She loved a young man named Toby Gray. He was not of the mountains. He was the grandson of the preacher who had a little church just down the mountain side.
Every evening Toby came courting Rose, he always brought her a red rose from the garden, which his grandmother had planted. They were the only roses growing on the ridge at this time.
The young bride -to-be treasured the roses more than anything because they came from the man she loved dearly .
On the eve before their wedding , young Toby was to go across the mountain to escort some family members to the wedding the next day. he would return the next morning .
The next morning dawned bright and sunny, a perfect day for a wedding. Preparations were made in the church where Toby's grandfather was pastor. His grandfather was going to perform the ceremony. As the morning wore on everyone was anxious for Toby to return, with the other guests. The wedding was to take place at one o'clock that afternoon..
At twelve o'clock, Rose began to put on her wedding dress and was nervously awaiting for Toby to return. At 12:15 he still was not there. They could not imagine what was keeping him. Rose silently paced the floor, and watched from her window for any sign of him.
Then at about 12:30 they saw them coming up the lane. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. But as the party came nearer to the house they saw that Toby was not with them. It was the guests they were expecting, but he wasnt among them. Rose who was watching from her window thought that he had probably gone to the church to put on his wedding clothes. She hurried down to meet the guest.
As Rose came into the yard, she heard them murmuring in lowered tones, something wasnt right. She hurried to her Mother's side and asked what the matter was. They told her that Toby had not shown up at their house the evening before. So they had started on their own as soon as morning came, thinking that maybe he had been detained. Everyone was puzzled, for Toby was reliable and had time to make it there by dark the evening before. And they had not seen him on the trail coming to the wedding. They decided to go on to the church, maybe he had shown up there.
He was not there. Everyone was ready and waiting, but the groom had not shown. Something was definately wrong. He would have been there if he was able. They knew something bad had happened to him They decided to send a search party out for him.
They searched along the Ridge all that day. Toby was nowhere to be seen. As night fell Rose waited with dread in her heart. She knew the news was not going to be good. Toby was hurt somewhere, maybe he had been thrown from his horse and lying somewhere with a broken leg.
At dawn the next morning , they brought him in. He had been found dead, in the Old Cemetery, lying face down. He had been strangled. No one knew of any reason that anyone would want to murder Toby. He was well liked by everyone and had no trouble with anyone on the Ridge. And so, Toby was buried in the old cemetery where he had died.
Young Rose could not be consoled or comforted in her grief. She would not eat or sleep. Her family would find her missing in the night and they would climb the hill to the old Cemetery and there she would be, kneeling at the grave of her love, crying bitterly onto his grave. They would then carry her sobbing, home and put her into her bed. This went on for many months after the death of Toby.
Then one morning in November, they found Rose. She was lying beside Toby's grave. She had died during the night, and clutched in her hand was a bouquet of red roses. No one knew from where they came, because the roses had been gone for months.
So Rose was buried beside of her love and she was at last, at peace. And roses grew and covered her grave over the years. And no one, even today can explain how the roses can bloom in November.