Sins of a Shaker Summer Read Online Free PDF Page A

cleaner, updated line. These casual displays of defiance pleased Rose as much as they irritated Wilhelm.
    Still, she couldn’t shake the sense that he knew more than he was saying. She decided to try a different approach.
    â€œWe have been so busy since you arrived here that I’ve had no time to chat with you about your business plans. Perhaps we might do so now? I’d love to see the gardens you’ve developed and find out how you are using them to make medicines.”
    â€œRight now?” Andrew tensed and glanced at the office door as if hoping for an interruption.
    â€œNow would be perfect,” Rose said. “Nora and Betsy could become more ill, of course, but for the moment they seem stable. Perhaps a discussion of herbs will trigger an idea for one of us.” Without waiting for help, she swung her chair upside down and hung it from several wall pegs so the seat would be free of dust for the next visitor. She led the way to the door, and Andrew followed without further objection.
    In silence they exited the front door of the Trustees’ Office and descended the long row of front steps. They approached the Medicinal Herb Shop and circled to the right of the building, where Andrew had created a new medicinal herb garden. Here he experimented with varieties of herbs not normally grown in the medic garden behind the Infirmary.
    A young man crouched before a row of plants with orange flowers, which Rose recognized as pleurisy root. The man’s earth-stained hands worked quickly, nipping small weeds from between the plants. When he heard them approach, he raised a round face with translucent green eyes.
    â€œThis is Willy Robinson,” Andrew said. “We hired him from Languor to help out in the gardens and the shop. He has a special interest in medicinal herbs.”
    â€œGlad to meet you, ma’am,” Willy said. He held out his hand and withdrew it quickly, darting a glance at Andrew. His hands were rough, smeared with brown and green stains, the nails chipped and dirty. A musty smell wafted toward Rose. She would mention to Andrew to allow the boy to bathe here and bring his clothes to be washed.
    Rose had not spoken with Willy before, which did not surprise her. Hiring extra help and directing work had been her responsibility as trustee, but for some time now she had distanced herself from the day-to-day operations of the Society’s businesses. She felt a surge of longing as she remembered the pleasure of bargaining for real estate and developing new business ideas. If she had not become eldress, it would have been she who watched over thesestrange, new plants and— Nay, she knew little of medicinal herbs. Without Andrew, none of this would be here. She promised herself a thorough confession to Agatha very soon; these jealousies would lead her far from the path of Mother Ann.
    â€œAs you can see,” Andrew said, “we keep a small patch of pleurisy root going all summer. Josie doesn’t bother with it in her own medic garden, and we needed some for our experiments.”
    The young hired man picked one of the orange flowers and held it up to Rose. A shy smile spread across his face, revealing badly stained teeth. Rose hesitated. Believers did not waste flowers on ornamentation, but she did not wish to scold the boy after such a kind gesture. She decided to leave it to Andrew to explain their ways to him. She thanked him and took the flower.
    Andrew did not seem to notice the interchange. He knelt before a wilting plant, shaking his head as he examined the large, pleated leaves. “I was hoping this would make it,” he said. “It’s green hellebore. Wonderful plant. We use the rhizomes to make a tincture that works as a sedative and painkiller. But this really needs cooler, damper soil. Willy, are you keeping it wet? The soil seems dry.” He pushed a finger into the ground near the roots.
    â€œYes, sir, I was just about to water it,