Elizabeth took in a deep breath as she slowly slid the wooden latch on the door that led to the bedroom—the room she would be sharing with Eli from now on. She had no idea what she was expecting to find, but when she saw the sweetly furnished room—with a bed similar to the ones upstairs except bigger—she felt a wave of relief wash over her.
Somehow, and to her amazement, this room felt very welcoming to her, as if she were truly home. On top of the bed was the beautiful quilt with the log cabin design. She felt the mattress to discover it was her own feather bed that she’d brought from home. And her feather pillows were here as well. All were covered with the new bed linens that Will’s girls had given her at the shower. And beneath the feather mattress, resting on top of the rope supports, was yet another straw-filled mattress. They would sleep comfortably in this.
As wonderful as the bed looked, she was even more impressed that just like the bedrooms upstairs, this room had its own window. She went over to peer out, seeing that it looked toward the stand of fir trees behind the house. Hanging over the window was a lovely curtain that she felt sure had come from her mother’s home in Kentucky. She fingered the crocheted lace and smiled. A very nice touch indeed.
Next she examined the washstand beneath the window. Like the dry sink in the kitchen, this piece was made of roughly hewn wood, which appeared to be maple. But on the front was a carved rose. Hanging on the towel bar were some fresh white linens, and positioned in the center of the cabinet was a creamy white pitcher and bowl—with water in the pitcher.
She picked up a bar of soap from a small china soap dish and sniffed it—lavender. Her mother had brought dried lavender from Kentucky with the plans of making soap once they got settled. She suspected this too was her mother’s doing. Beneath the bar of soap was a slip of paper that said, “To Eli and Elizabeth with love from Father and Mother.” They had obviously put the washstand and everything on it together. Bless them!
She looked back at the handsomely made bed. On one side sat a rustic chair—a good place to remove one’s boots. On the other side was a small table covered in linen with lace trim. But on closer inspection, she discovered it was actually a crate. On this bedside table sat her small silver lantern as well as a little crystal vase that held a fragrant arrangement of evergreens and pretty dried grasses, giving it a feminine feel. Also there was a colorful rag rug on this side, perfect for keeping feet warm on a cold winter’s night. Because of the more feminine touches, she suspected that this side of the room was meant for her. She had no complaints whatsoever.
At the foot of the bed was the trunk she’d brought in the wagon with her from Kentucky. As far as she knew, it was still packed with blankets and fabric and miscellaneous items of clothing for the children and her. But it looked nice at the foot of the bed. All in all, this room was unexpectedly sweet, albeit a little chilly.
And that reminded her that she’d come in here to get into a dry dress. Before long, her pretty blue wedding dress was hanging from a peg, and she had on her green calico and her moccasins. Putting her woolen shawl over her shoulders, she emerged to find Eli sitting by the fire.
“Are your clothes wet too?” she asked.
“My trousers are a little damp,” he said as he stood.
“Well, you don’t want to get a cold either.”
“What did you think of the, uh…the bedroom?” He sounded slightly uneasy, which she found charming.
“It is beautiful,” she told him. “And quite homey too. Although it is a bit chilly in there. Do you think we should leave the door open?”
“That’s a good idea.” He went to open it. “And the way the room is positioned, right across from the kitchen here, I expect that using the cookstove will help to warm it up some too.”
“I’d love to try out the cookstove,” she told him. “I’m not very hungry after our wonderful wedding feast, but perhaps I could make us some coffee or tea.”
“Coffee would be good to warm up on. And I think your mother brought some over the other day, as well as some other staples she thought we might need. And she was very helpful in getting the bedding on the beds all put together. I couldn’t have done it without her.”
Elizabeth smiled. “I suspected she’d had a hand in some things.”
“And that rug in our bedroom was made by Jessica. She just brought it by a few days ago.”
“I wondered about that. It’s so pretty.”
“And I’m sure you saw that Brady made the dry sink and your father made the washstand. They found an old maple that had fallen a year or more ago. The wood had plenty of time to dry and was in perfect condition for making furniture.”
