Mail Order Bride

Chapter 4 - The Girl

After her father left, Janessa went to the stove and stirred the soup. She cut up a loaf of brown bread that she had baked the day before, and set it on a plate, along with strawberry jam that her teacher, Miss Steele, had made for them. After insuring that the soup was still simmering, she grabbed a basket and went out to the edge of the pasture, where the woods bordered their property. She picked a basketfull of blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries, and slowly walked back to the house. She first removed the soup from stove, and then used the outside pump to rinse the berries. She dumped the berries into a second bowl and rinsed them again, to ensure there were no bugs or spiders left on the fruit. She set the bowl on the wooden table, and went into the cellar to find some cream. She covered the berries with the cream, and then placed a cheese cloth over the bowl to keep any unwanted dust particles from sifting down into it. She then placed the bowl and extra cream back into the cellar to keep cool. Her job completed, she sat on the outside steps to wait. The stairs squeaked under her feet, as she settled down on the third step. Her old sheepdog, Bob, came up and licked her face, then went up the rest of the stairs to lay on the porch and sleep. One of the orange barn kittens scampered into her lap, purring loudly. She absently passed her hand over its furry body, lost in thought about the strange woman who would be coming to live with them. She missed her own mother dearly. She could barely remember her mother's voice, or smell, or face, sometimes. She sighed heavily and got up to walk to the barn, carrying the kitten with her. She opened the large, heavy door, and inhaled deeply of the barn scent. Dropping the small kitten gently on the wooden, hay-strewn floor, she climbed up to her favorite place: the hayloft. She had spent many hours in that loft, playing with her kittens, drawing, and imagining. Janessa lay on her stomach, staring down into the yellow hay. She watched a lone ant crawl along a piece of hay, until a kitten, different from the one she had been holding earlier, crawled up and stood on her back, mewing pitifully. Janessa rolled over and cuddled the kitten in her arms. The animal promptly began to purr. Janessa cooed soft words to it, and began to tell stories to the fuzzy ball of fur. The girl loved stories. During the long winter months, she would sit by the blazing fireplace and beg her Pa to tell her stories. Some of them were made up, while others were true. He'd tell stories of pirates and kings and beautiful queens. He'd laugh as he told her tales of mischievous pranks he and his brother pulled when they were boys. Janessa lost all track of time as she recounted story after story to her purring listener, when suddenly, the dog began barking loudly. Janessa sprang to her feet, dumping the startled kitten off her lap in her haste. She slid down the hay bales, which was a much faster decent than the ladder she had used to climb up, and thumped ungracefully to the floor. She shook herself off and dashed to the steps of the house, just as the wagon rattled in. He breath caught in her chest when she caught a glimpse of the woman sitting in the wagon next to her father.