A Child's Christmas Wish by Erica Vetsch

Author:Erica Vetsch
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2017-11-23T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

Kate handed Liesl the red pencil, and the little girl marked a red X through November 30 on the calendar hanging on the kitchen wall. It was hard to believe that almost a month had gone by since their house had burned, since they’d moved in with the Rabbs.

“It’s almost time, isn’t it?” Liesl hopped off the chair, her braids flopping. “To tear off ’Vember so it can be December?”

“Almost.” Kate leaned back so she could take a deep breath. The baby was taking up so much room now, it felt as if she couldn’t get her lungs quite full of air most of the time.

“And tomorrow Daddy and Grossvater will be back?”

“Tomorrow or the next day.” Kate looked out the window at the fat, falling flakes. It had been snowing since before sunup, and already several inches blanketed the landscape. Oscar had been gone for six days, delivering the furniture orders he’d completed to Saint Paul.

And Martin had gone with him, driving another wagon full of several hundred pounds of cheese. Most of her summer’s efforts. With so much inventory still to sell, the men had thought it best for Martin to drive his own wagon, accompanying Oscar all the way to the big city. He’d packed the cheeses in straw and burlap to keep them from freezing or being jostled too much.

Oscar had refused to allow Kate to help him carry the cheeses up the stairs to load the wagon, so she’d remained in the cellar directing him as to what should go and what wasn’t ready yet.

“You might as well take everything you can, to make the trip worthwhile. No sense leaving any of it behind,” he’d said.

His words had pressed deep on her heart. In the end, the cellar had been almost empty.

She’d stood in the center of all the shelves, close to tears. This would be the last time. Next summer, she would be in Cincinnati and, most likely, Mr. Siddons would own the farm. Would he raze the cheese house the same way he planned to tear down the barn? If she came back in five years, would she even recognize the place they had worked so hard to build?

She wished she could talk to someone about it, but there wasn’t anyone. Not wanting to burden Inge and Martin with her disquieted thoughts, she had kept them to herself. And Oscar...it felt as if he had taken a step away from the Amakers ever since Victor Amaker’s letter had arrived. He worked hard outside, preparing things for winter. Every day he hauled at least one load of hay from the Amaker barn, stacking it in his barnyard to feed the small herd of Brown Swiss he’d brought over to his farm to make choring easier. Every night, he retreated to his wood shop to work on furniture pieces. And he and Martin had been gone for a week now.

Kate felt as if she hardly saw him anymore.

“Are we going to sew, Miss Kate?” Liesl tugged on her sleeve.

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