The Velvet Room by Zilpha Keatley Snyder

Author:Zilpha Keatley Snyder [Snyder, Zilpha Keatley]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: C429, Extratorrents, Kat
ISBN: 978-1-4532-7199-5
Publisher: Open Road
Published: 2012-10-23T01:58:00+00:00

Apricots

THE NEXT MONDAY MORNING everyone in the Williams family except Shirley became wage earners. Of course, Cary wasn’t legally old enough, but he would stand at Mama’s table and “help.”

Robin awoke at five-thirty that morning, when Rudy got up to build the fire in the wood stove. She didn’t go back to sleep because she knew she’d have to get up soon if she was going to get Betty staked out and still be on time for work. She’d have to eat breakfast early with Mama and Dad and Rudy.

She could tell already that it was going to be a hot day, but right now the air was still fresh and cool, and the blankets of the cot were pleasant. Robin put her feet against Theda’s warm back and snuggled down for a last five minutes. She could hear Mama and Dad getting up in the other room.

In a few minutes Dad came out, carrying his shaving things. He grinned at Robin and said, “Morning, Big Enough.” That meant Dad was feeling pretty good.

While Mama and Dad were over at the wash-house, Robin got up and put water in the coffee pot and put it on the stove. Then she took her clothes into the bedroom to dress. It was different having breakfast with the first shift. Usually Robin ate later with the little kids, but it was a lot more peaceful this way. Rudy and Dad never talked much, and even Mama was pretty quiet this early in the morning.

Robin and Rudy and Dad left the house together. Dad and Rudy had to be at work at six-thirty. Dad was driving a mule sled. The sleds were used to bring boxes of apricots down from the hillside orchards on roads that were too steep for the tractors. Rudy was on a picking crew. Robin, of course, was on her way to Bridget’s.

When Robin arrived at the cottage, Bridget was getting ready to milk Betty. She put a pan of oats on the bench by the back door and Betty jumped up onto the bench. With the little goat up so high, Bridget was able to sit comfortably on a stool to do the milking.

“So, you’re starting work today,” Bridget said.

Robin nodded.

“How many hours a day will you be working?”

“Well, we may get off a little early for a day or two, till more fruit gets ripe, but after that it will be from seven to five.”

Bridget frowned. “That’s a long time for a little thing like you to stand at a table.”

“Oh, kids a lot littler than I am do it. And sometimes the trucks are late, and we get some time off to play.”

Bridget shook her head. “What do you find to think about all that time, while you’re working? Do you talk with the other children?”

“Well, usually the shed boss doesn’t like you to talk much. It slows you down. The really bad part is that thinking slows you down, too. At least it does me. Pitting wouldn’t be bad if you could think about other things.

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.