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1、The Scent of SnowLinda Lael Miller -Chapter 1 Cornucopia, WashingtonDecember, 1892 DELICATE, SILVERY FANS AND CURLICUES OF frost decorated the windows of the farmhouse that morning when Rebecca lit the bedside lantern, arose, and hastily donned a wrapper and slippers. Since the room was far too cold
2、 for washing, she took the light and the calico dress she meant to wear that day and hurried down the steep, narrow stairway to the first floor.Reaching the large kitchen, with its many shelves and cupboards, she set the lantern in the middle of the scarred oak table, draped the dress over the back
3、of a chair, and took a handful of kindling from the woodbox beside the stove. When the banked embers of the fire flared around the dry, pitchy pieces of pine, Rebecca smiled and lifted the lid on the reservoir at one side of the massive black Kitchen Queen. The water inside was tepid, perfect for qu
4、ick morning ablutions.After washing, Rebecca fed more wood into the stove, then quickly exchanged her nightgown and wrapper for the calico, one of the three dresses she owned. She warmed her bare toes in front of the stove while unplaiting her waist-length, chestnut brown hair, brushing it thoroughl
5、y, and then winding it deftly back into its customary thick braid. Once that was done, Rebecca put on her stockings and practical shoes, went out onto the back step, and tossed the contents of the washbasin into the snowy yard.She carried her nightclothes back upstairs to her room while water for co
6、rnmeal mush heated on the stove. She made her bedat least, shed certainly come to think of it as her ownand tapped at the twins door as she passed along the hallway.Annabelle, Susan, she called, as she did every morning. Its a new day.Her ten-year-old half sisters groaned so loudly that she heard th
7、em from the halland that, too, was part of the routine. A smile touched Rebeccas mouth as she made her way to the stairs. Annabelle and Susan were very young, so it was easy to forgive them for a lack of perspective. It would be years before they fully realized how fortunate they were to be living i
8、n that solid farmhouse, with plenty to eat, warm clothes to wear, and the opportunity for an education.Rebeccas smile faded as she reached the kitchen and began preparing breakfast. As dawn spread across the sky, turning the frost patterns on the windows to glorious shades of pink and apricot, a sen
9、se of uneasiness troubled her. Over the past two years, shed made a place for herself and the twins, there on that patch of land just outside the small town of Cornucopia, in the wheat country of Washington state. They were an accepted part of the community, a family, the three of them, and by sewin
10、g and taking in the occasional roomer, Rebecca managed to make an honest living.She put three broad slices of bread into the oven to toast and then cracked a trio of brown eggs into a pot of boiling water. Annabelle clattered into the kitchen, hopping on one foot while she tried to pull on the oppos
11、ite shoe. Her bright, honey-gold hair was tousled from sleep, and her woolen dress was misbuttoned. Susan, the more graceful of the pair, glided into the room fully and correctly clad, her hair already brushed and neatly tied with a ribbon.She gave Rebecca a pained look and started to set the table,
12、 while Annabelle struggled, muttering, into her coat.Such a big fuss over a little task like feeding a few chickens, Susan remarked.Annabelle glowered at her sister. Well see who makes a fuss tomorrow, Miss Priss, when its your turn to see to those cranky birds.Wash up and have your own breakfast fi
13、rst, Annabelle, Rebecca interceded gently. I dont want you to be late for school.Minutes later, the three of them sat down to eat. The dawn was still struggling against the darkness, and the light of kerosene lanterns flickered cozily in the warm kitchen.Mary Alice Holton is getting a doll for Chris
14、tmas, Susan announced. Her brother sent it all the way from San Francisco. He works on the docks.Rebecca felt a pang. Shed managed to give her half sisters food and shelter and a great deal of love since her neer-do-well father had dropped them off at her door back in Chicago nearly three years befo
15、re, when she herself had been but nineteen. Luxuries like store-bought dolls, however, were out of her reach.Annabelle, the less fanciful of the two, made a face. Mary Alice Holton is a crybaby. Her brother probably sent that doll just so shed quit her sniveling and give her mama and papa some peace
16、.Although she smiled at this observation, a lump thickened in Rebeccas throat. Whatever Annabelle might say to the contrary, and despite the fact that she was an avowed tomboy most of the time, Rebecca knew she wanted a pretty doll every bit as badly as Susan did.It cost two whole dollars, Susan wen
