Steemjammer: Through the Verltgaat Read Free Page A

kint.” Smart kid . “It’s hard to go through life not saying ‘cold.’ Just try to keep your mind on the deeper truth, then.”
    “But I am c-c-cold,” Angelica said through chattering teeth. “And if we don’t warm up, I’ll catch a cold, too!”
    “Right, I wish your mother was here, because she’s so much better at teaching,” Henry almost said but stopped himself. It was a touchy subject, especially with little Angelica. Almost six months earlier, his wife, Muriel, had mysteriously vanished. He had theories as to what had happened, but he couldn’t share them, at least not yet. So much had to be kept secret for their own good.
    When he wasn’t taking care of the children or running Beverkenhaas, he spent his time trying to figure out where she was and how to get her back. He needed to do that, soon, he knew. Her absence was hard on them all.
    “This home-schooling,” he told them, “is tricky for me. At least you’re learning something practical. The public schools, how utterly and completely useless!
    “Ganoof.” Enough . “Go outside and finish your lessons while I fix the cooler. Don’t forget your chores.”
    A loud, sharp THUMP THUMP THUMP and SNAP came from under the floor.
    “Verdoor!” he said. Oh no ! “Let me handle this.”
    He grabbed a brass oil lamp - the kind old train conductors and engineers used, with a wire handle for carrying and a hand-blown glass globe. Stomping down the wooden steps into the basement, he vanished into the inky darkness.
     
    ***
     
    The Steemjammer kids hardly reacted. Minor emergencies – machines suddenly acting up and needing attention – happened all the time in Beverkenhaas.
    “How does he do that?” Angelica said.
    Will blinked like his father had. “Huh?”
    “I asked him how the Dutch we speak can be so different from other people’s Dutch, and he gave an answer that didn’t mean anything!”
    “Oh, you’ve discovered one of his better tricks. He’s pretty good at it, isn’t he?”
    “But why does he do that?”
    He shrugged. “Obviously there’s some big secret we’re not supposed to know.”
    “What?”
    “If I knew, it wouldn’t be secret.”
    “That’s not an answer.”
    “That’s because I don’t have one.”
    She sighed. “I bet it has something to do with Mom.”
    He noticed how she fought to stay tough and not get emotional. Thinking about their mother used to really upset her, but lately she’d been keeping it under control.
    “She’ll be back soon,” Angelica said, “won’t she?”
    “Very soon, I think,” Will said, wishing he could sound more confident. “Let’s go outside and warm up.”
     
    ***
     
    After finishing their lessons, they moved on to their afternoon chores. Angelica fed and milked the goats. Next, she collected white, green and chocolate brown eggs from the hens’ nesting boxes, where Gustaavus, her dad’s favorite little stone gnome, seemed to stand guard.
    He wore a bright red cap and goggles, and instead of smiling like the other gnomes, his expression was quite serious. She imagined he was focused on some extremely important task.
    “Good Gus,” she said, kissing him on the forehead.
    After shoveling manure and feeding the horse and cow, Will pumped several hundred gallons of water into the rooftop reservoir - a large wooden tank that he accessed by climbing a ladder up the side of the house. The pump had a long handle made of stout ash wood and a metal pipe that came from their hand-dug, brick-lined well. If he put his back into it, he could pump twelve gallons a minute.
    It was extremely important, he knew, to keep the reservoir full. Besides providing them water, it fed the boiler, and if it ever went dry, horrible things could happen. He didn’t mind this chore, but still, he wished his dad would fix the automatic pump.
    Will took a moment to look around. On the roof, it seemed he was much higher up than he really was. Their acre lot was jammed full of crops and livestock