Sarah Wheaton Quotes

“Caleb read and read the letter so many times that the ink began to run and the folds tore. He read the book about sea birds over and over. ‘Do you think she’ll come?’ asked Caleb. ‘And will she stay? What if she thinks we are loud and pesky?’ ”

“Papa said nothing. But he put his arm around her, and leaned over to rest his chin in her hair. I closed my eyes, suddenly remembering Mama and Papa standing that way, Mama smaller than Sarah, her hair fair against Papa’s shoulder. When I opened my eyes again, it was Sarah standing there. Caleb looked at me and smiled and smiled and smiled until he could smile no more.”

“Sarah came in the spring. She came through green grass fields that bloomed with Indian paintbrush, red and orange, and blue-eyed grass.”

“My father did not see her look, but I did. And I knew that Caleb had seen it too. Sarah was not smiling. Sarah was already lonely.”

″ ‘We thought you might be thinking of leaving us,” I told her. “Because you miss the sea.” Sarah smiled. “No,” she said. “I will always miss my old home, but the truth of it is I would miss you more.’ ”

“I am strong and I work hard and I am willing to travel. But I am not mild mannered. If you should still care to write, I would be interested in your children and about where you live. And you.”

“In a month’s time the preacher might come to marry Sarah and Papa. And a month was a long time. Time enough for her to change her mind and leave us.”

“Sarah brushed my hair and tied it up in back with a rose velvet ribbon she had brought from Maine. She brushed hers long and free and tied it back, too, and we stood side by side looking into the mirror. I looked taller, like Sarah, and fair and thin. And with my hair pulled back I looked a little like her daughter. Sarah’s daughter.”