Series:\u00a0 Adam in the Outback (14 of 16)<\/p>\n
Summary:\u00a0 This is the fourteenth story in my sixteen part series, \u201cAdam in the Outback\u201d. Adam and Bronwen discover raising a teenage son is every bit as challenging as raising daughters.
\nRating: K+ \u00a0WC \u00a046,400<\/p>\n
Adam In The Outback Series:<\/strong><\/p>\n My True Love Hath My Heart – Part 1<\/a> Not part of the Adam in the Outback Series, but set in the same realm:<\/p>\n The Adventure of the Gooseberry Pie Eating Bear<\/a> <\/p>\n I want to thank Lis for her support and her suggestions, especially with Chapters 1and 6.\u00a0 As always, she acts as my compass and pulls me back when the plot or characterizations begin to veer off course.<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em>\u00a0“The joys of parents are secret; and so are their griefs and fears.” – Francis Bacon<\/em><\/p>\n The Joys of Parents<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em>Chapter 1<\/strong><\/p>\n “I’m glad my birthday is on Saturday this year,” A.C. said to his parents as they gathered around the breakfast table in their large, airy dining room.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Adam and Bronwen Cartwright exchanged smiles and then gazed proudly at their son.\u00a0 Tomorrow their youngest turned sixteen.\u00a0 Over the past year, A.C.’s voice had changed from a childish treble to a smooth baritone.\u00a0 He was now only an inch and a half short of his dad’s six feet, one inch height.\u00a0 He had the same broad shoulders tapering to a slim waist, and the same long legs.\u00a0 His hair was black like both his parents’ hair, but it was neither curly, like his dad’s, nor straight, like his mama’s.\u00a0 Instead, his hair waved softly.\u00a0 His large dark brown eyes were inherited from his grandfather, Ben Cartwright.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Yes, you get two celebrations this year,” Adam said, smiling crookedly.\u00a0 “The party with your friends on your birthday, and the birthday dinner with your family tonight.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Ever since Adam and Bronwen’s oldest daughter had turned one, the Cartwright and Davies families got together to celebrate birthdays.\u00a0 As the Cartwright daughters-Beth, Miranda and Gwyneth-and their cousin, Llywelyn, grew up and married, the birthday celebrations expanded to include their families.\u00a0 Tonight there would be seventeen family members gathered to celebrate A.C.’s birthday: Beth and her husband, Rev. Dafydd Jones, and their three children; Gwyneth and her husband, Mark Pentreath, and their two sons; Bronwen’s brother, Rhys, and his wife, Matilda; their son, Llywelyn. and his wife, Emma, and their two children.\u00a0 Only Miranda wasn’t included since she and her family lived far away in Hanover, New Hampshire in the United States.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Right now, you’d better hurry and finish your breakfast or you’ll be late to school,” Bronwen said, smiling at her son.\u00a0 He might be sixteen and tower over her, but he was still her boy.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A.C. grinned back at his mama before applying himself to his eggs, bacon and toast.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The three Cartwrights were just finishing when Rhys stuck his head in the dining room.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I let myself in,” he stated with a grin.\u00a0 Then he turned to his nephew and said with a warm smile, “Happy birthday a day early, A.C.!\u00a0 “I’m looking forward to tonight’s celebration,” and he winked at his brother-in-law conspiratorially.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A.C. thanked his uncle for his good wishes, and then excused himself.\u00a0 Bronwen invited her brother to have a cup of tea, and he accepted with a smile.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I know A.C is looking forward to his party, but he’s going to be thrilled with the surprise the two of you have planned for tonight,” Bronwen stated.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I think so,” Adam said.\u00a0 “He’s been dropping enough hints for the last few months.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “That’s because Robbie’s parents already let him go to the pub,” Bronwen commented, “but I’m glad we both agreed to wait until he was sixteen.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I remember when Pa bought me my first drink,” Adam said.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n ~\u00a0 *\u00a0 ~\u00a0 *\u00a0 ~<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I don’t know about you boys,” Dan Marquette said with a grin as he scratched the stubble on his chin, “but I wanna wet my whistle.\u00a0 C’mon.”\u00a0 He started to turn his horse around and Ross followed his pa’s example.\u00a0 Adam cleared this throat nervously.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Uh, I think I should look for my pa, Mr. Marquette,” he said hesitantly.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Now, don’t you fret none, Adam,” Dan Marquette said with a slow grin.\u00a0 “Yer pa \u2018n’ Mr. McKaren \u2018n’ me made arrangements where ta meet up after we delivered them cows to the buyer.\u00a0 They’ve prob’ly already taken Todd to get that arm tended to and are waitin’ fer us.”\u00a0 He winked at Jos\u00e9 and the vaquero smiled at Adam.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “C’mon, Adam,” Ross said, reaching over and knocking his friend’s hat down over his eyes.\u00a0 Adam grinned at his friend and swatted his hat so that Ross had to make a grab for it, and then they rode off with the others.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Both boys exchanged looks of surprise as they all drew up in front of a ramshackle building with swinging doors.\u00a0 Dan Marquette saw their astonishment and began to laugh loudly.\u00a0 “Put them eyes back in yer heads, boys. \u00a0Ya worked as hard as any man on the drive \u2018n’ me \u2018n’ Andy \u2018n’ Ben decided ya deserved ta celebrate like men.\u00a0 C’mon, Ross, \u2018n’ I’ll buy ya a beer.”\u00a0 He saw Adam hesitate and said, “Rustle yer shanks, Adam.\u00a0 Yer pa’s in there waitin’ fer ya.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Adam spotted his pa and the McKarens straight off and waved to them.\u00a0 He and Ross noted Todd was sitting with his good hand wrapped around a half empty glass of amber liquid.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Looks like ya got yer arm fixed up,” Ross said as he and Adam moved a couple of chairs to the table where the others sat, while Ben and Dan went to get the beers.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Yeah, we found a doctor in town,” Todd said.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Does your arm hurt much?” Adam asked the younger boy as he sat next to him.\u00a0 He took off his sweat soaked hat and ran his fingers through his mop of black curls.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “A little.\u00a0 Not too bad,” Todd replied cautiously, not wanting to appear a baby in front of his slightly older friends.\u00a0 Then he grinned cheekily.\u00a0 “The beer helps.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Here you are, son,” Ben said with a smile as he sat the glass of warm beer in front of his first-born.\u00a0 Adam and Ross exchanged quick looks of pride that their fathers finally realized they were men before taking a big swallow from their glasses.\u00a0 They didn’t notice their fathers’ conspiratorial winks.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Todd smiled smugly at Adam’s and Ross’s expressions while Dan laughed loudly, and even Ben and Andy couldn’t help smiling at the boys’ comical expressions.\u00a0 Todd said in a superior tone, “You get used to it.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “That’s right,” Andy said, sharing a grin with the other two fathers, “just sip it slowly and it’ll grow on you.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Yeah, it does grow on you,” Adam said after his second sip and Ben had a hard time choking back a laugh at the lack of conviction in his son’s tone.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n At least it’s wet<\/em>, Adam thought, but I think a glass of cold water from our well would sure taste better.<\/em>\u00a0 His pa seemed to read his mind and gave his shoulder a quick pat before asking Dan what price they’d gotten for their beef.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n ~\u00a0 *\u00a0 ~\u00a0 *\u00a0 ~<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Oh Pa, I miss you so much,<\/em> Adam thought.\u00a0 It’s still difficult for me to believe you’ve been gone two years now.\u00a0 It’s been hard, but I’ve kept my promise to you: I have grieved deeply, but I haven’t fallen into despair as I did when I lost my Penny.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n “When did Pa buy you your first drink?” Bronwen asked curiously.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “It was on my first cattle drive and I was a couple of months short of my fifteenth birthday.”\u00a0 Adam grinned at his wife’s raised eyebrows.\u00a0 “It was the first drive for me and my friends, Ross and Todd.\u00a0 Our fathers had decided they would take us to the saloon at the end of the drive and buy us our first beers.\u00a0 We sure felt grown up.\u00a0 It wasn’t until years later we realized our fathers had taken us because they wanted to be there to make sure we didn’t drink too much or get into any other trouble.”\u00a0 He glanced sideways at his wife before saying, “Saloons on the frontier were rougher than Bert Greene’s pub, and liquor wasn’t the only thing for sale.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Tad<\/em> and Bryn took me for my first visit to our neighborhood pub when I was sixteen,” Rhys said then, his tone wistful, and Adam knew he was thinking of Tad<\/em>.\u00a0 Rhys and Bronwen had both been a comfort to Adam as he’d grieved, first for Pa and then for Joe.\u00a0 Adam was grateful that he’d been able to offer them the same consolation when they mourned the loss of Tad<\/em> and Mam<\/em>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Rhys smiled as he said, “Sounds like my first drink was pretty tame compared to yours, Adam.”\u00a0 He chuckled, adding, “The most exciting thing going on was a game of darts.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I’m glad Bert’s pub is so tame, or I would insist A.C. wait until his eighteenth birthday,” Bronwen stated firmly.\u00a0 Her husband and brother both grinned.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I remember the struggle I had persuading Matilda to let me take Llywelyn for his first visit to the pub,” Rhys commented.\u00a0 “Of course, she’s never approved of my visits either.\u00a0 I’ve told her it’s not so much the beer as it is the chance to spend time with friends.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I enjoy a game of billiards and Bert has the only billiard table in town,” Adam added.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I decided long ago that your visits to the pub are the masculine equivalent of afternoon tea,” Bronwen said with a little grin.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Both men chuckled and Adam said, “That’s a very perceptive analogy, Sweetheart.”\u00a0 He turned to his brother-in-law then, saying, “I think we need to follow A.C.’s example and be on our way.” \u00a0Rhys drained his cup and both men stood up.\u00a0 After kissing Bronwen, Adam said, “I just hope Peter gets that gelding here before A.C. gets home from school.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I’m sure he will,” Bronwen replied as both men started out the door.\u00a0 Rhys slowed down just enough to say over his shoulder, “Matilda said she’ll be over later to help with the dinner.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Adam came home early from the mine so he could be there when A.C. returned from school.\u00a0 He and Bronwen were sitting on the verandah’s swing, escaping the house’s stifling heat, when their son approached the front gate.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I didn’t expect to see you yet, Dad,” A.C. said with a grin.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Your mama and I wanted to give you our gift early,” Adam replied with a wink.\u00a0 “Let’s walk to the barn, shall we?”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I bet I got some new tack<\/em>, A.C. thought happily.\u00a0 He stopped short when he saw a beautiful black gelding in the paddock, and looked at his parents in wonder.\u00a0 “Is- is he mine?” he asked.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “That’s right,” Adam replied, clapping his son on the back.\u00a0 “He’s all yours.\u00a0 I know you haven’t stopped growing and Peter told me about a colt he had that was nearly sixteen hands.\u00a0 Peter didn’t want to breed from him because of that, but I thought he would be perfect for you.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “He’s beautiful, Dad!” A.C. exclaimed.\u00a0 “May I take him for a ride?”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Sure,” Adam said.\u00a0 “I knew you’d want to put him through his paces.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Don’t stay out too long.\u00a0 You’ll need to get dressed for your birthday dinner,” Bronwen said.\u00a0 “I ironed a shirt for you to wear tonight and pressed your best trousers.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n “He’s a born horseman,” Adam said proudly as he watched his son canter off.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I wish he were a little less reckless,” Bronwen said, and Adam heard the touch of anxiety in her voice.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “He’s not reckless where animals are concerned,” he said quietly, putting an arm around her shoulders.\u00a0 “He’s careful not to put his mount in danger.”\u00a0 She looked up at him and smiled faintly, acknowledging the truth in his comment.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Rhys and Matilda were the first to arrive that evening.\u00a0 Under pressure from his wife, Rhys wore a necktie, but he refused to wear a frock coat in the heat of a Cloncurry summer.\u00a0 Bronwen had dragooned her men into wearing neckties as well.\u00a0 Miranda and William had given Adam a Harvard necktie for his sixty-fifth birthday, and he wore that while A.C. wore a navy blue one.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “You are such babies,” Bronwen had said to Adam as they’d dressed.\u00a0 “Wearing a necktie doesn’t even compare to wearing a corset.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “You have me there, Sweetheart,” Adam had replied with a wink, “but I’m not forcing you to wear a corset.”\u00a0 Her answer was to stick out her tongue.\u00a0 “Such unladylike behavior,” he scolded mockingly.\u00a0 “And from a grandmother.\u00a0 I’m shocked.”\u00a0 They both grinned before he leaned down and kissed her.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n “You look very handsome, A.C.,” Matilda said to her tall nephew as he greeted her.\u00a0 “I know all the girls will be hoping you ask them for a dance at your party tomorrow.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I’ll do my best to oblige them,” A.C. said with a broad wink.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Oh Joe<\/em>, Adam thought, right now A.C. reminds me so much of you at the same age.\u00a0 I remember how Pa used to say A.C. was more like you and Benj more like me.\u00a0 Bronwen and I are doing our best to keep in touch with your children and so is Miranda.\u00a0 With Sarah it’s easy, but Benj is another matter.\u00a0 I won’t give up on him, Joe.\u00a0 I promise you that.\u00a0 I know the time will come when he’ll realize how lucky he was to have had you for a father.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Say, Uncle Rhys, you should see the beautiful gelding Dad and Mama gave me for my birthday,” A.C. said enthusiastically.\u00a0 “He’s nearly sixteen hands.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “He’s a beauty all right,” Rhys said.\u00a0 “I went with your dad to check him out when Peter told us he thought he had a good mount for you.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Just then the three Jones children ran into the house shouting, “Happy birthday, Uncle A.C.!”\u00a0 A.C. grinned broadly at his niece and nephews.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Nine-year-old Elen’s caramel-colored hair had darkened to a nondescript brown; her enormous dark brown eyes were still her best feature.\u00a0 She was puzzled when she’d overhear people whisper, “Oh, what a shame she takes after her father,” because she loved her tada<\/em> and was proud she looked like him.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Huw, whose seventh birthday was only two weeks away, was missing a front tooth as he pointed out proudly to everyone.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “My toof’s loose, too, Grandma!\u00a0 See,” five-year-old Dylan said, grabbing Bronwen’s hand.\u00a0 She smiled at Beth’s youngest, an engaging child, small for his age with his grandpa’s curly black hair.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Where are your mama and tada<\/em>?” Adam asked.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “They’re comin’,” Elen assured her grandpa.\u00a0 “Mama just can’t walk fast \u2018cause of the baby so Tada<\/em> said we could run ahead.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “And we saw Aunt Gwyneth and Uncle Mark and Jory and Benny,” Huw added.\u00a0 “But they were far away.\u00a0 Farther than Mama and Tada<\/em>.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I seed Cousin Llywelyn and Cousin Emma and Ifor and Cafy,” Dylan inserted, not wanting to be overlooked.\u00a0 Then he tugged on his grandma’s hand.\u00a0 “Are we gonna have birfday cake, Grandma?\u00a0 Are we?”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “So, you want birthday cake, do you?” Adam asked before leaning over and beginning to tickle Dylan, who was soon shrieking with laughter.\u00a0 A.C. said to Elen and Huw, “I got one of my presents early.\u00a0 A beautiful black gelding.