The Ballad of Jedediah and Stella Ann

Love can conquer all, but which love is stronger: That for a lover, or that for family?

The Coggleswell University for Technological Sciences has always been at the forefront of scientific discovery (for the most part); that's merely the way of the world when your institution has rather wealthy alumni with nearly endless school pride. Every so often, however, an important breakthrough comes about not because the school had the time and funds to experiment at their leisure (at least not only for that reason), but because a true visionary had passed through the noble, ivy-covered arches.

Young Jedediah Lidgett brushes a stray, autumn-colored leaf from his lapel but, looking out over the campus that will be his life for the foreseeable future, unfortunately is not that visionary. On the contrary, he is merely the eldest (and only) son of that visionary. Jedediah's father had spent the greater part of his academic and professional career in the university's aviation department, researching and experimenting on the old standard Kaylocke model to eventually develop the modern aeroship �" sleeker, faster, lighter, and thus able to carry more weaponry for military applications. Yes, old Doctor Lidgett had quite the reputation amongst the gravity-defying students and faculty of Coggleswell University. So how does a father, in that case, expect a son �" albeit a talented son �" to develop his own reputation at least as impressive when his own looms from every corner of every laboratory and every lecture hall?

Luckily, Jedediah thinks to himself as he makes his way to his first laboratory instruction, he has little interest in surpassing his father. As he steps into the workshop and observes the students already arrived for what his first course of action should be, he sees her sitting at a workbench to his right and Jedediah knows he has little interest in his father's reputation.

Her name is Stella. Stella Ann Wardle and, in polite company, insists on being addressed by her proper full name, Stella Ann. She is one of only three female students currently in attendance at Coggleswell University, and the only one in the first year class with Jedediah. Everyone knows what that means because only the truly exceptional intellects are able to convince the university head to look past the student's gender and allow her admission. But she and the rest of the students, faculty, and staff also know that means that she'll have to work several times harder than any of the male students in order to be considered worthy enough to remain one herself. Most will never acknowledge that bias.

She sees it in all of their faces when her experiments are successful, though; astonishment, skepticism, especially the jealousy-fueled condescension from her classmates with less successful projects. Every one of them expected her to fail; some of them still do, and it only further drives her to succeed.

So when she receives the invitation to the end of semester reception held by the professor's wife for all of his passing students, the satisfaction of her victorious first semester is that much sweeter. Though she spends far too much time for her liking convincing her parents (who had disliked the idea of her going to university to begin with) of the fortuitousness of attending the reception with so many talented young men with prosperous futures and well-to-do families (and wouldn't it be quite rude to decline?); but by allowing her cousin to escort her for the evening, Stella Ann arrives, triumphant.

To her surprise, many of her classmates seem sincere in their congratulations to her regarding her more than satisfactory passing of what must have been a truly difficult subject for her. The biggest surprise, though, comes from one classmate in particular; a young gentleman whom Stella Ann distinctly remembers watching her throughout every lesson, as if he were just waiting for her to blow something up. Well, something that wasn't intended to blow up.

He seems almost shy as a fellow classmate leads him over to introduce them before supper. Stella Ann can't imagine why, though some uncharitable part of her hopes that he is chagrined by her surpassing all of his apparent expectations of failure.

Not quite so.

“Miss Wardle,” he begins hesitantly once they are alone; it has the feeling of a practiced speech. “I wished to extend my congratulations to you. Whatever any of us expected from you, surely you've risen above and beyond anything even Professor Aalbers predicted.”

“Oh? Is it so hard to believe that a woman might have the technological skill to keep up with you men, Mr. Lidgett?” Stella Ann retorts, keeping her tone light and teasing, but she can't hide the challenging glint in her eye.

It seems to make him nervous. She seems to be pleased.

“Well, to be perfectly honest, Miss Wardle, we are taught so many things about the inferiority of women beginning from childhood and there are so few of your … spunk to prove to us otherwise, that one cannot help but be surprised by it when she comes along.”

The hope in his face that this was the right answer is almost endearing. He hasn't quite apologized for thinking her inferior, but he's come close enough that when Professor Aalbers finally leads the students to the dining room, Stella Ann is even pleased to find she is to be seated across from him.

