When We Fall

March, 1892, Creeksbound, Michigan

                                                                              M a r ch 

The name Katherine, which was dubbed over the firstborn Marlow of Creeksbound, means "pure". It really was fitting for such a girl that Katherine was. Since she was an infant every person in Creeksbound admired her innocent character. She was a very positive, uplifted soul, and many of her close friends envied her. Her long, majestic curls of a shimmering red were her trademarked feature. If you were in the town center of Creeksbound, you could look out at the crowd and see the only red-head in the whole place, probably with her friends, galavanting around. She was one of the stars in the city.

Katherine, I mean Kitty (no one except her parents called her Katherine), was apart of the large Marlow family. The Marlow's consisted of three daughters, a mother (Ida) and father (Albert). They were not the richest of the town, but Albert Marlow was a respected businessman there. He knew almost every name and face and worked with almost every business in Creeksbound. His wife Ida was a stay-at-home mother (as women usually were back then) who didn't really make connections outside her home. She had few friends and almost always sent her daughters out for errands. She had been raised in the isolated countryside and had never really grasped the skill of communication, even after marrying Albert.

The Marlows were considered to be... well, unlucky. They had only three young daughters, and since Ida and Albert married later in life, she wasn't able to have any more children. In their time it was hard to have not one son. The plan for most people would be that their sons would assist them later in life with finances, and since women's jobs did not pay well back then, Albert always worried about what would happen if he left his family. But the Marlows certainly did not focus on what could happen, but rather what was happening. At the beginning of our story, the Marlows were blessed, happy people. They spent their afternoons in the meadows having picnics, and their nights reading around the fire. The girls would visit town and buy groceries, and a few days a week go to school. Mr. Marlow worked at the local bank for long hours, and Ida would clean and organize her house all day.

The second eldest of the daughters was Leigh Marlow. She was always a short and curved young girl, with big brown eyes and curly hair. Her cheeks were always pink and her lips were full blossoms. She was a unique beauty, but as a child, she seemed on the pudgy side. The youngest was Helen, a tiny child who slightly resembled her older sister, but had many differences as well. She was not yet three years old when our story starts (Leigh was eleven and Kitty was fifteen) so she didn't seem to have any specific features at the time.

We'll start our story at the evening dinner in the Marlows tidy house, which rested just a few miles away from the town center.

"Kitty," Ida sat at the opposite end of the table from her husband, serving bowls of potato salad. "I've heard your work in school is not merely as satisfactory as the teacher wants..." Her voice trailed off as she looked at the oldest daughter, who was picking at her food. Kitty flashed her eyes up and sighed.

"Well, no...."

"And why not, Katherine?" Her father asked, handing a bowl of greens to Leigh, who tried to reject the offering only to be told she 'had to eat her vegetables'. Kitty rubbed her eyes and leaned back in her chair.

"It's hard to do everything he tells us, father! He had us do so much work yesterday that half the class forgot about our reading! We're all at least two chapters behind in our books." She complained, then stuffed her mouth full of potatoes hoping she wouldn't have to talk anymore. Ida blinked at her.

"School is hard work, young lady. You can't avoid it."

"I'm not avoiding it, mother!"

"Come on Kitty, listen to mother." Leigh snapped. Kitty gave her an angry glance and ignored her.