English (southern US) female narrating male part
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North American (South West - Texas)Transcript
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14, 1887 Texas. Ben knew it would be hard for his Children to accept her, but he couldn't worry about that now. He needed her lose and jane had nearly killed him. If it had not been for the Children, he would have crawled into her grave and died. Why did she have to die? None of this would have been necessary if God had just listened to him and let her live? Whoever said God is love is a dirty liar. God loved him so much. He would not have taken his chain. He wouldn't have taken his Children's mama, sweet jane. He remembered how pretty she had looked the first time he saw her 27 years ago. She had been just a slip of a girl, but he had known whatever it took to win her he would do. There's been something fragile about her that made him want to protect her. She had experienced such heartbreak for one so young and had left its mark. Ben had known that he would love her until the day he died. But first he had to win her hand. He recalled coming out of Roger's mercantile and tipping his hat to her and her mama, her mama had given him that stern, disapproving look that no one else could manage. He understood that look. Now. Ben had felt across his face when Jackson had come calling on his daughter, Lou, Ella Jane had not even noticed him after all, he was an older man of 18 and she had only been 15, he had found himself inventing reasons to run into her. He'd ridden out of his way when he'd gone to town, hoping to catch a glimpse of her. Ben thought back to the day of the church social. All the ladies and girls had made dinner baskets, and the men and boys had a good time bitten on them. Rafe Hudson had outbid old tom Barnes for mrs Barnes, basket. Everyone had hooted when old tom shouted, Well, if you want her chicken that bad, you can have her and the Children too. Few of the bids had made it over a dollar or two, quite a price in those days, when the parson had put up jane's dinner for auction, the boys had gone wild with their bidding. He supposed he had gone a little crazy too. He had needed that money for seed, but could not stand the thought of one of those shirttail boys sitting under a tree with her. No one had been more surprised than he had when he called out. I bid $20. Ben could still taste the pie she had made for dessert pair. He had never tasted a pair of pie before that day. From then on, it had been his favorite. He thought about their dinner together. He found just the right spot away from everyone else and from under her mama's disapproving eyes at first they had barely spoken just a polite word here or there about how good a fried chicken had tasted. He'd never tasted anything as delicious in his life. He had managed to say these chickens right, tasty. They were talking about Life and Liberty Grove. By the time he had made it to that pie, jane had smiled each time he complimented her cooking. Before long they had been sharing local gossip about their mutual acquaintances all too quickly. The afternoon passed. The time had come to clear away the picnic and head for home and chores. Ben knew he was taking a chance, since this was the first time that even talked to each other, but he couldn't help himself. As jane rose to leave. He took her hand, turned her toward him and said jane, someday I'm gonna marry you. Ben knew he needed to stop thinking about those days. He needed to concentrate. Matilda would be here soon, and they had to hurry to the parson's to get home before dark. He knew he was doing the right thing. His Children needed a mother, his girls, especially Emma, and Jesse needed a woman's touch. Ben had tried so hard to comfort them when they cried and keep them in pretty dresses as jane had. It was just more than he could do. It wasn't fair to his daughters, Betsy and Maggie, to expect them to raise the younger Children. They were young women now. They wanted homes and families of their own poor little Agnes constantly overlooked. Not young enough to be one of the babies, not old enough to be a big girl. She was spending more and more time running wild with her brothers. Yes, this was the right thing to do. His Children needed a mother if he kept telling himself that he might start believing it.