Their visitor from town sat down. They offered him a cup of coffee, but after a brief sip and nearly imperceptible grimace, he set the cup aside. “So, those two girls of yours are gone, eh?” he said. “Yeah, and it’s too quiet around here!” laughed T...
Josepha had rung the bell outside and was setting plates and serving bowls on the table as everyone wandered in. The newspaper she had been looking at a few days before lay open on the table and Mayme, who had been helping Josepha with preparations for lunch, sat down and began to read one of the...
The fire was burning low, and most of the tribe had returned to their tents and shelters. “You must have made me sound braver than I was to your father,” I said with an embarrassed laugh. She smiled over at me, and I thought my heart was going to me...
In those days right after the war, things were a mite different than they became later. But in another way of looking at it, I don’t reckon things really are ever all that different. People are still people and they still have to live together and get along. People of different skin still have tr...
Though its allies were nearly exhausted from the fight, Germany launched a final all-out offensive on the western front that represented the dying gasp of a losing cause. The smaller countries allied with Germany and the Central Powers, however, had had enough and began throughout the year to sue...
It was so still and quiet. Even in Gwyneth’s absence, the sense of her presence remained. Slowly Percy walked about through the two rooms of the cottage. He recognized a few pieces of furniture that were left. What clue he hoped to find here about his uncle, he could not imagine. Nor to answer th...
Katie set down the knife in her hand she’d been slicing bread with, wiped her hands, and went to meet her. She brought Aleta into the kitchen and asked her, “Would you like some breakfast?” “What are they doing here?” said Aleta, glancing first toward me, then with a frown toward Emma. “I told yo...
Then I had to figure out who Templeton Daniels was. I knew who he was, of course. What I mean is that I had to figure out who he was—or maybe who he was supposed to be, who God intended him to be—in my life. I reckon that’s something everybody’s gotta face sooner or later ...
It was still early for most produce, though strawberries were at the height of their season. Besides the strawberries, new potatoes, carrots, turnips, and homemade cheeses and jams, most of the featured items were handcrafts the village women had been making through the winter and spring months, ...
Royce’s mouth were so simple, yet so profoundly humble, that Christopher could hardly sit calmly as he listened to them. “So I’m going to take you up on your challenge,” Mr. Royce had said. “And my question is this: How does a man start over? How do you go back and undo al...
She and Charles had not spoken much of it, desiring to wait until Timothy was with them to let out their feelings on the matter. He arrived late the following Monday afternoon. It did not take long for the three friends to get around to the subject which had prompted the i...
At the words Ward Daniels, however, her mouth dropped and her eyes opened wide. To no one else present, did the name carry the slightest significance. But to Katie, the two words were filled with worlds of meaning. And not because of what he had said about being the rightful owner of Rosewood. Fo...
The others were all just gathering for breakfast. Pa said he’d like to talk to everyone. We went into the big room, sat down, and waited. “I been thinking hard about what Christopher told us the other day,” Pa began after a few minutes, “about how to pray for things.” &nbs...
—James Smith, “The Bonnie Mornin’ After the Rain” By then everyone in Port Scarnose knew of the lawsuit. And now knew also of its peremptory dismissal. Speculation ran rampant as to the reasons. No one knew anything for certain, only that Ranald Bain must have something on Olivia Urquhart, and th...
“Stirling!” she said, greeting him warmly. “How nice to see you.” “Hello, Mrs. Rutherford. I wanted to stop in for a visit sooner, but my holiday from university has gone by more quickly than I could have imagined.” “You’ve been busy, then?” &...
WHOLE weeks went by in the same place when rain or cold delayed them. To travel in such conditions only invited sickness or chills or fever, and that did nobody any good. But spring came and gradually warmth returned and the train picked up speed along its invisible tracks. &nbs...