A Day to Pick Your Own Cotton - Michael R. Phillips [50]
“Do you have any cheesecloth?”
“I don’t think so. Maybe we should go to town and see if we can get what we need at the store.”
Thinking of going into town reminded me of seeing Henry in Oakwood. I told Katie what had happened. “I don’t know if I should go with you,” I said.
“I could go alone,” said Katie. “I think after last time I could do it alone if I had to.”
“Or we could go to Oakwood instead.”
“Then we’d have to pay for it,” said Katie, “and I’d rather put it on my mama’s bill at Mrs. Hammond’s so we don’t use up our money.”
“But what about Aleta?” I asked.
“Let me talk to her,” said Katie. “I’ll see what she says to the idea of staying with you.”
The next morning after the cows were out to pasture, Katie and I got the small buggy hitched up and ready for a trip into town.
We walked into the house.
“Aleta,” said Katie. “I need to talk to you for a minute. I have to go into town today. I’ll be gone two or three hours.”
Aleta stared back at her with a blank expression.
“Would you mind staying here with Mayme and Emma while I’m gone?” Katie asked.
Aleta glanced over at me.
“Would you tell me a story, Mayme?” she said.
“If you’re nice,” I answered with a smile, “I might even tell you two.”
“Then I don’t mind staying,” said Aleta.
“Good,” Katie said, smiling. “I’ll get back as fast as I can.”
Katie got up and she and I walked outside. Aleta followed us.
“Is there anything else we need, Mayme?” Katie asked as we went.
“I was just noticing that we are getting a little low on oats for the horses.”
“I’ll go to the feed store, then, after Mrs. Hammond’s.”
Katie climbed up onto the buckboard and looked down at me and Aleta.
“I’ll try to hurry,” she said, then flicked the reins, leaving Aleta and me and Emma together for the first time. I think Emma was more nervous at the prospect of it than any of the rest of us.
We went back into the house and heated up the irons on the kitchen stove. When they were ready I started ironing some of the laundry. As I worked I told Aleta stories. She sat at the table and listened with great big eyes, not saying a word. Pretty soon Emma was sitting there listening too. It was almost like when I used to tell my own brothers and sisters stories, except that now one of them was white. The time went so fast that before we knew it Katie was back, telling us all about what had happened in town.
She’d gone to the general store first. Mrs. Hammond, as always, had been full of questions.
“Where’s that ugly slave girl of yours?” she asked when Katie walked in.
“Haven’t you heard, Mrs. Hammond?” said Katie. “There are no more slaves. They’re free now.”
“What’s the girl doing, then?”
“She helps us at Rosewood and lives with us.”
“Well, I never,” mumbled Mrs. Hammond.
Katie was getting up her gumption more and more, I thought as she told us about it.
“I was sent into town for cheese-making supplies,” Katie went on. “But I forgot the list. But if you will tell me what I need, I’ll remember it.”
The shopkeeper humphed a little, which it seemed she liked to do every minute or two.
“Well, all you need is your cheesecloth,” she said, “and something to clabber the milk.”
“Yes, that’s what we need,” said Katie.
“What were you planning to use, then? I’ve got dried nettle in my herb supplies.”
“Is that the best thing to use, Mrs. Hammond?”
“Of course it’s not the best. The best thing is to use rennet. But your mama knows that. Does she have a dried calf ’s stomach?”
“I don’t think so.”
“You mean tell she wanted store-bought, with all those cows you’ve got out there?”
“Yes, ma’am, I think she wanted me to get one.”
“A whole skin! How much cheese is your mama fixing to make?”
“I don’t know, ma’am. Maybe just a part of a skin, then?”
“What did your mama tell you to get, for heaven sakes?”
“I’m sorry, I don’t know, ma’am. Just whatever we need to make cheese.”
“Gracious, but you are a dense one! I’ll cut you