Chapter Five

      A warm glow on the horizon promised a beautiful sunrise when Rena looked through her bedroom window the next morning. She turned to the mirror in its new location in the corner of the room. Her sturdy skirt and blouse were just right for gathering eggs and feeding chickens. She tied her hair in a length of ribbon and went into the front room.

      Scott stood at the stove and poured a cup of coffee. “Would you like a cup?”

      She nodded. “How are you awake before me?”

      A crowing sounded in the yard. “That rooster has been waking me up every day since Ann brought him home. He seems to hate me.”

      She accepted the coffee he offered. “Thank you. I have a feeling that rooster doesn’t have anything to do with it. You probably woke him.”

      “Not the rooster.” Scott handed her a plate loaded with eggs and toast. “I woke the chickens. I’m an early riser. It’s the only way I can get all my work done.” He joined her at the table.

      Rena waited while he blessed their food and then added honey to her toast. “I’m ready for you to teach me the things I can do to help with the workload.”

      “You can milk the cow again.” His dark navy shirt made the blue in his eyes stand out. The scruff on his chin was darker than usual. He probably hadn’t had time to shave since the wedding.

      The wedding. Had it only been two days earlier? How were they holding casual conversations about chores and animals when they were newly married? There was something very sad about the realization that she’d never know the joy of the first days of a marriage of true love. She must not think about his blue eyes and love. “We need to name the cow.”

      He picked up his coffee. “The cow’s name is Bertie.”

      “Bertie?” She nodded. “It suits her.”

      “Henderson told me she belonged to a family who left last week to head back East. Life here was too much for the wife. They sold their cattle to Jack Jefferson and let their milk cow and horses go for a low price to the livery. Told Henderson to sell them and use the money to pay for their feed.”

      “How sad to give up their hope of a new life and have to parcel it out to others on their way out of town.” She pondered her new life. It wouldn’t be easy, but she was committed to it.

      Lord, give me strength. I’m sure there are hard times ahead that I haven’t considered. Help me not to fail you or my child again.

      “It is, but they had somewhere to go. Somewhere they wanted to be.” He stared out the window as he spoke. “That counts for something.” With those words, he scraped his chair backward and picked up his empty plate.

      “Put that in the basin, and I’ll wash up after the morning chores.” Rena scooped the last bit of eggs onto her fork.

      “Come to the barn when you finish. We’ll start there.”

      The morning was full of new things. First she learned what feed was for which animals and how often they ate. Then Scott showed her how to move the horses and cow into the corral for the day. They hauled water from the well to the troughs in the corral, the pig pen and the hen house. The cool morning warmed as the sun climbed in the winter sky.

      “I know I insisted that you teach me how to care for all the animals, in case I ever have to do the morning chores alone, but—” Rena wiped her forehead with her sleeve “—what would you say to sharing some of the water we’re hauling for the animals with the homesteaders?”

      He laughed. “There’s a dipper hanging on the well.”

      She drank deeply and sank onto a bench near the corral fence. Scott drank two dippers of the cool water and sat beside her. He lifted his hat and wiped his face with a kerchief.

      “That makes for a busy morning.” The amount of work they’d done surprised her. Every day the same list of chores needed to be done. Rain or shine.

      “You get used to it.” He leaned against the fence post behind him.

      “How did you manage on your own?”