Free The Reaper's Song by Lauraine Snelling Page A

putting that full plate on the table, she dished the stew into a serving bowl. My, but it smelled good.
    “Where you want this?” Ephraim asked, hefting the bucket.
    “Pour as much as you can into the reservoir. Oh, and please fill the teakettle.” She whirled from slicing the cheese. “Oh, Mr. Nelson, please forgive me. Here you are a guest, and I’m treating you just like family.”
    “You said I was family, remember? And I told you I wanted to earn my meal, so this be just fine.” He did as she’d asked, finishing just as the now washed railroad men rapped at the back door.
    “Come right on in and set yourselves.” Penny pointed to the four places at the table. “This is Mr. Nelson, if the three of you would be so kind as to introduce yourselves.”
    Hats in their hands, the three shifted from one foot to the other, their noses going like bloodhounds in full cry. “Ma’am, this here kitchen smells like a little bit of heaven.”
    The three hooked their hats over the backs of their chairs and sat down, beginning to pass the plates immediately. By the time Penny had poured the coffee, the stew bowl was empty and the leader of the three was looking up, ready for more.
    There was one piece of pie left when they finished. Hjelmer would have to have a cheese sandwich. As they went out the door, they each gave her their twenty-five cents, and the foreman put in an extra dime.
    “Can I pass the word about eating at the store in Blessing?” he asked.
    Penny nodded. “You surely can. Will it be every day or . . .”
    “We’ll try to let you know in advance, but that’s not always possible. Depends on where we’re working. If you’d get a telegraph receiver in here, that would make it easy.”
    Better not give me any more ideas this morning , Penny thought. Wait till the news of this gets out .
    “Name’s Joe Porter.” The foreman stopped before leaving. “Any chance you might get some chewing tobacco in stock? You’d sell a lot of it.”
    Penny avoided shaking her head. “I’ll see what I can do.” She kept the smile on her face till the door closed, then turned to the table where Ephraim sat nibbling on the last slice of dill pickle.
    “You don’t like chawin’ t’baccy?”
    “Not at all. It smells terrible, and I’m not having gobs of spit all over my floors.” She shuddered.
    “How long you had this here place?”
    “The store?”
    He nodded.
    “We opened for business the first day of June. So two months it is. Not too long after our wedding.” She crossed to the table and sat down. “Never thought I’d be serving meals for travelers too.”
    “They weren’t travelers. Just hardworking men who appreciated a good meal. Like this one here did. Now, I better get busy to earn out my boots, let alone the dinner.” He glanced at her out of the side of his eye. “Looked to me like you already got a good stack of wood out there.”
    Penny nodded, then slapped her hands on the oilcloth table cover. “But it won’t last long if I get to cooking and baking for people like those men. Makes me think of cooking for a threshin’ crew, and I know plenty about that. Who’d ever thought my working at the hotel in Fargo would be of use in Blessing?” She cocked her head to one side. “But then whoever would have thought there’d be such a place as Blessing?”
    Ephraim got to his feet. “Well, as that old hymn says, ‘God do work in mysterious ways, His wonders to perform.’ ”
    Penny eyed him as he talked. “You ever done any cooking?”
    He shook his head. “Not that anyone would want to eat unless they be starving.”
    “Worked in a store?”
    Again the headshake. “No, I’ve tilled fields, milked cows, made hay, and butchered when the time was right. I can fix most anything that’s broke, and I ain’t afraid of hard work. That’s why I’m thinking of homesteading out west. Planned to go as far as the train would take me and then look over the land.”
    “It’ll take you all the