a winter story, part seven

by: Olivia Dale

"Felix King, what are you doing?" Sara asked.
"Getting my room back." Felix replied, turning the handle on the stove pipe.

Hetty was sipping her tea, gently letting the hot liquid slide down her throat and into her stomach,
allowing it to warm her from the inside out.
Janet came down the stairs, holding a sniffling toddler, Daniel.
"It's been so cold lately that Daniel has gotten a cold." she told her sister-in-law, setting the child down into his highchair.
"Alec doesn't seem to be much better." Hetty replied, refilling her tea cup with the steaming liquid. "Colds seem to be going around these days, not much you can do to prevent them, except for staying warm and indoors."
"Not that Alec has, or will." Janet said, sitting herself into a chair next to Hetty, with tea in hand. "I only hope it won't spread from a minor cold to influenza, especially with the lambing keeping him busy and Great Aunt Eliza in the house."
From upstairs, a ringing bell sounded, catching all of their attention, except for Janet's, who sagged inwardly.
"What on earth is that?" Hetty questioned with a glance up the stairs.
"I'm coming!" Janet said in a high voice, getting up from her relaxed position. "Great Aunt Eliza is turning the household into a tizzy with that bell." Janet hissed for Hetty's ears only.
The bell sounded again.
"I'm coming!" Janet's high voice sailed up the stairs, this time with a hint of exasperation in it.
She disappeared upstairs, leaving Hetty and Daniel alone in the kitchen.
"Look, Daniel," Hetty cooed to her nephew, "a lambs' bottle." she said, pointing to the the bottle on the stove's top. Daniel looked at it eagerly with large, blue eyes.
A cold rush of air blew through the kitchen. Hetty shivered.
"Goodness, children," she told Sara and Felix as they quickly scampered for the warmth of the kitchen, "mind you close that door. Do you want Daniel to catch a chill?" she huffed.
Felix paid her no mind and reached for the cookie tin, while Sara made herself a steaming hot cup of cocoa. Hetty sneezed, which was quickly followed by a "bless you" from both children.
"I'm going back out to help with the lambing. Keep an eye on Daniel for me until your mother, Felix, comes back down. She's tending to Great Aunt Eliza." Hetty explained as she wrapped herself in a thick layer of shawls, sweaters and a scraggly barn coat. She picked up the lambs' bottle and headed out. "See you later in the barn."
"Yes, Aunt Hetty." Both children replied as she closed the door behind her.
Felix tore into his cookie. "Want one?" he offered his cousin the box full of delicacies.
"Sure. Here's a cup of hot chocolate. Be careful, don't spill it." Sara cautioned him.
Felix took the cup, and gingerly took a sip. "Mmm, that's good, Sara, you're a good cook." he told her.
Sara smiled. "Thanks, but I didn't make it. It was already on the stove. Aunt Janet probably made it."
Just then, Janet came down the stairs, eagerly awaiting her cup of tea, which had probably turned cold by now. As she almost reached for her tea, the irritating bell sounded again.
Daniel howled. Janet groaned, picked up the baby and chugged back up the stairs.
"I'm coming!" her high voice rang once again.
Sara and Felix both looked at Janet's retrieving back. "Poor Aunt Janet." Sara commented.
Felix said nothing, but pulled up a chair next to the stove. Next thing he hopped right on it, and, trying to balance his bulky weight on the wobbly chair, he reached for the handle on the stove pipe.
"Felix King, what are you doing?" Sara asked, wide eyed.
"Getting my room back." Felix replied, turning the handle on the stove pipe.
Sara stood aghast. "Felix, she'll freeze!" she said, imagining a blue Great Aunt Eliza the next morning.
Felix brushed aside her comment, jumped off the chair and quickly put it back in place before his mother came back down the stairs. He tugged Sara towards the door.
"C'mon, we've got chores to do." he said, making his escape to the barn.
He chuckled gleefully. That'll show the old aunt a thing or two. he thought, dreaming of his own warm bed that would soon be his again.

