A Gathering of Memories (5 page)

“I was so surprised when Mandy called you Mr. Cameron, and then when Carrie used
Mrs.
Cameron, well, I felt like an antique.”

Silas’ laughter vibrated the bed. “I can’t say as I blame them for not being sure. You forget, I’m 10 years older than you. Levi, Clovis, and Becca could easily be my own.”

“Well, no matter. They know now that you’re Silas and I’m Amy.”

“How should we introduce my family?”

“Well, Gram is Grandma Em to everyone. Luke and Christine and the rest can be Uncle Luke or whatever, just like they are to all the nieces and nephews.”

“You’ll have to write your dad and tell him he has suddenly become a grandfather five times over. I sure wish I could see his face when he reads those lines.”

Mandy, just waking up the next morning, took a moment to figure out where she was. She sat up quickly and then fell back onto her pillow with a small laugh over how hard her heart was pounding.

Until now, she had never thought what it might be like to sleep alone in a bed. Sharing a bed was just a way of life, but as she stretched luxuriously without bumping into anyone she thought how nice this was.

Of course it wasn’t bad sleeping with Carrie and Becca—they lay still for the most part and were good cuddlers. But sleeping between Levi and Clovis was another matter. They always woke up in a wrestling match on top of her. Whereupon she would leave the bed in a huff and tell them she would never sleep with them again, not that she ever kept her threat. The next time they were scared or restless she would crawl in between them, always with the intent of returning to her own bed when they were asleep but invariably falling into slumber herself, only to be awakened in the morning by a fist in her middle or a foot in her face.

Actually she’d half expected to wake up and find the entire gang in here with her. They must have slept hard or they surely would have joined her, taking for granted their welcome.

Mandy looked around the wonderful bedroom with a feeling of unreality. Yesterday she woke up in the only house she had ever lived in and remembered instantly that her mother was gone. She wanted so hard to go on as normal and take care of things, but she wondered if it were really possible, even for Becca’s sake, to keep up such a front.

The first thing she had done was check her mother’s bed. It was empty—the undertaker had seen to that. None of them had slept in it because it felt funny and because there was a slight chance their pa would return. But the bed had not been slept in.

Mandy had been okay until just before lunch when she cried hard, starting everyone’s tears. By the time she had them settled enough to have lunch, if you could call it that, she was so tired she wanted to sleep forever.

When the wagon pulled up out front she wasn’t afraid of why they’d come, just uncertain, until Pastor Chad’s words sent her already foggy mind spinning.

And now this morning.

Mandy pushed out of bed and stepped softly across the floor. She stood in the middle of the rug, so soft beneath her feet, and did a slow circle, attempting to take it all in.

Next to her bed was a table made of a dark, rose-colored wood, the same as the bed, and on the table was an oil lamp made of pink glass. She’d never seen anything like it.

The walk-in closet at the end of the room was spacious and her few items of clothing looked almost lonely on the empty shelves and hooks.

A dresser with a wide mirror above it stood against the wall opposite the closet, but Mandy wasn’t interested in her reflection this morning. Her feet, with almost a mind of their own, moved to the place between the two windows where a bookshelf stood.

Mandy went down on her knees before it and simply stared for long minutes. Finally, moving hesitantly as though someone would slap her hand, she reached to lightly touch the books. Her fingers skimmed over the bindings with reverence and something akin to awe.

Amanda Jackson loved to read.

She hadn’t always felt that way. With pain she remembered the teacher’s dark looks when she struggled long after everyone else her age had understood that mysterious art, despairing of ever catching on and being able to read with the ease of breathing, as her teacher did.

But then one day, very close to her eleventh birthday, it became clear, as though a light had been turned on in her mind. The world of letters, words, and sentences became startlingly clear and Mandy read with a voracious appetite from that moment.

Anyone watching her in the bedroom at the Cameron house this morning, would have been confused by her actions and the tears of joy on her face at just being able to touch these precious volumes. They would have wondered at the way her heart pounded at just the thought of asking Amy if she could read them, hoping she could make her see how careful she would be with each and every one.

Yes, anyone watching her would have been confused unless they understood life in the Jackson household. There had never been enough money for food, let alone anything as extravagant as books, no matter how loved or coveted.

Mandy was startled out of her position on the floor when someone knocked.

“Come in.”

“Hi,” Amy spoke as she came through the door. “I wasn’t sure if you were up. We’re about ready to eat.”

“I better wake everyone.” Mandy spoke uncertainly from her place by the shelves.

“Everyone is downstairs, dressed, and Becca tells me,
starving
.” Amy informed her good-naturedly.

“Oh, I’m sorry you had to wait on me.”

