Page 14 of A Joyful Ring
Risa glanced over her shoulder and looked at her father as he took a bite of the crispy bacon. Although he hadn’t said anything, she had a sneaking suspicion her father was sweet on someone. Ever since Mr. Newton, the mine owner, had rented a room for the freighters to share at a boardinghouse in Baker City last fall, Papa came home from those trips with a look in his eye she hadn’t seen since her mother had died.
She was happy for her father if he were indeed opening his heart to love again. He’d been lonely for far too long. However, it would take a lot to convince him to pursue anyone. Risa was sure he’d remain alone until she was happily wed.
The likelihood of that happening here in the uninviting town of Lovely was as slim as the possibility of her father walking outside and finding a gold nugget the size of a washtub sitting by their door.
Risa had no interest in or intention of getting tangled up with anyone who worked at the mine. She hated that her father worked there, even if he was a freighter. Or perhaps it was especially because of that job. On the days he hauled explosives, she found it challenging to make it through the necessary tasks at the boardinghouse because she spent so much of the time sending up fervent prayers for his safekeeping.
Leo, the freighter who’d been blown to smithereens a few weeks ago, was the third freighter to die in a transportation explosion of which Risa was aware. There’d also been two freighters who’d quit because their nerves couldn’thandle the job any longer. And there was the unfortunate man who’d stepped off the wagon to move what he thought was a branch out of the road, and reached out toward a riled rattlesnake. The snake bit him multiple times, and he died before anyone could find him to offer help.
It wasn’t any wonder Mr. Newton paid the freighters well and provided extras for them no one else working for the Juniper Point Mine received, like a room at the boardinghouse and meals at a restaurant in Baker City.
In the past, the freighters alternated days of hauling loads from the mine into Baker City so one of them was always going with a load, while the other was coming back with supplies. Risa wondered how long the new fellow would last. For the most part, she knew the job wasn’t dangerous. Just on the days the wagon held the explosives.
Risa sent up a prayer of thanks her father had returned safely, even if all he’d been hauling today were food supplies for Jed.
The scrape of a chair drew her attention back to her father and pulled her from her musings. He stood and carried his plate to the sink, then winked at her.
“If you think you can behave for a minute or two, I brought you a surprise,” he said, opening the door and retrieving a box.
Risa waited as he crossed the small room that served as their living area, kitchen, and his bedroom. He set the box on the table, and the glow from their kerosene lamp made the box full of big ripe cherries glisten like ruby treasures.
“Oh, Papa! Fresh cherries!” She wrapped her arms around her father and gave him a tight hug, then laughed as he kissed her cheek.
“What do you think of those beauties?”
“I think they are divine!” Risa picked up a cherry and popped it in her mouth, savoring the sweetness of the fruit. “They’re delicious. Sweeter than any we’ve had before.”
“They are sweet and juicy, and big compared to others I’ve seen and eaten. Will you use them for the picnic tomorrow?”
Risa shook her head. “No. I think I’ll bake a pie for supper since you invited a guest to join us. I’ll can what’s left so we can enjoy them later.”
“That sounds like a fine plan, Risa. You have plenty of jars, don’t you?”
Risa nodded and looked to the rag rug on the floor that hid the cellar door. They’d dug the cellar after the shack had been built. It had been hard work hauling out the dirt one bucketful at a time, but it gave them a secure place to store not only food for the winter, but also anything of value they didn’t want stolen.
Unlike most of the shacks in town that had been hastily assembled on a small lot, they’d managed to purchase a few acres where they kept their team of horses, chickens, a milk cow, and three pigs that would be turned into bacon and hams in November. Risa knew how fortunate they were to have enough money to buy the land and build the barn and outbuildings. Their current abode was temporary, made from the leftover lumber they used for the barn.
One day, she’d have a real home instead of the shack, although her father had built it sturdier than the rest of the others. While the outside might not look any different from the line of shacks heading into Lovely, the inside was warm in the winter because her father had made sure there were no cracks where the wind could blow through. They even had one glass-paned window in the front of the shack, and right now it allowed a welcome cooling breeze into the house. On one of his trips to Baker City, her father had acquired a roll of fine-meshed screen and used it to make a screen for the window to keep out bugs, as well as screen doors for both the front and back of the shack. Once the sun had set and a slight breeze blew, the shack cooled off quickly when both doors and the window were open. She appreciated the fact that she could lock the screens to keep intruders out while allowing the fresh air inside.
“What are you planning to take to the potluck, Risa?” her father asked as he looked over the cherries and then popped one in his mouth. “If I’m not mistaken, I smell my favorite treat.”
Risa opened the tin where she’d stored the dessert and held it out to her father.
“Lebkuchen. I knew I smelled the spices when I came home. Thank you, Girlie.”
She watched as her father bit into the soft bar that wasn’t quite cake or a cookie, but was rich and dense and spicy. It was something her father remembered enjoying as a boy in Germany, and she was pleased to be able to bake something he loved so much. She gave him a second cookie before shesettled the lid back on the tin.
“To answer your question, Papa, I’ll take the lebkuchen, as well as sauerkraut and potato salad. It was good of Mr. Newton to contribute the beef. Will Jed manage to roast it without ruining it?” Risa teased.
“We can hope. I heard Mr. Goodwin say he was going to keep an eye on it, so it should be edible.” Lars brushed the crumbs from his hands over the sink, then pumped a glass of water, which he drained before he yawned. “It’s been a long day and I’m tired. Mind if I turn in?”
“No, Papa. There’s nothing that can’t wait until morning.” Risa lit a candle and stuck it in the holder she’d left sitting on a shelf by the stove. She took it with her outside to the outhouse, and returned to see her father already settled into his bed that lined the wall closest to the sink. They didn’t own much furniture, even if they’d had room for it, which they didn’t.
A dining table with four chairs filled the center of the shack. Two rocking chairs and a small table between them were on the wall opposite her father’s bed. A dresser that had belonged to Risa’s grandmother was on one side of the front door. A bookcase made from old crates sat beneath the window on the other side. The back wall of the shack held shelves and a large tin box they’d found on the side of the road, where they stored anything Risa feared rodents might get into.
A small doorway near the stove opened into a room just large enough for Risa’s bed and a chest of drawers that had been hers for as long as she couldremember.
On silent feet, Risa blew out the wick in the kerosene lamp and crossed the floor to her room. “Night, Papa,” she whispered.
