Entangled Hearts

Chapter 43

The next morning, the long shining car sped down the highway toward Oakdale, with John at the wheel and his mother sitting proudly by his side. In the back seat was the happy Whitmer family. Little Laura Gene was thrilled at the sight of real live horses and cows grazing in the pastures along the road. She had never seen farm animals except in picture books.

"Oh, those blessed, gorgeous mountains! They are just the same, Gene, and the big round-roofed barns and the willows along Cotton Creek. They are all calling out to me, and my heart is singing a happy reply," Laura Mae said, in a poetic mood, feeling overjoyed as they entered the Oakdale Valley.

"The same dear schoolhouse, the same old store, and the same old Post Office," Gene remarked as they passed through the business part of the little town. "Wasn't that Erick Johnson in the Post Office right where he always used to stand? I thought I saw a crutch under his arm. I wonder—Oh, confound that war anyway."

"I am sure it was Erick. Oh, look, dear! There is a brand-new garage, with a gas tank and all! Cars have come to Oakdale at last!" Laura Mae pointed excitedly. "Do you remember the day Hank Dalton's Ford almost ran us over?"

"Do I? Who was driving that team of prancing horses but me?" Gene laughed, patting his chest as he took a deep breath. Then he put his arm around his wife's shoulders.

"Say, that is what you were so big and smart about on the way back home from the springs that day when all of a sudden Father's buggy came into view." She reached up and caught his hand, pulling his arm tighter around her.

"Can you blame him for having you climb right out of the buggy to get you out of the clutches of such a caveman?" They both laughed heartily at the memory.

"Say, you two blessed turtle-doves in the back there, which way do we go from here?" John asked, slowing the car down as he approached the corner.

"Turn to the right," both of the "turtle-doves" said in unison.

"Needles."

"Pines." They locked their little fingers together in a childish custom they had whenever they both said the same thing at the same time, then began giggling again.

The little girl watched every move her parents made, laughing when they laughed and listening intently when they were serious. At length, she said, "Ooh, it's lots of fun. Where did you say we are going, Mony May?"

"To see Grandmother Porter and Uncle Everett, and Aunt Martha and good old Maria Beckman," Laura Mae pronounced each name very distinctly.

"Do they all belong to the really fairy tale?"

"Yes, dear, they all belong to the really fairy tale."

"Well, have I got two gammas?" the child asked with her eyes wide.

"Yes, you have two grandmas, Dolly," Emily Chatterton answered, turning in her seat to look at the little girl. "Always remember, I will be your grandma just the same as Grandma Porter will." She smiled with tears in her eyes at the thought of having to live in the spacious home without the patter of little feet. John would simply have to get married, then perhaps she would have real grandchildren of her own to bring joy into the home at Colonial Heights.

"So has Bobby Wandall got two gammas. Now I am happy as Bobby."

"Does Bobby have uncles and aunts too?" the mother asked.

"Oh, yes, he has. But then, I have Uncle Everett, and Aunt Martha, and Uncle John. Is John my uncle, Mony May?"

"Yes, he can be your Uncle John." Gene gave Laura Mae an understanding smile, approving the answer she had made. John looked pleased too.