Chapter Seven

The warm days of September did grow shorter, and because the nights grew cooler the leaves on the maple trees became edged in orange and red. But school didn’t start until the end of the month in order to allow the children time to help with the harvest, so it still seemed like summer to the Bolli children.

As Emmanuel became more comfortable in his role as caretaker of the farm, he began to teach Elisa and Cecile to feed the pigs and the chickens, gather the eggs, and weed the gardens. They even helped harvest the beans and potatoes.

Cecile preferred to spend her time helping Mama with the sewing, baking, and cooking, so she did her chores as quickly as possible and went back in the house.

Elisa, on the other hand, loved to stay outdoors for hours on end. When her chores were done, she would hike on winding paths through the woods to Third Creek and watch the water striders skim across the water. She always took a bucket or basket along on her walks and came home with blackberries or wild strawberries for Mama to bake in a pie.

Elisa enjoyed spending the summer days with her brother and sisters, but she longed for other friends too. She loved it when the Buffats would stop by on Sunday afternoons with their six children.

Whenever Emmanuel had to walk to the Esperandieus to borrow or return a tool, Elisa was ready to go along at a moment’s notice. The five Esperandieu children who had given the Bolli children their first English lessons continued to be a source of joy for Elisa. Mary was exactly Elisa’s age, but Elisa preferred to spend time with Mary’s older sister, Lily, because Lily had a pony. She gave Elisa riding lessons and taught her how to comb the pony’s mane and tail and brush its coat.

Uncle and Aunt Esperandieu were always kind to the Bolli children, and asked about Papa whenever Elisa visited. The name Esperandieu means “hope in God” in French. The whole family clearly put all their hope and trust in the Lord, and it showed in their kindness to others.

A walk to the Chavannes farm, where Sunday services were held, took even longer because it was beyond the Esperandieu farm. Often the Bollis would walk as far as the Esperandieus and be offered a ride in a wagon or on horseback the rest of the way. When it was too rainy or muddy, the Bollis didn’t go to services at all.

Services at the meeting of the Open Brethren could last for hours. A typical service began with the singing of a hymn, followed by a prayer, then another hymn and another prayer. One of the elders read a chapter from the Bible, then taught on that chapter. Those in attendance could make comments or expound upon what was read and taught. Often the Lord’s Supper was observed. The service closed with a final hymn and prayer.

Going to services gave Elisa a chance to be with her favorite cousin, Emma, and to get to know her other cousins better—especially on days when everyone brought a basket dinner to eat together on the grounds around the Chavannes home.

Still, Elisa wished she could visit her friends Mary and Lily Esperandieu or Emma Chavannes for several days at a time. It was the custom to pack up a day’s worth of sewing, a few loaves of bread and a pie, and go visit friends or relatives for a day or so. But with Papa so sick, Mama wasn’t doing that kind of visiting, and Elisa was still too young to go alone.

One Sunday after services at the Chavannes farm, Mama announced that the Chavanneses had offered to loan Emmanuel their wagon to take her and the children home so she could get back more quickly to check on Papa. Since Emmanuel would be bringing the wagon back the next day, Elisa was invited to stay for the night. Then she and Emmanuel would walk home together.

“Please stay, Elisa!” Emma Chavannes said.

The begging wasn’t necessary. Elisa couldn’t think of anything she would rather do.

That afternoon, Elisa and Emma spent hours swinging from the wooden swing hanging in the big oak tree in Emma’s front yard.

“How do you feel about moving to Tennessee, Elisa?” Emma asked as she gave Elisa another push on the swing. “You never talk about your home in Brazil. Are you ever homesick for it?”

“I miss Josepha and Maria. They were the servants who cared for us,” Elisa said. “And I miss going to the marketplace and down by the wharf with Papa. I wish I could take you there and show you all the fish, Emma. They were much larger than the trout in Third Creek.”

“I bet you had a lot of fun with your Papa when he was well, didn’t you?” Emma asked later when she and Elisa switched places and she climbed into the swing. “Does it make you sad to think of those times? Is that why you never talk about your life there?”

“It does make me sad,” Elisa said, giving Emma a push to get her started. “But I’m praying Papa will be well again. Then you will get to know him and see what a wonderful father he is. Besides, I don’t talk about Brazil because Mama says we have to think of Tennessee as our home now. I guess we’ve all been too busy learning English and learning about farm life to be homesick for Brazil.”

