2527 words
SHE
WAS A NORMAL GIRL
by Natalie N. Aydin
She was a normal girl,
working class, one might even say average.
She’d never had a manicure, her nails cut short because she worked with
her hands everyday.
She would always be a workhorse,
never a show pony. Katherine was
special, and delicate. But in other
ways, Katherine was tough. Her father
taught her to be proud but humble, simple yet sophisticated in her
naturalness. She had never colored her
hair. She felt most like herself when
being herself and living for no one else but for her own self. She worked hard, and that was all she knew
was work.
Katherine was her father’s only
child, and as such Katherine served as both son and daughter. She knew how to change a tire, how to mend
fences, how to herd sheep, how to break in horses, how to rope cattle, how to
ride, and how to set up camp. She was
better to her father than seven sons, all rolled into one. Katherine was the apple of her father’s eye,
and he told her so, often.
Katherine’s mother had
passed away years ago. Like her mother,
Katherine was a lovely woman of surpassing beauty. As mentioned before, Katherine had a natural
beauty that radiated from her face, due to livin’ off the land and maintaining
an existence in harmony with nature and with the vast beauty contained
therein. The green rolling hills of the
shire were absolutely breathtaking every morning when the dew fell on the
grass, and every day Katherine was struck with wonder at the beauties of nature
in her native land.
Every day on the moor,
Katherine was working on her father’s farm with their hired hand, Sean. He was a capable young man, about Katherine’s
age, and generally a gentleman in the truest sense of the word. He was always delicate about how he talked
when he was around Katherine, because he sincerely liked her, maybe secretly
loved her even, maybe. But he would not
admit any of this to Katherine.
Katherine was completely oblivious to this. Now Katherine had a stepmother, who was
pretty harsh with her, but Katherine tried to please her as best she could. The one good thing she could say about her
stepmother was that she was a hard worker, just like herself and her mother
before her.
#
“Kat’rin! Put th’ water on t’ a bile, nah? Hurry nup
an’ fore we mak’ it t’ see the sohn-raize o’er the bier o’ St. John’s, quick
nah! We ‘on’t got all deh aforst yeer
fahr comen up wi’ the shipe, ya’n un’er’nand.
I ‘on’t got all dee for em foolitchness, Kat’rin. Ye mind?”
“Yessum.”
“What’s thaht, say ‘e?”
“Yes, Mahm.”
As Katherine put a large pot of water
on the stove, she noticed her father afar off in the distance. He was herding the cattle home with their new
farmhand, Sean.
Katherine
swept up her tousled hair into a messy bun and quickly smoothed over her skirts
and apron, tidying up quite nicely in a pinch.
She
remembered the first day he came to ask about the job.
#
“Hello?” Sean knocked before entering the little
cottage doorway.
“Yessir.”
Katherine craned her neck to see who was there.
“You need an ‘and?” Katherine was struggling under the crushing
weight of carrying a huge pot full of water.
“Yessir, thank
‘e, Sir.” Sean got there just in the
nick of time.
“Tis’ no trouble, no trouble ‘t all. Say, is your father the man I need t’ see
about some work?”
“Yessir.
He’s out raight nauw, but ‘e’ll be back soon if ye ‘on’t mind a-waiten’
a wee bet nah. What say ye?”
“I don’t mind t’ wait.”
“Alright. If ye like, ye can set over here ahnt th’
table and take a bet of a rist if ye like.
I’ve got some coddle on the stove if’n ye’d
like a bet to eat, ‘ere.”
“That’s absolutely lovely of you.
Thank you. I’m Sean, by the by.”
“Kat’rin,
at ye’re service, Sir,” she said as she bowed her head a bit and curtsied very
slightly, polite-like. Within the space
of not even a minute, Sean had sitting before him a plate of steaming bangers,
rashers, potato, and onion. It looked
delicious, but Katherine was absolutely ravishing in her provincial
beauty. He ate silently, watching her
every move while Katherine fidgeted about in the kitchen like a flighty
bird. All the while she remained mainly
oblivious to his enchanted gaze, while he held her with his eyes. Katherine tried to keep busy in the kitchen
of the small but homey cottage, consciously ignoring…
“And
how do I propose to call ye, Sir?”
“Sean. Sean O’Ryan.”
“Mr.
O’Ryan.”
“You
can call me Sean, if you’d like.”
“I don’t know, I…” Katherine looked as though she were like a
deer caught
in the
headlights. She bent back a little bit
as if to recoil, to the safety of the stove.
It was unusual, not to mention like an impropriety, to be on a
first-name basis with a man who was not her father.
