Mrs. Graves smiled. “Well, we can do it either way. Have you worked with children before?”
“I’m the fourteenth of sixteen children. I guess my only real experience with children is being one myself.”
“Then I’ll leave it up to you. I can send out the older boys who are harder workers or you can teach the younger children.”
“Either way. If the older boys have jobs in town, I’ll make do with the little ones.”
“My oldest children are thirteen. As soon as they turn fourteen, we find them a job. The boys go work in factories, and the girls usually go to textile mills.”
Joy frowned. “That’s sad. They should be allowed to be children longer.”
Mrs. Graves nodded. “I feel the same way, but there’s no room for little ones if we keep the older ones.”
“I see,” Joy said, but she still felt sad for the children. “I’ll be back in the morning, and we’ll get some of the garden taken care of. I can work every day until it’s caught up.”
Thomas cleared his throat. “I would prefer you only commit to three days per week at most.”
“Then I’ll promise to be here three days per week, and I’ll do my best to come the other two days as well. Will that work?”
Mrs. Graves laughed softly. “I’ll take any hours you have free and are willing to give me. The children will all be pleased to have the fresh food.”
“I’ll see you in the morning. Bright and early!”
Thomas cleared his throat again. “I go to work at eight.”
“Then I guess I’ll be here at eight-fifteen. But that’s not very early. I usually start working right after sunup.”
Mrs. Graves held her hand out to Joy. “Any hours you can give me. Thank you again.”
As Joy and Thomas walked back to the house, Thomas looked at Joy. “You seem to want to do just the opposite of what I say. Did your mother not teach you that it’s a woman’s place to obey her husband?”
“She told me that yes. And then she winked at me and told me that if my husband told me to do things that made sense, then I should be obedient.”
Thomas shook his head. “Oh, dear. I’m going to have my hands full with you, aren’t I?”
She clutched his arm tighter and rested her head on his shoulder for a moment. “You are. But it’s going to be wonderful anyway.”
*****
Right after breakfast the following morning, Joy hurried to the orphanage. She wore one of her older dresses that was more suitable for working in the garden than her new fancy ones, and as soon as she arrived at the orphanage, she pulled off her shoes and socks and left them beside the back door.
Four older boys had been sent out to work with her, and she taught them all exactly what she wanted them to do, explaining how to tell the difference between the tomato plants and the weeds that were woven through them.
All day she spent in the garden on her hands and knees, and when it was time for lunch, she refused to eat the food at the orphanage, realizing she should have brought her own lunch. She couldn’t take food from the children’s mouths.
By the end of the day, at least some of the garden looked well-taken care of. Though the rest was a bit of a mess. And with the drought they were having, she had the boys switch to watering the garden an hour before she needed to go home so she and Thomas could go to supper with his colleague.
The boys complained that the watering would just make more weeds grow, and she smiled. “Then we get to start all over again! Won’t that be nice?”
Joy did her best to watch the time, but it got away from her, and when she realized she needed to be home in ten minutes, she grabbed her shoes and stockings and ran as quickly as she could.
As she ran, she said a silent prayer that Thomas wouldn’t be home when she arrived. Her feet and legs were covered in mud, and her old dress would definitely not meet with his approval. Oh, dear. She hoped she hadn’t ruined her marriage in less than forty-eight hours, but she knew if anyone could do it, it was her.
*****
Meanwhile, Thomas returned to an unusually quiet house. He loosened his cravat, the day’s dealings at the bank having left him with a yearning for solitude and simplicity. He went looking for his wife, though, knowing they needed to leave soon if they were to be on time for supper at Mr. and Mrs. Brookshire’s home.
Looking around, Joy was nowhere to be found, and he looked at the clock on the wall, slightly concerned she wasn’t yet home from the orphanage.
