Within the Candle's Glow Read Online Free PDF Page A

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    S amuel entered the barn and forked loose fodder into a stall with two new calves. Dancer, the family’s black-and-tan hound, emerged from a dried pile of cornstalks. She stretched and wagged her white-tipped tail.
    “Howdy, Dancer. I didn’t see you there. You want to get stabbed?” His stomach sickened at the thought of accidentally killing her.
    Four puppies, in varying shades of brown and black, whimpered and tumbled after the old dog. They wiggled under her sagging stomach and tripped her, but she stood still and nosed them. She was blind in one eye. The well-placed kick of an ornery cow had almost killed her.
    “This pitchfork could’ve stuck you.”
    Dancer swung her head sideways and peered up at him with her good eye.
    “When did you move the pups in here? Too unprotected under the corncrib? Well, you needn’t have worried. Big Hog killed the rattlesnake. I buried it.” He patted her boney head. “Sorry. No scraps from the house.” He chuckled as a male puppy attacked his pants leg. “Brave one, aren’t you?”
    He bent to tease the pup and ruffle its creamy tan coat. With a sharp yelp, the puppy jumped at his hand and mouthed it with needle-like teeth.
    “Ouch!” Samuel snatched his hand away and examined the red punctures. “Dancer, you best teach your offspring some manners.”
    The rumble of wagon wheels summoned him to the open door. He stood there in the fading sunlight and leaned on the pitchfork handle. His older brother brought the tired horses to a standstill.
    “Hi, Sam. Open the other door for me.” Jim jumped from the wagon. “New calves in the stall?”
    “Yep, that young cow wouldn’t tend them. I guess twins were too much for her. She kept butting them out of the way, even knocked one down.
Stomped
it.” He wedged the left door open. “I’ll help unload. Hey, did you see Ella Dessa?”
    “Sure did.” Jim grinned. “Get up on the wagon and hand down the bags.”
    “You make it sound like there’s something you ain’t telling me. What is it?”
    “Are you helping me unload?”
    “You’re avoiding my question.” Samuel pulled himself up on the wagon and handed Jim a sack of grain.
    “Naw. I gave her a ride home from Beckler’s.”
    “Why?” A stab of jealousy hit him.
    “Why not? It saved her walking. It’s hot today.” Jim removed his hat and used his shirtsleeve to wipe his forehead. “She had on a blue skirt—matched her eyes. She sure looked pretty. I told her as much.”
    “You
didn’t
.” Without warning, Samuel dropped a bag of grain from the end of the wagon.
    “
Samuel
!” Jim bent his knees, grabbed at the bag, catching it on his thighs. “I almost lost it and busted precious grain over the ground. Papa would whip you.”
    “Since when do you have the right to tell Ella Dessa she’s
pretty?
”
    With raised eyebrows, Jim lifted the sack to his shoulder. “The
right?
Why should it bother you?”
    “I’m going to the house.” Samuel clamped his teeth together and hopped off the wagon. He couldn’t let Jim see he was in a rage—a rage amounting to plain jealousy. He brushed his hands together. Fine dust particles drifted away with the wind. “You need to stick to giving Sophie evening rides around the cove.”
    “Oh, I saw
her
home, too.”
    “What?”
    “I said—”
    “I heard you.” Samuel turned on his boot heels. “Have fun unloading.”
    “Well, thanks for the help. Tell Mother I’m home.”
    Jim’s voice contained a hint of laughter.
    “Tell her yourself.” Samuel walked with his chin to his chest.
Why did his brother persist in egging him into a turmoil over Ella Dessa?
He could tolerate stepping in a yellow jacket’s nest easier than Jim’s teasing.
    Still growling under his breath, he stomped into the house. He rinsed his hands at the washbowl and headed for the long pine table. Papa sat there reading the Bible.
    “Jim git back?”
    “Yeah.”
    “What’s wrong with you?” The white-haired man peered over a