Aundy (Pendleton Petticoats - Book 1) Read Online Free PDF

beneath her. “I’ll be fine.”
    “My lands, child,” Nora said, taking control of the situation. Gently placing her hand on Aundy’s muddy shoulder, she directed her to sit in one of the kitchen chairs. “Garrett, you and Jim take this water and these rags and see what you can do about cleaning Erik. Just be gentle, we don’t know what might be injured,” Nora said, handing Garrett the bucket full of water while Jim took a stack of rags and a couple of towels.
    Aundy began to shiver, whether from the shock or her cold, muddy clothing she didn’t know. Sitting white-faced in the chair, she pinched her lips together in an effort to keep from fainting. Other than being knocked out when the wagon wrecked, she didn’t plan to lose consciousness again.
    Trying to focus her attention on anything other than her arm and Erik lying injured in the other room, she noticed a basket packed with food on the counter. It was most likely the cold supper Erik mentioned Nora prepared.
    “It was nice of you to provide supper for us,” Aundy said, using her good hand to motion to the basket.
    “My pleasure. It’s not every day a new bride moves into the neighborhood. Erik was so excited about you coming, he nearly burst his buttons,” Nora said, smiling from the sink where she filled yet another kettle then set it on the stove. “We hope you’ll enjoy being a part of our Pendleton community. The town is definitely growing and we need good families to help lead it in the right direction.”
    “I didn’t have the opportunity to see much in town, but it looks like you have a nice variety of shops and stores.”
    “Yes, and if there’s something you want that’s not available in town, the mercantile can order just about anything,” Nora said, deciding Aundy had to have a bath before she could do anything with her arm.
    Garrett and Jim returned with a pile of dirty rags and damp towels. Opening the kitchen door, Garrett stepped off the porch and dumped the water on a nearby bush, then rinsed the mud out of the bucket before setting it on the end of the counter.
    “How is he?” Nora asked, watching Garrett.
    “Same. I think we got most of the mud off. We wiped down the oil cloth and put one of your old blankets over him.” Garrett leaned over and whispered something to Nora, causing her to nod her head with a grim expression.
    “Fine,” Nora said, rolling up the sleeves of her dress. “Can you boys run back down and get Aundy’s trunks? She’ll need clean clothes to put on and I doubt Erik has anything here fit for her to wear. You better take care of Erik’s horses, too. We’ll pray the doc shows up soon.”
    “Yes, Ma,” Garrett said, opening the door. “I think Erik gave all the hands orders to stay away from the house the rest of the day, so I don’t know that any of them will be around to offer assistance. Once we get the horses cared for, I’ll see about rounding them up.”
    “Good,” Nora said, pointing toward the back door, indicating it was time for Garrett to get out of the kitchen.
    “Let’s get you cleaned up, honey. Garrett helped Erik put in a bathroom recently, once he knew you were coming. Not too many farm wives have indoor plumbing, but Erik wanted to make sure you had every convenience he could provide. He thought it might be hard for you to get used to country life and wanted to do what he could to make you feel at home.”
    Aundy couldn’t speak, thinking of Erik’s thoughtfulness. Nodding her head, she tried to blink back her tears.
    “I’ll go run the water then we’ll get you out of those muddy clothes,” Nora said, bustling out of the kitchen and down a short hallway. Aundy could hear water running and looked forward to getting out of her filthy clothes and scrubbing away the mud.
    Nora returned to the kitchen, carrying one of the old towels she brought from home.
    “Take off your muddy clothes, honey, and wrap this around yourself, that way you won’t be dragging all the mud