"Then the first thing we must do is plow a couple of furrows clear around this homestead. Afterwards we'll plant a vegetable garden."
"I'll plow the furrows!" Alec said eagerly. "Just show me where you want 'em!"
While their father showed Alec the corners, Cindy started preparing a meal. She couldn't fix any beans. They would have taken three hours, which was easily two and a half hours too long, but she bent over the skillet to sniff the aroma of frying bacon and lifted the top from the kettle a dozen times just to watch the potatoes bubbling.
While Mr. Simpson showed Alec the boundaries of their homestead, Pete unloaded both plows, unhitched the horses from the wagon and hitched them to his plow, and started plowing.
"Don't go too far," Cindy advised. "Dinner will be ready soon."
"I'll be ready too," Pete promised. "But there's about a month's work to be done, and it looks as though we'll have to do all of it this week."
Alec and Mr. Simpson came back, hitched the mules, and Alec started plowing furrows. Cindy tried the potatoes with a fork, discovered that they were soft clear through, and drained them. She added another small handful of salt to that which she had put in when the potatoes started cooking. Until she'd had to do without salt, she'd never known how much she could miss it or how important it was. When everything was ready, she called her father and Pete.