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Oh, can we see him?” Elen asked excitedly and Huw repeated the request.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Bronwen replied, “A quick Captain Cook.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Do you want to see your uncle’s new horse, ticklebox?” Adam asked Dylan.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Too right!” Dylan shouted and Adam swung him up on his shoulders.\u00a0 Rhys decided to join them so when Beth and Dafydd arrived, they only found Bronwen and Matilda in the drawing room.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Everyone else has gone to see A.C.’s new horse,” Bronwen explained as Dafydd seated Beth in a side chair.\u00a0 She was only in her fifth month, but she’d started showing much earlier with this pregnancy.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “If they’re with the horses, you’d better go bring them back, Dafydd,” Beth said with a smile.\u00a0 Her children were every bit as mad about horses as she’d been at the same age.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Right,” Dafydd replied.\u00a0 He got a footstool for Beth to prop her feet on, and then headed for the backdoor.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n At almost the same time, the rest of the family arrived.\u00a0 Four-year-old cousins, Jory Pentreath and Ifor Davies, ran up the path yelling, “G’day!”\u00a0 Behind them, Mark and Llywelyn were pushing baby carriages containing their younger children, while their wives walked beside them, keeping an eye on the boys.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n At 22 months, Benny Pentreath was a happy little boy with dark hair and Ben Cartwright’s large brown eyes.\u00a0 His older brother, Jory, on the other hand, was all Pentreath with his father’s thick black hair and narrow dark eyes.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n As soon as Matilda saw her grandchildren approach, she went outside and Bronwen followed.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “G’day, Gandma,” Ifor said to Matilda with a big grin.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Does Grandma get a hug?” she asked and the little boy ran into her arms and hugged her<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “G’day, Jory,” Bronwen said with a smile and he grinned back at her.\u00a0 Bronwen knew he wasn’t a demonstrative child, so instead of asking for a hug, she gently smoothed his hair back.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Me-ma!” Benny shouted joyfully as Mark lifted him out of the baby carriage and he toddled over to Bronwen as fast as his chubby legs would take him.\u00a0 She picked him up and held him and he began to chatter away.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Oh Benny bach<\/em>, Grandma wishes she could understand you,” Bronwen said ruefully since she could only follow an occasional word.\u00a0 She smiled wistfully as she remembered it had been the same with her youngest daughter, Penny, who had always been a chatterbox.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Llywelyn started to lift his two-month-old daughter from the baby carriage and his mama immediately hurried over.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Oh, may I hold her?” she asked and Llywelyn proudly handed Cathy to her grandma.\u00a0 Emma sighed slightly because except when they ate dinner, her mother-in-law would keep the baby with her all evening.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I’m hungry,” Jory announced and Ifor said, “Me, too!’<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “We’re all here now,” Bronwen said.\u00a0 “Dafydd went to fetch the others back from seeing A.C.’s h-o-r-s-e.”\u00a0 The young parents grinned at her spelling the word so Jory and Ifor wouldn’t beg to see the horse.\u00a0 Bronwen turned to Emma and said, “We brought our old cradle downstairs for Cathy.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n While Matilda settled Cathy in the cradle Adam had placed in the dining room and Mark put Benny in the Cartwrights’ old highchair, the others returned.\u00a0 Huw, Dylan, Jory and Ifor ate in the kitchen under the supervision of Mary, the Cartwrights’ maid, while Elen was allowed to eat in the in the dining room with the grown ups.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n She saw that her grandma had put a pretty lace tablecloth on the long rectangular table that was twice as long as the table in the parsonage dining room.\u00a0 Grandma had set the table with her pretty blue and white china and her blue-tinted glasses.\u00a0 Elen’s mama had pretty china, but she only used it when she and Tada<\/em> had company, and Elen and her brothers would have already been fed in the kitchen.\u00a0 Elen knew her brothers and cousins would be eating off Grandma’s stoneware.\u00a0 She felt very grown-up being allowed to eat off Grandma’s china.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Why don’t you sit by me, Elen?” Bronwen said, smiling warmly at her granddaughter as she indicated the chair on her right.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Elen nodded and moved toward the chair.\u00a0 She couldn’t hold back a little giggle when her tada<\/em> seated her just as he did her mama.\u00a0 She didn’t see the smile her parents shared.\u00a0 Elen ate the delicious food Grandma and Mary had prepared and listened to the grownups talk.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Tegan is really looking forward to your party,” Beth said to A.C., referring to her neighbor Jenna Hughnans’ middle daughter.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Elen smiled a little as she remembered how she and Kerra Hughnans had overheard Tegan talking with her friends about Uncle A.C.’s party.\u00a0 Tegan had announced dramatically that she would cark it if Uncle A.C. didn’t ask her to dance.\u00a0 Tegan and her friends all acted so silly about Uncle A.C.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A.C. grinned at his sister before saying, “So are all my mates.\u00a0 I know I plan on dancing with as many girls as I can.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “And I’m looking forward to dancing with my wife,” Adam said, winking at Bronwen.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Llywelyn smiled at Matilda, who was seated across from him.\u00a0 “I’m grateful to you, Mama, for taking care of Ifor and Cathy tomorrow.\u00a0 It’s been ages since Emma and I have been dancing.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Yes, Aunt Matilda, it’s so nice of you to watch Jory and Benny as well,” Gwyneth added.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “No worries,” Matilda said with a beaming smile.\u00a0 “Ifor and Jory are almost inseparable and Benny won’t be any problem.\u00a0 The four of you should just enjoy yourselves and dance the night away.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Everyone smiled, Beth a little wistfully since her condition made dancing unseemly.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Dafydd knew Beth felt sad that she couldn’t join the dancing and so he decided to change the direction of the conversation.\u00a0 A.C. was seated on his right and he said to him, “Your new mount is a real beauty.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Too right,” A.C. said.\u00a0 “Dad said he’d help me train him to cut cattle so I can use him next summer when I work at our cattle station.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Looking down the length of the table, Adam saw Bronwen’s pensive expression.\u00a0 He knew she had mixed feelings about A.C. spending his next summer vacation working and living on the station.\u00a0 She glanced down the table and when their eyes met, he smiled encouragingly.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “What happens to Bucephalas?” Gwyneth asked, referring to the Welsh cob that had been A.C.’s mount since he outgrew his pony.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Your mama and I were going to discuss that with Dafydd and Beth,” Adam replied.\u00a0 “Elen is too young now, but we thought that in a couple of years, Bucephalas could be hers.”\u00a0 Seeing the expression on his son-in-law’s face and interpreting it correctly, he added quickly, “I know you don’t have room to stable that many animals, but we could keep Bucephalas here.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Dafydd and Beth saw the hopeful look on their little girl’s face and exchanged a glance that was a mixture of exasperation and resignation.\u00a0 Beth smiled at her daughter, adding in a no-nonsense tone, “It would still be your job to care for Bucephalas, Elen fach<\/em>.\u00a0 You’d have to get up extra early every morning and come here to take care of him before school, and again every evening before high tea.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I will.\u00a0 I promise,” Elen said, her eyes shining and her face aglow with happiness.\u00a0 “I can start tomorrow morning.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Why don’t you start just grooming him and feeding him in the evenings,” Adam suggested mildly.\u00a0 “That way he’ll get to know you.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “And I’ll keep taking care of him in the mornings,” A.C. said with a wink.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “And Dylan can begin caring for Sport in the evenings,” Beth said, referring to A.C.’s old pony, which Elen had inherited.\u00a0 “When you’re old enough to ride Bucephalas, Sport will be Dylan’s.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Ifor and Jory are doing a good job taking care of their ponies,” Llywelyn said, “and they love their riding lessons,” he added, smiling warmly at his uncle.\u00a0 Then he chuckled, adding, “Of course, they’re both anxious to ride at a gallop.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I know,” Adam replied with his crooked grin.\u00a0 “I think tomorrow when I give them their lesson, I’m going to teach them to post.\u00a0 If they can trot, they’ll stop thinking so much about galloping.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Gwyneth said with a dimpled grin, “I have a hard time picturing Blackie and Brownie galloping.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Her daddy winked at her, saying, “That’s what makes them the perfect mounts for a pair of four-year-olds.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n They were just finishing the meal when Dylan ran into the dining room, with Jory and Ifor at his heels, and asked, “Can we eat the birfday cake?”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Uncle A.C. gets to open his birthday presents first,” Beth said as Huw joined the others.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Oh.\u00a0 Right,” Dylan said, his disappointment obvious and the adults struggled to hide their amusement so they wouldn’t hurt his feelings.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Seeing that everyone was finished, Bronwen suggested they all adjourn to the drawing room.\u00a0 Just as Emma had known she would, Matilda lifted Cathy from the cradle and carried her to the other room.\u00a0 Benny wanted to sit on his grandma’s lap but the other boys sat cross-legged on the floor, while Elen perched on the arm of her tada’<\/em>s chair.\u00a0 Huw volunteered to bring his uncle his gifts.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Open ours first, Uncle A.C.,” Dylan begged, and with a wink, A.C. agreed.\u00a0 A.C. unwrapped the gift and held up a dress shirt of fine white linen.\u00a0 “Oh Bethy, thanks,” he said, reverting to his childhood nickname for his oldest sister.\u00a0 “I’m going to wear this to the party tomorrow night,” he added with a warm smile.\u00a0 “Now, what shall I open next?”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “We went together with Llywelyn and Emma,” Gwyneth said.\u00a0 “Why don’t you open ours next?”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n When A.C. opened their gift, he discovered a Dunkerley slouch hat that had come all the way from Sydney.\u00a0 (When Mark and Llywelyn had attended the Technical College in Sydney, they’d discovered a hatter named Benjamin Dunkerley and liked his slouch hats very much.\u00a0 Even after they moved to Cloncurry, when they needed new hats, they’d contact Benjamin Dunkerley.)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Beauty!” A.C. exclaimed, trying the hat on.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “It’s a bonzer hat, Uncle A.C.!” Huw said and everyone agreed.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Why don’t you give me Uncle Rhys and Aunt Matilda’s gift next, and I’ll open Miranda and William’s last,” A.C. said to Huw then.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Matilda had sewn him a new pair of white flannel trousers.\u00a0 (“Because I know how much you enjoy playing cricket,” she said with a little grin.)\u00a0 Miranda and William’s gift proved to be a book.\u00a0 “What a surprise,” A.C. remarked with a wink.\u00a0 “The Call of the Wild<\/strong>.\u00a0 Well, it sounds interesting.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Who wrote it?” his dad asked.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Jack London,” A.C. read from the book jacket.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “He must be a new author,” Adam said, “but Miranda and William have excellent taste.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Can we have the birfday cake now?” Dylan asked hopefully.\u00a0 The cake was sitting on the tea table and he had been eying it all the while his uncle opened his gifts.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Yes, you may,” Bronwen replied with a smile.\u00a0 “We just need to light the candles so your uncle can make a wish.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “But there’s a postcard here for Mr. Adam Cartwright, Jr.,” Huw said.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Oh, bring it here, please, Huw,” A.C. said while Dylan sighed loudly, earning warning frowns from his parents.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A.C. saw that on one side of the postcard \u2018Best Birthday Wishes’ was printed in fancy script under a basket of violets.\u00a0 He turned it over and read aloud, “\u2018I wanted to wish you a happy birthday, A.C.\u00a0 Hope you don’t mind the flowers but I couldn’t find a birthday postcard without them.\u00a0 Your cousin, Sarah.'”<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n “That was very sweet of Sarah,” Bronwen said.\u00a0 “May I see it?”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n With a smile, A.C. handed the card to her and Bronwen held it so she and Adam could both look at it.\u00a0 Then she said with a smile, “All right, let’s light the birthday candles.”\u00a0 Dylan, Jory and Ifor gave a cheer, which woke Cathy, who began to scream.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I imagine she’s hungry,” Emma said, standing up.\u00a0 Reluctantly, Matilda gave Cathy to her.\u00a0 “I’ll take her to the library,” Emma said quietly.\u00a0 “Don’t let Dylan eat up all the cake,” she added with a grin.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I’ll save you a piece,” A.C. replied with a chuckle.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Dylan’s eyes grew as big and round as saucers when A.C. handed him the first piece of his birthday cake-a sponge cake covered with boiled icing and sprinkled lavishly with coconut.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “A.C.,” Beth scolded, “he’ll have a stomachache if he eats that.\u00a0 Now, give half of it to Huw.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Please, Mama,” Dylan begged.\u00a0 His expression was tragic as he watched his uncle place half his slice on another plate before setting his on the tea table in front of him.\u00a0 He picked up his fork, ready to get his first bite, when he felt his tada<\/em>‘s hand on his shoulder.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “No, Dylan bach<\/em>.\u00a0 You must wait until everyone has his piece of cake.\u00a0 Remember?’<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Oh.\u00a0 Right,” Dylan said, heaving a huge sigh.\u00a0 His parents exchanged a longsuffering look while the other adults smiled.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n As soon as he saw everyone had a piece of cake, Dylan immediately shoveled an enormous bite into his mouth.\u00a0 A bite so big that he couldn’t chew it with his mouth closed and his two young cousins immediately followed his example.\u00a0 Their mothers were mortified.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Boys, take smaller bites,” Bronwen said firmly, “and slow down.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Right, Grandma,” Dylan said after swallowing, a ring of sticky icing around his mouth.\u00a0 “It’s a bonzer cake!”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u2018Too right!” Jory and Ifor chorused, their faces also smeared with icing.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n After everyone finished their cake, it was time for the youngest children to be in bed so the Joneses, Pentreaths and younger Davies gathered up their offspring and said their goodbyes.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Mark and I will join you in about an hour,” Llywelyn said quietly to his uncle and dad.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Once the young families left, Adam turned to his son.\u00a0 “You got some nice presents,” he remarked.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Too right!” A.C. replied with a big grin, “and my new horse is a ripper!\u00a0 I have the best parents in the whole world.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Adam grinned back at him and said, “Your uncle and I thought we’d go to Bert Greene’s pub for a drink.”\u00a0 He paused before adding nonchalantly, “Would you like to come along?”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Fair dinkum?” A.C. asked excitedly and when his dad and uncle nodded, his whole face lit up.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Let’s just take off our neckties and be on our way,” Adam said, slapping A.C. on the back while Rhys chuckled.