A Mighty Fortress by Faith Blum

Author:Faith Blum
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Christian, Western, Historical, Mighty Fortress, Young Adult, Hymns of the West
Publisher: Faith Blum
Published: 2013-11-19T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

1876

Double B Ranch, Cartersville, Montana Territory

The next few months flew by. Ruth and Joshua worked beside their parents getting things ready to put fences in, and getting the house in order. Christmas came and went with a small celebration and reminiscences about past Christmases. The New Year rang in without acknowledgment from the Brookings family.

As the weather began to warm up, Daniel Brookings went into town to buy the milled wood for the buildings. The man asked him what he planned on building.

“We’ve got a barn or two and a bunkhouse to build,” Daniel said.

“You want some help with it?”

“You know somebody who needs some work?” Daniel asked, curiosity blooming in his face.

“Nope,” the man said. “But, I know the folks ’round here love a barn raisin’. It’s ’bout the only time the whole community gets together to work on a project and have a bit of a dance.”

Daniel Brookings grinned. “Sounds good to me. Can you spread the word?”

“Yep. Got a specific day you’d like to do it?”

“Do you think this Friday would work?”

The man worked the chewing tobacco in his mouth for a minute. “I don’t see why not. I’ll tell folks to be out there. Just so’s ya know, the women’ll be bringin’ food. Your wife don’t have to feed all of us.”

Daniel waved a hand to him. “Thank you for your help.”

“No problem. That’s what neighbors are for, ain’t it?”

Daniel laughed with him, climbed into the loaded wagon, and headed back to the ranch.

Early Friday morning, Ruth and her mother were hard at work in the kitchen. Despite Daniel’s reassurance that there would be plenty of food, Harriet was still determined to make doubly sure there was enough.

Two hours after sunrise, wagon loads of men, women, and children began to arrive. Harriet got the women and food organized, and chatted with the women. Ruth scurried around being helpful and trying to stay in the background.

Daniel and Joshua got the men organized into eight work crews. Four crews would work on the barn and the other four would work on the bunkhouse. Daniel put Joshua in charge of the crews working on the bunkhouse and Daniel took charge of the barn.

By noon, the buildings were well on their way to being finished. The crews took a welcome break to eat the vittles brought in by the women. Joshua and Daniel were engaged in many different conversations with the men helping them. Harriet and Ruth kept busy making sure that no empty dishes stayed on the makeshift tables.

Four hours after lunch, the last board was nailed into the bunkhouse and the barn was only a half hour away from completion. After a quick dinner, one of the men pulled out a fiddle, another man grabbed his washboard, and a boy pulled out a harmonica. The fiddler took charge and started playing a lively song and calling out the steps for a square dance. Young people and old alike hurried into the new barn and formed their squares.

Ruth hung back on the edges of the crowd and watched the dancing.

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