Prairie Lotus

Hanna arrives at the shop to tell Papa that she graduated with all passing marks. Her scores are especially high in grammar and orthography, or handwriting. Papa tells her in a gentle tone that Mama would have been proud of her accomplishment. Papa sets the opening day for Tuesday and puts Hanna in charge of two major responsibilities: packing their belongings to move into the rooms above the shop and planning a party to publicize the opening, like Mama used to do. Hanna wants lemons for lemonade for the party, but Papa refuses and she decides to make do with ginger shrub and cookies.

Hanna is happy to have a bedroom of her own above the shop. After she settles her belongings in, Papa calls her to see the sign he has hung on the storefront. It reads “Edmunds Dress Goods” and includes a lotus flower in gold paint. Hanna is delighted to see this symbol of Mama. The display window holds a rack that highlights new bolts of fabric unfurled and gathered by ribbons to suggest skirt-like shapes. Papa has the idea to hold a raffle at the opening, something Mama loved. Hanna finds several small sewing prizes and one large prize, a filled sewing basket, for the drawings. She also suggests one more prize for men who come to the opening—a discount.

Hanna takes the wagon out to the prairie drawn by their roan horse Chester. She digs up several prairie rose plants and keeps them in a washtub in the wagon. She intends to replant them in containers for the storefront. As she climbs in the wagon to leave, she sees a group of Indigenous women in the distance. They are the same women she saw before arriving in LaForge. They wave her down. The older woman introduces herself as Wichapiwin, and Hanna tells the women her name. Wichapiwin shows Hanna how to find and unearth timpsina, digging up the tubers with a pointed stick. Then she braids their tops together. Hanna mentions that she cooked and enjoyed the timpsina she received last time. They work together for a time under the warm sun gathering and braiding timpsina.

Papa demands to know why Hanna was gone longer than expected and Hanna tells him about the Indigenous women. He indicates they should not have been off their land without a pass. He says he will tell Mr. Harris about their presence so that the land agent in Yankton can deal with their activity. Hanna is upset and argues with Papa, she argues that they are simply women digging for turnips on land that used to be theirs. Hanna begs Papa not to report them, and he indicates he probably will not have the time anyway.

Later, Papa tells Hanna that Miss Walters, Mrs. Tanner, and Mrs. Grantham stopped by the shop to ask if they will be making dresses along with selling the pieces and supplies for dressmaking. This excites Hanna, but she tries to remain calm. Papa then says he will look into it—by possibly hiring a dressmaker. Hanna tells Papa again that she wants to sew dresses as the shop’s dressmaker, and that Mama would have wanted her to do so as well. After all, Mama taught her all her sewing skills. Papa finally reveals that when he married Mama, people said that he married “a servant for life” (161). He never wants Hanna to feel that she is somehow indebted to work for him, nor allow others to speak about her that way.

Hanna tries to explain her passion for sewing and dressmaking, then convinces Papa that they should make a business deal: If she can sew a dress from start to finish, proving she is mature and skilled enough for the responsibility, and the dress garners orders for more dresses, then Hanna will get to sew as the shop’s seamstress. If it does not, she will repay him for the materials. Hanna even persuades Papa to allow her to hire a helper to get the dress done in time for the opening.