“I wondered where they’d gotten the maple.”
She held up the red coffeepot that Lavinia had given to her. “I’ll put this pretty thing to good use now.”
“And while you’re doing that, I’ll put on some dry trousers,” he told her.
It wasn’t long until Elizabeth had a little fire going in the cookstove. Then she filled the pot with water and measured out some coffee. Just as she was setting it on top of the stove, Eli emerged. He’d changed into a clean pair of work pants, but he still had on his good shirt. She blushed to think of how handsome he looked.
“You have no idea what a thrill it is to put a coffeepot on a real stove again.”
“That’s right, Malinda still cooks in the fireplace, doesn’t she?” Eli sat down at the table, just watching her as she continued to explore her new kitchen.
She nodded. “I’m sure she’ll be envious when she sees this one.” She opened the iron door to poke at the fire before she slipped in some additional pieces of wood.
“I expect it’ll just be a matter of time before Will buys her one, don’t you think?”
“I’m sure you’re right.” She looked out the big window from where she was standing by the stove and sighed. “That window is just lovely. But I am curious as to why you put it over here instead of near the fireplace.”
“Seemed to me you would enjoy it more over here. You can look out when you’re cooking. And we can all look out when we’re sitting here at the table and eating. But when we’re sitting by the fire in the evening, it will be dark outside, and a window would be wasted.
She laughed. “You really did think of everything, didn’t you?”
“I did my best.”
She removed a parcel wrapped in brown paper from a cupboard and held it up. “Do you know what this is?”
“Something your mother left here yesterday.”
She unwrapped the paper to find a loaf of bread, a crock of butter, and a jar of jam. “Looks like she thought we might want some supper tonight. Are you hungry?”
“I’m not very hungry, but I wouldn’t mind some bread and jam with my coffee,” he said.
She glanced around the homey-looking house, curious as to what time it was getting to be. Her best guess, based on the darkening sky, was that it was past five. Not too early for a light supper. Her livestock was still at Malinda’s and her children were at her parents’, so there wasn’t much in the way of chores to be done this evening. She knew she should make the most of this unexpected bit of leisure.
“I have a clock packed somewhere,” she absently said as she sliced some bread. “From Kentucky. If it still works, it might look nice on the mantle.”
“I’m sure you’ll have fun putting everything into place.”
“I will. I am so eager to unpack my things and get settled. To make this our home.”
“We are home, Elizabeth.” He stood and came over to where she was buttering the bread. “Can you believe it?” He slipped his arms around her waist and pulled her close. “We are home at last.”
“It feels a bit like a dream,” she confessed. “A very sweet dream.”
“Mr. and Mrs. Kincaid in their new home.” He kissed her. “This is for real.”
After a bit, she moved the coffeepot to the soapstone slab in the back of the stove, where it would stay warm wit
hout scorching. She suspected that they would have their light supper a little later.
On Sunday morning, Mr. and Mrs. Kincaid rode Beau and Bella back to the church, where they were warmly greeted by family and friends. Sitting with Eli and JT and Ruth, listening to Reverend Holmes’ sermon, which was even more positive than the last one, Elizabeth felt very nearly perfectly happy. She probably would have been completely perfectly happy if she hadn’t noticed something on the way to church.
Just as they were passing the brushy section near the creek, she’d observed the foliage moving. Eli had suggested it was the wind, although there didn’t seem to be any breezes blowing. Then he said perhaps it was simply her imagination. And although she conceded that was possible, she felt fairly certain that wasn’t it either. Somehow she knew that woman was still there. And the child. And somehow she was going to reach out to them. In the meantime, she would keep praying for them.
After church, while Eli was hitching the team to the wagon, Clara told Elizabeth that the children were welcome to stay with her and Asa for a few more days. “If you and Eli would like some more alone time.”
“I don’t think that’s necessary,” Elizabeth quietly told her. “Eli and I are both anxious to have the children settled in the home with us. I can’t wait for them to see their rooms.”
