"Alright girls, sit down and I'll make us a nice cup of tea." Milly said calmly as she entered the kitchen. I moved slightly out of the way to give her some room and she put the kettle on the stove.
"You poor, poor girls." Milly murmured as she got cups out from the cupboard. "I just can't believe it. Just like a man." She huffed. The tea quickly came to a boil and she poured out the tea. I accepted mine gratefully, the warm cup warming my hands slightly. Sarah stood beside me, our backs to the warmth.
The tea soothed me a little bit and bit by bit I felt myself calming down enough to start thinking rationally.
"There's nothing like a nice hot cup of tea when you're all tuckered out." Milly said as she refilled our cups.
There was a knock at the door, and Gideon's voice called to us softly. "Milly? Milly it's me, Gideon. I've gotta speak to ya."
We all turned to Milly, horrified. "No Milly, please don't." I pleaded along with the others. To see even Gideon now would be unbearable.
Milly shushed us and went to the door. "What is it?" she called through the wood.
Gideon started talking about Adam leaving, and a part of me felt relieved. I knew that he was the ringleader. I saw it the barn-raising too. Gideon was pleading for Milly to go and talk to Adam. But Milly stood firm. As Gideon left I could feel myself relaxing again.
-7-
Milly showed us up the stairs and onto a little landing. "This here's where you'll be staying." She said as she opened the door.
The room was huge, but since there were six beds there it would have to be. This was obviously where the brothers slept.
"It's a good thing I just washed the sheets this morning. Oh look at this mess. I try not to disturb the room too much after all it is their private area, but honestly." Milly sighed as she started around the room, picking up shirts and other items that were lying on the floor. I stood there, watching her do this for a few seconds before it dawned on me that I should help. There were five beds along one side of the room, and a sixth on the opposite side.
I chose the bed nearest to the window and started making it. Milly had left the clean sheets neatly folded on top of each one. Mechanically I started tucking and smoothing. As I worked over one bed I noticed a small "B" faintly carved into the woodwork. Benjamin had obviously been bored one night. For a second I forgot about everything that had happened this night and smiled at the small letter. I stood up and looked around the room again.
The other girls had started to help too; each was making their own bed. Milly stood by the door, arms full of clothes with a satisfied look on her face. As I saw it, I realized what she was doing. Working had helped to ease the pain a little bit. It was still there, the homesickness, the fear and worry, but as I worked, my feelings were pushed to the back of my mind.
When I finished making my bed, I looked around for something else to work on. Near the bed I was working on and beside the window was a bureau. This obviously belonged to Benjamin, since it was nearest to his bed. I hesitated before opening it, and decided against it. In the corner was a chest, and beside it a chair. I sat in it and watched as the other girls stripped to their underclothes to sleep.
"Milly!" I cried and rushed across the room to the door. "What will I wear tomorrow? All I have is this nightgown."
"Come with me, Dorcas." She led me downstairs and past the kitchen into the laundry room. "Here we go." She picked up a gray flannel blanket and held it up for me. "Will this be enough?"
I eyeballed it and made some mental calculations. "Not for a full dress. It would be enough for a skirt though. But Milly, I don't want to go ruining your blankets."
She grabbed a few white sheets from another shelf and shushed me. "You can't go around in your nightclothes all winter, can you?" She turned around and opened a box. "Here are some buttons, some scissors, needles and thread. Will it be enough? Don't forget you'll have to make yourself some under-things as well."
"It's more than enough. Milly you're wonderful." I smiled at her and she smiled back.
"It's just plain common sense. Believe me, when you live with seven men, you need it." She chuckled. She led me back to the main room and stoked the fire.
"You'd better do your sewing in here. The other girls are so tired and it's warmer in here." She emptied her arms onto the table. "Do you want me to stay up with you?" She asked softly.
"No, I'll be alright." I smiled gratefully at her. "You look tired too."
"Okay, Dorcas. Good night." She retreated up the stairs and I turned to the material in front of me.
-7-
I was woken by the smell of bacon and coffee. As I slowly woke up, I realized that I had fallen asleep on the sofa, my new clothes completed. I gathered up the clothes and started up the stairs to get changed.
The girls were still sleeping when I entered the room. I walked quietly over to my chosen bed and quickly changed into my newly-made clothes. They were very simple, with no frills or anything fancy, but at least I had something to wear.
I made my way back downstairs again and into the kitchen. Milly was calmly going about her work. The table was set and there were huge trays sitting there.
"Good morning, Milly." I said softly as I entered the room.
"Oh, good morning Dorcas." She smiled as she turned from the stove. "I'm just getting breakfast ready to take out to the boys. Do you want to help me?" She asked.
I squared my shoulders and raised my chin slightly. "Of course I can. I'm not going to let this get to me. After all," my voice softened. "The other girls are all very upset. I need to be strong for them, to show them that life goes on and that we might as well deal with it."
Milly smiled at me. "Good. I was hoping you'd feel like that. You know, when you first came to the town, we were unsure how well you'd adapt. Living in Oregon is different from the east. The men and especially the women have to be tougher."
"It was hard," I said as I started to put plates, forks and knives on the trays. "But I love it. When we lived in the east, all I ever did was play the piano, dance and sit there."
"Was there anyone special to you?" She asked as we started to fill up the tray.
"Not really. A few times I thought there might be, but somehow it always felt wrong." I stopped talking as I remembered dancing in Ben's arms, and how it felt so right.
"Dorcas, can I give you a little advice? I'll tell the others this too, but I think you're ready to hear it now. Don't be too hard on them. Everybody makes mistakes, and those boys look up to Adam like a god. I'm afraid that it really is my fault that you're here. I made a few comments, and Adam, being the man that he is, came up with the ridiculous idea in the first place."
"Milly, there's no way you could have known what he would do." I comforted her. "We're going to be here for a long time. Last winter we didn't get a thaw until March, remember that? It's only September now. If we're going to be here for five months, I'd rather everybody be on good terms."
"You're right." She smiled at me as she covered the tray with a cloth to keep the snow off of it. "Now do you feel up to taking the trays to them, or do you want me to do it?"
"There are two trays, so we can each take one." I suggested. "Then we don't have to make two trips."
"Alright then," she opened the door and I grabbed a tray.
We trudged through the snow to the barn. Milly was leading, after all: they were her brothers.
"Come on now, up!" Milly yelled as she entered the barn door. They were all sitting down in a group.
"Milly!" Gideon yelled.
Milly calmly handed him a tray. Ben stepped forward to take mine from me. His hand brushed mine and I remember the feel of them as they grabbed me and held me quiet during that terrible ride last night. I practically threw it at him and he took a slow step back. I looked down at the ground.
"Just because I'm mad at you doesn't mean I'm gonna let you starve to death." Milly said shortly. "Now I'm gonna tell you something for your own good. Don't you forget that those girls in there are hurt? You may not have hurt them physically, but by tearing them away from their families you've hurt them."
I couldn't take my eyes off the ground. I could feel his eyes on me. Milly turned around and I followed her slowly.
When we reach the barn doors I heard one of them say "Well Benjamin, looks like you're a step through that front door ahead of us."
I turned around, furious. I met the eyes of Ben and my own eyes narrowed. I turned on my heel and walked back to the house. If Benjamin Pontipee thought that I was going to forgive him so quickly, he had another think coming.