“I ’spect we c’n do thet,” Maddie Holcroft agreed. “Y’all’s gonna hev t’ sits in the wagonbed; I know yore aunt ain’t a gonna mind thet—”

“I don’ mind thet neither,” Anna pledged.

Mrs. Holcroft’s eyes twinkled. “Got yore heart set on a purdy new dress, I reckon,” she teased. “An’ y’all wanter pick out th’ pattern yore own self.”

Anna blushed and ducked her head.

“Wall, so would I,” Sue piped up, with an elbow-nudge to Anna’s arm. “’Cept I got a purdy new dress fer Easter.”

“I’ll let Matt know; y’all go ’round t’ Josh’s shed an’ go arst him when he thanks he’s a-gonna hev thet statchoo finished.” Maddie Holcroft shooed her, and included her daughter in the gesture, so both the girls ran off to the barn and the shed attached to it, where steady tink-tink-tinks told Anna that Joshua was still working on his piece.

He had moved from the baby to the wings, which the last time she visited had only been a rough suggestion. Now each feather had been roughed out, using a chicken wing that lay on his workbench as a guide, and he was refining the details of the feathers with a smaller chisel and wooden mallet.

Sue waved to Anna to be quiet, and waited until he had straightened up to stare at the wing for a moment before speaking. “Josh! Ma wants ter know ’bout when y’all’ll be a-finished with thet there statchoo!”

“Why, when it’s done, a-course, goosey,” he said, not turning around.

Sue stamped her right foot, which had a lot less of an effect than she likely wanted, since the sound was muffled by the straw on the floor of the workshop. “I’m serious! Ma wants ter know!”

“And I’m serious t—” He turned and saw Anna. “Wall! I’m right sorry, Miz Anna, thet I didn’ know y’all was a-standin’ thar. Is thet why Ma wants ter know?”

Sue tossed her head and sniffed. “’Course ’tis, blockhead. Miz Jinny wants ter go t’Ducktown fer some shoppin’. She reckons Pa won’t mind iffen you an’ him is a-goin’ down thar t’ deliver thet statchoo t’ Cavenel.”

“An’ is Miz Anna a-comin’ too?” Joshua asked. She felt herself blushing for no reason, except that he seemed very interested in the answer.

“Iffen yore Pa don’ mind and they’s room,” she replied for herself.

“Wall then, it’ll be ’bout another week,” Joshua replied, combing his hair out of his eyes with the hand that held the chisel. Then, as if something had suddenly occurred to him, he looked right at her. “Say, ole Cavenel didn’t give me nothin’ but the name an’ the dates t’put on the base, but thet jest don’t feel like quite—” He groped for words.

“Quite ’nuff fer a Ma what lost her baby?” she prompted.

“Ayup, ’xactly. I don’ suppose y’all c’n think of somethin’?”

“Happen I c’n . . .” She didn’t have to think long. “‘He has gathered th’ lamb in His arms.’ Thet’s kinda in Isaiah. It ain’t exact, but it’s close enough, I reckon.”