Page 34 of The Pumpkin Patch Promise

“Twenty-one.”

“Why was she running? What had happened to her?” Teddy asked.

“She was running from a controlling and deeply abusive situation. She'd left without luggage, without anyone to help her, and from what we could see, she had been frightened and isolated for a very long time. She crossed three state lines on foot with a newborn.”

Nell paused.

“I happened to be stuck on the farm that night too, because of the blizzard. We were in the kitchen and heard a thud. We found her collapsed on the porch. By the time she got to the farm, she was already very sick. Exposure to the blizzard meant she had serious medical complications. Your mother didn't hesitate. Rosalind took her straight to the fireside, got her warm and dry, and gave her what medicine she could.”

“Did she call a doctor?” Dahlia asked.

Nell shook her head sadly. “Rosalind tried, but all the roads were closed. Nobody could get here. There was a retired nurse on the neighboring farm who was part of the network. She managed to get to the farmhouse and stayed with Leah, making sure she received proper medical attention until the blizzard died down. We did everything we could to make her comfortable."

“What about the baby?” Junie asked.

“Your mother and I took turns watching over her when we weren’t helping Leah. She was in and out of consciousness, but she was able to tell us what she was running from and the name she’d chosen for her baby.”

The entire room seemed to hold its breath.

“Her name was Prudence,” Nell said softly, reaching over to put a hand over Prue’s hands that were folded on the table.

Prue nodded, feeling too emotional to speak. It wasn’t a surprise. From the moment they had found out one of them wasn’t really a Marchetti, she knew this was coming. It felt oddly freeing to have it out in the open.

“Oh, Prue,” Junie said, reaching across the table and placing her hand over Nell’s and Prue’s.

Dahlia reached over and put an arm around Prue, squeezing tightly.

“It doesn’t matter. Nothing changes. You’re just as much of a Marchetti as the rest of us.”

Prue took a deep breath.

“Thank you for telling me, Nell. Mom’s journal said she died three days later?”

“Yes, I’m afraid so. We did everything we could, but she was very fragile.”

Nell reached into her pocket and pulled out a piece of paper that had yellowed with age. She unfolded it and put it on the table in front of Prue.

“This is your birth record,” she said. “The time, the date, the baby's birth weight. We got all the details from Leah. Your mother registered the birth as her own.”

Prue stared at the paper.

Nell's voice softened. “Leah loved you. She held you whenever she had the strength. She wanted to know that her daughter was safe. That was all that mattered. When Rosalind promised to love you like her own child, Leah could finally let go. Her body had been through too much,” Nell said. “She died peacefully in her sleep, with the baby safe upstairs and people around her who cared for her.”

The kitchen remained completely silent except for the soft, gentle ticking of the clock on the wall.

Prue stared at the preserved birth record stub, absorbing the reality of her birth mother's sacrifice. Leah had risked everything to reach the farm, ensuring that her child would be safe. She looked up at Nell.

“Knowing her name brings a sense of closure,” she said. “Leah Bennett. Now I know who she was, and what she did to get here.” She glanced at the papers on the table. “I have an enormous amount of respect for what you all did for women like her.”

Nell nodded, closing Rosalind’s journal.

“Leah's greatest concern was you,” she said. “She wanted you to grow up free from fear. She wanted you surrounded by people who would love you completely and without conditions.”

Prue looked around the oak table at her sisters. Dahlia still had one arm around Prue. Junie's expression was full of gentle empathy, while Teddy simply looked at Prue with an affection that needed no explanation. It struck Prue that she’d had the exact childhood her birth mother had wanted for her. One filled with people who loved her completely. The revelation hadn't pushed them apart. If anything, it made Prue look at the four of them differently. Whatever secrets had shaped their family, she had never been without people who loved her.

Prue thought of the young woman who had arrived in Harvest Hollow more than forty years ago, frightened and alone. At least now she knew that Leah had found warmth, medical care and people who treated her with dignity during the final days of her life.

Prue looked at her sisters.