“Well, I’m sure glad you moved here, Elisa,” Emma said. “Come on, let’s go pick some berries for supper.”

The girls picked red and white currants from a row along one side of the yard. When the late afternoon rain rolled in, Emma took Elisa inside and taught her some new songs on the piano, including all the stanzas to “The Old Oaken Bucket.”

Elisa got to wear one of Emma’s nightdresses that night and sleep with her under her big feather comforter. When it was time to leave the next afternoon, Emma picked a huge bunch of flowers from the garden for Elisa to take with her—so many that Emmanuel had to help carry them all!

*  *  *

What fun Elisa had putting vases and jars of the different kinds of flowers all over the house when she got home. She put three bouquets in Papa’s room to cheer him. The flowers cheered Elisa for days too. Their sunny faces reminded her of her cousin and best friend, Emma.

“Did you see Albert while you were visiting Emma?” Cecile asked as she and Elisa were drying the dishes that night.

“Why do you ask?” Elisa teased. She knew Cecile was sweet on Albert Chavannes and couldn’t resist having a little bit of fun with her older sister.

“Yes, he was there. He asked about you and I told him you were sick with a case of the uglies.”

“You are so mean, Elisa!” Cecile said. She snapped the dish towel in her sister’s direction. “Did he really ask about me?”

“Finish drying the dishes by yourself and I’ll tell you,” Elisa said, and she skipped out onto the front porch, leaving Cecile with a stack of dishes to dry.

“You aren’t being charitable to me, Lizzie,” Cecile said when she plopped down in a rocking chair on the front porch next to her sister a few minutes later.

“You’re right, Cile. I apologize. The truth is, I only saw Albert for a few minutes, but he did ask about you. I told him you were busy helping Mama.”

“Thanks, Lizzie.”

The girls sat silently rocking for a while. They could hear Mama inside the house telling Albertine and Adele to get into their nightclothes.

“Do you think Albert is handsome?” Cecile asked.

“Well, he is Emma’s older brother,” Elisa said, “and you know I think Emma’s beautiful. I guess that makes Albert handsome, doesn’t it?”

The two girls laughed and stared up into the darkening sky together.

“It’s hard to imagine that’s the same moon we saw from the veranda in Brazil, isn’t it?” Cecile said when the light of the full moon broke through the limbs of the maple tree.

“It sure is,” Elisa said. “I guess it followed us all the way here.”

“When I see the moon it reminds me that God’s in His heaven,” Cecile said. “As long as I can see the moon, I know everything’s going to be all right.”

Elisa thought about what her sister said and tried to believe it. She prayed everything would be all right. But Papa slept almost all the time now. Even the younger children were beginning to wonder if he would ever be well.

“Cile,” Elisa began after a while. “Mama always says all things work together for good to those who love the Lord, right?”

“Yes, Elisa. That’s a verse in Romans. Remember? Reverend Chavannes taught on that passage last week.”

“I remember, but I can’t help but wonder how Papa’s being sick, maybe even dying, is part of the Lord’s plan for our good.”

“I don’t know, Elisa,” Cecile said. She reached over to put her hand on top of her sister’s. “I just don’t know.”

*  *  *

The next Sunday Papa was feeling so poorly that Mama decided to keep the whole family home from services. But Sunday afternoon was visiting day amongst the relatives. The Bolli girls dressed in their Sunday clothes in hopes that someone would come calling and they would see some of their cousins and friends after all.

They didn’t have to wait long. Just as the last of the lunch dishes were cleared away, there was a knock at the front door. It was Mr. and Mrs. Buffat and their children: Alfred, thirteen; Gustave, eleven; Marie, eight; Elisa, six; Anna, four; and Emile, two.

“Come in! Come in!” Mama said when she greeted them at the front door. “I’m afraid we don’t have furniture in the parlor yet, but I’ve made some fresh lemonade. Why don’t we visit on the back porch?”

“That would be just fine, Elise. Especially for this visit,” Mr. Buffat said.

The children raced on ahead, through the kitchen, and out the back door. Since they had visited before, they knew just where to go.

A couple of them noticed Elisa at the kitchen table practicing her handwriting and said hello to her on their way through. School would be starting soon, and Elisa wanted to be ready.

“Hello, dear,” Mrs. Buffat said when she came into the room. Mama taught the children to stand up in the presence of adults, so Elisa put down her pen and stood. As she did, she noticed Mr. Buffat coming through the kitchen with a burlap bag. Something in the bag was squirming.

