The girls were still in bed when we entered the kitchen. Milly sent me to go wake them up while she put more bacon on the stove. As I climbed the stairs, I felt my anger rising.

"Come on, girls. It's time to get up." I said in a loud voice. A few of them raised their heads groggily.

"What's the point?" Sarah murmured.

"Come on," I pulled the covers off of the nearest bed, revealing Ruth's rumpled blonde curls. "We've got to get up and show these guys that we're more than just objects that can be taken whenever they get the fancy to have a wife." I walked up and down the room.

"They're all out there thinking that this will all blow over soon; that after a few days we'll let them back in the house. We've got to show them that there are consequences for their actions and that we're people too, with wills of our own and that we're going to hold firm."

By this time the girls were sleepily climbing out of their beds and half-heartedly getting dressed.

"Come on, breakfast is almost ready." I turned and walked to the door. I stopped in the doorway and turned back. "Besides, we ought to think of Milly. With seven more mouths to feed, we need to help her as much as we can." With that, I left the room.

-7-

"Now girls, there's a lot of work to be done. I can use your help to get the cabin ready for winter." Milly bustled around the kitchen while she talked. I stopped chewing for a moment to marvel at her. "What with having 7 men to take care of, I haven't had much time to really get the place looking nice." She chuckled. "You should have seen the place when I first came. It was a pigsty. I've got most of it cleaned up, but for some reason I never seem to get any further along. Now that you're here you can help me with that. Are you girls willing to help me?" Milly asked as she sat down at the table and began eating her own breakfast.

I was silent, waiting for one of the others to speak for the group; I realized that it wouldn't do any good for me to speak for them. They needed to make the decisions for themselves.

"Sure Milly," little Alice spoke up.

"Oh course we'll help!" Sarah stood up and began clearing the dishes.

"Oh good. Girls, you have no idea now nice it is to see your faces. I've missed you all so much. Now, Martha and Liza, I want you to was the windows upstairs. Sarah and Alice, I want you to wash the windows downstairs. Ruth, you can do the dusting and Dorcas, can you please get the floors swept? I'm going to be doing laundry. Oh, Dorcas" she stood up and beckoned to me. I followed her to the small laundry room. She reached into her pocket and drew out a piece of orange cloth. When she handed it to me, I realized it was a small collar.

"Thank you, Milly!" I said as I affixed the collar. "It's perfect, just what my blouse needs."

She smiled at me and led me back to the kitchen.

-7-

I like sweeping. The rhythmic movements of moving the broom back and forth is very calming. I had tuned the outside world out when all of a sudden Ruth burst in the door, giggling.

"Ruth, what's wrong?" I wondered.

"The boys were shovelling near the house, probably hoping to catch a glimpse of us. Well I gave him more than a glimpse." She chuckled. "I pushed the snow off the windowsill at him. You should have seen the look on his face."

I couldn't help but smile a bit at this. "Well on one hand it serves him right. On the other, the boys do need to do the outside chores around here. Shovelling around the house is one of those chores."

"I know," Ruthh sighed. "But just this once I needed to, just to show him that we're still mad and that even though we're so close to each other, we're still so very far apart." She trailed off with a dreamy look in her eye.

I raised an eyebrow and she snapped back. "What?" She huffed as she left the room.

I chuckled again and went back to my sweeping. I stopped again when she came back into the room.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you. Daniel and Ephraim were with Caleb and while they were laughing at what I'd done to Caleb, Martha and Liza poured their water on them. It was hilarious." She laughed and exited the room.

For the second time, I started to sweep again, but this time I was interrupted by my own thought. I went running off to find Milly.

I found her where she said she'd be: in the wash room. "Milly, just now Ruth told me about how she pushed the snow off the windowsill onto Caleb and how when Daniel and Ephraim were laughing at him Martha and Liza dumped the water from washing the window onto them."

"Dorcas, calm down and speak a little slower." Milly laughed.

"Well, to make a long story short, the reason I'm here is because Martha and Liza dumped water all over Daniel and Ephraim. I'm worried because it's cold and if they're wet they might get sick." I said frankly. "I was wondering if you could go and see if they're all right."

"Of course I will. Thanks for telling me. And don't worry about telling Martha or Liza. I know just what to say."

"You always do," I smiled and left the room.

I returned to the room I was sweeping and looked down at the pile of rubble. I quickly picked up a few pebbles and rushed to the living room where I found Alice and Sarah. "Girls, has Ruth been in here?"

"Yes," Sarah replied. "And we've got our basin of water all ready."

"Since we're on the ground floor, throwing the water and them would be trickier." I opened my hand to reveal the rocks. "I have a better idea."

The snow was cold, and our little stockpile of snowballs didn't melt fast. "I need to get back to my work." I said as I picked up a single snowball.

"How will you know when Benjamin comes?" Alice asked.

"Are you sure you only want one?" Sarah chimed in.

"I'll know, and I might not even need this one." I smiled as I left the room.

Would I throw a snowball at him? I honestly didn't know. I needed to do something to show him my anger, but another part of me didn't like the idea. I shrugged off the feelings and decided to go with my instincts at the time.

I swept slower, listening to any sounds that could be made by Benjamin. All of a sudden I froze. It was his laugh, and I could hear the rumble of his deep voice. Quickly I opened the door and threw.

I've always been told I have a good arm.

-7-

That night at dinner the girls were all in better spirits. They were laughing and talking about what they had done to the boys earlier that day. While they were eating, Milly and I left to deliver the boy's trays.

"I shouldn't have let you do this, Dorcas." Milly shook her head slightly. "You don't even have a coat on."

"Its okay, the shawl is helping quite a bit." The metal trays were making my hands feel ten times colder than they would have been normally, tucked under the shawl, which wasn't really helping as much as I said it was.

"Well, we're almost there. I really do thank you, Dorcas."

"Milly, you're doing so much for us, this is the least I could do. And I want you to know that if you ever need anything I will always be ready to do it." I forced my cold lips to move upwards in a smile.

Milly shifted the tray she was carrying onto one hand and opened the barn door. We walked in and set the trays down on the bench. The men were nowhere to be seen.

"Now where are those boys?" Milly wondered. "I need to find out if Ephraim and Daniel are alright." I looked at her, surprised. "No, I waited before asking. I thought you might want to hear it for yourself. After all, it was your idea that they might get sick."

I turned around to look again and right in front of me was Benjamin.