by Ava Winters
“How did it go?”
“It was fine,” Amanda responded. “They all made their beds.” She frowned. “Patty didn’t show up though.”
Mrs. Reynolds nodded. “Patty actually didn’t ever arrive. I’m afraid that we are very short of volunteer help this morning, more so than usual. I am glad that things have been going well so far.”
“I think I’ll be fine without help,” Amanda said. “What is their schedule for the day?”
Mrs. Reynolds handed her a sheet of paper with the boys’ schedule on it. “They are to go to the schoolroom after breakfast. You won’t have to do anything except help any of them that need it. The teacher will let them know what to do.”
“Who is that boy?” Amanda asked, pointing to the boy who refused to talk to her. “He wouldn’t tell me his name.”
Mrs. Reynolds looked at the young boy she pointed at. “Oh, that is our newest child. His name is Hyrum.”
“Oh, that makes sense if he is new. He seems so sad and he’s not eating.”
“Both of his parents died a few months ago in a carriage accident. His uncle was taking care of him, but then he decided he couldn’t, so he brought him here. Hyrum isn’t finishing his meals and he really needs to. Besides the fact that I don’t like to waste food, he needs the nourishment.”
“I’ll see what I can do,” Amanda said and moved to Hyrum’s side. She could tell that he had taken a few bites of his porridge, but his toast was still sitting by the bowl.
“Hyrum, let’s see if you can eat more of your breakfast,” Amanda encouraged him.
“He doesn’t eat much,” Jonny said from across the table. “Can I have his toast?”
“No, it’s my turn to have his extra food,” Ben argued.
“No one is going to eat Hyrum’s food,” Amanda said with a firm look at both boys. They immediately quieted and finished their own breakfast.
It took a few minutes, but she was able to get Hyrum to eat most of his porridge and half of the toast. When the boys were done eating, they waited until they were dismissed.
Then each of them picked up their bowls and placed them in a large metal tub before again lining up near the door. Amanda led them towards the schoolroom, and watched while they each found a chair in front of a desk.
“Are you helping today, Miss Wright?” the teacher asked.
Amanda nodded. She recognized the woman from her previous visits to the orphanage, but she couldn’t remember her name. She felt embarrassed since the other woman obviously knew who she was.
“You can sit in that chair over there. If one of the boys needs help, you are welcome to do what you need to do.”
The morning went by quickly. Halfway through the first lesson, Jonny raised his hand to ask a question, addressing the teacher as Mrs. Nelson. Amanda kept busy helping the boys that needed it with reading and then some math problems.
They had a break for lunch and then an hour of play outside. After their time outside, they had another few hours of school before dinner. Amanda had planned to return home after the school day was over, but she ended up staying until she took them to dinner.
When she was finally ready to go home, she felt exhausted. But she also felt good about what she had done that day.
She didn’t say much to Jimmy on the way back to the ranch, but she couldn’t seem to get Hyrum out of her mind. He had participated hardly at all during school, ate little of his lunch and dinner, and didn’t talk to anyone at all. She wondered what she could do to help him.
When Amanda arrived home, she enjoyed her own dinner with her father. The cook had prepared a delicious roast with baked potatoes and corn on the cob.
Amanda also ate two fluffy rolls, something that the cook provided at every dinner. She couldn’t help but compare the food that she enjoyed in her own home with the bland food the orphans ate. She wondered if there was something she could do about that.
She had heard a comment from one of the other volunteers that the children basically ate the same type of food every day. That had to get pretty boring.
Her father asked about her day and he seemed pleased that she had enjoyed her time at the orphanage.
That evening when she finally retired to her room, she sat for a long time in a comfortable chair that was placed near her window. She began to think about Stefan.
She wished that she was brave enough to write him a letter. She felt like she needed to apologize again for what she had done. She wanted to tell him about her day at the orphanage.
She figured that he might be interested in that news since he had lived in one when he was a child. But would he even read it if she did send a letter? Her thoughts turned to Hyrum. She felt so bad about him and the reason why he was at the orphanage.
She couldn’t help but compare Hyrum’s situation with Stefan’s.
She couldn’t remember how old Stefan had said he was when he had been sent to the orphanage. But she wondered if it had been a hard adjustment for him, as it seemed to be for Hyrum.