\u00a0 “Sorry, ladies,” Adam added with a grin, “but neckties are too formal for the pub.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n After putting his necktie on the credenza, Adam walked over and kissed Bronwen.\u00a0 Before he straightened up, he whispered, “We’ll only be gone a couple of hours.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A.C. picked up his new hat before walking over to kiss his mama’s cheek.\u00a0 She watched as he proudly put the slouch hat on at a rakish angle, thinking what a handsome young man he was.\u00a0 As handsome as his father.\u00a0 Her bright smile wilted after the three men left, however.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Matilda walked over and gave Bronwen’s shoulder a comforting squeeze before saying quietly, “Why don’t we help Marry clean up?”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Bronwen knew her friend was hoping to distract her so she managed a smile as she nodded her head.\u00a0 I can’t believe in a little less than two years A.C. will be leaving to attend the Technical College<\/em>, she thought wistfully.\u00a0 Adam and I raised our children to be independent and self-sufficient adults, but sometimes I miss the little girls and the little boy who needed their mama.\u00a0 Especially the little boy.\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n As each of my little girls grew older, I prepared her for the ways her body would change.\u00a0 It was my task to explain how a husband and a wife express their love.\u00a0 When they married, I told them the signs to look for that would tell them they were with child.\u00a0 Now, Beth and Gwyneth still come to me for advice about their own children or household matters, and in some ways we’ve grown closer over the years.\u00a0 It’s different with A.C.\u00a0 As he becomes a man, the ties that bind us together must loosen.\u00a0 I thought I was prepared, but it’s happening much too soon.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n As the three men walked down the street, Adam said to his son, “Llywelyn and Mark are going to meet us at the pub.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Rob and all my mates will be gobsmacked to see me,” A.C. said happily and the two older men smiled at his enthusiasm.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Now, son, I want you to limit yourself to two beers,” Adam stated firmly.\u00a0 “A couple of pints is enough to let me relax without making me drunk, and that’s all I wanted you to have.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Right, Dad,” A.C. replied, thinking, This day is getting better and better.\u00a0 First, I get a ripper horse and bonzer gifts, and now Dad is letting me come with him to the pub<\/em>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Bert Greene smiled broadly when they walked up to the bar and ordered their drinks.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Wondered when I’d be seeing you here, A.C.,” he said with a broad wink and A.C. grinned back at him.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A.C. noted the pub didn’t have as many oil lamps as they used at home and many of the patrons smoked so his eyes had to adjust to the dimness.\u00a0 It was still early so the pub was fairly empty.\u00a0 A.C. didn’t see any of his mates but thought they’d be along soon.\u00a0 In the meantime, he followed his dad and uncle to a table.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Just sip your beer until you get used to the taste,” Adam cautioned, the merest hint of a grin playing about his lips.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A.C. took a big swallow and said, “What a ripper!” but his expression told a very different story.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “No one likes beer at first,” Rhys said with a smirk.\u00a0 “You should have listened to your dad.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Well, experience is the best teacher,” Adam said with a shrug.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A.C. cautiously sipped his beer and then said with a grin, “I’m sure looking forward to tomorrow night.\u00a0 Wish I knew how to dance that tango that Miranda says she and William like to dance.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “From the way your sister describes it, I think it’s too risqu\u00e9 for Cloncurry,” Adam said dryly.\u00a0 “Although I admit I wouldn’t mind dancing it with your mama.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Unfortunately, your aunt would be shocked if I suggested it,” Rhys commented.\u00a0 A.C. decided he didn’t like the thought of his parents dancing anything as provocative as the tango.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n After they finished their beer, Adam asked A.C. if he’d like to play a game of billiards.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Right,” A.C. said happily and Rhys said that he’d play the winner.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “All right, Jackeroo, we’re going to play Three Cushion Billiards.\u00a0 The object of the game is to make the cue ball-white for me and yellow for you-contact the other two balls on the table, which are known as the object balls, and three or more cushions.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “That seems easy,” A.C. said confidently.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Well, the cue ball must touch at least three cushions before it touches the second object ball,” Adam replied, grinning slightly as his son frowned.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n After a minute, A.C. said, “Maybe I should watch you and Uncle Rhys play first.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Not a bad idea,” Adam replied.\u00a0 “My friend Thomas taught my roommate Aaron and me to play billiards while we were all at Harvard.\u00a0 Aaron and I quickly discovered it’s harder than it looks.”\u00a0 He chuckled as he added, “We got to be good enough that sometimes we could earn a little extra money by playing a dollar a point.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Did Grandpa know?” A.C. asked, a little shocked that his sensible dad had ever been reckless enough to gamble.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I may have forgotten to mention it,” Adam admitted.\u00a0 “Back when I lived on the Ponderosa, your uncles played poker occasionally.”\u00a0 He smiled slightly as he added, “Your Uncle Joe was the worst poker player on the Comstock.”\u00a0 He put his hand on his son’s shoulder and gave it an affectionate squeeze.\u00a0 “Your grandpa just told me never to gamble more than I could afford to lose and I took his advice to heart.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n A.C. watched his dad and uncle play and thought it looked pretty easy.\u00a0 However, when he played his dad, he lost very quickly.\u00a0 Mark and Llywelyn had joined them and Llywelyn said, “Don’t feel bad, A.C.\u00a0 Uncle Adam is the best billiard player in Cloncurry, and Three Cushion is a very difficult game.\u00a0 Why don’t you and I play a game of Straight Rail?”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Right,” A.C. said.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A.C. discovered Straight Rail wasn’t quite as difficult and Llywelyn didn’t defeat him as quickly as his dad had, but the outcome was the same.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “It just takes practice, son,” Adam said encouragingly.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A couple of A.C.’s mates walked over then.\u00a0 After greeting everyone, Robbie said to A.C., “Come join us.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A.C. looked quickly at his dad, and seeing Adam’s slight nod, A.C. went off with his mates.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “So the oldies finally let you come to the pub,” Robbie said with a superior grin.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Right,” A.C. said evenly, refusing to be baited.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Well, it looks like you need a refill,” Robbie said, “and so do I.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I’d like another pint, Mr. Greene,” A.C. said as he walked up to the bar.\u00a0 Then he realized he hadn’t brought any money with him.\u00a0 “No, I’m s-sorry,” he stuttered.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u2018Oh, your dad’ll pay for it tonight,” Greene said with a wink.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n A.C. found his second beer more enjoyable than his first.\u00a0 He and Robbie and a couple of their mates played a game of darts, which A.C. won handily since he had excellent hand-eye coordination and was the best bowler on Cloncurry’s cricket team.\u00a0 Darts was much more fun than billiards he decided.\u00a0 Billiards was a game for older men like his dad.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n After the game, Ned Browne suggested another round.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Uh, I’ve had enough,” A.C. said.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u2018Don’t be a wowser,” Ned said, slapping A.C. on the back.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Right,” Tom Jenkins said, adding with a sneer, “unless you’re not man enough to hold your liquor.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I am a man now and I can choose how much to drink.\u00a0 I don’t need Dad telling me.\u00a0 And I don’t want my mates thinking I need Dad’s permission for everything,<\/em> A.C. thought.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Right, I’ll have another pint,” he said to his mates, and they all walked to the bar.\u00a0 A.C. did glance a little nervously over his shoulder, but his dad was engrossed in his game of billiards.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Adam played a few more games of billiards with Rhys, Llywelyn and Mark, and then checked his watch.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I promised Bronwen we’d only be gone a couple of hours so A.C. and I need to be heading home,” he said to Rhys.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Matilda will be expecting me as well,” Rhys said, “but I’d like to play another game with Llywelyn.\u00a0 Do you mind telling Matilda?”\u00a0 Adam nodded and walked toward the table where A.C. and his friends were sitting.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n When he approached the table, he could tell several of the young men were well on their way to being three sheets to the wind.\u00a0 He was relieved to see A.C. didn’t seem to be in that condition.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n One of A.C.’s friends was saying loudly, “Maisie may not be pretty, but she’ll let you do more than steal a kiss.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Too right,” another agreed.\u00a0 “Just tell her that you think she’s beautiful and that you’re falling in love with her.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Adam cleared his throat loudly.\u00a0 “A.C., it’s time to head home.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I’ll be home later,” A.C. replied, full of Dutch courage.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Adam stared first at his son and then at his friends, and the boys all grew silent under his steady gaze.\u00a0 He said quietly to A.C., “I promised your mother we’d be home in a couple of hours.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Oh.\u00a0 Right,” A.C. said.\u00a0 He stood up and bid his mates goodnight.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “We’ll see you tomorrow night,” they called after him.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n He was expecting a lecture, but his dad only said, “So, did you enjoy your visit to the pub?”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Too right,” A.C. replied enthusiastically.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I’m glad,” Adam said.\u00a0 “From now on, you can come with your uncle and me on Friday nights.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Uh, what about other nights?” A.C. asked.\u00a0 “Most of my mates go every night.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I think one night a week is enough,” Adam replied quietly.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A.C. started to object but then remembered Robbie only went to the pub on Fridays.\u00a0 In fact, Ned and Tom were the only ones to visit the pub every night.\u00a0 “Right, Friday nights it is,” he said with a nod.\u00a0 Then he added happily, “I won every game of darts I played tonight.\u00a0 I think Tom is a bit jealous.\u00a0 Robbie said he used to win most of the games.\u00a0 Of course, darts isn’t as much fun as cricket.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Everyone is looking forward to tomorrow night.\u00a0 Robbie said he wants to ask Tegan to dance the first dance with him.\u00a0 I was going to ask her, but I think he’s sweet on her so I guess I’ll wait and ask for a later dance,” A.C. continued.\u00a0 He didn’t notice that his dad said very little as they walked along.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n When they got to the Cartwright house, they could see Bronwen and Matilda sitting on the verandah’s swing.\u00a0 Adam delivered Rhys’ message and so Matilda excused herself and walked next door to her house.\u00a0 Bronwen smiled brightly at her menfolk.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Did you have a good time?” she asked her son.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Too right,” he replied cheerfully.\u00a0 Then he added, “I’d like to go check on Blackbird if that’s all right.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Blackbird?” she repeated.\u00a0 “Oh, is that what you named your new horse?” and he nodded.\u00a0 “All right, but don’t stay up too late.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I won’t, Mama,” he promised.\u00a0 He stooped and kissed her cheek before heading toward the barn.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Bronwen watched him for a moment before turning to her husband.\u00a0 “You don’t seem as enthusiastic as A.C. about tonight,” she said quietly.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n He didn’t answer immediately.\u00a0 He sat down beside her, put his arm around her shoulders, and she waited.\u00a0 He sighed gently and held her closer before saying, “A.C.’s at the age now where his friends’ good opinion is more important than ours.\u00a0 I asked him to limit his drinking to two beers but I’m certain that he had more.”\u00a0 Seeing the alarm in her eyes he added quickly, “He’s not drunk.\u00a0 He shouldn’t have a full-fledged hangover, but he may have a headache in the morning.”\u00a0 He saw she still looked anxious so he hugged her and said, “Sometimes experience really is the best teacher, Sweetheart.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n She sighed and rested her head on his shoulder.\u00a0 “I thought it might be easier with A.C. than it was with the girls, but it’s not.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Adam hugged her comfortingly before adding, “Just different things to worry about.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I thought it would be the way it was when you bought me my first drink, Pa<\/em>, he thought sadly as he and Bronwen sat and gently rocked the swing back and forth.\u00a0 I thought that drinking a couple of pints together and playing billiards would strengthen the bond between me and A.C.\u00a0 Instead, he wanted to spend time with his friends.\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n I should have known his friends would encourage him to drink more than two beers.\u00a0 They obviously don’t know when to stop and I’m proud of A.C. for not following their example and getting drunk.\u00a0 He sighed softly.\u00a0 It’s been more than half a century since I was sixteen.\u00a0 I’ve almost forgotten what it’s like to be that young-how important the opinions of your friends are.\u00a0 But I don’t want A.C. falling under the influence of Ned Browne and Tom Jenkins.\u00a0 They drink too much and from what I overheard tonight, they have the morals of an alley cat. <\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n “You’re very quiet tonight,” Bronwen said then and he smiled at her.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “After seeing A.C. and his friends, I’m feeling my years.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n She smiled at him and then said, “Don’t be feeling sorry for yourself, Adam Cartwright.\u00a0 You’re like a fine wine; you improve with age.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “So do you, Sweetheart.\u00a0 So do you,” he said softly before leaning down and capturing her mouth in a kiss.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The next morning A.C. was awakened by someone shaking his shoulder.\u00a0 He tried to move away, but the shaking only increased and he heard his dad’s voice saying, “Time to get up, son.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A.C. opened his bleary, bloodshot eyes and croaked, “Oh, my head aches.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I’m sorry to hear that, son,” Adam replied, but A.C. saw his expression was sardonic.\u00a0 “However, you have two horses that need to be fed and watered and their stalls need to be mucked out.”\u00a0 He walked over to the windows and began to tie back the curtains.\u00a0 With a groan, A.C. forced himself to sit up.\u00a0 Adam couldn’t stop his lips from twitching in a tiny grin as he tossed his son his robe.\u00a0 “I’ll see you at the barn.”\u00a0 He started out the door, then stopped and turned around.\u00a0 “Happy birthday, son,” he said with a big dimpled smile.\u00a0 A.C. managed a weak smile in reply.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n When A.C. made it out to the barn, he saw his dad had already fed and watered his own mount, the horses that drew their surrey and their milk cow, and turned them out to graze.\u00a0 His dad was in the process of mucking out their stalls when he walked into the barn.\u00a0 Bucephalas and Blackbird both neighed to let A.C. know they were hungry and thirsty.