by Janette Oke
They worked there in the kitchen together. I could hear them chatting and chuckling each time that I came near the house. It upset me a bit at first; then I began to realize how good it was for Uncle Charlie, and I started being thankful for Mary and her sensitivity.
Special treats began to show up at the table, too-green tomato relish and fresh butter tarts and oven-baked squash. Uncle Charlie had done his best, but Mary's best was definitely better.
Mary had been there only a week when the new teacher moved in. Mary had already busied herself cleaning Aunt Lou's room until it sparkled. She even put in a small bouquet of fall flowers and a tiny basket of polished apples.
Mary may have been excited, but I was dreading the thought of sharing a house with a finicky schoolmarm. I made myself scarce the day Miss Matilda Hopkins was to arrive. I wanted to be as far away from the house as possible. It wasn't hard to do. We were already into harvest, and I had lots to keep me busy.
Miss Hopkins was to arrive by train, and Grandpa volunteered to go to the station to meet her.
I worked late. The supper hour came and went, but I purposely paid no heed to it. It was still light enough to work the field, so I just stayed working. Even though my stomach was complaining bitterly, I disregarded it. I was in no hurry to get to a kitchen overrun by women.
When it finally got too dark to see any longer, I unhitched the team and headed for the barn. I took my time watering and feeding the horses and giving them a good rubdown. A quick check around told me that Grandpa had already cared for the other chores. Normally I would have been thankful for that but tonight it just irked me a bit. I would have no excuse to escape the kitchen.
I finally headed for the house, grumpy and dirty. I knew that introductions would be in order and I also knew that I sure didn't look my best. Well, I didn't care. What difference could it make to some old-maid schoolteacher anyway?
I stomped my way across the back veranda and pulled open the door. The kitchen was empty, except for Grandpa and Uncle Charlie.
"Working kinda late," Grandpa observed.
I stared around rather dumbly, but I wasn't going to ask any questions. I crossed to the corner basin and poured myself a generous amount of water. Then I set about sloshing it thoroughly over my hands and face. When I looked up I noticed that I had also sloshed Mary's well-scrubbed floor and spic-andspan washstand. I pretended not to notice and moved toward the table.
"Where's supper?" I asked, trying to sound casual.
"Supper was over a couple hours ago;' said Grandpa, not even looking up from the paper he had gotten from somewhere.
"Yours is in the warmin' oven;' said Uncle Charlie around his section of the paper.
I crossed to the warming oven and found a generous serving. I hadn't realized how hungry I was until I saw and smelled the food. Even so, my good sense told me that it had been much better a couple of hours earlier. Well, that wasn't Mary's fault, I had to admit.
"Where'd you get the paper?" I asked around a mouthful.
"Matilda;' said Grandpa.
"Matilda?"
Grandpa just grunted.
"You mean Miss Hopkins?"
"She wants to be called Matilda;' Grandpa spoke again.
There was silence as the two men pored over their sections of paper. We didn't often see a daily paper in our house, and they seemed to find this one awfully intriguing.
"So she arrived, huh?" I tried again.
"Yep;' said Uncle Charlie; then he began to read aloud to Grandpa some bit of interesting news that he found in the paper. Grandpa listened and then they read in silence again. Soon it was Grandpa's turn to read some little bit to Uncle Charlie. I expected they had been sitting there doing that all evening, and I also expected they would keep right on doing it. Some exciting evening this was going to be!
I finished my meal and pushed my plate back. "Any dessert?" I asked.
Grandpa waved a hand that still clutched the paper. "On the cupboard," he said and never even looked up.
I found fresh custard pie-my favorite-and helped myself to a large piece. That was one nice thing about having Mary around-she sure could bake a pie! I had a second piece.
The two men still hadn't stirred except to read to one another every now and then. They were really enjoying that paper.
My eyes traveled to Mary's bedroom door. It was open a crack and I could see a neatly made bed and the small desk in the corner of the room. It was clear that Mary was not at home.