a winter story, part six

by: Olivia Dale

"Maybe five or six of them will survive." -Alec

Felix and Sara hurried back to the King barn, where they quickly entered into the lambing pens.
"Uncle Alec, do you need any help?" Sara called over the bleating of the sheep. Hetty King came scuttling up, lamb in arms and bottle in hand.
"Yes, indeed we do, Sara. Here," she said, plopping the lamb, bottle and all into her niece's arms, "you feed this one, and Felix, help me with the others." she said, shoving Felix towards the rest of the bottles.
He picked up one of the bottles. "It's frozen...." he lamented to his aunt.
Hetty jerked it from his hand. "Goodness, Alec," she shaked the bottle, "it's frozen. Frozen!"
"I see, Hetty." Alec told her, pushing the bottle away that she was shaking inches from his face.
"We need to do something to keep the animals warm, and ourselves for that matter." he stated, looking around at the shivering, new born lambs, and rubbing his arms together for warmth.
"Warmth." Sara thought out loud. "Well, warmth is heat."
"Heat's energy." Felicity put in while struggling to dress a lamb in a sheep's blanket. "Stop squirming." she commanded the lamb.
"Like when you jump up and down." Felix joined the going-no-wheres conversation.
Alec sighed, then coughed, as his cold was getting worse. "Children, I know your just trying to help, but really, this is not getting us anywhere. All we can do is try to huddle the lambs closer together and maybe five or six will survive." he instructed, urging the sheep closer to the corner.
Five or six out of nineteen lambs, Hetty thought, gulping, This is not going to be good.

a winter story, part five

by: Olivia Dale

Felix knocked on the door, and Sara peered through the window.

"Mr. Pettibone assigned us a science project to do, including an experiment." Sara was telling her cousin Felix as they were walking towards Jasper Dale's workshop. "And we had to do it about either light, electricity, or heat."
Felix held on to a very big, but light box, and trudged after Sara.
"Yeah," he grumbled, "and all of those topics aren't easy, either."
"Well, we can pair up in teams. You an' me can be partners in science." Sara smiled to her cousin. "The only problem we have now is figuring out which topic."
Felix placed the huge box down knocked on the workshop's door. Sara peered through the window.
"Uncle Jasper?" she called. No answer. Felix knocked again on the door, much louder this time.
"Sara, Felix." a voice from behind them called. It was Olivia.
"Jasper's not here, he left for Carmody this morning." Olivia explained to the children. "Did you want to talk to him about something?" she asked them.
"Oh, no, Aunt Olivia," Felix piped up, "We just had to deliver this big package to him. We were just about to put it in his workshop."
"Oh, all right then." Olivia replied and headed back to the warmth of her house.
Sara and Felix made their way into the workshop with the large box.
"It's so light!" Sara chattered. "I wonder what's in it."
They put the box down and somehow, the flap fell open. Felix moved the flap off of the box and both children peered inside. Felix shrugged. "It's only straw." He said, stating the obvious.
But Sara was curious, she lifted the straw off of the contents and caught her breath.
Felix's eyes widened. "Light bulbs!" he shrieked. "In Avonlea!?"
"Just like the ones in Montreal!" Sara stared at Felix, her blue eyes sparkling.
Felix stared back, his smile widening. "You know what I'm thinking??" He asked his cousin.
"This will be the best science project of the year." she said, awed by the sheer excitement of it all.

a winter story, part four

"Your parents will hear of this, Felix." 

by: Olivia Dale

Felix was awakened early in the morning by Great Aunt Eliza rousing him. He looked around. It was still dark. What is Great Aunt Eliza doing up and around at this time of the night? He thought.
"The pump's frozen stiff, Felix, and I need water for my tea." Eliza hissed in his ear, trying to sound quiet, not wanting to wake up the rest of the family.
Felix groaned. "What time is it?" He muttered sleepily.
"It's past midnight, and I need hot tea to warm me up." Eliza said, shivering. A snore indicated that Felix had drifted back to sleep. She yanked the covers off of Felix, which jerked him awake again.
"Come on, boy, don't be so lazy." she pulled him up from the cot. Of course, Eliza now sleeping in the boys' room, Felix had been moved down to the kitchen, and toddler Daniel had moved into the girls' room. Lucky them, Felix thought as he trudged his way over to the pump, Eliza at his heels.
He easily pumped the handle up and down twice, filling the tea kettle with icy cold water. He set it on the stove for his aunt and crawled back into his creaky bed, the cot.
Eliza peered into the stove. "Felix, the fire has gone out." she told him.
"Well, then i'll have to go outside and get the wood." Felix muttered wearily from his sleepy position on the cot.
Eliza frowned, clearly wishing for her warm tea. "But two or three pieces of wood would be enough for a bit of tea." she said, wringing her cold hands together.
Felix sighed, exasperated. "Goodness, Great Aunt Eliza, I can't get any sleep around here. If you want the wood, well then you'll just have to go out and get it yourself." He said before he could catch his tongue. Eliza's eyes popped open wide. "Your parents will hear of this, Felix. " she said turning towards the stairs.
Felix jumped from the cot and quickly faced his petite aunt. "No, wait!" he said, "I'll get the wood."
Eliza nodded her approval. He quickly went outside, in the cold and the dark he got a few blocks of wood. He came in, shivering, and filled the stove. Then he made his way, again, to the cot.
"Thank-you, Felix." Eliza said cheerfully as she went upstairs to her room, with her hot, steaming tea in hand.
Felix looked up at her with the covers over his ears. "No problem." he yawned, and soon enough he drifted back into a peaceful, dreamless sleep.

