Nell's Most Prized Possession

Nell's sewing machine was very precious to her of course, but before she left St. Louis she had sewn in a little pocket on the inside of her coat. Her mother's picture was in it. Along with the picture was her very first thimble. She put her hand to her chest and thought about life without a picture of her mother. She had loved her so much. The little thimble was the very first gift that she could remember her mother giving her when she was just a small child.

That evening as she thought of her most prized possession she whispered, "Well, Mother, I have a feeling you wouldn't approve of what I'm doing, but I need to do this. I need to start a new life and this is the only way I know how to do it. Ethel says I need to hurry and save my most prized possession. It is your love for me that I prize the most. You gave me this little thimble so that I could sew with you when I was just a small child. I have used it countless numbers of times to make my living. It was a priceless gift."

She quickly took the thimble and climbed up into the covered wagon. Towards the back was her sewing machine. She felt around and found the crack in it's leg. It was just large enough that she could wedge her little thimble into it. She then took a tiny piece of rag and wrapped the leg like it was wounded, "Which you are, poor sewing machine. You are wounded. Please make it to Iowa with me." She gave it a pat and started to crawl out of the wagon. She felt the wagon move and heard a deafening noise. It was so loud it made her ears ring. Not twenty feet from her wagon a tree was on fire! Lightning had struck the tree and it was burning! She heard Ethel scream, "Nell, get out of the wagon quick before the sparks catch the wagon on fire. Hurry!"

In Iowa the weather was getting chilly especially at night. Marlee Ada and her brothers and sister had gone through their ma's trunks and found some quilts that her ma and Grandmother Taylor had made. They were getting worn out, but were good enough to keep them warm. She remembered her ma had told her that some of the quilt pieces were made out of old shirts and underwear. She giggled when she thought about it. "Funny to make a quilt out of underwear," she thought, but she quickly snuggled up to one that night as she thought about the strange woman that would soon be there to be their new ma.

When Grandma Lu looked up there were a dozen hands in the air wanting her attention. It seemed some little ones didn't know what a thimble was, some wanted to know if the wagon caught on fire, and some wanted to know the end of the story. Grandma Lu loves a good story and gave them a wink, adjusted her new hat and continued on with her story of Nell, the Mail Order Bride.