Maureen’s eyebrows knitted together. ‘You’ve been graduated for a year and a half now. Isn’t it about time you thought about settling down? I was married with a baby on the way at your age.’
‘Yes, but you’d met Angus at my age. There’s no Angus for me. Not here, anyways.’
‘You’ll find one,’ said Maureen, herding Eddie out of the chicken pen. ‘There’s an Angus for you somewhere.’
‘And until there is, I’ll just keep dating and having fun.’
Molly waved them into the house, away from the flies and the squawk of the outraged chickens. Behind her sister’s back, she blew out her cheeks. She was young still. There was no need to settle down. She liked walking out with her young men on a Sunday, being treated like a princess with no expectations other than a peck on the lips from any of them.
And anyway, where on earth would she find someone to settle down with?
She’d been born into a large family in a very small town, a town in which everyone not only knew each other, but also kept track of everyone else's business and activities. Molly’s mother, Martha, and father, Jesse, had four sons as well as their daughters, and had lost another son to premature birth before Molly came along. The family also had a huge number of close relatives living all around: in their own town; in many nearby villages and communities, or on small farms across the area. Her father had always been employed in law-enforcement, first as a policeman in the largest town in the county, and then as deputy sheriff until finally he was elected as the County Sheriff. Her mother was a typical housewife, taking very good care of her husband, her six children, and the household. Her mother also served on the PTAs of her children's schools, and was very active in the social and political affairs of their community.
Sometimes it was hard to know where the family ended and the town began.
Right from elementary school, it had appeared that everyone was either a close or distant cousin. In junior high and high school, most of the students were in some way related to her. It made the prospect of dating seem fraught with danger. It seemed inevitable to Molly that she would one day become another cell in the organism of her family, merging with another part of the town so that it would then be her family too – just as Maureen had done. But she wasn’t going to do it until she was sure she wasn’t marrying anyone she was related to.
Somehow, this had made her a little irresistible to the boys at school. Maybe it was simply because she wasn’t interested in settling down, while most of her female friends had set their hats at someone and their hearts on marriage at an early age. Either that, or it was her unexpected prowess with a baseball. Academically, Molly was an average student, but she was quite above average in extra-curricular activities. She never missed a ball game or any other school function, and from being drafted onto the boys’ teams from the moment they’d seen her bat, she was very popular, even if she was a little shy. By graduation she had grown into a very attractive young woman - tall and slender, and with an easy, infectious smile.
She knew she was lucky, too. Although she graduated from high school during the depths of the Great Depression, she - along with her family, friends and nearly everyone else in the area - did not suffer like many other people around the country, particularly compared to those who lived in urban areas. While people who lived in urban areas suffered from very high unemployment rates, hunger, food shortages, and other deprivations, those in rural small town America did not. Even students who wanted to work during the summers and part-time during the school year found it rather easy to get jobs.
And, of course, there was plenty to eat. Nearly all the local families had home gardens, and many also raised chickens, rabbits and other animals for home consumption. Furthermore, small towns were surrounded by farms, large, commercial gardens, and an abundance of farmers’ markets.
Molly, her family, and all the people she knew had adequate incomes to meet their needs, even after the Wall Street Crash. Furthermore, immediately after she graduated she was able to get a job, albeit low-paying, working as a sales clerk in a grocery store in town. She’d continued to live at home, and was close enough to the store that she could walk to and from work, although she often was given a ride, by some kind young man wanting to find out if she was available the following weekend.
Sometimes she was.
Often she was already booked up.
‘I’m so sorry, my dance card is full that whole weekend,’ she would declare sweetly, and the boy would roll his eyes and obtain a commitment from her quickly for the next time the traveling carnival was in town.