Page 29 of Mail Order Midnight

“You don’t have to ask. I’m offering. I always helped my ma with it, and someone did it before I arrived, so I feel like it’s not really spring. Help me to know it’s the right season!”

Abigail laughed at her friend. “You talked me into it.”

Constance started by taking down the sheet that hung between the bedroom and the rest of the house, taking it outside to brush and hang, getting the cleansing power of the sun. Then she dragged out the mattress and the bed itself, scrubbing them down, using a feather in each small hole in the bedstead.

Once that was finished, she scrubbed the walls and floor in the bedroom. “Is it all right if I don’t whitewash the ceiling?” she asked Abigail. “I fear that would leave your home upended, and I don’t plan to return until Monday.”

“Please skip the whitewashing. I can do that as part of my fall cleaning this year.”

“Then your bedroom is done other than the windows, which I’ll do all at once, and the bed being brought back inside. I think I got every bit of dust out of it.”

Abigail smiled. “I appreciate all you’re doing, but you really don’t have to.”

“Of course, I don’t. I do it with love for my friend.” And she started on the floor in the main room. The house was tiny, so it was no real inconvenience to do the spring cleaning for her.

By the end of the day, the windows were washed, all the floors and walls scrubbed, and the stove blackened. There was nothing that didn’t look shiny and new but the ceiling, and that could easily be taken care of with the fall cleaning.

When it was suppertime, the two men came into the house, and Constance scolded them both to remove their boots before stepping indoors. “I put too much time into scrubbing these floors to have the two of you spread dirt everywhere before the sun even sets.”

Both men took their boots off and left them on the front stoop, before walking in to wash their hands with the water pump. They sat down, and Mark said their prayer, thanking God for sending such wonderful friends to them.

Abigail seemed awfully tired after sitting in her chair awake all day, but she still seemed better than she had the previous two days. “I don’t think you’ll need to come back on Monday,” Abigail said to Constance. “You’ve done so much, and I’m getting my strength back.”

“All right, but if you change your mind, have Mark bring me a note, and I’ll be here as fast as I can.”

Before they left, Leonard looked at Mark. “We’re going to go choose one.”

Mark nodded. “We certainly don’t need them all.”

“Choose what?” Constance asked.

Leonard just smiled, taking her hand and pulling her out the door and toward the barn. Once inside, he led her to an empty stall, and there she saw what he meant. Four small kittens. “Mark says they’re all weaned, and we just need to choose which we want.”

Constance clapped her hands together, excited that he’d remembered her request from her first week in Sioux Falls. “They’re adorable!”

“Well, pick one! I want to get home before midnight!”

“Why?” she asked, cheekily. “You are never home before midnight!”

He chuckled. “Just pick a kitten.”

“How old are they?” she asked, sinking down on the straw and looking at the fluffy little creatures.

“Mark said eight weeks. So they’re ready for new homes now.”

“Oh, I want them all!” Reaching out, she picked a little calico kitten up and tucked it under her chin. When the kitten purred she smiled. “I want this one.”

Leonard took the kitten from her, turning it over onto its back. “It’s a female.”

“All right.” Constance looked at him. “Is this one the one you want?”

He shrugged. “I don’t care one way or the other.”

“Then I’m taking this one. Thank you for arranging this for me!”

“I thought it might make you a little less lonely for your family.”

Her breath caught as she stared at him. “You understand I’m lonely for my family now?”

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