a winter story, part three

by: Olivia Dale


"Now, child," Great Aunt Eliza babbled to Cecily, "which room in this house is the warmest?"
"The kitchen." Cecily answered, innocently.
Eliza sighed. "I mean the warmest bedroom." She explained to the child.
"The warmest room really has to be the boys' room, Great Aunt Eliza." Felicity answered before Cecily had the chance to speak. I wish to keep my room, if it means all the same to you, little sister, Felicity thought selfishly.
"Oh, perfect, then perhaps, Alec, you can move my things into the boys' room." Eliza said cheerfully. "Come on, then, Felix, you know I can't possibly manage those dreadful stairs on my own." She said, motioning to her young nephew.
Felix took her feeble hand and carefully, but firmly, helped his old aunt up the stairs. Alec looked at Janet with an exasperated sigh. "So how long is she supposed to be here?"
"Oh, Alec," Janet chided, "now really, Great Aunt Eliza is just here for a visit, a long visit, I'm sure, but it's just a visit. She's not moving in, if that's what's bothering you."
Alec looked at her bleakly.
"Is something wrong?" she asked, "You look kind of pale." Janet reached out her hand and felt his forehead. "You're feverish. I'll make you a nice hot cup of tea, that'll do you good."
Alec coughed. "No, no I'm fine, Janet. Besides, I need to go and check on the lambs." He coughed again. Janet looked at him, a line of worry etched across her face.
"Well, bundle up well then, it's way below 15 with a wind chill, too." she said, wrapping her shawl around her. Eliza was right about the house being cold, Felix probably forgot to fill the wood stove. She peered into the stove, and only saw a few bright red embers glowing.
"Felix King, I'll have your hide for letting the fire go out." she muttered, poking into the embers with a poker. She filled the stove with wood herself.
Felix came running down the stairs, nearly bumping into his mother as he passed her on his way to the hallway.
"Oh, Felix, really, watch where you're going." Janet scolded, still poking into the embers, trying to get a flame. Felix quickly put on his barn coat, hat, and mittens.
"Sorry, Mother, I'm in a hurry. Father needs me right away to help with the lambing. Felicity, hurry up!" he shouted, unaware that his baby brother was taking a nap.
"Shhh!" Janet placed her finger over her lips, "Don't you dare wake your brother, I finally got him asleep." Felicity quietly came walking down the stairs, also making her way towards the hallway.
"And you woke up Great Aunt Eliza, too, with your hollering." she said to Felix. "I was coming with or without your bellowing." She finished, slipping into her jacket.
Finally, Janet managed to get a small, flickering fire going in the stove, and she peered into the wood box, it was empty.
"Felix," Janet instructed, "When you come in from the barn I want you to fill the wood box to the brim, goodness, with Great Aunt Eliza here she'll make me fill the stove until every tree is cleared from the Island." Felix made his way to the door with Felicity behind his heels. "Yes, Mother." he answered, before rushing out into the cold. Felicity trailed behind him, running rather unladylike towards the barn.

a winter story, part two

by: Olivia Dale

"Your biscuits never seem to rise, do they, Janet?"

