Lazy Day
773 Words
“You could trade her for two mules and a good horse and get more use out of ’em,” Mr. Jenkins called, wiping his hands on his trousers with a grin.
“Now, Norton,” his wife said, swatting at his arm as she came toward Clara, “you’re just sore he found himself a pretty one.”
She pressed a folded napkin into Clara’s hands, still warm.
“Biscuits and jam,” she said, then leaned in to place a soft, motherly kiss on Clara’s cheek. “You come back, I’ll teach you more than just vittles. Maybe we’ll get you started on soap next.”
Clara laughed, holding the bundle of her biscuits carefully.
“Mary Ellen, thank you. Truly.”
The children tore past them in a blur of noise and motion, chasing one another through the yard, and Clara couldn’t help but smile at it. Chaos, she wished, was hers.
By the time they headed back, the wagon creaked beneath them, the afternoon sun dipping lower as Elijah climbed up beside her with an easy motion.
Noah had already taken the reins.
“Thank you for bringing me along,” Clara said, leaning into Elijah just enough to brush a kiss against his cheek.
“Well,” Elijah said with a grin, “can’t take all the credit. Noah figured if we left you behind, we might come home to nothin’ but charcoal.”
Clara glanced toward Noah. His jaw sat firm, not hinting at humor as he stared straight ahead at the road.
“We’ve got pork and beans for tonight,” he said.
Elijah’s arm came around her shoulders in a loose, easy hold.
“We’ll handle the cookin’. Your biscuits are effort enough.”
Clara opened her mouth to protest, then closed it again. The memory of the blackened pile of biscuits from earlier was enough.
After supper, after all the biscuits were eaten, after the dishes were done, the three of them settled onto the porch.
The night stretched wide and endless above them, stars scattered thick across the sky, the air cooling just enough to be comfortable.
"We could clear the back field for an orchard." Elijah and Noah talked,
"What trees you thinkin' of?"
"Apples, maybe peaches."
Clara was not paying attention much to who was saying what. Her attention wasn't on them. Fireflies drifted lazily across the yard.
Clara watched them, quiet, almost afraid to break the moment.
“Can you catch them?” she asked without thinking.
Elijah shifted beside her.
“Catch what?”
She smiled, a little embarrassed now.
“The fireflies.”
He snorted softly, then pushed himself up.
“Course you can.”
He clapped his hands together around one, then pulled them apart and looked down.
His face twisted in a look of disgust.
“…Maybe you’ll do better.”
“I ought to wash my hands anyway,” he added, stepping off the porch toward the trough.
Clara moved a moment later, drawn into the soft glow drifting through the dark.
She lifted her hand slowly, careful this time. One tiny dot of light landed, a tiny pulse of light resting against her finger.
She smiled, pleased.
“I got one,” she said, holding it up.
Noah’s voice came from behind her.
“Careful.”
She turned slightly.
He was watching her. Not the firefly.
“That ain’t somethin’ you see every day,” he said after a moment. “A piece like that.”
Clara frowned faintly, glancing down at her hand. The ring caught the light as the firefly moved.
“I didn’t..”
She stopped herself. Something in his tone didn’t sit right. It wasn't teasing. It was just… noticing and always noticing her too closely.
Clara turned back toward the yard as Elijah’s footsteps returned. The movement, starting with the small bug and the firefly, lifted from her finger and disappeared into the dark.
"I caught one, but it flew away." She pouted as Elijah stepped into her arms and kissed her nose.
"We'll catch another one."
Elijah caught her hand, brushing his lips lightly over her knuckles before helping her cup another one between her palms.
“Gentler,” he murmured.
Clara laughed softly.
Elijah’s hand was still warm around hers.
Looking up into his eyes with their little flash of light between them, she felt safe.
The firefly drifted from her hand and vanished into the dark.
Clara leaned into Elijah’s side, holding onto the quiet.
She could feel Noah's eyes on her.
Six days.
That was all she had to save all of them.
Even Noah.
- Writer