Finally I could stand it no longer.
"Kind of quiet;' I said. "Where is everyone?"
Grandpa lowered his paper just enough to look over it at me. "We're here," he said simply.
I blushed and ran a hand through my unruly hair. But Grandpa still didn't pay much attention to me.
Uncle Charlie folded his section of paper carefully and laid it on the table beside him. He removed his tiny round reading glasses.
"You know," he said to Grandpa, "I think Matilda's right. A man does need to read the daily paper to keep up with what is goin' on in the world. I can't believe all the things I've learned in just one night:'
Grandpa grunted his agreement and shuffled through some more paper.
I carried my empty pie plate to the cupboard and piled it with my dinner plate-more out of habit than consideration. I was about to say I was going up to bed when Grandpa looked up.
"Oh, josh," he said, "Mary took Matilda over to her folks to introduce her. I let them hook Chester to the light buggy. Hope you don't mind:"
I just stood there letting the words sink in. Not only were they taking over my kitchen and my house, but my horse as well! Anger welled up within me, but at the same time I realized how juvenile it was to feel the way I did. I calmed myself, muttered some kind of reply to Grandpa, and started to climb the stairs.
"Goin' to bed already?" Uncle Charlie called after me.
"Yeah," I replied, not even turning around. "It's been a long day."
"Sure you don't wanta read a little of the paper here?" Grandpa asked.
I was in no mood for reading Matilda's paper, I can tell you that, but I didn't say so to Grandpa. At least not in those words.
"Think I'll just go on to bed," I said instead.
But I couldn't sleep. I lay there tossing and turning and listening for the sound of buggy wheels.
They finally came. Then I could hear their whispering voices as they approached the house after putting Chester in the barn. They sounded like two young kids sneaking in the back door, but they weren't kids and they weren't sneaking in. Grandpa and Uncle Charlie were waiting right there at the kitchen table where I had left them.
I could hear the rattling of cups as Mary made them their before-bed coffee and then there was general chatter and some soft laughter and finally footsteps on the stairs, and then the house was quiet for the night.
I still couldn't go to sleep. It seemed that life was out of control. All the old familiar ways seemed to be changing. Even our familiar routines seemed to be gone.
Then I thought of Grandpa and Uncle Charlie and that last cup of coffee, and I realized that things weren't really so different after all.
CHAPTER 21
Harvest
I wasn't in a much better mood when I awoke the next morning. I hadn't had much sleep, but mostly I had my mind set to be ornery.
I got up early and went out to get a start on the chores. First, I went to check out Chester. I couldn't find anything to get upset about so I went on down the lane to let the cows up for milking.
It wasn't long until Grandpa joined me at the barn.
"Yer up early, Boy," he greeted me. "You musta had a good sleep last night."
I didn't make any comment.
"How's the cuttin' comin'?" Grandpa went on.
"Fine;' I answered truthfully.
"Does it look as good as we hoped?"
I had a hard time keeping the excitement out of my voice. The crop was a good one. It looked like it would beat a
ny yield we'd ever had.
I forgot my sour mood momentarily and concentrated on sharing the report of the field with Grandpa. His eyes took on a twinkle as I talked and his mustache twitched in satisfaction now and then.
By the time I had finished raving over the crop, Bossie was bellowing to be milked. We parted ways; I went on to slop the pigs and Grandpa grabbed the milk pail.
I had almost forgotten my dread of going in to breakfast and was thinking instead about the tractor I was dreaming of purchasing. I was walking toward the chicken coop with my head down when I unexpectedly bumped into something.
Now I had walked that path many, many times over the past years, and I knew very well that there shouldn't be anything in that spot one could bump into.
My head came up and my hand reached out at the same moment. And there, standing with her back to me and looking around as startled as I had been, was a slip of a girl.
