A winding corduroy road could be seen from the one paned, leaden glass window. The logs, laid side by side, stretched from New Fort to Quinn’s ridge. Caleb’s family built cabin in a clearing and the rest of the homestead lay down the hill in a large clearing away from the trees.
Trees were all around this empty area of Wisconsin. His Pa had picked this plot because of the proximity to a nearby lake and that all important clearing. And being halfway between two small towns, it made two places to sell their wheat and corn.
They had been there for 5 months and already had a simple log cabin, as well as a small stable and well. He remembered when a few neighbors had come to help dig the well. It had been his first time meeting the other families.
Caleb was 18, the only Wright child to survive to adulthood after Abby had passed in Philadelphia and George had died on their long journey. He wondered all the time why God had taken the smiling, boisterous siblings and left him, quiet and forlorn. His Pa never talked about it. His words were few, short and gruff now. Ma would sing her hymns and quietly read her Bible.
Caleb watched the corduroy road fill with snow. He wasn’t sure why he was looking out there anyways. His Ma and Pa had headed off to Quinn’s ridge so she could help with the birth of the Quinn girl first child.
The early December snows had come as a surprise. Especially since the last few winters in Pennsylvania had been mild. Caleb sat down and tended the stew in the hearth. The calked boards kept the wind out but not the cold which seemed to seep through the cabin. He grabbed another blanket and sat closer to the fire.
He thought of the Quinn’s daughter, not the one who was delivering, but her younger sister, Mary, who he had met when the well was dug. She was his age, but not married. She had a blue apron on and her bright red hair was in tight braids behind her. She teased him, ran away once with his hat and mimicked him when he was too shy to respond. She had been Infuriating and bossy and he wasn’t sure why she came to mind right now.
Something about the cold made him feel very much alone. Maybe it was the off thought of her red hair and the sight of the crackling fire. He couldn’t decide. He had scarcely said a word to her. Every time he had looked at her, he blushed and couldn’t speak. Caleb’s experience with women was very limited. His siblings had been able to bring out his voice, and make him more social. The house had been filled with laughter and Pa used to bring out his fiddle. It had sat over the door now since they arrived.
He chanced to look outside again and a fleck of red caught his eye. He walked over and rubbed away the frost and saw a figure rushing from the road to the cabin. In a flash, he heard the door slam open and a flurry if snow and red hair burst in.
“oh my!!! I hope it’s warm in here! What a storm!” said a freezing and chapped face Mary.
Mary shook off the snow from her hair and apron. She had a light blanket covering her.
Caleb’s mouth was open wide as he gaped at the girl in front if him.
“what…. gaziosmanpaşa escort I mean…” he stammered, looking pained to get the words out.
Mary stamped her boots and wrung out water from her hair. “oh I almost forgot, you don’t talk, well. I will talk enough for both of us.” Mary was a burst of color and movement. She smiled and sat down. “I was on my way back from New Fort with the mail and such and the storm blew me here to you.”
Mary was tall and thin with freckles everywhere. She took out the batch of letters from inside her dress and set them by the fire. She smiled at the awkward boy.
“I was hoping to make it back for my sister. I suppose that’s where your parents went?” she asked.
Caleb, blinked a few times and looking around the hard packed earthen floor and nodded.
Mary pulled off her stockings and put them over by the fire. She undid her hair to let it dry and got closer to the fire. She had figured the large strong boy would be unnerved by the site of any skin, she wasn’t disappointed. He did everything to look away from her legs.
He did look around for a quilt that might suffice and brought it over to her.
“you, could. I mean… My Ma has an extra woolen… Clothes I mean.” he said, getting out the basic understanding with a point to an oak chest.
“well, I guess you’ve seen this all before. Your sister was older and your Mother.” She unfastened her apron and dress and the layers of cloth and slipped it all off as she found stockings, a shift and a warm wool dress from the chest.
Caleb was frozen. Petrified at the sight of her milky freckly skin. He had never seen his mother or sister undress. Only a cousin back in Philadelphia who showed him her chest on a dare.
Mary knew how awful she was being to Caleb. It was her pleasure to tease the soft spoken boy and she smiled as she turned around.
“Much better,” she said. “did I catch you counting freckles?”
She didn’t wait for an answer, she knew there wouldn’t be one. She pulled up her chair near the fire.
Mary had always been the bold child, the free spirit. She studied the scared young man and couldn’t help but notice his strong arms and green eyes. This was no chance encounter in the storm.
Caleb bit his lip and chanced a look toward her chair. He felt his manhood swell in his rough spun pants and didn’t know what to say or do.
Mary shivered a bit. Pulling a nearby quilt around her. “Caleb the Quiet. The quiet giant.” she smiled. “Am I really so scary? So frightening?”
For the first time, he actually looked right at her. “you aren’t scary, you. You do talk a lot.” he said.
Mary winked, “Oh that is true. I suppose that comes from being in a big family. But I talk more than most.”
Caleb took a deep breath, “it was different, back in Philadelphia. Before…” he said trailing off. “Abigail was talkative… Like you. She always introduced me to girls. Got me talking.” he gave a slight smile.
Mary gave a look of surprise, “I knew you could blush. gölbaşı escort I didn’t know you could smile!” Mary peered outside. “this is a bad storm. I don’t think anyone will be traveling the rest of the day. I’m glad I planned on getting stuck here.”
