The Able Sisters

Chapter 3

There was not much Sable, or Label, or anyone could do afterwards. Sable remembered her heart-breaking conversation with Mabel, who barely understood what was going on, after she was awoken by their cries.

Sable remembered the grim day when their parents were laid to rest. Clouds hung over the sky while cicadas let out deafening screeches from the trees nearby. Mayor Tortimer expressed his condolences, and the whole town mourned. The tailor shop was closed until it could be figured out, and Sable and her sisters were left alone.

There was no family to take them in, no where for them to go except where they were. Label made known they were old enough to live alone, and Sable remembered all the essential home skills her mother had taught her, but nothing was enough to make her satisfied. There was an empty hole in her chest now that could never be filled.

It was Mabel she mourned the most. Her younger sister had trouble comprehending the idea of death and the idea that her parents were gone. It took all out of Sable when time and time she had to explain that their parents weren't coming back. Finally, somehow, it seemed to seep into Mabel's mind, and her cheerful personality seemed to quietly decrease.

Rent was little on the house, but with a stable income gone, the sisters had to resort to other methods to make money. Label would pick the fruit off the trees while Sable took her parents' old shovel and dug around for fossils, anything that might make them some bit of cash.

Of course, Label hated the idea of roaming around and scavenging like they were worth nothing. She complained of her nails, her reputation, and spoke even more of her fashion designer dreams, and generally seemed to not do her share of the work. Sable felt like she had taken over the household more than her older sister.

One morning, while Label sat inside, working away on her sketches, Sable decided to go out looking for some ways to make cash again. She brought Mabel around with her, and the toddler scurried on her little feet after her sister.

While the days were hot, it had become cold in the morning, and Sable knew that autumn would be upon them soon. The leaves were already beginning to take on a yellowish tinge.

"What we looking for?" Mabel asked as Sable walked along the trees.

"More fruit, I guess," Sable admitted. She glanced up at the luscious leaves. hoping to find at least one that carried some sort of fruit.

"Up there! Up there!" Mabel called, pointing her chubby hand at the tree above.

Sable glanced up to find bright red cherries glistening in the sunlight. She patted Mabel on the forehead and grinned.

"Thanks, sis. Maybe we can have some cherry pie tonight with the leftovers," Sable suggested. Mabel giggled and grinned as Sable shook the tree back and forth.

Tiny cherries dropped down. As the tree moved back and forth with Sable's push, Mabel followed the descending cherries and gathered them up in her paws.

"Put them in the basket," Sable told her sister as she gave the tree one more shake.

She turned around and watched as Mabel tossed little piles of cherries into an old wicker basket that their mother had laid aside for sewing supplies. Sable felt deep nostalgia looking at. She couldn't even imagine the last time she'd try to sew. Keeping the family together was more important.

"Sissy, what's this?" Mabel asked, picking up a large wooden stick.

"Huh?" Sable asked. She dropped a handful of cherries into the basket and went to investigate. Mabel struggled to hold the object, and when Sable glanced down to get a good look at it, she realized Sable was holding a fishing rod.