Stop being such a pest, Motherinlaw, I said, trying not to laugh.
What garden? What are you whispering about? Emily rolled her eyes dramatically. You told me myself that my hands grow where my feet do!
Better that I have neither, I muttered. After Im done youll be rolling the garden in tarmac!
Fine, fine, Sylvia Phillips huffed, her lips tightening. No need for a grand speech! With a spade you can manage just fine!
Youre flattering me! Emily snapped, shaking her head. Youve made me blush!
Last time I ask, will you help me in the garden? Sylvia raised her voice.
Like the very last time? Emily shouted. And then what? Will you go mute?
My tongue has no bone! If youd swing that spade as if it were a sword! the motherinlaw retorted. Come on, lets the garden! Ill show you what needs doing!
What? How could I? Emily recoiled. You told me last time not to let your eyes see me!
Here at home, for dear Jamess sake you barely tolerate me, yet on your sacred garden plot Im not about to rub my eyes on you!
Im supposed to look after my beloved motherinlaw, after all!
Youre a handful! Sylvia exclaimed. Ill try somehow to survive! Ill show you what to do and I wont stand in your way. My eyes will stay fine!
Is that so? No clever tricks here! You asked for help and now it turns into a mess! Emily said with a sneer. You wanted help, so here we are!
When my hands join yours, I barely notice you! Emily went on. If we were nosetonose in a single bed, Id think twice, but to plough your entire farm alone, without supervision or a kind word, I wont agree!
If I mess up, youll eat me alive! Why should I, when theres no love between us?
Better I sit by the stove while James steams in the sauna!
Your tongue never stops hammering! Sylvia snapped. You should have done it all by nowyoung, healthy, strong!
Thanks for the compliment! Emily grinned broadly. My motherinlaw still has plenty of vigor and energy!
She boasted of scaling hills and performing feats, recalling how just a month ago someone shouted at her, leaving a scar on her left ear.
What a booming voice! Jealousy takes hold! Yes, bright as day! Dont worry, Im sincere!
Emily, Ill tell James you refused to go to the garden, that you turned down my help, Sylvia threatened. Do you think hell just forgive you?
Where did I refuse? Emily cried. Im eager, just give me a chance! Ill be a wonderful helper! Im matching you, Motherinlaw!
If you rush to help me, Ill repay you in kindand then some, because I care for you dearly! Do you care at all?
What do you mean care? Sylvia asked, puzzled.
Last summer James and I bent our backs on your farm, and you rewarded us with curses instead of a harvest! Emily retorted. Were grateful you lost weight and built muscle, but wed like a decent meal too!
If I recall correctly, youre sorry you made us haul jars on the bus! Emily continued. This time well go by car, the boots free. Will you ship us some garden produce if we keep sowing and reaping here?
If its like last year, just send us away! The desires gone!
Youre holding a grudge, Sylvia said.
Not a drop of it, Emily replied. I have plenty to do without your garden.
My husband disappears without a word, my son misses his mother, and Im left to tend the next garden? Emily looked straight at Sylvia. Answer me! I dont know what else to say.
Youre a mother yourself, you should understand! Sylvia snapped. Kate needs help! Ive prepared her harvest, canned it, and shes raising two girls alone! And youwhat about your husband?
Why not push Kate and her two daughters onto your plot? They come for the harvest, so let them work! I wont get in their way, not even step on their feet! All for your pleasure!
Oh, James chose this, Sylvia muttered, shaking her head. A curse or something worse!
You keep flattering me with sweet words! Emily smiled. Why call me a snake? Its more comfortable that way.
Or are you suddenly filled with love for me? Then Ill go confess! Perhaps youll send me off to the guest house!
Spit! Sylvia shouted.
Whats that about? Emily feigned surprise. Didnt you just prophesy that James would end up a widower just to get rid of me?
***
Emily married James, not his whole clan. She loved him, respected him, wanted to spend her life with him and later look after grandkids. The endless relatives lived only in her imaginationat first, they didnt exist, but in reality, they did.
Not a massive lot, though. There was the motherinlaw, an elder sister whod married a brotherinlaw, an aunt whose name was a mystery, and a few cousins whose visits never ended.
That happy crowd cheered Emily like a drop of honey from the heavens.
Emilys parents were welloff. They didnt live in gold, as gossipers claimed, but they gave her a flat as a wedding present.
They ran a modest pigfarming business, yielding a steady income. Yet they worked so hard that the money seemed to slip through their fingers. You can lift mountains with other peoples hands, but if you havent sweated for the cash, it always feels light.
Thats why Emilys hands reached for that money.
If James could pull his own weight, he might have become Emilys exhusband, with all that implies. But James loved Emily, not her parents money. He only learned about their finances at the wedding. The couple earned the wedding costs themselves.
When James discovered the money issue, his attitude didnt change. He only asked:
Emily, if we really need cash, lets try earning it ourselves first. If that fails, well ask for helpbut only then.
