First off, I thank the Black Rand for the gracious invitation to participate in this Wine & Old Lace event although I must also apologize for the approach I chose; I think more in terms of Maine flannel and Applejack liquor than wine and old lace especially in the historical settings of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Because I am a procrastinator at heart and practice I am going to start this with posting Chapter 1 and will continue as appropriate.
The story has the elements for several Lit categories; the romantic young lady, the wayward and insatiable wife and mother, sensuality and carnal ruination. For now it is here.
All sexual activities are between legal adults although this is also a coming of age story for a couple of the characters. For those who want every character to live out their story as they imagine it, well, I look forward to reading their endeavors. For now, I'm going down this path.
Chapter 1
...a teen comes of age in a long bygone era in rural Maine
1912, Preble Landing Road in Sebec, Maine
The leather reins were loose in the sturdy man's hands as the Percheron team of horses turned up the dirt road just past the school house. As if on cue, the hooves picked up and nostrils flared and snorted as the wagon jilted forward towards the farm up on the hill.
Leland Merriman had raised teams of work horses since he was a young fellow over twenty years earlier, always Percheron and when traveling, dressed in black leathers and trim. With sunlight glinting off the polished fastenings and the steeds in high spirts, Leland and his horses were a sight to behold.
"Git there, git" the sturdy man bellowed as the team moved into a fast trot and he stood on the buckboard to look over the south pasture as they swooshed past the blackberry bushes lining the roadway.
The girls tending to the pasture fencing looked up and watched the team moving up the hill, waving at their father.
"Gertie, you need to pull your wire tighter so we can get this done. Papa's back from town and you know what that means." Twelve year old Mildred Merriman implored of her older sister. The oldest of the girls, Sylvia was already on the run up the lane between the two fields of oats with little more than the evidence of her blue gingham just a flash in the sunlight.
"Help me, darn it." Gertie half whispered to her sister. "Mama told us we had to get this done before we could come back up to the house. Come on now."
Gertie, short for Gertrude and Leland's middle daughter, poured every ounce of her fourteen year old frame into the iron lever forcing the wire taut to the wooden post as Mildred pounded the fastener into place. She let loose of the fulcrum and the fencing stood tight and strong and then picking up the tools and what was left of the wire spool, the girls each grabbed a handle of the barrow and began pushing it up the lane toward the house and barnyard.
A partridge flushed out of the oats to the side as the girls worked their way up the hill and they watched as their father drove his team into the yard with two border collies chasing after them. Leland looked up past the smith shop and saw his wife walking toward the yard adjusting her hair and work dress with a slight smile on her lips and waved to his love. She waved back just as the younger girls made it up from the south pasture.
"Papa!" Mildred rang out as she ran towards the wagon with Gertie close behind on her young heels.
Leland Merriman was a strong, stout man, his shock of sweated red hair glistening in the bright sunlight as he hopped down and swung up both girls in his arms cradling each with a shoulder and forearm. Sylvia had already snatched up the brown leather satchel, triumphantly carrying it into the shed on her way into the big rambling farmhouse.
"Papa, was it a good trip? How much did you get?" Gertie asked while hugging her father's strong neck.
"My little girls, it was indeed a good and profitable journey but you all run along now and get washed up. Mama will have dinner ready shortly."
Leland set the girls on their feet and both of them made a beeline to the house as Nina Merriman joined her husband upon entering the home. Mrs. Merriman kept her long blond hair tied up in a French braid and wore just a slight tinge of rouge on her face and in keeping with the modesty of the times ensured her ample bosom was well secured beneath the breasted brocade of her knee length gingham dress; except for the one button she missed in her rush back to the house. Glancing down, she discreetly fastened it as they crossed the threshold.
"The stew smells wonderful, Nina and the bread too. You must have slaved in this kitchen most of the day" Leland smiled at his bride of seventeen years. "Harold, please give the blessing before we begin."
Harold looked to his Papa and smiled. All of ten years old and the youngest of the Merriman's, the request always gave him a proud purpose in the busy family and he recited his Congregational blessings with anxious approval. Mildred stymied a giggle as he stumbled a bit halfway through and Gertie gave her shin a slight nudge, just enough to cause her to sit up straight.
The Merriman family of six were of longstanding custom to take their dinner meal together at the long oak table in the dining room, Leland at the head and Nina opposite him; the two older girls, sixteen year old Sylvia and Gertie on one side and Mildred and Harold facing them. From her vantage point through the bay windows, Nina could see the smith shop as well as the carpenter shop and her mind drifted between the sentences of her husband to thoughts of those places so far from the dinner table yet so close in proximity.