Book 3 7. SATURDAY NIGHT Little House On The Prairie By Laura Ingalls Wilder

saturday night

that night was saturday night all day

long mother had been baking

and when almanzo went into the kitchen

for the milk pails

she was still frying donuts the place

was full of their hot brown

smell and the weedy smell of new bread

the spicy smell of cakes and the syrupy

smell of pies

almanzo took the biggest donut from the

pan

and bit off its crisp end mother was

rolling out the golden dough

slashing it into long strips rolling

and doubling and twisting the strips

her fingers flew you can hardly see them

the strips seem to twist themselves

under her hands

and to leap into the big copper kettle

of swirling

hot fat plump they went to the bottom

sending up bubbles then quickly they

came popping up

to float and slowly swell till they

rolled themselves over

their pale golden backs going into the

fat

and their plump brown bellies rising out

of it

they rolled over mother said because

they were twisted

some women made a newfangled shape round

with a hole in the middle but round

donuts wouldn’t turn themselves over

mother didn’t have time to waste turning

donuts

it was quicker to twist them

almanzo liked baking day but he didn’t

like saturday night

on saturday night there was no cozy

evening by the heater

with apples popcorn and cider saturday

night

was bath night after supper

almanzo and royal again put on their

coats and caps and mufflers and mittens

they carried a tub from the washtub

outdoors

to the rainwater barrel everything was

ghostly with snow

the stars were frosty in the sky and

only a little faint light came from the

candle in the kitchen

the inside of the rainwater barrel was

coated

thick with ice and in the center where

the ice was chopped every day to keep

the barrel from bursting

the hole had grown smaller and smaller

royal chopped at it and when his hatchet

went through with an

oozy thud the water welled up quickly

because the ice was squeezing it from

all sides

it’s odd that water swells when it

freezes

everything else gets smaller in the cold

almanzo began dipping water and floating

pieces of ice into the wash tub

it was cold slow work dipping through

the small

hole and he had an idea

long icicles hung from the kitchen eaves

at the top they were a solid piece of

ice

then their pointed tips hung down almost

to the snow

almanzo took hold of one and jerked

but only the tip broke off the hatchet

had frozen to the porch floor where

royal had laid it

but almanzo tugged it loose he lifted it

up in both hands

and hit the icicles an avalanche of ice

came down with a splintering crash

it was a glorious noise

hi gimme royal said but almanzo hit the

icicles again

the noise was louder than before

you’re bigger than i’d be you hit him

with your fists almanzo said

so royal hit the icicles with both his

fists

almanzo hit them again with the hatchet

the noise was

immense almanzo yelled

and royal yelled and they hit more and

more icicles

big pieces of ice were flying all over

the porch floor and flying pieces

pitted the snow along the eaves there

was a gap as though the roof had lost

some teeth

mother flung open the kitchen door mercy

on us she cried royal almanzo

be you hurt no mother

almanzo said meekly what is it what be

you doing

almanzo felt guilty but they had not

really been playing when they had work

to do

getting ice for bathwater mother he said

my land such a racket i never heard

must you yell like comanches

no mother almanzo said

mother’s teeth chattered in the cold and

she shut the door

almanzo and royal silently picked up the

fallen icicles

and silently filled the tub it was so

heavy

they staggered when they carried it and

father had to lift it onto the kitchen

stove

the ice melted while almanzo greased his

moccasins and royal greased his boots

in the pantry mother was filling the six

quart pan with boiled beans

putting in onions and peppers and the

piece of fat pork

and pouring scrolls of molasses overall

then almanzo saw her open the flower

barrels

she flung rye flour and cornmeal

into the big yellow crock and stirred in

milk

and eggs and things and poured the big

baking pan

full of the yellow gray ryan engine

dough

you fetch the ryan engine almanzo don’t

spill it

she said she snatched up the pan of

beans

and almanzo followed more slowly with

the heavy pan of ryan engine

father opened the big doors of the oven

in the heater

and mothers slid the beans and the bread

inside

they would slowly bake there till sunday

dinner time

then almanzo was left alone in the

kitchen to take his bath

his clean underwear was hanging on a

chair back to air and warm

the washcloth and towel and the small

wooden panicking of soft soap

were on another chair he brought another

wash tub from the woodshed

and put it on the floor in front of the

open oven door

he took off his waist and one pair of

socks and his pants

then he dipped some warm water from the

tub on the stove

into the tub on the floor he took off

his other pair of socks

and his underwear and his bare skin felt

good in the heat from the oven he

toasted in the heat

and he thought he might just put on his

clean underwear and not take a bath at

all

but mother would look when he went into

the dining room

so he stepped into the water it covered

his feet

with his fingers he dug some of the

brown slimy soft

soap from the panicking and smeared it

on the washcloth

then he scrubbed himself well all over

the water was warm around his toes but

it felt cold on his body

his wet belly steamed in the heat from

the oven

but his wet back shivered and when he

turned around

his back seemed to blister but his front

was

very cold so he washed as quickly as he

could

and he dried himself and got into his

warm underwaist

and his woolly long drawers and he put

on his long woolen nightshirt

then he remembered his ears he took the

washcloth again

and he scrubbed his ears and the back of

his neck

he put on his night cap he felt very

clean and good

and his skin felt sleek in the fresh

warm clothes

it was the saturday night feeling

it was pleasant but almanzo didn’t like

it well enough to take a bath for it

if he could have had it his way he

wouldn’t have taken a bath till spring

he did not have to empty his tub because

if he went outdoors after taking a bath

he would catch cold

alice would empty the tub and wash it

before she bathed in it

then eliza jane would empty alice’s and

royal would empty eliza jane’s

and mother would empty royals late at

night

father would empty mothers and take his

bath

and the next morning he would empty the

tub for the last

time almanzo went into the dining room

in his clean

creamy white underwear and socks and

night shirt

and cap mother looked at him

and he went to her to be inspected she

laid down her knitting

and she looked at his ears and the back

of his neck

and she looked at his soapy clean face

and she gave him a hug

and a squeeze there

run along with you to bed he lighted a

candle

and he padded quickly up the cold stairs

and blew out the candle

and jumped into the soft cold feather

bed

he began to say his prayers but went to

sleep

before he finished them

you