Poison Spring by Johnny D. Boggs

Author:Johnny D. Boggs
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
Published: 2017-03-09T19:50:56+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

It had been a long time since that smell had greeted me in the kitchen. I never drank coffee, but I had to admit that the aroma, even Yankee coffee, was pleasing.

Papa had always bragged on Mama’s special way of making coffee. Usually she wrapped the ground beans in a handkerchief that she then submerged in the pot of water into which she had already poured honey and some cubes of sugar. On that April morning, however, since she didn’t know when she’d ever get coffee again—and what Sergeant Greene had given her hadn’t been much—she mixed the coffee with a spoonful of cornmeal she had toasted. There was no sugar. No honey, either. She also couldn’t float an egg shell in the pot—which kept the grounds at the bottom—because, thanks to those Yankees, we had no eggs.

Mama breathed in the scent, and said, “Ahhhhh,” just like Baby Hugh would when Miss Mary had brought over leftovers.

Mama could drink coffee every day, morning, noon, and night. In fact, back when we had coffee—in that epoch when most people could afford it and every store had some on the shelves—she did drink it throughout the day. Papa never drank it after breakfast.

After pouring her first brew since what must have seemed like forever from the pot into a cup, Mama sipped, smiled, and settled into the chair.

“How does it taste?” Edith asked.

“Delicious,” Mama answered. “And it didn’t cost sixty dollars a pound.” She drank some more before slowly setting the cup on the table. “Now what was all that about acorns?”

While Edith and I stared at each other, Baby Hugh told Mama everything. My face flushed, but Mama smiled at us warmly.

“That was very sweet of you,” she said. “I bet acorn coffee would have been fabulous. I’ve heard from other women in church how they’ve been making coffee. Burning sugar. Even chopping up sweet potatoes, cane seeds, persimmon seeds. I just didn’t see myself trying something like that.”

Besides, I knew we didn’t exactly have an abundance of sugar or sweet potatoes, sugar cane or persimmons, either.

“But,” Mama said, “when Jared’s coffee runs out, maybe we shall try acorn coffee. It sounds intriguing.”

“If,” Edith grinned, “you’re a squirrel.”

It had been a long time since we had heard Mama laugh. I mean really laugh. Of course, my conniving twin had stolen the joke I had made when she first suggested that stupid idea of acorn coffee. And those First Kansas colored soldiers had made similar jokes. I ground my teeth and clenched my fists.

“When do you reckon the Yankees will get to Camden?” Baby Hugh asked.

“Tomorrow,” Mama said after a moment’s thought. “Most likely.”

“Will there be a fight?” he asked.

That brat sure seemed bent on spoiling Mama’s good mood.

“I don’t know.” Mama brought the cup to her lips. “General Price’s army has gone. I don’t know.”

I decided to change the subject. “How’s Miss Mary?” As soon as those words left my mouth, I knew I hadn’t changed anything. Maybe I had made things worse.

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.