"Genevieve. Don't cry. I'm all right. Robert saved me back there." I try to soothe her.
Robert laughs, squeezing my hand. "I'm not the one who jabbed the bear in the face with a stick!"
"You did that?" Adeline laughs, smiling at me. "I was thinking, Darlene, that maybe Genevieve and I could sleep with Hazel and Lydia so you can have the bed to yourself. If you can walk?"
"I can walk." Robert helps me up and I look toward the door to Pa's room. He's standing in the doorway watching. I stop, and he catches my eye.
"I'm so sorry, Darlene." He says, then he disappears into his room again and I can hear him softly crying from behind the closed door.
I sigh, deciding that will be a problem for me to deal with tomorrow.
Robert sits back down on his makeshift bed as I climb the ladder to my bed and lay down slowly. Adeline and Genevieve climb into the bed with Hazel and Lydia. After a while, I can hear them all breathing slowly again, letting me know they're asleep.
As I lay here, all I can do is remember the bear's hot breath as it came so close to me, its teeth sharp and large. I shake my head, trying to get the image out of my mind. Eventually, I can feel exhaustion start to take over as I picture Robert fighting off the bear.
Chapter 18
The morning sun shines through the window, causing me to squint as I sit up. It's been a week since the bear attacked me, and my shoulder feels a lot better. It still hurts the odd time when I move too much, but luckily the bear hadn't scratched too deep.
Since my dress was ruined that night, I decided to make a new one out of the material Robert bought me. I put it together with some material from my old dress to make a beautiful dress to wear.
Both Robert and my sisters insisted I not work in the field for a bit, so I'd taken the job of making lunch and delivering water. Hazel and Lydia were now helping out in the field.
I also went out and talked to the neighbors. Many of them agreed to come and help us, saying they had wanted to come and see how we were making out. They were all very nice people and I could see progress being made. No one asked where Pa was, seeming to understand that something had happened and he wasn't able to help.
Finally today, I've decided to go back to the field and let Lydia reclaim her job. I go outside with Robert and we go to get Old Red ready. The neighbors haven't arrived with their horses and tools yet, so it's just us. I attach Old Red to the red wagon and smile at Robert. He smiles back and takes my hand.
"Darlene? You know the night of the bear attack, how I started to tell you something?" He asks in a shaky voice.
I nod, feeling confused. I remember he started to say something but I don't know what.
Robert takes both of my hands now and stares down at me. I feel like his blue eyes are making a hole right through me. "I want to finish what I was going to say. Darlene, I think that I'm in love with you."
I feel my stomach knot and it feels like my heart will beat right out of my chest. "Robert, I think I'm in love with you too!"
Robert's face lights up as he lifts me into the air, then sets me down again gently as I give a small wince of pain.
"I'm sorry. I need to be more careful. But, you've made me so happy." He's smiling at me.
He rests his hand under my chin, then leans down and kisses me slowly. When he pulls back, I wrap my arms around his neck and hug him tightly. My heart is racing and I feel dizzy.
Finally deciding it's time to let go, I grin at him. "Well, we better get back to work."
He smiles and holds my hand, while leading Old Red and the wagon to the field with his other hand. He passes the wagon off to Genevieve who is already waiting in the field with Adeline. Before he goes ahead to get to work, he winks at me then tips his hat down as he walks away.
We go straight to work doing the same jobs we normally do. Robert cuts the crop off, Adeline and I use the pitchforks to move it to the wagon and Genevieve empties the wagon when it is full. I move as fast as I can, knowing we only have two weeks left until time runs out.
A while later, the neighbors show up. There's an older widower named Mr. Winkler who seems to always be smiling. There's also a dad and his son who come every day. I can't remember the father's name, but the son's name is August. There are also a few others who spread out amongst the field, working on their own section.
We work until lunch is brought to us, stopping often for small water breaks to fight the heat. By the end of the day when we're all packing up for the day, I look out at the field smiling. It was at least halfway done. We were doing it.
I look up as Robert wraps his arm around me.
"We're almost done, Darlene!" He laughs and I hug him as he lifts me off the ground.
