I Am Not Yours

Coal Valley Before Dawn

April 1897

By the time they reached Union City to meet with Noah's friend, Peter had come down with an awful cough and they were taken to the Union City infirmary to get him back to health. A few more days passed and they were on their way to Coal Valley, where Patrick Sullivan, Noah's friend, had a temporary job lined up for Noah so they could save up some money and buy a plot of land nearby within the year. It all sounded perfect. Too good to be true. But Abigail knew that if they just kept their faith and continued to pray, that God would make this happen for them.

They were given a temporary home in one of the mining rowhouses near Patrick and his wife, Molly. Noah soon began to work as a miner, something Abigail was not too happy about after having seen her father work as a miner for nearly twenty years. But she agreed to endure it until the year was up and they could buy that land, which was surprisingly reasonably priced.

One morning, Abigail had routinely awoken around four thirty, which she had been used to on her parents' farm back home. She quietly stood from the bed and tip-toed through the bedroom to her dresser to choose her slip and dress for the day, deciding on her lavender dress that her grandmother handmade for her 17th birthday. Surprised, Abigail was, to see that the garment still fit her after 6 years and even after giving birth to Peter. She was always quite thin and even after gaining a bit of weight prior to the birth, she still was, which was a relief to her after she had witnessed a cousin of hers grow to be almost unrecognizable after her seventh child. Abigail loved children but told Noah that they would NOT be having that many children if it meant she might blow up like a hot air balloon. He agreed with a chuckle.

Once her dress was on and her hair was tied up in a bun at the back of her head, Abigail went to peek into Peter's bedroom. Seeing her small toddler fast asleep on his bed that was much too big for him made her smile and gently close the bedroom door again before she descended the stairs to look into the kitchen for some food to cook for breakfast. She looked inside the basket where she had been keeping the eggs given to them by Patrick and Molly and saw that it was empty.

With a soft sigh, the dirty-blonde haired woman placed the basket on her arm and headed for the front door of their rowhouse. She quietly opened it, stepping out onto the porch in the chilled air, the sky mixed with shades of orange, pink, and purple as the sun barely showed on the horizon so early in the morning.

Gently pulling the door shut, Abigail smiled to herself, taking in a deep breath of the morning dew, reveling in the peaceful atmosphere. She admired how quiet it could be here compared to at home where the roosters would crow and the cows would moo. The sounds of her brothers arguing or her mother shouting at them to wake up for morning chores was also something that she did not miss.

She felt alone in Coal Valley before Dawn and she loved it. Nobody else was awake at this time save for Ned Yost, whom she learned was an employee at the town's mercantile, soon to be buying it off to become the mercantile's new owner.

She enjoyed her undisturbed walk to the shop as her empty egg basket rocked back and forth on her right forearm, the light breeze in the air causing her to hug herself for warmth. By the time she reached the door to the mercantile, the sun was up a bit further than it had been when she left her rowhouse, making it a bit easier for her to see into the mercantile's window to see Ned behind the counter inside, already yawning as if he had worked a full day.

"Good morning, Mr. Yost." Abigail said with an upbeat tone as she entered the building, startling Ned to finish his yawn quicker.

"Mrs. Stanton," he began while his first customer of the day closed the door behind her. "Good morning. Please. Call me Ned. I feel old and like my father when you call me that."