Chapter Two

At the Farm

The sun was blazing overhead when Luke and Henry, Chad Rush’s hired hands, threw down the last forkful of hay and closed the barn door.

Henry removed his hat and mopped his face with a handkerchief. “Wonder what time they’ll get back?”

“Any time now, I’d reckon. Chad won’t waste the day chatting with the townsfolk. And the mood Manda was in when they left … Well, she won’t be any too friendly either.” Luke chuckled as they approached the house. “Looks like we’ll have to cut a wide swath around Polly, too. I can hear those pots bangin’ clear out here.”

“Can’t say as I blame her,” Henry replied. “The biggest load for the care of four more children will land on her. Don’t see why Chad thought he needed ’em.”

“Frances.” Luke let out a heavy sigh. “She kept after her pa for weeks about gettin’ another boy to replace Robbie. Chad finally gave in to her.”

As they washed up for lunch, Luke thought back over the years he had worked for Chad Rush. They had attended school together in the little town of Willow Creek. Even then, Chad hadn’t been well liked. He kept to himself and had little to say to his schoolmates.

But, Luke recalled, there was no question that Chad Rush was a winner. At everything he tried, he succeeded. From his studies to the games they played, Chad could not be bested. Yet he seemed to take no pride in these accomplishments, Luke remembered. Rather, the boy’s set jaw announced to the world that nothing was going to get him down.

The whole community knew that the older Mr. Rush had certainly tried. Frequently Chad appeared at school with welts and dark bruises on various parts of his body.

“What happened to you, Chad? Fall out of the haymow?”

“My pa strapped me.”

“Why? What’d you do?”

“Nothing. He didn’t like the way I did my work.”

Shortly after their school years ended, Chad married Manda Scott. The elder Mr. Rush gave his son a portion of land and his blessing. Since that time, Chad’s material wealth had increased. In the years that Luke had been overseer on the farm, there had been ample opportunity to observe Chad and Manda’s style of life firsthand. Luke had been less than impressed.

Henry, however, tried occasionally to defend their employer when things were rough. “Chad’s a fair man. He does what he sees as his Christian duty. There’s no one more faithful in church than he is.”

“Religious, he is,” Luke replied, “but we don’t see eye to eye on the ‘Christian.’ I think being a Christian ought to improve your disposition. It hasn’t done a whole lot for them two.”

Five years ago there had seemed to be hope for the Rush household. Manda had decided to adopt two children from an orphanage in Chicago. Reluctantly Chad went along with the plan, and eight-year-old Frances and eighteen-month-old Robbie had joined the family. From the first, Frances had clung to Chad, while Robbie was Manda’s baby.

There had been no agreement on discipline, Luke reflected. Chad had pampered and spoiled Frances, while Manda alternately punished and pampered Robbie. When an accident resulted in Robbie’s death from pneumonia, Chad reacted by spending more time away from the house, and Manda refused to talk about it.

“Maybe we can eat and get back to work before they get home,” Henry suggested.

His voice brought Luke back to the present, and he wiped his hands and face on the rough towel hanging beside the washbasin.

The two farmhands entered the kitchen and were met by a stormy-faced Polly.

“’Bout time you came in. I spend all morning gettin’ lunch for folks who never let me know when they’ll be home.” She slammed plates down in front of the silent men. “Shouldn’t be taking it out on you,” she admitted grudgingly. “Ain’t your fault Chad’s got no control over his family. He didn’t have to give in to Frances.”

Polly slumped into a chair at the end of the table and stared at the platter of roast beef and browned potatoes in front of them. Big bowls of spring vegetables, thick slices of crusty bread, and dishes of jam and creamy cottage cheese completed the generous offerings.

Luke piled his plate high. “Won’t be easy havin’ four young children on the place. They’ll grow up to help some, but they’ll be a lot of care.”

“Frances is all the care we need,” Polly retorted. “All the others will do is make more work.”

“Manda’s still mourning for Robbie,” Henry offered. “Mebbe this new young ’un will soften her heart.”

“You been in the sun too long,” Polly told him. “There ain’t no way to soften what ain’t there.” She sighed heavily. “I think I’m just as worried about how Chad will treat them boys. He won’t cut ’em no slack when they don’t step to when he speaks. He’ll handle a switch the same way his pa did, I’ve no doubt.”

The men nodded.

“If these orphans came off the streets, they’ll be used to a hard life. If they’ve spent their lives in an orphanage, they’ll probably wish they was back there.” Luke transferred a piece of pie to his plate. “I never would’ve suggested takin’ in four waifs, but nobody asked me.”

The remainder of the meal was eaten in silence, and when the men rose to go back to work, Polly began to clear the table. She sighed again as she shuffled toward the dining room with plates and silverware.

“Four more people to feed from now on,” she muttered. She was glad that Chad Rush kept a good table. Cooking was the only thing Polly enjoyed about her job. They had the best of meat, vegetables, and fruit, and no one interfered with the way she ran her kitchen. However, she hadn’t signed on to feed an entire orphanage. If her ma hadn’t needed the money she earned, Polly would have left this place in a minute.

Polly West had also attended school with Chad Rush and Manda Scott. She had been the victim of Manda’s sharp tongue, and Chad simply ignored her. Occasionally Polly remembered when her daydreams had placed her in Chad’s favor, but years and circumstances had erased that fancy.

“Why do you stay with that disagreeable woman?” Polly’s friends inquired.

“No one else to care for Ma,” she replied. “I keep hoping Manda will find somethin’ to make her happy. Robbie might have done it if he’d lived.”

But he didn’t, she reflected as she set the table again for the family. And this group of young ones coming in wasn’t likely to do it either.

The sound of buggy wheels in the lane announced the return of the Rushes, and Polly hurried to lay out more food. There’d be time enough later to sort things out when she’d seen the children.

The buggy carrying the Cooper children, a silent Frances, and a stiff-backed Chad and Manda met no other conveyance on the trip home, nor did they observe anyone in the fields as they passed by, but everyone in the countryside seemed to know that the Rushes had arrived home with not one but four orphan children from the train.

“Never thought I’d be surprised at anything Manda Rush did,” Lydia Archer said to her husband, Ben, “but I can scarce believe this. Why do you suppose they decided to take four more young ones to raise?”

“Don’t expect ‘they’ did.” Ben grunted. “Chad’s out­numbered two to one by womenfolk in that house. They’re the ones as’ll do the raising.”

“I’ll wait until morning to call on her,” Lydia decided, “but I mean to ask Manda for her reasons. They certainly don’t need farm workers, and besides, little ones like that won’t be much good.”

Ben Archer shrugged and held his tongue. He would say nothing about what Chad had hinted to him, since Chad’s homesteading plans weren’t common knowledge. As far as Ben knew, Chad hadn’t revealed them to Manda yet.

Ben reckoned that word would be out soon enough, though. Manda’s reaction to the news was predictable, and Ben was glad he wouldn’t have to be an eyewitness to it.