The Lopsided Christmas Cake (8 page)

After Thelma had picked up the stray marbles that had rolled down the steps, she headed outside to the coop to feed the chickens and check for eggs. When that was done, she set the basket filled with six eggs on the back porch and headed across the yard.

Breathing the earthy scent lingering in the air, Thelma headed toward the barn. Even though it was in need of a new coat of red paint, the building itself would probably be around for a good many years.

When she entered the barn and headed for Rusty’s stall, he kicked the wall in front of him. “Now calm down, boy. Your meal is on the way.” Thelma grabbed a hefty chunk of alfalfa hay and placed it in the horse’s feeding trough. “How’s it going, Rusty?”

The horse nickered.

Thelma smiled and patted him gently up by his ear. “It’s your dinnertime, and now the barn cats need some food, too.” She left his stall, making sure the latch was secure on his door.

After she’d fed and watered the cats, she took a seat on a bale of straw. Leaning against another bale, she sat quietly listening and watching the animals crunching on their food. They all appeared to be content, like she was, breathing in the pleasant grassy aroma in the barn. Thelma missed the way things had been when her grandparents were living. Looking over at Cutter’s empty stall made this moment quite difficult to bear. She fought back tears as she continued to sit and reminisce. Finally, she rose, brushed her sweater and dress off, and headed back to the house.

Once inside, she took care of the eggs then fixed herself a glass of chocolate milk and went to the living room to relax. The past week had been busy, and it was nice sitting here in the quiet and solitude.

Thelma reached for Grandma’s Bible lying on the table beside her. Opening it to a page marked with a ribbon, she read Proverbs 16:20 out loud: “‘He that handleth a matter wisely shall find good: and whoso trusteth in the L
ORD
, happy is he.’”

What a good verse this is for us right now,
Thelma thought.
I need to commit it to memory.

Hearing a noise from below, Thelma suddenly remembered the mother cat and baby she’d found in the basement. She needed to check on them and feed the mama cat.

Setting the Bible aside and slipping into her sweater again, Thelma went back out to the barn. When she returned to the house, she was relieved to see that Elma hadn’t gotten up yet. It wouldn’t be good if she had to explain what she was doing with a sack of cat food. She’d never understood why her sister didn’t care much for cats.

Thelma went to the kitchen and grabbed her flashlight then made her way down to the basement. As soon as she descended the last step, she heard mewing. Taking a quick peek, she saw that the mama cat now had four babies. “I brought you some nourishment, Misty.” Thelma chose that name because the cat had light gray fur. She poured food into the dish she’d brought along and set it near Misty. The cat sniffed it and then started chomping. While Misty ate, Thelma filled another bowl with water from the utility sink. Some dirty clothes were in the laundry basket, and Thelma was glad the cat hadn’t climbed in that to give birth to her babies.

Passing the hot water tank on her way to give Misty her drink, Thelma noticed a small puddle. She hoped the tank wasn’t leaking. Perhaps some water had sloshed out of the washing machine when she’d washed a few towels yesterday. But if that were the case, wouldn’t there be moisture in other places, too?

Thelma gave Misty a drink then grabbed an old rag and sopped up the water. If it had come from the old tank, it would probably happen again. She’d check it the next time she came down. Thelma sighed.
One more thing to remember.

LaGrange

Joseph leaned back in his chair, locking his fingers behind his head as he visited with Delbert after the noon meal following the church service in their district. They’d stayed longer than usual today, enjoying the fellowship with members of their community.

“Those were good messages our ministers preached today,” Joseph said. “The one our bishop preached about being trustworthy and keeping our promises really spoke to me.”

Delbert nodded, stroking his chin. “The promises we render to unbelievers can make a difference in how they view us as Christians.”

“That’s true. If we say we’re gonna do something and don’t follow through, it makes us appear dishonest.” Joseph reached for his coffee cup and took a drink. “The other sermon, about helping others when we see a need, was important, too.”

“Jah.”

“Speaking of helping others,” Joseph said, “when we were in Shipshe the other day, I picked up a flyer about a cooking show that will take place next month. It’s for a good cause. Would you like to go there with me?”

Delbert grinned. “You know, now that you mentioned it, I picked up the same flyer. I must have dropped it somewhere, though, ’cause when I got home it wasn’t with my purchases.”

“Did you plan to go?”

“Sure, if something else doesn’t come up.”

Joseph snapped his fingers. “Say, I have an idea. Since you’re a pretty fair cook, maybe you could make something and have it auctioned off.”

“No way! I’d have to not only make something ahead of time and bring it to the event, but I’d be required to stand in front of everyone and make the recipe from scratch.” Delbert shook his head vigorously. “I wouldn’t mind bringin’ something to auction off, but I could never prepare it in front of a large crowd.”

Joseph tapped his friend’s arm. “Okay, Dell, forget I mentioned that part, but if you’re not busy that day, you can join me, because I plan to go.”

“Jah, okay.” Delbert smiled. “As you said, it is for a good cause. Maybe we’ll find something we’d both like to bid on that day.”

Topeka

T
he next morning, Thelma had breakfast ready when Elma entered the kitchen. “Did you sleep well?” Thelma asked. “Is your koppweh gone?”

