June 1780,

Telling her aunt she was moving was something Sara didn't want to do. Aunt Catherine had always been so good to her. She had taken care of her when she was sick and taught her how to be a woman. First Gil spoke to her uncle. Uncle Jim offered to buy the house from them once the new additions had been completed.

"We'll keep it in the family," he said.

Sara told Gil and Uncle Jim not to breathe a word of the move to Aunt Catherine. She wanted to tell her herself. However, every time an opportunity presented itself, she couldn't muster the courage.

"I just can't," Sara repeated to herself.

Gil started to finish the new part of the house so he could settle on a price with Uncle Jim. From very early in the morning until very late at night, Gil sawed and hammered. All the pounding worried Thomas, so Sara carried him outdoors into the beautiful summer air. Her favorite spot in the valley was the large black-eyed Susan field. There, she would spread a blanket and sit with Thomas, enjoying the day and picking flowers. For summer days, Sara dressed him in a blue gown and little bonnet, to protect his baby-fine skin. His dark hair, that was nearly black, curled out from underneath the back of the bonnet. His little eyes were still blue, but not so much as when he was born. Sara knew that once they moved to the big city, they wouldn't be able to sit in a wide field of flowers or walk beside the babbling brook. The noises of town were so different from the noises of the country. Town was filled with the sound of horse hooves and people shouting to one another. The valley bathed in the sounds of crickets and wind.

"There is a butterfly," Sara said to her son as one fluttered past.

Thomas didn't understand and went back to chewing on his naked foot. Sara took a deep gulp of the sweet air and her eyes filled with tears. She was going to miss the dewy mornings and the sound of cicadas as she tried to sleep. She was going to long to walk bare-footed out to milk the cows. Beside her, Thomas cooed sweetly. He was so young and innocent, that he did not know they were going to leave his true home for the bustling city. He didn't know that everything they knew was about to change.

~~0~~

Later that afternoon, as Thomas was taking his nap, Sara helped Aunt Catherine churn butter. Nothing was better than fresh creamy butter and sweet butter milk. As Sara worked the large, wooden dasher up and down, Aunt Catherine fried potatoes and salt pork for that night's supper. She was talking of Nick's homecoming and of the summer picnic.

"Oh, it'll be good to have the whole family together," Aunt Catherine said.

"Yes," Sara said as listened to the milk churn about.

Aunt Catherine talked on. "I noticed Thomas has grown," she said with a broad smile. "He has already outgrown his first pair of trousers! That boy is growing like a weed."

"I know," Sara agreed. "He is getting too long for his cradle. Gil is already making him a trundle bed."

Aunt Catherine stopped her work and went over to admire the sleeping baby. "Have you given thought to having another baby? You know, it can happen anytime," she teased.

Sara laughed for the first time all day. "Not yet," she said. "Thomas is young yet and-"

Sara stopped mid sentence and laid the dasher to the side. She was going to comment about the move, but she hadn't told her aunt yet. Aunt Catherine took notice of the look on her face and sighed.

"Sara, I wish you would make a clean breast of it," Aunt Catherine said. "Have you and Gil been quarreling?"

Sara shook her head. "No nothing like that. It is just that… Gil thinks we should move to Philadelphia," she finally said.

Aunt Catherine laughed and shook her head. "Why on earth would he think that?" she asked. "You have just started the new room and besides you live here."

Sara chewed her lip. "He has been offered a job as a professor at the college," she explained.

Aunt Catherine grew quiet, but then she nodded. Sara took up the dasher and began to churn again. For the longest time, the only sound in the room was the sloshing of the buttermilk and the sizzling salt pork. The silence was worse than an argument.

"Does he know where you will live?" Aunt Catherine finally asked.

Sara nodded. "He found a little stone cottage. It has three bedrooms and a parlor and the biggest kitchen you will ever see," she said, describing the house.

It took a moment for her aunt to answer. "I see," she said.

Sara let the dasher fall to the side again. "I am sorry I waited so long to tell you," she cried." I didn't say anything because I didn't want to leave you. You are my best friend."

In his box, Thomas whined and wiggled. Sara went to tend to him and Aunt Catherine took the dasher up and started to churn.