"Oh, Janet, really, can't you do anything right? This tea isn't even warm, let alone hot." Great Aunt
Eliza complained minutes after entering in the house. "This house is drafty, too, I might add." she said covering her shoulders with a shawl. "Oh, and where is that husband of yours with my luggage? It's taking him years, not that I have many more years left to waste, you know."
She finished with an abrupt sip of her now cold tea.
Janet sighed, all ready irritated with her aunt. But, she decided firmly to herself, she would make Great Aunt Eliza's stay pleasant, no matter what. She turned to her youngest daughter. "Oh, Cecily, will you please see where your Father is with the luggage," she bent closely to the child's ear and whispered, "And tell him to hurry up, Great Aunt Eliza is getting grouchier by the minute." She swiftly turned around to her aunt and smiled brightly. "I'll set another pot of tea on the kettle for you, dear." she said, filling the pot with water. "My, isn't it a lovely surprise that you came to visit us, Eliza, how long do you plan to stay?" Janet asked sweetly.
"Oh, not that long, mind you." Eliza said, sipping her tea. "A month, two months. Maybe even three."
Janet's eyes widened at the thought. Not long, she said. Two to three months!.....oh dear, and right in the middle of lambing season too, Janet thought with a sigh.
"Oh, of course, dear, stay as long as you need to." Janet told the old woman who sat across the table, nibbling delicately on a cookie.
"These cookies would taste a lot better with raspberry jam, don't you think, Janet? These seem to be a bit more drier than usual." Eliza said, pointing to her cookie. "Would you mind getting me some of your raspberry preserves, Janet?"
She'll be eating me out of the house, too. Janet thought with a grunt as she trudged off to the pantry.
A scrawny old woman she may be, but boy! she sure has an appetite!
"What's for supper?" Eliza called over her shoulder, still munching on a cookie.
"Mother was planning on baked beans, a roast, mashed potatoes with gravy, and homemade biscuits. And afterwards a cherry pie." Felicity told her great aunt.
"Oh, that sounds good, Felicity." Eliza squealed, taking another bite of her cookie.
"But of course, Great Aunt Eliza, I do most of the baking. Though I suppose Mother will fix this evenings meal because I will have to help Father with the lambing."
Janet came walking in with a jar of  her prized preserves. "Here we go, Great Aunt Eliza, raspberry marmalade. This summers fruit." she said, placing the jar on the table.
"Oh, thank you, Janet." Eliza said, immediately slathering a big glob of jam on her cookie.
"Well, I should go see to the lambs, I'll see you later, Great Aunt Eliza." Felicity said, heading towards the door.
"Felicity seems so mature for her age, doesn't she Janet?" Eliza asked.
Janet smiled. "Oh, yes, she certainly is growing up." she said, sitting down and started peeling potatoes.
"Felicity is much more mature than you were at that age. You were always gallivanting around with Alec, much to your Father's displeasure." Eliza continued.
Janet blushed. She hated that old story being brought up again. To Janet's great relief, Alec, Hetty, along with Felix, Cecily holding baby Daniel, and the dog, Digger, came inside, making Eliza forget about the story she was bound to tell.
Janet smiled and continued peeling potatoes. Now they can keep Eliza company for a while. Janet mused.

a winter story, part one

by: Olivia Dale

"Great Aunt Eliza!" Both children replied in unison.

"It was an unusually cold, January day, and lambing season was drawing near. If this cold spell persists, all the newborn lambs will be so cold that they wouldn't make it, Alec King thought as he quickly made his way into the barn. He was shivering and his breath hung in the air, he rubbed his hands together for warmth as he walked over to the lambing pens. They were quietly munching on the summers hay, bleating softly as they saw their shepherd walking past.
"Father, Father!" Felix King, Alec's twelve year old son, panted as he burst into the barn, "Father, you'll never believe it-"
Felicity ran up beside her brother. "Father, Great Aunt Eliza is here!"
Felix frowned. "Felicity, I was telling him!" he blurted between clenched teeth, his cheeks reddening with furry.
"Who?" Alec asked, bewildered.
"Great Aunt Eliza!" Both children replied in unison. They stared at each other.
Alec stood surprised and scratched his head. "Great Aunt Eliza Ward ??" he asked, his voice rising.
"Yes, indeed, Alec," Hetty King's voice ran through the barn, "and if I were you, I'd best go off and greet her before she makes me carry all her luggage."
Hetty quickly made her way out of the barn towards the buggy where she sweetly spoke with the old, pokey woman.
"Eliza, dear, how was your trip?" she asked the grey haired, shivering old aunt.
"I would have been more comfortable in a rumbling jail wagon than in that train any day, if you ask me, Hetty." Eliza complained and she looked at Janet with pleading eyes. "Oh, Janet, dear, would you be kind enough to take me inside? I am frozen stiff, it's so cold out here in the wind."
Janet hovered over her aunt. "I'm sorry, Great Aunt Eliza, here, grab my arm and we'll get you inside and warmed up. Felicity," she mentioned to her daughter who just stepped out of the barn with Felix and her Father, "Felicity, go inside and quickly make a cup of tea for your aunt."
Felicity hurried to the house, taking her baby brother, Daniel by the hand.
"Why, Alec," Eliza told him from her perch on the wagon seat, still hanging on to Janet's arm, "I can certainly see that age has caught up with you since my last short visit."
Alec grinned sheepishly, not quite knowing what to say at the odd comment. "It's amazing that umm, you never seem to change, Aunt Eliza. But really you must have written to us before coming to visit us unexpectedly."
Eliza frowned and stepped off the wagon, clutching Janet's arm for dear life. "I did write. But it's not my fault that my letters get lost some wheres in that house of yours, Alec."
Janet sighed. "Really, Aunt Eliza, as I already mentioned, we never received your letter. Now, come, dear, lets get you inside and warmed up. Felicity has water on the kettle."
"Janet is right, Eliza, lets get you inside." Hetty said as she helped the old lady up the pathway towards the farmhouse.
"Alec, dear, don't forget the luggage." Janet told him over her shoulders.
"And there's lots of it, too, Father." Felix said, staring wide eyed at the many diverse kinds of trunks that were stacked up high in the buggy.
Alec sighed. This was going to be a long short visit with Great Aunt Eliza who would be staying at King Farm for who knows how long."