A Time to Bloom (Leah's Garden #2)(6)

“Pretty.” Sofie looked up at Lark. “You a bird?”

Lark swooped her up again. “No, Lark is short for Larkspur. That’s a flower we will have blooming here later this summer.”

“Oh.” Sofie patted Lark’s cheeks with her small hands. “Pretty.”

Robbie pondered this. “And Mama is Forsythia, and she said that is a bush that blooms bright yellow after winter.”

“That’s right.” How Lark enjoyed watching him puzzle things out.

“And Auntie Del?”

“Is short for Delphinium, a flower that also blooms in the summer.”

“What color is your flower?”

“Blue, and Delphinium is also blue.”

“And Auntie Lilac?”

“Lilac is a bush with purple blossoms that smell wonderful. We might have one bloom next year.” She pointed to the other garden. “We have two growing over there and may transplant one closer to the house. They were too small to bloom this year.”

They needed to plant more lilacs and forsythia around the vegetable garden too. She’d heard they could deter grasshoppers. The last thing they needed was another influx of the swarming vermin that had besieged the region last summer before the Nielsens arrived. There were so many things to worry over, or rather try not to worry over. But, Lord, how do I not worry about tomorrow yet still be prepared for it?

“Auntie Del said come eat.” Sofie slid down to the ground.

Lark took Robbie’s hand, and they trotted to the house.

“Wash your hands,” Del called from the kitchen.

“Eat outside?” Robbie asked.

“On the bench. How did the hoeing go?” Del asked as Lark washed her hands at the basin.

“We hit a couple of rocks that we need to dig out. It got mighty hot out there. I think the oxen are as done in as I am.” She lifted her face to the slight breeze, her sunbonnet hanging down her back. “Wading in the creek sounds like a good idea,”

“Me too, me too.” Robbie and Sofie matched in words, then giggled at what they’d done.

Del set a plate of sandwiches on the bench. “Robbie, would you please say grace?”

They all bowed their heads.

“Dear Papa God, thank you for this food that Auntie Del made for us. Amen.”

“Thank you, Robbie.” Del raised an eyebrow at Lark, quickly blinking a couple of times in the same motion.

Lark sniffed and nodded. Papa God. Lord, thank you for this child you have given us. His trust was a lesson she needed. She looked at Lilac, who was cutting half a sandwich in half again for Sofie to hold, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

The children each drank milk from tin cups while the women drank coffee.

Lark finished her sandwich and got up to bring the coffeepot for refills. “Our plowshare needs sharpening. We sure could use a blacksmith in town.”

“It’s a shame that one with the railroad moved on with the crew.” Lilac took another bite of fried-egg sandwich. “You sure make good sandwiches, Del.”

“Fresh baked bread makes anything taste special,” Del said. “What do towns do to get someone like a blacksmith to move in?”

“Well, they post notices in newspapers, for one thing,” Lark said. “But there has to be enough business for them.”

Lilac leaned back against the wall of the house. “Remember how Mr. Holt used to shoe his own horses? Sometimes he fixed a wagon wheel or something. He always said that if a man wanted to ranch or farm, he needed to be able to fix his machinery and care for his livestock.”

“You think this might be something to bring up at the town meeting?” Del asked. “Maybe someone knows how to sharpen a plowshare, at least.”

“Sharpen it too many times more, and we won’t have any plowshare left.” Always something else needed in this new life. Here Lark had thought their first year of homesteading would be hardest, but they’d barely begun. Establishing the farm, getting Leah’s Garden going, helping build the town—it all made her feel out of breath at times, even when sitting still.

“Auntie Lilac, are we going to the creek?” Robbie asked.

Lark looked at the children. Sofie was fighting to stay awake, almost slumped against Robbie. “I think someone is ready for a nap.”

Del smiled as she stood and scooped up the little one. “I’ll put her down. Robbie, we’ll go to the creek later.”

“Then I can help weed in the garden?” He looked to Lark, who nodded. “And maybe go fishing in the creek too?” Now he looked to Lilac, who grinned and nodded back.

“I’ll come weed too,” Lilac said. “Good thing it rained yesterday so we don’t have to haul water to the garden. Of course, that means the weeds sprouted and grew overnight.”

Lark nodded. “As a child, I thought the rain showered weeds as well as water.”

Robbie stared at her. “Does the rain do that?”

“No, the seeds are already in the ground, and the rain makes them sprout faster.”

“So if you pull out the weeds before they go to seed,” Lilac added, “we won’t have so many weeds to fight.”

He studied Lilac. “So weeds are bad?”

“They choke out the vegetables.” Lark held out her hand. “Come on, let’s go get them.”