But it was hard to keep her mind on the lessons, however, when thoughts of Josh kept intruding.

Because by the first of those three visits to check on the progress of the statue, it had been obvious that he liked her company. And by the third, he’d been giving hints to his sister Sue—hints his sister ignored—that he would really have liked Sue to take herself elsewhere. Sue remained stubbornly there, not saying or doing anything, just braiding straw for hats. There was plenty of straw in the barn, and Sue professed to liking the shade and the relative cool of her brother’s workshop.

Well, it was pretty obvious that Maddie had told Sue she was supposed to be there as a chaperone, even if Sue wouldn’t own up to the fact. So all Anna could overtly do was admire Josh’s work and heap praise on his carving, and all he could do was be modest about it while asking her about herself. He treated each bit of information he coaxed out of her—and it wasn’t much, seeing as her life hadn’t consisted of anything but Bible-reading, chores, and the annual Methodist Christmas party and Fourth of July picnic—as if it was of the same exotic interest to him as her Great-Granpappy’s journal was to her. It was disconcerting and flattering and exciting, all at once, to be the center of such interest.

And he hinted, more than once, that if he didn’t get another such commission soon, he was going to see about more visits—either her coming down to the farm, or him coming up to the cabin. The look he gave Sue when he said that made it very clear he’d be happy to be free of his sister’s interference. The look she gave him back challenged, Y’all jest try an’ git shut of me, Joshua Holcroft.

So by the time the day came—with Aunt Jinny laying on another layer of Glory on the shield over the cabin and garden to ensure the safety of the chickens and pigs in their absence, and asking the Domovoy to protect them while she and Anna were gone—she was nearly beside herself with excitement. She had all her “best” things on, from the skin out, and a nice new straw hat she had braided and pieced together herself, with “ribbons” made of the carefully joined scraps from her new underthings. With a lot of scrubbing and a long bleaching in the sun, the skirt and apron she had arrived in were in what she would have considered a fit state to go to church in, and the best of the salvaged shirts had been made a little prettier with a couple rows of pintucks down the front, and a faded pink ribbon tied into a bow under the collar. She’d taken a bath the night before and washed and dried her hair, and as usual she had put it up carefully with Jolene’s hairpins. And while she was out this morning feeding the hens, she’d snitched a bit of lavender, and rubbed it into her wrists and behind her ears.