Something Blue

Chapter 20

Katherine

"Hey, ma?"

"Yeah, baby?" Katherine huffed, casting a quick glance at her daughter who sat on a log a safe distance away. She wore a little wool coat and white mittens, her blue knit cap slouching over the back of her head. Katherine, meanwhile, wore nothing but her blouse and skirt, her body burning with exertion. A mess of split firewood littered the ground around her.

"How come it gets cold in the winter?"

Katherine frowned, lining up her swing, drawing back, and letting the axe fly through the air with a swoosh. It landed on top of the balanced log with a sharp crack, and the log fell into halves. In truth, they didn't need firewood. Josh came by at least once a week and split enough to last them. But Katherine liked the chore. It made her feel strong and alive.

"I don't know, Izzy. Maybe because we are farther from the sun in the winter."

"Why are we farther from the sun?"

Bending, she balanced one of the split halves back on the log. "I don't know that either, sweetheart. Have you asked Aunt Mel?"

"Yeah. She says it's cuz the earth is on a lipsis. Why does it snow when it's cold?"

Swing, swoosh, crack. She picked up the cord of wood by her foot and tossed it toward the wood pile against the leeward wall of the house. Reached for a new log from the pile beside her. "Because the rain gets frozen on the way to the ground."

"Why does it rain?"

"Because the clouds get heavy and they can't hold all the water."

"How does the rain get in the clouds?"

Swing, swoosh, crack.

"Ma?"

"I don't know, Isobel. Because God puts it there."

"Why does God put rain in the clouds?"

"To water the plants."

"Why can't God just put the water right in the river?"

"Because that's not His will."

"Why?"

Swing, swoosh, crack. "Maybe because it's more interesting this way."

"Is that why God makes the winter? Cuz it's interesting?"

"Yes."

"Did God make snow so we can go sledding?"

"Maybe."

"Can we go sledding?"

Katherine leaned the axe head against the muddy ground and leaned on it, her heartbeat thrumming happily within her chest. Was she more exhausted by the chore, or by her daughter's inquisition?

Tough to tell.

"Soon, sweetheart. I told you, we have to wait for more snow."

Isobel sighed and leaned forward, scooping a small pile of snow together between her mittens.

"Izzy, stop that," Katherine scolded, setting the axe aside and striding over to her daughter. She dropped into a crouch and brushed the muddy snow off the soft, new buckskin mittens. "Those are brand new and they were a gift from Miss Amelia."

Isobel's shoulders sagged. "She said they're so I can play in the snow," she said woefully, staring at her hands. "Reb plays in the snow with her mittens."