“Sincerely Claire” Deleted Scene Part II

I’m posting a day early because my husband and I are going elk hunting this weekend. Now when I say elk hunting, this is the elderly folks type of hunting. No steep canyons for us!

I found a large area where elk have been bedding down. So we know where to go. There’s a nice old logger road and flat ground down the embankment from the bedding spot. Just right for old people!

We’ve never bagged an elk before but we sure have tried in the ten years we’ve hunted. Maybe this year will be our year.

This is the other scene I deleted from “Sincerely Claire.” I hope you enjoy it. For those who read this article and then comment about the article, I will add your name in a drawing for a chance to win a paperback copy of this book!

DELETED SCENE: “Hold still.” Claire grumbled at Bossy the cow.

Bossy flicked her tail and slapped her in the face. Was the cow taking revenge on Claire for hollering at her? She blew a puff of air, just in case Bossy left dirt or hair behind. “You’re smart, Bossy. You probably know after washing my hands I can’t whack your hind end.” Claire pumped the cow’s teats in a milking rhythm, and milk hit inside the glass gallon jar. As the jar filled, the sound changed from ping, ping, ping to slosh, slosh, slosh.

Since Bossy grew fidgety, Claire began to sing her favorite short song. “You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are gray.”

Bossy mooed, giving her a sideways glance. She grinned and belted out more of the song.

“There you are.”

Leaning back to see Lolly, Claire stopped singing. “Are you looking for me?”

Lolly, with Laddie next to her, breathed hard as though she’d ran on logger road. “Yeah, Sissy Pie. You gotta come quick. It’s Grandmother Walker.”

Claire’s hands froze on Bossy. “What?”

“Yeah, she’s mad ‘cause the boys were bugging her while she napped.”

“Oh, that’s not an emergency.” She continued milking. She had to keep at it because she had the other side to milk. This whole milking job would take two gallon jars and over thirty minutes. There was no time for nonsense. Especially Grandmother Walker nonsense.

Squatting next to Claire, she peered underneath at Bossy’s belly. “Mama’s sleeping, Sissy, and I can’t find Grandma Neecy or Belinda.” She tsked. “Daddy’s not home from work, you know.”

 “Grandma Neecy and Belinda went to the store for groceries.”

She laid a hand on Claire’s thigh. “What we gonna do, Sissy?”

“Nothing.” She stopped to rest her hands and arms before milking on the other side. She studied Lolly’s worried lines on her forehead. “Honey, I can’t be in two places at once.”

“Uh?” She scrunched one side of her face, making Claire chuckle. “But, Sissy Pie, Grandmother Walker hit Liam with the big side of the broom.”

She rolled her eyes. “Sheesh.” She resumed milking now on the other side and finished filling the first jar with foamy milk. She twisted the lid on tight and grabbed the other clean jar. She took off its lid and placed it beneath Bossy’s second set of teats.

 “Did the broom hurt Liam?”

She laughed. “No. He’s mad like Grandmother Walker. They’s yelling.”

Claire swayed her head back and forth. “A real knock-down, drag-out fight, huh?”

“It’s not funny, Sissy.”

“Honey. I have to finish. Give me about fifteen more minutes. Okay?”

The slap of feet running and gasping for breath drew closer. Claire straightened. Who was coming into the barn now? “Claire, Claire, hurry.” Grayson skidded to a stop next to them, making Bossy moo and jump.

“For heaven sake.” Claire grabbed the jar before Bossy caught it with her hoof. “You scared the cow. She could have broken the jar.” She glared at Grayson. “This better be real important, mister.”

Grayson’s chest heaved. “She’s hollering mad. She’s gonna wake Mama and the baby.”

Closing her eyes in disgust, Claire groaned. “Please wait for Grandma Neecy on the front porch. She should be home soon, and she’ll take care of it. Or you could tell those two to take their fight outside in the backyard away from Mama’s bedroom.”

“Oh, no.” Grayson’s hands flew to his cheeks. “I can’t even talk to them. They won’t hear me.”

Claire flung a hand toward Grayson. “Then wait for Grandma Neecy. Tell her about it.”

Without another word, he ran from the barn. Shaking her head, Claire huffed. “Today was supposed to be a rest day. No school, just my turn to milk Bossy.”

Lolly patted her head. “I know, huh.”

Claire pumped her hands faster to milk. “Why aren’t you taking a nap?”

Her eyes widened as though she got caught. “Me?”

 “Yeah, you.”

Long minutes later, she finished milking and screwed the lid on the jar.

Lolly stood when Claire did. “But, Sissy, I couldn’t sleep while they were yelling.”

She set both jars into a form-fitting box in their red wagon. She moved a ways from the cow. “Guess you couldn’t, huh.” Releasing Bossy from the stanchion, the sisters waited until Bossy left the milking area.

Claire pulled the wagon with Lolly inside, her knees scrunched. As they passed the caboose, Grandma Neecy was patting Grandmother Walker’s hand at the picnic table. Daddy set it up for Belinda and Grandma Neecy near the caboose’s front steps. The two grandmothers talked with heads bent.

Claire stopped the wagon near them. She asked a simple question. “Everything okay?”

Grandmother Walker’s head jerked. “No, it’s not.”

“We have it under control.” Grandma Neecy smiled. “Mr. Liam is on the sofa for the time being. I’ll let yer daddy know what happened.”

Claire nodded. “Lolly, open the gate.” She did so, and Claire continued to pull the wagon into the backyard. A movement caught her attention at the far corner of the fence away from the house. She halted. Liam straddled the fence and disappeared. With the thump of his boots on the opposite side, Claire knew he was gone.

Lolly wiggled next to Claire. “Did you see?”

“Yes. I did. He’s in big trouble for disobeying Grandma Neecy.” Claire tapped her lips. “But don’t tell on him. Grandma Neecy will discover him missing soon enough.”

In the kitchen, Claire wondered where was Belinda. But she didn’t have time to look for her. She kept busy with straining the milk into two more sterilized jars. All the while she thought about how glad she was for Grandma Neecy’s help. If she hadn’t come, Claire would have had to deal with Grandmother Walker and Liam.

Claire wagged her head just thinking about it. She pulled out yesterday’s milk from the refrigerator. She slid the fresh milk in its place to the back of the shelf.

She skimmed off the cream of the day old milk, and settled those jars in front of the fresh milk in the refrigerator. With the cream in several quart jars with lids, she set them on the counter to bring them to room temperature. This way, the butter making took less time.

Tonight, two of the kids would sit facing each other on the floor. They would roll a jar back and forth to churn the cream into butter. Claire and Belinda would do the same with the other quart jar.

After starting sudsy hot water in the sink, Claire washed the milking jars. Later, Grandma Neecy would sterilize them. She patted Lolly’s head where she kneeled in a chair at the table. “I need to look for Belinda.”

Moments later, Claire peered inside the open door of the caboose. The two grandmothers were sipping from tea cups at the dinette table. Grandmother Walker’s expression was calm. Claire stepped in. “Do you know where Belinda went?”

Grandma Neecy waved her hand. “We forgot peanut butter. So Lindy walked to the little store. She said she knew the way because you all pass by there on your way to school.”

Claire started to move away. “I’ll go meet her.”

Grandma Neecy stood. “How far is the store?”

She thought a moment. “About a mile.”

“Well, would ya tell Lindy to buy me some face cream?” Grandma wiggled her fingers. “Silly me. I forgot that too.”

Claire would finally get out of the house for a while. And one of her favorite things was the walk to and from the little store.

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