Read Online Morning in Nicodemus by Ellen Gray Massey - Free Book Online Page A

hadn’t spoiled in the cool air, and the bugs hadn’t found it yet. When she wiped off some dirt that had fallen from the sod ceiling onto the lid, her pleasure of planting the field made her wonder if a woman would be allowed to homestead a plot. That thought hadn’t occurred to her before. She knew that the requirement was “head of a family.” Well, she could be head of a family one day. She was fifteen now. Six more years to go! She became excited. She would stake out a claim when she was twenty-one if women were allowed to.
    Â Â  But they probably weren’t, was her next thought. Women aren’t allowed to do nothing but keep house and raise babies.
    Â Â  Grabbing some dried stalks she’d gathered, she lit the stove to warm up the left-over stew she’d prepared for their noon dinner. The aroma filled the soddy, almost covering the lingering stench from the geese.
    Â 
    Â 
    *     *     *
    Â 
    Â 
    Â Â  Dejectedly Virgil turned his back to the river and hiked home to spend the night. It was too late to search more today. In the dark, two hours later he reached their homestead. Trudging in alone and discouraged, he didn’t need to tell his family he failed to find the two horses.
    Â Â  “The hogs came back,” Liberty said. “But not the horses.”
    Â Â  “The corn?” he asked.
    Â Â  “No, we didn’t finish.”
    Â Â  Marcus shook his head when Virgil glanced at him.
    Â Â  Virgil slumped in his chair.
    Â Â  Liberty explained. “It took almost all day for the soil to dry out so we could get the ground ready again for the seed bed.”
    Â Â  Virgil’s shoulders drooped even farther.
    Â Â  “But we got a lot done. We’ll finish tomorrow.”
    Â Â  “We’ll need Lady again in the morning,” Marcus said.
    Â Â  The dim candle light in the soddy matched Virgil’s mood.
    Â Â  “You’ll find the horses tomorrow,” Liberty said touching his arm.
    Â Â  Virgil nodded. “I lost their tracks at the river. "I'll look again in the morning.”
    Â Â  The three bone-weary Lander siblings spread out their bed pads, each anticipating the activities of the next day. Virgil would tramp over the prairie, Marcus would finish his planting almost on schedule, and Liberty could work outside. Virgil rested his head comfortably on his new pillow. Marcus blew out the candle. Liberty cuddled Nicky to her. They were all soon asleep.
    Â Â  Outside in the paddock Marcus had repaired from the storm’s damage, the cow and calf bedded down. The sow and her pigs grunted contentedly as they rooted in the bare ground of their pen for the few grains of corn Marcus threw to them. The geese had already gone to roost even before Virgil returned.

Chapter Five
    Â 
   The next day just as the sun was rising, Virgil was at his rocky ford. Removing his boots, shirt, and trousers and stowing them in his backpack, he waded across to the south side of the river, keeping to the shallower sandy areas when he could. The toes of his bare feet steadied him as he crossed the slab of slippery rock. The usual sluggish current of the river, restricted by the unusual rock formation, flowed more rapidly here. The cold water soaked him to his thighs. Safely across, shivering in the early morning coolness, he dressed quickly.
    Â Â  “I thought I’d find you here,” a soft voice said.
    Â Â  Trying not to show his surprise, he recognized the voice of Likes-to-Hunt, his Osage friend. 
    Â Â  “Hunter!” Virgil exclaimed in delight. “You’re back.”
    Â Â  “Yes. We’re here for a few days.”
    Â Â  “It’s good to see you.” Virgil pulled on his boots quickly and rose to greet his friend. Though tall, he didn’t match Hunter’s six foot five.
    Â Â  “You won’t be staying here