Before she had gone to Wilbourne, she had helped at the orphanage only a few times a month, and she had usually only stayed a few hours before returning home. Now, she found that she had an intense desire to do more, to help more.
“I’ll go help twice a week and spend all day there,” Amanda decided out loud. She remembered the advice Hannah had given her about how helping others could help her feel better about her own problems.
“Hannah was right again,” she whispered with a soft laugh.
But quickly she felt sad again. If only Stefan had once had the care of a kind volunteer, maybe he wouldn’t be so distrustful now. Amanda sighed. The past was the past, and needed to belong there. No matter how bruised her heart felt, she must try to forge a path alone for herself.
Chapter 27
Luisa bent over the clump of flowers she had just transplanted and then straightened. She used her hand to wipe the sweat off her forehead and then tucked it back into her pocket.
It was quite hot that day and she knew it was time to go into her cool house. She desperately wanted a drink of water and had forgotten to bring the canteen she usually carried when she worked outside.
She quickly put her garden tools away and began to walk towards her house. The plot of land her father had given to her was located behind their house, only a few minutes’ walk away.
Luisa had left a pot of stew to keep warm on the back of the stove. She would eat a bowl of it and then go and find Amanda.
She was pleased with the amount of progress she had made with her garden, but she had a long way to go for it to look anywhere near as nice as the garden Ian’s mother had built, Joy’s Garden.
Thinking of that garden made her think of Ian and her heart seemed to break again. She needed to quit thinking about him. She knew that she would never see him again.
She forced herself to think about what she had accomplished that morning instead. She also wanted to give her garden a name, like Ian’s mother had given hers, but she couldn’t think of a good one yet.
She wondered if she needed to wait until it was finished before being able to think up an appropriate name.
After Luisa ate her bowl of stew, she made her way to Amanda’s house. They had made plans to spend the afternoon together. Luisa was aware that Amanda had spent the day before at the orphanage and she wanted to know how it went.
Amanda greeted her at the door. “I’m so glad you’re here,” she gushed as she pulled Luisa inside. “Are you hungry?”
Luisa shook her head. “I just ate.”
Amanda looked at her in surprise. “You could have eaten lunch here.”
“I know,” Luisa answered. In the past, she had usually eaten most of her meals at Amanda’s home when her father was working. Luisa didn’t bother telling Amanda why she had decided to eat at her house that day, but she was trying to not depend so much on Amanda, including being fed at her house.
“Well, I’m hungry, so you are going to need to watch me
eat,” Amanda said, and she shut the door behind Luisa and then walked quickly down the hall.
“That’s fine,” Luisa said. She followed Amanda to the dining room where two place settings were already laid out on the large oak table. One of them was quickly removed and Luisa took an empty chair. Amanda filled her plate with a fresh lettuce salad, chopped raw vegetables, and a large sweet roll. After saying a short prayer, Amanda began to eat.
“How did your time at the orphanage go?” Luisa asked.
Amanda’s face lit up. “Oh, it was very nice. I spent the entire day there.”
“You did?”
“Yes, it was actually kind of … fun.”
“I’m glad,” Luisa answered, pleased.
“I’ve decided that I am going to go there twice a week and help out.” Amanda stopped eating and studied Luisa for a moment. “You should come with me. We could drive into Albertson together and maybe eat at a restaurant for dinner sometime. They really need volunteers that are reliable.”
Luisa didn’t respond. She wasn’t sure if she really wanted to spend an entire day at the orphanage, but she didn’t want to voice that thought for fear of sounding selfish.
Amanda had talked her into going with her a few times before they had left for Thunder Valley Ranch. She hadn’t enjoyed it at all. She didn’t feel very comfortable being around a lot of children.
“I’m going again on Thursday. Come over about seven in the morning and …”
Luisa decided it was time to speak up. This was the way things always worked with Amanda. She would have an idea, tell Louisa about it and then move ahead, fully expecting Luisa to agree.
Even if Luisa voiced a concern about the plans, Amanda would act like she didn’t hear her, but just forge ahead. In the past, Luisa rarely argued with Amanda and had found it easier to just go along with things. But this time, she knew she needed to voice her opinion.
“I don’t want to volunteer at the orphanage, Amanda.” She said the words as gently as she could.
Amanda looked at her in shock, as if hearing the words for the first time. “You don’t? Why? You’ve come with me before.”