As the new semester begins, the two find themselves sharing several more lessons, which is likely the only legitimate reason either of them has thought of to spend more time on campus and, thus, more time with each other. Study sessions become more important, extra time in the laboratories; Stella Ann even convinces her mother that it is far more expedient to take lunch at the university than to come home before supper.

Jedediah proves himself quite a charming young man, quite intelligent, and quite eager to learn everything he can about his classmate. Stella Ann initially takes this as reparations for assuming her intellectually inferior but quickly discovers, as their companionship grows, that it was hardly anything so sinister.

Jedediah learns that Stella Ann came to Coggleswell University under the begrudging agreement of her parents -- well-known bank director, Luther Wardle, and his wife, well-loved socialite, Beatrice Trevett-Wardle. He learns that they are convinced this is merely a flight of fancy on their daughter's part; and that Stella Ann is determined to prove to them otherwise. He learns that Stella Ann has more passion and drive for this goal than he is certain he's had for anything in his life.

Stella Ann learns that this fine gentleman is following in both of his parents' footsteps; and why her own parents disapprove of their daughter socializing with a member of the Lidgett family.

It would surely be far too much of a scandal for a member of the Wardle household to spend so much precious time with a member of a family with such low social standing, let alone the fondness that Stella Ann openly shows for their son. Shocking enough that Stella Ann is even attending university to begin with, it's unthinkable that she might take up with a mere boy who barely owns a respectable suit. Beatrice forbids her daughter from leading this Lidgett boy on when nothing proper could ever come of their association. Unfortunately, Beatrice is simply in denial that forbidding her from anything only makes Stella Ann more determined than ever to defy her.

It is several days after the commencement ceremonies at Coggleswell University that Beatrice is awakened by the housekeeper: Stella Ann is gone and her lady's maid with her.

As suspected, upon calling on the Lidgett household, the Wardles discover that Jedediah has disappeared into the night as well. But where Stella Ann left no word or clue to where she had gone, Jedediah had left a note for his parents with the scullery maid who had helped him sneak away.

The elopement is the talk of society for some time despite the Wardles' best efforts that it not get out; even the talk of how romantic it all is only serves to further Beatrice's mortification. Though she doesn't say so in public, she would very much like to know how those gossiping hens would feel were ittheir daughters who had run off with a boy of Jedediah's standing. What did that say about her that Stella Ann had done this? Not to mention her husband. Even the fools who can't get over the supposed romance now think that Beatrice and Luther are little more than tyrants trying to stifle their dear daughter's "true feelings."  That isn't even getting into the very important acquaintances who see the clear control that they don't have over their own child and no doubt assume it extends to other areas; potential clients and business partners. Beatrice is sure that Stella Ann doesn't realize just what she's done to her parents.

She knows, however, that Stella Ann does, indeed, still think about them. Nearly a year to the very day that Stella Ann disappeared, a letter arrives via a young boy who insists it be delivered to Beatrice's hands only. He tells her (once the housekeeper finally shows the urchin to the drawing room) that he'd been speaking to a lady and it came up that he'd be traveling this way shortly. She asked him, he said, to deliver this letter to a Mrs. Beatrice Trevett-Wardle and none other. A few more questions assures Mrs. Trevett-Wardle that the lady the boy spoke to was, in fact, Stella Ann, though she hadn't given him her name. Nor, it seems, did she give him permission to divulge the town in which they'd met. But Beatrice is much more clever than her daughter gives her credit for. It is not very difficult at all to glean from the boy that he had gone away in hopes of finding his fortune to help his poor family back home; nor that the funds he had acquired would be barely more than a pittance after the journey. All Beatrice need do is avail him of the dreadful state she's been in since her dearest daughter ran away from her and promise him more than enough to cover his traveling funds in reward for divulging the location of her poor lost daughter and he is shortly on his way again in much brighter spirits; while Beatrice has something very important to discuss with her husband on his homecoming.

Stella Ann's mistake, of course, was writing to her mother at all but, as she wrote in the letter, she just couldn't bare the thought of her parents not knowing about their own grandchild to be born soon. Luther knows, just as his wife, that this unborn child makes it all the more urgent that they find their daughter and bring her back home where they may watch over her properly. The social ramifications of rearing a child without its father will be great, but they can come up with some story to ease the malicious gossip, and the idea of a grandchild of theirs being raised by a Lidgett is far worse besides.

