Buckeye Dreams Read Online Free PDF Page B

for corn and oats, but the day before yesterday there had been an accident. Mary had tripped and badly sprained her ankle while they were plowing the oat field. She could not put weight on it at all, but somehow Katherine had managed to get Mary back to the house.
    Unfortunately, they got no more work done that day, a sore blow to their schedule. To make matters worse, Elijah Carr had come calling the next morning while Katherine was doing the chores. They had been forced to leave the plow in the field all night, and Mr. Carr had noticed.
    “Saw you left your plow out,” he’d said as he leaned against a stall door. “Think the field will plow itself?” He chuckled.
    Katherine had clenched her jaw and was grateful her hands were busy so he wouldn’t notice how they shook. “Mrs. O’Neal took a fall yesterday, Mr. Carr.” She filled the horses’ feed boxes with grain. “I was tending to her the better part of the afternoon.”
    “Well, I’ll take my team out to your field and finish it off then.”
    Katherine stopped her work to look at him. “Whatever for?”
    Carr’s eyebrows raised in surprise. “Who else is going to plow up that field, Miss Wallace? You?”
    “Certainly.” She quickly walked around him and grabbed a pitchfork. “Your offer is very kind, sir, but I can manage it myself.”
    The man’s face darkened, and it was all Katherine could do to stand her ground until the overbearing man left without another word.
    When Katherine finished, she went inside to discover Mary hobbling about the kitchen with the use of a homemade crutch. “I found this upstairs,” she explained.
    “Mary!” Katherine cried. “You shouldn’t even be down here. I was intending to bring breakfast up to you!”
    Mary had managed to start the coffee and the bacon on the black cookstove at the rear of the kitchen. Mornings were still cool enough that they hadn’t yet started cooking in the summer kitchen out behind the house. Katherine had been surprised at the need for one. She hadn’t realized summers could get so hot this far north.
    “Well, I have to admit I’m tired and sore,” Mary said as she leaned against the worktable in the middle of the kitchen. “But once I sit a spell, I’ll be right as rain. We’ll be a little slower plowing today… .”
    “Oh no, you don’t! I declare I never saw the like!” Katherine put her hands on her hips and gave Mary a defiant look. “You are staying right here! I have every intention of finishing up that field myself!”
    “Is that what you told Elijah Carr?” Mary asked with a small smile.
    “You saw him, then?”
    “He left here with a look that would spoil milk.”
    “Before it left the cow,” Katherine added. She gently grasped Mary by the arm. “Let me finish breakfast. You go sit at the table in the dining room.”
    While they ate, Mary had mentioned they were drinking the last of the coffee. “I’m sure you won’t let me make the trip into town tomorrow.” She chuckled and Katherine smiled. It was Friday, and they had been going into Ostrander every Saturday if only to check the mail. “We could manage without coffee, but”—her face had become etched with concern—“I’m eager to see if Daniel has written yet.”
    Katherine was so deep in thought, the buildings of Ostrander came into view sooner than she expected. She stopped not far from the Decker house, which was situated behind their store on the southern edge of town.
    Ostrander’s dislike of her hung darkly over her head. This was the first time she would have to deal with the townsfolk without Mary. Their previous trips into town had been tolerable for Katherine due to her friend’s presence; people simply ignored her in favor of speaking to Mary. But what would happen today now that she was by herself? What would happen if she met Elijah Carr?
    “
But perfect love casteth out fear
.” Yes, of course. God’s love surrounded her, and He would surely give her all the strength she