"What's your brother like?" Caleb asked one evening.
He sat still on a chair in the yard as I trimmed his red curls. In his lap he held a photograph of William I had taken out.
"Well, he's a fisherman, just like our father and grandfather before him."
"Does he have a boat?" Boats were a new interest of his and in my short stay I had drawn numerous amounts for him.
"He does. It's gray and white. He named it Kittiwake after the little gull of shore line where he fishes. We live–lived–next door to the three aunties. They aren't our real aunts, but they are dear old souls. They wear silk dresses and no shoes. You would love them."
"I wish I had a brother," he muttered.
"Does your brother look like you?" Anna asked, glancing up from a book of sea birds I had sent them.
"I smiled with a short sigh, "Yes. William is very plain and very tall."
"I don't think you're plain. You're pretty," Caleb piped up.
I blinked back an unexpected tear and kissed his rosy cheek. He slipped off the chair, his hair now in proper order. Jacob took his place. I worked in silence for a long while. He was a quiet man, not prone to talking, yet his eyes said many things.
"Have I told you that you have a beautiful farm?" I asked.
"No," his voice was gentle and soothing, it caused my heart to flutter a little.
"Well, you have a beautiful farm, Jacob."
"Thank you, Sarah."
He watched me out of the corner of his eye, his eyes full of hope. I ducked my head and focused on cutting his hair as my cheeks grew warm. I had never experienced these strange, yet wonderful, emotions. They thrilled me, while scaring me.
"Tomorrow I want to see the sheep. Did you know, Caleb, that I have never touched one?"
His eyes grew round. Jacob chuckled.
"Never?" Caleb gasped.
"Never. But I have touched seals. But I suppose seals feel very different from sheep."
"What do they feel like? Seals?"
"They feel all slippery and cool. They slide through the water like fish. They can even cry and sing."
"Really?"
"Really! And sometimes they bark, a little like a dog."
I demonstrated and they all laughed. Caleb made me do it again until the real dogs began to howl.
"I wish I could pet a seal," Caleb whispered.
I sighed, "So do I."
The children had that look in their eyes once again, so as the sun began to sink, I sung them a song about summer that my father had taught me:
"Sumer is icumen in,
Lhude sing cuccu!"
YOU ARE READING
A Yellow Bonnet
FanfictionI'm Sarah, a simple woman from Maine, who answered a lonely farmer's ad for a mail-order bride. Leaving behind the sea and my old life, I journeyed to the vast, unfamiliar prairie, where the sky seems endless and the land stretches far beyond the ho...
