Sunflower Read Online Free PDF

she handed the pants and shirt to her grandfather, instructing him to take them into the house, give them to the traveler, and then fetch the man’s mount.
    More than happy to be useful, Edvard nodded in agreement and disappeared around the corner of the sod house. Kase started to follow the bent figure, but his mother called him back. She knew the boy could speak English well enough to answer any questions the man might put to him and so sought to keep from having to do so herself. The stranger could gain no information from Opa and would, she hoped, be on his way very soon.
    Her stomach taut with nervousness, Analisa busied herself filling the large bathtub behind the soddie. As soon as the man was gone she planned to wash and change, then prepare the midday meal. A tall windmill in the yard churned up the precious water needed for life on the open prairie. A hand pump served to force the water into whatever container was provided. Analisa dreamed of having a pump inside the house someday so that she could dispense with carrying the water indoors for cooking and cleaning, but as poor as they were, she knew it was a dream that would not be realized in the near future.
    Analisa watched the water fill the large round oak tub, laboriously working the pump handle until her grandfather’s shuffling gate disturbed her thoughts. She looked up from her task to see him walking toward her, shaking his head in confusion.
    “Is he getting dressed, Opa?”
    “Nee. The man is asleep again and I did not disturb him. He seems to be feverish but not so bad as before. He will not be able to leave yet, Analisa.”
    She turned away to hide her irritation. Was there no end to the man’s presence? Now she would be forced to face him again, perhaps even tend to him if his illness worsened. If only he would recover enough to ride the few miles into town, he could rest there until completely well. Determined not to let the stranger disturb her life any more than he already had, Analisa straightened her shoulders and faced her grandfather once again.
    “Thank you, Opa. Please see that Kase washes up and let him help you clean the fish. You can also light the stove, but quietly, so that the stranger is not disturbed. I’ll wash up out here and then change. Dinner will soon be ready.”
    She issued the orders easily, not because she wanted to do so, but because the burden of running the household had fallen upon her shoulders since the attack on the family. Edvard Van Meeteren, nearly ninety and becoming more disoriented daily, accepted his granddaughter’s role as head of the small household.
    Stripping off her brother’s shirt, Analisa stood in her camisole and rough homespun pants, quickly washing herself with a rag, which she dipped into the tub. The dampness felt refreshing against her skin as she lifted the hair sticking to the nape of her neck and wiped the cloth along the slender column, then down over the rise of her breasts. She had grown used to washing outdoors during the warm months of summer, and although she had not dared to bare herself completely and bathe in the tub behind the house, she felt secure and protected, having an unobstructed view of the open plains and cornfields surrounding the house. Her simple toilette complete, Analisa pulled on her shirt and went inside to gather up her clothes. While the stranger was in the house, she changed outside in the cow shed, preferring to dress alongside Tulip-the-Ox and the milk cow, Honey, or in their empty stalls. Analisa would indeed be grateful to see the back of him as he rode away.
    A tempting aroma emanated from the cast-iron stove and drifted through Caleb’s senses and into his mind. Soon the clatter of dishes and cooking utensils woke him. Motionless, with eyes hooded by lowered lids, he rested against the pillows in the high oak bed and watched a honey-blond figure move efficiently about her tasks across the room. He knew it was the same young woman he had seen earlier