“Hello, Mrs. Buffat. What does Mr. Buffat have in his bag?” Elisa asked.

“Come outside and see!” Mrs. Buffat said with a grin.

“Albertine! Adele! Come down to the backyard,” Mama yelled up to the younger girls’ bedroom window. “There’s a surprise here for you!”

Emmanuel and Cecile heard Mama calling too. Soon all the children were gathered on the back porch around Mr. Buffat’s squirming burlap bag. Something inside really wanted out!

“What’s in there?” Adele asked.

“Why don’t I just show you,” Mr. Buffat said. He let go of the top of the sack and out came an adorable black and white puppy with shaggy hair, black eyes, and a tail that curled up over his back. The puppy immediately jumped up on Adele and began licking her face.

“A puppy!” she squealed. “It’s a puppy!”

“It’s your puppy, honey,” Mr. Buffat said. “We were at the Chavannes farm for services today, and your Uncle Theodore and Aunt Cecile asked if we would deliver it to you.”

“Oh, Mama!” Albertine said. “Is it really ours? I didn’t know Papa said yes.”

“He said yes,” Mama said. The puppy ran to give Mama a lick too.

“He wanted it to be a surprise,” Emmanuel said as he turned the puppy over and rubbed it on its tummy. “He told me to let Uncle Theodore know we wanted one of the litter when I was there last week. Thanks for the special delivery, Mr. Buffat.”

“We were happy to do it,” Mr. Buffat said.

The Buffats stayed most of the afternoon. Mr. and Mrs. Buffat had a short visit with Papa, who also got a visit from the puppy. Adele carried the dog in and put it on the bed, where it ran around in circles on the bedcovers and licked Papa in the face.

“The dog has to stay outside after today, Adele,” Papa said. “What are you going to name him?”

“Let’s name him Turk!” Adele said.

Everyone was a bit surprised by her choice, but Turk it was.

The rest of the afternoon was spent in the backyard with the younger children chasing the puppy and the puppy chasing them in turn. Soon Turk was so tired he fell fast asleep under the porch steps and Mama told the children to let him be for the rest of the day. Adele had to content herself with lying in the dirt on her stomach and peeking in at the sleeping puppy.

When the excitement was over, Elisa went back to her writing in the kitchen. Alfred Buffat came in to see what she was doing.

“I missed seeing you at services today,” Alfred said. He took the chair opposite Elisa’s.

“Mama said it was too far for us to be away from Papa,” Elisa explained without looking up from her work. She liked Alfred all right, but he was two years older than she, and she was bashful about talking to him.

“There’s a Sunday School meeting at our house next week,” Alfred said. “Maybe you could come to that. It’s a lot closer than the Chavannes farm.”

“Maybe,” Elisa said. She ventured a quick smile in Alfred’s direction.

“What are you working on?” he asked.

“I’m practicing my handwriting by making a list of French words and their English meanings,” Elisa said.

“Will you be coming to Spring Place School when it starts up again next week?” Alfred asked.

“Yes, Mama says we’ll all go this year except Adele,” Elisa said.

“Well that’s going to make the room a bit more crowded,” Alfred teased.

Spring Place School was a log schoolhouse built on the east corner of the Buffat farm. It had one long room, eighteen feet by twenty-four feet, with a door in the center of the south side and a window on each side of the door. Students sat on long wooden benches. Along one wall was a slanted board used as a table for writing exercises, with a long bench in front of it. Everyone went to school in that one room.

“You’ll do fine, Elisa. We have lessons in French and English,” Alfred said.

“Are there books for us to use?” Elisa asked. She was getting over her shyness now that she realized Alfred could answer some of the many questions she had about what her new American school would be like.

“We use Webster’s Speller,” Alfred said. “Intermediate readers read from the New Testament, and advanced readers from the Old Testament. You can bring this Bible of yours if you want,” Alfred said when he noticed Elisa’s Bible next to her work on the kitchen table.

“What about arithmetic?” Elisa asked. “Do they have arithmetic books?”

“We have a grammar text, a geography text, and an arithmetic text,” Alfred explained, “but not too many of each one. If you have any books of your own, you can bring those along. The teacher has goose quills for everyone.”

Just then Mr. and Mrs. Buffat, accompanied by all the little Buffats, came into the kitchen through the back door and announced it was time to go home. Elisa said good-bye to Alfred. She wanted to thank him for making her feel better about school, but she wasn’t sure what to say so she didn’t say anything. Then he was gone.