He was right. Who believes empty promises? James proved it. Three years after the wedding, they went to Emilys parents for a babys needscrib, pram, bath.
James insisted on a written agreement. The notary dismissed the parents, but James repaid the loan honestly.
So how did James grow up in such a mercenary family? Perhaps from a neighbour? Sylvia gave birth out of wedlock, swearing the father was the same as older Kates. Thats on Sylvias conscience. No matter how hard she tried, she couldnt ruin James.
A curse? No, just enough mischief.
When the familys hidden conditions surfaced, greedy hands reached for Emilys kitten. James wouldnt have gone that way. He said straight away:
Before the wedding Ill help, but after it I have my own family and budget. If my wife agrees, Ill chip in a few pennies; if not, Ill stay out of it.
Emily saw through the ploy. Following her husbands example, she didnt send them to fields, meadows, hills or marshes. Instead she took them to her parents pig farm.
Gentlefolk! Theres work aplentyunfinished, wellpaid! You can combine it with your main job. The pigs eat, and the endless digestive process still needs cleaning! The flow never ends!
The cousins and aunt declined, though they still held a low opinion of Jamess wife.
Emily said, Excuse me! Ill take the money myself!
When her sisterinlaw was hinted at where shed be sent if she asked for the two children shed had alone, Kate cut off contact with Emily and James in an instant.
She had enough adventuresfinding a dad for two little angelswithout pigfarms.
Sylvia, after hearing about her sisters and nephews escapades, decided to act smarter and craftier.
The girls still young! Thats why shes cheeky! She just got married! No big deal. Life will grind her down, problems will bite, and her earnings will leave no trace! Then well start squeezing juice from her!
Sylvias patience was limitless. She waited for the youngsters to settle, have a child, and go through the endless cycles of care.
All the while she kept a friendly neutrality.
Grandson Andy turned five when Sylvia decided to intervene.
She already knew Emily had no access to her parents money, and that dragging James into it wouldnt work.
Where you cant get cash, you can count on nature!
Sylvia lived in a private house in a small village soon to be swallowed by a expanding town. The point wasnt that, though. She had a respectable, sizable garden. And on that plot she intended to draw on her daughterinlaws strength.
Emily grew up in a similar village where her parents ran a modest pig farm. So the earth didnt frighten her. Though she worked as an accountant in the city, she could wield a spade or rake if needed.
When Sylvia asked for help, both Emily and James answered willingly.
They took two weeks off to plant, then another two weeks to tidy up, spending weekends weeding and hilling.
Who benefitted most when Sylvia harvested?
Youre two, a family, both working. Why do you need it? Kate, on the other hand, raises children aloneshe needs it!
Open conflict seemed the easiest route. No, there were no loud shouting matches, but the neighbours on the fences heard enough to grasp the richness of the English language.
Emily chose not to inflame the situation.
James, you can understand her
No! James shouted.
Im not saying Ill forgive her, Emily interjected, stopping her husband from spewing more invective. I can understand her, thats a different story. Your mother wont change, but staying enemies with a close person seems worse. To avoid repeats, we must not let them ride us.
Emily, shell keep pestering you! Im the son, the beloved, and youre the daughterinlaw! The law says we must protect the daughterinlaw! James sighed heavily. I must shield you.
James, Im no fool! Emily laughed. Believe me, Ill find a reply!
Emilys retort left Sylvias eyes bulging. The worst part was not the insults, but the feeling of being trampled through every dung heap.
Sylvias style of answering was blunt, giving Emily everything on the table without mincing words. Emily turned that around, refusing to let the motherinlaw have the last word.
She refused to help with the cleaning, cooking, canning, household chores, or the garden.
Sylvia thought Emily would never visit again. Yet she did, with James, as proper. Sylvia assumed Emily had finally folded. Noanother excuse! Another outburst! Yet nothing truly hurt.
The dreadful daughterinlaw, indeed!
***
Enough of that chatter! Sylvia snapped. Would I wish my own son ill? I try my best to please him!
Just cut the tongue! Emily beamed. I pour all my energy into pleasing James! What if I tire out in your garden? What if I collapse from exhaustion?
How will I then look after James? How will I love him, feed him, give him water, put him to sleep? If I neglect him, hell be angry and tell his mother that his wife doesnt love, feed, water or care for him!
And youll stay silent? No, youll argue! Why would I further damage relations with my motherinlaw? She already doesnt cherish me. So no garden! Ill save my strength for James!
Emily, Sylvia said, stunned.
Dont try to persuade me! Emily replied firmly. Im needed by my husband. Without me hed be lost. I cant trade myself for your gardens and chores. Only for myself, and only for James!
Sylvia wasnt foolish. She realized the daughterinlaw had outwitted her on every front. She couldnt pick a fight against her own son.
When Sylvia finally blew her top, her tirade ending in curses, she sobered up over a homemade brew and said:
James is sensible enough, but with such a backing Im comfortable.
That acknowledgement didnt stop her from testing Emilys mettle. Perhaps shed finally bend.
