Chapter 7
The noreaster roared like a trapped lion outside the farm house. Protected by the house the people inside took no notice of the fury around them. Peg was putting a roast in the oven and Mary was making sweet corn muffins. Julie was busy cooking green beans and steamed cabbage. Faith placed a pot of tea on the stove. She checked in the pantry for some apple cider for later.
Terri had just finished with peeling potatoes when a loud pop hit the roof.
“Gracious what was that?” Peg asked.
“It sounded like one of the large pine cones from that big pine out back. The storm must be getting worst.” Terri said.
“I’m glad everyone is here.” Mary said.
Hank came into the kitchen,” I need to feed the horses and then settle them down. This storm will frighten them.”
“Just be careful you don’t get lost out there.” Tiffany said.
Hank went into the mud room and came back with a rope. “I am prepared. I made this line last summer.”
Julie smiled, “I wonder what that hook was for outside. The rope reaches all the way to the barn?”
Hank nodded, “I will be safe.”
“Well I’ll have a cup of hot spiced cider waiting.” Peg said.
“Thank-you, I will need it.”
“That man is just like Tom.” Mary said after Hank left.
Julie nodded, “Dad used to do the same thing.”
Hank carefully unwound the rope as he walked the well-known path. He found the barn with no trouble but when he got there the old door had been blown off it hinges. He could see only Dasher and Lightfoot in the barn. Hank fed them and took out an old worn out screwdriver from a toolbox and fixed the door to the barn.
“You two are older and wiser than Blitzen and Midnight I will find them tomorrow. Now you two have a good sleep, the door will not come off.”
Hank secured the door and headed back to the lodge. He heard trotting behind him and turned around. Blitzen was standing there keeping Midnight calm. Hank led them back to the barn and put them in their stalls and fed them.
He followed the rope back to the lodge and slowly rewound the rope. The women looked at him, “What took you so long?” Faith asked.
“The barn door came loose and I had to fix it. Midnight must have bolted out of the barn but Blitzen brought her back.”
“You could have secured the barn until morning.” Tiffany said.
“Why should I have waited when I had the tools to fix it?” Hank asked.
Peg and Mary laughed, “The man has a point. You know that Mike and Tom would have done the same thing. It’s the thing with those two horses that mystifies me.” Peg told them.
“Not me. Her Royal Highness was looking out for us again.” Julie thought.
“Blitzen is a wise horse and knew to keep Midnight safe until he saw me.” Hank told them, “he was calm the whole time and that kept Midnight calm.”
Hank returned to the Parlor and explained what happened. Laura shook her finger sternly at Hank, “In a blinding noreaster you decide to fix the barn door! What are you trying to do make me a widow even before we are married?”
Terri laughed at her cousin and shook her head, “Aunt Mary is that you?”
Sue giggled, “Greg you may need to make a huge rolling pin for your sister.”
Greg doubled over laughing and sat in a chair, “I would need to find a ten-foot hickory limb. Seriously Sis, you did sound like Mom when she got onto Dad.”
Laura looked at them and shook her head, “Brother of mine, thanks a lot, I really needed to hear that!”
Peter nodded, “Well if you’re going to be compared to anyone then you couldn’t ask for anyone better than Aunt Mary. Of course you would have to exclude Mom before you did.”
Laura looked around and started laughing. ‘Now I know this place is perfect. The sound of our laughter ringing off the walls is just like I remember.”
Terri looked at the chess set and saw the white bishop lying beside the chess board. She walked over to it and saw that there were ashes beside the ashtray, “Uncle Tom, you’ve been told to be neater.” She laughed.
Mary came out of the kitchen. She was carrying her rolling pin. “Supper is almost done we’re just waiting on the Onion rolls to heat up.”
She looked at the chess set and the ashtray. She shook her rolling pin at the empty chair, “Tom West either you keep the ashes in the tray or give up that pipe.” She scolded her late husband.
She took a rag from her apron and wiped the ashes into the tray. She looked around at everyone, “You would think that old Saint Peter would have taken that thing away from him by now.” She chuckled.
Laura hugged her mom, “I had better get Greg busy on making me a rolling pin big enough to keep Hank in line.”
“It works every time it’s tried.” Mary laughed.
“Speaking or which, have you and Hank done any restoration on the wood shop?” Peter asked.
Hank nodded, “It was the very first building that we set about restoring. I had to clean the hand tools and now they are in fine working condition.”
“In Hank speak that means he replaced rotted handles and spent hours cleaning the rust off them. He also restored the manual lathe and the rip saw.” Laura told them.
Greg blinked, “You mean they make motorized lathes?”
Peter laughed, “I knew about the lathes but the rip saw now that’s news to me.”
