Rose

Mary was not the only one to find a beau that spring. Love also came to Rose, the O'Keefe's servant who was practically the same age as Mary. Her mother was the family's cook and Rose had practically grown up with Mary, though as they grew older, they did not see much of one another. Rose helped her mother in the kitchen and with the laundry, and she began to do housework by the time she was six or seven.

She didn't see working for the O'Keefe's as her life's callilng, though there were worse houses to labor in. She liked that they were mostly women, and that Mr. O'Keefe kept to himself. She figured he worked in the drygoods shop where he could flirt with all the high class ladies of the town, and didn't need to harrass the servant girls the way some white men did.

This spring, Rose was old enough to go to town on her own. Catfish Alley was only one street over, and her mother often sent her there to the market when they needed chicken or fish or vegetables. That was where Samuel had caught her eye. Sometimes, it took longer than it should have to bring home whatever her mother had sent her for, and she felt the wrath of her mother's tongue. But even her mother could tell what feelings stirred her heart, and she scolded Rose mostly to keep her from staying any longer than she did, secretly laughing to herself. If a mother doesn't scold, then love will not last.

Samuel was a bright young man with a promising future. He was a hard worker, and Rose saw him at church, and not just in the alley. It was funny, though, she couldn't remember seeing him at church until after they had spoken at the market. Maybe he got religion at the same time he fell in love! Rose didn't think of these things too often, though. She was more likely to think about the flash of his smile and how kind his eyes seemed or how strong he was.