Cecil shook his head. He should have been up early and milked a goat. He would have to do better.
“Good morning,” Hester walked back into the kitchen through the back door. “It’s a beautiful day,” she added, her voice far too cheerful.
“Good thing too,” Mrs. August quipped. “We have a lot of work to get through.”
Cecil grinned, but didn’t say anything. He didn’t want to distract Hester or draw attention to himself. The kiss from the night before still burned on his lips and he needed to finish his breakfast and get to work before thoughts of the young woman managed to pull him down.
“How’re the goats?” Hyke asked his niece making Cecil look at the young woman in surprise.
“Fine, I moved them to fresh grass and they seem happy. Watching the kids is so funny. They are always leaping and jumping about. One was standing on its mother’s back.”
“Really!” Beverly asked dropping her fork and running for the door. “I want to see!”
“Finish your breakfast first,” Hester urged. “I have a feeling the goats will be around a while for you to enjoy.”
Beverly returned to her seat and picked up her fork finishing her meal. “Where’s the cat?” she asked looking toward the stove.
“She was here this morning,” Mrs. August replied. “She’s probably hunting again.”
Beverly nodded, her eyes flicking toward the cellar door. She wanted the cat to be a pet as well as a mouser. When would she get to do what she wanted. So far all they had done since arriving here was work.
“Will we see Alyssa soon?” The girl turned to her uncle. “I’m tired of cleaning and working here. I want to go see Alyssa.”
“Alyssa is in school,” Cecil reminded the girl. “I’m sure we’ll see her later.”
“Perhaps this week at church,” Hester suggested. “I’m sure she’ll be there. We can take a picnic and make a day of it.”
“Really!” Beverly’s eyes glowed. “What day is it now?”
“Tuesday,” Hester replied. “If we get everything done here, we’ll have a whole day to just rest and get to know the new neighbors.”
Cecil glanced up his eyes colliding with Hester’s and he swallowed hard before forcing a smile. “Sure, that sounds like a good plan.” Shoveling the rest of his food into his mouth and swallowing down his coffee, the man stood heading for the door. “I have work to do.” He felt that prickly feeling up his spine again and had to remind himself that today was like any other. The fact that he had kissed Hester Johnson the night before meant nothing.
Chapter 20
“Hester have you seen Jonas?” Beverly walked around the edge of the porch where Hester had started washing windows. “He was supposed to be helping me sweep the back porch.”
“I’ll see if I can find him,” Hester said. “He’s probably in his room.”
“I already checked there, he isn’t there either.”
A cold shiver raised goose bumps on Hester’s arms, and she hurried around the side of the house where her uncle had placed a ladder to reach the first porch roof. “Hyke, have you seen Jonas?” Hester’s heart was racing with worry, but she kept her voice calm.
“No, but I’ve been up here checking the roof.”
“Where’s Mr. Payton?”
“Up there.” Hyke pointed toward the next level at the top of the house. “Cecil,” the old man yelled. “Have you seen Jonas?”
Cecil walked to the edge of the roof peering over carefully. “No, I thought he was helping on the porch.”
“I can’t find him,” Beverly cupped her mouth to be heard. “Maybe he ran away.”
“I’ll be right down,” Cecil called back. “We’ll find him.” He was half way down the ladder to the porch when he stopped, twisting to look over his shoulder. “Have you checked the cellar yet?”
Hester shook her head slowly. No one had braved the dark dankness below the house yet. She knew that Mr. Payton and her uncle had it on the list, but if Jonas had gone down there without them, there was no telling what sort of trouble he could be in. Before another word had been spoken she sprinted back inside the house heading for the stairs leading down into the earth.
“Jonas!” Hester yelled pulling the partially open door wide and running down the stairs. “Jonas!”
***
Jonas Payton sat on the dusty floor tracing patterns on the hard wood with one finger as shards of sunlight trickled through the small window at the top of the house.
It was so quiet up here among old trunks, carpets, and a few pieces of furniture. A soft scuttling noise indicated a mouse was scurrying in the dark. The boy had grown bored with sweeping the porch. He wanted his pony. He wanted to go riding in the hills, and he wanted to see Mark and Georgie again.
He had thought that moving to this new house would be an adventure, but it was just as boring as his old life back in the city, only now the grownups were too busy cleaning and organizing to bother with him. Jonas wanted to do something fun.
The soft chirp of a bird far up in the rafters over his head told him that more living things had found their way into the house, and he pulled Hebbie out of his pocket letting him wriggled into the sunlight on the floor. Hebbie was too small to catch a mouse, but he might find a cricket or a spider to eat way up here away from everyone else.
“We’re never allowed to do anything fun,” the boy spoke to his pet. “Uncle Jonas is up there on the roof right now, and I’m stuck here like some little kid.”
Jonas lifted his eyes to the ceiling above him and sighed. “I bet you can see forever from up there. I could get a real idea of what this place is like and where everything is.”
He traced another pattern into the dirt, resting his chin in his hands and placing his elbow
