Adventure For A Bride: A clean historical mail order bride romance (Montana Passion Book 3) by Amelia Rose Page B
Authors: Amelia Rose
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me from back east, but we’ll be sure to let your pa know what we’ll need to keep on hand from now on, won’t we? You fetch those eggs, about six of them, if you please, and I’ll be right back!”
She returned with a basket of items from her own stores of supplies just as Micah climbed the steps with a basket of eggs. She took them and thanked him, then let him be. Idle talk didn’t seem to be the boy’s favorite pastime, and she didn’t want to press her luck when she’d made so much progress.
After whipping up a batter and pouring it into pans that she scrubbed with sand and water, Millie set about tidying the cabin. She found a washtub on the back porch and put all the clothes in it, clean or not, and washed them with a handful of the slimy lye soap that stood in a jar on the shelf. The rain barrel provided enough water to soak, wash, and then rinse, for which she was glad because she had no idea which direction the creek ran from there.
“Mmmmmm, children, do you smell that?” she asked without really expecting an answer. The three of them looked up at her expectantly, waiting for an explanation. “I’ll tell you a secret about my cakes… I use magic in them!”
“What’s magic?” Luke asked before he could remember that he’d promised Micah he wouldn’t talk to the new woman. Micah shot him a warning look, but he wanted to know the answer himself so he didn’t press the matter.
“Magic is my special power,” she explained patiently. “I have this secret power to make all the food I cook taste delicious! I use a magic bean in my cakes. Do you want to see it?”
They both nodded reluctantly, their curiosity overriding their pride. They followed her to the basket of supplies she’d left on the table, and watched in wonder as she held up a single glass vial with a withered black strand inside.
“That’s no bean!” Micah cried. “I helped Mama shell the beans. Beans are supposed to be green!”
“Ah, but as I told you already, this bean is magic. It came all the way from across the ocean—”
“What’s the ocean?” Luke asked, ignoring the jab in his ribs from his brother.
“Micah, hands to yourself please. Luke, the ocean is like a giant lake, but it’s impossible to swim across. This giant lake separates the different lands. So this bean came from a whole different land, far away from here. I got it from a merchant when I lived near the ocean. Here, smell.”
Millie took the cork off and held it out, but neither boy trusted it. She held it to her own nose and breathed in, then pantomimed the sensation of finding a delectable aroma. Finally, they agreed to try, and she watched with delight as their faces registered the new smell. She replaced the cork and tucked the vial back in her basket for safekeeping.
“See? And that magical bean is in the cake!” Their faces lit up as she pointed to the oven. “But first, before we can have any, we have to tidy up a little bit, then eat a good dinner. If you boys do that, then there’s cake for us all!”
They jumped to straightening the bed covers before Millie could stop them, and she surmised that must have been their chief chore when their mother was alive. She instructed them to bring all the bedclothes outside to the clothesline instead, and showed them how to beat the quilts with sticks to dust them off, knowing their little arms couldn’t swing hard enough to do any damage to the stitching.
After setting some actual beans to soak for dinnertime, she gathered the oversized cotton sacks that served as their mattresses and hauled them out of doors, dragging them to an open area beyond her cabin and removing their ticking. She called the boys over to help her tear up fresh handfuls of tall grass, and stuffed the mattresses with sweet grass. Together, the three of them wrestled the bulging mattresses back into the cabin and back onto the bedframe before setting fresh linens and the sun-freshened quilts back in place.
“Next,
She returned with a basket of items from her own stores of supplies just as Micah climbed the steps with a basket of eggs. She took them and thanked him, then let him be. Idle talk didn’t seem to be the boy’s favorite pastime, and she didn’t want to press her luck when she’d made so much progress.
After whipping up a batter and pouring it into pans that she scrubbed with sand and water, Millie set about tidying the cabin. She found a washtub on the back porch and put all the clothes in it, clean or not, and washed them with a handful of the slimy lye soap that stood in a jar on the shelf. The rain barrel provided enough water to soak, wash, and then rinse, for which she was glad because she had no idea which direction the creek ran from there.
“Mmmmmm, children, do you smell that?” she asked without really expecting an answer. The three of them looked up at her expectantly, waiting for an explanation. “I’ll tell you a secret about my cakes… I use magic in them!”
“What’s magic?” Luke asked before he could remember that he’d promised Micah he wouldn’t talk to the new woman. Micah shot him a warning look, but he wanted to know the answer himself so he didn’t press the matter.
“Magic is my special power,” she explained patiently. “I have this secret power to make all the food I cook taste delicious! I use a magic bean in my cakes. Do you want to see it?”
They both nodded reluctantly, their curiosity overriding their pride. They followed her to the basket of supplies she’d left on the table, and watched in wonder as she held up a single glass vial with a withered black strand inside.
“That’s no bean!” Micah cried. “I helped Mama shell the beans. Beans are supposed to be green!”
“Ah, but as I told you already, this bean is magic. It came all the way from across the ocean—”
“What’s the ocean?” Luke asked, ignoring the jab in his ribs from his brother.
“Micah, hands to yourself please. Luke, the ocean is like a giant lake, but it’s impossible to swim across. This giant lake separates the different lands. So this bean came from a whole different land, far away from here. I got it from a merchant when I lived near the ocean. Here, smell.”
Millie took the cork off and held it out, but neither boy trusted it. She held it to her own nose and breathed in, then pantomimed the sensation of finding a delectable aroma. Finally, they agreed to try, and she watched with delight as their faces registered the new smell. She replaced the cork and tucked the vial back in her basket for safekeeping.
“See? And that magical bean is in the cake!” Their faces lit up as she pointed to the oven. “But first, before we can have any, we have to tidy up a little bit, then eat a good dinner. If you boys do that, then there’s cake for us all!”
They jumped to straightening the bed covers before Millie could stop them, and she surmised that must have been their chief chore when their mother was alive. She instructed them to bring all the bedclothes outside to the clothesline instead, and showed them how to beat the quilts with sticks to dust them off, knowing their little arms couldn’t swing hard enough to do any damage to the stitching.
After setting some actual beans to soak for dinnertime, she gathered the oversized cotton sacks that served as their mattresses and hauled them out of doors, dragging them to an open area beyond her cabin and removing their ticking. She called the boys over to help her tear up fresh handfuls of tall grass, and stuffed the mattresses with sweet grass. Together, the three of them wrestled the bulging mattresses back into the cabin and back onto the bedframe before setting fresh linens and the sun-freshened quilts back in place.
“Next,
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