"Thank you so much. This couldn't have happened without you." I know there are no words I could ever say to tell him how thankful I am. He plants a quick kiss on my cheek and sets me down. Laughing, I take his arm and pull him toward the house.
"Hurry...I heard Hazel and Lydia were making chicken!" I start to run to the house. Inside Hazel is setting the table, and Lydia is serving the food onto the plates.
"This looks delicious girls!" Robert exclaims sitting down at the table. I smile to myself as I notice Lydia blush and look away.
I'm the last one to sit down in my seat beside Robert. The chicken tastes delicious. After a long day's work, we eat quietly and silently.
"Oh, Darlene? Today when we had extra time, we did the laundry and tidied the house a bit." Lydia says putting some chicken into her mouth.
Smiling at her, I reply. "Thank you so much. You've been a great help while this has been going on."
We finish eating in a comfortable silence. We each take our dishes to the wash basin that Lydia has already got ready. I start to do the dishes but Hazel gets mad, saying I need to rest.
Annoyed, I sit down in Ma's old rocking chair beside Robert who's on the floor. Adeline sits in her chair and is working on knitting a blanket, while Genevieve lies down on the floor looking up at the roof. Having an idea, I take my sewing stuff out of the cupboard and the fabric I bought for Adeline.
Adeline looks up at me, her eyebrows raised. "Are you making my dress? I mean, I could probably do it myself if you want to get one of the other's done first?"
"No. I want to do it. I'll get them all done soon." I say spreading the fabric out on my lap.
Robert gets his fiddle out and plays for the girls until we're all too tired to keep our eyes open. Noticing Hazel falling asleep, I tell everyone it's time for bed.
"'Night Robert." I smile shyly at him. It still seems so strange to remember him telling me he loves me.
He smiles faintly and yawns. "Goodnight."
Deciding I'm too tired to get ready, I end up lying down on the bed beside Adeline with my new dress still on. Not laying there for more than a minute, my eyes close.
"Darlene. I'm sorry. I messed up bad, it's like something inside of me shut off. If I could go back in time, I would. Forgive me. I'll help you again." I see Pa is crying while he speaks.
Excitement and sadness rushes over me. He really is trying and he wants to make things right. I go to hug him and tell him it's all right and that I do forgive him. But that's when I notice I can see myself hugging him, my hair flowing down my back. I'm sobbing as Pa strokes my hair.
Feeling my heart drop, and my stomach tighten, I hear myself saying, "It's only a dream."
As I say the words, the world ripples, and I open my eyes to see the roof of the house.
Chapter 19
I can only see a small amount of light coming through the window, so I know it's still early in the morning. Knowing I won't be able to go back to sleep, I quickly brush my hair then sneak past my sleeping sisters.
Robert is awake and sitting on a chair at the table.
"You're up early. I hope I didn't wake you." He says, turning to look at me.
"I was about to say the same to you." I smile at him then shrug. "Besides, I had a bad dream so couldn't get bac
k to sleep." I walk over and sit in the chair beside him.
"Here, I'll make some breakfast. Do you like eggs?" I ask, standing up and walking over to the cupboard where I take out a pan.
"I love eggs." He exclaims. "I don't normally have eggs because my family doesn't have chickens. Sometimes on special days, my Ma would pick eggs up from town."
I look at Robert. His eyes seemed to have softened. "Do you miss them?"
Robert rubs his hand over his rough chin. "I mean, I try not to but, I don't know. Sometimes I wonder what would've happened if I'd stayed. Then I remember it would have been exactly like before. I would have been living a life that I felt trapped in, and not loved." He stops talking and winces as he looks at me. "Well, that was sappy. I'm sorry, Darlene."
Laughing, I crack an egg into the pan. "You call that sappy? I've been like that since Ma died. Only to you, I guess, but I don't feel like I need to protect you from sadness like I do with my sisters."
It's quiet while I cook the eggs, except for the sound of the eggs bubbling. It smells delicious as I serve them out on two plates, handing one to Robert who's already got the forks out.
