How Mrs. Claus Saved Christmas by Jeff Guinn

Author:Jeff Guinn
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Penguin Group US
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

I would lug wooden buckets to the vats, fill them with water, then bring the heavy, swinging buckets into the washing shed, where I would empty their contents into the tubs.

CHAPTER Twelve

Three days later, Elizabeth and Sara took me into Canterbury, where Elizabeth worked at the house of the mayor. “Avery and Margaret Sabine do a great deal of entertaining, both for business and political reasons,” Elizabeth explained. “Mr. Sabine has made his fortune as a trader in cloth goods, and also in farm tools like plows and lathes, buying them from factories in big cities and selling them to local people. He and Mrs. Sabine have some hopes of him getting an important place in national government, at least if the Roundheads prevail in this current struggle. So, quite often, they have prominent dignitaries in to dine. Mostly my job is to help keep their home clean, but sometimes at these dinners I also help serve food. It’s not a bad job, and we need the money I earn. Sara keeps outgrowing her dresses.”

Walking along between her mother and me, Sara made a face, but didn’t say anything.

“Oh, my sweetheart, I’m just glad you’re a healthy girl,” her mother said gently. “And a smart one, too. She can already read, Cousin Layla, and write almost any word in the English language.”

“How wonderful, Sara,” I exclaimed. “Do you go to school in town?”

Again, Sara grimaced, and let her mother answer for her.

“Canterbury has no school for girls, I’m afraid,” Elizabeth said. “There’s some basic grammar instruction for the boys when it’s not harvest time. But the Sabines have a daughter named Sophia who is the same age as Sara, and the girls are good friends. Sophia has begun private instruction in reading and spelling and sums, and Sara has been allowed to share these classes with her. It’s a rare opportunity, and one we appreciate very much.”

“Sophia says she will marry a great lord some day, and when she does I will become her lady-in-waiting,” Sara said. I waited, hoping she would say more, but she didn’t.

“Do you want to be a lady-in-waiting, Sara?” I finally asked.

After a few moments of silence, Sara said, “I want to see something,” and skipped on ahead. Her mother shook her head and smiled fondly.

“Sara is a quiet little girl with big dreams,” Elizabeth confided. “She has heard of wonderful cities around the world, and longs to visit them.”

“Do you want her to do this?” I asked.

“I want my daughter to be happy, and it’s a hard world we live in,” she replied. “If Sophia does marry well and travel with her husband, and if she does make Sara her lady-in-waiting, well, perhaps some of Sara’s dreams will come true. But you and I are old enough to know about the danger of dreams, aren’t we? If a poor girl wishes for too much, she’s likely to be bitterly disappointed. I hope Sara will be realistic as she grows up.”

“I believe in dreams,” I said.

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