“If it’s alright with yay, Mr.
O’Ryan will suffice for now. But thank ‘e.”
“As you like, Miss. Is there anything I can help you with?” Katherine was struggling to move the huge pot
of water over into the corner to get it out of the way.
“Um…yes, if ye could…this is so, powerful
heavy.”
“I’ve got it.” Sean was tall and
slightly lanky; he towered over Katherine.
She was a bit taken aback by his closeness. She’d never been so close to a man not her
father.
“Thank ye. I really appreciate
‘t.”
“No worries, Miss. Is there
anything else I can do? Put me to work.”
“Well…I do need to have these potatoes peeled. Can ye do it?”
“Of course!
I used t’ peel five pounds of potatoes in a day if it were a year! For myself and my two brothers, aye. And of
course, for my Mam and Fahr…”
“That’s nice. I sometimes wish I
had a sister or a brother to help me.”
“Oh, it’s just you, eh?”
“Yes, it’s just me.”
“I see.”
“Oh, here’s my Father right
now.”
Mr. Kennedy walked in the door, the
leathery skin of his face worn with time.
“Hullo, Sir! Kat’rin, is this the young man I need to
see?”
“Yes, Father, this is ‘e. Mr. Sean O’Ryan. Mr. O’Ryan, this is my father, Mr. Kennedy.”
“Hello, Sir—Mr. Kennedy. Good to finally meet you, Sir.”
“And polite ‘e is, this one, too! I like ‘im already!” Mr. Kennedy laughed out loud and winked at
Katherine. Katherine turned beet
red. “Well, son…what are you lookin’ for
in terms o’ wages?”
“Whatever you think is reasonable,
Sir. I’m a reasonable man.”
“Fair enough. Tell you what, let’s discuss that later. Did Kat’rin give you something to eat, ‘ere.”
“Yes, she did. She fed me nice and proper …very lovely of
her.”
“Isn’t she lovely, my Katherine? Boy, I tell you she is the apple of my eye.”
“She is lovely, Sir—in more ways than one.”
“Oh, for Pete’s sehk, both of ye are
embarrassing me,” Katherine blushed again.
“Don’t ye all have to talk about some business?”
“I might hire
Mr. O’Ryan to pull double duty.” Her
father’s grin was a mile wide.
“Alright, I’m leaving. I haf’t’ feed the chickens and milk the
cows.” Katherine was visibly upset,
bringing her basket with her as she pushed open the heavy door with her
torso. The sun shone warmly in stark
contrast to the crisp air. While wisps
of hair flew into her face, Katherine headed out to the chicken coop, wondering
what kinds of things they were talking about back in there. She was glad her Mam wasn’t alive to hear all
this flibbertigibbet…
#
“She’s a right fine girl, isn’t she,
Sean?”
“She is, Sehr. Wethout a doubt.”
“Now let’s talk about this job. What do you know about herding sheep?”
“Well, my father was a shepherd, and
I’m my father’s son. He taught me how to
shear a sheep when I wasn’t taller than your knee.”
“Wonderful. I think we’ll get along here very well,
Sean. Now, listen, young man—I have
something else to ask you.”
“Yes, Sir…of course, Sir.”
“I need someone to take over the land
when I can’t go on, you see. And I
haven’t got a son. But Kat’rin needs a
husband, one of these days. Oh, she
won’t say as much… but I know she
worries about what will become of me and her Mam when we can’t hold down the
farm like we used to.”
“I understand, Sir.”
“I guess what I’m trying to ask is…do
you have any designs on my daughter, son?
She’s out feeding the chickens right now, you can speak freely.”
“Designs, Sehr?”
“Do you like her enough that you might
one day consider marrying her, son?”
“You mean, Katherine?”
“Yes, son. My Kat’rin.”
“She’s a wonderful young lady,
Sir. Honestly, Sir, I almost don’t know
what to say, except to say, I’d jump at the chance to marry Katherine. She’s one of the foinest young ladies I’ve
ever had the plaisir to meet. She’s smaert
as a whep, first off…”
“Trust me, I know…”
“She must have silver-tongued lotharios
lining out the door to mahr-ry her, though…why me, Sir?”
“Well, you see…Kat’rin doesn’t set too
much store by these things much…like love, an’ such. She’s not simple or basic by any means, in a
matter o’ sayin’…but Kat’rin so rarely thinks of ‘erself, it’s jawst
sinful. She thinks about everyone except ‘erself, in fact. In fact I think she prefers to think of everyone except ‘erself. She is just like her Mam, always thinking of
other people before giving nary a thought to her own needs.”
“I see.”
