by Linda Batey

Created on: January 22, 2010   Last Updated: January 23, 2010

I had my tenth birthday in the late summer with no notice by anyone, which was fine. The less attention I got the better. Uncle had really taken to hitting me a lot, especially when he knew Edward was out in the fields or the woods.  I knew Edward wouldn’t be happy to know about it, and I didn’t want him to get worried, so I didn’t tell him. Maybe sometimes, I rationalized, I even deserved it.  Maybe I really did think too high and mighty of myself, as Uncle said all the time.   Somedays, he took his anger out on the cabin, throwing things, smashing anything glass; it was horrible to watch and worse to clean up after he left.  He had so much anger and you just never knew when it would come out or to whom.

One morning, it was just after the first snowfall of the year, so it must have been October; Uncle took some eggs into town, and told me I’d better have an extra special dinner on tonight, for he was hungry for somethin’ good instead of the slop I usually made. That made me feel real good. I knew I was an excellent cook for my age, and he certainly had never once refused anything I put in front of him. It was just to make me angry.

I had Edward invite a hen to dinner, and he set about picking one and parting it with its head. He gutted it, but I plucked it so that he could get out chopping the last of the hay. I dug the last row of potatoes that day and put the rest into storage, and I pulled the rest of the carrots, turnips, parsnips and beets.  I decided to make yeast rolls for a change from biscuits and put out a spread that Uncle would surely appreciate.  I brought in wood from the barn to fill the woodbox and built a fire in the stove.  Thankfully, Edward brought me two pails of water when he came home for lunch; the rare time we had together to be ourselves. This was the only time laughing was allowed; if Uncle had known  we laughed so much, he certainly would have found a way to put an end to it. I have no doubt it would have sent him into a rage. We did everything in our power to keep those rages to a minimum, because they were increasing at a very scary pace.

I worked all day on dinner, even making an apple pie for dessert. Fluffy mashed potatoes, baked chicken, gravy, carrots, pickles and homemade rolls that had risen so high I thought they would fall over.  I set the table nicely and made sure the cooking mess was washed and drying in the dish rack in the sink. 

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