4. UNEXPECTED
"Jane!" Abby shouted. "You scared me to death!" Abby grabbed a small hand towel and used it to cover her chest while keeping the rest of her body hidden beneath the waters.
Jane looked so odd. She had just been standing there, staring at Abby. What a peculiar thing for a child to do. "I didn't mean to frighten you Aunt Abby," She said, "but I thought that we weren't allowed to use the bath?"
Abby wasn't sure what to tell her. "Well I decided to sneak one in anyway. Maybe tomorrow we can sneak one in for you as well after you get home from school, how does that sound?"
Jane smiled. "I would like that very much." Jane's eyes trailed off of Abby's face, down to her body. "Do you think that I will look like you when I get older? Will my chest be like yours?"
Abby blushed and clutched the towel closer to her chest. "Um, I'm sure you'll be even more beautiful than me. You have the face of an angel."
"But the body of a boy." Jane added. She looked disappointed.
Abby was in disbelief. "Do you think that you're not pretty, Jane?"
She shrugged her shoulders. "Boys don't look at me. A few of the other girls in my class have started to… develop. All the boys like those girls but they never pay any attention to me. I just wish I was older already. You and mommy are so pretty and men are always wanting to get your attention. I wish I had your body so that boys would like me too."
Abby smiled. "Oh Jane, in a couple of years you'll be prettier than all of us! Just be patient and enjoy being a kid. Life only gets more complicated the older you get. Being a woman isn't all that it's cracked up to be. Your mom and I may capture the attention of men but sometimes it's from the men we're not interested in. You'll understand better when you get older."
"That's what mom always says." Jane smiled. She seemed to be in a better mood as she thought about growing up and becoming more beautiful than Sarah and Abby.
"Well I think you'd better sneak back into bed before your mom finds you missing, don't you?"
Jane smiled and nodded and went out the door. Abby sighed. Although it had been an awkward thing to be watched while she was naked, she was glad that it was just Jane and not someone else. Abby got out of the tub and dried off, got dressed, and went in to go to bed.
The next day played its routine like the one before. Abby heated up the bath when the kids came home from school and Jane took her turn first. She was in there for over an hour and Abby had to practically drag her out. She also had Alec take a bath but he was much quicker. He thought sitting in a tub was just boring and preferred swimming in the lake. Sarah also had a bath that night and didn't hassle Cotton to take it away. So it stayed there but no one ever talked about it. They waited for Cotton to take it away and Cotton waited to be reminded to take it away.
Another week went by and their home was a happy place. Sarah tried to teach Abby a few simple things about the craft. She would pull certain jars off the shelf and would explain the power behind different combinations. It intrigued Abby.
One night after the kids had gone to bed, Abby and Sarah resumed their lessons of the craft at the kitchen table when someone came to the door. Abby answered it and was surprised to see who it was.
"Mr. Osborne, what are you doing here?" It was the man who had given Abby the ride to Salem.
His face looked regretfully sad. "Hello Abby. I'm afraid I've got a bit of news to share with you."
Fear struck Abby's heart. Then Sarah came to the door and said "Mr. Osborne, won't you come in?"
He entered their home and took the seat that was offered to him at the table. Sarah pulled Abby in and had her sit down in the chair across from him, then stood at her side.
"What's the news?" Sarah asked him.
He gulped as he tried to find the right words. "It seems that after Abby and I left town, a plague came in that made everyone very sick."
Tears started to well up in Abby's eyes.
"They closed off the town for a while so that the sickness couldn't spread." The sorrow in Mr. Osborne's voice was harrowing. "I'm afraid that your parents were one of the first ones to die."
Abby blinked and the tears flowed over her cheeks as Sarah tried to rub her shoulders to offer comfort.
She had to ask the question even though she was terrified of the answer. "What about Joseph? Is he okay?"
Mr. Osborne hung his head sadly. "I'm sorry Abby, he died too."
A gaping hole opened up in Abby's chest and she started sobbing. She turned to shove her face into Sarah's stomach. Sarah just kept patting her hair and running her hands through it.
"Thank you for coming by and telling us Mr. Osborne. Can you see your way out?" asked Sarah.
"Yes. Again, I'm so sorry." He left after that and Abby continued to sob and clutch to Sarah.
"Not Joseph!" Abby wailed. He had been the most pure joy that she had known in life. Images of his innocent face with his bright blond hair flashed through her mind. Images of the two of them laying in the wheat field and staring at the sky together. Why would God take away such a young and innocent child? Unless…
Abby pulled away from Sarah and looked at the items laid out on the table, jars of herbs and other things. The pain in her heart struck even deeper. "This is my fault." Abby whispered.
