"What do you do then?" asked Mindy.
"As I've told you, Mindy," Pete said, "the homesteads have already been surveyed and the corners marked. Some are marked by blazes on trees, but the ones we want have piles of rocks, and I know exactly where they are. After we've staked, we'll build the corners a little higher so nobody can miss them either."
They continued to talk, and even though they had already discussed everything they were talking about now, it comforted them to discuss it again. Ann Simpson raised her head, stole a long look at her husband, and turned away again. Her face was haggard and drawn.
"I'll help you, Mother," Cindy offered.
"I will too," Mindy said.
"No, thank you, children, I'll do it," Mrs. Simpson replied.
She had baked biscuits two days before, not because there was no time to bake fresh ones today but because Jed and Pete would carry these, and stale bread would not crush so easily. She put the biscuits carefully into a sack, tied the sack in the center, and put a slab of bacon and some beans in the other side.
Stale biscuits, bacon, and beans were all the food the two men would have until they sent for Pete's wagon. But the less weight Sunshine had to carry, the faster and farther she'd be able to run. With the biscuits on one side, and the bacon and beans on the other, the sack could be carried across Sunshine's saddle bow.
"Come over here, children."
It was a calm voice in a great storm, peace amid turmoil. Gramps and Granny Brent, practically the only human beings present who were not under strain and tension, were sitting serenely beside the Brent wagon. Cindy, Mindy, and Alec went gladly to them.