Just Plain Nora by Jennifer J. Hutchins

Author:Jennifer J. Hutchins [Hutchins, Jennifer J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781449733162
Publisher: WestBow Press
Published: 2012-01-09T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seven

Papa’s Store

By the time school was dismissed for the day, Nora had completed all of her schoolwork and was delighted to be several lessons ahead in her reader and history book. Nora walked with Eliza and Mary to the front steps of Papa’s store where they parted ways. Her friends were still chattering like magpies as Nora waved goodbye and watched them stroll slowly down the dirt path away from town. Ordinarily, she would have walked alongside her friends until they reached Peterson’s bridge, but today she had responsibilities to take care of at the store. Nora liked the thought of having such important obligations.

She felt in her apron pocket for the widow’s shopping list and the coins she had tied in a handkerchief as she turned and climbed the steps to the front door. She often visited Papa after school, but today she would be entering the store as a paying customer, not just the storekeeper’s daughter.

The bell on the front door of the mercantile tinkled as Nora entered the store. Papa was busy with customers at the counter straight ahead, but he looked up and smiled as Nora walked in. Usually, she went straight to Papa and pulled up a stool behind the counter to watch him work. He often allowed Nora to help him wrap packages or use the short ladder to retrieve canned goods from the shelves directly above the counter. Papa always paid her for her work too- just not with money. Nora and both of her brothers worked strictly for candy.

After admiring the row of penny candy displayed in glass jars, the twins had decided to try each variety of candy at least once in order to determine their favorites, but that was not Nora’s plan. She always requested a peppermint stick. The twins would work all morning for Papa and be paid full in penny candies, but by supper, they would have nothing to show for it but stomachaches. Nora would savor her candy for days, taking it out of her bureau for just a single lick now and then. The last time she worked for Papa, she had enjoyed her peppermint stick for twelve days! Today, she wouldn’t be working for candy though; she was here to shop on behalf of Widow Sprague.

Nora took in all the sights of the store. At first glance, the crowded little store could be quite overwhelming. A potbellied stove surrounded by mismatched wooden chairs dominated the front corner of the room. Nora knew that was where the men folks sat to warm their hands, visit, argue, play games, and watch the happenings of town from the window. Today, two older men sat near the stove with a rickety little table between them, engaged in an animated game of checkers.

Nora’s eyes left the men and scanned the store, taking in the dozens of items packed onto shelves or suspended from hooks in the ceiling. She took little notice of the newly built shelf containing bright red

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