RR05 - Tender Mercies by Lauraine Snelling Read Free Book Online Page A

“And take these to Toby and Jerry to celebrate their first day in school.”
    “I got me a feeling it’s going to take more than peppermint sticks to make those two like school.” He shook his head, stuffing the candy in his shirt pocket. Since he had lost an arm in a threshing accident, his pockets served almost as another hand. “Mrs. Valders’ been working with them two, but they ain’t much for book learning or even sitting still. I got to help them tonight with their numbers.”
    Even though his tone grumbled, Penny knew he was right proud of his two adopted sons who’d come in on the train during the summer and got caught stealing food from the store. Near as anyone could tell, how the two had made it this far in the world was one of God’s special miracles, and that He’d brought them to Blessing when He did, another. Anner and Hildegunn had needed the boys as much as the boys needed a home.
    Penny heard laughter and a buzz of conversation from the group gathering at the front door. She tossed several pieces of mail on the counter to be opened by herself later, then flipped the Mail’s In sign and stepped out of the way of the customers. Many of them would pick up other things on their way out, so while Penny didn’t get paid much from the United States Postal Service, she made out in the long run.
    “Any cheese?” called Mrs. Johnson. “That Ingeborg makes the best cheese.”
    “Right here.” Penny measured off three inches or so of the wheel. “This much?”
    “About twice that.” Mrs. Johnson, her girth increasing again, leaned her belly against the counter. “What’s that man doing back there with some contraption?”
    “He’s going to show me how to use his sewing machine.”
    “Sewing machine? What’s wrong with a needle and thread?”
    “He says it is faster and stronger. I’ll believe it when I see it.”
    Within minutes she was cleaned out of the last loaves of bread, the wheel of cheese was half gone, and the new order of headcheese spices sorely depleted. Butchering season was almost upon them. Good thing both Bridget and Hildegunn were bringing bread in the morning. And Bridget would stay to help her cook and serve the noon meal.
    As the last of the customers visited their way out the door, Penny made her way to the corner with the sewing machine and the salesman, straightening merchandise as she went. The machine had a song of its own, but until she reached it, she wondered at the strange noises.
    The man sat hunched over a shiny black machine that was trimmed in gilt and set on an oak cabinet. The intricate cast-iron legs were joined by a flat treadle that he pumped with one foot. The stitching portion hummed along as the hemmed muslin square flowed out behind it.
    “Well, I never . . .”
    Mr. Drummond picked up the napkin, snipped the threads with a small pair of scissors he wore on a ribbon around his neck, and handed her the napkin. “There you go.” He nodded to a neat pile of squares lying on the board attached to the right side of the cabinet.
    Penny examined the even stitching of the hemming. Both sides looked exactly the same. “How—I mean—what . . .” She shook her head, eyes widening in delight. “This is amazing.”
    “So it is.” Mr. Drummond smiled, showing one blank space where a lower front tooth should have been. “I can guarantee that quilts, curtains, dresses, children’s clothing—anything you do now with a needle and thread—will be done easier, faster, and stronger.”
    “Even sewing on buttons?”
    His face melted into sadness. “Sorry, no.”
    “Blind stitching a hem?”
    He nodded. “Yes, it can, but that’s not a skill for beginners. However, when you own a Singer sewing machine, you will finish most of your sewing so quickly that those finishing touches will take only moments in comparison. Can I show you this from beginning to end?”
    Wait until Ingeborg sees this . Penny shook her head slowly, one index finger on the point of