A Prairie Rose

Chapter 16

Grace was in a poor temper- because she had put off on helping Hattie and I with morning chores, she was sent out alone to gather moss and mix it together with mud and clay from the stream. Hattie found a vindictive glee in her sister being assigned this chore- apparently, Grace often mocked Hattie for her being the one sent out to gather kindling and to weed the garden. As the oldest, Grace saw herself as too good for messy chores- and now she was being sent off to do the messiest work of all. 

Hattie and I got to stay inside and play while Grace was sent off to gather up the mix- her Daddy had shrugged on a coat and gathered up rope, ready to begin patching up the cracks between the logs as soon as she returned. He had a ladder he had brought from their house, made of boards nailed together- I supposed that was how he had made his house so tall that it was nearly two stories. Hattie had told me that the bottom floor was where they had all stayed, and that the top portion was used as a loft for storage. Luckily, not much had been put up there yet, other than metal tools, most of which seemed to have survived the fallen tree. 

For a while, Mr. Hansen just sat beside his wife as she churned a bin of butter, his eyes on Hattie and I while we played hide-the-thimble. Hattie was not the best at finding things, so we changed the game a bit, and I would give her hints, telling her if she was closer or further from where the thimble was hidden as she moved about the front room.

Finally, she found it, staring incredulously as she pulled the thimble from a piece of hanging laundry on the drying line as she turned to me. "You put it in my stocking?"

I burst into giggles at the baffled look on her face, and soon enough we were both on the floor, laughing and rolling about. Mrs. Hansen looked over at us reproachfully, though clearly trying to hide her amusement. 

"Girls, that's enough," She scolded. "Get up now- Hattie, your foot is about to knock over the lantern. Do you know how hard kerosene is to clean?"

We rose, brushing off the backs of our dresses. As we went to sit back near the fire, I noticed that Mr. Hansen's eyes were still on me.

I turned to look at him. "Sir?"

He leaned back, scratching his chin. "Where exactly is your father, Rose?"

Anxiety bloomed in me as I realized why he had been watching me - he had been assessing how little I was, how childishly I acted. How entirely incapable of taking care of myself for any period of time I seemed to be. "He said he was going to make investments, Sir."

"At the railroad? That's quite a ways to go this time of year. Especially without a wagon. But he'd have been back by now if his investments were just in town."

"He bought a wagon, Sir," I said- slowly. This was dangerous territory, and I did not want my in-the-moment lie to lead me into a trap of my own making. I needed to be careful with my words, but that was hard when I had no idea what I was talking about, and Mr. Hansen knew everything there was to know about investments. "He had picked apart ours to help build the house, so he bought a wagon off a nearby settlement. 

Mr. Hansen nodded. "I invested in the railroad, as well- it will surely pay off well within a year or two. Such a low-risk, high-gain investment is a rare opportunity, indeed. I understand why he is going through such trouble for it. Though I hope he knows to take the longer route- the rivers may not be frozen over yet."

I nodded, looking away. "Yes, Sir, he knows. He said it would take him longer to get back because of it."

"Well, the next time he goes away, tell your Pa that we have no problem with coming down to mind you," Mrs. Hansen requested lightly, though there was some deeper meaning to her tone. "Or, you can even come on up to us- once our house is back in the right, of course. You're always welcome."