The Courtship of the Vicar's Daughter by Lawana Blackwell

Author:Lawana Blackwell [Blackwell, Lawana]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9781585584079
Publisher: Baker Books
Published: 1998-01-01T08:00:00+00:00

Chapter 24

“But the horses will have the stables,” Thomas said Saturday morning while holding the reins stiffly. Seth was teaching him how to drive the wagon as they hauled lumber and tools out to the back pasture to construct three-sided field shelters. “Why do they need shelters too?”

“They’ll need places to get in from sudden rain or wind storms,” Seth replied. “Sometimes there isn’t time to herd them all to the stables. And if we’re in town or at chapel, we won’t have to worry.”

“What if it snows?”

“A little snow won’t hurt them.” He smiled and gave a playful tug to the bill of Thomas’s oversized cap, which the boy had grown accustomed to and declined his offer of a replacement. “But now a hailstorm, well, that’s another story.”

“Have you ever been in a hailstorm, sir?”

“Once or twice.”

The boy was full of questions now that he had gotten over some of his initial shyness, but Seth wasn’t annoyed. It was, in fact, rewarding to him that Thomas looked to him to explain so many things.

It was also good to see some color in his cheeks. He even seemed heartier, though Seth couldn’t imagine how that could have come to pass on a diet of cheese sandwiches, porridge, and tinned beef. Of course having fresh milk helped. I need to ask Mr. Trumble where I can buy chickens, he reminded himself as he directed Thomas to a high spot in the pasture. They still needed eggs. He had come to accept that he had been cheated by the Sanders boys regarding the guineas, but now the boy had become too fond of them for him to consider giving them back. Even now, they hurried behind the wagon, clucking and clattering their pot-rack! calls.

It would be a welcome change to have a meal at the Bow and Fiddle once in a while, but he had only to remember Mr. and Mrs. Pool’s inquisitiveness to put that notion to rest. Sometimes when passing cottages on the way to town, he would get a whiff of roast beef cooking or some savory stew that made his mouth water. If his business turned out to be profitable, he could hire a cook and perhaps a housekeeper, but he couldn’t risk Thomas’s future now on any unnecessary expenditures.

They would be in that spot in the pasture for the rest of the morning, so Seth unhitched Bonny and Soot from the wagon and allowed them to wander. Thomas scrambled back into the wagon bed without being asked and began hefting one oak plank at a time and handing them over. Seth could have unloaded them in a third of the time by himself, but he wouldn’t have caused the boy’s expression of pride to be hindered for anything in the world.

God has been better to me than I ever deserved, he reminded himself while taking another board from the boy. So his meals were less than desirable. Food wasn’t everything. He had the companionship of a little fellow who trusted him completely for his every need.

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