A sample guide will be available soon for
Day of the Blizzard,
by Marietta Moskin

The endings of some books inspire readers to think about or write a sequel. Day of the Blizzard is one of those books, so an activity in the mini-guide is to write a sequel. I have written a sample sequel that is printed below; it will follow the guide when I get the guide completed.

 The Wedding

by Chris Roe

A Sequel to: Day of the Blizzard
by Marietta Moskin

Katie slowly opened her eyes and yawned. As she noticed the sun streaming in her window, thoughts of beautiful weather began to stir in her mind. Suddenly she sat up with a burst of excitement.  Today was THE DAY – her wedding day!

Katie heard a soft rapping sound on her bedroom door.  Before she could respond, the door slowly opened and Mama came in carrying a tray. 

“Good morning dear!  I thought we could greet this special morning by enjoying some coffee together.”

“That would be wonderful!” Katie sang out as she moved to make room on her bed.  “Oh Mama, look at the sunshine.  It’s going to be a beautiful day. It’s going to be perfect!”

“It is a day like every bride dreams about.  Now, your father and I, we didn’t have it so idyllic. You know we got married in February and the snow was coming down quite hard. But, of
course, it was nothing like the day you saved this.” Katie’s mother took a small bow-shaped object from the tray.  Katie recognized it immediately.  It was the special garnet brooch that her mother had worn on her wedding day.  Katie’s grandmother in Ireland had also worn the brooch when she got married.

As Mama handed the brooch to Katie, memories flooded over both women.  Six years ago Katie’s twin brothers had been sick – so sick that Mama didn’t think they would live.  Mama had taken the brooch to a pawnshop and had received money for the doctor and costly medicines. The owner of the pawnshop had agreed not to sell the brooch for a period of time so that Mama could try to earn the money to buy it back.  Mama had sewed and scrimped and saved.  Finally the total amount had been collected.

Then Mama had gotten sick and Papa didn’t come home when he was expected.  On the last possible day to redeem the brooch, Katie decided she needed to go to the pawnshop herself. Because of a terrible blizzard Katie experienced great difficulty in accomplishing her task, but she finally had returned home with the treasured brooch. Several people had been kind to her and had helped her along the way.  There was the boy who had found the envelope that contained the money after Katie thought she had lost it. The pawnshop owner’s wife had warmed and fed her.  And, of course, Aunt Maggie had arranged for transportation home. 

Katie and her mother slowly drank their coffee and reminisced. Too soon the coffee cups were empty and it was time to get ready for the wedding ceremony. Katie and Steven were going to be married in Mama and Papa’s parlor.

“Have you ever told Steven the story of the brooch?” Mama asked.

“No,” Katie said slowly. “After he sees it on my wedding dress I’ll tell him the story.”

After Katie had bathed, Mama helped her put on the simple wedding dress that they had worked on together. Mama carefully fastened the garnet brooch to the dress and fixed her daughter’s hair.  Then she stood back to look at Katie.

“Katie -- you are beautiful! Oh, the time goes so quickly.  Sometimes I wish you were twelve again and we could relive the last six years at a slower pace. You’ve always been a good
daughter – so dependable!”

“Yes,” Katie laughed.  “I can remember a few times that I wished I wasn’t quite so dependable!”

“I know it was difficult for you at times, but now you are going to make Steven a very capable wife,” Mama responded with a smile.

Katie nodded her head in agreement.  After all she had done in the past years, she certainly felt confident about taking on the responsibilities that came with her new role in life.

An hour later Katie found herself looking into Steven’s eyes and repeating the wedding vows. A simple meal followed the ceremony. Soon after they were done eating a carriage stopped outside of the home. The carriage took Katie and Steven to the hotel where her aunt worked; a night in this hotel was Aunt Maggie’s special wedding gift to the young couple.

The next morning Katie and Steven were relaxing over coffee. “Ah, our first morning as a married couple – here we are drinking coffee together. This is so pleasant. What a wonderful wedding present from Aunt Maggie!” Katie declared.

“Yes, it has been great.”  Steven paused.  “Last night you told me you were going to tell me the story of the bow-shaped brooch you wore on your wedding dress. Why don’t you tell me now?”

“That’s a good idea.”  Katie told Steven that her grandmother and her mother had both worn it on their wedding dresses and that her parents had brought it with them when they had emigrated. “But at one point in my life I didn’t think I was going to be able to keep up the tradition.”

Katie looked at Steven and she saw that he looked puzzled, so she told him the story of the blizzard.  When Katie had finished the story, Steven was staring at her intently.  “Was that the big blizzard in March of 1888?”

“Yes,” Katie replied.  “Why do you ask?”

“Well,” Steven responded with a queer look on his face, “I used a ladder to help people off the train that day.  I found an envelope that I returned to a frantic girl!” Katie and Steven stared at each other.  Thoughts raced through their minds. Could it be true?

As Katie pondered this remarkable idea she realized that it could – indeed – be true.  In the summer of 1888 a boy did errands for her father while he worked on the trains. As her father and the boy became friends, her father found out that the boy didn’t have a home.  Papa’s kind heart allowed him to do nothing less than bring the boy home to live with his family.  That homeless boy was now Katie’s husband!

As Katie and Steven realized the part that Steven had played in getting the brooch back, they glanced at the clock.  It was almost check-out time. They raced to pack and call a carriage.  As they were traveling back to Mama and Papa’s home, where they were going to begin their married life, they smiled at each other. What a story they had to share!