"I-I'm sorry," I mumbled, pulling my hand back from her shoulder where it had landed. "I wasn't watching where-"
What's she doing standing there in the middle of the path, anyway?
She was shaking her head back and forth, the startled look giving way to mirth. "It's my fault. I shouldn't have been standing here in the way-I've been drinking in the sunrise."
Drinking in the sunrise? I had never heard it expressed like that before. My eyes shifted to the east and was astonished to realize the sunrise was worthy of such an expression. I stood staring at it-seeing it like it was the first time.
"It is pretty, isn't it?" I mumbled. "Could I help you?" I asked. "Are you looking for someone?"
She looked puzzled at my question, then began to laugh. "You must be Josh;' she said, rather than answering my question.
I nodded, but I didn't see what that had to do with anything.
"I'm Matilda," she said simply, extending a small hand.
My mouth must have hung open at that. I had expected an older woman, with hair swept severely back from her face and a dark blue, long-skirted dress with lace at the throat and sleeves. But I was facing a girl who looked no more than seventeen, with bouncing, light brown curls and sparkling eyes. She wore an attractive dress of green calico.
"Matilda Hopkins;' she said again. "The new teacher"
I still couldn't speak.
Then Matilda changed the subject completely, her enthusiasm spilling over in a candid fashion. "I love your horse, Chester. He's just bea-u-ti-ful." She stretched the word out, emphasizing each of the syllables.
"I've never seen such a beautiful horse;" she went on, "and Mary says that he is saddle broken too. I'd love to ride him sometime. I'd just love to!"
She took a breath and finished more slowly, "If you wouldn't mind, that is"
I found myself shrugging my shoulders and saying "of course not," and Matilda was beaming her joy and thanking me profusely.
"But I must get in. I'll be late for school on my very first day if I keep dawdling:"
And she was gone, tripping down the path in a most undignified way for a schoolteacher.
I could only stare. And then I began to laugh. What had I been so upset about? Why had I been so scared? There was absolutely nothing to fear from this child. It wouldn't be much different than having Sarah around.
I chuckled all the way to the chicken coop.
Friday night there was a Youth Group meeting at the church. Grandpa suggested, rather slyly, that I might want to break from the field work a bit early and take the girls. At first I was going to decline, and then I figured that it really wouldn't hurt. I knew Uncle Nat felt that the farm work shouldn't really come before my church commitments, so it might be wise for me to follow Grandpa's suggestion.
I should have taken the team, but I guess I just wanted to show Chester off a bit. The light buggy would be faster than the heavy wagon, but the light buggy also was very crowded for three people. It was really only made for two.
Grandpa raised an eyebrow when he saw me hitching up. I knew what he was thinking.
"Won't be a problem;' I said before he could comment. "Both those girls are so small I could fit four like 'em on that seat."
Grandpa didn't say anything.
When I went in to do my last bit of slicking and polishing Uncle Charlie looked at me good-naturedly.
"Figure you might take a bit of teasin' showin' up with two girls, josh?" he asked me.
His question caught me completely off guard.
"Girls?" I said. "One of them is Mary and the other-well, she's just a kid"
Uncle Charlie looked surprised at my assessment but he didn't say anything.
I was ready before the girls were, which was always a puzzle to me. I had put in a full day in the field, helped with chores, hooked up Chester, and still had to wait.
Mary showed first. She really did look nice, and I remembered thinking again that Willie really had missed out-until I also remembered just who Willie had ended up with.
What is taking young Matilda so long? I fidgeted mentally, and then she came down the stairs and I couldn't believe my eyes. Her hair was gathered up away from her face and her dress was much more grown-up and I suddenly realized that she wasn't a kid after all. I also realized that Uncle Charlie had been right. I might be in for some ribbing.
But it was too late to unhitch Chester and hook up the team. The girls had already expressed their delight in the light buggy. I gathered up the reins and climbed aboard. I wasn't sure how to arrange the seating.
