was cold. A suddenly, bitter cold morning. Her green eyes fluttered open to see the frost on the window. She snuggled deeper into the warmth of the feather bed, dreading the thought of leaving its comfort. Below her in the kitchen, she could hear the sounds of Mama starting breakfast. Reluctantly, she left her bed to dress hurriedly and go down to help in the preparation of the morning meal. She shivered as she looked at the window. It was so cold and yet only yesterday it had been such a warm and beautiful fall day.
Jessica would come to wonder many times in the coming months, if the dream of the cat and the morning dawning so cold was an omen of the coming events of the day. It was to be a day that put into motion events that would change her life.
Change it beyond her wildest dreams.
Last fall everything had been so different. She had just passed her eighteenth birthday. Last fall Mama had not known that she was going to have this baby, her fourth child. The two of them had been so close, spending many afternoons together sewing, crocheting and knitting. All the items of their labor going into the beautiful hope chest that Papa had made for her birthday, and that was even now sitting at the foot of her bed. Mama had helped her design patterns for her linens, and they had spent many enjoyable hours. Heads bent over their labor while they talked about so many things, and shared giggles and peals of laughter. It had been a special time for them both.
Now Mama was large with the last weeks of her pregnancy. Jessica was worried, and she knew that Papa was as well. Mama looked so pale and seemed to be tired all the time. Yet, when they would voice their concerns to her, she would just laugh them away. She kept telling them that the last months of pregnancy were always tiring. She had seen Jessica and John exchanging doubtful looks at this explanation but would hear no more of their worries and dismissed them with a smile and change of subject. Jessica had taken over the running of the house as much as Mama would allow.
Mama and Papa believed in educating their children well and had taken painstaking care in tutoring them. Jessica had now taken over that duty as well. Each day she spent several hours with her brothers going over their lessons as diligently as Lilly or John would have done. Jessica was a very intelligent young woman and far more educated than most young women in their area. She was also the only one of her age still unmarried. Mama and Papa did not hold with young marriages or early courtships.
She had attended many socials with her parents and greatly enjoyed them. She was now allowed a male escort, since she was eighteen, but she still had not accepted any of the young men who had asked her. She did not in the least mind these strict rules. She was always busy it seemed. Jessica had learned a fair amount of nursing skills from helping a neighbor who was a midwife and makeshift nurse, and she attended to injury and illness for their neighbors on the surrounding farms.
Jessica, like all the Ferrall’s was an avid reader, and she loved going to Papa’s office and just going through the books on the shelves. She could still remember Papa making those shelves himself with so much care and thought. Many a lively debate or conversation had taken place around the dinner table over one book or another that had been read recently. Theirs was a happy and very close-knit family, and Jessica had no real desire to rush into a marriage or even courtship.
Papa had long ago built a small room onto the house with windows on three sides for her and Mama to use for their sewing, painting and drawing. Even with all the work of running the sizable farm they always seemed to make time to indulge their considerable talents on canvas. Every room of the house had at least one of their pieces of artwork hanging in beautiful hand crafted frames that Papa would make for them. Jessica felt that they were a very fortunate family in all respects. To be so loved and nurtured and to enjoy the education and arts that had been given to them by their parents.
If there was any unhappy facet to her life, it was the lack of companionship with girls of her own age. Jessica had never been able to fit in with the giggling, flirting girls of her acquaintance. They seemed solely interested in finding a young man, marrying and having children. Jessica wanted these things too, only not pressingly. She had only recently become interested in one of the young men in the neighborhood. He was a very eligible bachelor and sought after by many young girls, but seemingly, his one and only interest was Jessica Ferrall.
With a sigh, Jessica finished the struggle of tying her masses of hair neatly away from her face. So much hair she thought, yet Papa called it her crowning glory. Yes, but Papa did not have to go to so much trouble each day just to keep the shining curls neatly in place and out of his face. She had always wished for beautiful pale golden blonde hair like Mama's rather than this odd color she had. Mama had such silky hair, so fine in texture while Jessica had such thick quantities of hair spilling down her back in unruly curls. She hurriedly finished with her toiletries and went directly to the kitchen. Mama was putting biscuits in the oven, and Jessica frowned as she noted how pale she looked this morning.
“Mama, would you please sit down! I can do all of this, please, sit down and let me do this for you.”
“Oh, Jessica! Please stop fussing about me, I am perfectly alright as I keep telling you and your father. You would think I was the only woman in the world to ever have a child.” Glancing up and seeing the doubt on her daughter's face Lilly smiled and said more gently, “Really, Little Cat, I am fine, just fine. Now come on and let's get this table set for breakfast.”
“Papa would you tell her to sit down, maybe she will listen to you.” Jessica said as John walked into the kitchen.
“Lilly, why don't you take it easy? After all Jess can run this house on her own, and you know it, so there is no reason to keep tiring yourself out like this. You do look a little peaked this morning. whether or not you will admit it.”
“Why just listen to the two of you! This is my fourth baby not my first! I think I should know better than you two if I am fine or not. Now, do please stop going on about it!”
“Lilly you know that this pregnancy has been different, in fact, different from the very beginning, and different, from any of the others.” John replied, casting a worried look at his wife. Why wouldn't she listen to them and just take it easy? He was genuinely worried about how this entire pregnancy had been going. It was just too different from the others and she looked so pale and drawn, downright thin, even if she wouldn't admit it.
“Oh, you two are going to drive me to distraction! Besides, there are things to be done. Have you forgotten that Thomas is bringing his folks for dinner this evening?”
“Of course we haven't forgotten Mama, not for one minute, but I can do all that needs to be done! If there is anything you particularly want done all you need do is tell me.”
Hearing the pleading in her daughter's voice Lilly stopped for a moment and gently laid a hand against her soft cheek, and looked lovingly into her green eyes.
“Now listen, I want to do this myself. Furthermore, I am going to do it myself. I am certain that Thomas has a betrothal announcement in mind and tonight is going to be the night!”
“Mama! Thomas has not mentioned, even so, much as a word of such thing to me! Besides, if I remember correctly it was not so long ago that you cautioned me about Thomas, remember? You said there was something about him that you couldn't put a name to, but that just did not sit right with you.”
“Well, it was probably just an over active imagination on my part. The way the two of you blame everything else on my condition why not just put it down to that too?” She flipped a mischievous glance at her husband, who sat shaking his head in defeat, but with a tender smile on his face.
“I thought since I haven't been very encouraging about Thomas to you that the least I could do is make this night special