“Yes, but I didn’t really enjoy it. I would rather spend my day doing other things.”
“Like what?” Amanda asked.
“Working in the garden, taking care of my father’s home,” Luisa began to answer before giving a small shake of her head.
She knew that in Amanda’s eyes, those things weren’t very important. She also wanted to make herself a few new dresses.
In the month that she had worn Amanda’s clothing, she had grown used to wearing fancier dresses with nicer fabric and embellishments. She couldn’t afford to purchase brand new dresses like Amanda did, but she knew that she could easily make herself some dresses that would look almost as nice. She didn’t want to wear plain boring dresses anymore.
She didn’t want to tell Amanda her thoughts though because she knew that her friend would just offer to give her some of her own dresses that she didn’t want anymore. Luisa didn’t want to wear castoffs from Amanda. She wanted to wear clothing that was her own. Besides, she enjoyed sewing.
“Just come with me once. I think that you will see that—”
“No,” Luisa answered more firmly.
Amanda looked at her with shock in her eyes, but then she gave a slow nod. “Okay. What do you want to do this afternoon?”
Luisa sighed with relief. Amanda had actually accepted her answer. “I brought my knitting with me,” Luisa said. “I’m working on a sweater for Papa when it starts to get colder.”
Amanda looked a little disappointed but then she nodded. “I had been hoping to go riding today, but it is quite hot outside. We can spend the afternoon indoors. I can go riding this evening.”
Luisa again breathed a sigh of relief. Her friend had accepted what she wanted to do and didn’t try to change it.
Amanda continued to talk as she ate and Luisa’s mind drifted. She realized that Amanda had changed since their time at the Thunder Valley Ranch. She just couldn’t put her finger on what those changes were, except for the fact that she seemed more willing to listen to Luisa’s desires and thoughts.
After lunch, the two of them went into the parlor. Amanda also knew how to knit, but she hated anything that made her sit still. This time, she pulled out her own project. She had been working on embroidering multiple flowers on an off-white piece of fabric. Amanda had been working on this particular project for over a year. They worked together silently for a while.
“Do you ever think of … him?” Amanda asked quietly.
Louisa knew immediately who her friend was referring to. She slowly nodded. “All the time. I can’t get Ian out of my mind.”
“I think about Stefan all the time, too,” Amanda confessed. “I’ve never met anyone like him before.” She gave a sigh. “I wish …”
“What did you like about him?” Luisa asked.
“He was kind, considerate. He knew what he wanted and went after it. He was great with horses.” Amanda set her sewing aside. “Do you remember that horse that bit me?”
“Yes,” Luísa answered, thinking about Gladiator.
“Stefan told me about his history. Ian bought that horse without his father’s knowledge.”
“Really? Why would he do that?” Luisa asked curiously.
“He was bred to be a great racehorse, but his previous owner used very harsh training and Gladiator didn’t respond well to it. Stefan said that the harsh training ruined him to be a good racehorse. When Ian found out about him, he purchased him and brought him to the ranch. He didn’t want such a great horse to be destroyed.”
Luisa’s heart swelled for Ian. This was another example of why she fell in love with him. “I bet his father didn’t like that.”
Amanda grinned. “As far as I know, Ian didn’t tell him.”
Luisa looked at Amanda in amazement. “How could Ian hide that type of secret?”
“I’m sure that you were aware that Mr. McAdams rarely went to the stables.”
Luisa nodded. It was something that had puzzled her.
“Stefan worked with that horse almost every day. He made great progress with the horse and he even grew calm enough to let me touch him by the time we left.” Amanda set her sewing down in her lap. “I had been hoping to ride him, eventually.”
“He let you touch him without biting you?” Luisa teased.
“I loved watching Stefan work with the horses. I could tell that he loved them and enjoyed his work.”
Over the next few hours, the two girls talked about the two men they fell in love with. When Luisa finally left for the day, she felt a little better.
Neither of them felt like they would ever see Ian or Stefan again. What men would want women who hadn’t been honest with them? Besides, Luisa still knew that Ian’s father would never allow him to marry a woman who wasn’t of their class.
She was glad that Amanda was using some of her free time to help in the orphanage. And she was looking forward to spending her days working in her new garden and sewing her new dresses.
***
Five days after Ian’s talk with his father, he was finally able to arrange to take a week off.