Greg looked at Sue and grinned, “Babe, when it comes to ripping logs into planks a power saw just doesn’t do a good job.”
Peter looked at Meg, “The old Hardwick place is for sale and I think the owner will let us have at a good price.” He told her.
Meg looked at him, “That’s the place with the pecan and pear orchards?”
Peter nodded, “Yes and a field big enough for a good size vegetable garden,”
“The Farm house is in excellent shape. I worked on it when I had to wait for Laura to return from her book tour.” Hank said.
“All it needs is some handmade furniture and a woman’s touch to make it a good home.” Laura said.
Meg started crying, “You don’t have to sell me on it! I have always loved that place.”
“Mom and Dad is it going to be a working farm?” Tommy asked.
“Do you think that you and your sister can handle it?”“ Pete asked.
Gabby looked at her Dad, “That place is made for growing things. It deserves to be used and respected for what it is designed for. We can handle it. I’m almost seventeen and Tommy is almost fourteen. Besides I think we will have some help.”
The other children nodded in agreement. “We can help take care of both places.” Barbara said.
Adam nodded, “This farm is my link to my grand pa and I can’t let it become a rambling shack again. It’s my birthright. According to dad, we are the fifth generation to call this land ours. I don’t think of it as a burden but a privilege to keep this farm and any other piece of land that belongs to someone in our family alive.”
“I think you mean fertile.” Greg said.
“No sir I meant alive. A piece of land is nothing without people to nurture it.” Adam said.
Mary smiled and kissed her grandson, “Adam that sounded like something your grandpa would say. There’s a lot of him in you. Tom always said that this land was in our blood and nothing would ever change that. Still son, your dad and uncle will tell you that working this farm will take all your spare time and then some. But you have lots of help. However, as the eldest grandchild it will be your responsibility to set an example for the others.”
“Gabby since you are the eldest granddaughter, the same burden falls on your shoulders.” Pete told them
“Dad, I’m ready for this. I’ve been looking for something that I had been missing in LA. I found it here on this land. Something happened when we drove up to the lodge. I felt like I was finally coming home from a long trip.”
“This land is a part of you. I felt it today when we pulled up in the sleigh.” Sue said. “I just thought that it was my natural Irish instinct for the rural landscape. I now know that when I married your uncle that it somehow became grafted into me”
Hank and Meg nodded in agreement.
Laura started crying, “This is more than I ever imagined when we three planned this reunion.”
Mary looked at her daughter, “The three of you? I might have known that all three of you were involved in this gathering. This time I just want to hug all three of you instead of taking you to the woodshed.”
“Let’s have supper.” Pete said, “We can work on the tree again later.”
Pete was proud that Gabby was willing to take on the challenge of both the new farm and the lodge but he wasn’t sure that she understood that challenge. The chores on a farm were hard work. Two working farms might be too taxing on her even with Laura and Hank’s help.
He thought about what real advice he could give to her that wouldn’t sound like a put down. She was already sensitive on the tree deal and he didn’t want to discourage her. It took everything Laura, Tiffany Terri, Faith, Greg and he had to keep the farm going while their dads could only work it on the weekends.
He looked at his California-raised daughter as she ate. She was as hard headed as any native New Englander. She also was a talented seamstress and quilter. Gabby was also very smart. She had so much inside her that the farm would be just another way for her to express it.
“Gabby, I am so proud of you and Tommy wanting to take on this challenge. Just don’t be shy about asking for help. You have a great group of cousins to help pull the load with you. All I ask is that you do the best you can.”
“Dad, I’ve heard you talk about how hard the work was in keeping this place running like a clock. I know that you and Mom won’t be able to do much except on weekends. I know Tom and I can handle this challenge because we are part of a family of doers and not complainers.” Gabby said.
“Where did you hear that old New England saw?” Meg asked.
“It just popped into my head. I must have heard it somewhere.” Gabby said.
“It was your great grandmother’s favorite expression.” Pete said. “Be a doer and not a complainer.”
“Well I guess this is a reunion!” Laura laughed.
Gabby smiled and took a bite of her pot roast. “Aunt Laurie, all my LA friends used to laugh at me for making my own clothes and for quilting. I even had a teacher tell me that I was setting the movement back a hundred years by my sewing. It made me feel like I was some kind of freak.”
“I wish you would have come to me! I would have given that teacher an anal examine that she would have never forgotten.” Meg said has she hugged her daughter.
“Having been the subject of a few of those I can attest to that!” Pete said.
“Watch it pal. I can borrow your mom’s rolling pin.” Meg laughed.
