The Girl Called Ella Dessa: Will she ever be cherished for the inner beauty beneath her scars?

by Karen Campbell Prough

  Peggy caught Ella’s eye and smiled. “Papa, may I—”

  “No. I think Ella Dessa and your mother will have enough to think about when they get down yonder by Velma’s. Many youngsters there. Just like here. It’ll be better if you entertain Phillip.”

  At the mention of his name, Phillip bobbed his blond head up from a bowl of porridge. He held the spoon halfway to his mouth, impishly wrinkled his button of a nose, and grinned at Peggy. His rows of straight baby teeth showed. He wore a blob of breakfast smeared on his right cheek and plastered in his hair.

  “Ohh.” The disappointed girl stabbed her fork into a thick slab of bacon and bowed her head.

  It dawned on Ella. She hadn’t heard Phillip speak one single word. He laughed, pointed, and motioned to get what he wanted, but his lips never formed words.

  “Jim, will you bring in the washtub before you head for the barn?” Inez handed Grace a damp cloth to wipe Phillip’s messy face.

  “Yes, ma’am.” Jim leaned on the table and spoke to Duncan, who sat beside Josie. “Duncan, you’re finishing that side field, so Samuel can feed the animals and start sorting through the broken harnesses and tools. They’ll be ready for us to repair.”

  Duncan didn’t look up from his plate of food. He nodded in agreement and scooped the last of the porridge into his mouth.

  “Sam, the harnesses are stacked beside Sada’s stall. They’re a tangled mess.” Jim bit into a golden-brown johnnycake. “Don’t let it get you all tied up.”

  “Humph!” Samuel snorted his reply. “I’ll be done in no time. It’ll give me time to take a nap.”

  “A tangled mess?” Their father raised his white eyebrows into twin peaks. “I think it’s a tangled knot!”

  Ella smiled to herself. She enjoyed the assortment of voices and lively talk.

  “Well, I guess Duncan and I kept throwing stuff back there.” Jim gave his father a sheepish grin. “It’s not that bad.” He winked at Ella. “But Sam needs to tell Ella Dessa good-bye before he gets his coat and starts work, because once he plows into that pile of leather castoffs none of us may ever see him again.”

  Everyone burst out laughing except Samuel. He rolled his green-tinted blue eyes. “My dear, Ella Dessa, you don’t know the abuse you’re avoiding by not staying here with us. Count it as pure luck Velma needs you.” His light hair fell across one eye. He shook it to the side and tipped his head to smile at her.

  She smiled back and felt every pair of eyes studying her. She knew they waited for a quick comeback to the silly banter going on, but she couldn’t think of anything. She wasn’t used to joking and laughing at the table. Her home had been tense and lacking in joy or peace. Meals were eaten in strained, mandatory silence while Mama anxiously watched her pa’s face.

  The unexpected remembrance of her mama’s battered face caused the smile to slip from her lips. She bowed her head and shoved the bowl away. She struggled with instant tears and shame at her lack of emotional control.

  Jim broke the uncomfortable hush. “Sam, if you weren’t so pretty, we’d make you live in the barn.” He tossed the last of his johnnycake at Samuel and caused their mother to protest.

  “Whoa!” Ephraim waved his hands over the table. He pointed at each one of them. “Girls, clear the table. Jim, bring the tub and haul water. Duncan, hitch one mule to the plow. Samuel, collect the eggs—water the cows. I’m asking Grace to wrap my knee tight and see if that helps.”

  “Want to send Jim or Duncan for Granny Hanks?” Inez rose from her chair and walked toward him.

  “No, I think time and patience will heal it.” He caught his wife’s toil-roughened hand and pulled her down near enough for a quick kiss on the lips. “Mmm, an’ a little love.”

  Everyone else ignored the tender, intimate gesture and rose from the table. But Ella gave studious attention to the older couple. They truly love one another, she thought. Her surprised perception caused her heart to twist and ache. She instantly knew she longed to be loved in the same way.

  *******

  After Grace wrapped her father’s knee, Ephraim hobbled outside. Jim brought in a large metal and wood tub. He filled it with buckets of cold water while Inez set two kettles of the water to heat over the fire. As they steamed and grew hot, she shooed all the girls and Phillip to the girl’s bedroom. She told them to straighten their beds and study in the bedroom. Then she turned to Ella.

