Wanderling (Spirit Seeker Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page A

outside
the door.
    “You
could be a little more affectionate towards him,” Eleanor scolded lightly when
the door closed behind him.
    Adala
rolled her eyes in the way only a seventeen year old daughter could. “The topic
of a union has been brought up, Mother. That’s still a long way from the
altar.”
    “Apparently
so,” Eleanor remarked. “Are you displeased with the prospect?”
    “I
haven’t decided,” Adala said dismissively.
    “I
would suggest you think on it,” Eleanor advised firmly.
    Eleanor
and Adala ate dinner quietly that evening. Eleanor simmered the soup and Adala
wiped the dishes after. It was a routine that they had developed one winter
because they discovered very quickly that Adala had no skill for cooking.
Afterwards, Eleanor sat next to the fire, its glow shedding light on her work
at the spinning wheel. She thought of Shem, still asleep upstairs.
    “I
think he made himself ill missing your father,” Eleanor said, running her
fingers over the newly spun yarn. “He always misses you too, you know, when
you’re gone.”
    Adala
glanced up from her work darning a pair of socks with large, uneven stitches.
“Is it possible he’s pouting because Papa didn’t let him go on the voyage this
year.”
    “That’s
not like him,” Eleanor mused. “He is almost as old as you were on your
first voyage though. Maybe we shouldn’t be as restrictive with him as we are.”
    “He
is too small to endure life on the ship.”
    “Give
him more credit; he would be useful on board. Your brother has a knack for
directions, you know. He pours over your father’s old navigation charts every voyage,
tracking where you two are at every stop.” Eleanor smiled at the thought,
filling with pride at her son’s growing talent.
    “I
knew he liked charts, but didn’t know he tracked all our voyages,” Adala said.
“I guess I’ve missed a lot being gone each summer.”
    “I
think he’s glad you are here, at any rate. It is always tough on him when you
and your father leave,” Eleanor said. It broke her heart to see Raban leave the
family each year. But having him away just made her limited time with her
husband more precious. She looked forward to autumn already, and she knew that
Shem felt the same. Such a sensitive child, and with such a gift for loving
others, she thought. He should have a close companion here at home to
keep him calm.
    “I
think I will take him to get a pup in the morning,” Eleanor said abruptly.
“Captain Konrad’s dog had a litter this week, and it will make Shem so happy to
have a pet of his own.”
    Adala
snorted. “You want a mutt around the house to clean up after?”
    “Well,
we have you to help out this summer. Keeping house is not always clean and
easy, Adala.” Eleanor chuckled to see her daughter’s frown.
    “I’m
going to bed, Mother,” Adala changed the subject, putting away her darning
basket. “It’s been a long day.”
    “Good
night. Bolt the door before you go up, will you?”
    “Of
course, Mum.”
    Eleanor
idly watched the fire die, pondering the changes in store for her daughter this
summer. The fireplace was the center of a woman’s livelihood, the place where
Eleanor worked to serve her family. It was the center of the home, where meals
were prepared and chunks of metal warmed for bed heaters in the winter. Where
she would heat wax for candles and boil water for wash day. Could Adala
manage the work of maintaining a household? To cook Master John’s meals, wash
his clothes, keep his house, and share his bed? Eleanor shook her head.
That life was difficult to imagine Adala adapting to easily. Perhaps Adala’s
foolhardy plan to captain her own fishing boat was more realistic, though it
made Eleanor scoff to think of it.
    She
pondered the potential changes at bay until the hearth was a pile of ash and
coal. Then she climbed upstairs and greeted sleep with open arms, drained from
the day’s intriguing events.
    When
she woke, it was to the scuffling