17、t on, ignoring her sisters comment. It has glass eyes and a china head and real hair. Mary Alice named it Jeanette.Annabelle gave a long-suffering sigh. If this doll is supposed to be a Christmas present, how come Mary Alice knows what it looks like? Its only the first week in December!She peeked, o
18、f course, Susan replied loftily.Hurry, now, Rebecca said in a brisk tone, rising from her chair and reaching for her empty bowl, her silverware, and the plate that had held her toast and poached egg. Youll be late for school. And dont you dare forget to feed those chickens, Annabelle Morgan.Annabell
19、e and Susan looked at each otheralthough they often squabbled, the twins had an uncanny way of communicating without words when they so desiredthen followed Rebeccas lead and carried their dishes to the cast iron sink. Soon they were bundled up in coats and boots, hats and scarves, school books and
20、lunch tins in hand.Rebecca watched from the back step as they trudged through the deep snow, sunlight pooling around them, to the chicken pen. Susan dutifully held Annabelles things while her sister attended to the chore of feeding the squawking birds.The schoolhouse was just down the road and aroun
21、d the bendthe smoke from the buildings wood-burning furnace curled gray against the dove-gray winter skybut Rebecca kept an eye on the children until they had disappeared from sight.A strange sense of apprehension dogged her as she went about the morning tasks of tidying the kitchen and chopping mor
22、e wood for the fire. For some inexplicable reason, her gaze kept straying toward the quiet, snow-shrouded road.She had work to do, she told herself, and tried to shake off her troubled state of mind as she spread the lush red velvet for Miss Ginny Dylans Christmas dress on the table. Shed made the p
23、attern pieces herself, devoting a full afternoon and part of an evening to the task, using a page torn from a fashion book as a guide. Even though shed checked the paper panels carefully against Ginnys measurements, Rebecca inspected each one again before pinning them into place. The velvet was cost
24、ly, and she could not afford to make a mistake.The sunlight grew brighter as the morning passed, and the frost portraits melted from the window panes. Despite her concentration on the task at hand, Rebecca still felt nervous and fitful. Once she even wrapped her shabby woolen cloak around herself an
25、d walked down the path to the very edge of the road to look long and hard in both directions.She was glad, as she returned to the house and her sewing, that there was no one around to see her odd behavior and ask for an accounting. Lucas Kiley had bought his wagon and team in Spokane, within an hour
26、 of stepping down off the westbound train, but hed waited to purchase the other supplies he needed. Since Cornucopia was going to be his home from now on, he thought it was only right that he do as much commerce with the local merchants as possible.He was chilled to the bone when he finally reached
27、the small town hed thought about so oftenduring the long years in that factory in Chicago and then, afterwards, while he was recovering from the accidentbut a sense of celebration lifted his heart.Lucas took a long look around him, taking in every detail of the small town that would be his home from
28、 now on. God knew, the place wasnt muchjust a general store, a bank, a church, a livery stable, and a couple of saloons, huddled together on the prairie. A few sturdy little houses flanked the main street buildings, but because of the cold, there was no one out and about except for one skinny yellow
29、 dog.He reined in the two big sorrel draft horses and set the brake lever with one foot, sparing a second glance toward the Green Grizzly Beer and Pool Parlor. It was late afternoon, surely a proper hour for a glass of whiskey to melt the icy splinters in his blood. But he was going to need every pe
30、nny of the money hed saved to stock his farm and woodshed and see himself through the winter.Lucas entered the general store instead, and felt strengthened by the blast of warmth from the large potbellied stove that stood in the center of things. Two old men sat with their feet toasting on the chrom
31、e rail, and a pretty dark-haired woman with a gracious manner swept out from behind the counter. She was in her forties, Lucas guessed.Youre a stranger here, the lady observed kindly, her wise eyes full of friendliness and humor. She held out one hand, just as readily as a man would have done, and L
32、ucas liked her instantly. My name is Mary Daniels, and I run this store.He shook her hand. Glad to meet you, Mrs. Daniels. Im Lucas Kiley andLucas Kiley! the storemistress interrupted, beaming. The minor impoliteness seemed almost elegant, coming from her. Well, it is about time you showed your face
