The Train Stops Here by Gail Sattler

Author:Gail Sattler
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Barbour Publishing, Inc.
Published: 2013-02-12T05:00:00+00:00

Ten

“Good-bye, Papa! We’ll be back in time for dinner.”

“This will be a good time to catch up on my reading. Have fun shopping.”

Louise waved to her father, who was standing on his crutches in the doorway and watching Elliott back the car out of the garage. Her mother gave him a quick peck on the cheek as she moved around him. Louise and her mother hurried to the car and got in while Elliott closed the garage door, and they were on their way.

“I can’t say how much I appreciate this, Mrs. Demchuck.”

“Nonsense. I simply don’t have time to have to wash the same clothes so often.”

Louise smiled at Elliott’s grace in not saying more. All week long they had no choice but to have him wear the only set of clothes he’d arrived with, and when they became soiled, her mama had loaned him some of her father’s clothes, which fit him poorly. A shopping trip was exactly what he needed to purchase some shirts and trousers of his own, in addition to a few personal items.

They hadn’t discussed it, but she was perfectly aware that Elliott was not comfortable borrowing her father’s personal things, but he had no choice. Unfortunately, because he’d only worked for the railroad for a week he’d missed the pay period. Because of that, her parents offered to give him enough money to cover a few necessities. Elliott had been awkward about accepting their money. He’d made it clear that this was strictly a loan which he would repay promptly out of his first paycheck.

“When I went to Nick’s store, I saw a few shirts and other items that I could have purchased instead of going all the way into Beauséjour.”

“Hush, Elliott. Nick’s prices for clothing are outrageous. Why, the same shirt that he charges a dollar and a quarter for, we can get in Beauséjour for a dollar. We could probably get it for ninety-five cents in Winnipeg, but that would involve making arrangements to stay overnight, as it’s simply too far to do in a day. Besides, since you haven’t worked for the railroad long enough, you’re not entitled to free rail passes, as we are. We shop at Nick’s store on the odd weeks we don’t go to Winnipeg. His food items are reasonable, but he charges far too much for the clothing and sundries.”

“Yes, I had noticed that much of his merchandise was fairly high priced.”

Elliott slowed the car, and Louise almost asked what he was doing when a doe stepped out onto the road. However, the noise from the car frightened it, and it disappeared back into the trees quickly.

Elliott turned his head to stare into the bush where the deer had disappeared as he drove past, then once again faced forward. “That was beautiful. I don’t see a lot of wild animals in Katona Falls. I suppose that out here you must see a lot of wild animals.”

“Yes. Sometimes I think I see more animals than people in Pineridge because very few people ever come off the trains.

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.