Redfield Farm: A Novel of the Underground Railroad Read Online Free PDF Page A

Jesse followed his dreams west, maybe, just maybe, Elias Finley and I could marry and live in a fine new house. Heaven knew, Rachel and Betsy would marry any day. Will McKitrick fairly fell over himself to be at Betsy’s side after Meeting, so an announcement would likely come soon. There were suitors aplenty for Rachel, too. She could take her pick if she ever settled down enough to decide. That was Rachel. Too busy being Rachel.
    Nathaniel sat looking at his plate. At twenty, he had no plans about life. So far he had been well taken care of, first by Mama, then by his sisters. Like Amos, he was not one to initiate change and slow to accept it.
    “What kind of building on?” he asked, skeptical.
    “Two story—big parlor for family gatherings, two upstairs bedrooms. This old cabin will be the kitchen. The loft rooms could still be used. I might like one of them myself.” Amos had slept in the main room of the cabin all his life. On a rope bed in the corner. “The rest of you can decide who gets what.”
    So it was that simple. Prosperity had caught up with the Redfields. Building had to be done in summer, so at the next Meeting it was announced that Amos Redfield was building on, and help was needed when the haying was done.
    On July ninth, twenty or so men and boys from the Quaker settlement turned up at Redfield Farm. Amos, Jesse and Nathaniel joined them, and in two days a two story log house was neatly joined to the east end of the old cabin. A week later, a smaller crew came to cover the roof frame with white oak splits.
    My sisters and I wore ourselves out cooking and feeding the workers, including, of course, Elias Finley and Will McKitrick. It was a joyous time, full of fun and promise. As I was laying out food on a plank table in the yard, Elias, up on the roof, stopped nailing shingles to call to me.
    “Got any more of that peach cobbler, like last time?”
    I shaded my eyes to look up at him, smiled and nodded. “Probably not enough for you, Elias Finley.”
    “I’ve got a powerful hunger for peach cobbler,” he grinned.
    Down on the ground, hefting a bundle of shingles to his shoulder, Jesse called, “You’ve got a powerful hunger for all Ann’s cooking, Elias.”
    “I know a good thing when I see one,” came the reply. ”And I see one,” he continued, smiling down at me.
    I blushed and turned back toward the kitchen. Honestly! Elias could be so bold at times, yet he was awfully slow to make a commitment. We were both twenty-six and not getting any younger. What was he waiting for? Everyone in the Quaker settlement paired us off in their minds, but still Elias dallied. I was sure a proposal would come, but when? If asked, Elias said he didn’t have much to offer a wife. But he and Ben were building a fine horse breeding business. He had a bright future. I consoled myself with thinking it would be worth the wait.
    The morning after the shingles were put on, I looked out the back door to see Pru Hartley standing by the springhouse, one hand on her hip, looking over the new house. That girl moved like an apparition. I never knew where she’d turn up.
    “Mornin’ Pru. You need something?”
    “Not that I kin git here,” she replied, her head cocked to the side. “You Redfields’ll be gittin’ uppity now, I guess.”
    “Uppity? Why?”
    “Fancy new house’n all.” She sneered when she said it, like it tasted bad.
    I didn’t feel like standing around listening to Pru Hartley’s assessment of my family, so I turned and went inside. The men were doing morning chores in the barn, and my sisters were still upstairs. Pru stayed in the yard, walked all the way around the house with her head cocked in that put-on haughty way she had. I went back to my work but looked out the window now and then to see where she was, hoping she’d be gone.
    Then she came up on the porch and shouted. “You think yer better’n some folk, but yer not! With your big, new house’n all. S’pose you think Elias