She sensed a weakness. “You wouldn’t be interested … no, surely not. You got a mighty herd already.”

“I’ll give thee twenty dollars for the calf,” he said quickly. “No, twenty-five. I know the sire and he’s of a good line.” He smiled.

Lyddie pretended to think. “Seems mighty high,” she said.

“She’s half yours by rights,” Charles blurted out before Lyddie could elbow him quiet. His honesty would be her death yet.

But the kind man persisted. “It’s a fair price for a nice fat little heifer. Thee’s kept her well.”

He invited them in to complete their business transaction and, before they were done, they found themselves eating a hearty noon dinner with the family. The room they sat down in was larger than the whole cabin with the shed thrown in. It was kitchen and parlor with a corner for spinning and weaving. The Quakers were rich enough to own their own loom. The meal spread out on the long oak table looked like a king’s feast to children who, until the cow freshened, had lived mostly on rabbit and bark soup, and the last of the moldy potatoes from the year before.

The Quaker’s wife was as large and red-faced as her husband, and equally kind. She urged them to eat, for they still had a long walk ahead of them. This reminded Quaker Stevens that he needed nails. One of the boys could take them to the mill and then on to the village, he said. The cow and horse must be tethered to the back of the wagon, so it would be nearly as slow as walking until they got to Westcott’s, but, if they’d care for the ride …

The sons had removed their hats for the meal. They looked much younger and less stern than she remembered them. The youngest, Luke, she had seen more often, back in the days when she had gone to school. He had been one of the enormous boys who sat in the back of the schoolroom—sixteen or so when she was a tiny one in the front row. She hadn’t gone to school at all since her father left. She hadn’t dared to leave the babies alone with their mother. Charles had gone for most of the four-month term up until this past winter—until it had seemed too hard. She hoped the miller would let him do some schooling. He had a good mind, not so stubborn against learning as hers seemed to be.