When Breaks the Dawn (Canadian West) Read Online Free PDF Page A

needed all the rest the all-too-short night would afford her, I thought as I slipped cautiously out from the covers and dressed in the semidarkness. The men would soon be looking for their breakfast. I tiptoed from the room, shoes in hand, and carefully closed the door behind me.
    In the soft light of the oil lamp I found Wynn back at work on the supplies. I could tell by the way he moved that he was making a great effort to be quiet—which of course hampered his agility. He looked up when he heard me.
    “Did I waken you? I’m sorry. I tried—”
    “That’s fine. I needed to be up anyway. I have so much to do and—”
    My eyes traveled to the table where I had left dirty dishes the night before. They were all gone. I looked then at the floor I was dreading to clean. The mud too was gone. I glanced back at Wynn, embarrassed that he should have needed to do housework in addition to his other tasks. He was reaching for a hammer. With the loud bang, I let out a little gasp. The hammer stopped mid-swing and Wynn’s eyes met mine.
    “What’s wrong?” he asked, the hammer still poised for the strike.
    “You’ll waken Nimmie and she needs—”
    “Nimmie?” Wynn said cheerfully. “Nimmie was up and left for her cabin the minute I arrived, and that was almost an hour ago.”
    He turned his attention to his task.
    I blinked. How had Nimmie wakened, dressed, and left the room without my hearing her?
    Wynn finished with the board and laid aside the hammer.
    “I invited them for breakfast again. After that they expect to be on their own.”
    “So soon? Their window isn’t even fixed.”
    “Ian’s working on it right now, and Nimmie is busy doing the rest of the cleaning. They expect to move all their things out of here this morning. Then Nimmie says we should be able to have our living room back again—at least most of it.”
    “I’m sorry about the dishes and the floor—” I began, but Wynn stopped me in puzzlement.
    “Sorry about what?”
    “That you had to clean up.”
    “I didn’t clean up.”
    “You didn’t?”
    “It looked just like this when I got here.”
    “Nimmie!” I said, the light finally beginning to dawn. “Nimmie must have gotten up and cleaned everything early this morning.”
    Wynn nodded in agreement, his attention back on what he was doing.
    “And I was sleeping,” I chided myself.
    “I’ve found you some supplies,” Wynn remarked, seeming not to have heard the scolding I was giving myself.
    Supplies? Our supplies! I hurried over to Wynn and peered into the box he was opening.
    “This is just flour, sugar, salt and such,” said Wynn. “You might be more interested in those other two boxes. They came from Mary and Jon.
    It seems forever since I have seen so many good things. I rejoiced as I stacked the treasures around me. Mary and Jon had thought of everything. They had even packed fresh fruit and vegetables. The Calgary newspaper piled up on the floor as I unwrapped item after item. There were even fresh eggs and butter.
    I was about to crumple the newspaper out of the way. “Save that, would you please,” Wynn suggested. “We’ll even get to catch up on some world news, thanks to Mary’s foresight.” Carefully I began to smooth out each sheet of newspaper, sorry that in my eagerness I had unwrapped so hastily and carelessly.
    When I turned to the kitchen, eager to get at the special breakfast I was planning with all my wonderful new supplies, Wynn was carrying armloads to our storeroom and arranging the things for our future use. Already a welcome little square of our floor was beginning to show. How I looked forward to having my house neat and orderly again.
    By the time I had our sumptuous breakfast of fried eggs, jam, fresh oranges, bran muffins, and oatmeal porridge ready, I heard Nimmie’s and Ian’s voices as they came up the path. Peering out the window, I noted it was still raining. This day will be no more pleasant than yesterday, I groaned.
    Wynn opened the