moment, except for the few quilts and linens Mamma, Aunt Lizzie, and several other relatives had given as gifts over the years.
"Wouldja like me to talk to your father?" asked Mamma.
Leah felt she wanted to do it herself. "Denki . . . but no.
103
o a> e n a n i
Best for me to see how Dat takes to the notion. All right?"
Mamma shrugged her shoulders, going back to her sweeping. Leah felt some of the burden lift. Jah, in a few more days she'd get up the nerve to talk things over with Dat.
*
105/ J
|l_/eah's ankle had improved so much by now she was able to
jjwnsh down the walls and floor of the milk house. She had to
|be mindful about where to place each step, hesitant to ask for
Ihelp from the twins anymore, though her family was more
fthan willing to rush to her beck and call. Stopping only to
(batch her breath, she gingerly climbed up the ladder to go sit
piigh in the haymow. There she coaxed a golden kitten out of
[hiding and was stroking its soft fur, rubbing her hand gently
[down its back, when Dat opened the upstairs door and stood
[there with a serious look on his sweaty face. "Hullo, Leah,"
ihc said.
| "Mind if we talk, Dat?"
I He came and crouched in the hay, eyeing the kitten in
I her lap. Then slowly he removed his straw hat and wiped his
i forehead with the back of his arm. "Glad to have you back,
[Leah. Missed ya."
| "Me too. I was just thinking . . ."
I "I was hopin', now that your ankle's all healed up, that I
I could still count on you."
106
She waited patiently for him to go on, wondering now if Mamma had said something, even though Leah had made it clear she wanted to be the one to break the news to her dear father.
His eyes were flat, his ruddy face deadpan. "Truth is, Leah, as much as you want to help your mamma and sisters, that's how much I need your help out here in the barn ... in the yard, and with the harvest."
Am I stuck doing men's work forever? she wondered, though she didn't dare speak up.
"If I thought you were going to marry in, say, a year or two, well then, I might think otherwise," Dat explained.
She was ever so glad he hadn't put Gid's name in the middle of things. "I don't even have my hope chest filled yet." The kitten's purr turned to a soft rumble in her lap. "What sort of wife would 1 be with no table linens or bed quilts? How could I keep a husband happy with no cookin' skills, not knowing how to make chowchow, put up green beans, or make grape jelly?"
"This you've been thinkin' through, jah?" A hint of a chuckle wrapped round Dat's words.
"Just since I hurt my ankle. Before then I was downright ignorant to what I was missing in the house." She filled her lungs for courage, smelling the sweet hay and the hot lather of the animals in the stalls below. "Now that I know how to stitch and mend, make Chilly Day stew, and bake date-andnut bread all the things Mamma enjoys well, I'd like to have a chance to practice ... be as skilled at keepin' house as every other girl in Gobbler's Knob."
Dat's jaw twitched a bit, but he looked straight at her, his honest eyes filled with understanding. "Are ya tellin' me that
107 C A e C_^ o 0 e n a n t
you're ready to be a daughter, too, 'stead of just a son?" A
; I winkle appeared in his eye. "Aw, Dat . . . I "
: "What do ya say we make ourselves a deal?" He was more
i serious again.
i She was all ears. After all these years, what would he tell her?
"What if you do the milkin' twice each day, gather the eggs, and if Dawdi Brenneman comes to live with us and he needs help feeding and waterin' the barn animals well, you
. could do that, too?"
Ach, she could think of a gut many things he'd failed to mention. Things like mowing and fertilizing the front, side, and back yards, shoveling manure out of the barn, washing the milking equipment, and much more. Did he mean to tell her that Dawdi might be up to doing all of that? Sure, what Hat had suggested was a place to start, so she spouted off what she thought he was
"Wouldja like me to talk to your father?" asked Mamma.
Leah felt she wanted to do it herself. "Denki . . . but no.
103
o a> e n a n i
Best for me to see how Dat takes to the notion. All right?"
Mamma shrugged her shoulders, going back to her sweeping. Leah felt some of the burden lift. Jah, in a few more days she'd get up the nerve to talk things over with Dat.
*
105/ J
|l_/eah's ankle had improved so much by now she was able to
jjwnsh down the walls and floor of the milk house. She had to
|be mindful about where to place each step, hesitant to ask for
Ihelp from the twins anymore, though her family was more
fthan willing to rush to her beck and call. Stopping only to
(batch her breath, she gingerly climbed up the ladder to go sit
piigh in the haymow. There she coaxed a golden kitten out of
[hiding and was stroking its soft fur, rubbing her hand gently
[down its back, when Dat opened the upstairs door and stood
[there with a serious look on his sweaty face. "Hullo, Leah,"
ihc said.
| "Mind if we talk, Dat?"
I He came and crouched in the hay, eyeing the kitten in
I her lap. Then slowly he removed his straw hat and wiped his
i forehead with the back of his arm. "Glad to have you back,
[Leah. Missed ya."
| "Me too. I was just thinking . . ."
I "I was hopin', now that your ankle's all healed up, that I
I could still count on you."
106
She waited patiently for him to go on, wondering now if Mamma had said something, even though Leah had made it clear she wanted to be the one to break the news to her dear father.
His eyes were flat, his ruddy face deadpan. "Truth is, Leah, as much as you want to help your mamma and sisters, that's how much I need your help out here in the barn ... in the yard, and with the harvest."
Am I stuck doing men's work forever? she wondered, though she didn't dare speak up.
"If I thought you were going to marry in, say, a year or two, well then, I might think otherwise," Dat explained.
She was ever so glad he hadn't put Gid's name in the middle of things. "I don't even have my hope chest filled yet." The kitten's purr turned to a soft rumble in her lap. "What sort of wife would 1 be with no table linens or bed quilts? How could I keep a husband happy with no cookin' skills, not knowing how to make chowchow, put up green beans, or make grape jelly?"
"This you've been thinkin' through, jah?" A hint of a chuckle wrapped round Dat's words.
"Just since I hurt my ankle. Before then I was downright ignorant to what I was missing in the house." She filled her lungs for courage, smelling the sweet hay and the hot lather of the animals in the stalls below. "Now that I know how to stitch and mend, make Chilly Day stew, and bake date-andnut bread all the things Mamma enjoys well, I'd like to have a chance to practice ... be as skilled at keepin' house as every other girl in Gobbler's Knob."
Dat's jaw twitched a bit, but he looked straight at her, his honest eyes filled with understanding. "Are ya tellin' me that
107 C A e C_^ o 0 e n a n t
you're ready to be a daughter, too, 'stead of just a son?" A
; I winkle appeared in his eye. "Aw, Dat . . . I "
: "What do ya say we make ourselves a deal?" He was more
i serious again.
i She was all ears. After all these years, what would he tell her?
"What if you do the milkin' twice each day, gather the eggs, and if Dawdi Brenneman comes to live with us and he needs help feeding and waterin' the barn animals well, you
. could do that, too?"
Ach, she could think of a gut many things he'd failed to mention. Things like mowing and fertilizing the front, side, and back yards, shoveling manure out of the barn, washing the milking equipment, and much more. Did he mean to tell her that Dawdi might be up to doing all of that? Sure, what Hat had suggested was a place to start, so she spouted off what she thought he was
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