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blessings.”

Chapter Six
The Cicadas
    The heat continued without a break, but the work went on as usual. Fresh vegetables and fruit were canned to replenish the root cellar, and almost everyone took part in the job. The men and Ethan gathered a fresh supply each morning while the ground was still wet with dew. Simon and Will were set to stringing beans, shelling peas, cutting tops from beets and carrots, and stripping the outer leaves from the cabbages. Frances and Alice washed, cut up, and peeled bushels of everything, while Polly and Manda supervised the cooking and canning. It was a never-ending job.
    â€œWe ain’t even started the butcherin’ yet.” Polly wiped her face with a wet towel and sat at the table for a minute. “We got a lot of meat to put down.”
    Manda nodded. “I’m thinking we’ll make a quantity of jerky to take on the trip. It’s a long way, and ice won’t keep more than a few days.”
    â€œThat’ll do for gettin’ there, but it won’t hold us all winter and however much longer we stay.”
    â€œI’m not worrying about that. I told Chad that I wasn’t planning to lug a year’s worth of food across the country. We’ll live like the people there and eat what they eat.”
    â€œHmmph.” Polly was skeptical. “And what might that be?”
    â€œI don’t rightly know, but just about everyone in the world eats bread and meat and vegetables. I daresay we’ll find something that looks familiar.”
    â€œProbably a whole lot that ain’t, too.” Polly sniffed. “I’m gettin’ past the age of making a good pioneer.”

    The family was glad when Saturday evening arrived and they could turn their attention to getting ready for church. Baths were dealt with quickly. The men and boys elected to carry soap and towels to the creek, thus taking care of six people at one time. It was a cooler group that gathered on the porch to enjoy the end of the day. Simon and Will had energy left to chase fireflies and put them in a jar that Polly provided.
    â€œDo you suppose we can get enough in here to be able to read by?” Simon asked.
    â€œYou might have a little trouble getting ’em all to turn on at the same time,” Luke joked. Then he said more soberly, “And they won’t live long without air.”
    â€œWe better let them go, Will,” Simon decided. “They look prettier flying around anyway.”
    â€œWhat’s that funny noise coming from the trees?” Alice asked.
    â€œCicadas,” Chad answered.
    They listened to the high-pitched sound for a minute.
    â€œAre they birds?” Simon asked.
    â€œNo, they’re insects. They only hatch every seventeen years. We haven’t heard them since we’ve been here.”
    â€œThe Bible calls them locusts,” Manda said. “God sent a plague of them to Egypt so that Pharaoh would let the children of Israel leave the country.”
    â€œDid Pharaoh let them go?” Simon asked.
    â€œHe said he would, but he didn’t. The locusts didn’t stay long, but they ruined the land while they were there.”
    Simon frowned. “I hope the cicadas don’t do that to us.”
    â€œThey can be pesky and fly into your face,” Luke said, “but they ain’t likely to clean us out. I wouldn’t worry about it.”

    Sunday was another hot, clear day. Early in the morning, the family prepared to leave for Winner to spend the day. Picnic baskets were stowed in the wagon, and Luke took the reins to drive to church.
    â€œFeels good to be out and able to get around again,” Luke declared. “The service’ll mean a lot more to me than it did before I got sick.”
    They rode briskly down the road between the fields of corn. “It’ll be shoulder high in a couple of weeks, if this weather keeps up,” Chad remarked. He surveyed his crops with pleasure.