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Headache any better?” Adam asked, the corner of his mouth turning up just the tiniest bit.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “No,” A.C. replied, annoyed by his dad’s lack of sympathy.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Well, your grandpa always used to tell me, \u2018Those who dance must pay the piper,'” Adam said with a wink.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A.C. hoped that his dad would help him with his chores since it was his birthday, but when his dad finished, he just walked off with a grin, saying they’d wait breakfast for him.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n When A.C. entered the dining room, he found his parents drinking tea and talking together.\u00a0 His dad looked up when he entered, followed by Mary who was carrying a platter heaped high with flapjacks and another containing crispy bacon.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Happy birthday, A.C. bach<\/em>!” his mama said with a bright smile.\u00a0 “Your dad says you have a headache so I’ve made you some peppermint tea.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Thanks, Mama,” he said as he took his place between his parents.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Adam said grace and then they passed around the flapjacks and bacon while Mary came back with a dish of scrambled eggs.\u00a0 A.C. discovered his stomach was a bit queasy so he only ate one flapjack with just a little butter and no honey or orange marmalade and two cups of peppermint tea.\u00a0 His parents exchanged glances at his lack of appetite but made no comment.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “You’re in luck A.C.,” Adam said as he finished his tea, “because there’s not a cloud in the sky so I don’t think your party will be rained out.”\u00a0 (Since A.C.’s February birthday was in Cloncurry’s rainy season, there had been a good chance the party might have postponed because of rain.)\u00a0 Adam pushed back his chair and said, “If you’ll excuse me, Sweetheart, I want to mow the lawn before it gets too hot.\u00a0 The grass is a little high for dancing after all the rain we’ve had.”\u00a0 (Not long after moving to Cloncurry, Adam had planted narrow leaf carpet grass in the front yard and worked hard maintaining it.\u00a0 The backyard and the pasture were all native Mitchell grasses that grew in their characteristic tussocks.)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Bronwen nodded, adding, “Mary and I need to get started on our baking now, too.”\u00a0 She smiled and said to A.C., “We’ll have plenty of lamingtons for your guests,” because he was especially fond of the squares of sponge cake covered in chocolate and cocoanut.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “What are your plans for this morning?” Adam asked his son.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Oh, uh, I think maybe I’ll start the book Miranda and William gave me,” he said.\u00a0 He noted that while Mama looked concerned, Dad just looked amused.\u00a0 There was no doubt in A.C.’s mind that Dad knew he’d had more than two beers the night before.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n He retrieved the book from his room, and then went to sit on the verandah where it was cooler.\u00a0 As soon as he opened the book, he spied an envelope addressed to him in his sister’s handwriting.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n January 2, 1904<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Dear A.C.,<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Happy Birthday from William, Jon, Laura and me!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n We just celebrated Jon’s fourth birthday yesterday and I wanted to get your gift in the mail today so it would be sure and arrive in Cloncurry before February 13.\u00a0 I suppose because we haven’t seen each other since you were ten, it’s hard for me to believe you will be sixteen.\u00a0 One of the few things I regret about my decision to go to school in America is that I missed seeing you grow up.\u00a0 Now I can’t help regretting that Jon and Laura will never get to know the Cartwright side of their family, except for Sarah and Benj.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Just as the knowledge that my children will never really know my family is painful; it is equally painful to think of the Ponderosa with no Cartwrights.\u00a0 Bronc Evans has invited us to bring Jon and Laura for a visit, but the thought of visiting the Ponderosa and not seeing Grandpa or Uncle Joe is just too sad.\u00a0 The summers I spent at the Ponderosa are full of such happy memories.\u00a0 Grandpa would tell me stories about Daddy, Uncle Hoss and Uncle Joe when they were young\u00a0\u00a0 Uncle Joe liked to reminisce, too.\u00a0 I think he really missed his older brothers.\u00a0 Maybe in a few years when the children are older, a visit to the Ponderosa won’t be painful, and William and I will take them.\u00a0 It is part of their heritage, just as it is yours and mine.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Winters are so cold here in Hanover that I long for Cloncurry in January.\u00a0 William and Jon, however, love the cold and the snow.\u00a0 Right now I can look out the window and see William trying to teach Jon how to build a snowman.\u00a0 Jon looks so funny in his heavy wool coat, wool cap with earflaps that fasten under his chin, wool mittens and black rubber boots.\u00a0 Underneath he’s wearing a pullover wool sweater.\u00a0 All that thick clothing makes him look very round.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Laura turned over onto her stomach for the first time this morning.\u00a0 She lost her baby hair and it looks like her new hair is going to be light brown like William’s.\u00a0 Jon is disappointed that his sister seems to sleep all the time when she isn’t eating. (I think he thought he could play with the baby like a puppy or a kitten.)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I hop you enjoy The Call of the Wild.\u00a0 I know you like animals, especially dogs and horses, so I thought it would interest you.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n We all hope you have a very happy birthday.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Love, <\/p>\n A.C. was tucking the envelope containing the letter back inside The Call of the Wild<\/strong> when his mama walked out and sat beside him.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I needed a breath of fresh air,” she said, dabbing at the beads of perspiration on her forehead and upper lip with a handkerchief.\u00a0 She smiled at him and asked, “Is your headache any better?”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n He returned her smile and said, “Yes.\u00a0 Your peppermint tea really helped.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Well, in that case, would you go offer to finish mowing the yard?” she asked.\u00a0 “I worry about your dad overexerting himself in this heat.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Right, Mama,” he said, jumping to his feet.\u00a0 “If I hadn’t had the headache, I would have done the mowing.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I know you would,” she said, reaching up and patting his arm.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Dad!’ A.C. called as he approached Adam, who stopped and wiped the sweat dripping from his face.\u00a0 “I’ll finish mowing,” A.C. said.\u00a0 “Why don’t you rest?”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I started; might as well finish,” Adam replied.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “But I feel guilty sitting on the verandah and watching you work,” A.C. answered with a dimpled grin.\u00a0 “Besides, you could read the letter Miranda sent.\u00a0 I found it inside the book she gave me.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I was surprised that she hadn’t sent you a letter,” Adam said.\u00a0 “All right, you can finish, but go put your hat on.\u00a0 You don’t want to get sunstroke.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Right,” A.C. replied and sprinted toward the house.\u00a0 Adam lifted his own hat to mop the sweat from his head.\u00a0 He watched as Mary appeared in the doorway, carrying a tray with a pitcher and glasses.\u00a0 She sat in one of the wicker chairs while Bronwen poured them each a glass of water and a third for Adam.\u00a0 He walked away from the mower and toward the verandah as he saw A.C. disappear into the house.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Guess I didn’t get as early a start as I should’ve,” Adam said as he sat down beside Bronwen on the swing.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “You just won’t admit you’re getting too old to mow the lawn in this heat,” Bronwen scolded as Adam took a long drink from his glass of water.\u00a0 He frowned at her.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “It is very hot today,” Mary said quickly.\u00a0 “It’s a good thing the party will be outside because the house is too hot.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Yes, once we’re done with the baking, we’ll need to make plenty of lemon squash,” Bronwen stated.\u00a0 Then she turned to Adam.\u00a0 “I thought we could have sandwiches and a salad for lunch, if that’s all right with you?”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “It sounds just fine,” he replied.\u00a0 “A.C. said there was a letter from Miranda in his book.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Beauty,” Bronwen said.\u00a0 “Would you read it to us, Cariad<\/em>?”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n He nodded, but realized he’d left his reading glasses in the library, so Bronwen read it instead.\u00a0 When she finished, Mary went back to the kitchen to continue baking lamingtons but Bronwen lingered with Adam.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I hope Miranda and William do take Jon and Laura to visit the Ponderosa when they’re older,” Adam said slowly as he placed the letter back in the envelope.\u00a0 “It is painful to think of no Cartwrights living there.\u00a0 When we settled here, I thought Hoss and Joe would be raising their families on the Ponderosa.\u00a0 If I could have known the ways things would turn out, maybe I would have taken you back to the Ponderosa and raised our children there.”\u00a0 He fell silent and she reached for his hand.\u00a0 After a few minutes, he smiled at her and said, “I don’t regret my choice.\u00a0 We’ve had a good life here.\u00a0 I just wish things had worked out differently for Hoss and Joe.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “So do I,” she replied softly.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “After Joe died, I revised my will,” he added quietly.\u00a0 “I left my share in the Ponderosa to Will’s sons.\u00a0 I thought about leaving it to A.C. but he’s living here while John and Michael live in California.\u00a0 Of course, now that John’s a detective in the San Francisco police and Michael’s a reporter forThe Chronicle<\/em>, they may not have any interest in the ranch.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “What about Jon?” she asked<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “If I’m still alive when he’s A.C.’s age, then I may change my will,” he replied with a slight smile.\u00a0 Then he stood up saying, “Well, it’s time for Jory and Ifor’s riding lesson.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n By six o’clock, Adam and A.C. (with help from Rhys, Llywelyn, and Mark) had hung Chinese lanterns in the front yard, while Bronwen and Mary had finished making the lamingtons and the lemon squash.\u00a0 The dining room table had been carried out to the verandah where the food and drink were placed on it and then covered with cheesecloth to keep the flies off.\u00a0 It wasn’t long before the first guests began to arrive.\u00a0 The young women all wore white-some dresses were made of cr\u00eape de chine<\/em> but most of muslin-trimmed with lace or ruffles or ribbons.\u00a0 The young men wore white shirts with starched collars and neckties.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n All day, A.C. had been trying to decide which girl he would ask to dance first.\u00a0 Since he couldn’t dance with his first choice of Tegan Hughnans, he decided he would ask Mary Gibson.\u00a0 She was pretty with curly light brown hair and a cute turned-up nose, but she was also shy.\u00a0 Maybe he could draw her out.\u00a0 And he could still have a dance or two with Tegan since she wasn’t actually Robbie’s girl.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Once all the invited guests (with the exception of Ned Browne and Tom Jenkins) had arrived, A.C. sought out Mary.\u00a0 She was standing with a group of other girls.\u00a0 A.C. thought she looked especially pretty in her high-necked muslin dress trimmed with ruffles at her wrists and along the hem.\u00a0 Tegan looked lovely as well in a dress decorated with blue ribbons that matched her eyes and complimented her chestnut hair.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n He greeted the girls and then turned to Mary.\u00a0 “May I have the first dance, Mary?” he asked with a warm smile.\u00a0 Her cheeks grew very pink as she replied softly, “Yes, you may.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n He offered her his arm then, saying, “Let’s go tell Alf and the others they can start playing.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The musicians began with a two-step waltz and as A.C. and Mary danced, he said with a smile, “You look very pretty tonight.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Thank you,” she replied, blushing just a little.\u00a0 She hesitated and then said in a rush, “It’s a lovely party.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I hope it will be,” he answered.\u00a0 Then he looked around and said with satisfaction, “Looks like everyone is dancing.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Your parents look like they’re enjoying themselves, too,” she commented, glancing over at Adam and Bronwen.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Dad said he was looking forward to dancing with Mama,” A.C. said.\u00a0 It seemed odd to watch his parents dancing, Dad holding Mama close-closer than A.C. would be allowed to hold any of his partners.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I think it’s so romantic,” Mary said wistfully.\u00a0 “I mean, they’re grandparents but you can tell watching them that they’re still in love.\u00a0 You’re lucky,” she added with a quiet intensity, thinking of her own parents’ frequent quarrels.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Too right.\u00a0 Here I am dancing with a very pretty girl.\u00a0 Couldn’t be any luckier,” he responded with a smile, wanting to lighten the mood.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n When the dance ended, one of his friends approached and A.C. hurried over to Tegan, who was talking with Robbie.\u00a0 He was disappointed to discover she already had a partner for the next dance, but he was able to claim the third.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I already asked her for the last dance,” Robbie said.\u00a0 “She wouldn’t dance more than two dances with me.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “You got two.\u00a0 I only got one,” A.C. replied.\u00a0 “C’mon.\u00a0 We need to find partners for the next dance.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A.C. started to look for Barbara Wheeler but then he noticed Margaret Edmonds standing off by herself.\u00a0 She was the homeliest girl in the school-overweight with badly protruding teeth and acne.\u00a0 A.C. hadn’t really expected her to accept his invitation, and she looked utterly miserable.\u00a0 He knew what he should do; he was the host and he should make certain all his guests were having fun.\u00a0 More than that, he had a kind heart and Margaret’s misery was something he couldn’t ignore.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n She didn’t see him approach and was obviously startled when he said her name.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I’m sorry if I startled you,” he said with a warm smile.\u00a0 “I just wanted to ask if you’d be my partner for the next dance.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I- I don’t know how to dance,” she stammered, her face and neck turning a dark crimson.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Would you like some lemon squash?” he asked then.\u00a0 “My mama makes bonzer lemon squash.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “That would be nice.\u00a0 Th- thank you,” Margaret replied.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Why don’t we sit on the verandah while we drink?” he suggested.\u00a0 “There’s usually a breeze there.”\u00a0 She appeared undecided so he smiled engagingly and said, “C’mon.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n He suggested they sit on the swing while they drank, but she walked around the side of the house until the dancers were no longer visible and sat on the railing.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “You don’t have to stay,” she said quietly.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I know, but I want to,” he replied, sitting beside her.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I know you’d rather be dancing with one of the pretty girls,’ she said quietly, refusing to meet his eyes.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “You may not be the prettiest girl here, but you’re the smartest.\u00a0 Except for my cousin Emma,” he added with a wink.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I don’t do very well in mathematics,” she said, still refusing to meet his eyes.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Maybe not, but you know more than everyone else in school when we study history or literature,” he replied.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I love to read,” she said quietly.\u00a0 “I can escape to other places and other times.\u00a0 Reading about Henry V fighting the battle of Agincourt or Queen Elizabeth defeating the Spanish Armada is more exciting than life here.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Not everything in the past was exciting.\u00a0 What about the Black Death?” he asked.