Maria

 By Kaylah

This story takes place about a month before The San Francisco Smugglers begins.

One of Andrea Carter’s favorite places to go on rainy days was the attic. It had a wonderful smell, ancient and mysterious. And as the rain had been pouring down for days now, this is where Andi was headed. 

Scrambling up the ladder, Andi entered the attic and dusted off her skirt of rich blue wool. She glanced around and then swung her braid over her shoulder. A moments contemplation yielded interest in a precarious pile of old- looking furniture. 

Andi hurried over and sat down on the rough boards. “A chair with one leg, a table, an old bed frame, what’s this?” Reaching out, Andi grasped a wooden headboard and pulled. Much to her amazement a cradle appeared. It was old, but paint still graced the wood, and a little blanket lay carefully folded inside. Andi brushed the dust from the front and some writing was revealed.

Maria

The name was in a spidery script and a delicate border of roses arched gracefully over the word. “Maria?” Andi repeated in wonder. “Who’s that?” No one in her family was called Maria, she was pretty sure. Gently Andi reached out and stroked the soft blanket inside, then suddenly turned it over. She had felt something and there, lying serenely at the bottom of the cradle was an old page. The edges looked torn as if it had once been in a journal or book of some sort. 

Andi’s breath caught as she saw the handwriting. “Its Mother’s!” With trembling fingers, she lifted it from the little cradle and held it up to the light. The rays of dreary sun filtering through the attic window caught the writing and Andi began to read.

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April 8th, 1866

Dear Diary, 

Today a most extraordinary thing occurred. It was a warm day, and I was sitting on the porch, enjoying the springtime breeze. I had been sitting like this for only about ten minutes when my teenage son Chad came hollering around the side of the barn. “Mother! Look what we’ve got here!” I started up quickly as my husband James came around the barn after Chad, calling, “Look here, Elizabeth. What do you make of this?” James set a small cradle down on the porch. It was painted white and the headboard was decorated with pink roses and writing: Maria. Inside was a tiny baby girl, all pale and skinny. We took her into the house and fed her immediately. We are all very astonished. I can’t think how she got here and why someone would leave the pretty cradle with her. It is a real mystery. James has contacted the sheriff and some local newspapers and authorities but there is no way of knowing who she is and why she’s here. I pray that we will find her family soon and perhaps will be able to help them if they are in need. But if that is not to be I pray that we can provide her with love and warmth.

-Elizabeth Carter 

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Andi sat back, absolutely stunned. Another family secret? Who was little Maria? Where had she come from? Then as Andi looked again at the cradle another piece of paper caught her eye. She reached for it and saw that it was her mother’s handwriting again, but this time the date was a year later. 

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June 29th, 1867

Dear Diary,

Today my little Maria has gone from us. I am too upset to write more but perhaps one day I shall.

-Elizabeth Carter

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Andi stared at the words dumbly. Maria, gone? Had her family come?  Stiffly, Andi got to her feet. Carrying the papers, she made her way to where her mother sat in the parlour.

“Mother?” Andi stood before Elizabeth and stretched out the papers. “Tell me, Mother. Tell me what happened to Maria.” 

“Why, Andrea!” Elizabeth started and looked perplexedly at Andi. “Where did you find them?” 

 “In the attic. I found the cradle.” Andi sat next to her mother and looked up into her face. “Mother, who was Maria?” 

Elizabeth shook her head. “I don’t exactly know. Her mother was a poor woman, I think, and she had no father. We think her mother couldn’t care for her, so she dumped her at the richest house in the area, which was us.” Elizabeth sighed. “The cradle was always the mystery, such a fancy thing. Since she had nowhere to go, we kept her, mainly because of Kate. She really got attached to Maria. But the rest of us grew to love her like part of the family as well. Maria’s leaving was something that caused Kate to go away too, I think. It grieved her so much. That is a reason we never told you about Maria. Because Kate was so in love with her.” Elizabeth’s voice trailed off. 

“But why did Maria leave?” Andi was impatient.

“A man appeared at the house one day. He demanded Maria given to him. She was one at that point, so little and sweet. He took us to court about her. He claimed to be her uncle. What we know about her parents came from him. The court ruled in favor of him, so he took her. We’ve never seen her since.”

Elizabeth wiped a tear from her cheek, and her eyes looked mournful. “It broke my heart. But God knew what he was doing. He taught me a special lesson in trust. We had Maria for a short time, but we loved her well. I’ve no doubt that even if she forgot all about us God remembered and he brought her to us first for that purpose.” Then Elizabeth smiled at her daughter. “And a year later God gave us you. He may have taken one child from me, but he saw fit to give me another.”

The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.

-Job 1:21b