Mail Order Bride

Chapter 5 - The Meeting

Janessa tried to act as normal and nonchalant as she could while intently trying to see the 'new lady.' The sun was shining in her eyes, and she had to shield them in order to see. Her father jumped down from the wagon and held his hand up to the woman. She took it gracefully and jumped lightly to her feet. Then she pulled a small traveling case from under the wagon seat, and turned to look at the house. The woman shielded her eyes as Janessa heard her father say, "There's Janessa, sitting on the steps." The woman took of her hat to reveal an abundance of flaxen hair. Her dress was long and light pink. She was quite tall, but thin and strong. She walked toward Janessa, while Patrick took one of her trunks from the back of the wagon. Janessa could feel her heart racing. Her reaction to this woman was not at all what she had been expecting or planning. The lady was beautiful! The woman stopped in front of her and bent down to look at her closely.

"Hello, Janessa, she greeted kindly. Her voice was soft and musical. Janessa looked up into the most beautiful eyes she had ever seen. Suddenly, a picture of her mother's blue eyes flashed across her mind. They were so much like this woman's! Janessa gulped and replied, "Hello." The woman sat down beside her. Her dress made a silky sound as she adjusted it.

"My name is Emily Grinshaw. But I suppose your father already told you that." Janessa nodded mutely, although she had entirely forgotten Emily's name.

"It's so beautiful here. It's much hillier and prettier than Nebraska, where I'm from." Janessa said nothing. Emily spoke again. "How old are you, Janessa? Are you eight or nine? Your father told me, but I'm afraid I'm not very good with remembering ages."

"Nine." Janessa said shortly. Not crossly, but just quickly. Patrick came up at that moment, carrying Emily's first trunk. Janessa sprang to her feet to hold the door open for her father. He went in sideways, followed by Emily. Janessa let the door shut on its own as she followed the two adults into the room that would be Emily's. Patrick set the trunk down with a thud. "Phew!" he gasped. "What do you have in there, bricks?" Emily laughed.

"I should have warned you," she said. "Not bricks, but I brought some of my favorite books to read. You said that you and Janessa read and tell stories in the winter months. I came prepared." She smiled.

Patrick grinned back. "Well," he drawled, "If you're up to it, and after you've freshened up a bit, I think Janessa made us some dinner. She can't cook quite yet, but she helped make the soup and made the bread by herself." He smiled at his young daughter. Janessa smiled shyly back. Patrick left the room to retrieve Emily's final trunk, as Emily looked at Janessa with a new interest.

"Can you bake bread?" she asked, as she began to pour water into the white basin sitting on her dresser. "Pa taught me," Janessa replied abruptly, and walked out the room, shutting the door behind her. She went into her own room across the hallway, and kicked the door shut behind her. She didn't want her father talking to Emily about her like that. She didn't want Emily to know anything about her. She wasn't her friend, and she never would be.