When Breaks the Dawn (Canadian West) Read Online Free

so reluctantly I opened the door and stepped in. I started with the messy shoes, getting my hands thoroughly mud-covered in the process. Now, how was I going to get out of the dress I was wearing? I should have thought ahead and removed my dress first.
    It was too late to think of that. I wiped off my dirty hands near the already muddy hem of my dress, then attempted to lift the dripping mess over my head without dragging the mud over my face and hair. My face streaked with mud, I grumpily left the dress in a sodden heap by the door and headed for the bedroom, my wet feet leaving imprints on the wooden floor.
    I felt a little better after I had washed my face and hands, put on a fresh dress and recombed my hair. I found a dry pair of shoes and went back to my kitchen to build the fire and prepare our meal.
    I was glad for the heat of the fire. I hadn’t noticed it till then, but the cold rain and the early spring day was chilly—and so was I. Nimmie probably would be cold when she arrived as well. And the menfolk, working out in the rain all morning, would be chilled to the bone. We would be fortunate if no one caught a dreadful cold from the ordeal. I decided to have some hot soup ready for lunch.
    The men were busy now preparing to uncrate and distribute much-needed supplies which had arrived with the McLains. If only there was a building big enough to hold all of it out of the rain.
    Instead, everyone would be forced to puddle through the mud around the wagons.
    I had the meal ready and the room warm when Nimmie came for dinner. She was wet to the skin but did not complain. She had no other clothes unpacked so I loaned her some of mine. She was not quite as careful as I had been about leaving all her mess at the door, but then, I reminded myself, Nimmie had spent many years living in houses that didn’t even have floors.
    The menfolk soon joined us. They too were sopping wet but they shrugged off the need for warm, dry clothes. “We’ll be just as wet in a few minutes anyway,” Wynn insisted.
    Wynn knew my concern for my clean house so he announced that they would take their dinner by the door. I tried to argue with him but he was adamant. Nimmie quietly took the two chairs and placed them by the door as Wynn requested, and, seeing that I was the loser on this one, I went ahead and served up their bowls of steaming soup.
    In a short while they were stepping out the door into the chilling rain again. I worried, sure that pneumonia was in store for both of them.
    Wynn was soon back. He stood at the open door and called to me so he wouldn’t need to bring more mud into the cabin.
    “Elizabeth,” he said when I joined him at the door, “I hate to ask this, but I have no choice. We are going to need to bring the supply crates in here so that we can sort them out without the rain ruining the foodstuffs. It’s the only place in the whole settlement that is anywhere near big enough to work.”
    I’m sure he saw the momentary horror on my face, but I quickly recovered and nodded my head.
    “You understand?” asked Wynn and I could detect the hesitancy in his voice.
    “Of course,” I managed to answer. “That will be fine—just fine.”
    Wynn looked searchingly at me, nodded his thanks, then turned to go.
    “We’ll be back as soon as we can hitch the horses to the wagons.”
    I allowed myself a big sigh and went back to join Nimmie for our dinner. I would need to hurry to clean up the dinner dishes. Soon our cozy little nest would be a shambles.

FOUR
    Supply House
    Even though I had tried to brace myself for the intrusion into my home, I found I was totally unprepared for what happened.
    The rain of course did not help matters. Everyone who came through the door brought with him mud and water that gathered on my wooden floor in dirty little puddles—which eventually got to be big puddles.
    There was no use trying to clean them up. The men came in a steady stream, groaning under the weight of the crates and