The next morning Maggie left, knowing that Grace's time with her brother and burgeoning family was destined to be difficult at best. She wanted to stay longer, but her brother wouldn't have it for long and being the only midwife in the county, her skills were in great demand.
Grace sighed deeply as she watched Maggie ride away on horseback, she knew keenly that her protector was gone. She loved her sister-in-law and had a hard time fathoming how her husband and sister could have possibly come from the same family. She hugged little Marion to her breast, "It will be different for you, I promise it will be different for you." Grace was not unintelligent, just limited in her options.
Cyrus hadn't looked at his daughter yet, he barely paid attention to his sons, except when they were loud or underfoot. His sensitivity got worse when he drank, which was often. Grace tried to shield the kids from his anger by bearing the brunt of it herself.
The drudgeful cycle of days continued for Grace and her family. Marion and the boys grew, as children will, despite hardship or other obstacles. Cyrus continued to be unreasonable, but mostly seemed to leave her and the children alone, including his insistence on sharing her bed. Grace was actually hopeful that he was sharing someone else's bed since that meant he would leave her alone and she wouldn't have any more babies. There was no sadness in her thoughts, more a sense of resigned peace.
Marion was just over a year old when news of something called the Spanish flu made its way to the tiny town of Steelville, but nobody thought much of it since it was all taking place on the coasts, especially in Philadelphia and many far away places like that. But as the spring and summer of 1918 passed, the news of the epidemic got closer and closer. However, Grace and her fellow Crawford Countians were still convinced it was a city disease. Fall came and the news filtered in about people getting sick in St. Louis, but that still seemed too far away. Grace's parents lived there, but she rarely saw them. She certainly didn't have the money to make the journey, let alone take herself and her 4 children out of their situation. Cyrus had blessedly remained mostly away with his women and his alcohol, which was fine with her. She managed to eke out a living from her small garden and cow... and Cyrus brought some money by to help out.
Grace only began to become alarmed when people in Cuba began to become ill... that was only 8 miles from Steelville. It also frightened her because it was the younger people who were dying... those close to her own 24 years. She feared what would become of her children should something happen to her. Early in October, townspeople began to fall ill and she tried to keep herself and the children away from anyone they thought might be ill... even to the point of keeping them in the house.
However, it was to no avail. Wayne was the first to fall ill, followed closely by Jackie and then Jesse. Strangely enough, Marion did not contract any sickness whatsoever. At first the boys just seemed to have colds, but they quickly developed pneumonia. Grace couldn't afford to call the doctor, but called him in anyway... unfortunately he couldn't do anything except offer some patent medicines that never worked anyway. Maggie came and suggested folk remedies, but those didn't work any better.
The trip to the hospital in Salem, 35 miles off, was too long and rough for the sick boys, so Grace just did her best to nurse them at home. But one night, Jesse's breathing became labored and ragged... then faster and faster... and then he was gone. His poor little body couldn't fight the Spanish influenza any longer. She was heartbroken over her youngest son's death, but the sorrow wasn't to end there for her. Several days later Wayne died, followed closely by the death of Jackie.
Strangely, Cyrus returned home at this time, not so strangely, he was drunk. He flew into rages and beat Grace severely and forced himself on her. He suddenly was full of grief for the sons that he cared about in name only while they were alive. He still had nothing but disdain for his Marion, his remaining child. It was almost as though he held her survival against her.
Blessedly for Grace, Cyrus' attentions were short-lived and he finally departed for the last time at the end of 1918, leaving her and Marion to fend for themselves.
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