I watch him take a bite. "Oh, Darlene. These are just like how my Ma makes them!"
We eat our breakfast, quietly listening to the morning birds singing. After we're both done, I begin to wash the dishes while Robert comments about the pine trees dropping pine cones on the ground and how annoying they are.
"Darlene?" Robert asks pointing out the window. "I think we have an early morning visitor."
"What?" I ask, rushing to dry my hands on the towel and joining Robert in the window.
I would recognize that man anywhere. Mr. Blakely.
I open the door and walk down to where Mr. Blakely is climbing down from his horse. Robert comes up behind me and puts his arm around my waist.
"Good morning, Ms. Carter. Is your father available at the moment?" He asks, shaking my hand.
Feeling my face heat up, I bite my lip. "Uh...no. No, he's not, but I'd be glad to take a message."
"All right. There's a small incident regarding the information I gave you before. I'm afraid I may have misread the paper I'd looked at before I came to discuss the situation the first time. I recently found out it actually said three weeks. I hate to bring this news to you. Unfortunately, you now only have five days left to get the crop off. I'm not an evil person, and I hate to have to tell you this, so I do hope you're almost done the harvest." He explains.
I feel my stomach tighten. My legs feel weak and I can barely stand, but Robert is holding me up firmly. "Well uh...the crop in the field... is..." I can only stammer, desperately trying to figure out what to say.
"Going great and it's almost done." Robert finishes for me. Mr. Blakely nods and smiles a warm smile.
"I'm glad to hear. I must be off now. Sorry for the inconvenience." Mr. Blakely strokes his beard and then climbs back onto his horse. I stand watching him ride away, too stunned to move.
I'm telling myself to stay strong and not to cry. Stay strong. Don't cry.
"Darlene?" Robert asks, breaking the silence. He looks down at me, his eyebrow furrowed.
I give a fake smile in return. "I'm fine."
He sighs. "No, you're not. Come here."
The tears well up in my eyes and one runs down my cheek. Robert pulls me toward him and I wrap my arms around his neck. My tear lands on his jacket and rolls down.
"Don't cry. We'll get the crop done in time. We may have to all work late into the night and not take as many breaks." He strokes my hair softly with one hand and holds me up with the other.
"Robert?" I ask through a sniff. "I just really wish my Pa would help me. Before you came here, I kept asking him for help, hoping one time he'd return to the Pa I used to love so much. He never did though, so Adeline said it was time we stopped looking for help in Pa. I believe he's still in there somewhere, but is stuck in a world of sadness. I miss him and I miss Ma. I miss everything that made me happy before Ma died. Ever since, I've been so distracted and..." I sob, not able to continue. Everything had just poured out of me so easily.
"You've been holding that in for a while, haven't you?" He lets me pull back to look up at him.
Smiling, I nod. Robert takes my hand and we walk back up to the house quietly.
"Here's the plan. We wake your sisters up and tell them what's going on then." Robert starts, but I cut him off.
"Woah, stop there. We can't tell my sisters because they'll be worried." I stop walking, making him stop and face me.
"You need to stop worrying about them so much. They'll be fine. If they don't know what's going on, they won't understand why we're so rushed. Your sisters are a lot like you. By that, I mean capable of handling things."
We continue walking to the house.
"And, Darlene? I think you should try talking to your Pa again. If you love someone, you don't give up on them."
His words echo in my head.
"I will. Maybe you and my sisters could go start while I talk to him?" He nods as we open the door to the house.
The girls are all up and dressed. It's time to tell them the truth.
"Mr. Blakely, the bank man, was just here." I start to explain and I see Adeline tense.
"There was an error on the time we have left to get the crop off. Before, we had four weeks but it was actually supposed to be three weeks. With that knowledge, we only have five days left." I look down at the ground, unsure of how they will react. I pretend to fix something on my dress.
"What!" Adeline's shout brings my head whipping back up. "He said four weeks. It isn't our fault they messed up! They told us four — we should get four!"