“Don’t apologize, you have time. I just wanted you to know that Silas will be in from the barn in about ten minutes and then we’ll be ready to eat.”

“Thank you. I’ll be right down.”

Mandy threw herself into her clothes and rushed down the hall to Carrie’s room for the hairbrush. Her hair was thick but not very long, falling only to her shoulders, enabling her to have it brushed and pulled back with a ribbon in a matter of seconds.

Not until she returned the brush to the dresser did she notice how nicely the room was picked up. She walked back down the hall past her own room to the boys’ to find it as orderly as the girls’, with even the quilt hung perfectly across the bed.

Amy.

While swiftly making her own bed she was amazed to realize she was not jealous of her hostess stepping in to help the kids last night as well as this morning.

Mandy couldn’t remember the last time she’d awakened without a list of jobs and duties as long as her arm hanging over her. How nice it felt to have someone else in charge, and Amy seemed to genuinely enjoy it.

Well, she thought as she descended the stairs, best enjoy it, for it certainly won’t last.

“Father in heaven, I thank you for the beauty of this day and the bounty of this food. Bless us, our conversation and surround us with Your love. Amen.”

Silas was well aware of the eyes watching him as he served himself some eggs and then passed the bowl to Mandy. The children were a little less hungry this morning, whereas last night their concentration on food had made them much too preoccupied to be aware of a man thanking God for the meal.

The four youngest Jacksons fell on the food with renewed hunger, but Mandy ate a little more cautiously. Silas, watching her surreptitiously, thought she seemed like an animal who had been teased and baited at every meal and forced to beg before being rewarded with food.

He had the feeling that if he suddenly snatched her plate from in front of her, she would accept it docilely as though the few mouthfuls she’d taken were all she deserved.

“I’m headed back out to the barn after breakfast, if anyone would like to come.”

“What’s in the barn?” Clovis wanted to know.

“Horses.” The word was said matter-of-factly, but the response from the boys was the first glimmer of behavior beyond the perfect.

“Horses—did you hear what he said?” The words were shouted. “Can we ride? I know how!”

“You do not, Clovis!”

“I do so, Levi. You just shut your mouth!”

“You shut your own mouth or I’ll do it for ya!”

“Oh yeah, just try!”

Mandy was embarrassed over their behavior and had just opened her mouth to shout over them when Silas’ voice cut through their words like a whip.

“Boys! That’s enough!”

The room was instantly silent. He had not really raised his voice but his deep tone and the authority punctuating every syllable was more than enough to make the boys sit up in their seats, their mouths closed, eyes wide open.

“We will not be riding any horses today.” His voice sounded loud in the still room. “And if I don’t have your word about not shouting in the barn, you’ll not be going. Have I made myself clear?”

“Yes, sir.”

“I won’t shout in the barn.” The words were said in little more than a whisper and came from Rebecca.

“Would you like to go, Becca?”

“Is it just for boys?”

“No, you can come.”

Her smile was Silas’ thanks and he felt his heart melt in the glow of it. She was the only one of the five that looked as if she’d been fed decently, with her round face and almost pudgy little hands. She shared the same shade of brown hair and hazel eyes with the rest of her family, but the freckles she had were out over her cheeks and not just on her nose.

“I think everyone should go,” Amy suggested.

“No,” Carrie spoke. “Mandy and I will stay and help clean up.”

“I appreciate the offer, girls, but there will be many dishes in the days to come. Go with Silas while he has the time to take you.”

Amy’s words were still on Mandy’s mind as they walked toward the Cameron barn. She made it sound like they were going to be staying for a while and Mandy hadn’t expected
that. She didn’t know what she did expect but this constant barrage of kindness and hospitality was not it.

Maybe her pa would return. He never stayed for very long and any money he had would go toward the bottle he’d enjoy in one of Baxter’s bars. It was too much to hope that he would be at the funeral tomorrow.

They had come to the barn and Mandy, deep in her own thoughts, didn’t realize Silas was holding the door for her.

“Are you okay?” Silas asked.

“What?”

“You seemed a little far away. If you’d rather not come in, that’s fine. Maybe you’d like some time to yourself.”

“No, I better stick with the kids. They don’t always obey Carrie.”

“Maybe not Carrie, but I don’t think I’ll have any trouble.” Silas said this with a smile and Mandy actually smiled back at the big man.

Why she’s lovely!
he thought in honest surprise.

But the smile disappeared as quickly as it had appeared and her question told him where her thoughts had been. “Do you think the sheriff will find my pa?”

“I don’t know, Mandy. I’m praying he will.”

Mandy moved into the barn then, her thoughts in confusion over her host’s last statement.