He rose and dressed.
When he reached the kitchen, he found Adeline standing beside the stove. She had already prepared breakfast, but she was not cooking. She stood motionless, one hand resting on the counter, her gaze fixed on the window.
“Good morning,” Caleb said.
She startled slightly.
“Good morning.”
He glanced at the table.
“You've made enough food for a week.”
There were biscuits, fried potatoes, a small dish of eggs, and a pot of oatmeal. The meal was more generous than anything they had eaten since Sarah's illness.
Caleb frowned.
“Where did the eggs come from?”
“The hens have been productive.”
“And the potatoes?”
“You had six left.”
“I counted four yesterday.”
“I found two in the cellar.”
He studied her.
“You found them?”
“Behind a sack of onions.”
“There weren't any onions behind that sack.”
Adeline looked at him.
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then she turned back to the stove.
“Perhaps I remembered incorrectly.”
Caleb did not believe her, but the children came downstairs before he could ask another question.
Grace was wearing the doll's new dress, and Samuel had tied a strip of cloth around the wooden horse's neck. Ruth carried the knitted rabbit beneath one arm and the wooden spoon in the other.
“It's Christmas!” Grace announced.
“So it is,” Caleb replied.
Ruth hurried to the table.
“Are we having a feast?”
“Something close to it,” Adeline said.
The children ate eagerly. Samuel asked whether they could go sledding after breakfast, and Grace wanted to know if they could make snow angels near the barn. Ruth insisted that the rabbit needed its own plate.
Caleb found himself smiling more than once.
But he could not stop thinking about the food.
He knew his pantry. He knew the number of potatoes, the quantity of flour, and the small amount of salt pork that remained. He had been counting every portion because the winter had already taken more than he could afford to lose.
Adeline had somehow produced a breakfast that should not have been possible.
After the children finished eating, he asked them to go outside and look for animal tracks around the barn. Samuel protested that he wanted to help with the dishes, but Caleb promised he would need help later.
When the door closed behind them, he turned to Adeline.
“Tell me the truth.”