A few days later, Drew and Grace were sent to the market to see what they could purchase. In just a few weeks the open markets in Cincinnati had totally changed. The grapes, melons, and tomatoes that Grace had promised would not be coming. No milk, cheese, or fat hens. The drought had affected the crops. Most of what little the farmers had produced, they were using themselves. And what was brought in to market often went by begging because so few people had money to make purchases.
In spite of the early hour, the air was still and hot. Under the roof of the vast market, there was only a smattering of wagons. And the produce looked pitiful. Drew was almost embarrassed to approach the farmers. Grace did a little dickering and purchased a bag of snap beans, two small heads of cabbage, and a few eggs. Before they turned for home, Drew suggested they go to Yost’s.
“But we’ve no money for candy,” she protested.
“I know, but I’d like to say hello to Jason.”
Grace looked at him. “Do you think he still has a job there?”
Drew shrugged. “Let’s find out.”
“Let’s do. If he’s there, I can find out how Amy is, as well.”
They hurried in the direction of Fourth Street. Inside the store, there was only one other customer. Mr. Yost hailed them as they entered. “Say there, Grace, Drew,” he said with a cheery smile. “Did you come to buy me out?”
Grace chuckled at his silly remark. “I don’t think we’re in a position to buy you out today, Mr. Yost. We’re looking for Jason. Does he still work for you?”
“Well,” Mr. Yost said slowly, “he doesn’t exactly work for me. I guess you could say he works with me now.”
“What do you mean?” Drew asked.
Mr. Yost leaned against the counter and gave a little sigh. “When the crash hit, I had to let my workers go.”
“I know how that is,” Grace put in. “Papa and Luke had to do the same at the boatworks.”
Mr. Yost rubbed at a scar on his face and nodded. “It’s the same everywhere. In Pittsburgh and Lexington, too, I hear. Well, anyway, that Jason just wouldn’t go.” He chuckled as he thought about it. “Jason said, ‘You can’t pay me, but you can teach me. Let me stay and do what I can, and you teach me all about the mercantile business.’”
Drew nodded. He knew he liked Jason Coppock. That boy was smart.
“So,” Mr. Yost went on, “he comes every day. We wait on a few customers, and then I teach him how to make orders, how to stock, and how to keep the books.” He laughed again. “‘Course, there’re no orders to make, so we pretend a great deal.”
“So where’s Jason now?” Grace asked. Drew was just ready to ask the same thing.
The light in Mr. Yost’s eyes faded just a bit. “Today Jason is at home helping his family move.”
“Move?” Grace asked. “Are they moving away from Cincinnati?”
“Oh, no, Gracie, they’re just moving to another part of town. You see, they’ve lost their house.”
Drew felt his stomach lurch, and he heard Grace gasp. “Oh no!” she said. “Poor Amy. Poor Mr. and Mrs. Coppock.” Drew knew that Grace had been frightened her own family might lose their house after she learned that Mr. and Mrs. Chesman Billings, the richest people in Cincinnati, had lost all their holdings.
“Lots of people are losing houses and land right along with their businesses,” Mr. Yost told them. “That’s what happens when people live on credit. Me, I’ve tried to pay for everything as I go. My ma and pa taught me that long before they died.” He shook his head. “But even still, we may not make it through this.”
“Where’d the Coppocks move to?” Drew wanted to know. “They found a small cabin over by Mill Creek.”
“That’s clear out of town!” Grace was incredulous. “Yep,” Mr. Yost answered, “and they were plenty lucky to get it.”
Before Grace and Drew left, Mr. Yost held out the candy jar. “Here,” he said, “each of you take one. They’re getting more stale by the day.” He smiled. “I promise I won’t tell if you won’t.”
Drew hated to take something without paying, and he could see Grace felt the same way. But the shopkeeper insisted.
Soon they were carrying their basket between them, walking down the hill, sucking on their peppermint sticks.
“What are you thinking about, Drew?” Grace asked as she licked the last of the peppermint from her fingers.