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n She shrugged and smiled slightly.\u00a0 “I don’t read much about those times.\u00a0 They’re too sad.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n As Adam and Bronwen danced, she said, “I don’t see A.C.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “He’s not dancing,” Adam said.\u00a0 “I saw him taking Margaret Edmonds to get some lemon squash.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I’m glad,” she said.\u00a0 “I hate to think of her being ignored and miserable.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I’m proud of him,” Adam stated quietly.\u00a0 “I wish I thought some of his friends would follow his example.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n When the dance ended, A.C. and Margaret approached his parents.\u00a0 “I was wondering if you could show Margaret our library.\u00a0 She really loves to read and I told her that you have hundreds of books.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I’d be happy to show you our library, Margaret,” Bronwen said with a friendly smile and led the girl toward the house.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “She’s not having a good time and I thought she’d like looking at the books,” A.C. said to Adam, who put a hand on his son’s shoulder and gave it a squeeze.\u00a0 A.C. smiled before hurrying to claim his dance with Tegan.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n This dance was a lively polka so A.C. and Tegan didn’t have much breath for talking.\u00a0 When it finished, A.C. said with a grin, “I don’t suppose I could have another dance?”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I’d love that,” Tegan replied with a grin of her own.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n This time the dance was a waltz and as A.C. guided Tegan through the graceful steps, she smiled up at him and said, “This is a ripper party, A.C.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Thanks,” he replied.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Elen told Kerra that your parents got you a new horse for your birthday,” Tegan said then.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “A Waler,” A.C. said enthusiastically.\u00a0 “He’s a ripper.\u00a0 My dad is going to help me train him to cut cattle.”\u00a0 He saw the puzzled look on her face and added, “I’m spending our next summer vacation working on our cattle station.\u00a0 My dad and his brothers were jackaroos back in the States and I wanted to see what it’s like.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n As they danced near the front gate, they saw Ned and Tom making a late appearance.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I wondered what had become of them,” A.C. said happily, and didn’t notice that his partner did not share his enthusiasm.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Adam had also noted Ned and Tom’s arrival and walked over to greet them.\u00a0 He suspected they had stopped by Bert Greene’s on their way to the party but they weren’t drunk so he decided just to keep an eye on them.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n “This party is gonna be a ripper once we add this to the lemon squash,” Tom said to Ned in an undertone as they walked casually toward the verandah.\u00a0 He reached into his pocket and put his hand around the flask he’d \u2018borrowed’ from his dad and had Bert Greene fill with gin.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n When they approached the silver punch bowl, Tom pulled the flask from his pocket and started to unscrew the lid.\u00a0 Just then, they each felt a hand grip their shoulders hard, and heard A.C.’s dad’s deep voice saying, “I suggest the two of you leave quietly right now.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “We- we were just getting something to drink, Mr. Cartwright,” Ned protested, wincing at the strength of Adam’s grip. \u00a0A.C.’s dad may be an old man but he’s sure strong.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n “No, you were planning on adding something to the lemon squash,” Adam replied in an implacable tone.\u00a0 He turned to Llywelyn and Mark, whom he’d asked to help him keep an eye on Tom and Ned.\u00a0 “Llywelyn, check the flask that Tom just put back in his pocket.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Tom tried to squirm away, but Adam tightened his hold and Mark moved to grasp one of Tom’s arms in an iron grip.\u00a0 Llywelyn opened the flask and took a sip.\u00a0 “Gin,” he said.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Is it your dad’s flask?” Adam asked Tom<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Yeah,” the boy snarled.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I’ll give it back to him tomorrow and tell him how it came to be in my possession,” Adam said coldly.\u00a0 “Now, if you want to save yourselves some embarrassment, I suggest you leave quietly.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The boys nodded sullenly and so Adam and Mark released them.\u00a0 As they walked toward the front gate, A.C. saw them.\u00a0 Excusing himself to his partner, he hurried over to his mates.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “You aren’t leaving?” he asked in surprise.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Your dad told us to rack off,” Tom said, turning his back on A.C. and jerking the gate open.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Why?” A.C. asked, watching Tom stalk off.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u2018We just wanted to have a little fun but your dad’s a wowser,” Ned retorted.\u00a0 Then he slammed the gate shut behind him.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A.C. saw his dad standing on the verandah talking with Llywelyn and Mark so he hurried over.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Tom said you told him to rack off,” he said in an angry tone.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I asked them to leave,” Adam responded calmly.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “They were my guests,” A.C. said in the same angry tone.\u00a0 “They said they were just trying to have a little fun.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “A.C., we caught them getting ready to pour gin in the lemon squash,” Llywelyn inserted. \u00a0“Their idea of fun was to get everyone drunk.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I didn’t want to ruin your party so I asked them to leave quietly,” Adam said.\u00a0 “I have the flask Tom took from his father and I’ll return it tomorrow afternoon.\u00a0 I’ll have a talk with Ned’s father as well.\u00a0 What they decide to do about their sons’ actions is their business.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “They didn’t tell me what they were going to do,” A.C. said, sounding shocked.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “No, I’m sure they didn’t,” Adam replied, resting his hand affectionately on his son’s shoulders.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A.C. smiled a little at the three older men before saying, “Thanks for stopping them.\u00a0 They would have ruined the party.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “They’re gone now, and the evening is still young.\u00a0 I want to dance with my wife,” Adam said with a wink.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “And so do I,” Llywelyn said with a grin.\u00a0 “We’d better hurry and find them before someone else asks them to dance.”\u00a0 Smiling, they all walked down the verandah’s steps to join the dancers.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A.C’s next partner was a red-haired, freckle-faced girl named Janet Campbell.\u00a0 They’d been friends ever since they’d started school as six-year-olds.\u00a0 Instead of playing jacks or hopscotch with the other little girls, Janet played with the little boys.\u00a0 Even though she now wore long skirts, A.C. still tended to think of her as one of his mates.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Ned and Tom bail out?” she asked curiously as they danced and he nodded reluctantly.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Well, I think this is a ripper party, and so does everyone else” she said with a big smile.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A.C. smiled down at her, thinking, She’s right.\u00a0 It is a ripper party.\u00a0 Everyone is having a good time.\u00a0 Even poor Margaret is having a good time now that Mama let her stay in the library and read.\u00a0 This is my best birthday ever.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Chapter 2<\/strong><\/p>\n Monday morning, Adam shook his head slightly as he watched A.C. wolf down his fried eggs, bacon and toast.\u00a0 “What’s your hurry, son?” he inquired mildly.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I asked Mary if I could walk her to school and Robbie asked Tegan.\u00a0 Tegan suggested we all walk together so Robbie and I have to leave early,” A.C. explained and his parents smiled.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A.C. was just finishing when they heard a knock at the front door and Adam called, “Come in!”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Robbie, a tall gangly boy, walked into the dining room.\u00a0 “G’day, Mr. and Mrs. Cartwright.\u00a0 Are you ready, A.C.?\u00a0 I don’t want to be late.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A.C. hurriedly finished his cup of tea and jumped to his feet.\u00a0 “Ready.\u00a0 Hooroo, Mama and Dad.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n As A.C. and Robbie walked along, Robbie said, “Ned and Tom sure didn’t stay long at your party.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A.C. was silent for a moment, debating whether or not to mention why they’d been asked to leave.\u00a0 All he said to Robbie was, “They didn’t like the party.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Well, I thought it was a ripper party,” Robbie said loyally.\u00a0 Then he added thoughtfully, “Ned and Tom have changed, and not for the better.\u00a0 I like going to the pub for a couple of beers but every night they get rotten.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n When they got to the end of their street, they found Ned and Tom waiting.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Cartwright,” Tom snarled, moving so he blocked their way, “thanks to your dad, mine gave me a gobful.\u00a0 I can’t go to the pub for a month!”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Your dad is a dobber,” Ned sneered.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Robbie looked from Tom and Ned back to A.C., wondering what had really happened at the party.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A.C. said scornfully, “It’s not my dad’s fault if you’re drongos.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n With a curse, Ned punched A.C. on the jaw.\u00a0 Caught by surprise, A.C. wasn’t able to block the blow, but then he hit Ned on the nose, drawing blood.\u00a0 Tom punched A.C. in the gut and Ned started to deliver a roundhouse punch, but Robbie stepped in.\u00a0 The four of them traded blows until A.C. knocked Tom to the ground and he just lay there, making no attempt to get up.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Had enough?” Robbie asked Ned, who nodded, but his eyes still smoldered with fury.\u00a0 He helped Tom and they headed back toward their own neighborhood while A.C. and Robbie watched them.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “We can’t go to school looking like this,” Robbie said, reaching for his handkerchief to staunch the blood dripping from his nose.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Too right,” A.C. replied, wincing as he prodded where Tom had punched him in the kidney.\u00a0 “I just hope I can sneak in the backdoor without Mama seeing me.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Too right,” Robbie declared emphatically.\u00a0 “Now, are you gonna tell me why they called your dad a dobber?”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Yeah, I guess you have a right to know,” A.C. replied with a crooked grin just like his dad’s.\u00a0 “Saturday night, my dad caught them trying to add gin to the lemon squash.\u00a0 Yesterday, Dad took Mr. Jenkins’ flask back to him and he told him and Mr. Browne what Tom and Ned tried to do.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Robbie whistled.\u00a0 “Since Mr. Browne and Mr. Jenkins both work for your dad, I bet they were really angry.\u00a0 Maybe even worried about getting sacked.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Dad and Uncle Rhys wouldn’t sack a man because of something his son did,” A.C. said firmly.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u2018I know that, but Mr. Browne and Mr. Jenkins might not,” Robbie said.\u00a0 “C’mon.\u00a0 Let’s see if we can get cleaned up without our mums catching us.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A.C. started to head for the backyard when he remembered Monday was wash day and so Mama and Mary would be sure to see him if he went that way.\u00a0 Duchess spotted him and began to bark but quieted on his command.\u00a0 She padded after him silently as he snuck up the stairs to his bedroom.\u00a0 Looking in his shaving mirror, he could see bruises already forming along his jaw and his right cheekbone.\u00a0 The worst one was where he’d been punched in the kidney.\u00a0 I might have known Tom would fight dirty<\/em> he thought.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n He was soaking the scraped and swollen knuckles of his left hand when Bronwen, who’d come upstairs to strip the beds, appeared in his doorway.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “A.C.!” she said in surprise, then taking in his battered face exclaimed, “What happened to you?”\u00a0 Before he could open his mouth, she said, “Never mind.\u00a0 It’s clear what happened.\u00a0 You can explain everything when your dad gets home tonight.\u00a0 Now, sit down on the bed and let me take a look at you.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “It’s just a few bruises and scrapes, Mama.\u00a0 That’s all,” he protested, but she only repeated, “Sit down.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n She gently held his chin and turned his face so she could examine the bruises beginning to form.\u00a0 “They don’t look too bad,” she said.\u00a0 “Let me see your hand now.”\u00a0 There was more damage here and she asked him, “Did you use boric acid on these cuts and scrapes?”\u00a0 When he shook his head, she said firmly, “Stay here and I’ll get some.\u00a0 Then I want to wrap some gauze and a bandage around your hand before you go to school.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n When A.C. stepped onto the verandah, he found Robbie waiting for him.\u00a0 His right eye was beginning to swell shut but his nose had stopped bleeding.\u00a0 His right hand was bandaged similarly to A.C.’s left.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Looks like your mum caught you, too,” Robbie said with a sigh.\u00a0 “Mine gave me a gobful.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Mine just said we’d talk about it tonight when my dad got home,” A.C. said despondently as they walked toward the gate.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Tegan is going to be angry with me,” Robbie said mournfully.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Melanie Andrews’ eyebrows first shot up in surprise and then drew together in a frown when two of her missing students appeared in the doorway.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Well, Adam and Robert, I see I don’t need to ask why the two of you are tardy,” she said sharply.\u00a0 “I hope you have apologized to each other.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Uh, we weren’t fighting each other, Miss Andrews,” A.C. replied.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Well, take your seats,” Melanie said, deducing that they had probably been fighting with her other missing students.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n As soon as it was time for lunch, A.C. and Robbie hurried to apologize to Mary and Tegan, but the girls gave them the cold shoulder.\u00a0 Dejectedly, the two boys walked home for lunch.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I think they should have given us a chance to explain,” A.C. complained.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I really thought Tegan liked dancing with me at the party,” Robbie said sadly.\u00a0 Just then they heard Janet’s voice calling for them to wait.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n As soon as she caught up with the boys, Janet immediately asked, “Did you have a barney with Ned and Tom?”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Yeah,” A.C. said while Robbie added, “They started it.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “That doesn’t surprise me,” Janet said.\u00a0 “Do your oldies know about it.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Our mums do,” Robbie replied, “and they’ll tell our dads.\u00a0 I’m sure not looking forward to that.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n When school was out, Melanie asked A.C. and Robbie to wait.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I just want to tell you how disappointed I am in both of you,” she said looking up at the two young men who were now several inches taller than she.\u00a0 “Violence is not the solution to a problem”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I know it’s not, Miss Andrews, but I’m not going to let anyone insult my family and friends,” A.C. said firmly.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n She sighed a little.\u00a0 She had been certain Adam and Robert hadn’t started the fight.\u00a0 “Well, you didn’t have the fight at school so I suppose it’s not really my concern.\u00a0 I just felt I must express my disappointment in your behavior.\u00a0 I trust you’ll both be on time tomorrow.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “We will, Miss Andrews,” they both assured her.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n As soon as they left the schoolhouse, they ran after Tegan and Mary, shouting for them to please wait.