Taste of Honey

Prologue

    It wasn't uncommon for small towns to have their own myths, legends, and folklore and the small town of Oarbank was no exception. They whispered about how Daphne Moore's husbands never lasted more than five years, how the Dawson twins could pick any lock (which was convenient if you got locked out of your house, but suspicious when a chain of burglary was found in their neighborhood). But one of the towns most infamous lore was the Bailey family. The legend had survived since settlers first arrived in the town of Oarbank. They spoke about how peculiar Gordon and Rose Bailey were. They hardly ever left their house, attended festivals, and forbid their children to attend the public schools. The odd behavior of the Bailey family continued, each generation's curiosity more perplexing than the next. 

    Roman Bailey was the first Bailey to attend public school. By his senior year he had fallen in love with a beautiful girl named Ester. When she graduated from college the couple got married. Years passed, they bought a nice house in the woods, had two pet cats, a garden, and they owned a shop in town. But their life was not perfect. After many attempts they had discovered due to an extremely rare disease Ester would die if she became pregnant, which would kill her and the unborn child. This news sent her into a depression until one unfortunate hot summers night. 

      It had been an uneventful day. After closing the shop early the couple had planned on retiring home for the evening, and catching a movie at the local cinema. The couple ate a salad and got into their car to head to watch the movie, however thunder rumbled in the distance and winds whipped the trees. They decided it would be best to stay home. The storm moved in, quicker than seemed possible. The power went out, so Roman and Ester went to bed, not knowing the surprise they lay in the storm, just on their doorstep.

     Ester was the first awake, the morning after the storm. She made coffee for her husband, and a tea for herself. She sat on the back porch waiting for Roman to wake up and join her. Then her husband shouted from the front of the house for her to come, quickly. Ester sat down her hot drink and rushed inside to see the commotion. She was shocked to hear... crying? She flung the front door open, and covered in cuts, mud and blood were four infants. She stood there, unable to move. Roman bent down and picked up two, handing them to his wife. Then he himself picked two up. They stopped crying, and fell asleep. After washing the babies in the kitchen sink they headed to the hospital. They explained the situation and the nurses took the children to the Infant Ward immediately. 

    Four years later.... Ester and Roman sit gathered around the fire, their four daughters Honey, Mona, Heidi, and Sadie sit together playing with dolls, giggling. Ester stands up, and heads upstairs to prepare the girls' beds. Halfway up the stairs she falls down, tumbling down the wooden staircase. She lands at the bottom motionless. Roman rushes to her side, he checks her heart. It is not beating. He rushes her to the hospital. Miraculously she survives, however is confined to crutches or a wheel chair for the rest of her life after being diagnosed with a heart disease which correlated with her inability to have children. 

     The girls never forgot that unfortunate day, they would never forget the way their father wept in fear he would lose the love of his life. Nor they would forget the sympathy of the townspeople, even those who had never met the girls. They would never forget the strange looks people gave their mother either, or how they talked about her behind her back.