Clara smiled. “What did you think of everything?”
“It’s all so wonderful and amazing. I could hardly believe it.” Now Elizabeth began to gush, thanking her mother for all her sweet little touches. “One week from today, I want to have you all over for a thank-you dinner.”
“That will be fun,” Clara told her. “But I thought today you might want to join us for Sunday dinner. We had so much food left over from the wedding! We shared some with Matthew and Jess, but we want to send some of the food home with you. Also, the children’s clothing and things are at our house. You’ll need to pick them up.”
“I’ll check with Eli, but I’m sure we’d like to come,” Elizabeth said. “Especially since I haven’t got our kitchen very well set up yet. However, we might not linger much afterward. Eli hopes to get our livestock moved from Malinda’s this afternoon.” Elizabeth waved to her sister-in-law, who was approaching. “I know she’ll appreciate it.”
“Are you all settled in yet?” Malinda asked as she joined them.
“I haven’t unpacked much,” Elizabeth admitted. “But I feel completely at home. And we’re taking the children home with us today.”
“Already?” Malinda frowned. “I thought they were going to spend a few days at your parents’.”
Elizabeth shrugged. “I’m eager to have my family all under one roof.” Now she told Malinda about the loft bedrooms. “One for JT and one for Ruth.”
“Oh, my. I look forward to seeing this house. When will I be invited over?”
“Give me a few days to get unpacked,” Elizabeth told her. “How about coming over for tea? Sometime when the children are in school? I think I should have everything unpacked and put to order by midweek. How about Thursday?”
“I’ll be there with bells on,” Malinda promised.
“And Eli and JT will be by your place later this afternoon to pick up our livestock,” Elizabeth promised. “And we’ve got the wagon, so we’ll pick up the chickens and anything else we left behind on our way home from church.”
It wasn’t long until they were on their way home, with Elizabeth and Eli in front of the wagon and JT and Ruth in the back. Ruth was as chatty as a magpie, talking about yesterday’s wedding and how many days until Christmas and a dozen other unrelated things. Meanwhile, JT seemed to be unusually quiet. Finally, worried that he might be coming down with something, Elizabeth decided to get to the bottom of his sullenness. “Are you feeling quite well, JT?”
“I feel fine, Ma.”
“You seem rather quiet.” She turned to peer at him, seeing that he had a slightly perplexed expression. “Is something wrong, son?”
“No. Nothing’s wrong.”
“It’s about Eli,” Ruth blurted out.
“Ruth!” JT glared at his little sister.
“I’m sorry,” Ruth told him. “But you should tell Mama and Eli about what’s troubling you.”
Elizabeth glanced at Eli to see that he was looking a little uncomfortable. She wondered if JT could be having second thoughts about their marriage. However, it was a little late for that. Even so, perhaps this wasn’t the best time to have a conversation like this. She wasn’t sure what to do.
“Go ahead and tell them, JT,” Ruth said. “Or else I will.”
“Ruth!” JT sounded truly irritated.
“If you have something to say,” Eli began slowly, “maybe you should just get it out in the open, JT. I’m sure it’s something we can all sort out together. We’re a family now.”
“Come on,” Ruth urged.
“All right,” JT grumbled. “I was just wondering, now that you and Ma are married, what are we supposed to call you? Do we still call you Eli? Or do we call you Pa?”
Eli’s countenance relaxed. “Well, I think that’s up to you and Ruth,” Eli said. “I’m comfortable with you calling me Eli if that’s what you’d prefer. And I’d be rightly honored if someday you feel like calling me Pa. I realize I have some big shoes to fill, but I do want to be your father. When I married your mother, I married you children too. We are a family now.”
“Well, I want to call you Pa,” Ruth declared.
Eli turned to smile at her. “I am truly honored, Ruth.”
“I reckon I should call you Pa too,” JT said. “If you really don’t mind.”
“I do not mind in the least. Like I said, I am honored.”
Elizabeth let out a relieved sigh. Well then, that was settled.