"Adeline." I rest my hands on her shoulders. "I know. It isn't fair. Unfortunately, there's nothing we can do about it, so we have to work with what we can. You're all going out to the field with Robert, even you two." I point at Hazel and Lydia.
Their eyes widen, fear spreading over both of their faces. "Robert will show you how to help. Positions may be switched on who does what. Then some more people will show up to help. It's likely we will work late. We're all going to work together and we'll get through this." I try to encourage everyone, hoping my own fears won't give me away.
"I'll be right out. I have something I need to do."
Chapter 20
Wiping my sweaty hands on my dress, I watch as my sisters follow Robert outside. The door closes and it's silent as I stand here figuring out what to say. There's so much I want to say, but I have no idea how.
Walking over to his room door, I reach for the handle. Hesitation washes over me, but I end up taking a deep breath, opening the door slowly. It's dark, the blinds pulled as they have been for weeks.
It feels as if every time I gather the courage to walk in here, the stench becomes more and more unbearable. "Pa? I need...I mean want to talk to you."
"Okay." He replies in a hoarse whisper. Trying not to show Pa how badly the smell was taking over me, I sit down on the bed beside him.
Clearing my throat, I begin. "You remember when I told you about the farm and how we needed to get it off or the bank would have no choice but to take it away? Mr. Blakely, the man from the bank, came this morning and told me there was a mistake in how much time we had to get the crop off. Instead of four weeks it was meant to be three. Counting the amount of time left from three weeks gives us five days."
"And you're done the field?" He looks at me, his normal soft blue eyes empty.
"Well, no. I'm only eighteen Pa. I'm struggling enough as it is, caring for Adeline, Genevieve, Lydia and Hazel. Up until Robert showed up, I wasn't even comfortable working in the field." I try to not let anger show in my voice. I wanted to fix Pa, not yell at him.
Pa lets out a small chuckle. The first I've heard in a while. "Robert? That's his name. You love him, don't you."
"Well...he's." I feel my face heating up. I hadn't expected him to bring up Robert during the conversation.
"I'm just te
asing you, Darlene. How much of the crop is left?" Pa wraps his arm around me.
I tuck a loose strand of hair behind my ear and reply. "Just under half. Robert took Hazel and Lydia out to teach them how to help in the field. I think Genevieve and Adeline are probably working on getting it off right about now, and the neighbors should be coming soon as well."
I can feel Pa tense as he takes his arm away from me. Looking up at him with concern, I watch his smile fade. "Well, Darlene. You have some work to do I suppose."
Standing up, I turn to face him. "What? Pa you were so close to coming back, and being our Pa! I could see it. Oh, you know what? I give up. You're gone, just like Adeline said you were." Slamming the door behind me I blink away the rising tears.
I know now that there's work to be done and there's no time for crying. We've been fine without Pa for weeks, and we most definitely don't need him now. Walking at a faster pace than normal, I walk away from the house and head toward the field.
As I near the field, I can see Robert, Adeline and Genevieve at work cutting the crop off with scythes that I'd seen the neighbors bring yesterday. Smiling faintly, as I spot scrawny Lydia pitching the wheat into the wagon that Hazel is leading, I walk over to them.
Lydia has sweat beading on her forehead and I laugh softly. "Lydia, you need more meat on those bones."
"Excuse me, but I don't see you doing anything useful other than bugging me." Lydia replies teasingly. Smiling and shaking my head, I walk toward Robert so I can find out what I can do. He looks up from his work, taking his blue handkerchief out of his pocket and wiping the sweat from his face.
"How'd it go?" Robert asks, setting his scythe on the ground. Looking down at the ground, I shake my head.
"Oh. Well, it was worth a try, right? Don't be too upset about it Darlene. I'm sure he means well and just can't get past his grief."
I nod, snapping myself out of it, remembering how much has to be done. "You're right. So, what can I do?"
"Grab one of the extra scythes that the neighbors have brought. The more people we have taking the crop off, the better." Robert points toward the bush lining the field where I can see a scythe laying on the grass. Nodding, I walk over to it and pick it up with my right hand. The handle is smooth in my hand and the weight of the tool surprises me.
The Wagon Page 7