  “Honey, I heated the water for you … for a bath. I thought you’d like to also go to Velma’s with fresh clothes.” Using a folded piece of material, Inez lifted the kettles, one by one, and poured boiling water into the tub.

  Ella felt her face flush. “I ain’t—don’t have nothing else, but there’s Mama’s skirts and blouses in the trunk. They don’t fit. The waist of the skirts is big.”

  “Well, here’s what we’ll do. You get in the tub. Let me wash your hair. Then while you bathe, I’ll examine the skirts and take in seams. When you dry off, you’ll have a new set of clothes. I promise.”

  With hands trembling, Ella opened the small leather-covered trunk and lifted the short stack of skirts. They varied in plain and simple colors. “Here. This is all of them.”

  Inez unfolded a soft gray skirt and held it up. She smiled. “This’ll do fine. Please, get in the tub.”

  “What about the others?” Ella feared someone would walk in after she shucked her clothes.

  “No one will come in until they see the tub sitting outside the door— after I empty it. That’s one of our house rules. We all abide by it.” She motioned with her hand. “Quick, before the water chills.”

  Self-conscience and nervous, she stripped off her mama’s dress, her new boots, and her undergarments. She lifted one foot and stepped over the high edge of the tub. She felt heady from the depth and warmth of the water, but she closed her eyes and willed herself to enjoy the privilege of a full bath.

  “Tip your head back.”

  She obeyed, even though she knew the movement fully exposed her appalling disfigurement to the woman washing her hair. But Inez didn’t comment on the scars as ripples of water washed over her discolored skin.

  Ella closed her eyes. She enjoyed the feeling of strong fingers and a cut bar of soap rubbing her scalp and running through her long hair. She pretended it was Mama’s hands and forgot about the present. She focused on recollecting the past. Her mama’s face felt less distinct, as if a fog drifted over the image, shifted it, made all the details harder to distinguish.

  I can’t let that happen.

  She jerked her eyes open and watched the flames in the blackened firebox, until Inez told her to scrunch lower and dip her head beneath the surface of the water. Obediently, she grabbed the sides of the metal tub and slid downward, only to come up sputtering.

  “I hate water in my eyes an’ nose.”

  A soft chuckle came from Inez’s throat. “Most people do.”

  “Makes me remember. I feel the water covering my head like when the painter—panther got me.”

  “Perhaps, if you talk about it, the pain will fade.” The woman’s kind voice was soft.

  She swallowed and lifted her right hand out of the water, to let her trembling fingers travel over the scars. “I feel ugly,” she whispered. Her throat constricted, and she fought tears.

  “You’re not. You will someday be a beautiful woman—one your mother would be proud of. Don’t forget that.” Inez’s fingers twisted Ella’s hair into a messy bun, and secured the ends with wooden hairpins. “I’m done now. You may finish washing. I’m going to sew.”

  “Yes’um.” She sat motionless in the tub and studied the kindhearted woman.

  After sitting in the rocker, turned sideways to the tub, Inez took a small knife and ripped a seam along the waistband and down one side of the gray skirt. Her fast-moving fingers pulled loose the original thread holding the seams. She then threaded it onto a needle and set it aside.

  She used scissors to cut a strip of material from the whole side of the skirt.
The scissors cut two inches off the waistband. Skillfully, she gathered the skirt material on the tighter band and stitched the side seam back together. As soon as she finished the waistband, she raised the hem, folded it, and sewed it into place with quick slipstitches. She hummed while she worked.

  Ella forgot to bathe. She sat spellbound, as Inez’s talented hands transformed the full skirt into a girl’s piece of clothing. A blouse came next, changed with the same magical skill Inez possessed. Amazed at the transformation before her, she didn’t start washing until she heard boots clump on the porch. With a squeal of alarm, she grabbed the slippery soap floating in the cool, murky water.

  Inez laughed at her reaction. “They won’t come in until they see the tub outside, but you better hurry. I know that water has to be cold.”

  Within minutes, she stood in the center of the tub and let Inez wrap her in a cocoon of warmth—a large, towel-sized piece of doubled muslin. It had been draped over a chair positioned by the fireplace. The fabric molded to her body, absorbing the moisture. After stepping over the edge of the high tub, Ella walked barefooted to the fire and dried off. Inez laid the clean skirt and blouse on a chair.