\u00a0 This time the two girls halted while their friends continued walking.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Tegan, I’m truly sorry that I couldn’t walk to school with you,” Robbie said earnestly.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Yes, and so am I, Mary,” A.C. added.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Fair dinkum?” Tegan said, disdainfully tossing her head.\u00a0 “It’s clear you had something more important to do,” she added scornfully.\u00a0 Mary was silent, gazing reproachfully at A.C.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “We didn’t start the fight,” A.C. said, “but we aren’t jelly kneed.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Right,” Robbie added, “and Ned and Tom insulted A.C.’s dad.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I suppose you had to fight them then,” Tegan said.\u00a0 “Did you win?”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Too right,” Robbie said.\u00a0 “They look worse than we do.\u00a0 Probably why they weren’t at school.\u00a0 Could- could we walk to school together tomorrow?”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The girls looked at each other and after a moment they agreed.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n As soon as A.C. got home, he hurriedly did his chores and then went to the library to work on his assignments.\u00a0 He was just finishing a geometry problem when he heard his dad greet his mama.\u00a0 It wasn’t long before his parents appeared in the doorway.\u00a0 His dad looked him over, assessing the damage, before he and his mama sat down.\u00a0 His dad indicated A.C. was to join them, so he got up from behind the desk and sat down beside his mama.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I would like to know whom you fought and why,” his dad said evenly.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A.C.’s apprehension increased because he knew the quieter his dad was, the angrier he was.\u00a0 Taking a deep, calming breath, he said, “Robbie and I had a barney with Ned and Tom.\u00a0 Ned hit me first so I had to hit him back.\u00a0 Robbie got involved to prevent them both hitting me.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Adam sighed.\u00a0 “I figured the fight was with Ned and Tom, and you don’t need to explain what it was about.”\u00a0 He pinched the bridge of his nose.\u00a0 “If someone hits you, I expect you to defend yourself.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A.C. began to relax until his dad added, “But I have to ask you this:\u00a0 Did you do or say anything that might have provoked Ned into hitting you?”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A.C. dropped his eyes and said very reluctantly, “After he called you a dobber, I said it wasn’t your fault he was a drongo.”\u00a0 He glanced up quickly and seeing his parents’ expressions, he said defensively, “I couldn’t let him insult you, Dad!”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Adam replied quietly, “I appreciate your defending my honor, son.\u00a0 I’m sure Ned was angry because his dad punished him and he wanted to take his anger out on someone.\u00a0 He was just looking for an excuse to start a fight.\u00a0 I’m not going to punish you for standing up for yourself, and for me, but it would be best if you keep away from Ned and Tom and avoid any more trouble.”\u00a0 He glanced quickly at Bronwen out of the corner of one eye before asking, “Uh, who won the fight?”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Robbie and I did,” A.C. replied, relishing his dad’s proud smile.\u00a0 He didn’t notice his mama’s frown.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n As Adam and Bronwen got ready for bed that night, she said to him, “I wish you hadn’t looked so proud when A.C. told you that he and Robbie won the fight.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n He cocked an eyebrow, saying firmly, “I was proud.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Oh, men!” she exclaimed, hands on hips.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Are you telling me that you would have preferred he and Robbie lost?” he asked incredulously, both eyebrows shooting up.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “No, of course not,” she admitted.<\/p>\n “Oh, women!” he said with a chuckle before bending down to kiss her.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The next morning as A.C. and Robbie left the Cartwright house, Robbie said, “My dad didn’t punish me.\u00a0 Said he would expect me to defend my mate.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Yeah, my dad thanked me for standing up for him,” A.C. said proudly.\u00a0 His expression quickly sobered as he added, “He told me to keep away from Tom and Ned.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “My dad told me the same thing,” Robbie said.\u00a0 “I think if Tom and Ned are smart, they’ll keep away from us.”\u00a0 The two boys shared a grin.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n One morning a few weeks later, as A.C. and Adam were caring for the livestock, A.C. said worriedly, “Dad, Blackbird is favoring his right foreleg.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Let’s see,” Adam said.\u00a0 He watched carefully as his son walked the gelding back and forth in front of him.\u00a0 “Yes, he’s definitely favoring it,” Adam agreed.\u00a0 He bent over and put his hand on the right foot and then on the left.\u00a0 “Yes, the right is much hotter.\u00a0 I think you’d better go ask Mr. MacDonald to come and have a look at Blackbird.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I’d- I’d like to be here when he examines him,” A.C. said, and to his relief, his dad nodded.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Tell Robbie and then he can tell Miss Andrews why you’ll be late today,” Adam suggested.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Cloncurry’s veterinarian was a wiry man with bright blue eyes and a cheerful countenance.\u00a0 He was just finishing his breakfast when his two terriers began yapping and he heard a voice calling his name.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Finish your breakfast; I’ll get the door,” his wife said, lifting the baby from her highchair and carrying her with her.\u00a0 She returned in a minute with A.C., who quickly explained about Blackbird.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n MacDonald finished his cup of tea and rose to his feet.\u00a0 “I’ll get my bag and then we’ll take a look at your horse,” he said with a friendly smile.\u00a0 He kissed his little boy’s cheek, and then the baby’s, and lastly his wife’s before heading to his surgery where he kept his bag of instruments.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A.C. watched with interest as MacDonald took a hammer from his bag and tapped the wall of the affected hoof.\u00a0 Blackbird flinched, then raised the hoof and held it in the air.\u00a0 A.C. saw it was trembling and patted the gelding’s neck comfortingly, watching as the animal carefully put the hoof back on the ground.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I think there’s some pus in that foot,” MacDonald stated.\u00a0 “I’ll need to make an opening and drain it.\u00a0 Please hold his head.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Right,” A.C. said, and then stroked Blackbird’s neck and spoke in a soothing voice.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n MacDonald extracted a hoof knife from his bag and stood so he could tuck the horse’s foot between his knees.\u00a0 A.C. craned his head around so he could watch while he continued to stroke his gelding’s neck.\u00a0 It was a painstaking business scraping through the hard hoof but at last pus spurted out before slowing to a trickle.\u00a0 A.C. watched MacDonald enlarge the hole before putting Blackbird’s hoof back on the ground.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “He’ll be right now?” A.C. asked.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Should be.\u00a0 I want to give him an injection of tetanus antitoxin and then disinfect the hole I just made in the hoof,” MacDonald replied.\u00a0 “I wouldn’t ride him for at least a week though.”\u00a0 He cocked his head slightly and said, “You like animals don’t you?”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Yes, I do,” A.C. answered frankly.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “My practice is mostly large animal,” MacDonald said conversationally, “but the small animal side is growing.\u00a0 That presents a bit of a problem.”\u00a0 He smiled slightly at A.C.’s raised eyebrow.\u00a0 “Sometimes, I need to perform surgery and occasionally that means I really need to keep the animal overnight.\u00a0 But by the time I’ve ridden out to a station to treat sick cattle or horses and back to Cloncurry, I’m exhausted.\u00a0 With two ankle biters and a third on the way, my wife doesn’t have time to feed a sick animal as well as our own two dogs.\u00a0 What I need is to hire someone who’d be willing to care for the animal in the evening.\u00a0 It’s not steady work; could be weeks go by before I’d need someone.\u00a0 And it needs to be someone who likes animals.”\u00a0 He paused.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I’d be interested Mr. MacDonald.\u00a0 I like the idea of helping a sick animal,” A.C. said slowly.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “We’ll give it a try,” the older man said with a warm smile.\u00a0 “I’ll send you word when I need you.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n It was a Friday afternoon about three weeks later when Huw’s friend Ritchie, who lived across the street from the veterinarian, knocked on the Cartwright’s front door.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I have a note here for A.C.,” Ritchie said to Mary.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “He’s at the barn,” she replied, and the little boy ran down the verandah steps and headed for the barn.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A.C. was grooming Blackbird while Elen groomed Bucephalas and it was she who spotted Ritchie first.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I wonder what Ritchie’s doing here,” she said to her uncle.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “We’ll find out pretty soon,” he replied with a grin.\u00a0 “G’day mate!” he called to the little boy.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Ritchie was out of breath but managed to gasp out, “Note for you,” as he handed A.C. the paper in his hand.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Performing surgery tomorrow on Mrs. Greene’s dog<\/em>, A.C. read.\u00a0 Could you come tomorrow evening to look after her?<\/em>\u00a0 The note was signed.\u00a0 MacDonald<\/em>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I’m supposed to tell Mr. MacDonald your answer,” Ritchie said.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I want to answer in person,” A.C. replied.\u00a0 “How’d you like to ride back to your house with me?”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Too right!” the little boy exclaimed excitedly.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Elen, do you mind telling your grandma that I’m going to talk with Mr. MacDonald?.\u00a0 I shouldn’t be gone too long.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I’ll tell her,” Elen agreed, so A.C. saddled Blackbird, and with Ritchie sitting in front of him, they set off for the MacDonald house.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Little Sandy MacDonald was playing catch with the MacDonalds’ terriers in the front yard while his mama kept an eye on him and his baby sister, who was trying to crawl after the dogs.\u00a0 A.C. swung Ritchie down first, before dismounting and groundtying Blackbird.\u00a0 Blackbird was used to Duchess and so ignored the two terriers, who began to bark excitedly.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “G’day, Mrs. MacDonald,” A.C. said, tipping his hat.\u00a0 “I was hoping I could speak with Mr. MacDonald.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “He’s in his surgery,” she said, smiling up at the handsome young man.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A.C. found MacDonald tidying up after seeing his last patient.\u00a0 “Come to answer my note in person, I see,” the veterinarian commented with a grin.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Yes, because I wanted to ask you something,” A.C. replied.\u00a0 “Could- could I watch you do the surgery?”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I don’t know,” the veterinarian said slowly.\u00a0 “Are you squeamish about the sight of blood?\u00a0 If I’m in the middle of surgery, I can’t be worrying about you if you faint.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I don’t believe I’ll faint,” A.C. replied.\u00a0 “What kind of surgery is it?”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Mrs. Greene’s Sally has an aural hematoma,” MacDonald stated.\u00a0 “That means the blood vessels between the skin and cartilage of the ear have ruptured, causing a painful swelling.\u00a0 The only way to treat it is to make an incision to drain the blood and then stitch the layers of the ear together.\u00a0 If you can’t stand the sight of blood, you won’t be able to observe this surgery.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I’m sure I can stand it,” A.C. said, “and I’d really like to observe you work.\u00a0 If you don’t mind.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n MacDonald agreed and so A.C. arranged to be there promptly at eight o’clock the next morning.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n His parents were surprised when he explained what he was going to do but as long as he had the veterinarian’s permission, they raised no objection.\u00a0 Adam realized that it was the sort of thing Hoss might have done if he’d had the opportunity, but he kept that thought to himself.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A.C. observed quietly as MacDonald administered the anesthetic and then made the incision in the dog’s grotesquely swollen ear.\u00a0 He was startled when the blood gushed out into the dish the veterinarian moved quickly in position to catch it.\u00a0 Once the hematoma had been drained, A.C. watched as MacDonald disinfected the incision, closed it with neat stitches Aunt Matilda would have been proud of, and then bandaged the ear to the dog’s head.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “She should be coming around from the anesthetic around lunchtime,” MacDonald said.\u00a0 “Mrs. Greene will take her home after church tomorrow.\u00a0 If you could come by tonight, I’ll take care of her in the morning.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Right,” A.C. said.\u00a0 “Thanks for letting me observe the surgery, Mr. MacDonald.\u00a0 It was fascinating.\u00a0 It must be a wonderful feeling, being able to relieve an animal’s suffering like that.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “It is,” MacDonald said with a warm smile.\u00a0 “It surely is.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n At high tea that evening, Adam asked A.C. about his experience.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “It was really interesting,” A.C. said.\u00a0 “I will admit I felt a little squeamish when he first made the incision, but that passed.\u00a0 Before he anesthetized Sally, it was obvious that ear was causing her a lot of pain, but when I saw her tonight, I could see how much better she felt already.\u00a0 It was truly remarkable.”\u00a0 He stopped and grinned, adding, “Sally didn’t much like that bandage though.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Adam was reminded strongly of Hoss, who had always loved all living creatures.\u00a0 Bronwen saw the enthusiasm on their son’s face and heard it in his voice and found herself wondering, not for the first time, if A.C. would really be happy following in his dad’s footsteps as an engineer, working with calculations and equations.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Chapter 3<\/strong><\/p>\n It was a chilly and rainy spring afternoon in April so Sarah Cartwright and her friends walked briskly home from Miss Winsor’s School on Beacon Street.\u00a0 Sarah’s closest friend, Helen, lived in the adjoining row house on Mt. Vernon Street while Florence and Ella both lived in row houses on Chestnut Street.\u00a0 With the exception of Sarah, all four girls had lived their in entire lives in Boston’s exclusive Beacon Hill neighborhood and their summer homes on Martha’s Vineyard.\u00a0 Every fall when Sarah returned from her summer vacation at the Ponderosa, the other three listened eagerly to her tales of life on a real ranch in the Wild West.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Until last summer.\u00a0 Last summer Sarah had been on Martha’s Vineyard with the other girls.\u00a0 She’d missed her daddy so much.\u00a0 She hadn’t wanted to play tennis or croquet with her friends.\u00a0 She’d go for long walks along the beach, thinking about her daddy and crying because she would never see him again.\u00a0 She couldn’t talk with her mama about her daddy since mama had left daddy when Sarah was only seven.\u00a0 She’d tried to talk with her brother, Benj, but he’d made it clear he didn’t want to talk about their daddy.\u00a0 Ever.\u00a0 At the end of July, Cousin Miranda invited her to visit her family in Hanover, New Hampshire.\u00a0 Her Uncle Robert had told her mama she shouldn’t allow it, but Sarah had pleaded with her mama and she had given Sarah permission to accept the invitation.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Uncle Robert said it wasn’t proper for a girl of sixteen to travel alone, so her mama’s maid, Bertha, had traveled with her, and Bertha returned to Hanover at the end of August to accompany Sarah back to Boston.\u00a0 Miranda and her husband, William, had talked with Sarah about her daddy and all the fun they used to have during the summer when they’d visit Daddy and Grandpa on the Ponderosa.\u00a0 Miranda had shared stories about Sarah’s daddy that Uncle Adam had told her when she was growing up in Cloncurry.\u00a0 When Sarah went back to Boston, she and Miranda promised they would write each other regularly.