Rosa Jenkins

"Go, Charlotte, dance. Dance while there is still time."

Rosa Jenkins

Rosa
Rosa Jenkins is a young, beautiful, Welsh widow traveling to America from Wales with her two small children, George and Emma. She had originally been traveling with her husband too, George Jenkins but he died on the ship to North America from infection of his lungs, and was buried in the ocean. When on land in North America and descending to Utah, Rosa was very helpful when Mary Owen died, and was the first person to care for her baby. Since Rosa was the only woman who was breastfeeding in the ward, she agreed to be the one to feed the baby, Rose Owen each day. The women of the ward at first wanted the baby's care to be given to Rosa, but Rosa couldn't because she was going through a hard time with her husband's deathm and already had her two small children to take care of. Over time on the trail, Rosa goes deeper and deeper into a depression, and becomes numb and cuts herself off from the rest of the world, becoming a neglectful mother and not watching or feeding them. One night, in so much emotional pain of the loss of her husband, she takes George and Emma into the forest and attempts to kill them and then commit suicide. She is found before she can do that, and taken back to camp. The care of her children are taken away from her for a few days, and her children are finally fed. Rosa then realizes what she's done, and begins to care for her children better. In the end she and her children go to settle in Ogden, Utah.

Personality
At the beginning on the ship, Rosa was a very anxious and somewhat overprotective mother. She is very emotional and affectionate with her family. She can occasionally be stern and frustrated. When her husband dies, Rosa grieves for a short while, which had been understandable due to her loss. But over time, when they leave the ship, she gradually becomes worse. It started out with her not smiling and not speaking to anyone unless spoken to, but John Bowen succeeded in making her laugh one time. Rosa then has strange sleep patterns with sleeping too much, or not getting enough sleep. Rosa's beauty begins to decrease too, because she starts to always have bags under her eyes, and starts to not take care of herself. When Rosa gets post-pardom depression, and begins to become mentally numb, she becomes neglectful of her children. Rosa breasted her own baby daughter, Emma and the Owens baby, Rose. Rosa begins to stop feeding Emma altogether, leading her to starve, and not fetching any food for her toddler son, George. When Charlotte brings Rose to her to be fed, Charlotte has to hold Rose at Rosa's breast, because she becomes so unaware of things around her, that she only sits there. After her attempt to murder her children, Rosa starts to awaken from her depression, and is full of grief and regret because of this. She vows to never allow herself to harm her children again, and begins to pick up her duties as a mother again.

Appearance
Rosa is described as being very beautiful, and possibly about 25 years old. She has long pale blond hair (described as being moon-colored) that she wears in a hairstyle, where it is wound around her head like a crown. She has large breasts because she breastfeeds two different infants.

Relationships
George Jenkins: George Jenkins had been the handsome husband of Rosa. Rosa was deeply in love with him. She loved him so much, she named their son after him. During church and other innapropriate times, they would playfully wink at each other, or sneakily give each other kisses, or reach over and hold each others hands when they were close enough. When George dies, Rosa is so affected by this, that she almost commits suicide.

Charlotte Edwards: Charlotte and Rosa were friends, though their bond wasn't very strong. Rosa noticed over time how Charlotte changed physically and mentally, due to puberty and taking care of a baby by herself. When Charlotte is confused at what it means when Rose cries, she almost always assumed it meant she was hungry, and would always try to give Rose to Rosa to feed her so that she'd be quiet. Rosa teaches her that all cries are different. When Rosa goes through her depression, Charlotte is annoyed with her for not looking after her children.

George Jenkins Jr: George Jenkins Jr. is the 2-year old son of Rosa and George, which Rosa named after George. Rosa was very protective of George before her husband's death. When he was crawling around on the ship's deck, and a wave came in, Rosa immediately grabbed him, and began kissing him all over saying, "No, no, no, Georgie!" But when his father dies, and his mother gets depressed, she begins to not watch him, and lets him wander off. There was even a scare where everyone thought he had been kidnapped by Indians. She stopped feeding him or doing motherly things like bathing him or wiping his nose when he had a cold.

Emma: Emma is Rosa Jenkins baby daughter. Rosa breastfeeds Emma. Rosa loves Emma a lot, and is sometimes protective of her calling her, "My Emma." When Rosa becomes depressed, Rosa stops feeding Emma making the baby hungry. But when Rosa wakes up from her depression, she quickly remembers to feed her.