Chapter Seven

Sonny had been excited when Rachel had given him the small bag of candy after dinner. Rachel said that Mr. Cartwright had purchased them for him but she had held them back until he ate a good meal. "You know," she had told Sonny, "that you'd eat that whole bag and have no appetite left. "

"Gee, Mr. Cartwright, thank you." Sonny grinned widely and popped a gum drop in his mouth.

"Sonny," Rachel said, "where are your manners?"

"I said thank you," Sonny then realized what she meant. "Oh, would you like one, Mr. Cartwright?" Sonny held out the bag.

"No, thank you. I'm not one much for candy but now Rachel's rhubarb pie that I had after lunch—that was what I like as far as sweets. That was a better pie than even our Chinese cook at home could make even if he tried. He thinks rhubarb is only for purges and the hogs and refuses to use it, even when we run out of canned peaches."

Rachel blushed and looked down. "Thank you. I'm pleased you thought so highly of it."

"Don't put ideas in her head about her baking, Adam. She's not half the cook or baker that my wife, Sally was." Adam said nothing and Elias asked Sonny for a piece of candy. Sonny reluctantly held out the bag and Elias stuck his fingers in and pulled out a peppermint. Then Sonny held the bag toward Rachel.

"Rachel would you like one?" It was obvious he hoped she didn't.

"No, Sonny, they're yours. Now you go do your practice ciphering for school but don't make yourself sick by eating all your candy at one time. You wake up with a stomach ache and it's a dose of castor oil for you."

Sonny pushed his chair in and thanked Adam one more time and left for his room.

"You shouldn't have wasted your money on candy," Elias said to Adam. "Rachel makes some sugar candy sometimes and he eats too much of that as it is."

"It was only a few pennies and I don't mind…."

"More coffee?" Rachel asked, standing and taking up the plates.

"Here. Let me help you," Adam said standing to gather the serving bowl and platter.

"That's all right," Rachel said. "It's no trouble. Sit back down and I'll bring out the coffee pot. We have sugar now instead of sorghum so that's a real treat. I'll have a cup with both sugar and cream when I cut out my apron patterns."

Adam noticed that Rachel hadn't mentioned the blue ribbon. He was certain he knew why; she was afraid that Elias would be angry, chastise her for wanting fancy things and might very well make her use the ribbon as decoration on an apron to get a higher price for it. Or he might tell Adam to leave and Adam had the impression that Rachel very much wanted him to stay.

Elias offered Adam a drink of hard cider as they sat in the parlor. Adam accepted one glass and sipped at it as he wrote a letter sitting at the small secretary. Adam had examined the purchase documents of Elias' land and found that he owned all the mineral rights to the property. Elias sat, satisfied with the discovery and drank more hard cider and even hummed to himself. Adam could only imagine what Elias was thinking.

Rachel worked in the kitchen with her muslin pattern cutting out the shapes for the aprons to be stitched. But she noticed as she glanced out to the parlor, that Adam writing. She was curious so she contrived a reason to go out to where her husband and Adam sat.

"Mr. Cartwright," she said as she came out holding the coffee pot and a cup and saucer. "Would you like a cup of coffee?"

Adam looked and saw her standing beside him. "Well since you have it here, yes. I wouldn't have bothered you for one but since you offered." He smiled and pushed back the chair so that Rachel could place the cup and saucer on the desk top.

Rachel poured and glanced at the paper; she couldn't understand the small bit she was able to read. "Are you writing your family?"

"No, the state geological department to send out a geologist. There may be oil on your property that might make you a rich woman."

"Really?" Rachel's eyes widened—the vivid blue put Adam in mind of the clear skies over the Ponderosa.

"Rachel, we aren't rich yet and may never be; it takes money to make money and we haven't got any. Now go back to your work; we have bills to pay."

Rachel glanced once more at Adam, then still holding the coffee pot, she reluctantly went back to the kitchen. She replaced the coffee pot on the stove and looked down at the fabric and pinned pattern. She was tired of working, not having sat down for more than a few minutes all day. At least she considered, she would be able to sit while stitching the aprons. Rachel stretched her back and then went back to her pattern cutting.

It was late, Elias had left for bed and Adam had finished with the lists of what he felt should be planted since gathering more cattle would be impossible at the moment. As he had told Elias, "You still have to eat so you might as well raise a little grain and such." He rose and carried his cup and saucer to the kitchen and was surprised to see Rachel still working. She had begun stitching the hems around the sides of the aprons.

"Oh, Mr. Cartwright, I would've gotten that. It's late and you must be tired. You go on to bed."

"I would think you'd be tired," Adam said as he pumped water over the stoneware. "You've been up since before me."

"Oh, I have so much to do but I guess I should go to bed. Did Elias go?"

"About fifteen minutes ago. I woke him up; he had fallen asleep in his chair. I was looking through the seed catalogues and the farm equipment. I think that you might do better growing wheat and maybe a few fruit trees than cattle. I could make you some strawberry boxes and you could plants blueberries…well, I was just considering."

"Elias would never go with that; he wants to raise cattle. According to him, men raise cattle and women grow the plants for food but it would be nice to have my own strawberries to put up preserves."

"Well, you order a seed packet and I'll build the box. I know the perfect place for it too."

"Thank you, Mr. Cartwright."

"You're welcome. Goodnight." Adam left the kitchen and went to the small room, stripping off the clothes that had been Elias' son. He folded them neatly and noticed then that Rachel had placed his clean clothes on one of the shelves that had held jars and other goods but was now practically empty. He lay down and pulled the blankets up and quickly fell asleep, dreaming about digging into the earth, digging a deep hole while the dirt constantly fell back in. Then suddenly he woke; someone had touched him.

"What…Mrs. Fell? What is it? Is something wrong?" Adam sat up and in the light from the high, narrow window, Rachel's white skin seemed to glow as she kneeled beside him.

"No, I just…please." She reached out for him and touched his face and then ran her hand down to his chest, placing the palm flat against his skin. "I just…" She leaned over and kissed him and Adam froze. He knew he shouldn't encourage her. He was a guest in their home and she was Elias' wife. But he was lonely, perhaps lonelier than she was and it would be hard to say which of the two was more damaged by life. But Rachel was lovely and good and warm and Adam found himself kissing her face, her mouth and then her white neck. He pulled her closer to him while she wrapped her arms about him and surrendered to him completely; a silent sob rose in his throat at the tenderness of women-of Rachel. And it wasn't long before the two of them were grasping for one another and finding comfort in each other that made them forget all their suffering. And for the first time in what to Adam seemed like a lifetime ago, he fell asleep cradling a woman next to him and feeling her smooth skin beneath his hands and her soft, fragrant hair against his throat.