Ella rinsed out the cooking pot and hung it on the nail to dry. She was almost done with the morning chores and was looking forward to the hour or so she would have to sit down at the kitchen table and read for a while. She was almost finished with her new book, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. She had no idea what she would be reading after that.
The newspaper was folded up on the table from where her brothers had left it this morning. They were out on the farm repairing a broken fence or something like that. She wasn’t certain. She’d been caring for them and their father since the death of her mother 16 years ago. Their blessing had been her youngest brother, Alfred. Their loss was their mother. At ten years of age, Ella had been given the task of raising her brothers. Their father was not a hands-on parent. He was rarely there, and when he was, he was unpleasant, loud and demanding. He had long ago decided that the first half of Ella’s name should have been “Cinder,” giving her a long list of chores to do every day.
She ran a cloth over the counter to clean it and looked around to see if she had missed anything. It looked clean to her. She hoped it looked clean to her father.
She sat down and unfolded the newspaper to run her eyes over the words without really reading them. There was almost always some kind of news about possible impending war, how President Lincoln was handling it and local good and bad news.
She was ready to set the paper down and go to her room for her book. She gazed out the window first, folding her arms over her chest and hugging herself. It was her dream to travel to the West and start a new life, but she couldn’t see how that would be possible in her current circumstances. Her father had never let her try to get any employment in town. She had the skills, she’d been cleaning, sewing her brother’s clothes and been their nursemaid for 16 years, starting from the newborn stage with Alfred, but he wanted her there at the house, keeping everything clean and in order.
For the last few years, Ella felt secluded, isolated from the world. The worlds in her books gave her a clear idea of where she wanted to be. She’d read a lot about the growing towns and cities in the west. That was all the way across the country. It was far away from here.
It was far away from her brothers.
The thought made her a little sad. It was useless to even think about it anyway. She wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon. You don’t go anywhere unless you have the money to do it. And she had no valuable property to her name.
She heard the sound of her brothers stumbling through the outside door and loudly taking their boots off in the mudroom. They were joking around about something and tumbled into the kitchen, wrestling with each other. She stood up and moved to the cabinet to get out a few glasses for water. They were sure to be thirsty after working hard all morning. They were certainly dusty enough for it.
“You’re such a bum!” Oscar and Dave appeared to be directing their teasing toward Alfred, the youngest. Oscar gave Alfred a shove and the three of them laughed, pulling their hats from their heads.
“Hello, sis!” Dave came over to where Ella was pouring water into the three cups from the cool pitcher. He took one of the cups from the counter and gave Ella a kiss on the cheek. “How’s your day been? Another long one of cooking and cleaning for ungrateful brats?”
Ella giggled, giving him a narrow look. Her green eyes were sparkling. “I certainly have. How did you know?’
He shrugged. “It’s what you usually do.”
He went back to the table and sat in one of the chairs. “That’s too true, my brother,” Oscar said.
“Don’t you think it’s about time you got yourself a life, sister?” Alfred said.
“What would you know about having a life, Al?” Dave said. “I’m older than you, and I know you don’t know anything about getting a life.”
“She needs a life outside this farm, outside this house.”
Dave nodded, moving his eyes back to his sister, who was setting the cups down in front of her other two brothers. She went back for her own drink. “I agree with you, Al. She is in need of controlling her own life.”
“You know Papa isn’t going to let me go anywhere. I’ll be taking care of him until long after you three are gone.”
“I’m planning on getting married next year,” Dave said. “You know that. It could be anytime that these guys leave this place. You can’t stay here. You can’t let Papa force you to stay here.”
“I am not sure I have much of a choice.”
The three boys didn’t look at her, and there was a quiet pause in the conversation. “Well, before we start feeling blue,” Dave said. “How are you doing with your new book, Alice’s Wonderland, is it?”
“Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.” Ella corrected with a nod, sitting next to Oscar. “I’m about done with it.”
“Are you enjoying it?”
“Yes, very much.”
“What have you got for when you’re done?” Oscar asked, giving her a narrow look she didn’t understand.