August 3, 1859

August 3, 1859

Dear Safiya,

She’s falling in love with Fred?  She can’t do that!  She has to fall in love with Thomas!  She was so close!  Well, I guess she can do what she want, but really, she should use some common sense every once in a while.

I’m still not feeling very well, but I haven’t lost any more weight.  Duncan saw that I wasn’t feeling well and insisted on making breakfast, so at least I don’t have to do that.  He prepares it before he goes to bed, and then all I have to do is heat it up.  The best part is, Cindy hasn’t even noticed yet.

I do too know Jaime well enough.  Well, sort of.  Anyway, I’m old enough.  I’m fifteen in five months.  But if you don’t want me to, I guess I can trust you enough to know that it makes sense somehow.

I have great news.  The MacJohns are going to the state’s capital, St. Paul, and I don’t have to go with them!  Neither does Duncan, so we can get some work done around the house without being interrupted at all.  Who knows, maybe we’ll do something fun as well.  But I don’t really know him that well.  Oh and the best part is, I don’t have to sleep in the barn!  Duncan said he’ll sleep on the sofa and I’ll sleep in my room.  Or we’ll both sleep in my room, since he goes to bed at around the same time I get up.  Either way, I am so looking forward to it.

Today, I got up early and went over to Jaime’s house.  No, nothing happened.  By the time I got there he was already out in the fields, but his mother had invited me and was waiting for me with some breakfast.  They all know that I’m not treated exactly right at the MacJohn’s house.  Mrs. Shuster told me that she wanted me to go with her to this old woman who needed some medicine for cheap.  That’s what Mrs. Shuster does on the side.  Sells herbal remedies for cheap to people who really need them.  Isn’t that amazing?

Anyway, when we got there, there wasn’t anyone in the hut.  Mrs. Shuster was worried that she had lost a sale, but I figured that the old woman would do what any other old woman who lives in a hut does, so I went around the back of the hut and found her working in a run down garden.

When we greeted her, she looked up and said, “Finally.  I’ve been waiting forever.  Why didn’t you get here sooner?”

“There was a road block along the way that we had to avoid, so we had to find another way to go,” I replied.  “If you already have a garden, why do you need to buy herbal remedies instead of making them for yourself.”

She snorted.  “Does it look like I can grow my own herbs in this?  I was gone for a couple of years visiting some relatives.  I told my children to take care of the garden, to either hire someone or do it themselves, but as usual they completely ignored me.  So while I get my garden back to its former glory, I need to buy herbs to treat my arthritis.  Do you have the medicines, girlie?”

I shook my head.  “Mrs. Shuster does.”  I turned to her, and was surprised to see that she was about ready to burst out laughing.

“What’s so funny?” the old woman demanded.

“You two just seem so well suited,” she laughed.  “I’m Mrs. Shuster.  May I ask who you are, ma’am?”

“Just call me Agnes.  Girlie, go to the shed and find me a suitable hoe.  The handle on this one is breaking,” she ordered me.

“I don’t know where it would be,” I retorted.  I thought she would scold me for being rude to an elder, but she just laughed.

Slowly, carefully, she stood up and groaned.  “I’m getting too old for this.  I’ll show you where it is.  If you decide to come back, you’ll know then.  Or you’d better, otherwise I would be very displeased with you.”

We kept going on like this for about an hour, but then Mrs. Shuster told me that it was time to go, that Cindy would be mad at me if I was any more late, so I said my good-byes to Agnes and just left.

Please continue on with the story!  Does anything interesting happen next?

Love, Lucy

Reviews

[Bella-Marie]

Ah, the woes of falling in love... Hehe. Are you gonna have much more romance because it's going really well the way you're just adding in the spices, slowly and carefully.
Great work.