"Keziah Wilkinson." She told him simply when asked for his name. Keziah nearly cut her fingers when he asked for her [i]husband's[/i] name. Oh dear. She didn't look like a spitting image of her brother but they did have the same shape of eyes and when they both smiled each had dimpled cheeks. She began to laugh when she recovered from her shock. Her knife lay forgotten on the oak table and the half peeled potato along side it. The woman wiped her eyes free of the tears that came from laughing so hard.

"That was my brother Samuel. Samuel Black." Their differences in surnames was due to the fact that Keziah was a widow. She had married dreadfully young and her husband had died of illness just months into their marriage. That was why she had moved to Boston with her brother and his wife. She needed that fresh start and in Boston no one knew she'd married at sixteen. It wasn't like many men would care, so long as she could still do her duties as a wife and maintain a home. The man she had been courting was rather excited that he wouldn't have to teachher anything. 

She sighed quietly and rinsed her hands free of the starches from the potato. "He's older, mind you." She added, meaning to be friendly. Keziah was aware of how tired she looked. This war was draining everyone and she spent many nights wishing that things were different. Keziah resumed peeling and cutting tye vegetables before loading them into a kettle with diced up beef and what little spices she had. "I will need to go check on my sister. Stay on the table if you know what's good for you." It was an empty threat punctuated with a dimpked smile. She was joking but only slightly. She didn't want him up and about, even if his wound wasn't serious. He'd been through a lot over the past few hours. 

Clean up was easy. She dumped the scraps into a sack to take outside later and put into her garden. Dishes could wait until she could get a bit more water. After finishing with wiping the oak table with a dry scrap of cloth, she excused herself to go check on Elizabeth. Her sister-in-law was beautiful. Pale skinned with delicate features, wide dark blue eyes and almost silvery blonde hair. Her brother was certainly a lucky man. Elizabeth was happy to see Keziah. The two were quite close in age and often times it really felt like they were sisters. Elizabeth wasn't surprised to hear that Samuel was gone. He was a good man with a good heart. However, she was surprised to learn about the man o he table. 

"Are you sure that this is a good idea?" Elizabeth asked. She was of the upper class, until she married simple Samuel Black anyways. She'd been taught that strange men were ones that a woman of her upbringing shouldn't associate with. Keziah had no such upbringing. Her father had been a sailor, retired now, and he dabbled in all sorts of trades. There had never been any time for the finer things in life she he was too busy teaching Samuel the proper way to tie a knot or telling his daughter stories of his travels, much to her mother's displeasure.

"Samuel will be back soon." Keziah promised.