Day by Day

Chapter Two

Chapter Two

Sunday morning was sunny, and warm enough by nine o'clock that Caroline decided she wouldn't wear her good stockings, striped red and white. She decided to wear her plain white ones,  with her little green slippers. They were her best shoes, and she wore leather covers over them until she got to the church.  She wore her pretty fresh green dress, made of cotton, with her pettycoats beneath it. She wore her gold cross around her neck. Mimma had given it to her for her birthday in March.

   "Pip gave it to me when we were married," she had said. "Back East, in North Carolina."

  Caro felt even more grown up than before, looking in her mirror. Curls clouded around her face, the mass of her hair in her gold chignon.  She looked right pretty today, and she hoped Orry would think so. Caroline knew it was bad for her to be so vain, caring about her looks. She felt like she couldn't help it- but she had so many other things to think about. God and war. She needed to keep her focus on God. If she kept her eyes on the sky, maybe nothing would go amiss. She and God were best friends. She prayed about everything, anything under the sun. That moment she prayed that God's will be done, though the words were half-hearted. She didn't want Orry to go off, and she didn't want a war. Freedom or not. People would die, starve and mourn. She hated it when people were sad, and she cried when other people cried. Mimma said it was because she was tenderhearted.

   "You comin', Caro? We'll be late!" Pip called from the hallway, outside her closed bedroom door.

 "I'm comin', Pip. Just makin' sure I look nice." She adjusted the necklace once more, and grabbed at her white knitted shawl she had made in April. Her bonnet of green muslin was tied under her chin with ribbons of lighter green organdy. Her eyes danced more green than blue, her cheeks were pink and blooming.

  She opened the walnut wood door, seeing her father in his black suit, Bible held dearly to his chest. "Ready, chicklet?"

     "Yes, I'm ready."

 She covered her shoes, going out into the fine, bright morning. The sky was a blank, vibrant blue. Clouds were absent. The wind blew over her, blowing her skirts around her legs. Mimma came around the side of the house, holding a bundle of wildflowers and honeysuckle. She was singing a hymn, smiling at her daughter.

   "I thought these would color the church house a little more," she said. The flowers were variations of purple, yellow, orange, and greens. They danced within her grasp, the petals moved fragiley. "They smell nice, too."

   Caro returned the smile, looking down over the early morning. The dusky hills were bathed in light sunshine, the air singing with wind. The weather would change in a little while; the wind blew when it was fixing to change. When they got into their wagon, she smiled at the refreshing scent of country. The vista was lovely, the birds flying over them in the sky. God had given them a lovely day. She inhlaed deeply, lolling her head back against her neck- her neck limp like a dead dandelion's stem. Dandelions grew all over the country, especially around the church. For the moments it took, she enjoyed the fineness of the morning.

   "Today, we have the fella'ship picnic. D'ya make sure to bring the plates, Mim?" Pip asked over the gentle clopping from their Shetland pony's hooves on the dusty, unpaved road.

   "As always, Pip," she replied, patting the plates in her lap, wrapped up in a small cotton tablecloth.

 "Everyone's comin'" he continued.

 Orry's face flashed to her mind. Her heart flopped in her chest like a fish out of water, like a dragonfly flittering over a reflecting green pond. He would be there. And maybe...she laughed aloud. She felt giddy and sing-songy and joyful.  She always felt that way when he was near, or when she thought of him. She never told Mimma, or