Lone Pine Bride (The Brides of Lone Pine #1)(36)

She might have left the peas in their pods, Hannah thought, though she knew you didn’t eat them. “Should I take the skins off the potatoes?” she asked.

“It depends on whether you want to impress anyone.” Lucille giggled. “Do you want to impress Seth?”

“No. He knows I can’t cook.”

“Nor can he and I bet he won’t be able to catch a fish either. My mother catches ours.”

“You’re invaluable,” Hannah said. “Thank you.”

Lucille walked into the larder. “I could do a pudding if you want. Seth has that new Bird’s custard powder and I’ve made that before. All you need to make custard with it is add sugar and milk. He’s got some milk in here.”

“Thank you.”

Hannah started to run water over the vegetables before putting them in the huge pot. She looked at the potatoes and they had all been scrubbed. Throwing a pile into the pot she peeled off the greenery from the corn and put the cobs in as well. This was easy and this was fun, she thought, and her Seth would be impressed. Her mother would be impressed.

Her mother and she shouldn’t have left without telling them where she was going. But if she had and if they heard of the earthquake they would be worried. She filled the pot with water from a large jug which stood on the table and Lucille walked over with a small container which had the word Birds written on it.

“Where’s the sugar?” she asked.

“I don’t know. I’ll look in the larder.” Hannah fetched it, began to take peas from their pods and drop them in the pot.

“I’ll use that jug to mix it and then we have to put it on the stove.”

“We can do that,” Hannah said. “Do you cook at home?”

“No, not often, but I notice what mama does. Didn’t your mother teach you how to cook?”

“My mother doesn’t need to cook. She has people to do it for her.”

“Are you rich?”

“No, but my parents are quite well off.“

“Why did you come here then?”

“Because it sounded an interesting place and Seth sounded a nice man, which he is.”

“He’s a good catch,” Lucille said. A good catch? Hannah smiled. “You’ll be alright with him. If he wasn’t so old I’d like him but I’ll find someone like him when I’m older. Shall we have fruit with our custard? Seth has strawberries in his garden and some other fruit also. We have too but I guess they’ve gone now after the earthquake.” Lucille’s expression was sad as she started to mix the custard. “We haven’t got a house anymore.”

“We’ll help you build another one,” Hannah said without thinking. She frowned in concentration as she recalled. Not we, as in this Seth, but surely the other one would be willing to help. “Only we won’t build it with adobe like all the other houses. We’ll use wood. Maybe your father will let you help design it.”

“I’ll ask him.” Lucille pushed the mixed custard powder and sugar over to Hannah. “Just add milk and stir it, then warm it in a smaller pot on the stove until it thickens. Keep stirring so it doesn’t burn. It tells you what to do on the side.”

She went through to the other room and Hannah carefully mixed the custard per the instructions. She poured it into a bowl after she finished and made her way outside to look for the strawberries. It was so sad for all those affected by the earthquake and it didn’t seem to be over now because every now and again the earth would shake and sometimes quite violently. She filled a bowl with fruit, went back in and Seth walked into the kitchen.

“I’m about to straighten Wilfred’s leg,” he said. “Do you want to watch?”

“How do you know how to do that?” Hannah asked. “I thought only a doctor could.”

“I’ve done it a couple of times with the animals. I’m sorry to have left you with the cooking.”

“Lucille guessed I can’t cook. She’s mixed some custard.”

“She’s a nice little girl. Come on then and I’ll give you a lesson in treating broken legs.”

“Will it hurt him?” Hannah asked.

“No, I don’t think so if I do it right. The problem is a human foot is a bit different to an animal’s one.”

“Does he think you’re proficient at what you’re doing?”

“Probably not.”

Seth walked through and stood at the end of the sofa where Wilfred’s foot was. He shut his eyes for a few moments as he pictured how the doctor did it to Esmé then leaned down. Before anyone realised he was going to do it he jerked the foot sideways and it straightened.

“Did that hurt?” he asked.

“It’s stopped hurting,” Wilfred replied. “It was a bit uncomfortable before. I have straightened an animal’s foot but not a human one.” He stroked one of the dogs which were lying on the floor beside him. “Where did you learn to do it?”

“Esmé broke her leg and I saw the doc doing what I did. We need him to see it but I’ve brought in some sticks to splint it. You mustn’t put any weight on it because that will make it go crooked again. If we can get it as straight as possible and keep it that way it should heal. The horses take a few weeks before they can walk properly.”