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Sarah still missed her daddy, but being able to talk with Miranda and William about him had really helped.\u00a0 When Miranda and William’s baby daughter was christened in the middle of October, Sarah traveled to Hanover because she was Laura’s godmother.\u00a0 This time, Bertha wasn’t her traveling companion-Benj, was.\u00a0 Benj had been reluctant but their mama had insisted he attend the christening.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Miranda is your cousin, Benj,” Mama had said.\u00a0 “It wouldn’t be proper for you not to attend her daughter’s christening.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “But you’re not attending,” Benj had complained.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Even though Miranda and William invited me, I think my presence would be awkward since Miranda was close to your father.\u00a0 You and your sister should definitely attend the christening though.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Benj had still been reluctant until Uncle Robert reminded him that William’s father was the head of one of Delaware’s most prestigious law firms.\u00a0 “If you are serious about practicing law, a connection with the Gordons of Wilmington could prove very advantageous to your career,” Uncle Robert had told Benj.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Sarah and Benj had both enjoyed their visit, for entirely different reasons.\u00a0 Sarah, who’d had few opportunities to be around babies, was enthralled with her goddaughter, although disappointed that she slept much of the time.\u00a0 Laura’s older brother, Jon, was delighted to play catch with Sarah and to look at his picture books with her.\u00a0 Benj, on the other hand, had no interest in small children and infants; he managed to spend the majority of his time with William’s family.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n That year at Christmas, the Boston Cartwrights and the Cloncurry Cartwrights exchanged Christmas cards just as they had ever since Annabelle had taken the children and moved to Boston.\u00a0 There was one difference.\u00a0 A huge difference.\u00a0 This year there was no Christmas card from Nevada.\u00a0 Sarah’s Christmas wasn’t merry-it was melancholy.\u00a0 Although she was too miserable to notice, her mother and brother’s gaiety was forced, for they, too, were thinking of the husband and father they would never see again.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Gradually, Sarah’s naturally cheerful disposition began to reassert itself.\u00a0 As the months passed, she could walk through the Common with her friends and see the first signs of spring: cheerful yellow daffodils and cheeky robins.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n That chilly April afternoon when Sarah walked in the front door of her home, the maid was there to take her umbrella.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Oh, Miss Sarah, you had a telephone call,” the maid said.\u00a0 “Mrs. Gordon.\u00a0 She wanted to let you know she and Dr. Gordon and the children are in Boston for the weekend.\u00a0 They’re staying at the Parker House and she would like you to call her there.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Thank you, Kathleen,” Sarah said with a smile and then hurried to the library where the telephone was located.\u00a0 She had to wait a few minutes before she heard Miranda’s voice on the line.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n After they exchanged greetings, Miranda said, “William is here to attend a symposium at Harvard and I decided to come with him so I could do some shopping at Bloomingdale’s.\u00a0 Jon is outgrowing his clothes and I need some new things.\u00a0 Would you like to come with us tomorrow?\u00a0 I could really use some help with Laura and Jon.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I’d love to come if it’s all right with Mama,” Sarah said.\u00a0 “She’s out now but I could call you back at six o’clock and let you know for sure if I can come.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “That would be fine,” Miranda said.\u00a0 Before she hung up, Sarah could hear Jon’s voice saying, “Read me a story, Mama.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Sarah was in her room working on her schoolwork when she heard the sound of her mama’s door being closed.\u00a0 She knocked on her mama’s bedroom door and heard her say, “Come in.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Annabelle had removed her hat, which was festooned with feathers and ribbons and silk flowers, and set it on her bed to be put up later.\u00a0 Her waist had thickened and her hair was now an artificial gold.\u00a0 There were also lines carved deeply from her nose to her mouth.\u00a0 Even so, she was still an unusually lovely woman.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Did you have a good day at school?” she asked her daughter.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “It was all right.\u00a0 It didn’t start raining until after we played hockey,” Sarah replied.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Sarah was proud of the fact she was captain of both the field hockey and basketball teams at Miss Winsor’s School.\u00a0 She wasn’t very interested in academic subjects so her results in that area were only average.\u00a0 Annabelle was satisfied with her daughter’s performance, however.\u00a0 She hadn’t wanted Sarah to grow up with her cousin’s unfeminine interest in education and had been a little worried about Miranda’s influence on Sarah.\u00a0 She realized now that her concern was unnecessary.\u00a0 No, Sarah was looking forward to making her debut next year with Helen, Ella, and Florence.\u00a0 Annabelle knew her daughter would be a success.\u00a0 She was a lovely girl with her father’s dark curls and greenish hazel eyes as well as his charm and high spirits.\u00a0 She’d also inherited Joe’s impetuosity, and Annabelle intended to make sure Sarah didn’t make any impulsive decisions when it came to choosing a husband.\u00a0 Annabelle knew very well the pain and grief that resulted from that sort of impetuous choice.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I’m glad you were still able to get your exercise,” she said to Sarah with a smile.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “When I got home, Kathleen told me that Miranda had telephoned.”\u00a0 Annabelle’s eyebrows rose at that comment and Sarah hurried on.\u00a0 “William is attending a symposium at Harvard and Miranda decided they should all come to Boston so she could do some shopping at Bloomingdale’s.\u00a0 Jon is outgrowing all his clothes.\u00a0 She- she asked if I could come with her tomorrow to help with Jon and Laura.\u00a0 May I go, Mama?\u00a0 I told Miranda I would telephone at six and let her know.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Annabelle realized this could be a chance to mend her relationship with her niece.\u00a0 She had grown fond of Miranda during the years the girl had spent her summers at the Ponderosa with her father’s family.\u00a0 Although she’d understood Miranda’s loyalty to her uncle when she and Joe had separated, she’d always regretted their estrangement.\u00a0 Joe had been gone fourteen months now; perhaps she and Miranda could rebuild their relationship.\u00a0 As a more experienced mother, she knew that shopping at Bloomingdale’s with a four-year-old and a six-month-old would be a fiasco.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Yes, you may go, but suggest to Miranda that she leave Laura here with me.\u00a0 It will be difficult enough taking Jon shopping.”\u00a0 She smiled slightly as she remembered shopping expeditions with Benj and Sarah when they were Jon’s age.\u00a0 “And invite them all to dine with us tomorrow,” she added.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I will, Mama,” Sarah said with a radiant smile.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n At the agreed on time, the Gordons arrived at Mt. Vernon Street.\u00a0 The sun was shining and it was much warmer than the previous day.\u00a0 Annabelle was pleased to see her niece was fashionably attired in a dress of pale grey and white ninon over pink silk, and a pink silk hat decorated with ostrich feathers.\u00a0 Annabelle also noticed with a little satisfaction that Miranda was no longer as petite as she had been before the birth of her children.\u00a0 (Annabelle had always been envious of the way Miranda’s mother had regained her figure after the birth of each of her five children.)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “It’s good to see you,” Annabelle said to Miranda as she sat across from her in the elegant drawing room.\u00a0 “I hope that your parents are in good health?”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Yes, they are,” Miranda replied with a smile.\u00a0 “So are A.C., Beth and Gwyneth and their families.\u00a0 Beth is expecting her fourth child in a month.\u00a0 Daddy writes that he is hoping for another granddaughter.”\u00a0 Then Miranda politely inquired after the health of Annabelle’s family and learned that Annabelle’s niece, Charlotte, was also in the family way, although her baby wasn’t due until October.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “It’s very kind of you to offer to watch Laura for me,” Miranda said to Annabelle as she removed Laura’s bonnet and little cotton cloak.\u00a0 She hadn’t seen much of her aunt ever since she’d made the decision to separate from Uncle Joe.\u00a0 Miranda tried to be dispassionate and logical in her judgments, but she found it very difficult not to feel anger toward Aunt Annabelle for the pain she’d caused Uncle Joe.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “It’s been so long since I’ve had the opportunity to spend time with a baby,” Annabelle replied with a smile, “and I’m looking forward to it.\u00a0 I also know from experience how difficult shopping with young children is.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Miranda smiled ruefully at that before turning to her son.\u00a0 “Jon, would you please give Aunt Annabelle the satchel.”\u00a0 (Jon had been proudly carrying a small satchel when they’d arrived.)\u00a0 As the four-year-old slid off the brocade settee, Miranda explained, “I packed some nappies, uh, diapers, and a clean dress.\u00a0 I use rubber diaper covers, but they don’t always work perfectly.\u00a0 I also packed Laura’s dolly and her rattle.\u00a0 She loves finger games like Peek-a-boo<\/em> and This Little Piggy<\/em>.”\u00a0 Miranda smoothed her little girl’s baby-fine hair before adding, “She should be ready to take a nap in about an hour.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Jon handed Annabelle the satchel and she smiled at him.\u00a0 “I see he has your mother’s beautiful violet eyes,” she commented to Miranda.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Yes.\u00a0 I’m hoping that Laura will have them too.\u00a0 Since Beth and Gwyneth married men with dark eyes, none of their children can inherit Mama’s eye color,” Miranda said, smiling at her son.\u00a0 Then she stood up carried the baby to Annabelle.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Let’s go sit with Aunt Annabelle,” she said to Laura.\u00a0 “She’d love to have you sit with her.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Little Laura gurgled and cooed as her mama sat her on her grandaunt’s lap.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Aren’t you a pretty little girl?” Annabelle said, and while Laura’s attention was focused on Annabelle, Miranda took Jon’s hand and grabbed her leather handbag.\u00a0 Sarah stood up and they silently exited the drawing room.\u00a0 “We’re going to have lots of fun this morning, aren’t we Laura?” Annabelle continued.\u00a0 “Let’s play Peek-a-boo<\/em>, shall we?”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n After playing Peek-a-boo<\/em>, This Little Piggy<\/em> and Warm Kitty<\/em>, Laura began to wriggle, letting Annabelle know she wanted down.\u00a0 As soon as she was on the floor, she crawled to the bay window and began pulling on the blue velvet drapes.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “No, no, Laura,” Annabelle said firmly, but Laura only grinned at her, showing her pink gums.\u00a0 “Let’s see if you’ll play with your toys,” Annabelle said then, opening the satchel and pulling out a little rag doll and a silver rattle.\u00a0 She shook the rattle and Laura crawled over and made a grab for the toy.\u00a0 She shook it happily for a few minutes before crawling toward the doorway.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “So you’d like to see the rest of the house?” Annabelle said with a smile.\u00a0 “All right.”\u00a0 She picked the baby up and walked down the hall.\u00a0 “This is the music room,” she said, pausing in the doorway of a room containing a Broadwood grand piano and some Queen Anne wing chairs.\u00a0 “Your cousin Sarah and I play a little, but this room isn’t used often.\u00a0 I remember your grandfather plays the guitar.\u00a0 He and your grandma and your mama and aunts all have lovely voices. \u00a0I imagine your mama will see to it you have voice lessons, and maybe learn to play an instrument.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Laura began to wriggle so Annabelle turned and went up the stairs.\u00a0 “Now, here are the bedrooms,” she said to Laura, who grinned toothlessly.\u00a0 Annabelle walked to the largest room, which faced the tiny flower garden at the back of the row house.\u00a0 “This is my room,” she said.\u00a0 She sat Laura down on the Axminster rug and watched her crawl around her high post bed.\u00a0 She smiled at how quickly the baby could crawl.\u00a0 Tiring of the bed, Laura crawled over to the highboy and managed to pull open the bottom drawer.\u00a0 Before Annabelle realized what she was doing, she yanked out Annabelle’s carefully folded lace-trimmed combinations and chemises.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “No.\u00a0 No, Laura,” Annabelle scolded, hurrying over to pick up the baby before she made more of a mess for Bertha to clean up.\u00a0 Laura began to fuss at being thwarted, but Annabelle patted her back soothingly and hurried to Sarah’s room, which was next to hers.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Sarah had a canopy bed.\u00a0 When she’d returned from Beth’s wedding in Cloncurry, she’d begged her parents to get her a canopy bed like her cousins had.\u00a0 When Annabelle separated from Joe, she made sure Sarah had a canopy bed in her new bedroom.\u00a0 While Sarah’s room was as clean as her mother’s, it wasn’t as neat and tidy.\u00a0 Sarah’s hockey stick was propped up in one corner and the lid was down on her secretary desk, showing a surface covered haphazardly with papers and schoolbooks.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I’ve talked to Sarah so many times about the importance of neatness, but it just doesn’t make any impression,” Annabelle said with a sigh.\u00a0 “She’s takes after her father.”\u00a0 Annabelle fell silent.\u00a0 She and Joe had been separated for so long that she hadn’t been prepared for the sorrow she’d felt when she and the children received word of his unexpected death.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Her melancholy thoughts were interrupted by Laura’s wriggles.\u00a0 Smiling at the baby, she said, “I’m afraid if it were up to your Cousin Sarah, this room would be a mess.\u00a0 Shoes lying wherever she kicked them off and clothing draped over chairs and the bed instead of being put neatly away.\u00a0 Now, I remember that your grandma had your aunts and your mama keep their own rooms clean and make their own beds every morning.\u00a0 Maybe I should have done the same with Sarah.”\u00a0 Laura grinned at her grandaunt, and they walked across the hall to Benj’s room, which faced the street.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Benj’s room wasn’t neat like his mother’s: it was immaculate.\u00a0 There were no personal touches anywhere-just the bed, nightstand, wardrobe, washstand, and desk, all in the Arts and Crafts style with its simple and uncluttered lines.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I worry about Benj,” Annabelle said.\u00a0 “When I separated from your Uncle Joe, I didn’t want it to affect his relationship with our children.\u00a0 Well, I admit that at first I listened to my brother and I did try to limit his contact with the children, but I realized that was unfair to the children and to your uncle and your great-grandpa.\u00a0 I encouraged Benj and Sarah to write to their father and to visit the Ponderosa every summer.\u00a0 Sarah remained close to her father, but not Benj.\u00a0 He turned to my brother, and I know Robert would make barbed insinuations about your Uncle Joe and belittle him any way he could.\u00a0 I know it’s at least partly my fault that Benj and Joe were estranged when Joe died.\u00a0 I wish I knew how to make it right, but I don’t.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Laura began to whimper and Annabelle said to her, “Now, I wonder if your diaper needs to be changed?”\u00a0 She checked and the diaper was definitely wet, so she went downstairs to get the satchel with the clean diapers.\u00a0 Carrying the baby and the satchel back up to her room, she sat Laura down on the floor so she could get out the clean diaper and another to put under Laura to protect the bedspread.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The baby’s crying increased in volume and Annabelle hastily rummaged through the satchel for the diapers.\u00a0 “All right, Laura, we’re ready,” she said, trying to keep her voice soothing.\u00a0 “But Aunt Annabelle hasn’t changed any diapers in a long time so I won’t be as fast as your mama.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Laura cried and wriggled, and by the time Annabelle got the diaper changed, her nerves were so taut they felt ready to snap.\u00a0 The baby continued to wail and Annabelle knew she was missing her mama and probably needed a nap.\u00a0 She paced the hallway, gently patting Laura’s back until finally the baby fell asleep.\u00a0 Annabelle carefully carried her to the morning room and laid her on her stomach on the settee.\u00a0 Then Annabelle sat down beside her to watch so the baby wouldn’t roll off.