Crazy Woman Creek by Virginia Welch

Author:Virginia Welch
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: (¯`'•.¸//(*_*)\\¸.•'´¯)
ISBN: 0988873923
Published: 2013-03-31T21:00:00+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

“Having you at the ranch these last few weeks has made me think about a lot of things, Etta. And I’ve realized something important.”

The hot spell had broken, and the mild temperatures of early summer had returned, making the wide open prairie a welcoming place again. Even the small prairie animals seemed unusually frisky in the cooler temperatures. Blacktail prairie dogs with their creamy white throats and dark almond eyes skittered excitedly, poking their noses from their holes, sniffing and twitching, entire families of them staring at Lenora and Etta as they rolled by, as if the buckboard were part of a funeral train. In the distance a small herd of pronghorn antelope stopped grazing long enough to stare as well, their black faces all as one, observing the women in the buckboard dispassionately. After a minute the bored creatures returned to their grassy meal, ignoring the wagon altogether.

And this morning, after so many dreary hours of lying in a makeshift bed, riding in the buckboard with Etta Nolan was positively glorious for Lenora. She exulted in the simple acts of taking a hot soak in a deliciously deep tub of water instead of making do with a sponge bath, wearing a pretty fitted dress instead of a shapeless nightgown, holding onto the reins, and sitting upright on the buckboard seat like a human passenger instead of a farm animal dozing in the wagon box. After a trying season of inactivity, she appreciated the smallest routines of living as never before. She couldn’t stop smiling this morning. Soon, she thought to herself, she must make a new frock of the daffodil silk, something unusually special, with lots of hidden tucks that she could let out as she grew bigger in front.

“And what is that, dear?” said Etta, gripping the buckboard bench to keep from sliding off. But before Lenora answered, Etta said, “I know you’re excited about getting out of the house, but can you slow your horses down just a little? Buffalo will still be there if we take it at a trot instead of a stampede.”

Lenora laughed. “Yes, of course. I’m sorry.” Deftly she pulled on the reins to slow Beauty and Beast. “I’m just so happy to be going to town.” She let go of the reins with one hand and patted her still-flat abdomen. “And I’m so happy about the baby.”

“The baby will be a comfort to you,” said Etta, raising her voice a little over the noise of the wagon wheels.

Mrs. Nolan didn’t say it, but Lenora’s mind easily finished the thought. In the loss of your husband. But the unspoken words dampened Lenora’s spirit only a little. The sudden pang of grief she felt when she realized that James might not ever hold their long-awaited child gripped her heart so fiercely she felt she couldn’t breathe. But already she was learning to push the pain to the back of her mind as quickly as possible. She felt too good, the day was too

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