Chapter 7
The next morning when Meg awoke, she was a bit disoriented at first and had to remember where she was at. When she smelled eggs and bacon frying on the stove, she suddenly remembered. She then got up and went over to the table, still a bit sleepy.
"Good morning sleepyhead, it's good to see you awake at last." Jack said with a bit of humor in his voice.
"Thanks for the breakfast, but you didn't have to do that. You should have woke me up and I would've made you breakfast. I'm here to help Alena with that." she said through a yawn.
"Aw it's fine. My brother and I usually get up soon after dawn to start some of our chores, but you looked so peaceful there that I thought you needed your rest. Plus I figured that you'd probably had a long day yesterday and all..." he said as he set the food on the table.
"Oh thank you Jack, that was really nice of you. Very thoughtful.." she said as she spooned some oatmeal on her plate.
They exchanged pleasant conversation, while Josh came in from outdoors and Alena awoke from her bed. They all joined into the conversation, until the men said that they had to check on some of the livestock, while the women announced that they had to get busy finishing a few of the other chores around there, so they went their separate ways to get to work.
Meg started with the breakfast dishes, which didn't take too long. Then she helped Alena take care of her needs while they chatted for awhile. Alena gave her a few tips about the household chores when Meg asked, then Alena worked on some mending while Meg dealt with the larger tasks.
It was then Meg decided that the clothes needed washed, so she took the washtub from beside the outside of the house and fill it with water from the well. The tub was a bit cumbersome to fill straight from the well pump, so Meg decided to bring it by the bucketful to the place around the back of the house closest to the clothesline, and build the fire up for the load of laundry there.
It took her quite a while to get the laundry set, with the kettle boiling over the open fire and the laundry loaded in with the soap, so she went to check on Alena. Finding Alena resting again, Meg decided to go back outdoors to the laundry. She had just sat down on a stump, when Jack came around to see what she was up to.
"Hello kiddo, and what do we have brewing here? Looks like quite the stew!"
"It's not a stew, it's our laundry! Check it out for yourself!"
"So you decided to boil the clothes over an open fire?" he inquired.
"Ya so? How else would you do it?" she asked.
"Well I guess maybe just heat up a bit of water on the stove or something. Or maybe wash them in the creek..." he volunteered.
"Oh yeah I guess I didn't think of that..." she responded.
"Well, I guess you can do things your own way now. Just so's the fire's not too close to the cabin and all..." he said.
"Aw the clothes are coming out fine and are almost done. Although I'd get finished much faster if you helped me with the ringer part..." she tauntingly pleaded.
Suddenly Jack got a bemused look on his face and said, "Aw Meg you don't have to beg, I'll help you...Uh I then, I have something to show you in the barn." as he proceeded to help her run a few more items of clothes through the ringer, until they were satisfactorily finished. Then the walked toward the barn.
Meg had no idea what he was talking about, but she decided to follow him anyway. He led them into the barn and past the first couple horse stalls and into the last one, where a chocolate brown mare stood. When they approached, she turned her head and wanted a treat. Jack scratched her forelock and mane, then motioned for Meg to do the same.
"Meg, say hello to Dolly. I've had this mare for a little more than a year now. She is Alena's mare, but since her pregnancy these past few months, Alena's been unable to ride her...So then I asked Alena and she agreed to let you ride Dolly, since you're smaller than me...just be careful."
Meg was astonished and didn't know what to say. She petted the horse a bit, then said "Thank you Jack, don't know what to say. I've never been given a horse before...and Alena doesn't mind?"
"No, she said she didn't mind, as long as you take care of her and share the horse once Alena feels up to riding again. You do ride, don't you?" he asked.
"Yes, a little. Though it only been bareback on a pony a few times." she said shyly.
"Oh well Dolly's gentle enough, but we'll have to go riding sometime soon. Would you like that?" he asked.
"Yeah that would really be fun. Sometime we should do that." she stated. She also looked at Jack and thought that he was quite kind sometimes.
He then showed her around the rest of the farmyard, told her that apart from her household chores, he also wanted her to help with feeding the chickens, slopping the hogs, and milking the cow at least once a day. Meg saw that he had her time on the farm already planned out for her and she sighed. She knew that most of the chores went along with living on a typical farm, but she didn't know if he knew that she knew that or not, so she just kept quiet for a moment.
Jack and Josh had to go to another neighbor's to borrow an implement they were going to need for harvest soon. During their time away, Meg and Alena had more time getting to know each other as well, although Meg could tell even Alena sensed she wasn't long for this world. When Meg asked her what kept her so calm, Alena replied had Meg help her find her Bible and then she proceeded to show her the passages the spoke of Jesus' promises in Heaven. Alena attempted to show Meg the way to the Lord, but she knew Meg would have to make the choice in her own time.
