Bailey and the Santa Fe Secret by Linda McQuinn Carlblom Read Free Book Online Page B

studio. “What are you girls up to?”
    “We were checking our e-mail,” Bailey said.
    “Ready to see how the pots you made yesterday look now that they’ve dried?”
    “Yeah!” Bailey pushed the computer to the end of the table, out of the way, while Halona got the pots from out back and brought them to the table.
    “Now we get to paint them?” Bailey stood up and down on her tippy-toes.
    “We glaze them,” Halona said. “Have you thought about what colors you want to use?”
    “I want mine to be like the sunset on your family pot, so I’ll choose pink, orange, and yellow.”
    “I just want blue and green on mine,” Elizabeth said. “Those are the colors in my room.”
    “Blue and green it is,” Halona said as she got out big bottles of glaze and poured a little of each color into cups. She pulled paintbrushes from a drawer and laid them on the table by each girl. “What color do you want the inside of your dishes to be?”
    “Pink, please,” Bailey said.
    “I think I’ll make mine blue.”
    Halona poured some pink paint into Bailey’s dish. “Pick up your bowl and swirl it around to make the glaze coat the bottom.”
    Bailey did as she was told.
    “Now tip your dish on its side to get the glaze on the sides.” Halona watched as Bailey let the pink glaze cover the sides of her dish.
    Halona then poured blue glaze into Elizabeth’s bowl, and Elizabeth covered the inside in blue.
    Bailey dipped her brush into the pink glaze and started working on her sunset. “I wish these colors were brighter.” She couldn’t disguise her disappointment as she looked at her painting.
    “They will be after we fire them in the kiln,” Halona replied.
    Elizabeth cocked her head. “Guess that’s a good thing to remember when we disappoint ourselves with the way we sometimes act. Just like the colors we paint on these dishes, we don’t always shine like we should. But we’re a work in progress. God isn’t finished with us yet.”
    “You are wiser than your years, Beth,” Halona said. “We always have room to grow and improve, don’t we?”
    “So the next step is firing them?” Bailey asked.
    Halona nodded. “Yes. I’ll turn on the kiln.”
    “When Mom and I bake cookies we set the oven at 375 degrees,” Bailey said. “What temperature do you set the kiln to cook the pots?”
    Halona laughed. “Much hotter than your kitchen oven. The first firing, the bisque, is usually at 900 to 1,000 degrees.”
    Bailey’s eyes widened. “That’s hot!”
    “Yes it is,” Halona agreed. “That’s why you must never play around the kiln.”
    “How long do you bake it?” Elizabeth asked.
    “Usually about eighteen hours.” Halona set the oven.
    Bailey’s jaw dropped. “Eighteen hours! Seems like they’d be burnt to a crisp by then.”
    “If they were cookies they would be!” Halona teased.
    “Do you use special potholders to take them out?” Beth asked.
    Halona shook her head. “No. We let them cool in the kiln for two to three days before we remove them.”
    Bailey could hardly believe her ears. “So our pots won’t be finished until we have to leave?”
    “I’m afraid not,” Halona said. “Making pottery is a slow process. There are many steps, and each one takes time.”
    “Wow. Now I understand why each piece is so special,” Elizabeth said. “Especially that beautiful one handed down from generation to generation.”
    Halona smiled. “We take great pride in our work. For a pot to last hundreds of years as that one has only proves the excellent craftsmanship of my people.”
    “That’s for sure!” Bailey said.
    A ding at the door followed by baby cries told them they had customers.
    “I’d better get back out to the front of the store,” Halona said. “But I thought we should get those pots started so they’ll be ready for you to take home with you on Thursday.”
    “Thanks for helping us,” Elizabeth said. “I’m learning a lot.”
    “Me, too!” Bailey said. “Like never