Chapter Sixteen

The Buttermans’ land, Iowa Territory, June 5, 1834

Mr. Butterman found four pieces of land in Key City he wanted to buy. Three pieces were right in town, at the base of a steep bluff. The last piece was on the top the same bluff but a twenty-minute horse ride west, away from the river. “It’s good farmland up above the river. Not so many trees,” he said. “With our land on Calder Creek and this new land, we can sell corn or cattle within a few years.” Mrs. Butterman thought this was a good idea. But she wondered where they would find enough help to farm all that land. Mr. Butterman had an answer for that. He said, “Not all the men coming to town want to mine lead. There are plenty looking for work in farming or in building. I also talked to Mr. Sweeney. He says he can work for a share of food from our farming. Our land here is close to his. It’s not far for him to go. And he got Tommy back. Tommy can help out. I might be able to pay Tommy for work on our new land, too.”

Mr. Butterman and Nate moved all the stones and rocks they gathered at Calder Creek. They had enough to start two small houses on the Buttermans’ land in town. They would build a five-room house for Jonathan and Ella Butterman on one piece of land. The base of the house would be stone and the top part wood. Just five minutes away they would build a stone and wood four-room house for Nate and Penny. Penny would have an extra room for her sewing business. They would pay rent each month to Mr. and Mrs. Butterman.

Mrs. Butterman asked Aunt Sunday where she wanted to live. “What do you want to do, Aunt Sunday?” she asked. “You can live with Mr. Butterman and me if you like. We’re happy to have you.”

The old lady cook said less and less every day. Once it got warmer, she sat outside more. She sat by Calder Creek in the sunshine. She knew there was a big turtle there. She could see it lying on a rock in the warm sun. Its high, round shell was brown and green. On those long warm days, Aunt Sunday listened to the sound of the water. She knew the water went to the Mississippi River. She knew that if she crossed the Mississippi River back to Illinois, she would be closer to her old home in Virginia. She knew she would never see Virginia again. She felt sad about that. But if she did go, what life could she have? She might not be free, not in Virginia. But her childhood memories, and her memories of being a young woman, were sweet. Perhaps she just wanted to be young again. She thought those things as she watched the bright edge of the creek slip by in the afternoon light. The big turtle made a splash as it fell into the water and swam away.

Aunt Sunday never answered Mrs. Butterman’s question. But when the day came to move to the new houses, she wanted to stay with Mr. and Mrs. Butterman. She wanted her own room, just off the kitchen. She wanted a glass window. She had always wanted her own room with a glass window.