Chapter 10
Hetty King, March 1879, Age 19
"Hetty! Hetty! Can I have some water please?" Ruths' voice from upstairs was as loud as possible, but strained with weakness. The swirling snow outside paired with the absolutely grey sky seemed to match Ruths mood, and wasn't making mine any more positive. Ruth had recently taken sick, nothing more than a fever, I thought, but I've gotten a bit ahead of myself in telling the story. To hear it proper we must go back to the beginning.
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It was a rather gray and misty day in February when we had all found out about the big inside fair in Charlottetown. An event about the future, it billed itself as perfect for the whole family. At the time I was in town with Irene Steamer, the woman courting my father, as well as my brother Alec who had driven us in the carriage.
We had been buying supplies for Olivia's birthday, which was the next day. As we exited the general store, Alec was standing by the announcement board, looking as if it said that tomorrow was Christmas.
"Hetty, Irene, come look at this!" I don't think I had heard Alec sound so excited in many years. "Can we go?" he asked even before I could get to read the announcement. As I read it said that this fair would be held in a months time in Charlottetown, they billed it as 'A Window to Your Future', whatever that was suppose to mean, I didn't know. But, I did know that Alec and Irene were excited, as they talked about nothing else for the whole return trip to King Farm.
When we returned back to King Farm neither Irene or Alec could talk of anything besides the "fair of the future".
"You know-" my father said "I think this fair is just the ticket for us, we're a modern family, looking towards the future. Who knows, maybe we can find some things that might help on the farm." And so it was settled, in a months time we would go to the "fair of the future" in Charlottetown.
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In the nearly two years since she had been courting our father, Irene spent most of her time at our home, especially since the death of her mother the previous November. To everyone, except the possibility of Roger, she really was like a member of the family. Even with our previous misgivings about her and the relationship, we were now all quite preoccupied with seeing our father marry Irene. That is why that night, like many in both the past and future, Irene was helping me make dinner when father came in.
"Hello you two, what delicious treats do you have planned for tonight?"
"I've just been helping Hetty here and there, she's the real mastermind behind dinner."
"Is she? Now what do you have planned for tonight, Hetty Beth?"
"Nothing fancy, just shepherds' pie."
" Shepherds' pie? Shepherds' pie? Don't you know how I feel about shepherds' pie?" He sounded angry, but I couldn't understand why.
"No, I thought you liked it." I felt like a naughty child saying this, like one who had ruined everything, but had yet to realize it. Father had been so kindly and soft since he had been courting Irene, perhaps something had gone wrong that day.
"Like it, I don't like it..." Irene and I both had a sharp intake of breath, afraid of what he would say next. He no longer could contain himself, the anger on his face was instantly replaced by a smile, as he laughingly said "I absolutely love it. Especially when you make it Hetty Beth."
I would have breathed a sigh of relief in that moment, but was not able to as Father picked me up by my waist and twirled me around, much like he use to do when I was a little girl. Now, normally I would have found that embarrassing, I being a grown woman, I should be too old for things like that, but the fact that he wasn't angry made me happy, and I thought not to complain.
"Hetty you look like a little girl" Ruth laughed from somewhere in the room. As father put me down I could see Ruth was already seated at the table as were the rest of the children.
"Oh goodness you crew, dinner isn't near ready yet. So, you'll just have to occupy yourselves for a bit longer. Maybe you could all finish packing like I asked you to this morning? " Quite expectedly this was met by the groans and mumbling complaints of the children. With all of them gone I turned on my father and Irene, he seemed to be telling her something about work that day as they both realized I was looking at them. "When I said crew I meant you two as well. Now go on. Get!" I said shooing them away. "Enjoy yourselves." I smiled as they walked away. With both Irene and father coming to the fair of the future with us tomorrow, I knew it would be a while until they got to spend some time on there own again.
Turning around I was surprised to still see Ruth at the table. "And what are you doing here?" I asked her.
Even though I had told everyone to leave I was not going to kick Ruth out of the kitchen, as she had seemed so sad lately, starting about the time that cow had died. And even this past week she had seemed even more sad and sullen than before. As her eldest sister and sibling, I just wanted her to have a little bit of happiness. If that cow wasn't already dead I would have killed him, just for making her so upset.
"I don't feel well." Ruth nearly whispered. Looking at her more closely I noticed she did not look well at all, and upon feeling her head I realized that she was running a temperature.
"Oh my goodness. Well, a kitchens no place for a sick girl, you go up stairs and get in bed, and I'll come up and bring you up some dinner in a little while."
Getting up from the table, she began her way up the back stairs, but before reaching the third one she turned around. "Will you take me upstairs."
