Ellen introduced Jasper to her father and mother. She said, "I call them Pa and Ma; you can call them Mr. Shepard and Mrs. Shepard."
Pa welcomed Jasper and exchanged a few greetings. He asked him where he was from, how old he was, and what work he did to earn a living. Jasper said he was from back east, 37 years old, and worked for the railroad. Some of those answers didn't satisfy Pa. Other questions went through Pa's mind: What about previous marriages or communal relationships? Had he fathered children he didn't talk about? Had he been involved in crime? What work skills did he have? So many questions; so few answers. Little did Ellen know that she might never learn full details after several years.
Pa, in a stern voice, asked, "What do you mean by back east?"
Jasper related that he had been traveling for quite a while. He had stopped in many places, where he worked a while and moved on. He said he often told people he was born in South Carolina. Pa asked about his mother and father and what they did. Jasper indicated that he had no communication with them and gave no names. Most of these answers did not sit well with Pa.
Ellen said that Jasper was here for a couple of nights and would be leaving three days from now. Ma stated that he could sleep on a pallet in the closet under the steps that go upstairs. "We have some dry fresh-from-the-crib corn shucks in a large cotton-pick sack." Jasper, trying to be gracious, said that would be fine. Ellen was a bit taken back, but she knew that there were Pa, Ma, and eight children in the house and no extra beds. So, she needed to be content; after all she was trying to introduce a new person to her family.
Ellen told Jasper that she wanted to let him look around a bit. She took him into the house and showed him the kitchen, sitting room, bedroom for Pa and Ma, bedroom for girls, and bedroom for boys. The privy was out back and was a two-holer. Water could be drawn from the well. They went outside for Ellen to continue showing Jasper around. Their first activity was to store under the shed the wagon they had ridden in from the depot and release the horses into the lot. Afterward, they walked past the smokehouse, stables, hogpen, chicken house, and other outbuildings. Ellen said, "I want to show you the crystal-clear flowing water in the spring branch."
They walked across a small area of open pasture; simultaneously, they reached for each other's hand. Holding hands, they approached the spring branch at the edge of the woods. It was flowing nicely. Ellen told Jasper that the water was very good and that they would sometimes drink it. She showed him where a gourd dipper was kept for getting and drinking spring-branch water. Jasper tried the water and agreed it was good.
At that point, they simultaneously embraced each other. A long kiss followed. Wow! Ellen thought that she was in love; maybe Jasper was in love. After a few moments, they continued their stroll holding hands. Ellen and Jasper were gone on what Ellen called "Jasper's showing-around." It took longer than Pa and Ma thought it should unless the two went to fields some distance away. But, they didn't think that the couple was that interested in the fields. They didn't know that Ellen and Jasper were taking an innocent romantic stroll through the woods past the spring branch. But it was getting late in the December afternoon, and Ellen and Jasper figured they had better soon get back to the house.
Ma was fixing supper with the help of Rachel and Mag. Georgia Ann was looking after Ira, the baby brother who was only a little more than two years of age and the youngest of the Shepard children. Pa was out gathering the last eggs of the day. He would soon be in the house.
As the family gathered for supper, each of Ellen's siblings met Jasper. He tried to talk to them a little. They were very interested in who he was, where he was from, what kind of work he did, and if he had been to school. After all, this was the first man that Ellen had brought home. They sat down at the table; Jasper had a seat next to Ellen. The meal wasn't very scrumptious: fried salt pork meat, dried butter beans, corn bread, and baked sweet potatoes. Jasper ate and expressed appreciation for his meal.
Afterward, Pa said that he wanted to talk with Jasper. Though the weather was kind of cool in the early evening, they went on the front porch. Pa again asked Jasper about his parents, where he was from, and what kind of work he did. The answers weren't very satisfactory. However, Jasper indicated that he had great respect and growing love for Ellen.
Pa assumed, and rightly so, that a courtship was developing between Jasper and Ellen. Answers from Jasper were not very informative. Pa would talk with Ma and Ellen later, particularly Ellen, to see if he could learn more.
It was getting dark. The coal oil lamps were lit. The shutters on the windows had been closed and secured. A fire was built in the fireplace to drive away some coolness in the air. General chatter while watching siblings play lasted about an hour. Then Pa said that it was time to go to bed. He also said to Jasper, "And you know where your bed is, right?" The implication was that Jasper was to stay on the pallet of fresh, dry corn shucks and not approach Ellen. But, Pa didn't know that his daughter might go into the closet.
Everyone was about in bed. Pa went and peed off the porch, as he did each night but in a different place. The coal oil lamps were blown out. A few embers in the fireplace glowed and would keep overnight to start the fire in the morning (with the help of heart pine kindling). After everyone was asleep, Ellen sneaked out and opened the closet door under the steps. Jasper was there but not asleep. She got down on her knees, rubbed the hair on his head, and they kissed. He put his arms around her; she didn't resist. She pulled the closet door shut and lay beside him. They kissed again; he rubbed her shoulder. Passion was high, but Ellen remembered that her "specialness" was for another time. They lay side by side and talked lowly for about an hour. Ellen then left and went to her own bed without awaking members of the family (the six Shepard girls all shared the same room).
Next morning everyone was up. Jasper got a little sleep on the shuck and cotton-pick-sack pallet in the closet under the steps. Ellen wanted to take him around Tinnin and especially to see the Ratliff Store (that her grandparents ran), Mason Chapel, and the schoolhouse (though it was shabby and not exactly a source of community pride). Ellen asked Pa if she could borrow the wagon for this. Pa said no.
Ellen became upset and pleaded. "We will walk." Pa softened his mind and let her borrow the wagon. But, she had to promise to use it carefully and treat the horses kindly. She would also have to do the harnessing and then the unhitching after the wagon was back. She agreed to this.
However, Ellen didn't have to do the harnessing and the unhitching all by herself; Jasper would help. In fact, he was quite skilled at the tasks. Experience from some past times and places proved useful. He just needed to know the exact ways Pa wanted things done.
While on their outing, they learned of a singing that evening at Mason Chapel. They made plans to go and enjoyed it. The singing was a bit more "churchy" than at the Presbyterian Church in Brandon. As Ellen's Pa had said, sin has a range of meanings: sin in one situation might not be sin in another. This singing might have been a little straight-laced for a couple that was falling in love, or maybe it was more appropriate considering Ellen's moral standards.
If someone wanted a liquid "something" before, during, or after the singing, it was available behind the Ratliff Store. Under the wagon shed, an out-of-towner from Bolton would be there with home brew. Somehow, the Ratliffs always turned to look away from what was going on under the wagon shed. Of course, it wouldn't have been there if some people hadn't wanted it. But, Ellen and Jasper did not go there for a sample. Several others at the singing did, and when they returned, their imbibing was quite evident.
That night, Jasper slept on the same pallet of corn shucks in a cotton-pick sack as the night before. Ellen came into the closet after everyone else in the family was asleep to tell him goodnight, thank him for the day, and remind him of tomorrow's early schedule. Passion was high and ended with a big kiss.
Next morning, Jasper was up and