When Jedediah returns home from the laboratory one evening to find his house open to the street and the entryway in shambles, his first thought, rightfully, is for the safety of his wife. He rushes to the master bedroom where Stella Ann had been kept on bed rest for the final stretch of her pregnancy only to find it in a similar state of disrepair with one very important difference: A bloody knife lying on the floor in a still-red stain. His mind is blank but for thoughts of his wife �" pregnant, injured, and bleeding �" as he stumbles down the stairs back into the entryway, wiping the blood from the blade with his handkerchief and slipping it into his pocket while blindly looking for anything else unusually out of place. But there is nothing. He thinks to any who might hate them enough to do such a thing, but can't imagine that anyone would go so far.

Then he realizes, Stella Ann had often spoken in a fearful tone about the possibility of her parents discovering their whereabouts. He had never thought them actually capable of what that tone suggested until today. In an instant Jedediah is out the door, racing to his neighbors', asking them surprisingly calmly if they'd noticed any strangers come to call on his wife while he was away.

Only one had noticed the carriage pull up late that afternoon, but it was the cook who had seen his wife get into the carriage when they left again. Mrs. Mertie had been out doing the shopping for that evening's meal so she hadn't seen the carriage arrive. But she had noticed Mrs. Wardle-Lidgett leaving with a strange couple she hadn't seen in town before. She had thought it unusual since Mrs. Mertie had overheard the lady of the house mention often that it was a shame Mrs. Wardle-Lidgett couldn't leave her bedroom, let alone come to tea on doctor's orders until the baby was born, but she assumed that something had happened and a doctor been called �" why else would young Ettie have to go as well?

Jedediah thanks the servant and her master and returns to his home, straightening the entryway almost in a daze as his mind tries to reason with him that surely this must all be a terrible dream. But the stain on the floor in the bedroom won't allow him to believe it. He steals into the laboratory that night when his coworkers have all gone to their own happy, quiet homes and families and gears up. He knows that Stella Ann's family won't do anything to overtly harm her and their unborn child, but Jedediah fears that they will stop at little to keep them locked away. His fears are well-founded.

There is a silver lining to being brought back to the Wardle estate, Stella Ann muses while eating the supper that had been brought to her �" at the very least she knows that her parents will spare no expense in finding her the very best doctor and midwife money can buy to aid in the birth of her child. But that is the only silver lining. Her supper was brought up to her, not because she is on bed rest, but because she's been locked in her room, bars installed over her windows. When she'd demanded to know when she would be let out, her mother had merely answered that that was up to her, wasn't it? Furthermore, when she'd asked after her lady's maid, Beatrice would only say that Ettie had been taken to the servants' quarters to be dealt with in the proper fashion. Stella Ann knows what that means and only hopes that Ettie will be well enough when the time comes to escape; if not, then Stella Ann will simply have to find a way to get her out. She owes Ettie quite a lot, after all. Ettie had been the only person in the household that she could trust with Jedediah's secret courtship. Ettie had been the one to help her escape to elope with Jedediah. And Ettie had been the one to fight off Stella Ann's cousins only to be viciously stabbed. Yes, Stella Ann wants to escape, but she wants it most of all for her child and dear Ettie who has given more to her than any master could ask for from their servant.

Stella Ann prays as her food tray is taken away that Ettie can hold on a little while longer. She swears to her that she will get them out of this place. Because her mother has made the mistake of locking her in her old room. Once the maid leaves with the tray and locks the door, Stella Ann begins her search for her old experiments from her school days. Many of them have been destroyed upon discovery by her mother, but so many more had been hidden and left behind when she had eloped with Jedediah. She never thought that she would truly need them, but she works hard with what tools she can find before the labor pains start.

It's nearly evening the following day when Stella Ann collapses onto her pillows, sweating and exhausted, but smiling at the sound of her baby girl's cries of indignation. She weakly, sobbingly asks to hold her daughter and almost thinks that the midwife has been instructed to take the infant immediately to its grandmother, never to actually meet its own mother. She only washes the baby down, though, and settles her into Stella Ann's waiting arms, giving the new mother a warm, sympathetic smile before going to clean up. She hadn't thought it possible, but looking into the tiny little face of her firstborn child, Stella Ann is even more determined to escape; to not allow this tiny little girl to grow up in the house and family that she had. The very idea frightens her into a rash decision:

They will escape tonight.

