The Rebellious Ones

Family Woman

Nostalgia hits Cora as she gets closer to the porch years of running around the farm and fond memories of her childhood. Her brother Ernst was her favorite out of the six siblings she had. Only being two years apart, they had formed a strong bond that even lasted until his death. Then below Cora was her sister Sasha Lin (age 22) who was married with two young boys, Joseph (age 21) who was currently working in Columbus, Richard (19) who still lived on the farm, Marie Anne (17) who was now running around Granville with high society, and lastly Issac(14) who was the youngest of them all.

As she neared, the house yelling could be heard from the kitchen window.  Familiar voices find themselves echoing into the fields around the house into the woods.

A sigh escapes Cora's pink lips as she heads up the rickety steps loud creaks avoiding their cracked wood. Softly she knocks on the crooked screen door, looking in she could see her short round mother pointing a wooden spoon at her youngest brother who stuck out his tongue from his perch on a wooden stool. The two spot their bickering and turn to see a travel-worn Cora, a dog sitting next to her and a large basket on her hip.

"Hi, Mum, and hello, Issac. Did you two miss me that much that you must be brought to bickering?" a smile breaks out on her mother's wrinkling face. At the age of 46, Teresa Mae McQuaid was a fairly strong-headed woman whose body rounded from several child bearings and many home-cooked meals. Her graying red hair was always done tightly into a bun. A style Cora and her sisters used to copy when younger.

"Oh my oldest lass has come home to me, " the woman swung her arms wide for an embrace showcasing her simple flower-patterned dress and dirtied hand sewn white apron. Laughing, Cora softly opens the door and embraces her mother.

"How are ya today, Mum?" Cora had to bend down to wrap her arms around her mother.

"Hey! Sis, aren't ya forgetting about someone?" Cora's youngest brother exclaims with his arms crossed against his hole-ridden shirt. Isaac looked like your average farm boy; his feet were bare but covered in dirt, his pants had better days after being hammy downed over several older brothers. Blonde hair that was coated in light brown soil, several smudges showed signs of playing outside.

"Oh, really little brother do you think I could possibly forget about you? Now I do know why you must want my attention." Placing the large basket on the counter next to the back door, she starts to pull out the goodies she had brought.

Almost instantly, her brother was across the kitchen and trying to grab a pastry from the place they sat on a plate. Before his dirt-covered hand could reach one of the golden pastries, a wooden spoon had stopped him in his track, "you better wash those hands before ruining Sis' goods."

Her mother's voice was always sincere and thick in the accent from her birth country. It was like soothing summer rain while her fathers were the thunder during a hot summer night. Out of respect of his mother and the fear of the spoon, her trudge's outside to wash up with the hand pump.

Teresa continued with her cooking as Cora walked back to the door motioning for Otto to enter. "now why do you bring a dog with you but not a man?"

"Well, mum, there's an important man who has asked me to take this dog until he is well again." Her brother comes bursting back through the screen door, almost busting the rusted thing off its hinges. "Now, if you wouldn't mind, mother, but I think this is a topic for another time."

Issac reaches out for a golden pastry and begins to munch on it happily. "Well, I would like you to at least keep him outside of my home. I try to keep this household spotless, but you all must make it truly a retched pigsty."

The bickering was very common from her. Five complaints always shadowed a compliment. The house had been built around the civil war and had been owned from one poor man to the next. The building was a strong and stable foundation however it was not the most decorative or prettiest building. It had four bedrooms with one originally being a servants room. The only access to the basement was going outside and only coal, potatoes and jars were stored down there. A small kitchen that was a  tight squeeze around several counters. A sitting room and parlor where many long winter nights the large family had spent huddle together for warmth.