Making Friends
Caroline Pembroke pulled her wagon to a halt right in front of the Howard place at just past 9:30 Saturday morning. Hope watched from the window, thinking it was best not to wait for Caroline to come inside. While neither of her hosts had forbidden her to go, she was under the impression they’d just as soon she didn’t. And yet, here she was, three loaves of pumpkin bread in a basket over her arm. She’d had to use canned pumpkin, which wasn’t nearly as good as the real thing, but she remembered what Judah had said about bringing something that wasn’t pie and thought this was the best she could do.
“Good mornin’!” Caroline hollered, waving from behind the reins. “How are you today, Miss Tucker?”
Hope waved back as she approached. She couldn’t help but smile at the friendly face. Caroline looked so much like Ginny—or rather the other way around. Same large, inquisitive brown eyes and light brown hair, same bright smile. “I’m well, thank you kindly. How are you, Mrs. Pembroke?”
“Oh, please, it’s Caroline, I insist.”
“Then, please call me Hope.” She set her basket down on the seat, and Caroline pulled it over so Hope could hoist herself up. “Sure is a nice day, isn’t it?”
“It is. Thank goodness for it, too. After the rain we had yesterday, I wasn’t sure.”
The ground was still a little damp from yesterday’s showers, but one thing Hope noticed about this part of Texas was that the sun would dry up any sort of precipitation pretty quickly. Caroline gave the horses a tap with the reins and they took off. “Where are the children?”
“They went on ahead with their pa and uncle this morning,” Caroline explained. “Men wanted to get to it, tryin’ to get it all done today. Besides, it’s easier work in the morning before it gets too hot.”
“I suppose that makes perfect sense.”
“When we raised our barn last fall, it was August and intolerable hot. At least when our house went up it was early spring.” Caroline’s bonnet covered most of her face but occasionally she turned to look at Hope as she spoke. “I reckon there’ll be less hands for this even than there was for ours.”
“Oh? Why is that?” Hope asked, naturally curious.
Caroline didn’t answer for a moment, and Hope wondered if she’d hit a sore spot. The mother cleared her throat and said, “Back when we first moved here, things was different. Now, ain’t many folk who care to be around us. Not sure what you’ve heard. Anyhow, the Coys is different. And we’ve got plenty of friends from church who’ll be out there helpin’, too.”
“Church?” Hope had been under the impression the Pembrokes didn’t attend church.
Laughing, Caroline said, “What, you thought just because we no longer attend First Baptist we don’t go?”
“No, it’s not that,” Hope insisted. “I mean, I realize there are other churches in town. It’s only....”
“Someone mentioned that we don’t attend?”
Hope wasn’t actually sure how she had been under the impression that the family didn’t attend anywhere. “What sort of church do you go to?”
“One for devil worshippers.” Caroline turned and looked at her, hardly able to keep a straight face, and Hope watched in amusement, waiting for her to say she was joking. She had to be. “It’s just a little country church. No real denomination, I suppose.”
“I see you and your brother have a similar sense of humor,” Hope muttered, shaking her head.
That made Caroline laugh as well. “You would not be the first person to say that. I’m sorry, Miss Tucker—Hope. I didn’t mean to offend you. It’s only... sometimes you gotta make light of things or else you may end up never seeing the humor in anything.”
Hope considered her words and remembered thinking Judah did have an awfully optimistic countenance considering the circumstances. “I wasn’t offended,” Hope assured her. “Do you like it? The church that is?”
“Oh, yes. It’s a friendly place. There’s the Coys and us and a couple other families. A few children. None of the others come in for school, though. It’s too far. Ginny has a good friend, Liza, who’s the preacher’s daughter. She was torn between going out with her pa early to visit with Liza and comin’ into town with me to pick you up. She is quite fond of you.”
Hope couldn’t help but smile. “Ginny is wonderful. She’s brilliant, you know. And such a good sister. You should be proud of both of your children. George is learning a lot as well.”
“I am,” Caroline assured her. “I was nervous sending them to school. I wasn’t sure how they’d fit in or if they’d even learn anything under the circumstances, but you’ve inspired Ginny. She says she wants to be a schoolteacher when she grows up, just like you.”
Hope felt a blush coming on. “That’s so sweet of her. I think Ginny could be whatever she’d like. She has all the potential in the world.”
They were out of town a little ways now, and Hope felt slightly relieved that they hadn’t seen anyone she knew. While she would hold her head up high should anyone question her decision to accompany Mrs. Pembroke, she also wanted to avoid confrontation if she could. As her grandmother always said, “There’s enough trouble in the world to stumble into. Ain’t no sense a’lookin’ for it.”
They rode along in silence for a few moments before Caroline noted, “This road right up here leads to our property. You just go down this lane about two miles and our house is the first one on the left, in case you ever need to know.”
“Good to know,” Hope replied, staring down the road as they passed. A particularly unique apple tree stood off in the distance, one she thought she might remember. She couldn’t imagine why she might need to know that, but it was conversation at least.
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