Changes in the Wind

Ok, here is more of the my story, though this post will be somewhat short.  I am going to have to hurry to get it finished by the 16th!! AH!!

Mary sat at the rough, wooden kitchen table and looked out the window to the dark world beyond.



Dead? No! He couldn’t be. It wasn’t possible, it just wasn’t.


Clara had gone to bed with a headache after sobbing the rest of the afternoon away. Mary was still in shock and hadn’t really had time to even thinking about grieving. It just couldn’t be true! Surely they had the wrong man.


No, it had to be him.. Mary had kept the messenger for half an hour to get particulars and to make sure for absolute that it was Mr. Madison, not someone else.


He had been in an accident, the details of which the messenger spared her. He had even given her a description about the man. That was all that needed to be told. He had told Mary that a lawyer would take care of any business that was unfinished and that she needn’t worry about anything.


Now, here she was sitting. Fatherless, perhaps penniless, and who knew what else.


“I suppose it will take a while for me to get used to him being really gone,” she said aloud as Hannah entered the small and cozy room.


Hannah huffed over to the little stove, put on a kettle of water, and sat down across from Mary.


“It must be real hard, Miss Mary. I don’t doubt it twill be strange! Still seems unreal ta me, and I knew him since he was first married ta your dear mother.”


Hannah reached across the table and squeezed the hands that were clasped on the table. Mary let a tear roll down her cheek and tried to smile at Hannah, but only more tears flowed. All of the things she thought about her father came flooding back to her memory, making her sob even harder.


Hannah was up and hugging her in an instant. She let Mary sob for a few minutes and just held her. It felt like the old times when Mary, as a young child, would come running to her if she got hurt. Hannah always knew how to make a smile reappear on a child’s face.


When Mary had finished wiping her eyes, Hannah went and fixed her a cup of tea. Mary calmed herself down while she waited for the tea to steep and let her thoughts turn to what they would do, now that their father was dead.


Mary never was sure where their money came from. All she knew was that Father had a stash in his desk. Mary was always frugal with it and never spent more than they absolutely needed. Clara would sometimes go into the nearby village, which was about two miles away, and sell some of their fresh flowers. With that, and the savings their father had set aside, they were comfortable.


Now they wouldn’t have money coming from their father. They would simply have to make it on their own.


Perhaps she could hire for mending. She was always very good with the needle, and if folks were willing to pay a few shillings for a good mending on their clothes, that would at least keep them fed. Then, if Clara could continue selling the flowers in the spring, they could set enough aside to start saving. Perhaps Hannah would even be willing to start hiring out somewhere else part of the week and bring back part of her money.


May shook her head. No, that wouldn’t do. Hannah would probably go off and find better wages.


She looked up at Hannah where the older woman was getting another cup of tea for herself.


When she sat down, Mary looked at her for a moment before asking, “So, where will you go to now, Hannah?”


Hannah looked up, absolutely confused. “What do ya mean, Miss?”


“Well, I mean, now that Father is dead, and we don’t have much money to pay wages, I just thought you would want to go elsewhere.”


Hannah looked at her incredulously. “Me? Leave here? I’d sooner have me head cut off. What in the world put that idea into that pretty head of yours? I never had one thought of leavin’ me sweethearts, and I certainly won’t consider it now.”


Mary grinned, “You are a star, Hannah! I don’t know what we would do without you. You do realize I can’t pay you as much as you had been getting.”


Hannah waved a hand at her. “I won’t be needin’ more money. Tisn’t like I’ve got me own place to keep up. Nah, I have me own bed here, a roof over me head, and good food in me stomach. I don’t need more than that.”


Mary walked over and kissed the older woman on the cheek. Hannah, a bit flustered at this unusual show of love, fluttered her hands about her. “Now, you had best get into bed, Miss. I don’t want you sleepy-eyed tomorrow morning.” Mary smiled, gave a last squeeze to Hannah’s stout shoulder, and climbed into the loft.


Clara was already sleeping soundly, her soft breathing being heard clearly across the small space.


Mary climbed into her cot, after putting on a night gown, and slid under the covers. Weariness seemed to pull her from every limb but her brain was still at work.


After lying there for at least another hour, and hearing Hannah’s soft noises as she herself got into her bed, Mary forced herself to relax and go to sleep. Her eyelids were heavy and slowly drooped closed. Mary fell asleep.