Cordia's mother had awoken her around seven o'clock, just before she and her father left to visit some friends of theirs for dinner. She had invited Cordia to come along, but she explained that she wasn't feeling well, and Jane could see that certainly did not look up to coming. She had volunteered to stay home with her, considering that Frieda was out with her friends at the quilting bee, but Cordia insisted that she would be all right, so her parents had left her alone for the evening.
An hour or so after they left, Cordia descended the stairs in search of something to eat, realizing she had not eaten anything all day. She lit a lantern, but the house was mostly dark except for the fire in the hearth in the parlor. The kitchen was toward the back of the house, and as she made her way in
