Shaman by Kelly Z. Conrad

Author:Kelly Z. Conrad [Conrad, Kelly Z.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781462073283
Publisher: iUniverse
Published: 2012-01-12T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter

15

For the farming families in the area, the months of summer and early fall were always demanding, full of activity and endless hard work. Children as young as six could often be seen working in the fields alongside their older siblings, tethered behind teams of horses. Applying all their weight to a plow that churned the earth, turning clumps of moist soil upside down in rows that stretched from one side of a field to the other, entire families worked from sunrise to sunset. Following the growing season, all family members were required to bring in the abundant harvest.

The long workdays began in the cool pre-dawn, and didn’t end until the sun’s magenta-gold glow slipped behind the foothills, taking with it the last of workable light. Only Sunday offered a few slower, lazier hours in which to attend church services and socialize with family and friends in respite from the previous week. There were few townspeople whose occupations did not in some way sustain the farmers. The blacksmiths and farriers, the millers who ground the harvested grain, and the wheelwrights who repaired wagon wheels and other equipment, all had a hand in keeping the local industry vital.

Matt and Dr. Bowman also kept busy treating routine injuries and illnesses of the entire population. Warm summer months often brought the scourge of cholera to some unfortunate families, and each year the doctors welcomed the cooler temperatures of fall, thankful to have passed another warm season without a widespread outbreak of the affliction that could take a life within hours of onset.

Degan’s corn crop grew rapidly through the summer, reaching shoulder-height by August, with the beans and squash thriving alongside. The companion planting method of her people had worked well, with the beans dutifully climbing the corn stalks, and the broad squash leaves covering the ground to seal in moisture from which all three plants benefited.

Eventually becoming more accepting of Matt’s assistance in her garden, Degan most enjoyed the days when his practice did not keep him away for long hours. He seemed to take pleasure in helping her work the ground, weed, and water the crops if rain had been scarce for a few days.

“You like working the crops with me,” Degan said one afternoon in late August. She was crouched between two rows of tall corn, pulling weeds from between the stalks. Matt was doing the same a few feet away. “This is because you cannot shoot for meat?”

He smiled at her blunt assessment. “I guess so. But mostly I just enjoy being with you. Even though it’s too damn hot to be working out in the sun like this.”

“In my home, if it is hot like today, many times the women take off their clothes and work naked.”

Matt stopped and looked up. “Well, don’t feel obliged to keep your clothes on for my sake.”

She met his playful stare. “You like working the crops more if I am naked?”

“I’d like just about anything more if you’re naked.”

Degan burst out laughing. His mischievous spontaneity often delighted her.

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