Entangled Hearts

Chapter 41

A message came right back from France; it said:

"John, received cablegram. Tell wife will come soon, Gene."

Laura Mae laughed and cried when she read it, it was like waking up from a wonderful dream, knowing that it would soon come true. Now, it was November and no further word had been received from Gene. Laura Mae watched the mail closely. She wanted word from him that would tell exactly when he would arrive.

In her room, she picked up the letter she had received from her mother and read it over and over again, meditating upon it. It was hard for her to realize that her father was dead and Philip Dreyer too. She knew that she had failed to read several of the newspapers after she had gotten her darling baby to care for, but she wondered how she had missed reading the account of her father's death. If she had read it at the time, nothing could have kept her from her mother's side. It was unbelievable to think that Philip would do such a thing as stop letters in the Post Office! She thought of the short entreating note he had sent to her asking her to marry him, to give his name to her child. She grew how with anger at the thought of it, but it was like her mother said in her letter, "Let the Maker pass the judgment on his actions since he is no longer with us." Fate had turned against Philip from the time he was hurt in the basketball game. She remembered everything that happened. Now, she could look at all of it with older and better understanding.

As she folded the letter and put it back into the envelope, she heard the patter of little feet in the hallway just outside her door.

"Mony May," the little voice called, "Gamma said to tum up and find you. She is going to west for a while. May I tum in?"

"Of course, you can come in." Laura Mae opened her door and lifted the baby up into her arms and kissed her tenderly.

"Mony May," Laura Gene asked, "When tan we go see Bobby Wandall's baby sister?"

"In a few more days, dear."

"Why don't Gamma get one for us like Bobby's gamma did? Will I have a baby sister to p'ay wif, too?"

"Perhaps, someday you will." The mother wished she could say to her baby, "Yes, of course, dear, you will have a baby sister or a baby brother." She would have to be careful of her promises to a child as bright as Laura Gene.

In the little girl's hands was the book of Fairy Tales that they had brought home from the library. "Will you wead me more stowies?" she asked.

"Surely, Mony May will read to you. It is almost time for your afternoon nap. Are you sleepy?"

"Nope. Not for a long, long time." Laura Mae carried her into the nursery and sat down in the rocking chair with the baby on her lap. She began turning the pages in the book, then closed it gently and asked, "Would you like me to tell you a real fairy tale?"

"A weally, weally twue one?" The little girl's eyes were wide.

"Yes, Laura Gene, a really, really true one."

"Oh, tell me 'bout it." Her face was beaming at the thought of hearing a real story from Mony May's own lips.

"Well," Laura Mae began, slowly rocking the chair back and forth. "Once upon a time, there was a beautiful prince and he lived in a lovely castle. In a little house not far away lived a farmer's daughter. Her father did not like the beautiful prince because he did not know him very well. The prince and the farmer's daughter saw each other often, and by and by they fell in love with each other. Then a big war broke out in a distant land."

"What is a distant land?" Laura Gene asked.

"It means a land many miles away, this one was across a great big sea of water." The little girl nodded and the mother continued. "The gallant prince knew that he would have to go and fight for his country, so he and the farmer's daughter were married before he went to war. Not long afterward, the farmer's daughter had a beautiful baby girl born to her. She looked like both her mother and father so they gave her two names. One was her mother's name and the other was her father's name."