love.
55
Chapter 8
It's a Cruel World
Saturday dawned clear and cooler and breakfast of porridge and corn muffins was hurried so that Clark might get an early start to town. Marty presented him with the list that Ma Graham had helped her with the day before.
"Mind ya," said Ma, "in the winter months it be sometimes three or four weeks between the trips we be a takin to town because of winter storms, an' ya never know ahead which Saturdays ya be a missin' so ya al'ays has to be stocked up like."
So the list had been a lengthy one and Marty inwardly felt concern, but Clark did not seem surprised when she handed it to him and he read quickly through it to be sure that he had no questions concerning it. He kissed Missie good-bye, promising her a surprise when he returned, and was gone.
Marty sighed in relief to again have a day without him about, and turned her thoughts to planning what she would do with it. Clark had warned her to take things a bit easier, and Ma Graham said that she feared that she was `overdoin' for a woman in her state, but Marty knew that she must have something demanding to fill her hours or her sense of loss would overwhelm her. So she looked round about her to see what to tackle on this day. She'd finish her cleaning, she decided. First she'd put water on to heat so that she could wash the bedding. Then she'd do the window, walls and floor in the
56
bedroom and, if time still allowed, she'd do the shed. She did not even consider cleaning the lean-to. That was Clark's private quarters she felt, and she would not trespass.
All day she worked hard, forcing her mind to concentrate on what she was doing. A dull fear raised its head occasionally. If she finished all of the hard cleaning today, what would she do tomorrow, and tomorrow and tomorrow? Marty pushed it aside. The tomorrows would have to care for themselves. She couldn't handle that right now. She was sure that if she let her mind fix on that, she'd break under the weight of it.
She finished her final task of the day just in time to begin her supper preparations. Clark had said that he should be home for the usual chore time. She thumbed through the recipes that Ma had left. She'd fix biscuits and a vegetable stew, she decided, using some of the meat broth that Ma had brought to flavor the stew. She went to work, discovering that she had forgotten the fire again.
"Dad-burn it. Will I never learn?" she fretted, as she set to work to rebuild it.
The vegetables were simmering when she heard the team. Clark unhitched the wagon near the house to make it easier for the unloading of the supplies, and went on down to the barn with the horses.
Marty continued her supper preparations. This time, thanks to Ma Graham, the biscuits looked far more promising.
She noticed that Clark looked weary when he came in from his chores. He gave Missie a hug before he sat down at the table, but Marty thought that his shoulders seemed to sag a bit. Was shopping really that hard on a man, or had she made the list too long, and spent all of his money? As she sat at supper Marty fretted over the problem but there didn't seem to be an answer, so she concentrated on cooling Missie's stew.
" 'Fraid the totin' in of all of the supplies will sort of mess up yer well-ordered house fer the moment." Clark's voice cut in on her thoughts.
"Thet's okay," Marty responded. "We'll git them in their proper place soon enough."
"A lot of the stock supplies will go up in the loft over the
57
kitchen," Clark went on. "Ya reach it by a ladder on the outside of the house."
Marty's eyes widened in surprise.
"I didn't know there be a loft up there."
"It's nigh empty right now, so there wasn't much use in a knowin'. We stock it up in the fall, so's we won't run out of sech things as flour an' salt come the winter storms. I'll carry the stock supplies direct up, so's I won't have to clutter yer house with 'em. The smaller things though, I'll have to bring in here, so's ya can put
55
Chapter 8
It's a Cruel World
Saturday dawned clear and cooler and breakfast of porridge and corn muffins was hurried so that Clark might get an early start to town. Marty presented him with the list that Ma Graham had helped her with the day before.
"Mind ya," said Ma, "in the winter months it be sometimes three or four weeks between the trips we be a takin to town because of winter storms, an' ya never know ahead which Saturdays ya be a missin' so ya al'ays has to be stocked up like."
So the list had been a lengthy one and Marty inwardly felt concern, but Clark did not seem surprised when she handed it to him and he read quickly through it to be sure that he had no questions concerning it. He kissed Missie good-bye, promising her a surprise when he returned, and was gone.
Marty sighed in relief to again have a day without him about, and turned her thoughts to planning what she would do with it. Clark had warned her to take things a bit easier, and Ma Graham said that she feared that she was `overdoin' for a woman in her state, but Marty knew that she must have something demanding to fill her hours or her sense of loss would overwhelm her. So she looked round about her to see what to tackle on this day. She'd finish her cleaning, she decided. First she'd put water on to heat so that she could wash the bedding. Then she'd do the window, walls and floor in the
56
bedroom and, if time still allowed, she'd do the shed. She did not even consider cleaning the lean-to. That was Clark's private quarters she felt, and she would not trespass.
All day she worked hard, forcing her mind to concentrate on what she was doing. A dull fear raised its head occasionally. If she finished all of the hard cleaning today, what would she do tomorrow, and tomorrow and tomorrow? Marty pushed it aside. The tomorrows would have to care for themselves. She couldn't handle that right now. She was sure that if she let her mind fix on that, she'd break under the weight of it.
She finished her final task of the day just in time to begin her supper preparations. Clark had said that he should be home for the usual chore time. She thumbed through the recipes that Ma had left. She'd fix biscuits and a vegetable stew, she decided, using some of the meat broth that Ma had brought to flavor the stew. She went to work, discovering that she had forgotten the fire again.
"Dad-burn it. Will I never learn?" she fretted, as she set to work to rebuild it.
The vegetables were simmering when she heard the team. Clark unhitched the wagon near the house to make it easier for the unloading of the supplies, and went on down to the barn with the horses.
Marty continued her supper preparations. This time, thanks to Ma Graham, the biscuits looked far more promising.
She noticed that Clark looked weary when he came in from his chores. He gave Missie a hug before he sat down at the table, but Marty thought that his shoulders seemed to sag a bit. Was shopping really that hard on a man, or had she made the list too long, and spent all of his money? As she sat at supper Marty fretted over the problem but there didn't seem to be an answer, so she concentrated on cooling Missie's stew.
" 'Fraid the totin' in of all of the supplies will sort of mess up yer well-ordered house fer the moment." Clark's voice cut in on her thoughts.
"Thet's okay," Marty responded. "We'll git them in their proper place soon enough."
"A lot of the stock supplies will go up in the loft over the
57
kitchen," Clark went on. "Ya reach it by a ladder on the outside of the house."
Marty's eyes widened in surprise.
"I didn't know there be a loft up there."
"It's nigh empty right now, so there wasn't much use in a knowin'. We stock it up in the fall, so's we won't run out of sech things as flour an' salt come the winter storms. I'll carry the stock supplies direct up, so's I won't have to clutter yer house with 'em. The smaller things though, I'll have to bring in here, so's ya can put
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