Elma walked over to the window and looked out. “Jah, my headache is gone. It upsets me when I get a migraine like that, because it puts me down, sometimes for hours.”

“I’m sorry you have to deal with those. I can’t imagine what it must be like. Even when I get a sinus headache, it’s rough.”

Elma sat down at the table. “I’m glad headaches like that are one thing we don’t have in common. I sure wouldn’t want you to go through such pain—not to mention getting sick to your stomach.”

“Thank the good Lord your headache is over. Shall we pray?”

Elma nodded, and they both bowed their heads.
Heavenly Father,
Thelma prayed,
please guide and direct our lives this week and keep our friends and family safe. Bless this food to the nourishment of our bodies. Amen.

When they had both finished praying, Thelma smiled and handed her sister a bowl of oatmeal. “I hope this isn’t too sticky. I think I’m getting the hang of cooking on top of the stove, but sometimes the kettle heats up too quickly and everything sticks to the bottom.”

Elma added a pat of butter and some brown sugar to her bowl and stirred it around. Then she poured a little milk over the top and took a bite. “It tastes fine to me.”

“Oh, good.” Thelma put butter in her bowl of cereal as well, only she added a hefty dash of cinnamon along with several scoops of brown sugar before finishing it off with milk.

Elma’s brows wrinkled. “That’s a lot of sugar you’ve added to your hot cereal.”

“You’re right; I probably shouldn’t have gotten so carried away.” Thelma grinned as she stirred the toppings into the oatmeal. “I wish we had some raisins to add. That would be healthy and tasty.”

“We’ll get some the next time we go for groceries,” Elma said. “As soon as we’re finished eating, though, I think I’ll go down to the basement and wash some clothes before it’s time to open the store. Since it’s raining lightly this morning, I’ll hang everything on the line in the basement.”

Feeling a sense of panic, Thelma’s grin faded, and her eyes widened. “There’s no reason for you to do that. You had a rough day yesterday and need to take it easy. Let me do the laundry.”

“After lying around most of yesterday, I’m anxious to do something.” Elma cleared her throat. “Besides, I’m fine now, and since we’ll be working in the store most of the day, I definitely won’t be taking it easy.”

“That may be true, but it’s all the more reason to let me wash our clothes,” Thelma insisted. If Elma went to the basement, she’d probably hear Misty or her kittens, and that was the last thing Thelma needed.

“Okay, if you insist.” Elma drank some of her coffee. “While you’re doing that, I’ll go over some of my lists to make sure I haven’t forgotten to write down anything important that needs to be done. Have you been adding things to your list?”

“I’ve been trying,” Thelma replied.
Should I say anything about the puddle I found near the hot water tank? No, my sister will want to go down there and check on it herself. That would be another opportunity for her to discover the mama cat and her kittens. I’ll wait.

Thelma smiled. “When we’re both done with our chores in here, we can head over to the store.”

“What about the outside chores?” Elma questioned. “Do you want me to feed the chickens and gather eggs while you take care of the barn cats and Rusty?”

Thelma touched her sister’s arm. “Already taken care of. I did those things while you were taking your shower.”

“Jah, and a cold shower it was.” Elma grimaced. “I had only been showering a few minutes before the water went from lukewarm to cold. I’m afraid it won’t be long and we’ll have to replace that old water tank in the basement.”

“Maybe it only needs some adjustments or a new element,” Thelma was quick to say. “We’ll ask Dad to take a look at it after the folks get here next week.”

Elma’s eyes brightened. “I can’t believe they’ll be here so soon. Won’t it be great to see them again?”

Thelma nodded. “I hope Mom doesn’t try to talk us out of staying here. She wasn’t too happy when she found out Grandpa and Grandma had left us their place.”

“That’s true, but she’s had some time to get used to the idea, so maybe she won’t even bring up the notion of us selling this place and moving back home.” Elma blotted her lips with her napkin. “I hope not, because even though we’ve had a few bumps in the road, I already feel like this is our home.”

“Me, too. It’s good that we’re both in agreement because we could never do all this work without each other’s help.” Thelma spooned a small bite of cereal into her mouth. “Yum. This tastes
appeditlich.
Too bad it takes so much effort to cook on that old stove.”

“You’re right. It is delicious.” Elma poured a little more milk over her oatmeal. “As the old saying goes, ‘Anything good takes effort.’”

When Thelma got to the basement, she turned on the gas lamps then checked on the cats and gave the mama some food. She also made sure to give Misty a litter box filled with shredded newspapers she’d found stacked along one wall in the basement. It seemed that her grandparents liked to save everything.

Thelma stood watching the cute little kittens for a few minutes. Their eyes wouldn’t open for at least ten days, but somehow they managed to wiggle their little bodies around. Moving over to the wringer washing machine, she started filling the tub with water and poured in the detergent. While the water went in, she put some sheets in the machine. The tub still had a lot of room, so she retrieved some dirty towels from the laundry basket and added them, as well. Thelma leaned over and looked under the washer, making sure the hose was inside the floor drain.
Sure wouldn’t want water running out the hose and having a big mess to mop up,
she thought.