"What? No, why would you say that?" Sarah asked.
"God is punishing me for using witchcraft. Momma said that this was evil but I did it anyways and now God has killed them to punish me." The guilt was unbearable.
"Abby, no." Sarah said firmly. "What we did wasn't wrong and the God I know would not punish you by killing your family. It was a plague; it is no one's fault."
Abby put her head on the table. "Please, just leave me alone."
Sarah wanted to be there for her little sister. She wanted to make it better for her. But she also wanted to respect her wishes. She went into the bedroom to join her sleeping twins and Abby cried herself to sleep at the kitchen table.
The next day was hard for Abby. Just because her family was dead didn't mean that the world had stopped turning, even though she wanted it to. She took the twins to school just like she always had. She went to the market place to buy some groceries just like any other day. But this day was terrible for her. She watched the people go by all around her, some smiling and laughing. Didn't they know? Weren't they aware that one of the most precious creatures on this earth was taken away? She hated them for being happy. It wasn't right. No one should be happy. Not when Joseph… Abby didn't want to finish the thought.
Abby had to stop by the general store. Sarah had asked her to pick up some soap for the tub. Jeffrey was there stocking the shelves and they greeted each other politely. He was not aware of Abby's tragedy. She studied the different soap products on a shelf in the back and tried to decide which one smelled the best. The bell at the front door of the store jangled as two men entered.
Abby's jaw dropped when she saw them. They were the most beautiful creatures she had ever laid eyes on. One was tall with a pale shade of brown skin and long dark hair while the other was very white with shorter brown hair that framed his face. Even though they were both beautiful, it was the second one that she couldn't take her eyes off of.
They walked through the aisles of the store but didn't really seem to be looking at the products. They seemed more interested in looking at the people within the shop. The darker one seemed to be concentrating very hard.
"Can I help you find something?" Jeffrey asked the men.
The dark one looked him up and down. "No, you don't have what I'm looking for." Then he turned and continued to walk through the store. Since Abby had been watching the dark one speaking with Jeffrey, she hadn't noticed that the other one, the more handsome one, was now standing right next to her.
"Is everything okay?" His beautiful face was looking down at her with concern.
Abby's eyes widened as she realized he was speaking to her. Her mouth opened and she tried to find the words but nothing came out.
"I'm sorry; you just look like you've been crying. I didn't mean to bother you." His expression was earnest. The darker one approached and looked at his friend, then shifted his gaze to Abby. He got that look of concentration again and then returned his gaze to his friend and ever so slightly, shook his head 'no'. Then he turned to leave the store.
"Well it was nice meeting you." The handsome stranger told Abby and he started to follow his friend out the door.
Abby just nodded and was screaming at herself inside her head, trying to figure out why she was so stupid and not even able to talk. After they had left the store, Abby went to the counter to talk to Jeffrey.
"Who are those guys?" She asked.
Jeffrey shrugged his shoulders. "They just came into town yesterday off the ship from England. We received supplies to stock the store and they came along with it. Don't know who they are or why they're here though. I just hope they don't stay long, they're kind of creepy. Poor Mrs. Barnes down at the inn doesn't like having them stay there. She's already gossiped all over town about the late hours they keep."
Abby smiled at the thought of Mrs. Barnes getting all worked up over new gossip. But when she realized she had smiled she felt a wave of guilt. She should not be smiling, not when…
"So are you gonna get that?" Jeffrey asked.
"What?" She looked down at her hands and realized that she was still carrying three different kinds of soap. "Oh, um. I'll take this one." She left the other two at the counter and left the store after making her purchase. It was already about time for the kids to get out of school so she decided to just walk to the school house instead of going home first. When she got there, Jane and Alec were just walking out of the red brick building.
"Abby!" Alec called. He hurried down the steps to be at her side and Jane slowly followed after. Alec took the groceries from her hands to help Abby out. All three began their walk down Main Street to go back towards their house. Jane was not as cheerful as she usually was.
"Is something wrong, Jane?" Abby asked. Jane didn't respond.
"She's just mad because some of the girls were making fun of her for being one of the smallest girls in the class." Alec informed.
Abby studied Jane's face. She already knew that this was a touchy subject. "Jane, don't worry about those girls. They're just teasing you because they're jealous."
Jane looked up at Abby. "Why would they be jealous of me?"
"Because you're so much prettier than the rest of them." Abby answered matter-of-factly. Jane smiled.
As they continued their walk down the street, Abby was surprised to see the two handsome strangers on the other side. It wasn't the fact that they were there that surprised Abby, it was the fact that they had stopped in their tracks and were staring at the twins with expressions of shock on their faces. It was as if they were looking at the most valuable two objects in the entire world.
