An Angel in the Mail by Callie Hutton Page B

nights. He’d take the mending out of her hands, and she’d stumble up the stairs, pull on her nightgown, and collapse into bed.
    Today was the first day she was on her own. She gently removed Nate’s arm from around her, and slipped out of bed. Quickly washing her face and braiding her hair, she put on one of the work dresses, quietly left the room, and padded downstairs.
    As usual, Nate had stocked the stove with wood before he went to sleep. Using the technique Mrs. Darby taught her, she lit the wood, and soon had a fire going. Feeling pleased with herself, she got out the list of ingredients Mrs. Darby had written down for biscuits.
    While she was mixing the biscuits, Luke came downstairs, smiling his brand-new-day little boy smile.
    “Good morning, Luke,” she said. She still surprised herself that she could tell them apart. At first it was impossible to tell one twin from the other, but now it didn’t seem confusing at all.
    “Mornin’,” Luke said as he slid onto a chair.
    “Can you get the eggs for me?” Angel asked. “The bowl in the pantry is empty.”
    “Sure.”
    “Better go put on shoes, though,” Angel said, turning back to the biscuits. Now, did she already put in the soda? Yes, she was sure she did. It was the salt she hadn’t put in yet.
    Luke came back downstairs with his shoes and his twin brother. Chattering noisily, they grabbed the basket by the door and raced down the stairs to collect eggs from the hen house.
    Since Matt and Mark had school, they wouldn’t be in any hurry to come downstairs. Before she was able to mix the biscuits she heard Julia-Rose yell, “Mama,” from her crib. As she rinsed her hands off, she caught the thud of Nate’s footsteps crossing the room to get the baby. She sighed with relief when she heard the sounds of Nate talking to Julia-Rose, and hopefully putting on a fresh diaper.
    The biscuits baked in the oven as the boys returned with the eggs. So far, so good. She cut bacon from the slab and tossed it into the pan. Then she remembered the coffee. Filling the pot with water, she put it on the stove and dumped in coffee. Nate was just coming downstairs with Julia-Rose.
    “Are the boys up yet?” She asked.
    “Yes. I just woke them. They should be down in a minute.”
    Nate was already dressed for the day. He got the baby settled in her chair, went to the stove and picked up the coffee pot.
    “I’m sorry, it’s not ready yet,” Angel said. “I just put it on.”
    “That’s okay.” He sat at the table, and opened the morning newspaper.
    She washed the eggs off, and cracked a dozen into a bowl. After scrambling them, she remembered she needed to heat up a pan. She pulled open doors looking for the pan she saw Mrs. Darby use every morning.
    “Need some help?” Nate regarded her over his newspaper as she opened and closed doors.
    “No, I have everything under control.” She smiled brightly, wiping the sweat from her forehead with her apron. Finally she spotted the pan and put it on the stove. Just then the coffee boiled over, making a loud hissing sound. Nate jumped up and pulled it off the stove, as Julia-Rose started banging the table with a spoon.
    “What’s burning?” Matt asked as he entered the kitchen.
    “Oh goodness, the biscuits!” Angel grabbed a towel, opened the oven door, and took out the dark brown lumps.
    The bacon sizzled, and splashed grease on her hand, making her jump. “Ouch.” She waved her hand around.
    “You okay?” Nate asked starting to get up.
    “It’s fine,” Angel bit back, licking the burn.
    “Try putting cold water on it.”
    Ignoring his suggestion, Angel dumped the eggs into the well-heated pan and stirred.
    “Matt, go get the plates, and the butter from the pantry,” Nate said. “Luke, you and John go get forks.”
    Angel pulled the pan with the partially done bacon off the stove. Then she grabbed her stirring spoon as the eggs started to brown on the bottom.
    “Boy it stinks in here.” Mark said as