The Little Cheeseboy

Chapter 1

It's 1933 July and the air is hot and humid while the sun falls in the green patches of Edgartown Massachusetts. Isabel Jones sits on her father's outdoor chair while she watches him chop wood. She's offered to help him, but he explains that her job will be to make the deliveries into town and to bring back the money. The reasoning mainly being to encourage her to make friends or try something new, but with the state of their economy, there isn't much to do, and the town isn't even that big anyways. She decides to watch him instead even though her boredom is obviously present.

"Are you almost done?" she asks him lamely while pulling some of her red hair strands away from her face.

"In a bit," is all her father responds which makes her slump into the chair more.

She looks at the scenery in front of them, their home is small and quaint but there is a large patch of green in front of them filled with trees. They don't exactly live in Edgartown or Martha's Vineyard but a little further out and away from civilization. Isabel personally finds it better this way, she isn't like the girls in town who seem more feminine anyways. Another factor is that although the great depression seems to start ending in America more things seem livelier, no one is truly out of the woods yet. Isabel suddenly feels uneasy, hoping that they have enough to make ends meet this week.

Her father suddenly stops chopping wood and places the logs on their old wagon.

"Now I am finished," he says giving Isabel a small, amused grin.

"I'll get Cherry," is all she responds before untying their horse and tying her to the wagon.

"Isabel- "

"Dad don't worry I'll be fine," she reassures him with a smile of her own.

"I love you." He smiles and she returns it.

"Love you too."

The ride into town is only ten minutes until she reaches Martha's Vineyard where some of the wealthiest people reside. The streets are lively as the summer air breezes against her hair and the smell of sweets fills her nostrils. She goes from home to home delivering wood for those who still use fire and not electricity. The sight makes her smile, the homes are beautifully decorated, and the ambience is refreshing until a group of girls catches her eye. They wear beautiful dresses and suddenly she feels embarrassed at her old blue dress that has now been patched up several times with old scraps of cloth. They look at her briefly before turning away, making her sigh before she returns her gaze to a familiar door. She rings the bell once before being met with the eyes of her father's old friend and companion. Edward M. Williams looks at the young woman in front of him before handing her a smile.

"Good afternoon Mr. Williams, I have your wood," she says with a smile of her own, she did enjoy his company after all when she came to visit him with her father.

"Why thank you, Isabel it's good to see you," he says taking the logs away from her before giving her the money.

"It's good to see you too," she smiles at the older man in front of her.

"Say, I haven't seen your father lately, is everything alright?" he asks, rubbing his dark hair with some visible concern. It made sense, her father had been preoccupied with making sure the wood logs were ready everyday making his visits to town rarer.

"We are alright, it's just been a slow week," she admits, today had been alright but they were still a bit behind on their finances.

Mr. Williams looks at Isabel trying with some pity but hides it the best he can with a smile. Her father did the best he could after all, some people simply weren't as fortunate.