1865
Colleen exchanged a worried glance with Matthew. She couldn't remember the last time she had seen her ma look so distraught. Her ma had delivered lots of babies over the years. Some of them had even died. She knew her ma had felt bad when they had, but none of their deaths' had affected her like this.
She supposed that had something to do with her ma being so close to Abigail and Sully. Colleen felt a lump well up in her throat. She was going to miss Abigail. The Sullys' had spent a lot of time at the boarding house over the past couple of years.
In fact, the upstairs with the balcony had been Abigail and Sully's first home as a married couple, while Sully was building their homestead. They had only lived there a couple of weeks, but Colleen remembered how fun it was to have them living with them.
The Coopers and Sullys had remained close even after the Sullys moved into their new home. Sully and Abigail came often for supper and stayed after the boarders had retired to their rooms at night. Sully would share stories of his adventures further west while he played games with Matthew and Brian. She and her ma had helped Abigail with many sewing projects, including piecing together quilts and fashioning tiny garments for Sully baby's impending arrival.
Colleen felt tears prick her eyes sadness flooded over her. It was so unfair. Abigail and Sully loved each other so much, and now Abigail and their baby were dead, and Sully was all alone. She didn't know how she could help Sully, but there had to be something she could do to make things easier for her ma, even if only for a little while.
She glanced around the kitchen, her eyes scanning over the unfinished supper preparations, and suddenly she knew what she could do. She could take care of supper for all of them, while her ma went upstairs and got some rest. She just had to convince her ma to let her.