Kendrick by Zina Abbott

Author:Zina Abbott [Abbott, Zina]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-02-01T06:00:00+00:00

Chapter 14

Sunday, May 27, 1854

K endrick closed his door after his last Sunday customer walked out. Although he appreciated a day of rest as much as the next man, out of consideration for the miners who often lived from day-to-day based on what they could pull out of the ground, for a short time each Sunday, he opened up for them to be able to buy the meat and eggs they needed for the day.

Kendrick walked to the counter where he picked up the egg basket. Empty. Same with the crockery dish on the far end where he kept his hard-cooked eggs. As it had been the last couple of days, business this morning had been brisk, with the baby being a bigger attraction than the eggs, ham, and sausages he offered for sale.

I sure hope Jeb gets that rail built soon. I get tired of hollering at these idiots not to touch the crib or the baby.

A loud squeal from the direction of the crib drew his attention. He looked over to see a grinning Madeline, her hands clasping the balusters on the crib rail, half-seated, half pulling herself up as if trying to stand.

Kendrick lifted his eyes to the ceiling. He liked her just fine being able to sit by herself but not yet able to crawl or walk. He had already been warned. Once she developed those skills, he would be running after her and pulling her out of trouble every time he turned around.

Kendrick walked over to lift Madeline out of her crib. “Time to go in back, sweet thing, and find you some milk. Waggles made it special for you.” Once he had her settled firmly on his forearm, Kendrick pushed the door to his kitchen open before he grabbed the end of the crib and pulled it behind him into the room.

After he had resettled the crib where it belonged in his bedroom, he changed Madeline’s diaper and fed her a cup of milk. He next picked her up, snatched the quilt from inside her crib, and headed for the back door. “We’re going to find you a shady spot where you can watch me weed my garden. Yes, I know it’s usually women’s work. However, if a man around here wants an onion or carrot for his stew now and then, he either needs to pay top dollar at the green grocer or grow his own. And you see those two apple trees over there? I planted them when I first bought this land. Once they start bearing fruit, if I kept Sunshine here, she’d eat the apples when they’re green before I could even get them ripe enough for me.”

Another good reason I keep my yard secured. If it became known I grow some of my own food, I’d have every hungry vagrant wandering through here helping themselves to my garden—for something to go along with whatever they took from the smokehouse.

Madeline’s eyes followed his waving arms. She chortled as if she understood every word he spoke.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.