They had just passed the corner where Raggy had accosted them so long ago. Drew hadn’t seen Raggy for weeks. “I was just thinking,” Drew answered, “that if things keep going as they are, Raggy Langler may become the best-dressed fellow in Cincinnati.”
CHAPTER 8
Surprise in the Country
The Fourth of July, usually a rollicking celebration in Cincinnati, was quiet and subdued that summer. The city council voted to dispense with the great parade and instead encouraged citizens to become involved in the soup kitchens that had been set up in each part of the city. There were a few firework displays that evening, but they didn’t amount to much.
Grace was disappointed. She’d looked forward to the holiday as a diversion from the gloom about her. Still, she knew the city leaders were right. How could they celebrate when people were starving?
However, a nice surprise did come a few days later. In the mail came a letter from Samantha and Owen Tate. The Tates were relatives of theirs who lived on a farm several miles north of the city. Grace wanted to open the letter right away, but Mama said they must wait until Papa came home.
It was later than usual when Papa arrived home that night. Grace wanted to show him the letter immediately, but again Mama said to wait. “Let Papa eat supper and rest his weary bones,” she said. Even though Mama was tired from all the daily household chores, she still took extra care to protect Papa and make him comfortable each evening.
Finally, after their meager supper was finished, Grace brought the letter to the table. “Look, Papa. A letter from Samantha and Owen. May I open it?”
Papa smiled. “Of course you can, Gracie. Let’s hope it’s full of good news. I could use some.”
Carefully Grace peeled open the seal and spread out the paper. She read: “‘Dear Thad, Lavina, and Gracie …’” Grace looked up. “When is everyone going to stop calling me that?” she asked.
“Go on,” Mama insisted. “What does Samantha say?” Grace read on:
We’ve heard about the hard times in the city. The drought here has been bad, as well, but we do have plenty to eat. Owen has dug the foundation for the new room on the house. We could use help in framing and finishing it.
Why don’t you come for a visit and lend a hand? Have Luke and Camille come, too. It would be good to see you again. Tell Grace I have a surprise for her to see.
Love,
Samantha
Grace looked up to see Mama smiling. “A trip to the farm,” Mama said softly. “That would be nice.”
“And listen to this part!” Grace said. “At the bottom it says, ‘Our baby is to arrive around Thanksgiving time.’”
“Oh, Thad, do you hear that? Samantha is to have her first baby! What wonderful news!”
“May we go, Papa? They need our help. You heard what she said. May we?” A surprise! Samantha had said there was a surprise. Grace wondered what it could be.
“She did say they need help,” Papa agreed. He leaned back in his chair. “I guess nothing here will spoil while we’re gone.”
Grace could hardly contain her excitement. How good it would be to have something to look forward to once again. “Papa,” she said, “may we take Drew along?”
When her father paused before answering, she added, “He can work hard. Why, he’s even learned to swing an ax.”
“Doesn’t Deanna need him there, Grace?” Mama asked.
“As Drew himself said, he’s just another mouth to feed,” Grace answered. “They barely have enough to eat now.”
Mama and Papa looked at one another. Finally, Papa said, “Let’s ask Carter. If he agre
es, it’s all right with me.”
Grace jumped up from where she was sitting. “Please, Papa, may we take the lantern and go to Carter’s house tonight?”
“Grace,” Mama protested, “your papa is weary. Let him rest.”
“It’s all right, Lavina. Carter’s gone out hunting nearly every day. I’d just as well go while he’s at home.” He stood up from the table. “Leave the dishes and grab your bonnet and come with us,” he said to Mama.
She nodded. “It would be good to spend a little time with Deanna,” she said. “Thad, would you go to the cellar and bring salt pork from our barrel? We shouldn’t go empty-handed.”
Grace was already running upstairs to grab her bonnet from off the hook in her room. She and Drew were going to go to the farm! Carter just had to say yes.
And Carter did say yes. His only condition was for Drew to cut extra wood for Deanna’s cookstove before he left.
Carter had carried a couple of cane chairs out to the back stoop, and he and Papa sat in the warm night air, talking softly. Inside Mama played with little Adah while she chatted with Deanna. Grace and Drew ran about the clearing, helping Matt catch fireflies.
