Chapter 2-2

Chapter 2-2

 

* * * * *

            The phones rang off the hooks and wires, and the switchboard operators went crazy. Papers were going wild, by pigeon, by mail, by horse, and by the stream. Any possible news carried across the valley. County mayors, judges, and lawyer’s offices were in a panic, going over to Stringham Hardware for answers.

            “Mr. Stringham,” Judge Parker said, seeing Stringham leaning back in his chair. Judge Parker, aka Brad T. Parker is the Judge and Mayor of Santaquin County. He was a fair man and considered to be an honorable man in his late sixties. Brad graduated at the top of his class at Harvard University at age twenty-six. He married Mildred F. Swanson soon after. Together, they raised ten children, seven boys, and three girls; his youngest child was off seeing the world, studying to be a lawyer for defenseless children, and married a congressman. A Republican running for mayor somewhere out north last he heard.

            “Hello, Judge Parker.” Seeing Doc Hatfield in the room with him, the Judge gives him a quick nod. It’s about time you boys came over to see us,” Stringham said as they laughed. 

            “I hear you are holding a function of your own without us, and we don’t like it,” Judge Parker said, and the county boys nodded in agreement. 

            “Oh, sorry, Judge, I thought maybe you be too busy for us simple farmers,” he replied. 

            Judge Parker laughed. “Too busy? Heck, my phone won’t stop ringing. I must go home to my wife, who won’t leave me alone for five minutes. Now, what’s all this about?” as he pulled up a chair, and they poured him a cup of Joe. He laughed and slapped his knee. “Doc, why didn’t you say so? Well, we will make it official. Nobody but us will have to know. Now then, boys,” Judge yelled at county boys outside the door. “I need this, and I finished yesterday, boys,” he said as he made notes on paper.

            “Thanks, Judge. Now, we have one more problem,” Mr. Stringham said.

            “What’s that?” He asked, pointed to the woman on the calendar on the wall.

            Looking at the picture of Ms. Collins on the calendar of the annual picnic, she couldn’t help but roll her eyes and mutter, “Oh, her.” Ms. Gertrude Collins, a prosperous sixty-five-year-old woman from Payson, exudes an air of refinement. Her slender figure belies her agility as she swiftly moves. Following the death of her husband in the war, she found herself with an inheritance comprising real estate, stocks, and bonds. When it comes to her behavior, Gertrude is infamous for her aristocratic demeanor and inclination to gossip about those who are not as privileged. No matter the occasion, she never fails to impress with her stylish attire, always in tune with the latest fashion trends. Her hair loss remains a mystery to everyone as she cleverly disguises it with a gray powder wig.

Gertrude’s the gift of “Sight” that has blessed her with the ability to understand and educate others through the comprehension of their auras. She has spent years forming a small group of Mystics and Beyond, selecting only those she considers deserving of harnessing that level of power. Although she may appear to be just a wealthy socialite, they will soon realize there is more to her than meets the eye. Little does Gertrude know, she is the subject of intense scrutiny by the Council of Light, particularly under the watchful gaze of Glen, Morgans father, revered as the true Master of the Light, who possesses an uncanny ability to perceive the secrets concealed behind the Masks of the Shadows in the realms beyond the looking glass.

            Judge laughed. “That old gossip? I got it, boys; you are looking at the master of ceremony at the advent. She’ll be putty in my hands, especially when,” he whispered. (Sorry, it’s best to keep it a secret for now.)

            They all laughed. “You wouldn’t dare?” they replied. 

            “And why not? I think that will get her tongue stuck on the line for a year at the most,” the judge said. 

            “Well, back you up, of course, Judge. That will make things even better, the icing on the cake. Heck, throw in some extra city official in cake mix batter and watch the sparks fly,” 

Doc said as he busted a gut, thinking of the images of old gossip faces. It happened. “Well, we better get back to the grindstone, boys,” the Judge said, laughed himself out the door. “And I’ll inform the Mayor in Payson, too. He is always dealing with an overwhelming amount of paperwork and never seems to get a break.” he said, leaving with a nod.

 

* * * *

            Mary looked over the list as they walked down the Payson Market aisle. “Julie, dear, can you grab six cans of shorting, dear?”

            “Yes, Mary,”

            “And a box of soap― Julie, tell me, dear, what do you really think about EJ and that             dress?” she asked, looking over the list.

            “What dress, Mary?” she said, placing the items in the cart and continued down the       aisle.

            Mary looked her straight in the eye. “The dress, Julie,” as if she didn’t hear her. 

            “Oh, mean that Kitenge gown?” she replied. 

            “Yes, whatever it is, dear, it is still a dress,” she said. 

            “I like it. Why?” she asked. 

            “You mean to tell me, dear, that he wears it doesn’t bother you?” Mary asked. 

            “No, not at all,” Julie said, looking at the list. “We need a box of wax to…here it is.” 

            “Why not, Julie? Why doesn’t it bother you?” she asked, halted in the aisle. “Because he’s my brother, I guess. I know he’s not flesh and blood, but it makes no difference to me. I’d walk through fire for him all the same. Similar to how I do for all my brothers, I would fight for him and cry for him. Mary, I love him, don’t you see? It’s not the clothes that matter. They don’t make you who you are or what you become or what you do,” she said, picking another box of wax off the shelf just in case.

