Wind of Promise by Dorothy Garlock

Author:Dorothy Garlock [Garlock, Dorothy]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 1987-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

It was sheer luxury to sink down into the tub of warm water. Vanessa sighed deeply, leaned back and closed her eyes. This was what she had missed the most during the long trip from Missouri; the moist heat, scented soap, the joy of being clean. After she scrubbed every inch of her body she worked a thick lather into her hair, rinsed it once in the bath water and again in the bucket of water Henry had left beside the tub.

When she had dried herself and dressed she wrapped a towel around her head and went back to the kitchen.

“Feel better, dear?” Ellie hung the dish cloth on a rack beside the stove.

“Oh, yes. That’s a wonderful tub. Whoever lived here before must have liked a bath as much as I do. There’s even a hole in the bottom of the tub with a stopper in it. It looks like the water runs out through the pipe in the wall. You won’t even have to empty it, Henry.”

“Sit here and dry your hair, Vanessa.” Ellie pulled a chair up close to the stove and lowered the oven door. “I was telling Mary Ben about those two dresses of mine that are so short I can’t wear them any longer. The water I washed them in must have been too hot, they shrank so. I’ll go out to the wagon and get them and my sewing box. I’m sure they’ll be too big around.”

After Ellie left Vanessa sat for a moment rubbing her hair with the towel. Suddenly she realized it was quiet and looked over her shoulder. Mary Ben and Henry stood close together. Her arms were about his neck and he was kissing her. It hadn’t taken Henry long to learn about women, Vanessa thought dryly. Kain must have been a good teacher. She opened her mouth to make a teasing remark, then closed it, not wanting to intrude on their time alone. She turned back to smooth the ends of her hair with a wide-toothed comb so she could twist it and pin it to the top of her head before her aunt returned. Only Kain knew that Primer Tass had cut the swath of hair from the top of her head. Thank God she no longer had to worry about him.

“Stop, Henry. Yore mama’ll come in—”

“I like kissing you.”

“I like it, too, but not now.”

The whispered words reached Vanessa’s ears as she was pinning up her hair, and she turned to see Mary Ben pushing herself away from Henry. He had a grin on his face and hers was beet red. Mary Ben walked over to stand beside the stove and Henry went to empty the tub.

Mary Ben stood on first one foot and then the other, her hands clenched together in front of her. Vanessa looked up to see her staring at her with her bottom lip caught firmly between her teeth. She was worried, Vanessa thought, that she didn’t like what was happening between her and Henry.

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