Stretched on boards at the edge of the clearing were the skins that Carter was tanning.
“This is the one I shot,” Drew said, pointing to the golden brown squirrel hide. “Carter says he’ll teach me to make a pair of moccasins with it. And in the fall, if I shoot a deer, he’ll teach me to make leggings.”
Grace noted the pride in his voice. Perhaps Drew was finally adjusting to his new home.
The next day, Papa began making arrangements for their trip. To rent a wagon for the trip, he had to write a promise to the liveryman that he would bring back produce from the farm in payment.
The morning they were to leave, Drew was at their house before daybreak. Mama made sure he ate another biscuit before they left. Mama had also packed a lunch to eat on the way, which now sat by the front door in a basket.
Luke and Papa had walked to the livery to fetch the wagon, and Grace sat on the front steps waiting. Her insides were a jumble of fluttering butterflies. It had been months since her family had been out to visit the Tate farm.
She kept wondering about the word surprise. Samantha had written in the letter that a baby was on the way, so that wasn’t it. With a slam of the door, Drew came out carrying a buttered biscuit.
“Thank you for asking me to go along, Grace,” he said.
Grace wondered if she remembered to say thank you half as many times as Drew did. “I wanted you to go see the farm. It’s ever so much fun.”
“What’s it like?”
“Fields of grain that seem to stretch out forever,” she explained. “And a barn full of hay with cows, horses, and pigs. Oh, and there are geese, too.”
“Are the geese mean?”
Grace laughed. “They’re just like the pigs on the street, Drew. You take a big stick to them.”
Just then, around the corner came Papa and Luke with the wagon. Harnesses jingled, and the team of sorrel horses whinnied and snuffled and bobbed their heads as Papa pulled them to a stop. “Whoa there!” he called out.
“Mercy to goodness,” Mama said as she came out carrying the basket. “That’s enough commotion to wake all the neighbors.”
Mama was probably right. Grace was quite sure no one else in the neighborhood was up this early. The buckboard had two sets of seats up front with a long bed in back and high sideboards. Luke hopped down to help Camille up into the back seat. Grace and Drew clamored into the wagon bed. Once Mama and Papa were on board, they were off.
They took Hamilton Road north out of the city. In no time at all, they were traveling along the curving road that cut through dense stands of trees. Occasionally they came upon open farmland where acres of wheat, oats, barley, and corn had been planted. Cozy little houses snuggled into hillsides flanked by smaller smokehouses, outhouses, sheds, and at least one towering barn.
Grace had heard many times what fertile farmland their state enjoyed. And it was true. But Papa commented on the scrawny crops: “They should be a full foot taller by this time of year.”
Mama replied that they should all be praying for rain.
Grace breathed in the clean fresh air and grinned at Drew. She didn’t want to think about droughts, bank failures, or financial disasters. This was a holiday, and she was determined to enjoy it to the fullest.
“I hope there are baby kittens in the barn,” she said.
“I like kittens,” Drew said. “I had a kitten of my own in Boston.”
“Your very own?”
Drew nodded. “She even stayed with me in my room.” Grace thought that would be nice. A cuddly little kitten lying on her bed. “Say,” she said, “maybe that’s the surprise.”
“What surprise?” Drew asked.
“In Samantha’s letter she said there was a surprise for me to see. Maybe it’s a kitten.”
Over her shoulder, Mama said, “Grace, if the surprise is a kitten, you cannot bring it home.”
Grace thought for a moment. “And since I’ve seen kittens before, the surprise must not be a kitten.”
When the warm sun was straight up in the sky, Papa stopped at a stream and allowed the horses to drink. Grace and Drew hopped down and helped spread the quilts in the grass. They opened the basket and enjoyed a picnic lunch of salt pork, slices of bread with cheese, and boiled eggs. No one commented that it wasn’t a very elegant picnic lunch. It was too lovely a spot and too nice a day to complain.
Papa brought a dipper of water for the ladies, but Grace and Drew knelt down at the edge of the gurgling stream and scooped up handfuls of clear, cool water. “It’s a far sight cleaner than Deer Creek,” Grace said.
