The Baby Quilt Was Perfect

Nell and her friend had finished the baby quilt for Mrs. Thistlebloom on the twenty-ninth day. She had been very close to being evicted from her little room in the city. She and her friend had spent hours and hours drawing a pattern and cutting tiny pieces of material from the old clothes that Mrs. Thistlebloom had given her. Because the clothes were old they were very soft and the colors were suitable for a baby's bed. Mittie's idea of an alphabet quilt turned out so well that Mrs. Thistlebloom had been very happy. That in turn made the friends very proud of themselves.

Nell had been deep in thought as she thought of the day that she had said good-bye to her friend and had started out on her journey to Iowa to be a bride to a man that she had never met. She had started her trip by getting on board a wagon that was driven by a team of tired old horses and grouchy old man that told her that he wouldn't load up her sewing machine unless she paid him a dollar more. She paid him the dollar even though that meant that she would be short of money for food. Her sewing machine meant much more to her than a full belly. She needed to get to the waterfront by the river so that she could travel by ferry boat to catch the wagon train that would be heading to Iowa. What she didn't know was that on each different way or mode of traveling she would have to pay a fee. She had to pay a fee on the ferry boat of fifty cents. That doesn't sound like much nowadays, but to Nell it meant the difference of eating or going hungry. The dollar to the driver and the fifty cents to the ferry boat man had already cut her short of her budgeted amount of traveling money. She was thankful that Mrs. Thistlebloom had packed a lunch for her in return for the beautiful quilt she made. The farmer had sent her a passage voucher for the wagon train that was heading northwest so once she got there all she had to do was make sure her belongings including her sewing machine were safe. The driver of the wagon in the wagon train had already been paid.

Back in Iowa, Nathan, or as his children called him, Pa, called the children together one evening and said, "Why don't we go out on the porch and visit a spell? It's a beautiful evenin' and I'd like to tell you all something really important. The children were quiet and followed their pa outside and sat down on the porch.
"Well, you know since your ma died, things haven't been going quite as good as when she was still here. I'm only one man and I just can't do everything. I've been trying really hard and so have you children, but it's just not working. I have sent some money to a lady in St. Louis to come out here and be my wife. Her name is Nell. All I know about her is that she can sew which is a good thing. You all need some new clothes. She isn't going to replace your own ma, but she will be your new ma. Is that understood?"

Whitlee Jo was so little she didn't care, but Marlee Ada's head was spinning. What would she be like? Did she like children? Was she pretty? Can she bake pies and bread pudding like her ma? Would she  take her pa away from her? Would she play with her like her ma did? So many questions. One question she did ask was, "When will she be here, Pa?"