Caleb frowned, lost for a moment. “You.. I don’t understand.” he said.
Mary worked her hair through her fingers, “I could have left earlier or gotten back to our cabin. But I wanted to be here. You know, I think it will all go very well. Both of us young, both looking for a spouse.” she said.
Caleb’s voice was stuck in his throat. “sp… Spouse?” he said, almost quivering.
She laughed, frustrated that nothing had caused him to realize what was happening. “well, I would say that you have a choice on the matter. But how can we not be married when our parents find us in bed in the morning?” she batted her eyelashes at me.
“In… Bed?” Caleb said.
Mary sighed, “if I’m not mistaken. Yes, But if you aren’t interested.” she removed the quilt and undid the dress she had borrowed and stood us beside Caleb. She had the stocking on and a shift. Her small pointed breasts were peaking through. Her creamy freckled skin was as white as the shift.
She walked over to the large mattress on the far side of the cabin. It was where Caleb’s parents slept. He used a loft bed up above. Mary laid down, fresh goose prickles all over.
“Be a love and bring over that quilt when you come. Please hurry, I’m getting cold.” she said.
Caleb was stunned, but he moved quickly. He towered over the bed. Mary sat up and for the first time felt his strong arms, his muscled legs and chest.
“So strong, Caleb. When I saw you digging that well with my brother in law and our fathers… I had whispered to my sister. She said that you could probably pick me up with one hand.” she rubbed against his front. Feeling the fabric of his pants.
“she said you’d have such a large member. that I’d probably be scared of it.” she smiled up at him.
Caleb’s heart was racing. One thing everyone could agree on was that he was strong. He never realized that was something that would attract a woman. But the way Mary looked at him, gave him a confidence he never usually felt. Although he had never been with a girl, his hands knew what they wanted to do.
Calem touched her soft red hair, wild and flowing. Then her cheek. Then as she lay back down, he lay beside her looking in her eyes. She took his huge hand and lay it on her face, then kissed it. Then hesitated.
“Now you are the scared one?” he said, smiling.
“Well, I mean… I didn’t know it would all work out that perfectly.” she laughed, “that part was supposed to be hard. Now…”
He leaned over and kissed Mary. Awkward, but so sweet. She kissed back. Kissing was something she had done. And her sister had helped teach her a bit.
Caleb’s hands went down to her soft small breasts, pointing through the shift. She took it off, her freckles and pale skin bare. Caleb grabbed the quilt and tossed it over them keçiören escort and took Mary in his arms, wrapping her body in his own. Feeling her breath, her heartbeat. And kissed again
She reached down and slid his pants off and put her hand around his hard manhood. It was massive. Not frightening but strong, sinewy like the rest of him. She felt the smoothness, the ripples and the veins. Her own parts were moist,. Just like her sister had said they would be.
Caleb took a deep breath when she touched him. He did this himself some nights. This felt so much better. But he didn’t know what else to do for her. He looked at her. “I don’t.. I don’t know exactly what to do.” he said.
She took his hand and slid it between her legs. It was warm, sticky and touching it made him burst. A flow of milky liquid, all over her hand.
She smiled, “oh my!!!”
She guided his hand to her hard nub and had him brush his fingers over it in a circle. Her breath quickened. His hand got wetter and wetter. Then he felt her body get sweatier and then she shuddered. The world swam for both of them. The wind howled and the snow built up. But they were naked, hot and sticky.
“do you want it… Inside?” Caleb asked. He knew this is what happened. A bragging cousin in Philadelphia had shared his own first story. And he supposed animals did it the same as people.
Mary bit her lip again and lay on his chest. “yes, just… Be gentle.” She lay down and the large strong man lay atop of her and she spread her thin legs apart then around his bottom all he could think to do was slide it in but he wasn’t necessarily sure where. She helped guide him with her hand. And then he slid inside.
Mary gasped. She felt the pressure, the stretching and a wince of pain. She took a deep breath and felt it slide in slowly.
“does it hurt?” he said, with a concerned look
She nodded, “you are a big man! It’s like fitting a giant leg in a tiny stocking. Haha. Go slow.”
Caleb slowed down, the feeling of her tight hole and the friction made him close to exploding again. He eased in and out and felt something give way. Then heard Mary scream and looked down to see blood. It soaked through the feather mattress. She held onto him and let the pain wash over.
“my sister told me… She told me that would happen.” Mary said, covered in sweat. His manhood was slick with blood and her Slippery fluid as he worked in and out.
He slid in deeper, slowly, feeling resistance and release. Then lost control and went faster. He couldn’t feel where he ended and she began. He grunted and held her tight letting his seed mingle with her wetness.
Mary and Caleb lay stunned, motionless and lost in each other. Mary played with his hair, stroked his muscles as Caleb explored the wonder of her body. Freckles did cover every part. She had more on her chest than he could count.
The wind blew outside and darkness almost enveloped the cabin before Caleb got up to feed the fire.
***********
In the town records, my great grandmother, Abigail Wright was born 9 months later and 8 months after a hasty wedding. The wedding was on Christmas day in 1878. Her daughter, my grandmother was born 30 years later, in what became the large town of Quinn’s ridge. Her stories of spending warm summer days at Grandma Mary and Grandpa Caleb’s house were filled with warmth and love. The soft spoken giant Caleb, and the tiny Mary who bragged of her wild red hair.