Rose woke, companionably cuddled up back to back with Queen. She had woken in the middle of the night to find someone in bed with her, and to her own dismay she had burst into tears from fatigue and distress. The girl next to her had woken and, throwing back the covers, sat up and embraced Rose, holding her and rocking back and forth, whispering to her about her new home and all the people living in the big house. When Rose finally stopped crying Queen smoothed her pillow, then helped her to slide back down under the covers.
“I was so sad when I came here last year, I cried all the time,” Queen whispered. “My brother Daniel’s here with me but still, I missed my Mama all the time. Missed my Granny, back in Gainesville. Don’t you worry, you’re going to love it here as much as I do. I’m so happy you’re here Rose, I have a sister now, just like Happy and Beauty.” With that, Queen turned over and was asleep, and Rose soon slipped off as well.
Now she felt more rested than she had on any other morning she could remember. What’s in this mattress, she wondered, it’s the softest bed I’ve ever slept on. And it’s so warm and cozy under all these quilts! She rolled over slowly, to keep from waking Queen, and eased out of bed.
The room was cold but she grabbed her clothes from the peg on which Aunt Sarah had hung them the day before and quickly dressed. She noticed a register in the floor on the far side of the bed and stood over it, enjoying the heat rising from the downstairs. Rose picked up her boots and tiptoed out of the room, easing the door closed behind her.
When Rose entered the kitchen she saw Aunt Sarah carrying an armload of wood to the stove, where she removed a burner plate and started adding the sticks one at a time as flames shot out of the open burner.
“Good morning Aunt Sarah,” Rose greeted her aunt in a shy voice.
“Good morning!” Sarah replied, turning to her with a smile. “I’m glad to see you up, you sure were tired! Just let me get this stove stoked up and we’ll have some coffee and breakfast in no time. Sylvester left about an hour ago to check his trap lines and started up the stove out back, so the coffee’s almost ready out there. I’m going to make some pancakes this morning, you like pancakes Rose?” she asked.
“Yes Ma’am, I do,” Rose replied, smiling back at her aunt. Then her smile faded, and Sarah was surprised to see a look of sadness cross Rose’s face.
“What’s the matter, honey?” she asked, putting the last piece of wood in the stove and replacing the burner cover. “You tell me, we’ll see if we can make it all right.”
Rose decided to confess. “Miss Sarah, Auntie Happy told me you were expecting a girl who could cook. I don’t know how, I can’t even cook a single thing. I’m sorry to tell you this and disappoint you.”
Rose looked down at the floor, not wanting to see the look of disappointment that would be on Aunt Sarah’s face.
“Is that all?” Aunt Sarah replied, and when Rose looked up she saw that Sarah was about to start laughing.
“I wondered why Happy and Beauty were so interested in telling me all about your abilities in the kitchen. They made you sound like you could cook in a fancy restaurant. They told their brother how much you love to bake cookies, he’s all excited about someone new to cook for him.” Sarah laughed, and Rose smiled in relief.
“Well, we have to think up some way to pay those two back for their mischief. We’ll get Sylvester in on it, he’ll be glad to give those two a little of their own kind of trouble. Don’t you worry, Sylvester and I will take care of Miss Happy and Miss Beauty. Now as far as cooking and cleaning in this kitchen, I’ll show you what I need. You’ll be cooking in no time and I know you’ll be a big help to me. Your mama told me you’re a very responsible girl.
“Now here, put on this apron and wash your hands, it’s about time to start getting the table ready. The plates and all are right over there, you go on and find them and set the table. I’ll go get the coffee and see if my biscuits are ready. The outdoor oven heats well and stays hot a long time, so unless it’s too cold out we use that to bake.”
Sarah went out the back door and Rose moved over to the Hoosier cabinet next to the sink, pulled out the top drawer and found silverware. She had the table set by the time Aunt Sarah returned from the porch with a coffee pot and a platter full of biscuits.
“Doesn’t that look just right,” she told Rose when she saw the table.
She put the pot of coffee on the stove and the biscuits on the table.
“We’ll need coffee mugs and glasses, get ten of each from the dish pantry will you? To the right, there,” she nodded towards a door at the front of the kitchen.
While Rose looked for the items in the pantry Aunt Sarah made a batter and called Rose to the stove, where a large griddle was warming
“This is the key to good pancakes, watch this,” Sarah instructed.
She ran a little water from the faucet onto her fingers, quickly crossed to the stove and dashed several droplets onto the griddle. The water drops danced and skittered across the cast iron, quickly boiling into steam.
“That’s how you know it’s hot enough,” she told Rose. “And besides, it’s fun,” she smiled.
Aunt Sarah greased the griddle and started to ladle batter onto the hot surface. A delicious smell began to fill the room, and Rose watched the pancakes as they puffed up and formed little bubbles on their surfaces.
Sarah handed her a spatula.
“Go ahead," she told her. “When they’re all bubbly you can turn them.”
Rose flipped all seven pancakes with no trouble as Sarah put a pan of bacon and another of sliced potatoes on the stove to fry.
The hall door swung open and Beauty, Happy and Queen entered the kitchen.
“Give me some coffee, Mama, I’m half alive,” moaned Beauty. “I have to leave for work early today, Mrs. James wants her hair washed and set and then I need to get over to Mrs. Pillsbury’s place and do for her today. Queen here is going to come with me and help, all right?”
“Queen can go with you today since she’s done over at the Johnson’s place. While you’re over there I want you two girls to stop at Mrs. Eaton’s and drop off her ironing, it’s all finished. If she wants you tomorrow you tell her no, we’ll all be at church. The women’s auxiliary needs as many hands as we can get to prepare for the pageant and Christmas week.”
