The Springtime Mail Order Bride by Kit Morgan Page A

you. But Arlan’s right, you married him, not my other three boys. I’ll see to it they behave themselves and keep out of mischief.  It’ll be good for them to watch you and Arlan, maybe then Benjamin and Calvin will start to get a hankering for a wife.”
    “How old are the twins?”
    “Oh let me see, they’ll be twenty four this summer.  High time for them to be thinking about settling down soon.”
    “And Daniel?”
    Ma smiled. “My little Daniel turned nineteen about a month ago.”
    “You have very handsome boys. Any girl would think so. But if they keep acting the way they do, I don’t see those same girls wanting to marry them.”
    Ma pressed her lips together as if to keep from speaking.
    “I’m sorry, I did not mean to speak out of turn.”
    “No, you’re right. But you stop worrying about them and worry about the one you’re married to.”
    Samijo smiled and nodded, then notice d Ma was blushing. “What is it?”
    “I’ll tell you a little secret about my oldest son.”
    Samijo leaned forward.
    “He’s a hopeless romantic,” Ma said with a giggle. “Oh you wouldn’t think to look at him, but he is.”
    Samijo recalled her and Arlan’s passion-filled morning … and the kiss that never was. She sighed. “I’m looking forward to … experiencing that side of him.”
    “Oh you will, mark my words! It’s always been said around these parts, ‘lucky the girl that lands Arlan Weaver!’ and you have.”
    She smiled again, but it faded as thoughts of Olivia Bridger entered her mind. Now why would she think of her? But thinking of Olivia made her think of all the women out there like her, and how badly they must have wanted to find themselves on the arm of Arlan.  Yet circumstances and location kept the man from marrying, until now that is.  What woman would want to live so far from any social contacts? Perhaps a better question would be: what woman would put up with Arlan’s brothers?
    Samijo brushed a strand of hair out of her face, and picked up another potato.
     
    * * *

    Lunch came and went, and conversation was more than a little subdued, it was non-existent. Arlan’s brothers filed back into the kitchen to eat as if they were going to a hanging: their own, and Samijo had to wonder. What would it take to get them ready to settle down and marry? Maybe all three should be tossed down the well! But perhaps the brother’s new found silence was a good sign, and they were pondering whatever words Arlan used to bend their ears in the barn earlier.
    Samijo and Ma spent the afternoon sewing, (correction - Ma spent the afternoon sewing - Samijo spent it pricking her fingers with a needle attempting to sew.) and soon it was time to prepare supper.  The women fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and prepared some vegetables Ma had Samijo fetch from the root cellar. Cooking made Samijo feel happy, it was the one thing she knew she was good at.
    This time when the men came in, they were in a better mood, and the talk became animated during the meal as the brothers warmed up to Samijo.
    “Did Arlan tell you about the time he fell of a cliff and almost broke his leg?” Calvin asked her with delight.
    Samijo almost choked on her coffee. “No! My goodness, what happened?”
    “He was chasing a calf that wandered off, but he was chasing it on foot,” Benjamin explained.
    Arlan rolled his eyes and made a funny face. Samijo knew this story was going to be good.
    “There’s some cliffs a few miles from here, the calf, its mama, and a few other strays wandered over there, anyway, Arlan figures he’ll sneak up on it and drag it back with a rope around its neck.
    “I don’t know much about cows,” Samijo said, “but that doesn’t sound very smart.”
    “It wasn’t. Mainly because it wasn’t a calf I roped.” Arlan said flatly.
    “So he ropes it,” Calvin explained, “and the thing takes off straight for the cliffs. It got going so fast, it almost started dragging poor Arlan behind