33、 in Cornucopia! That delightful little family of yours has been carrying on without you quite long enough!The wind seemed to rush from Lucass lungs, just the way it had once in Chicago, when hed gotten into a fight and taken a hard punch in the gut. What delightful little family? he wondered stupidl
34、y. For a moment, he almost believed hed married at some point and then forgotten both the woman and the ceremony, but then he overcame his shock enough to begin, But I dontShes a trooper, that Rebecca, Mrs. Daniels butted in again. She stood with her hands on her narrow waist, looking up at Lucas wi
35、th bright eyes. Why, shes taken that run-down old place and made it into something, all on her own. You ought to be proud of her, Mr. Kiley.Lucas swallowed any further protests. He was tired, hungry, and confused, and ever since hed lived at Mrs. Ella Readmans Boardinghouse in Chicago, several years
36、 before, the name Rebecca had had a stunning effect on him whenever it came up in conversation.Obviously, this wife business was a misunderstanding. Lucas was a methodical man, not given to tangents or impulse. He would sort the matter out soon enough.He bought a wagon load of groceriesmostly staple
37、s like sugar and flour and beans and coffeeand set out through the snapping cold of that pristine winter afternoon for the farm hed purchased, sight unseen but completely furnished, just a few months before the factory accident that had set him back for so long. He didnt need to look at a map; Lucas
38、 knew the road by heart, having traveled over it a thousand times in his imagination. The landmarks were like old friends.There was the abandoned Halley place, just as the last owner had described it, and there was the single oak tree jutting up in the middle of the fieldtwo hundred years old if it
39、was a day. Beyond that was the schoolhouse, a one-room structure.Lucas smiled as he passed. Class was just letting out for the day, and children were bursting through the doorway like gravel from a shotgun, shouting and laughing and pelting each other with snowballs. Lucass tired heart rose another
40、notch, and he turned his light green eyes toward the next bend in the road.Although the homestead itself wasnt quite visible, he saw smoke twisting slowly against the sky, and considered Mrs. Daniels mention of a wife. He frowned and urged the horses into a trot, even though the snow was fairly deep
41、 and the going was hard.The storemistresss warning and the spiral of wood smoke notwithstanding, Lucas was surprised when his house and barn came into view and he saw a woman wrapped in a cloak standing on the step, one hand shielding her eyes from the sun as she watched his approach.Curious as he w
42、as for a look at the place itself, it took some doing to tear his gaze from the figure of the woman. He gazed with approval on the solid-looking barn and whitewashed two-story house. There was a wellhouse, too, and a fenced pasture, and the fields looked smooth under their mantle of snow.He turned h
43、is attention almost resentfully to the woman.There was something familiar about her tall, slender figure and that rich fall of red-brown hair, and Lucas rubbed his beard-stubbled chin thoughtfully as he drove closer. It was almost as though shed been expecting him, this trespasser standing so brazen
44、ly on his back porch.As he pulled the wagon to a stop in the dooryard, she lifted her skirts a little and stepped gracefully down the stairs. Her cheeks were bright crimsonand not from the cold, Lucas reckonedas she made her way toward him.Recognition crackled between them as he looked down at her f
45、rom the wagon box and she gazed up at him from the ground. For an instant, it seemed they were back in Chicago, at the boardinghouse, sitting across the dinner table from each other.Hello, Rebecca, he managed, his voice raspy. I understand you and I have tied the knot, though I confess I dont recall
46、 the first thing about the ceremony.The blush on her beautifully-shaped cheekbones intensified, but her maple-brown eyes, glowing as if lanterns burned behind them, regarded him steadily. Come inside before you catch your death, she said, with resignation.-Chapter 2 Even though Rebecca had had a pre
47、monition that something disturbing was about to happen, and even though she kept her back straight as a poker walking ahead of her husband into the farmhouse, she was in a state of inner turmoil. She would have been less surprised if a plague of locusts had descended on the snowy landscape than she
48、was by the arrival of Mr. Lucas Kiley.After all, shed had every reason to believe he was dead.Lucas paused on the narrow porch to shake out his hat and stomp the snow from his boots. Rebecca bustled to the stove, unable to meet his gaze, at a distinct loss for a proper explanation for her presence.I suppose youre hungry, she said, using