I tried not to roll my eyes, I knew she didn't feel well, but I had dinner to finish making. However, as I saw the sadness in her eyes, relented. "Stay there for a moment." I said, kissing her forehead. It felt like it was even warmer than before. I took a shawl off one of the chairs and put it around her "I'll be right back."
Upon leaving the kitchen and entering the hallway I realized I had no clue where anyone was. "Irene!" I shouted, which was rather unladylike, but needed to be done. Thankfully, Irene was just in the parlor, and within a few seconds she appeared before me. "Is something the matter Hetty?"
"No...Well yes. Ruth doesn't feel very well-..."
"Poor dear!"
"Yes, well I want to go to bed, but she won't do so unless I go with her. Would you mind keeping an eye on dinner while I take her upstairs and get her settled in?"
"Of course I don't mind. Let me just tell Heziah, maybe he can even help."
"There isn't much that needs to be done, just pull the biscuits out of the oven in about five minutes, and ten minutes for the shepherds pie."
"Of course Hetty" she mumbled as she walked back into the parlor leaving me wondering if she had heard anything I had said. 'Oh well' I thought ' if she ruins dinner it will be on her own head.' But, at the moment my worry was for Ruth.
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"I'm sorry Hetty." Ruth was laying in my bed, while I sat beside her, with the covers drawn up around her chin, she looked every inch the sickly child, with her pale skin looking nearly translucent, almost blue even by candlelight.
"What for?"
"For getting so sick so quickly, and being so troublesome." At first I thought that she had to be joking, none of this was her fault, if anything I was at fault for not realizing she was ill sooner.
"Oh Ruth, it isn't your fault that you're sick. None of that matters, now what is really important is getting you all better." I gave her my best, and most reassuring, smile. "So tonight you'll get lots of sleep, and we'll see what everything is like in the morning.
Getting Ruth ready and into bed turned out to be a more difficult process than I expected. As I led her upstairs to her own room I realized that she shared a room with Olivia, and, with Ruth sick, and perhaps contagious I would be endangering Olivia's health. So, instead of endangering Olivia, I brought Ruth in my room for the night, where she could sleep with me, and I could be right there if something went wrong.
"Am I going to miss the fair?"
"I'm afraid so sunshine, I'm sorry."
"Are you going to miss the fair?"
"Yes, I will, I'm going to stay here and take care of you, but I don't mind, one day we'll be in the future, and we will not need a fair to show us what is going on."
"Are the others staying behind?"
"Now, don't you worry about the others."
"Hetty... do they have to miss the fair because of me?" At almost eight, Ruth was quickly becoming very dramatic, which really could be a bit of a challenge with the sadness she had been feeling. Sometimes I swore that Roger was behind her newly found dramatic flair, but there was nothing I could really do about it.
"No, everyone will be going to the fair tomorrow. Irene and father included. Alec said he is going to try and get us brochures and information that they are going to pass out. But don't you worry about Alec or Roger or Olivia or any of them, we're going to focus on getting you all better."
"Hetty, what do you think the future will be like?"
"I don't know if I could really say. I would think it would be a lot like now. Why? What do you the future will be like."
"Very exciting! Just think Hetty one day it will not longer be the 1800s, it will be the 1900s, the 20th Century. Miss Stacey says people are lucky to see the beginning of a new century, she said it's like magic. What are you going to do in 1900?"
"Ruth, the year 1900 is 21 years away." I wanted to say something about Muriel Stacey, filling childrens heads with ideas of magic, and especially about a new century. She was the same age as me, born in 1859, what did she know of new centuries. However, arguing with poor Ruth would not make her feel any better, and could exacerbate her condition, so instead I humoured her. "I think in 1900 I will be here in Avonlea, maybe even teaching school. I know I will be looking after generations of Kings. Who knows, maybe by then I will even have traveled around the world. What about you sunshine, what will you be doing in 1900?
"In 1900 I will be a grand lady of society, with beautiful, long hair that reaches the floor. I'm going to be married to a handsome man with a moustache -"
"A moustache?"
"Don't interrupt Hetty! I'm not done yet."
"Oh, sorry, continue"
"Where was I ..."
"Man with a moustache."
The child gave me a look that would make milk curdle, I hoped this dramatic flair would not last long. "I will marry a man with a moustache, and we will have a beautiful daughter and lots of fancy servants. I will be famous and everyone around the world will love me as I visit them all."
"Oh Ruth!" I sighed "You don't want to be dragged around the world, there are dangerous diseases out there, you never know what you can catch out in the world." Fearing a return of her dramatics I continued "Are you only going to have one child?"
