Miracle in a Dry Season by Sarah Loudin Thomas

Author:Sarah Loudin Thomas [Thomas, Sarah Loudin]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: FIC042000, FIC042040, FIC026000, Single mothers—Fiction, Bachelors—Fiction, Women cooks—Fiction, Public opinion—Fiction, West Virginia—Fiction
ISBN: 9781441264114
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 2014-05-05T16:00:00+00:00

The drought had gotten so bad that cattle were dying and some families were talking about moving. They’d heard there had been some rain down in North and South Carolina, thanks to storms coming in from the Gulf of Mexico. No one really wanted to go, but it was looking desperate. Clouds rolled in a time or two with a breeze that might have been a little bit cooler, but it never amounted to anything.

Casewell caused a bit of a stir with his face clean shaven. But Delilah proclaimed him more handsome than ever, and some of the fellows guessed he must be thinking of doing some courting. Casewell ran a finger along the scar that was somehow less pronounced than he remembered and kept his thoughts to himself.

The gift of peaches seemed to reignite Perla’s desire to feed the community, and once she resumed cooking, it was the only thing that kept many families going. But her abilities stretched only so far. The store of food at the Thorntons’ slowly but clearly diminished. Tensions ran high. Although Pastor Longbourne didn’t attempt a repeat of the previous Sunday’s performance, his sermons took on a theme—Bathsheba brought down King David, Delilah ruined Samson, and, of course, Eve took much of the brunt of his rage against sinful and lascivious women.

Casewell continued to help Perla with cooking and distributing food. After a couple of weeks, most folks got used to the idea that she had a strange knack and were grateful for the help. And then someone—no one was sure who first said it—suggested the food was a miracle. In a community where everyone was worried and where the news had all been bad for so long, the idea of a miracle was more than welcome.

People soaked up the idea that Perla was a miracle worker like the dry ground would soak up water. Before the rumor, only a few folks came to the store for food, while Casewell and Robert delivered the rest. Now people were willing to come and wait for hours to get a bowl of stew or a biscuit, and it seemed the more that came, the more food there was. Surely it was a miracle, Casewell decided.

The crowd that just a few weeks before had wanted to run Perla out of town, except for the fact that they would starve without her, were now treating her with a strange kind of reverence. And then Cathy Stott brought her toddler to the store. The child had been plagued with ear infections since birth, and Cathy couldn’t afford surgery. Little Travis always seemed to be miserable and crying. He was sobbing the day Cathy pushed her way through the crowd, waiting for their share of barley soup.

Cathy fell to her knees in front of Perla and held the child up. “Bless him for me, miss. I’m begging you,” she said.

Perla just stood there, soup ladle in one hand and eyes wide.

“I’ve seen the miracle you’ve worked with the food,” Cathy said.

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