Sarah poured coffee for all three young women and brought a platter of pancakes to the table. She then returned to the stove and started cracking eggs into a hot skillet.
Happy loaded her plate with pancakes and looked around her mother at Rose.
“Well look who’s at the stove, flipping flapjacks! Rose, is that you?” Happy exclaimed. “Look at her, Queen!”
“Good morning Rose,” Queen said, smiling.
“Good morning, Queen. Good morning, Auntie Beauty, Auntie Happy. I can make pancakes, I guess,” Rose replied with a smile.
“Happy, I need you to go on over today to your Auntie Emma’s to take care of her fruitcakes and to help her by cutting greenery for the church. Rose can go with you to help. Rose, you’ve done a fine job with breakfast this morning, now sit down and eat.”
Queen pulled out the chair next to her and Rose slipped in to it, glad when Queen reached over and squeezed her hand for a moment before pouring her a glass of milk. Sarah brought a platter of fried eggs to the table and served all four young women, then sat down herself.
“Lord, please let those babies sleep for just ten minutes so I can eat and sit down for a rest,” she sighed.
“Mama, you dig right in, I’ll get up for them if they start to come down,” Beauty offered. “Rose, honey, you need to eat more than one old pancake and an egg. Get two more pancakes and some bacon. Give her three slices, Queenie. Take a biscuit too, and another egg. Go on! Happy will have you doing all her work besides yours, so you better eat enough to do two jobs.”
“Rose, you better just be thankful the General here assigned you to my battalion, not to Miss Beauty’s. She’d have you running after those noisy dirty children all day, get you to keep them all clean and wiped and diapered and fed and happy while she curls her hair. Then she’d tell Mama she did it all. You‘re lucky to be with me. It’s Queenie here I feel bad for, having to go with old Miss Sleepyhead, work her to death,” Happy teased.
“Now I remember why I always send you two in opposite directions,” Sarah said. “You do more arguing than working if you’re together. Queen, please make sure Rose is dressed warm enough today, she’ll be outside part of the time. Take her up and help her get ready when you’re done eating.”
“Yes Ma’am,” Queen replied, smiling at Rose and slipping another pancake on Rose’s plate, covering it with butter and syrup. She got up and poured more coffee for her Aunt Sarah, and then everyone was quiet for a while as they enjoyed breakfast.
”I’m going to go feed the chickens,” Happy said once she was done eating, finishing her coffee as she rose to go out back. “I’ll be back for you directly,” she told Rose.
“Let’s get to these dishes, girls, those children will be up any minute now that the sun’s come up. I like a clean kitchen, Rose, and nobody messes it up faster than that pack of babies.” Sarah started to rise but Beauty put a hand on her shoulder and rose herself.
“Stay put Mama, I’ll get these dishes started. You two be quiet heading upstairs, don’t wake those children,” Beauty warned Rose and Queen.
“We won’t. Let’s go Rose," Queen replied, and taking Rose’s hand she led her upstairs to change clothes.
“I won’t need all these clothes, Queen. I’m used to it being a lot colder than this,” Rose complained once she was dressed for outside. “It gets way down below zero in Chicago, and the wind is always blowing there. I’ll wear the pants and sweater, but I don’t need this coat or this hat, and my boots are nice and warm.”
“Rose, you can try and get by Grandmama with no coat or hat, but I’ll bet you don’t have a chance. Here, you put on this old sweater. It’s kind of worn out so it’s not too heavy. Wear the hat and bring the coat. You can put it on when you leave and slip it off once you’re out of sight. Just don’t let Auntie Emma see you, she’ll tell Grandmama first chance she gets. Come on, I hear the others going downstairs.”
By the time Rose and Queen returned the kitchen was full of people. Rose saw Daniel and A.T. on one side of the table, with a little boy to each side of them. A beautiful young woman was sitting on the other side next to Aunt Beauty, and another little girl sat beside her. Beauty was busy feeding the two smallest little girls, the both of them sharing one chair.
Queen said “This is all of us, what a crowd, huh? That's Marlene and Mary next to Beauty. The two little ones in that chair, Darlene and Baby. There’s Daniel and A.T., then there’s our youngest, David and Bubba. Everybody, this here is Cousin Rose.”
“Hey Rose,” they all chorused, some around mouthfuls of food.
Daniel was looking straight at Rose the whole time Queen was speaking, looking for so long that Rose could feel her face grow warm.
“Good morning Rose, I’m glad you’re feeling rested,” he told her, smiling. “I had to help you upstairs yesterday, you were sound asleep.”
“Good morning,” she replied, feeling flushed. Had she done anything embarrassing while she drowsily climbed the stairs? Did she say anything?
“Don’t bother her,” Queen scolded him. “You are such a pest, don’t tease.”
“Oh, Queen, I’m not teasing. I was just saying. I’m sorry Rose,” he apologized.
“That’s all right,” Rose murmured, and when she smiled at him his smile grew even larger.
Happy returned from feeding the chickens. “Let’s go Rose, we have plenty of work to get to today. Those chickens are fed but somebody needs to get the eggs, there’re an awful lot of them today. I guess that new feed really is better.”
Happy crossed over to Sarah and embraced her, giving her a kiss. “You send one of these children after us if you need us before noon.”
“Tell Emma I’ll see her tomorrow at church. Help her out this morning, but keep an eye on Rose. I don’t want her catching cold, hear?” Sarah warned.
“Yes’m. This isn’t the Arctic you know Mama, we’ll be fine,” Happy mumbled to Rose.
“You be good today, you children, don’t drive Mama crazy or she’ll make you scrub the stairs again,” Happy called as she and Rose left through the swinging door to the front hall.
“We won’t!” chorused the little ones.
