Beyond Monongah by Judith Hoover

Author:Judith Hoover [Hoover, Judith]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781480836204
Publisher: Archway Publishing
Published: 2016-09-15T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 17

With Christmas upon them, the four children in the house began writing their letters to Santa.

“Now, don’t you kids get carried away. Here, Russell, help Orie get his ready,” urged Belle.

Bessie was determined that every person in the household should have one gift, whether it was handmade or store-bought. The two oldest members of the family would be happy with a plug of tobacco each, she thought. Belle had been busy knitting mittens for Orie and Ivy and caps for Russell and Wilbert, but they still needed something special each. Orie should have a set of jacks, and Ivy wanted a jump rope. The two older boys had both asked for a penknife, and there were some small ones at the company store. Bessie had long ago added some tatting around the edges of handkerchiefs for Belle and Bonita and had gotten a small harmonica for Clemente, who loved music, especially the old Italian songs he’d learned as a child. Now that left only Hershel. How could she possibly know what he would like? He never said. The expression of a wish for any sort of object was as foreign to him as it would have been to the cat that sat dozing on the rag rug by the hearth. They both seemed to hold contentment within themselves.

She’d been too busy with the wedding to think about Christmas till it was too late to order anything from the Sears Roebuck catalog. Still, she could page through it looking for things she might have seen at the company store. Some folks called it the “wish book,” but she always thought everything was too expensive for her to even wish for. The clothing, especially, was all beautiful, the waists, the gowns, the street skirts, and the men’s suits were very smart-looking but far out of reach. One day, she would buy Hershel something nice from the catalog if she could find a way to earn actual cash money. Back in the middle of the book, she came upon ladies’ purses, and there was a small selection of men’s billfolds. The combination coin purse and billfold was forty-six cents in the catalog, so it would probably be two dollars at the store, but if they had one, that would be just the thing. Maybe her remaining earnings would be enough.

Deciding to beard the lion in his den, Bessie marched off to the store that afternoon but was relieved to find that Mr. Humphrey was not there. Thinking at first that he might be in the office, she whispered to Mrs. Serilla, “Can you tell me how much credit I still have from my work?”

“Yes, Bessie, but why are you whispering?”

Cutting her eyes toward the office door, she said, “I’d as soon not see him.”

“You’re not to worry, dear; he’s gone.”

“Gone?”

“Yes, every young woman who has worked here has quit on the spot, so the company finally decided to give him what they called a ‘transfer.’ He now must confine himself to working with men in the mine office at Dola.

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