A Winter's Promise (23 page)

Emma made a face.
“
She said her grandmother told
her it would ward off colds. That I believe! No
one’ll get
close enough to give her one.
”

“
Well, if that
’
s all
. . .”

“
What do you mean,
‘
if that
’
s all,
”
Em
ma said in
mock indignation.
“
You should have her breathing
down
your
neck with onion breath!
”

He raised his eyebrows.
“
If Jenny breathed down my
neck, I wouldn
’
t even notice the onion
breath,” he
teased.

“
She
is
pretty,
isn’t she?” Emma said wistfully.

Al
looked up from mixing his
shaving lather.
“
Yeah,
she
’
s pretty all
right. I don
’
t mind looking at
her
.
But I
don
’
t
mind looking at you, either.
”

He
took two long steps toward her, tilted her chin up
with
one finger, and kissed her tenderly.
“
I love
you,
”
he said and stepped back
to
the washstand.

“
It
’
s a wonder the roof stays on!
”
Emma said to Jenny,
as Al roughhoused with the children while they cooked
supper.

O
f course, he had to admire Albert
’
s printing.

“
I
’
m gonna learn, too,
”
Fred assured him, his blond
locks bobbing as he nodded.

When Al began to pray at the table, Fred giggled and poked Albert
. Al stopped and gave him a stern
look, and
Fred
’
s smile vanished. He folded his hands.

When Al had finished, he looked sternly at Fred
again and said,
“
Is that the
way
you behave while your
Mama prays when I
’
m gone?
”

Emma
’
s heart all
but stopped.

Fred merely shook his head, and no one said a word
until
Al started talking to Jenny.
“
How do you like the Northwoods?
”

“
I
t
’
s different in many ways,
”
she answered,
“
and I miss
my family and friends, but I like the clean air and
the tall pine trees, and people here have been friendly.
”

“
And the school?
”

She hesitated a moment before she answered,
“
It
’
s certainly a challenge. I first taught in city schools.
”

Al chuckled.
“
It must be a challenge. Are the children
different from the ones out East?
”

“
No, not much different.
”
She toyed
with her fork a moment and said,
“
I can
’
t seem to get close to the chil
dren here. When I lean over to help them with their work, they pull away from me.
”

“
The children out East didn
’
t do that?
”

“
No, they didn’t.”

Al shot
a quick, glance at Emma and
continued.
“
Emma tells me you
’
re fond of raw onion sandwich, Did you always eat them?
”

“
Oh, no! My mother abhorred them, but here
. . .”

A smile twitched at the comers of Emma
’
s
mouth. Al
gave Jenny a sidelong glance and kept eating.

For a little while everyone was quiet, except for Emma
’
s encouraging Ellie to drink her milk.

Suddenly Jenny dropped her fork, put her hand over
her mouth, and said,
“
You mean. . .
you m
ean
.
.
”
Al grinned.

Much to Emma
’
s relief, Jenny laughed.
“
You mean
those poor children are trying to get away from my on
ion breath?
”

Emma could feel her face growing warm.

“
Emma! You, too! Why didn
’
t you tell me?
”

“
I didn
’
t know how. I didn
’
t know the children were having the same trouble, or I might have said
some
thing.
”
I

Jenny picked up her fork and shook it as she spoke.
“
Well, I know one thing!
I have eaten my last raw onion sandwich.
”

“
Well, ladies,
”
Al said abruptly,
“
you ready for some
music?
”

Jenny
’
s eyebrows shot up.
“
Music?
”

Emma told her that
Al played the accordion, and Jen
ny clapped her hands.
“
That
’
s wonderful! I haven’
t heard music for so
long, except for our singing at
school.
”
She turned to Emma.
“
I
’
ll be glad to do
the
dishes, if you want to help with the chores.
”

Emma nodded.
“
Thanks! We can get done much
fast
er.
When I come in, I
’
ll bathe the children and
we
’
ll have
music!
”

“
Quite a change from a week ago, huh?
”
Al called
from the other end of the barn as Emma milked Molly.

“
I
’
ve had a lot of
prayers answered
,
b
u
t never in a
better way
than this one. Sure makes me want to
keep prayin’!”

Emma didn
’
t answer.
Good thing he feels like
pray
ing.
He
’
s going
to have to pray for both of us. I better tell
him
about the fire-starting problem, so he can
pray
about that.

When Al was working closer to her, she said,
“
I don
’
t k
now how long Jenny will be able to stay, though. She
’
s
having a terrible time getting the fire started at school,
and she has to be in that cold room all that while—and then sleep in our cold upstairs besides.
”

“
Doesn
’
t she know how to start a fire? Shouldn
’
t take that long to warm up a schoolroom.
”

“
Oh, she knows how to start
a fire, but there
’
s hardly
any kindling left, and Mr. Schuft says he isn
’
t bringing
any more. She took a few shavings from here, but she can
’
t carry much. I know there isn
’
t any money to pay
for more wood this year. Mrs. Gross came one morning and threatened to have Jenny fired if that schoolroom
wasn
’
t warm when school started in the morning. If
only Grandpa would help her. And he has a whole pile
of kindling; I wish he
’
d give some to the school.
”

“
He
’
s not likely to do that. He sure was put out when
she moved. Say, maybe that
’
s what he meant by her
having trouble! I never thought of the fire.
”

“
It would help so much if she could still run over
there to the warm house until the fire got going.
”
She
was about to tell Al about Jenny
’
s prayers but decided
not to. It would be just like Al to agree with Jenny that
God would change Grandpa
’
s mind. Then they
’
d both
be disappointed.

“
Maybe I better go and talk to Pa tomorrow.
”

“
I don
’
t think Jenny would want you to. Besides, I
can
’
t remember anyone ever getting your pa to change
his mind.
”

“
Yeah, I guess you
’
re right.
”

When they got back to
the house
, Jenny
not only had
the
dishes done, but she was
just finishing the
chil
dren
’
s baths.

A

Eyes riveted
on Al
’
s every move, the ch
i
ldr
en
watched him take
down the accordion and unlatch it.
But when his starting warm-up chords leaped into the
air, Fred and Ellie
’
s attention turned to Albert who
crouched, taut as a runner waiting for the starting
sig
nal.

As Al began
to
squeeze out a tune, Albert
gave
a
whoop and sprang into his own version of the
polka
immediately followed by Fred and Ellie.

Georgie sat on Emma
’
s lap, transfixed. When Emma laughed at the children
’
s comical attempts to polka,
he
swiveled his round-eyed gaze to her face.

“
Georgie dance, too,
”
she shouted in his ear, bounc
ing him on her knee. He rewarded her with a bare—
gummed smile.

When Al switched to a slower tempo, Emma leaned back, closed her eyes, and drank in the soothing melody. Then she opened her eyes and flashed a smile at Jenny.

Jenny smiled back, but it was plain to see she
was
fighting tears.

Emma pretended not to notice. When she caught Al
’
s eye, he raised his eyebrows questioningly. Emma replied, with a shrug.

When the tune ended, Al got up, took a drink of wa
ter, and put wood in the stove.

Emma leaned toward Jenny.
“
Are you homesick?
”
Jenny shook her head and then nodded.
“
I guess.
It
’
s
just that I never . . .
”