"Yes. I already know what I'm going to name her too."
"What?"
"Sara, like the princess in my storybook. Do you like it?"
"Oh yes, I think Sara is a very pretty name, and if she's anything like you then she'll be very beautiful."
As I got myself into bed and laid down, so to did Ruth, who had been asleep until I had come upstairs about twenty minutes ago. I did not really know what time it was, but I knew it was late. I normally would have gone to bed much earlier, but instead I had been finishing up packing along with help from Irene who was going to spending the night in Olivias room that night.
Laying there in that bed I could feel the heat radiate of my younger sister. "Hetty, I'm cold." she nearly cried. How on earth could she possibly be cold, I wondered. But, instead of ask I opened my arms and she cuddled in them. Even though she was nearly eight, in my arms Ruth seemed so much smaller, like she was truly a little child again. Falling asleep that night I remember being both worried about Ruth and trying to convince myself that nothing was truly wrong with her.
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Knock Knock
"Who is it?" In my first moments of consciousness I wondered what the time could possibly be. Usually waking up at five am, I couldn't really believe any of the children were up early, which meant someone, possibly Olivia, had a nightmare. But, then again, Olivia never really bothered much with knocking before she came in.
"It's just me Hetty-Beth, wanted you to know that we were leaving."
"Leaving? So early?" I finally opened my eyes, wondering if my father had gone mad. Instead of confirming my fears, it confirmed one thing. "Early, it's nearly nine o'clock, you two slept in. Irene said you were up packing with her half the night, so to let you sleep in today, but I had to tell you we were going, so's that you wouldn't worry about us."
"Oh, um, thank-you, I do appreciate, you all have a good time at the fair. Bring us back lots of souvenirs." Ruth was beginning to stir in my arms, to be honest I didn't want her to wake up just yet, I didn't want her to feel overly upset when everybody left.
"How is the little patient feeling?"
With a question directed at her, Ruth was now awake, and answering "better papa, still sleepy, but better."
"That's my good girl. That's what we wanted to hear. Now we're going to miss you two very much while we're gone."
"We'll miss you too Papa" Ruth answered for the both of us. It may have been my eyes decieving me, but as she spoke I thought she looked worse than she had the previous night, but I didn't say anything. She wouldn't want to ruin everyone trip to the fair."
"Goodbye my lasses, see you in a couple days."
Father rapped on my door for good measure, and as we heard him go down the stairs Ruth looked at me "I'm tired Hetty, can I go back to sleep now?"
"Would you like some breakfast first? Just a little bit, maybe some eggs or toast?"
"I suppose" she replied as she began coughing. I didn't like the sounds of it, but as I looked out the window, from my bed I could see that the family was already too far away for me to call back.
I have an idea, why don't you sleep a bit, while I go make breakfast, and I'll bring it up to you when it's done and we can have breakfast in bed. How does that sound?"
"Like I'm a princess." for a split second I could see my healthy, sunny Ruth, but after that second she was back to looking sickly, and had started coughing again.
"But first, I'll get you some water." I smiled and tucked her into bed, I handed her a handkerchief from my bedside table. "Here, you cough into this, I've heard princesses do the exact same thing." She looked up at me, smiled and was about to say something when she began to cough again.
Walking down the stairs to the kitchen I inwardly argued with myself as to whether or not to call the doctor. However, as I went back into my room, cup of water in my hands I noticed a red stain in Ruths' handkerchief - blood. She had fallen asleep in that short time, but even in her sleep she was beginning to cough, loud hoarse sounding coughs that were wracking her whole body.
I placed the water down as gently as possible with such fear running through my heart. As soon as I did I was out of the bedroom, and running outside to find Jake - our hired man to call for Doctor Carter immediately.
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I can never say that I particularly liked Doctor Carter, in fact often I found his disagreeable, however, on that day, whether it be his will or Jakes, he was in the house within twenty minutes. As much as I wanted to be in the room with my sister, I knew that I had to let the doctor do his job without me breathing down his neck. So, instead I paced around the kitchen, praying it wasn't bad news.
"Hetty" he began as he came downstairs, I would have called out, announcing my presence, but, since he used the back stairs he nearly ran into me.
"Is she okay? What's wrong with her?"
He looked at me, with that same look he gave me at the interview for school teacher. As he breathed deeply, I wondered just how serious this was.
"Hetty, it's Diphtheria."
"What?"
"Ruth has Diphtheria."
A/N - Another two part story. Hope you are enjoying it! Thought we needed a bit more Ruth (as did my friend :) ). If you would be so kind you all know how I love reviews ;) I promise part two will be up tomorrow - I hate suspense. Love - V