  “Ella Dessa, here’s the clean skirt and blouse on this chair. Waste no time in dressing. Until undergarments can be purchased or sewn for you, I’m lending you a few of Peggy’s. I will take in the other skirts and send them to Velma’s. Your dress will be cleaned here on washday. You will then have quite enough changes of clothing.”

  Ella stood gazing at the altered skirt. It fit perfect around the waist and fell to her toes. The shoulders of the blouse puffed out, and the material set comfortable over her underdeveloped chest and slender waist. When buttoned, the high collar’s band hid most of her bumpy scars.

  Mixed in with the aroma of the trunk and the clean material, was her mama’s delicate scent. She yearned to snatch the skirt to her face and take a deep breath. Instead, she ran her hands along the sides of the skirt and marveled at the perfect length.

  “How’d you do it?” Tears filled her eyes and blurred her vision. She knew any moment she’d be blubbering on Inez’s shoulder, and she bit her lip to stop the tears.

  Inez hugged her shoulders with one arm. “It’s not that hard when you have to sew for four girls and yourself. You might call it essential—a God-given gift. We do a lot of repairing of hand-me-down clothes, not to mention what I manage to redo for the boys.” She smiled. Her deep hazel eyes glinted with kindheartedness. “You are pretty, Ella Dessa. Let’s comb out your hair and smooth the tangles. I’ll plait it and fasten it up on the back of your head today. It won’t be such a bother while you help with Velma’s children. You should practice braiding or pinning it up every day.”

  Shortly, Inez handed a mirrored glass to Ella. “Look for yourself.”

  She bent close to see her reflection and whispered, “I can’t believe it’s me.”

  “Well, it is. Now, let’s scoop water out of this tub and get along down the mountain.”

  “What about Mama’s trunk?” Anxiety prickled along her spine. She couldn’t be parted from the small trunk. It held her past.

  “We can get Jim to load it on the wagon and bring it within a couple days.”

  “But—”

  “Don’t worry.” Inez touched her arm, compassion in her eyes. “Jim won’t let anything happen to it. Is there an item you’d like to take with you? Something you and I can carry?”

  “Yes. Mama’s Bible and her special wooden box.”

  *******

  Jim saw the empty tub outside the closed door. He pulled the door open and stepped across the threshold. Ella Dessa had just lifted her Bible from his brother’s pack. He stood captivated at the change in the neglected child they had brought down the mountain.

  She wore a full gray skirt and a white blouse. Her hair had been plaited and coiled on the back of her head. The alteration in her appearance produced a stunning change—it aged her and showed the beauty and elegance she would someday acquire.

  “Amazing,” he murmured, without realizing he’d spoken so loud.

  At the sound of his voice, she spun on her heels to face him, and her brilliant blue eyes blinked with immediate shyness. A blush highlighted her oval face, and her right hand covered the edges of the purplish-red scars, even though they barely showed above the collar of the white blouse.

  “I didn’t hear you.”

  “I hardly recognized you. I thought Mother had a visitor from the cove.”

  “Now, Jim, don’t tease her.” His mother pushed him toward the door. “Take care of the tub. Where’s your father?”

  “I just helped him hobble up from the barn. He’s sitting on the steps— resting. He insisted on going to the barn to tell Sam what to do.”

  “Well, help him in here and round up your brothers and sisters. Ella Dessa needs to tell them good-bye. Shut the door, it’s not warm outside.”

  He left the cabin and fled from the strange sensation that took a throat-hold on him. He marveled at the transformation in the girl. He knew he had seen loveliness beneath her bedraggled appearance, but it astonished him to see it revealed.

  Within a short time, the family crowded into the building. Jim found it interesting to watch their faces as they came through the doorway. His father chuckled and limped to his chair. “Inez, you’ve done it, ag’in. Ella Dessa, you’re a beauty to behold. I’ll gladly claim you as one of my daughters.”

  Turning pink, the girl pressed her fingers to her cheeks. “Thank you.”

  Peggy dashed in, roughly whirled Ella Dessa in a circle, and gave her a big hug. “You’re lovely! I like your hair that way. I wish my hair would stay put, but it sticks out all over my head—with a mind of its own.”

  “Like a porcupine.” Jim ruffled her auburn hair. “Mother will have to shear you to keep it smooth.”

