Dishonoring Jack

Chapter Six

Summers in the Virginian countryside were infamous for their unbearable heat, and the summer of 1918 was no different. With the arrival of the Bookers' visitor, Jack could no longer go outside in only her knickers, so she contrived to shorten her skirt by tying it in a knot just above her knees. Though Matilda Tuttlebrook would certainly find the innovation scandalous, Jack supposed it was better than being caught out of doors in her undergarments. She would have worn her trousers, but even they were too hot for the sun's melting golden beams.

Saturday had arrived, and without her duties at the factory, Jack had many chores to complete. The first, she knew, should be the cleaning of her small house. She needed to scour the floors with hot water and lyme, and there was laundry to be done, but Jack hated such tasks. She would much rather tend to her chickens and goats and put off the domestic tasks for some day in the distant future. Perhaps when winter fell and she no longer had the luxury of spending long days out of doors.

After tying her skirt at her knees, Jack abandoned her shoes at the door, swept her hair off her neck into a loose knot at the top of her head, and hid it beneath a bandana soaked in icy water from the pump she shared with the Bookers. There was little else to keep her cool, but it would suffice. Despite the sulfuric sun, it was still cooler than he suffocating, confined factory.

Barefoot, Jack left her house and walked to the small barn, which was in much better shape than Jack's house. In fact, Jack had often contemplated sleeping with her goats and donkey for company instead of her house when the weather grew tempestuous. Her feet crinkling the fresh grass, Jack swung open the heavy wooden door and greeted her small collection of milking goats and Theodore, her undersized donkey who did little more than eat too much and bray in the middle of the night.

"Good morning, Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy," she said, her goats named for the characters of her favorite childhood book, Little Women. "And good morning, Lawrence," she said to the billy goat, with his mottled hair and long beard.

A few of them bawled in response from behind the heavy wooden gate, and Jack untied their bag of feed, shoveling their daily ration of corn and oats into a bucket. As she filled the bucket, Woodrow, Jack's stray tabby cat named for their president, appeared. He purred as he rubbed against Jack's leg, his pale eyes begging her for attention.

Jack sighed and crouched on the dirty floor of the barn to pet the proud creature who accepted Jack's affection as if it were fitting tribute. Woodrow came and went from Jack's barn whenever he pleased, but he often liked to spend the summer months with her. Jack blamed it on the Bookers' beautiful calico next door and her kittens who bore a striking resemblance to the stray tabby.

Theodore stuck his dusky head through the gate and brayed at her, so Jack rose to her feet, carrying the bucket of food into the pen. A feeding trough was attached to the gate, and Jack dodged Theodore's charge as she stepped inside, throwing the food into the container. The goats and donkey assailed the feed as if they'd never eaten before. Jack stood back with her hands on her hip, sweat trailing down her forehead.

Jack's goats were no longer in milk, but come spring, they would have kids again and Jack would be forced to milk them day and night for several months, selling the milk for a meager profit. Beth the goat gave little milk, but Jack didn't have the heart to separate the four nanny goats she'd come to see as sisters, so she tolerated the deficiency as a character flaw, for Betb was the kindest of the four goats and the least likely to cause a rampage through the barnyard, unlike Laurie who was annoyingly stubborn.

Satisfied that all was well with the livestock, Jack made for the gate but was accosted by the dastardly Laurie as she tried to make her escape. He bulled into her legs and Jack yelled at him, kicking at him with her bare foot and wincing as his horns rammed against her.
"You lousy oaf!" she cried, taking him by the horn and pushing him back inside, locking the door behind her as she exited. "See if I don't replace you with one of the preacher's handsome Alpines!"