Just then, Drew flicked cold water on her.
“Why, you …!” She scooped water in her cupped palm and flung it at him, splashing him square in the face.
Drew burst out laughing and ran from her reach as she chased him through the trees. She very nearly caught him, but since he’d been spending time in the woods with Carter, he was much more agile than when she’d first met him. For the life of her, she couldn’t keep up with him.
Papa’s call put a stop to their game, and they came laughing and panting to the wagon. Later, Grace realized that it was the first time she’d ever heard Drew laugh—really laugh!
As dusk began to gather, the rocking of the wagon lulled Grace into a deep slumber. The next thing she knew, a loud voice called out, “Hello, hello! Welcome! We thought you’d never get here! Come on down. Owen can take care of the team. I know you’re tired.”
Even in her half sleep, Grace recognized Samantha’s friendly voice. Rubbing her eyes, she sat up. Drew was still fast asleep on his pile of quilts. She reached over and gave him a shake. “Sleepyhead, wake up! We’re here!”
Lanterns were swinging over the back of the wagon. “Well, well. If it’s not our little Gracie.”
That was Owen’s voice. “And who is this?” he wanted to know.
Drew was sitting up and stretching.
“This is Drew,” Grace said. “Carter’s younger brother.”
“Of course, of course. Come on, now,” he said, giving them each a hand. “Samantha has a supper all laid out.”
Following the soft yellow lantern light, the two went up the path to the back door. Tantalizing food aromas met them before they entered. Grace was sure nothing had ever smelled so good. There on the table were platters of frizzled ham, bowls of seasoned potatoes, and wedges of cooked cabbage. But on the sideboard was the best of all—squash pies. Grace hadn’t seen a pie for ever so long.
Grace and Drew ate without talking. Grace wasn’t sure if it was because she was too tired to talk or too hungry. But as she cut into her thick slice of golden squash pie, she remembered about the surprise.
“Samantha,” she blurted out, “you said there was a surprise for me to see.”
“And there is. There surely is,” Samantha said.
<
br /> “May I see it?”
“It’s in the barn,” Samantha explained.
“May we take the lantern out to the barn to see?”
“No surprises tonight, Gracie,” Mama said firmly. “To bed with you as soon as you finish eating.”
Once Grace and Drew were bedded down on quilts in corners of the kitchen, she was glad Mama had said no. Her full stomach had made her very sleepy. As she dozed off, Grace knew it wouldn’t matter if there were no surprise at all. Just being at the farm was a good enough treat!
CHAPTER 9
Drew’s Gifts
Early the next morning, Grace was awakened by the sounds of Samantha filling the cookstove with wood. When she looked over to wake Drew, he was gone. How could he be up before her?
“Samantha!” she said, jumping to her feet. “Where’s Drew?”
“He volunteered to chop kindling for the stove.” Willowy Samantha leaned down to grab another chunk of wood, shoved it in the stove, and slammed the iron door shut. Corn mush bubbled in a pot, and tall, round biscuits sat on a tin ready to go into the oven. Outside a noisy old rooster hailed the morning with his loud crowing. How could Grace have slept through all this noise?
As she hurriedly folded quilts, she asked, “He hasn’t been to the barn, has he?”
Samantha laughed. “Do you think I’d let someone else see the secret first?”
Grace felt a stab of guilt. That’s exactly what she’d thought. Just then Mama came in from the living room. Grace ran to give her mother a hug. Mama’s face seemed free of worry lines for the first time in many days. “Mama, may I run to the barn before breakfast?”
Mama shook her head. “Breakfast first, Gracie.”
Grace wanted to complain, but seeing Mama so relaxed made her keep still. She wanted nothing to ruin this perfect day.
The men were outside studying the foundation for the new room and planning the day’s work. Quickly Mama, Camille, and Grace helped Samantha put breakfast on, and then they called everyone inside. Grace saw Drew’s eyes brighten at the grand array of food on the table. Since there weren’t enough chairs, Drew and Grace filled their plates and ate on the back stoop.
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