Millie shook her head. “We only have the coffee pot.”
“How about the coal bucket?” Altar asked.
“Coal bucket?” Millie asked.
“Looks like a coal bucket to me.” Altar pointed to a cast iron pail where small pieces of wood were sticking out.
“I totally forgot about that,” Millie said. She walked over and dumped the kindling in a small pile before taking the bucket to Heather. “It will need to be rinsed out.”
Heather nodded and swapped the two pails in her hand for the coal bucket. She went out the door on the side of the school and stood over the pump. Giving it two pumps, she could feel that the handle was freezing. She put the bucket on the ground and used both hands to work the lever up and down. Finally, a gurgle of water could be heard.
Heather grabbed the bucket and let a bit of the water run into it. Her breath left her body as she put her hand in the cold water and swirled it around. She could see odd bits of wood floating in the water. Shaking her hand to release the frigid drops of water, she dumped the bucket over the side of the steps. The water sank to the ground and left a small canyon in the snow.
Heather repeated the process until she ran her fingers along the sides of the bucket and didn’t feel anymore wood or residue. Then she filled the bucket nearly to the top and handed it to Millie. “The bones are in the linen bag by the door.”
Millie passed the full bucket to Jenny.
“I’ll get it set up,” Jenny said, taking the heavy bucket and walking towards the stove.
Millie handed an empty pail to Heather. Once it was full, Heather handed it back and took the next one.
Her hands were so cold they were beginning to shake. Her biggest fear was her wet fingers freezing to the pump. She used her scarf to dry her hands between pails. Eventually there were ten pails full of water, plus several mason jars that Millie had in a box under her desk.
“That’s the last one,” Millie said.
Heather nodded. She couldn’t speak; her lungs were on fire. She handed the last jar back to Millie and followed her back into the main room of the schoolhouse. “I am so cold,” she said, her teeth rattling in her head.
“Let’s get you warm.” Millie helped Heather remove the scarf and jacket and hung them on the pegs. “Here, sit,” Millie directed, pointing to a small bench underneath the window.
“That’s the dunce seat,” Emma said.
“Well I feel pretty stupid going out in that weather.” Heather shook out her curls. “We should all stay inside.”
“What if we gotta go?” Little Jake said with a look of urgency on his face.
“Gotta go?”
“You know…”
Understanding fell on Heather’s face. “I honestly don’t know.”
“There is a chamber pot in the back. We’ll just have to use that and toss it out the window between uses.”
“I gotta go now,” Jake insisted.
“Come with me,” Millie said, leading her small charge towards the back of the school.
Jenny returned with the linen bag. “Is this the one?” she asked, placing the doctoring bag near Heather’s feet.
Heather nodded. “There should be two in there.”
“Should I use both of them?”
Heather shook her head. “I don’t know how long we will be here.”
“Should save it for tomorrow.” Altar was rocking back and forth in the chair.
“Are you alright?” Heather asked.
“Just figuring if I can rock hard enough, I can get myself out of this chair.” Tommy ran over and assisted Altar from the seat. As soon as she was standing, she arched her back. “Should probably put that other bone in the wood box outside. Should be cold enough for it, and there won’t be any snow getting in there.”
“I’ll take it,” Marcus said, taking the bag from Jenny. Jenny put one of the bones in the pot on the stove.
“It’s going to take a while to heat up.”
“Use some of the wood to build up the fire,” Millie said. She was blocking the back room of the schoolhouse to make sure no one disturbed Little Jake.
Heather held out her hands and feet, trying to will feeling back into them. As Jenny fed the fire, Heather could feel her fingers finally thaw.
“We should probably chop up some of the potatoes,” Altar said. “And I have some carrots. I got them at the mercantile, along with a bit of flour and some rice.”
“It will be a fine soup,” Heather said.
She leaned back against the wall and closed her eyes briefly. Her breathing was still labored. She felt movement and someone lifted her arm, tucking an object underneath it. She opened one eye. Cecily had placed Miss Poppet underneath Heather’s arm.
Heather smiled at the young girl’s gesture. Cecily rarely parted with Miss Poppet, so for her to entrust Heather with the important object, Heather was truly touched.
“How long do you think we are going to be here?” Jenny asked.
“Not long, I hope,” Millie replied.
Heather closed her eyes and allowed the talking to fade into the background.
Not long. She truly hoped that it wouldn’t be.
Chapter Six
Not long turned into three days.
The sun was starting to melt the snow, but not at a pace fast enough to suit Heather. She was ready to scream. The snow only lasted a full day and night. In that short time, nearly six feet of snow had fallen. Millie and Heather took turns pushing the snow off the back porch with the broom. Unfortunately,