Mary took charge.
"Why don't you sit in the middle, josh, and one of us will sit on each side;' she suggested.
I don't exactly know why I agreed, except I didn't know what else to do, so I sat down in the middle, a girl on each side of me. It was crowded, and I guess they feared they might get bounced right off the seat with Chester moving along like he always chose to do. Each grabbed an arm and hung on for dear life. I was hard put to handle the reins.
I began to sweat. I didn't know if I had the right to pray over such things or not, but I sure was tempted. I hoped there would be no fellas outside watching me arrive. But it was a warm fall night, and the fellas always stood outside and laughed and talked and watched everybody as they came.
Oh, boy, I thought, have I gone and done it now!
I wanted to put the blame on the girls. What did Mary go and fix herself up like that for, and why had Matilda chosen this night to look her age? How old was she, anyway? And why hadn't she warned me?
But I couldn't blame them. Chester and the buggy had been my idea. I'd wanted to show off my horse-and look where it had gotten me!
Mary and Matilda didn't seem to have any problem with the arrangement at all. They laughed and chatted all of the way to town, with me right there in the middle.
At one point a big jack rabbit sprang from the grass in the ditch, making Chester shy to his right. It wasn't dangerous; Chester was a well-trained horse, and it only startled him.
But it was enough to give the girls quite a scare. They grabbed hold of me with both hands. Matilda screamed. Mary was the first to recover; her face got a bit red and she released her firm grasp and mumbled some sort of apology.
Not Matilda. I think she actually enjoyed the excitement and would have been glad to repeat it again. She wasn't like any schoolteacher I'd ever had!
When we got to the church, a whole yard full of fellas were standing there waiting. I could feel my face color and knew that I was really in for it.
The girls didn't seem to notice.
"Josh!" one of the group called out. "Got your rig pretty full, don't you?" But to make matters worse, I knew I had to get the three of us down from that buggy seat. I didn't know quite how to be gentlemanly about my situation. I mean, how was Ito hold Chester and assist two young women-one on each side of me-to descend in ladylike fashion?
Uncle Nat arrived to save the day. He was just coming from the parsonage to the church, and he stopped and greeted us cheerily, then took Chester's bridle and eased him in
to the hitching rail. When I was able to release the reins, I excused myself and crossed in front of Mary so I could jump to the ground; then I was able to help the girls step down one at a time.
While the boys were still shuffling and gaping, Mary was calmly introducing Matilda to Uncle Nat, a job that I should have been doing.
The entire evening was pretty much what I expected. The fellas razzed me the total time. I sweated my way through the social, vowing to myself that I'd never be caught in the same predicament again.
When we were about to go Aunt Lou called me aside. "I'm so glad you brought the girls, josh," she said. "I hope that you can do it again. Matilda seemed to fit in well with the group"
I nodded. She had, in fact, rather been the life of the party.
`And, Josh;' went on Aunt Lou, lowering her voice to a whisper, "don't pay any attention to the `pack: " She nodded her head slightly in the direction of the boys, who had given me razzing for bringing two girls. "There's not a one of them who wouldn't give his right arm to be in your position tonight:"
I looked dubiously back at my circle of friends and I began to grin. Aunt Lou was right. I walked over to the two young ladies who had shared my crowded buggy and extended an arm to each of them.
From then on things began to change at our house. My lot wasn't really so bad, after all. In fact, many would have envied my situation.
Mary was probably one of the best cooks in the whole neighborhood. What's more, she was gentle and caring and thought of many little ways to brighten the days for each one of us.
And Matilda? Well, Matilda was Matilda. She was vivacious and witty and bright-a real chatterbox, about as different from Mary as a girl could be. Each added to our household in a special way.
I wasn't chafing anymore. There were still times when our big farm kitchen seemed a bit too small and I longed for a bit more space and a little more quiet, but generally speaking we all began to adjust to one another.