            “Do you know what my brothers went through this past summer? I do,” wiping a tear from her eye. “It may have been the silliest thing, but it took a lot of courage for them and heck, a lot of love,” Julie told her about the promise her brothers made to EJ and the Indian story

With tears in her eyes, some things Grandma left out. “No. Mary, a dress compared to that, is nothing at all. All I see is EJ and my four brothers. I love them all the same.”

            Mary had no more doubts about Julie’s love for her nephew or this family and their feelings for him; she could see why and wiped the tears from her eyes. So, they continued shopping with a list, which they divided with Lizzy and Anna and agreed to meet back at the cafe in an hour for a quick bite before heading back.

            Lizzy and Anna were in another part of town looking at gifts, nick-knacks, and things as presents for everyone. Lizzy asked Anna a similar question, looking at the spice rack on a wall. “

Anna, tell me, how do you feel about having a large family of boys, only two girls?” She asked.

            "What’s wrong with that, Lizzy? Boys are fun to wrestle with, and I don’t have to worry about how rough to be with them,” she said. 

            “True, but don’t you wish there were more sisters? Does it matter to you if EJ’s not your actual brother?” she asked. 

            Anna turned red with a fiery temper. “Lizzy, he is my brother if anyone says he is not.” Seeing the fire in her eyes, she clenched her fists like she was about to punch someone’s lights out, even mentioning it.

            Lizzy puts her arm around her. “I’m sorry, dear, he is,” calming her down.

            “Lizzy, it’s just I love him so much, and every time someone tells me that, it makes me so mad. Then I watch him smile. My heart melts. I want to hug him to death,” she said.

            “I understand, dear,” gives her a little squeeze. “So, I won’t ask about that dress because you might slug me, right?” she said.

            “What dress?” she asked. Lizzy pushed her, laughing.

            “That’s what I thought. But I heard your brothers were going to wear one. Does that bother you?” she asked.

            “Big deal! Why should it bother me? Look,” putting on feathers around her neck and a fancy silly hat, “who am I? Lizzy?” she asked.

            “A fairy princess,” Lizzy said. “Wrong, guess again.”

            “A lady looking for a man?” Lizzy said.

            Anna laughed. “Wrong, I am just Anna. I could run around town in my birthday suit and get arrested, but I would still be Anna all the same. Pa taught us that clothes are just a covering, something that can be stripped away like fabric. Take that away. You have nothing but the person,” she said, looking at items on a shelf. “My brothers are just my brothers, framers, Indians, boys. It doesn’t matter to me; I love them, and they’re mine, every last one of them, and Danny, too, if you want to know. I think he would like this. What do you think?” picking up a stuffed teddy bear and one for Sam, too.

            Lizzy, too, had no more doubts about how much a simple stupid dress or brother’s love they had in this family and continued shopping for the things on the list. They would meet everyone back at the cafe after loading things back into the pickup for a bite to eat, as luck would have, or I would say bad luck.

            “Hello, Mrs. Collin.”

            “Hello, Julie Anna, fancy meeting you here; where’s your mother, that poor dear?” She asked.

            “Oh, she is back at the farm with my brother EJ,” Julie said.

            “Oh, I see,” she replied.

            “These are his aunts, Mary and Lizzy; they’re staying with us for a few days,” Julie replies. “How many people do you have at that farm of yours, you poor dears?” Mrs. Collins asked, fearing the answer. Knowing how small the Downing house and was. To her anyway it was becoming a cesspool of backwoods farms uneducated compared to her and the company she likes to keep.

            “I’ve lost count. Does it really matter? We always have room for more with his two sisters and two uncles. I might have to remove my shoes to count them all. Oh well, but that’s not the best news, have you heard? We are going to have a baby in the spring. Isn’t that exciting?”

            Mrs. Collins swooned, putting her hand to her head. “You poor dears.”

            “Better make lots of room at the picnic for us this year. We’re going to need some extra tables, too. Who knows, it could double in size next year at this rate,” Julie said. 

            That did it; she nearly fainted from the news. Ms. Collins, recovering, “Your brothers were in town last time I saw them, said there were Indians down there,” she replied. 

            “Oh, yes, they come out every so often, those boys of ours. All five of them, or is that six, lost count. They took all their clothes, too; we don’t mind though. Save on the wash, and easy on the shoes, too. Now we have to dress them up a little, wouldn’t you say, Anna?” Julie replies. 

            “They’ll look so handsome in their new Kitenge gowns, much better, I say, than those old farm overalls. We just bought material today and are going home to sew them up for the picnic; what do you think?” Anna said, showing her a piece of the fabric.

            Ms. Collin, turning white as a ghost, starts screaming down the road. Anna and Julie laughed, nearly falling off the bench and watching her go. Mary and Lizzy looked over at the two girls, then watched Ms. Collins point her finger at them, talking to someone else.

            “Girls, you mind telling us what was so funny?” Looking at the lady wagging her tongue and shaking her finger at them.

            “Oh, that’s just the biggest gossip in town, that’s all; we never care what they think, do we, Anna?” Julie said.

            Nope, because it is more fun to watch the sparks fly,” Anna said.

            Mary and Lizzy turned towards each other and shook their heads, whispering, “And we were worried about Betty; oh my,” as they looked at these two.

            Mary and Lizzy turned towards each other and shook their heads, whispering, “And we were worried about Betty; oh my,” as they looked at these two. Just think what they would do if they knew all of Downing’s little secrets, and they might run for the hills. Then again, maybe not; they consider them part of their family and believe family sticks together regardless of the outcome.