  Peggy punched him in the side. “That’s not nice.”

  “Children! Leave off the silliness. Tell Ella Dessa good-bye, so we can leave.” Inez motioned to them.

  Grace hugged Ella Dessa. “We’ll be seeing you real soon. The women gather for quilting next Saturday—a week from now. Come with Velma. Mother and I’ll be there, because they’re helping with my wedding quilt.”

  “I don’t see how Velma will be able to attend, unless Ella Dessa stays with the children.” Inez shook her head. “Gust is gone. So no one can care for the little ones. Having Velma’s brood of five running wild, while the women work on your quilt, wouldn’t help them sew straight lines.”

  “What’s that I hear?” Samuel entered through the door. “Grace never sews a straight line.” Without looking up, he deposited an armload of wood by the fireplace.

  “Samuel, you don’t know what you’re talking about.” She knocked his hat off, and it fell at his feet. “You’re just mean.”

  “Whew.” He lifted his hat from the floor. “Glad you’ll soon be gone.”

  “Sam!”

  Laughing, he dodged her outspread fingers as she tried to pull his hair. But he stopped, opened his eyes wide, and gave Ella Dessa an intent look. His mouth fell open. “Whoa, who’s that?”

  “It’s me.” The girl touched her upswept hair and the neat plaits. “Your mama did it.”

  Samuel let out a low whistle. “You sure look dandified.” Jim saw his boyish face light with recognizable interest. But as the family hooted with laughter, the boy turned red.

  “Did you hear that?” Peggy said and shook Ella Dessa’s arm. “You sure look dandified?”

  “I heard it.” Josie giggled. “I think he means she’s pretty—like a dandelion?”

  There was a timid smile of pleasure on Ella Dessa’s face. She liked Samuel’s crazy remark. Jim experienced a strange twinge, which he recognized as pure jealousy. He was jealous Samuel pleased the child with an honest remark. Pushing away the unexpected reaction, he moved to his brother’s side.

  “Dandified? I hope you mean pretty. Sam, do you need glasses to go along with your thought
s of becoming a teacher?”

  The boy gave him a puzzled look. “My eyes don’t need help. I see things just fine.”

  The door jerked opened behind them. Duncan strode in. He didn’t bother to shut the door, and it banged against the outside wall. Cold air swirled in, filling the crowded room with the faint scent of pine boughs.

  “Hey, what’s your hurry?” Jim grabbed the door and pulled it shut.

  Duncan didn’t speak to anyone, but walked directly to Ella Dessa. Even though his face appeared void of any expression, Jim knew his oldest brother felt everyone’s direct stares.

  “Duncan?” Their mother tapped his shoulder.

  He ignored his mother and reached for the girl’s right hand. He lifted it and placed a homemade envelope on Ella Dessa’s open palm. He wrapped her fingers over the top edge, and his larger hand covered hers for a brief instant.

  “Take this.” His voice was terse and low.

  “What?” Ella Dessa’s face showed her astonishment. She jerked her hand away from his unfamiliar touch and considered the crumpled envelope. She turned it over. Her blue eyes studied his face. “It’s for Fern?”

  “Yes.”

  “Why give it to me?” Her voice quavered.

  “I wrote to Fern, but I want you to know I’m begging her forgiveness.”

  Mother took a quick breath and covered her mouth. “Forgiveness? Oh, Duncan, you said—”

  “What are you saying, son?” A flush of anger darkened their papa’s face.

  Jim held his tongue and watched as Duncan raised his hand for silence.

  “Please, I’ve something to tell her. Ella Dessa, it had to be you in the springhouse. From the woods, I saw a girl come out after Fern ran away.”

  “Yes.” Her gaze dropped, and her lips pressed together.

  Duncan’s harried green eyes stayed locked on her face. He ran a hand over his red hair—indicating his edginess. “In this letter, I’ve asked Fern to marry me. If she writes and accepts, I will go get her, and we’ll make a home together wherever she wants to live.”

  A muted explosion of murmurs rippled through the room, but Jim just grinned, realizing his brother had been stubborn enough not to care what each one heard or what they thought. Not even Mother and Papa’s opinion counted. Duncan had surprised them all and plucked at his parents’ nerves one more time. Jim had to give him credit for that.