Voices From Within (Book 2)

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Nineteen

Ivan's Ledger

When Reggie entered the house, Charlotte was at the stove stirring the soup. She had added chunks of three types of cheeses to the soup. She had made an apple cobbler that was cooking in the oven.

"How are you feeling?" asked Reggie.

"Better. Thanks for listening to me. It meant a lot," said Charlotte as she walked up to Reggie and gave him a hug.

Then she looked at his face.

"You read the letter."

"Yes, and it wasn't as bad as I thought. It told me where he hid his farm account ledger and his journal," said Reggie, keeping the information about the gold to himself. "It sure smells good in here."

Then Reggie walked into the pantry and out the backdoor to carry in wood for the evening. After cleaning up his mess, he dropped several armloads in the pantry. Then he hung up his coat and chopped kindling for the cookstove.

Charlotte added the fried bacon to the soup and added pepper, knowing bacon and cheese provided plenty of salt to the dish. She made several tortillas that were ready to fry in the clean, seasoned warm pan. After seeing how much Reggie could eat, she knew it was better to prepare too much than not enough.

"How were the animals?" asked Charlotte, dished up his first bowl of soup and then poured him a cup of coffee.

"They were fine. They weathered the storm. I broomed off the snow from the steers and fed and water all the animals."

"How many animals are there?" asked Charlotte.

"There are ten head of beef, six horses, three sows and about fifteen smaller pigs."

Charlotte set the first warm tortilla on a plate as she continued to fry the rest.

"What are these?"

"These are tortillas. My mother taught me how to make Spanish bread. My father hates them, so we make them when he is gone. You can eat them with sugar and cinnamon, or just butter. Some people like preserves on them or a soft cheese."

Reggie saw the jar of preserves with the red ribbon around it on the table.

"This is from my mother, so I know it is good."

Reggie buttered the warm tortilla with butter and then spooned on the berry preserves onto the Spanish bread.

"Oh, this is good. How in the world is it that your father doesn't like these?"

"It reminded him of my mother's culture and her past. He insists on bread. But when he was traveling, we would make a pile of them and eat to our heart's delight."

By now, the soup had cooled, and Reggie took his first spoonful of soup.

"Wow, this is amazing. I have never had such a rich tasting soup."

"It helps when you have cream, butter and delicious cheese to make it creamy instead of watery."

Reggie tore through the first bowl and insisted Charlotte join him. She set the warm tortillas on the table and dished up a second helping for Reggie. He handed her a bowl and set it down in her place. They heard Kaiser whining. Reggie looked down at him. He had walked to Reggie's side.

"Are you hungry, boy?"

Reggie grabbed his dish and filled it with soup. Then he tore a tortilla into pieces and threw them in the soup for Kaiser.