The Lacemaker's Secret by Kathleen Ernst

Author:Kathleen Ernst
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: CVR12112017;mystery;mystery fiction;mystery novel;historical mystery;historical mystery novel;german;wisconsin;chloe ellefson;chloe ellefson novel;chloe ellefson series
Publisher: Llewellyn Worldwide, LTD.
Published: 2018-08-16T16:02:56+00:00

Eighteen

In the staff library at Heritage Hill, Chloe gathered the articles she’d just read, slipped them back into the folder, and returned it to the file cabinet. She hated imagining the heartache for families who’d made the wrenching decision to start new lives in a free country—only to confront a vicious war.

And as always, Chloe thought as she left the library, the women left behind had to hold everything together.

At the Belgian farmstead, Roy was waiting beside the barn. “Hey, Roy.”

Skipping the pleasantries, he put one gloved palm on the log wall. “What can you tell me about this barn?”

Really? Chloe thought. Again? But she played the game. Stepping back, she squinted at the wall. “Cedar logs, right?”

His eyes widened in grudging surprise. “Yeah.”

“That spiral grain is indicative.” She tried to sound off-hand. Sometimes her forestry degree came in handy. “And I imagine farmers appreciated the wood’s ability to absorb moisture, which kept barns dryer.”

The corners of Roy’s mouth twitched.

“It insulates well too,” Chloe mused. “Cedar barns were warmer and drier than most.”

Roy barked out a laugh. “All right, missy. You’ll do.”

Chloe suspected that “You’ll do” was high praise from Roy Galuska, and felt inordinately pleased. She added, “And … I’d say the builder was in somewhat of a hurry. The structure looks sound, but the logs went up as they were—knotholes and all. Some of the wood is charred, which suggests that the builder took whatever wood was available.”

Roy nodded. “Sometimes when forest fires burned through, certain stands of timber were left upright, scorched but still useable. Those burn marks could have come from the Great Fire. You know about that? Same day as the Peshtigo Fire across the bay, and the Chicago Fire.”

Chloe stared at the blackened streaks visible in many of the logs. As most any Wisconsinite knew, the 1871 firestorm at Peshtigo was the most horrific in recorded history. The Chicago disaster attracted the greatest national attention. But Roy’s comment was a good reminder that a tornado of fire had also raged on the southern Door County peninsula.

She was glad when Roy moved on, leading her inside the closest door. “This type of log barn was quite common on Belgian farms. Long and low. Double pen with a central drive-through.”

Two areas with animal stalls, Chloe translated silently, separated by a big open space where farmers unloaded their hay wagons. “I see some items have already been collected … ?” She gestured toward a heavy shovel leaning against one wall, a hand-cranked corn sheller, leather tack hanging from nails.

“The family gave us a few things. I’ll give you a list.” Roy continued through to the barn’s center drive-through, open to the roof. Ladders provided access to the upper level on each side, used for hay or grain storage. “See that hay hauler? It came from the family. Before they got that, all the hay had to be pitched up from the wagon. The hauler made things a lot easier.”

Chloe dutifully admired the two-pronged apparatus dangling from a pulley system that allowed farmers to hoist their crop to the haymows.

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.