“She’s a very sweet girl, very
lovely. But I want to make sure she’s
set up nicely when I and her Mam go, you see.”
“So what do you propose, Mr. Kennedy?”
“Work for us about a half-year, then…if
you want…I’d like you to propose to Kat’rin.
Nice and proper-like. What do you
say?”
“It sounds like a plan…of course, as long
as she approves.”
“I’ll have a talk with her.”
“Please don’t make her do something she doesn’t want to do, though,
Sir. I’d much rather her be happy
without me, than be miserable weth
me. Just make sure it’s ‘er choice,
Sehr, an’ not something she isn’t wont to do, Sehr.”
“It’s her choice, she just doesn’t know it yet!” And with that, Mr. Kennedy winked and said,
“Now let’s get herding those sheep, son!”
Sean acquiesced and followed Mr. Kennedy out the door.
#
Meanwhile, Katherine was outside. By this time, she was done spreading the feed
across the ground and had moved on to the cattle shed. She didn’t like the way her father talked
about her in front of Sean. She knew her
father meant well, but she was
upset—although she didn’t rightly know why
she was upset, per se.
She did like the young man,
though. It was so obvious he liked
her. He didn’t have to say much, but she
could tell he did. Secretly, Katherine
was hoping Sean would maybe like her enough to marry her one day, if he stayed
on the farm long enough. All she could
think about was him helping her carry water…perhaps a silly fantasy for some,
but it was all Katherine had. Most days
she was alone here, out on the moor—her Mam often gone, hawking all their wares
on market days across the region.
Katherine’s father was her sole source of happiness, as he was the only
person she would get to see if he was home
from a cattle drive. Katherine didn’t
miss her stepmother too much; usually her Mam was pretty hard on her. She understood why; life on the moor is hard,
but Katherine didn’t agree with her stepmother’s harshness.
“You’ve gotta understand, Kat’rin,” her
father told her one day, “Your stepmother ‘ad a hard, hard life before even I met her. A hard
life. But she will pass on to you all
her hard work ethic, and that, my dear, is worth more than all the tea in
China.”
#
About a half a year had
passed, and it was getting near that time which Mr. Kennedy and Sean O’Ryan had
discussed. One day while they were out
herding the cattle, Sean reminded Mr. Kennedy of this fact. He cleared his throat.
“Mester Kennedy, Sehr…”
“Yes, Sean, my boy?”
“It’s about
Katherine.”
“What about ‘er, Sean…?”
“I want to
formally ask you for her hand.”
The old man’s eyes
teared up and he looked away.
“You have my permission,
son. You’ve been kinder to Katherine and
her Mam and I than if you were my own bairn’d son ‘imself.”
“Can I ask her t’night?”
“Of course you can, my
boy. Be here at six-thirty in the
even’n’ on the dot. You can leave work
early today if you want to get ready.”
As soon as they were
done with the herding for the day, Sean rode home as fast he could to get all
spruced up to come over that evening.
#
Mr. Kennedy came into
the little cottage.
“Kat’rin, we’re havin’ a
visitor t’night. See that ye have a good
supper ready.”
“Who is ‘t, Fahr?”
“It’s a surprise,
Dear. Listen, tho, Kat’rin, hear me
now. After ye’re done making up supper
right quick, fix yourself up right nice like ye usually do in the marning. We have a special guest, and I want ye to
look yere best.”
“Of course, Fahr. As ye say.”
And, true to her word, after she was done making a nice dinner for
everyone including their mystery guest, Katherine retired to her room to wash
up, put on her best dress, braid her hair, and smooth over all her clothes to
her liking. Just about when she was
done, her father called her into the front room.
“Kat’rin, ye have a
visitor.”
She called out, “A
visitor for me?”
“Aye. Come on out ‘ere.”
When Katherine exited
from the back, she was surprised and delighted to see Sean there with her father, holding a bouquet of wildflowers
from the moor.
“These are for
you.” Katherine was overwhelmed.
“Oh, I’ll haf’t’ put
these in some water.”
Mr. Kennedy smiled
a knowing, fatherly smile. “It’s okay,
you can put ‘em on the table for now, Dear.”
Katherine put the flowers by the wayside on the oak table.
“Katherine…” Sean got
down on one knee in front of her.
Katherine put her hands in front of her whole lower face in amazement. “Will ye do me the honor of being my wife?”
“I will!” He leaned forward and she fell into his
arms. She felt like she was stepping
into a warm bath…like she was home. And
now she knew that wherever she was in his arms, that was where home would
be.
There never was a better
match would be, than this Sean O’Ryan and his Katherine Kennedy.
