Here, let
me hold your head and I’ll help you drink.”
Jubal frowned at her for a second. Then,
when her arm slipped behind him to cradle his head and she held him
close against her soft bosom and leaned over to bring the glass to
his lips, he decided this wasn’t such a bad idea after all. His
eyes never left Maggie’s face, which was lost in concentration as
she tried to help him drink without jostling his poor wounds. When
she withdrew the water glass, he smiled.
He was still smiling when he fell asleep
again.
Chapter Five
Maggie was nervous until she had Annie in
her arms again. Then, once her daughter was back to her in one
piece, she actually began to relax and enjoy life for the first
time since before Kenny had died.
Dan Blue Gully and Four Toes Smith worked
like a couple of Trojans around the place. In two days, they had
the farm looking better and running more smoothly than it had even
before Kenny’s encounter with the wrong end of that horse. They
also replaced the shattered back-door window. Each one of them did
more work in an hour than Ozzie Plumb had done in a week, and
although Maggie felt a little bit guilty and disloyal to admit it,
she was glad for the change. In fact, once Dan had taken Ozzie’s
body to town for storage until it could be buried, it was almost as
though poor Ozzie had never existed.
“ You know, Mr. Blue Gully,”
she said early one morning as she fixed breakfast, “I know it
sounds crazy, but it’s sort of nice having you men around the
place.”
She was embarrassed at her confession and
blushed rosily as she stirred the morning’s cornmeal mush. Dan
didn’t seem to find anything odd about her words, however.
He nodded. “There’s too much work for you to
do here alone,” he observed.
Maggie eyed him over her pot. “I guess
so.”
She sighed when she resumed stirring, and
wondered how she’d get along when Jubal Green got well and she’d
lose the services of Dan and Four Toes. Four Toes had taken Ozzie’s
body into Lincoln the day after Annie got home, and Maggie wouldn’t
even have Ozzie’s questionable services to draw upon after these
men left her. She wasn’t quite sure how to go about hiring another
person to take his place even if there was one, which she
doubted.
The really strange part of this whole
situation was that she liked these men. Dan Blue Gully was pleasant
and friendly and considerate. He could also cure her headaches, a
feat Maggie held right up there along with the discovery of fire
and the invention of the wheel as miraculous accomplishments. And
Four Toes Smith was polite to a fault. In fact, he was bashful and
he blushed, and Maggie thought that was sweet.
She didn’t know Jubal Green yet, but there
was something about him that seemed to draw her to his bedside like
a bee to a flower.
The injured man continued to improve. Within
another week, he was well enough to sit up with help, although the
effort apparently required a good deal of grunting and swearing on
his part.
“ Watch your mouth, Jubal,”
Dan said the first time he made the attempt. “There’s a lady
present.”
“ Hell,” was the only
response Jubal gave to that admonition.
By the time he was sitting up, he was
sweating rivers, and Maggie could tell he was in mortal pain. She
rushed over with her bowl of water and soft cloth to blot his damp
brow.
Since she was feeling so rested and well
lately, she had been inspired to add a couple of drops of her
beloved lilac toilet water to the bowl of water. She didn’t figure
Jubal Green could object to the sweet smell, and it definitely made
her feel good.
She just couldn’t get over how splendid she
felt since all these men had invaded her life. At the moment, Annie
was in the kitchen being entertained by Four Toes Smith, who was
showing her how to build things with some wooden blocks he had
fashioned for her.
I don’t even have to worry
about the baby , Maggie thought with a smile
of pure wonder as she
me hold your head and I’ll help you drink.”
Jubal frowned at her for a second. Then,
when her arm slipped behind him to cradle his head and she held him
close against her soft bosom and leaned over to bring the glass to
his lips, he decided this wasn’t such a bad idea after all. His
eyes never left Maggie’s face, which was lost in concentration as
she tried to help him drink without jostling his poor wounds. When
she withdrew the water glass, he smiled.
He was still smiling when he fell asleep
again.
Chapter Five
Maggie was nervous until she had Annie in
her arms again. Then, once her daughter was back to her in one
piece, she actually began to relax and enjoy life for the first
time since before Kenny had died.
Dan Blue Gully and Four Toes Smith worked
like a couple of Trojans around the place. In two days, they had
the farm looking better and running more smoothly than it had even
before Kenny’s encounter with the wrong end of that horse. They
also replaced the shattered back-door window. Each one of them did
more work in an hour than Ozzie Plumb had done in a week, and
although Maggie felt a little bit guilty and disloyal to admit it,
she was glad for the change. In fact, once Dan had taken Ozzie’s
body to town for storage until it could be buried, it was almost as
though poor Ozzie had never existed.
“ You know, Mr. Blue Gully,”
she said early one morning as she fixed breakfast, “I know it
sounds crazy, but it’s sort of nice having you men around the
place.”
She was embarrassed at her confession and
blushed rosily as she stirred the morning’s cornmeal mush. Dan
didn’t seem to find anything odd about her words, however.
He nodded. “There’s too much work for you to
do here alone,” he observed.
Maggie eyed him over her pot. “I guess
so.”
She sighed when she resumed stirring, and
wondered how she’d get along when Jubal Green got well and she’d
lose the services of Dan and Four Toes. Four Toes had taken Ozzie’s
body into Lincoln the day after Annie got home, and Maggie wouldn’t
even have Ozzie’s questionable services to draw upon after these
men left her. She wasn’t quite sure how to go about hiring another
person to take his place even if there was one, which she
doubted.
The really strange part of this whole
situation was that she liked these men. Dan Blue Gully was pleasant
and friendly and considerate. He could also cure her headaches, a
feat Maggie held right up there along with the discovery of fire
and the invention of the wheel as miraculous accomplishments. And
Four Toes Smith was polite to a fault. In fact, he was bashful and
he blushed, and Maggie thought that was sweet.
She didn’t know Jubal Green yet, but there
was something about him that seemed to draw her to his bedside like
a bee to a flower.
The injured man continued to improve. Within
another week, he was well enough to sit up with help, although the
effort apparently required a good deal of grunting and swearing on
his part.
“ Watch your mouth, Jubal,”
Dan said the first time he made the attempt. “There’s a lady
present.”
“ Hell,” was the only
response Jubal gave to that admonition.
By the time he was sitting up, he was
sweating rivers, and Maggie could tell he was in mortal pain. She
rushed over with her bowl of water and soft cloth to blot his damp
brow.
Since she was feeling so rested and well
lately, she had been inspired to add a couple of drops of her
beloved lilac toilet water to the bowl of water. She didn’t figure
Jubal Green could object to the sweet smell, and it definitely made
her feel good.
She just couldn’t get over how splendid she
felt since all these men had invaded her life. At the moment, Annie
was in the kitchen being entertained by Four Toes Smith, who was
showing her how to build things with some wooden blocks he had
fashioned for her.
I don’t even have to worry
about the baby , Maggie thought with a smile
of pure wonder as she
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