Bessy's Cup

by ColleenD

Margaret takes Bessy's simple cup as a memento of her beloved friend. Whatever happens to it? The first chapter is pretty much strictly from Gaskell's book as background. Chs 2 - 6 are a mix of my words and Gaskell's (in italics). Subsequent chapters are entirely original material. This is not a contiguous story, just one-shots with Bessy's cup. Reviews and comments are welcome.

12. Chapter 12 A Boy and His Blocks

Five year old Jack Thornton had two favorite activities; he loved to play with the blocks his daddy made for him and he loved to go with his daddy to the mill. The blocks provided him with endless opportunities to express his creative imagination. He could never tire of building with his blocks. The mill fascinated him – all the big machines and moving parts, the clean white cotton fabric and of course the beautiful floating cotton fluff. And his daddy was master of it all. So it was no surprise to his mother when the boy decided to combine his two loves.

One day when Margaret stepped into the nursery to check on her children she found her black haired, blue eyed, son busy at work on the nursery room floor. He was concentrating very hard and building deliberately with his beloved blocks.

'What have you got there, Jack?' she asked the boy expecting him to say 'a castle' or 'a barnyard' as she had often seen him build before. But this time it was something different.

'It's the mill, Mama,' he said, looking up at her with a wide grin.

Margaret smiled, 'Tell me about it,' she urged as she knelt down beside him.

'This is the big weaving shed with all of the looms. Here are the spinning mules. These are the carding machines,' the boy proudly pointed out.

'What's this?' asked his mother, pointing to a stack of blocks with stairs on either side in the middle of the 'weaving shed.'

'Oh, that's the scaffold where the Master stands to watch over everything,' Jack confidently replied.

'And this?' she pointed to what looked like a little room with a big block and a small block.

'That's the master's office,' Jack said, 'that's his desk and that's his chair.' The boy pointed to the big block and the little block respectively. 'Over here is the engine room,' he added.

'What is my cup doing there?' Margaret asked indicating Bessy's cup in the 'engine room.'

'That's the boiler for the steam engine,' her son replied with incredulity, as if it should be obvious. Margaret smiled.

Margaret stood up and stepped back admiring his work. She watched for a few more minutes as Jack busied himself with building what she surmised was the dock yard.

Margaret couldn't wait until John came home for her to tell him of their child's enthusiasm for the family business. This boy was certainly his father's son.