into the great room.
“Grizel’s spent a lot of time helping with the boys for the past few years,” her mother explained.
Envious of the close relationship Grizel seemed to have with both Daniel and Ethan, Ellie had little time to wonder about the other smaller girl who still had her back to her.
Jackson handed Michael the outer garments he had been holding and helped their final visitor remove her bonnet and cape. “And this is a very, very special neighbor I’d like you to meet, Ellie,” he murmured before he pressed a kiss to the girl’s forehead.
Moving slowly, the girl turned around to face Ellie.
Much to Ellie’s surprise, she was not a girl at all. She was a very small, but very, very old woman. Pale, parchment-thin skin dotted with dark brown spots fell in heavy creases over her cheeks. Wisps of short white hair, like bleached strands of corn silk, hung limply to the tips of her ears, but her clouded eyes still carried a bit of a twinkle.
“This is Michael’s grandmother, Widow Polly Palmer,” Jackson offered with affection. “Gram, this is my wife, Ellie.”
The aged woman shuffled over to Ellie and looked up at her. “You can call me Gram like everyone else. I’m a hundred and two. Now that Nellie Burke has passed, I’m the oldest woman in Dauphin County, but I still make the best apple butter on either side of the Susquehanna and I have the blue ribbons to prove it. How old are you?”
“Th-thirty-one,” Ellie stammered.
“I’ve outlived three husbands, four children, and a fair number of grandchildren. You ever married before?”
“N-no, but—”
“No children, then.”
Ellie gasped. “No!” she blurted, as shocked by the woman’s blunt questions as she was to learn the woman was over a century old. Gram might be the oldest woman Ellie had ever met, but there was nothing frail about her spirit or her authority, which permeated the entire room.
Widow Palmer edged very close to stare at Ellie.
Instinctively, Ellie pulled back, but she held the woman’s gaze for many heart-pounding moments. Finally, the older woman smiled and snatched hold of Ellie’s hands. “I think you’ll do,” she pronounced and squeezed hard.
The pressure on Ellie’s burned hands unleashed a jolt of pain that bolted up each of her arms, and she winced. Battling tears, she tried to ease her hands free, but the aged woman held them firmly and turned them over, giving them both a full view of the damage Ellie had done to them over the course of the night, as well as this morning.
Gram’s eyes opened wide, but instead of making a comment, she waved the others away. “Go on. Go about your business. Michael, you and Jackson ought to unload the foodstuffs in that wagon. Alice, you can clean up that soapy water on the floor next to that tub and that spill over there by the cookstove later. You probably should go with Michael and Jackson to make sure they put things where they belong in the root cellar instead of just dumping it all inside the door. Me and Ellie here have some gettin’ acquainted to do.”
Ellie was not surprised when everyone did the woman’s bidding and slipped away without a single word of argument. Once they were finally alone, Gram pulled out one of the two chairs at the worktable, which was quite removed from the tub as well as the cookstove, and pointed. “Sit yourself down right here.”
When Ellie sat down and laid her hands palm up on her lap, she was nearly eye level with her companion.
“Looks to me like you’ve been havin’ more than a fair bit of trouble with that newfangled cookstove Rebecca just had to have.”
Ellie nodded. “I’m afraid so.”
“I’ll fix somethin’ up for those poor red hands of yours.”
Ellie stared at her hands and shook her head. “The burns aren’t all that bad. I was just pumping water over them when you arrived. They actually feel much better now,” she insisted, making a mental note to get to work on that overgrown herb
“Grizel’s spent a lot of time helping with the boys for the past few years,” her mother explained.
Envious of the close relationship Grizel seemed to have with both Daniel and Ethan, Ellie had little time to wonder about the other smaller girl who still had her back to her.
Jackson handed Michael the outer garments he had been holding and helped their final visitor remove her bonnet and cape. “And this is a very, very special neighbor I’d like you to meet, Ellie,” he murmured before he pressed a kiss to the girl’s forehead.
Moving slowly, the girl turned around to face Ellie.
Much to Ellie’s surprise, she was not a girl at all. She was a very small, but very, very old woman. Pale, parchment-thin skin dotted with dark brown spots fell in heavy creases over her cheeks. Wisps of short white hair, like bleached strands of corn silk, hung limply to the tips of her ears, but her clouded eyes still carried a bit of a twinkle.
“This is Michael’s grandmother, Widow Polly Palmer,” Jackson offered with affection. “Gram, this is my wife, Ellie.”
The aged woman shuffled over to Ellie and looked up at her. “You can call me Gram like everyone else. I’m a hundred and two. Now that Nellie Burke has passed, I’m the oldest woman in Dauphin County, but I still make the best apple butter on either side of the Susquehanna and I have the blue ribbons to prove it. How old are you?”
“Th-thirty-one,” Ellie stammered.
“I’ve outlived three husbands, four children, and a fair number of grandchildren. You ever married before?”
“N-no, but—”
“No children, then.”
Ellie gasped. “No!” she blurted, as shocked by the woman’s blunt questions as she was to learn the woman was over a century old. Gram might be the oldest woman Ellie had ever met, but there was nothing frail about her spirit or her authority, which permeated the entire room.
Widow Palmer edged very close to stare at Ellie.
Instinctively, Ellie pulled back, but she held the woman’s gaze for many heart-pounding moments. Finally, the older woman smiled and snatched hold of Ellie’s hands. “I think you’ll do,” she pronounced and squeezed hard.
The pressure on Ellie’s burned hands unleashed a jolt of pain that bolted up each of her arms, and she winced. Battling tears, she tried to ease her hands free, but the aged woman held them firmly and turned them over, giving them both a full view of the damage Ellie had done to them over the course of the night, as well as this morning.
Gram’s eyes opened wide, but instead of making a comment, she waved the others away. “Go on. Go about your business. Michael, you and Jackson ought to unload the foodstuffs in that wagon. Alice, you can clean up that soapy water on the floor next to that tub and that spill over there by the cookstove later. You probably should go with Michael and Jackson to make sure they put things where they belong in the root cellar instead of just dumping it all inside the door. Me and Ellie here have some gettin’ acquainted to do.”
Ellie was not surprised when everyone did the woman’s bidding and slipped away without a single word of argument. Once they were finally alone, Gram pulled out one of the two chairs at the worktable, which was quite removed from the tub as well as the cookstove, and pointed. “Sit yourself down right here.”
When Ellie sat down and laid her hands palm up on her lap, she was nearly eye level with her companion.
“Looks to me like you’ve been havin’ more than a fair bit of trouble with that newfangled cookstove Rebecca just had to have.”
Ellie nodded. “I’m afraid so.”
“I’ll fix somethin’ up for those poor red hands of yours.”
Ellie stared at her hands and shook her head. “The burns aren’t all that bad. I was just pumping water over them when you arrived. They actually feel much better now,” she insisted, making a mental note to get to work on that overgrown herb
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