Gone . . . by Debbie S. Blankenship

Author:Debbie S. Blankenship [Blankenship, Debbie S.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781666798531
Publisher: Resource Publications
Published: 2022-03-11T15:50:11+00:00

Chapter 9

Welcome to Farm Life

At 4:00 am my phone alarm went off. I got dressed and went downstairs. Janet had a pot of coffee brewed and was making pancakes and eggs. Katie was in the kitchen helping her.

“Good morning!” said Janet and handed me a cup of coffee. “Sit down and help yourself to breakfast.” She had to be the cheeriest person I ever met, especially at 4:00 am!

“Thank you,” I muttered and sat down.

The others came downstairs and joined us. Jamie’s room was on the ground floor next to Bill and Janet’s. He sat down and said, “This is great, I won’t have to spend all day out in the barn!”

“You did a fine job taking care of everything while we were gone,” Bill chuckled.

We finished breakfast and headed outside. Katie stayed in with Janet to help with the inside work. There was a bit of a chill in the air this morning. I wished I’d grabbed my other sweatshirt.

Bill said, “Luke, can you go take care of the chickens? John, Danny, and I will start with the cows. Jamie, can you show Megan how to feed and clean the horses?” We all went to our tasks. First, we fed the cows, then four of them had to be milked, then stalls cleaned.

“I don’t believe there is anything nastier than a cow’s stall!” I said, trying not to gag.

Bill belly-laughed. “You ain’t seen nothin’ yet!”

Just then we heard screaming coming from the chicken coop. We all dropped what we were doing and ran out there. Luke was being chased around the yard by a big rooster! We all laughed so hard we almost fell down.

It took us most of the morning to finish everything. We dragged ourselves back in the house and cleaned up for lunch. Janet showed Katie how to make fresh bread and we had sandwiches with cheese and ham and some canned peaches from their peach trees.

Katie seemed to be enjoying learning from Janet. “I thought food came from restaurants, not people’s kitchens,” she joked. Her eyes were sparkling, and she looked well rested. I was so glad she came along.

After lunch we sat in the living room listening to the satellite radio. The news was still pretty bleak. The government had started food rations and there were mile long lines of people waiting. Violence was common in the lines because the food would run out before the line did. If you could find something to buy, chances were you couldn’t afford it as inflation was out of control. We were all very depressed after listening for a while.

Danny walked over to an old upright piano in the corner and started playing. My look of shock amused him. “I have talents you know nothing about!” he laughed. The song he was playing was vaguely familiar, but I couldn’t remember what it was until Janet started singing “Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me . . . ” Some joined in. Others, like me, just enjoyed listening.

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