Jedediah has traveled nearly non-stop towards the Wardle estate and his wife only taking brief rests to sleep and acquire food that he can still travel with. He doesn't remember it being quite so far away, but the situation wasn't as urgent back then; back when they were leaving forever and, at least to Stella Ann, nothing could be far away enough. The journey is made faster than Jedediah feels, however, by the addition of his recently finished motor-powered autocycle, allowing him to race through the streets nearly faster than a horse at full gallop but without the necessary stops for rest.

Even traveling at his top speed, though, Jedediah simply isn't in time to do the good that he'd hoped.

When he comes upon the crash site, he doesn't immediately realize the severity of what happened; the carriage seems to have run off of the road into a ditch and partially shattered. The horses are nowhere to be seen. He almost doesn't hear the woman's moans over the sound of his own motor; it's the baby's cries that cut through the noise and convince him to stop. He's in a hurry, of course, but how could he live with himself �" and what would his wife think of him besides �" if he were to leave the victims of a horrible accident to fend for themselves in such a desolate place as he's found them. He follows the trail of what look to be bloody hoof prints and as soon as he sees the woman lying on the ground, her clothes stained red, Jedediah is awash with guilt for even considering passing by.

Ettie sits by her lady's side, trying to stop the flow of blood but having trouble finding the actual wounds. Jedediah blasphemes as he runs to the two women, calling his wife's name, praying he hasn't come too late, that she's still alive and there's still time to get her to the nearest town and find a doctor. While in his heart, he knows that it's far beyond that point, and he can see in Ettie's face that she knows it too. She gives her mistress a tearful smile as Jedediah comes into Stella Ann's view and leaves them in some privacy to attend to the crying baby and allow the lovers to say their goodbyes.

“Jed … You came for me,” she all but whispers, clutching her husband's hand weakly.

“Of course, my darling. Late as always, but I'm here.”

She laughs, if the painful little gasps can be called such a happy thing; she's too weak to keep it up for long and that proves to him just how little time there is left.

“Don't speak, darling. It is a long ride back to town and you are already so weak ...”

“It was my fault, Jed,” she says, as if she hadn't heard his plea.

"You're feverish, darling, please just rest."

“I s- … sent them a letter. I never thought … that they would find us. I'm so … sorry ...”

Misplaced anger wells up in him at the confession �" how could she do such a thing when she had been so frightened of them from the start? He wants to know what she had been thinking; what good she thought would come of contacting those monsters who call themselves her family.  Look what they had done to her!

A weak tremor that might have been a sob were she stronger reminds Jedediah that there isn't enough time to be angry, so he only shushes her and smooths her hair back from her wretchedly pale face.

“Please, darling, your strength. It's done now, there's nothing to apologize for.”

Stella Ann shakes her head, suddenly very serious, “It isn't done. No, Jed, listen- … listen to me. You must leave. Take the baby and Ettie … and leave. They'll be … coming soon.”

“No,” Jedediah says almost immediately, in shock that she could suggest such a thing. “I won't leave you, Stella. How could I possibly? Ettie, come help me-”

“Jed, please!”

He's shocked by the force in her voice. That she has the strength to get such power behind it. She's scared. Truly and honestly scared. But it seems that single shout took nearly all of her strength; when she tries to speak again, he has to bring his ear nearly to her faintly moving lips in order to hear what she says.

“They will … find you. And they … will take our … daughter. Leave. Take her away.  And ... tell her I loved ... her as much as ... you.”

She gasps and starts and sighs and doesn't take in another breath. Her eyes stare blindly up at her husband and the sound of hoof beats in the distance is the only thing that holds back a scream of anguish building in his chest. Jedediah turns to Ettie who's already gathered what she could from the remains of the carriage and packed it onto the autocycle and has the baby in arm, bless her. He presses one last kiss to his wife's cooling forehead and closes her eyes. Then, there's nothing to do but climb on the autocycle and escape before the horses catch up to them.