"I know it is hard to leave your home. When I left mother, I was in tears. James had to supply for me and baby Nick," Aunt Catherine said.

Aunt Catherine was right; it was a way of life and how you lived. If life was what you wanted it to be, then there was a possibility that you wouldn't have what you needed. Gil was her husband, and he thought it was best to move to the city. Sara cuddled Thomas and kissed his head.

"Just think of the new people you will meet," Aunt Catherine continued. "I know that I will miss you something awful, but you'll have new friends before you know it."

Sara agreed. "And we will be able to send Thomas to a good school and buy him nice things," she said.

Aunt Catherine, with all her wisdom, had eased Sara's mind. Now, she wasn't scared to move. She was excited. Thoughts of decorating her new home and meeting people filled her mind. Sara glanced at the clock on the wall and let out a small gasp.

"Oh, I forgot my bread," she said as she handed the baby to her aunt.

~~0~~

Thomas didn't complain when he was handed to his aunt. Catherine took him gently and cradled him in her arms. She inhaled the scent of his soft hair and she knew she was going to miss him from the bottom of her heart. Sara's moving meant that her baby Thomas was going too. It wasn't that she coveted Thomas; it was only that it was a blessing to have a baby on the farm. She had been there when he was born, taught Sara how to feed him, and spent countless hours looking into his angelic face. During her niece's pregnancy, Catherine felt small pangs of jealousy. She remembered her own children and how having them part of your body was something that no words could describe. Catherine had never intentionally stopped trying to have children. Her body was never the same after she had Ruth, her first and only baby girl. Catherine had been in labor with her for nearly fifteen hours before she was born. James said it was because the family had had the fever and Catherine was still weak. No one cared about the technicalities, they were just glad both mother and child appeared healthy. Ruth hardly cried and sometimes the family forgot she was around. When she was hungry, she cooed softly. As she became older, she didn't gain much weight. James aid it was probably that she was small, but she became sickly as winter came. One rainy night, Ruth came down with the small pox and the family had to be quarantined. The little baby wasn't strong enough to fight the sickness and she died. Catherine was inconsolable after Ruth's death. After time had passed, she tried to have another baby, but to no avail. When Sara had come to live with them, Catherine felt as if she was getting a new daughter. From the start, Sara was jittery and quiet. Catherine had fun making clothes for her and showing her how to quilt, but Sara was a tomboy. She got more fun out of climbing tress with John than she did knitting. Though she was a skilled knitter and a fine cook, Sara seemed uncomfortable in her body. Now that she was married, with a child of her own, Sara was more settled. It was a fact that Sara was her closest friend, but now their roads were separating.

~~0~~

The next day, as Gil was working on the house, Sara took Thomas into the barn. She sat him in a pile of hay and opened the stall door to her pony, Star. She hadn't a chance to ride it yet, but she fed it bits of carrots and curry-combed it until its hair and mane shined. The barn cat, who was unnamed, had a new littler of kittens. Sara and Gil had once owned her, but she decided that no one owned her and moved out to the barn. There were little ones with black spots and some with no spots at all. Gil said they could take one with them, so Sara picked out one that was all white and had black feet.

"The rats are bad in the city," Gil said. "We will need a good mouser."

As Sara brushed her pony, Gil opened the barn door and spotted her. "I was looking all over for you," he said.

He picked Thomas up out of the hay-pile and laid him on his shoulder. Sara thought she was so blessed to have a husband who was also a good father. Thomas simply adored his father and Gil would walk through fire for his son.

"Are you angry with me?" Gil asked.

Sara shook her head. "No," she said.

"Don't lie," Gil said with a sigh. "I know you don't want to move. Maybe I have been wrong to push you into it so fast."

Sara set the brush aside. "Gil, I didn't want to move at first. I have grown up here," she explained.

Gil nodded. "I know you have. I have been thinking that if you have your heart set on staying… then we can stay," he said.

For a moment, Sara was relieved. She wanted to stay, but work was hard to find and soon their money would run out. Gil was a teacher by trade, Sara had married him for who he was and knew that he would want to teach again. It would be mean of her to deny him something when he had supplied for and spoiled her.

Sara shook her head. "I know it is for the best. I may be sad, but it will pass. It will be like an adventure for us," she said.

Gil agreed. "It will be," he said.