5.1 For a moment, ARJ thought Dad was going to say no.

Payne Township, Sedgwick County, Kansas - March 1874

Crack! ARJ’s eyes opened as a rumble of thunder rolled over the cabin, rescuing him from his sorrowful dream.

Torrential rain pounded the roof and the wind whined outside the cabin. Dad burst through the door, setting his boots just inside. He peeled off his coat and hat and hung them to the left side of the fireplace where they dripped water in a small puddle on the floor.

Mum looked at him from the stove and then shrugged her shoulders. “What else can be done? At least water will dry.”

“I cleaned my boots before I brought them in. It looks as if we’ll be in the house today.”

“A good day to work on a project.” Said Mum, “I’m yearning to work that pattern my mum sent.”

He nodded. “I think I’ll draw a map of the farm and work on some plans for my crops.”

After breakfast, Dad settled himself at the far end of the table, and ARJ pulled his chair close to watch. John William played with Eva Anna, waving a metal bell rattle in front of her. She giggled, filling the cabin with cheer despite a few small drips of rain that fell from the ceiling near the door. They were all grateful that the roof held the rest of water out.

Mum went to the back room. ARJ heard the heavy lid of one of her trunks creak. When she reappeared, her lacing pillow, which was shaped like a small barrel and covered in dark blue cloth, was under her arm and a box of long pins was in the other. She set the items on the end of the table and returned to the trunk. When she came back, she carried a cloth bag that rattled as she walked. In her other hand, she held two skeins of fine white string. She retrieved the letter from Grandma that was in the nook, leaning against the map book, and pulled the lace pattern from the envelope.

“Mum,” ARJ asked, “Did you choose your lace making kit as the thing you brought from home?”

“I suppose I did.” She replied. “Along with all the other things we’d need when we got here.” She swept her hand, gesturing to the rest of the cabin. “The rest we bought when we got to Peoria.”

ARJ added, “Along with the wagon and horses. But… your lace kit was your special thing that you brought.”

“That, and the ‘yeast starter’ Grandma Jarman gave me before we left; so we’ll always have bread.”

Mum pulled her slender wooden lace bobbins from the bag and began sorting them by the colorful designs painted on the round end of each one. She stopped to count the dots lined up on the first row of the pattern. “Eight” she said, in her planning voice. “so… eight pair and six pair more...”

John William arrived at Mum’s side. “Can I match the bobbins, Mum?”

“That will be a tremendous help. Put them in pairs while I get your sister down to sleep.”

JW settled himself into his job. ARJ looked back at Dad’s project. He had begun to mark the paper into square sections.

“I’m marking off the acres of land we’ll be planting this spring.” He explained.

Soon Mum was back to examine her son’s work. “Very nice, JW.” She sat down and unwound the white string and then began measuring it, cutting lengths twice the length of her arm.

 Mum lay the pieces of string on the table. Smoothing them into a large group.

JW asked. “Are you ready for the bobbins, Mum?”

“Yes, son. You pick the first pair.”

“I’m choosing my favorite color first.” He placed both dark blue bobbins in his own hand and then gave her one of them.

She quickly wound almost half the string around the top of the skinny end of the bobbin, finalizing it with a tiny loop at the top. JW put its pair in Mum’s hand, and she wound most of the other end of the string around that bobbin. She slipped the loop over its top and set the pair aside. When they were finished, fourteen pairs of bobbins sat ready to help Mum make lace.

ARJ leaned in to look at Dad’s paper spread out on the table. He had finished marking off eighteen acres close to the pencil road he’d drawn. “If we can afford it, I’d like to plant the larger field in corn.” He said to Mum.

“Are we able to afford it, though?” Mum replied as she sat and pulled the cylindrical pillow onto her lap. She started to reach for her pins when she froze.

“Arthur. I may have an idea!”

Dad looked up from his map. “An idea of what sort?”

Mum put the pins down and picked up the strip of paper with the penciled dots. “When we were at the store in town last week, I overheard something. At the time, I didn’t think a thing about it.”

“Go on.”

“A woman was talking to the storekeeper as I walked in. She was asking for lace for a dress she was sewing. The man told her it was nearly impossible to get it. She looked so disappointed, and at the time, I thought to myself, how lucky I was to know how to make it.”

“And…” Dad wanted to get back to his map.

“Maybe I could use my lacemaking skill to help us survive through our first harvest.”

Dad set his pencil on the table and rolled it under the palm of his hand.

“Well?” Mum waited. “It goes for a pretty penny in Boston. I couldn’t sell it for as much in Wichita, but it might be enough to keep our accounts going.”

For a moment, ARJ thought Dad was going to say no. They all waited for his answer.