

“I believe it will be suitable. I did a bit of cleaning on it, but of course we’ll need to check the chimney. As long as it has sat idle, there are bound to be nesting birds within.”

Her mother frowned. “Is it still terribly dirty?”

Emmalyne couldn’t very well lie to her mother. After all, she would see for herself the extent of the situation soon enough.
“It is, but I’ll be hard at work to set it right. Your bedroom is clean enough, and Angus will set the bed up while I find the ticks and stuff them. That way you can rest right away.”

“Is there a fireplace in the bedroom?”

“No.”

“What of a stove?” Mother asked.

“No, but I’m sure if the bedroom doors are left open the warmth from the kitchen and fireplace will provide enough heat.”

“But what of the winter?”

Emmalyne shrugged. “Maybe Father will buy a stove before then.” She didn’t believe he would, but it was better than telling her mother they’d simply have to pile on additional quilts.

Mother seemed uncertain. “Perhaps we should have stayed in town,” she murmured as she looked around. Their journey was taking them farther and farther into the less populated countryside.

“I would have liked that, too,” Emmalyne admitted, “but Father felt it necessary to leave the hotel and save money. At least we have the whitewash and other supplies. I’m sure we can make a nice home. There are repairs that will need to be made, of course, but you mustn’t let that cause you worry. Angus and I will see to it.”

Her mother gave a heavy sigh and lowered her voice even more. “This place reminds me of . . . your sisters.” She wiped a tear from her eye. “When I think on them, I can’t help but wonder what kind of women they might have become.”

“I know, Mother. I think about that sometimes, as well.” She patted her mother’s hand.

“And ye think of him.”

The matter-of-fact statement surprised Emmalyne. She
didn’t have time to mask her emotions as an image of Tavin filled her mind. “Aye. I do now and then.”

Her mother nodded. “I sometimes think on him, as well. I wonder what kind of life you might have had with . . . Tavin.” She barely breathed the name.

They said little else for the remainder of the trip. Emmalyne felt a growing sense of sorrow deep within . . . the loss of her sisters, the loss of her friendship with Fenella, the loss of Tavin. She fought against the feelings, however. They would serve her no good purpose. If she allowed herself to become melancholy like her mother, neither of them would be of any use. It wasn’t easy to hold back her sadness, but Emmalyne had learned over the years that if she forced it down long enough, it would retreat, rather like an admonished pup.

When they finally arrived at the house, Emmalyne waited for her mother’s reaction. The older woman looked at the house and then at Emmalyne. She seemed to want Emmalyne to confirm—or more likely, deny—that this was indeed to be their home.

“Father and Angus are going to shore up the porch roof, and then you’ll have a nice place to sit in the evenings,” she offered, scooting from the straw bale and off the wagon. “The kitchen isn’t ready, but I plan to tackle that while you rest. I have the rocking chair set aside for you so you can sit there while Angus and I see to your bed.”

She continued chattering on, knowing her mother’s fears were great and many. “Of course, now that we have the nice whitewash, we won’t want to place too many things before we have a chance to dress up the walls. Oh, and I think the rugs we brought from Minneapolis will work well in the front room.”

Angus lifted his mother from the wagon while their father
stepped down and considered the house for a moment. “As soon as we unload,” he told Angus, “we’ll be headin’ over to the MacLachlans.”

Emmalyne frowned. Once again her father intended to leave her to see to all the things that must be done in the house. She decided to risk his ire. “Father, there are a great many repairs to be made. If you want to sit down to a meal this evening, I will have to have Angus’s help.”

Her father said nothing for a moment, but then nodded. “As ye say.” He went to the back of the wagon. “Where do ye want the straw?”

Emmalyne was surprised he even bothered to ask. “The porch would be good.” Despite the sagging roof, she felt it was the most convenient place to stuff the mattresses.

It took little time until the wagon was emptied of its contents. Meanwhile, Emmalyne helped Mother into the house. She could see her mother’s immediate dismay, so decided to direct her attention elsewhere.

“If you sit here, you can see what’s going on.” Emmalyne helped her mother to the rocker in the front room. “Maybe if you feel up to it, you could peel some potatoes for me.”

“This place is worse than I imagined,” her mother said in a whisper.

“Aye, it has many problems, and a great deal of work is yet to be done.” She tried to make the statement sound casual and unimportant, but Emmalyne knew exactly how her mother felt.

“Oh, this is terrible.” Mother buried her face in her hands.

“It will be better soon,” Emmalyne assured her, trying to hide her own dismay.

She left her mother sitting in the rocker and went to search
for the mattress ticks. She found them quickly and immediately went to work. Stuffing mattresses was a tedious task; having rolled up her sleeves for the hot work, Emmalyne suffered countless scratches to her skin by the prickly pieces of straw. But there really wasn’t an alternative. If she put her sleeves down, the straw would merely work its way through, and then she would have the added task of later picking it out of her clothing.

Once she had her parents’ tick stuffed, Emmalyne and Angus carried it to the bed.

“I have the sheets and quilts ready,” she told him. “I’ll get the bed made, and you can help Mother. She’s taking this rather hard.”

“I know,” Angus said, nodding. “City living was easier for her.”

“Aye. More convenient and orderly,” Emmalyne said.

Their mother hadn’t wanted to make this move, but she had known it would happen with or without her approval. She had instructed Emmalyne in the packing and because of that, items that were necessary to everyday life were arranged at the top of the crate, while others used less often were settled below. The bedding, which had been freshly washed and ironed, had been carefully secured in cloth sacks before being put in the crates. Mother had hoped this would protect them from dirt and soot during the trip

Emmalyne unfolded her mother’s quilts and sheets and smiled. It looked like the trick had worked. “They seem to have fared quite well.” To her surprise, Angus helped her make the bed, and the process went faster with the two of them working together.

“As soon as Mother is in bed, I’m going to go upstairs and
see about that hole in the roof,” Angus told Emmalyne as they returned to the front room.

“There’s a hole in the roof?” their mother asked, shaking her head in disbelief. “Is there nothing good in this place?”

“There will be only good once we set it to rights, Mother,” Emmalyne declared. “As you’ve often said, sometimes the only good to be had is what you bring with you.” She smiled. “Now we have your bed ready, and you can have a little rest.”

She was glad to get her mother settled in the back bedroom before turning to the massive endeavor of cleaning the kitchen. She’d managed a portion of the work the day before, but the room was nowhere near ready to prepare a meal. No doubt her mother would fret and fuss if she were to see the true state of that most essential room.

Emmalyne lost track of the time as she prepared hot water for cleaning. From time to time she heard hammering and smiled to herself. Angus would see that she had a solid roof overhead before nightfall.