Laura was clearly angry at what she had just heard, “You’re not some kind of freak. Your so-called teacher was more full of horse manure than our barn. Don’t let anyone tell you that your talents aren’t important. Remember what I told you before just be who you are and to heck with anyone else. Tomorrow we can go up to the attic and find your great grandmother’s sewing box and her old manual sewing machine is in the sewing room upstairs. I bet there are even some patterns up there that you may like.”
“The old long style country dresses?” Gabby asked.
“I know they are some of those. My mom only wore that kind of dress when I was growing up.” Peg told her.
“I love full dresses!” Barbara said.
Debbie nodded, “They are more comfortable than jeans.”
Laura laughed, “They are called granny dresses these days.”
“Well with Grandma’s machine and the others I would say that we will be seeing some fine young women at the table Christmas day.” Pete said.
“If it stops snowing, I want to try something I read in an old magazine. I want to melt some snow and wash my hair in it. It supposed to be better than city water.” Gabby said.
“It makes your hair softer and that’s all.” Laura said, “Which is why I used to wash my hair with it. Tiffany, Julie and I would wash and iron each other’s hair.”
“Iron it?” Gabby asked.
“It makes it straight.” Tiffany explained. “We used a warm iron wrapped in a terrycloth towel.”
Pete looked at Greg, “I have a few woodworking projects in mine. Do you know where our dads’ plans are?”
“If Hank hasn’t relocated them, they should be in that old file cabinet.”
“They are still there I only copied them.” Hank laughed.
“Good Greg and I need to bone up on our skills.” Pete quipped.
Greg looked at him, “Excuse me, Greg and I? I had a nice garage in Bean Town that doubled as a wood shop.”
Pete laughed, “So did I but it wasn’t a real shop. Now our dad’s. That was a true wood wrights shop. Tommy takes a wood shop class.”
“So do I, much to, she that must not be named’s displeasure.” Adam said.
“Well you won’t have to worry about what that witch thinks anymore.” Tiffany said.
Pete knew what projects he wanted to do first. Two wooden quilting looms for Meg and Gabby. Just like the ones in the sewing room. They would be easy to do and be ready for Christmas morning. The storm would die down sometime tomorrow and a fresh blanket of snow and the crisp winter air would be a welcome relief from the drab California weather.
Already their belongings were being packed and a few days after the first of the year a moving van would be headed for Morgan’s Hallow. Meg had already gotten the Children’s shot records and school records so there wouldn’t be any delay in them starting school.
“So Julie when does school start back up?” Pete asked.
“The first week of February now that they’ve gone on this 12-month thing. There are six weeks in the winter and six weeks in the summer.”
Debbie laughed, “We started our Christmas holidays Monday. Or is it called winter holidays now I can never get it straight.”
“Well in the Pete Vane household they are still called Christmas Holidays and that is a settled issue.” Meg laughed.
Greg started laughing, “Sue, made sure that the kids were in a nice Catholic school so they are still called it Christmas Holidays.”
“Landsakes, these days people can take offense at the silliest things.” Mary said.
“Whatever happened to good of fashion horse sense?” Peg agreed.
“It got replaced by good old fashion horse manure.” Sue laughed.
“Well I need to work off this pot roast. Unless of course there’s a pie or cake for desert.” Meg said with a twinkle in her eye.
“I’ve made half a dozen of my Christmas Cakes. Let me get one.” Laura said.
“You don’t move!” Meg said looking at the floor,
Laura looked down on the floor. It was covered in blood.
Pete got up and came around the table and looked at Laura’s back. “That cyst must have hemorrhaged. Tiffany run and get some towels. Meg run and get our bags.”
Meg was already headed up stairs Greg and Hank carried Laura upstairs and lay her on the bed. Meg cut off Laura’s blouse and pressed the towels on the wound.
She looked at her husband, “It’s a good thing Doc Greer told us about the cyst. He didn’t think it would wait until after the first of the year.”
Pete nodded, “Tiffany’s type B- I’ll get her prep for a transfusion.”
“The bleeding as just about stopped. You want me to take it out or do want to do it?”
“You had better; I’m just a Primary Care Doctor.”
Pete went downstairs to the Parlor, “She’s ok. We caught it in time. We’re going to have to take out that cyst. Tiffany, what’s your donor status?”
“I can still give blood. What about infection?” She asked.
“Meg and I talked to Doc Greer last week. He was afraid that it was going to break through the skin. We came prepared for this. Meg will remove the cyst and we have everything we need. We are going to need a couple of nurses.”
Peg got up, “I may be retired but I can help.”
Debbie looked at her, “I’m a nurse’s aide at the Logan Harbor free hospital.”
Julie looked at her Daughter, “For once I’m glad you do work there.”
Pete looked that them, “Let’s do it.”
No comments:
Post a Comment