A Heart's Blessing - Linda Ford Page 0,4

know.”

They worked together to clean the kitchen and dining room and prepare the next meal. Because it was Saturday, they also did extra so they could enjoy the day of rest as much as possible. The dining room wouldn’t be open, and they would offer no baked goods.

Kent had been sent to bring in some carrots. He returned. “Auntie, where is Sally?”

Delcie jerked around. “She was right there.” Singing softly to Miss Rags. A quick glance around the room revealed no child. Delcie hurried into the bedroom. No Sally. Oh, please Lord, let her be safe. Delcie would have to be much more diligent about watching her.

She dashed outside and her breath whooshed out as she saw Sally under the bush next door. She hurried over and took Sally’s hand. “You can’t play here anymore. Let’s find a place Miss Rags will like.”

She led Sally back to their yard. There was plenty of vegetation, thanks to Jenny’s gardening, but the rose bushes were prickly, the little spruce too small for a child to play beneath its branches. A distance off were bushes and trees but they were along the creek and the children were forbidden to go there without an adult. If Finn was still here, she’d ask him to build a little shelter for Sally. But Finn wasn’t here.

“You play by the shed.”

Sally’s bottom lip trembled.

“I’ll bring out a blanket and make a little nest for you.” She left Sally and returned to the house. She got a gray blanket and saw an empty box that groceries had been delivered in. It gave her an idea. There were crates in the shed. One of them would serve as a little hidey place for Sally.

A few minutes later she dragged a crate out to the side of the shed and positioned it so the open side was toward the house. She made a pad with the blanket.

“How does that look?” she asked Sally who had watched the proceedings with interest.

“I’ll ask Miss Rags.” She looked at her doll. “She says nice house.”

Delcie waited for Sally to get settled then returned to the house and the cookie dough she had been preparing. She put matching mounds of the dough on the cookie sheet, every few minutes looking up to check on Sally. At first, Kent was playing there too, but he had wandered away to the edge of the yard where he had a collection of found items he used to create a tiny town with a farm beside it.

The first tray of cookies was baked, and she pulled them from the oven and slid them onto the cooling racks. Sally still played in her little house.

Delcie and Laura talked as they worked.

“I hope Hilda is enjoying her visit with Audrey,” Laura said.

“I’m grateful for her friendship with the Hoopers. I don’t know where I would have ended up without her guidance.” Audrey Hooper, now Mrs. Holmen, had told Hilda about the need for a bakery and good eating place in Willow Creek and Hilda had asked her three friends to throw in with her and head west to fill that need. All of them had their reasons for wanting to go far from home and their troubles and disappointments.

The door to the dining room opened. Early visitors. “I’ll get it.” Delcie glanced out the window. Sally was still playing where she could be seen. Delcie went to see what was needed. It was a family come to town to shop and wanting coffee and a snack before they returned home.

Delcie filled their order and set it before them then left them to eat in peace.

Before she returned to work, she glanced out the window. Sally wasn’t where she’d been, and a quick scan of the yard didn’t show the child. “Did Sally come in?”

“I didn’t hear her.”

They looked in the four rooms that constituted their living quarters though Delcie didn’t believe the child could have come inside without Laura noticing.

Sally wasn’t under the bush either.

“Where has she gone this time?” Not that Sally often went out of bounds but, on occasion, her curiosity got the better of her.

Curiosity! Would the child go into the saddlery shop? She knew better than to go in without being invited. Or did she? Sometimes Sally lived in her own little imaginary world, full of friendly people and happy discoveries.

“I’ll find her.” Delcie dashed from the house and circled it. “Sally? Where are you?” She reached the street. Because it was Saturday the town was