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Chapter Three
When she was woken for supper that evening, Sydney immediately got up and washed her face and hands with the pitcher and bowl in the corner of her room. Someone must have filled it while she slept, which told her she’d slept a great deal harder than she’d thought. The words, “Like a rock,” came to mind. She was usually a light sleeper, but she was very comfortable with the Dailey family.
She went down the stairs, listening to the sounds of laughter. She knew it would be easy to always find the family. They were apparently loud when they were all together.
When she reached the sound of the voices, she found them all in a large sitting room, all of them casually dressed. As soon as she entered the room, Susan walked to her side. “This is Sydney, who came here as a mail-order bride,” she said, smiling.
Two young men who looked identical looked at another young man. “Don’t look at me!” the man being looked at said. “I thought about sending for a mail-order bride, but I didn’t actually do it. I was half-afraid Aunt Elizabeth was going to send me a member of the demon horde like she did Albert!”
Sydney smiled. Lewis. That has to be Lewis. Then her eyes widened. “Wait…your family was known as the demon horde?” Sydney asked Susan. “I knew it was a local farmer’s children, but no one ever said it was the Millers. You’re practically famous in Beckham!”
Alice stood to one side. “Famous? Don’t you mean infamous?” she asked, picking up a little girl and holding her close. “We’ll eat soon, Rachel.”
Rachel rested her head on her mama’s shoulder. She couldn’t have been more than eighteen months old.
Susan frowned. “Are you trying to starve my niece-granddaughter?”
Alice nodded. “Yes, she hasn’t ever been fed. See how she’s wasting away to nothing?”
Everyone laughed at that. The little girl was more than a little chubby, and as cute as could be.
Mrs. Hackenschleimer stepped into the room then. “Supper’s on the table.”
Not knowing where the dining room was, Sydney followed along behind the family. She was hungrier than she’d realized. She could smell delicious food filling the air. “Something smells wonderful!”
“Fried chicken and mashed potatoes,” Lewis said, leaning close. “It’s what she always serves first-time guests. Her fried chicken is worth crossing the country for.”
“Well, then I’ll be certain to get a big piece,” Sydney said, wanting to study the man, but also not wanting to be rude. So far, everyone had assumed she was there to marry him. Perhaps he was a good candidate for a possible husband.
He was seated across from her at the table, and Sydney was glad. She could watch how he interacted with family as well as have a chance to really look at him and not be considered rude.
The identical young men were on either side of him, but they looked as if they were a little too young to marry her. Perhaps seventeen or eighteen? Sydney couldn’t help but wonder if they were Susan’s children or some that were hers by marriage, like Lewis and Albert.
Susan sat at the foot of the table with David at the head. Once David had prayed over the meal, Susan introduced her to each of the people at the table. She had been right about Lewis, and she quickly discovered that the twins were Susan’s stepsons, though they both called her Ma and seemed to think of her as their mother.
“How many children do you have?” Sydney finally asked.
“David has ten. I’ve given birth to six of them, but I think of all of them as my children.” Susan looked down the table at Lewis. “Even the two pranksters.”
“Wait…are Albert and Lewis the pranksters?” Sydney asked, her eyes wide.
“They are.”
“But…how could you let a member of the demon horde marry a prankster?” Sydney looked at little Rachel, half expecting to see horns pop out of the girl’s hair.
“I didn’t know Elizabeth had sent another of our sisters. Alice was only five when I left Beckham, and the three of them, Albert, Alice, and Lewis, conspired against me, not telling me that Alice was my sister. They even made up a fake last name for her!” Susan looked at the three of them, and not one of them looked guilty. They instead looked awfully pleased with themselves.
“What a way to greet a sister you haven’t seen in fifteen years!” Sydney shook her head. “Your family’s pranks were considered epic tales of fun by most of the children around Beckham. None of the churches would let the children go there very long. Usually within a month, the pastor would take the parents aside and tell them their children are corruptive influences on the rest of the young men and women in the church.”
Alice nodded. “We never did last longer than a couple of months at a church. We scared lots of teachers away too. Now the school board will only hire men, and the men need to be willing to not spare the rod.”
“You must have gone to the country school south of town?”
Susan frowned. “We did. The four oldest children in my family were always well behaved because Ma and Pa would switch us if we weren’t. By the time Alice came around, Ma was so tired trying to deal with so many kids, there was no discipline at all unless it was either Elizabeth or me dishing it out.”
“I truly feel like I’m in the midst of greatness.”
Susan sighed. “I got away from all the younger siblings, and then married David to find myself the mother of two just like those siblings.” She shook her head. “You’d think I was doing something to attract them all, but I really wasn’t.”
