The Reverend's Daughter (Book 2 after The Duke's Daughter)

Chapter Fifteen Part Two

Katherine woke in a most unusual mood. She had a feeling in her heart that something wonderful had or was about to happen. She could not explain why she had this feeling, it was not as if anything had happened to bring it to her, a lightness and renewed vigor had simply entered her soul, and she could not wait to start her day.

She had risen early, as it was Sunday, she needed to help Sissy, and then come back to dress for church. She threw on an old dress so she could milk the cows, swept her hair into a bun, and donned her socks and boots.

She found herself humming a hymn on the way down the road to the shore, and she smiled at the lightness in her heart as she went along.

When she arrived, Sissy had already filled the buckets with milk, she was filling the watering trough, while Jake tossed armfuls of hay over into the feed bin. "Good morning, Mama Katy, what a glorious day 'tis today."

Katherine laughed with pleasure at the sight of Sissy's glowing face.

"I was thinking the same, you are not suffering this fine morn, thanks be to God!" Katherine waited until Sissy hung the pail back on it's hook, then took Sissy's hands in her own to search her eyes. There was no trace of the illness that she could detect, especially as Sissy grinned at her and shook her head.

"Nay, not this day, today I woke right as rain, if you would like to help me put the milk to save, I can ready the children for church." Sissy had not felt well enough to attend services for a good while recently, Katherine had taken the children along with her.

"I had a very good feeling upon wakening this morn. I am so pleased you can come with us, we shall pray it has passed, and you will not feel poorly any longer." Katherine lifted a milk bucket on their way into the kitchen. Working together, the ladies put all to rights, so they could go and worship together on this fine day.

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The storm had passed, the days had passed, Betsy was having the lessons with the babes, while the boys went about their chores for the morn.

Paulie was making a cake, the first baking he had done in a while, but this was a special occasion. It was wee Jonah's birthday and he would be five years old. Paulie was making a special cake, one of the few recipes he actually enjoyed making, but only because it was so delicious to eat.

He kept a small stash of ginger beer in his sea chest, and had uncorked a bottle for this special occasion. It was his secret ingredient. His cake was a golden creation of goodness, dense and sweet, sprinkled with a mix of raw sugar, flour and a small amount of boar fat, which became a crumble on the top. It was a favorite among the crew, and when he did make it, it did not last very long. Since his ginger beer was a limited commodity, he was very careful to get his salt and sugar right.

Betsy and the children were sitting at the table, where Betsy was trying to help Jonah with his L's.

"La la la la la," Betsy sat across from him, and showed Jonah her tongue pressing against the top of her mouth, right behind her front teeth.

Lila sat to the side of Betsy shaking her head.

Jonah could not get his tongue to do what he wanted it to do. He tried to do what Betsy did, but it just came out 'wawawawa'. He smiled, as this sounded fine to him.

Betsy was at a loss, he was turning five years old, and she feared it would become an ingrained habit if they did not figure it out soon.

She tried again, "LILA,".

"He can hear, Miss Lizbeth, he just can not say it." Lila nodded at her, as Betsy realized, she had raised her voice a bit much.

"I am sorry Jonah, try Jonah, please, Lila..." Betsy watched him move his mouth, an expectant look upon her face.