Chapter Twenty-Two
After dinner at Elizabeth’s parents’, they loaded up the wagon and continued on toward home. Elizabeth tried to act calm, but she was so excited about how JT and Ruth would react to the finished house. “Here we are,” she said as Eli pulled the wagon in front.
“Oh, my!” Ruth exclaimed. “It’s bigger than Grandma and Grandpa’s cabin, isn’t it?”
“Yes, but there are four of us and only two of them,” Elizabeth pointed out as they climbed from the wagon. “And instead of unloading everything right now, do you want to go in and look around first?”
The children didn’t argue, and she and Eli exchanged glances as they followed them into the house. Their reactions were similar to Elizabeth’s, although Ruth was much more vocal and JT used his comments sparingly.
“And now you need to go up the stairs,” Elizabeth told them. She and Eli waited down below, listening as the children exclaimed over the two separate bedrooms. A short argument erupted over who got which room, but eventually both JT and Ruth decided that the spaces were identical, and JT flipped a coin to determine who got what.
“I love my room,” Ruth declared as she came down the stairs. “And the bed is really comfortable.”
“I didn’t know we’d have our own rooms,” JT said happily as he rejoined them. “Thanks, Eli.” He chuckled. “I mean, Pa.”
“Yes! Thank you, Pa!” Ruth told Eli.
Although Elizabeth was glad the children accepted Eli enough to call him Pa, it was a bit unsettling too. The last man they’d called Pa had been James. And, the truth was, she wasn’t sure she was ready for this. And yet she didn’t want them to keep calling him Eli either. Really, she should be thankful.
“Let’s get the wagon unloaded,” Eli said to JT. “And then we’ll change out of our church clothes and go fetch our livestock.”
Elizabeth pointed at Ruth. “And let’s get changed out of our Sunday clothes too. Then you can help me get those chickens all settled.”
“Do you think they’re glad to be home, Mama?”
“I’m sure they are.”
“I think so too. Especially since some of Malinda’s hens were bossy toward ours,” Ruth said. “As if they thought they were bett
er.”
“Well, our hens were newcomers. Maybe they didn’t like that.”
“Or maybe they were jealous.”
“Jealous?”
Ruth giggled. “Because of Reginald.”
“The rooster?”
“Yes. Because Reginald probably liked our hens better than Aunt Malinda’s.”
Elizabeth laughed, thinking that could be beneficial to increasing their numbers. “Say, Ruth, now that we’re home and settled, we won’t collect the eggs for a while—maybe even a whole week.”
“No eggs for a whole week?” She frowned. “What will we have for breakfast?”
“Oatmeal. Or biscuits and gravy.”
“Like on the Oregon Trail?” she asked.
“A little like that. But don’t worry, we won’t starve. And it’ll only be one week without eggs. Maybe not even that.”
“But why don’t you want to eat eggs, Mama?”
“Because I’d rather hatch some chicks.”
“But it’s not springtime.”
“That’s true. But the climate is mild here. I think we can raise some young chickens in the winter. And thanks to Reginald the rooster, we might have some fertile eggs in the next few days. And if we let the hens sit on the fertile eggs, we’ll have baby chicks right around Christmas.”
“Christmas chicks!” Ruth clapped her hands. “Yes! Yes! Yes!”
On Wednesday morning, after the hens had three undisturbed days of egg laying, Ruth carefully collected about a dozen eggs, and she and Elizabeth began candling them to see if any were fertile.
“See?” Elizabeth held the first egg up to the bright light of a kerosene lamp. “This one doesn’t show any veins, so it’s not fertile,” she explained. “Put it in the bowl for later.” Ruth handed her the next warm egg, and to their delight, it showed the faint traces of veins inside. “This one goes back in the basket,” Elizabeth told her.
“Should we keep the basket near the stove to say warm?” Ruth asked. “Until we’re done candling?”
“Yes. But not too close. We don’t want to cook our chicks.”
A Home at Trail's End Page 20