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I remember when Sarah was a baby.\u00a0 When she was born, I was a little anxious.\u00a0 Joe had been so happy and proud when Benj was born-Pa’s first grandson-and I was afraid he would be disappointed that this time we had a girl.\u00a0 I remembered how my father had basically ignored my existence and I was afraid Joe might do the same to Sarah.\u00a0 I couldn’t have been more wrong.\u00a0 She was so precious to him.\u00a0 And we were so happy then.\u00a0 She sighed.\u00a0 I was happy because I was too busy caring for Benj and Sarah to miss my friends and my life here: the theater, concerts, balls and dinner parties.\u00a0 When Benj and Sarah grew older, I wanted to show them all that Boston society had to offer.\u00a0 If Joe would have agreed to regular visits to Boston, perhaps I wouldn’t have left him.\u00a0 Perhaps.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Her musings were interrupted when she heard Sarah’s voice calling, “I found them.\u00a0 They’re in the morning room.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Laura woke up when the others entered the room and Miranda scooped her up in her arms while the baby gurgled and cooed her happiness at being reunited.\u00a0 Jon said excitedly, “Look at my chickens, Aunt Annabelle!\u00a0 Look!”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I’ll set it up for you,” Sarah said, kneeling.\u00a0 She opened the box she was carrying and pulled out a chicken pulling a cart with a chick sitting on top, all made of tin and brightly painted.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Make it go, Sarah!” Jon commanded.\u00a0 “Make it go!”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n With a smile, Sarah wound the toy and sat it on the bare hardwood floor by the doorway.\u00a0 Jon clapped his hands in delight as the hen pulled the cart while Laura opened her eyes wide and then wriggled to get down.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “No, Laura, that’s big brother’s toy,” Miranda said, jiggling the baby on her knee to distract her\u00a0 “Sarah, would you please put the toy back in the box.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “No!” Jon said, his lower lip coming out in a pout.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “We could take it to the music room where Laura can’t see it,” Sarah suggested and Jon’s pout disappeared as he begged, “Please, Mama. Please.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n After a slight hesitation, Miranda nodded and Jon snatched up his toy and bolted from the room followed by Sarah.\u00a0 Laura began to wail so Miranda jiggled her faster and Annabelle shook the baby’s rattle in front of her face.\u00a0 Laura was eventually distracted from the chickens, and while she played with the rattle, Annabelle asked Miranda if she’d finished her shopping.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Yes,” Miranda replied decisively.\u00a0 “I can’t thank you enough for watching Laura.\u00a0 I don’t think Sarah and I could have managed on our own.\u00a0 At home, I leave the baby with our maid and so I only have to worry about Jon, but we don’t have any department stores like Bloomingdale’s.\u00a0 It’s just too easy to lose a small child in a store that big.”\u00a0 Then she added, “I bought Jon two new Buster Brown suits and two sailor suits and some underwear.\u00a0 Sarah took him to the toy department so I could do a little shopping for myself.\u00a0 I had to hurry but I found one dress I really liked: cream muslin with a lace collar so deep it looks like a bolero.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “It sounds lovely,” Annabelle agreed.\u00a0 “I’m happy you and William will be able to dine with us this evening.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Yes, we’re looking forward to it, but, uh, I don’t suppose you have a highchair Laura can sit in while we eat? \u00a0We put her in one at home just so she can be with the rest of us.\u00a0 She doesn’t like being by herself.”\u00a0 Then she added softly, “Just like Penny.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Oh, I hadn’t thought about a highchair,” Annabelle said with a frown.\u00a0 “I’ll call Paula and see if she has Charlotte’s old one in her attic.”\u00a0 Just then Sarah and Jon returned.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I told Jon we would wear the chicken out if we played with it anymore,” Sarah said, winking at her cousin.\u00a0 “So how did you and Laura get along, Mama?”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Very well,” Annabelle replied, smiling at the baby, who was now chewing one of her rag doll’s hands.\u00a0 “We played Peek-a-boo<\/em> and Warm Kitty<\/em>.\u00a0 Didn’t we, Laura?” and Laura smiled at her.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Me \u2018n’ Laura like the beehive song,” Jon said.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “The beehive song?” Annabelle repeated in a puzzled tone.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Why don’t you and Laura do the beehive song for Aunt Annabelle,” Miranda suggested and Jon nodded with a big grin.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n He made his right hand into a fist and sang:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Here is the beehive, where are the bees?<\/em><\/p>\n Hidden away where nobody sees.<\/em><\/p>\n Watch and you’ll see them come out of the hive.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n (Jon slowly brought out his fingers, one by one.)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n One, two three, four, five.<\/em><\/p>\n Buzz, buzz, buzz.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n As he made the buzzing sound, Jon wiggled his fingers at Laura, who began to giggle excitedly.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “That’s a wonderful song!” Sarah exclaimed and Annabelle said with a smile, “I can see why you and Laura like it, Jon.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I think we need to be going now,” Miranda said then, knowing her children would be getting cranky if they didn’t eat soon.\u00a0 “We’ll see you this evening.”\u00a0 They left with Jon carrying the satchel in one hand and clutching his new toy tightly in the other.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Benj usually spent Saturday with friends so Annabelle was surprised when he came home shortly before the Gordons were due to arrive and announced he would be dining at home.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I’m glad to hear that,” she said, “since your cousin Miranda and her family are dining with us tonight.”\u00a0 She chose to ignore her son’s frown.\u00a0 “William is attending a symposium at Harvard,” she explained.\u00a0 “We’ve seen so little of Miranda since her marriage, and I thought it would be nice for us to spend some time together.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “She hasn’t made much effort to see us,” Benj said sullenly.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Annabelle decided to overlook that remark, saying only, “The Gordons will be here soon so you need to change.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Sarah passed her brother on the stairs.\u00a0 “Is Benj dining with us?” she asked and smiled happily when her mama nodded.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A few minutes later, Kathleen showed the Gordons into the drawing room.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Did you show your daddy your chickens?” Sarah asked Jon after her mama had welcomed the Gordons and everyone was seated.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Jon grinned and William said with a laugh, “The moment I walked into our suite, Jon insisted I see his chickens.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Miranda added with a chuckle, “We had trouble convincing him the chickens weren’t invited to dinner and had to stay at the hotel.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Yes, Jon, I’m afraid the only chickens we invite to dinner are the ones we eat,” Sarah said, winking at Jon, who giggled.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n William reached over and ruffled Jon’s hair and smiled at him.\u00a0 His expression became grave as he commented.\u00a0 “I had a chance to glance at the newspaper today.\u00a0 They reported there was a terrible fire in Toronto, Ontario.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I read about that, too,” Benj said.\u00a0 “They said much of the city was destroyed.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “How terrible,” Annabelle said.\u00a0 “Those poor unfortunate people.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Jon could sense the change in the grownups’ attitude and looked apprehensively at his mama and daddy.\u00a0 Miranda put an arm around his thin little shoulders and hugged him comfortingly.\u00a0 She decided to change the subject to something more positive.\u00a0 Speaking in a more cheerful tone, she said, “On a happier note, I wonder if you are planning on attending the World’s Fair in St. Louis?”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I wish I could,” Sarah said.\u00a0 “I know it would be great fun.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “If Laura and Jon were older, we would go,” William said.\u00a0 “My senior year at Harvard I went to the Chicago World’s Fair with two of my friends-Robert Lodge and Albert Davidson.\u00a0 It was amazing.\u00a0 I think what impressed me the most was the electrical lighting for the International Exposition.\u00a0 Few of us back in 1893 had ever seen an entire building illuminated by electric power.”\u00a0 He smiled at the others.\u00a0 “Of course, my friends and I also spent a lot of time on the Midway.\u00a0 We rode the very first Ferris Wheel and saw Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West Show.\u00a0 I know I’ll shock the ladies, but I confess the three of us even saw Little Egypt dance the hootchy-kootchy.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Annabelle frowned slightly at that while Sarah’s eyes grew round and Miranda raised one eyebrow.\u00a0 Jon began to giggle repeating, “Hootchy-kootchy.\u00a0 Hootchy-kootchy.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Uh, Jon, don’t say that anymore,” William said, trying to sound firm.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Hootchy-kootchy.\u00a0 Hootchy-kootchy,” Jon got out between giggles.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Just ignore him and he’ll stop saying it,” Miranda said quietly.\u00a0 “Did you do anything educational at the fair?”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Uh, yes,” William replied, doing his best to ignore his first-born.\u00a0 “I attended lectures Frederick Jackson Turner gave on the ending of the western frontier.\u00a0 And I saw the replica of a Viking longboat built in Norway and sailed across the Atlantic.”\u00a0 He snapped his fingers, adding with a grin, “And I chewed my first stick of Juicy Fruit gum and ate a box of Cracker Jack. \u00a0They were both introduced at the fair.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Miranda’s tactic of ignoring Jon was working but Laura was beginning to fuss.\u00a0 Miranda said, “Jon, let’s do the beehive song.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I want to see if I can do it with you,” Sarah said.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n All the adults but Benj, who looked bored, watched fondly as Jon and Sarah sang the beehive song for Laura.\u00a0 Just as they finished, Kathleen came to announce that dinner was ready.\u00a0 Benj offered his mama his arm while William held his little girl in one and offered the other to his wife.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n As they were dining, Miranda commented, “I wrote Daddy that William and I were thinking we would take Jon and Laura to visit the Ponderosa in a couple of years.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Oh, I would love to come with you,” Sarah said with shining eyes.\u00a0 “Wouldn’t you, Benj?”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Absolutely not,” Benj said coldly.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “You’re welcome to come with us, Sarah,” Miranda said, ignoring Benj.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “What are your plans for tomorrow?” Annabelle asked quickly to cover the tension in the room.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n William answered smoothly, “We’ll be going to the Methodist church in Cambridge that Miranda and I attended when we were both students.\u00a0 After church, we’re taking the children to lay flowers on their great-grandmother’s grave, and then we’ll be returning to Hanover.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “It’s too bad that you can’t stay longer,” Annabelle said.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I expect we’ll be back sometime this summer,” William replied.\u00a0 “I’m a fan of the Boston Americans.\u00a0 I attended one of the games in the World Series last year when the Americans beat the Pittsburgh Pirates.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Oh, Benj and I are fans of the Americans,” Sarah said.\u00a0 “We go to all the games they play at Huntington Avenue Grounds.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I follow the Americans in the newspaper,” William said.\u00a0 “I just treat myself to one or two visits to Boston to see them play.\u00a0 It looks like they have a serious rival this season in the New York Highlanders.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n William, Sarah, and Benj began an enthusiastic discussion of Jimmy Collins, Cy Young, Chick Stahl and Patsy Dougherty.\u00a0 Miranda and Annabelle exchanged longsuffering smiles while Jon concentrated on his dinner and Laura chewed on her dolly.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Gordons didn’t stay long after the meal since Jon and Laura were both getting sleepy.\u00a0 It was a beautiful clear night so William and Miranda decided to walk back to the Parker House.\u00a0 William carried the sleepy Jon and Miranda carried Laura.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “That was a pleasant evening,” William remarked.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Yes, because you and Sarah and Benj are all baseball fans,” Miranda replied.\u00a0 “Until you brought up the Americans, it was clear Benj was wishing he were elsewhere.\u00a0 And you saw the way he snapped at Sarah when she suggested they both visit the Ponderosa with us.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Yes,” William said quietly.\u00a0 “It’s sad.\u00a0 When I decided that I didn’t want to become a lawyer and join the family law firm, my father and I were estranged.\u00a0 But now that I’ve married and given him grandchildren, things are better between us.\u00a0 I think that as Benj experiences more of life, he won’t see everything in terms of black and white.\u00a0 He’ll realize the reasons that his parents’ marriage failed are more complicated than he believes now.\u00a0 The tragedy is that it is too late for a reconciliation between him and Uncle Joe.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n William moved the sleeping Jon so his head was resting securely on his shoulder before adding, “I think when I do come to Boston to see the Americans, I’ll see if I can attend the game with Benj and Sarah.\u00a0 Dad wants us to keep in touch, and baseball seems to be our best chance with Benj.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Yes,” Miranda agreed.\u00a0 “And the fact that you’re only related to the Cartwrights by marriage helps.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n William nodded and then kissed his little boy’s cheek.\u00a0 Jon, it’s my prayer that you and I will always be close, just the way your grandpa and great-grandpa were.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Chapter 4<\/strong><\/p>\n It was a cool Saturday evening and Adam Cartwright was waiting impatiently for his son’s return so they could have high tea.\u00a0 It was already an hour later than they normally ate and his stomach was beginning to growl.\u00a0 He was trying to read the Cloncurry Advocate<\/em> but was finding it difficult to concentrate.\u00a0 He looked over the top of his reading glasses and saw his wife completely absorbed in a new novel-Sanctuary<\/strong> by Edith Wharton.\u00a0 He was ready to suggest they go ahead and eat without A.C. when he saw A.C. and Blackbird in the distance.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n He cleared his throat.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Reluctantly Bronwen looked up from the novel.\u00a0 “Yes, Cariad<\/em>?”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I can see A.C. and Blackbird,” he said, pointing.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Oh, then I’ll go start the rarebit,” she said, putting her book on the swing beside her and standing up.\u00a0 Adam sighed and silently counted to ten because Bronwen had the reprehensible habit of laying a book face down to mark her place.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “And I’ll go help A.C. with Blackbird,” Adam stated, resisting the impulse to reach over and close the book.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n He was waiting at the barn when A.C. rode up.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Sorry I’m late, Dad,” A.C. said as he swung out of the saddle.\u00a0 “Mr. MacDonald had to treat a cow that had put its uterus out.\u00a0 He said it’s one of his least favorite jobs, and I can see why.\u00a0 It looks impossible.\u00a0 The uterus is so big and-”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Adam cut him off.\u00a0 “Yes, I can see where it wouldn’t be any fun.\u00a0 I’m starving so let’s get Blackbird taken care of so we can eat.”\u00a0 The only thing that rivaled A.C.’s interest in observing the veterinarian at work was playing cricket.\u00a0 Without Adam really understanding why, the situation was beginning to annoy him.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A.C. put his dad’s sharp tone down to his hunger.\u00a0 He grinned, saying, “Yeah, I’m starving too.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n It wasn’t long before Blackbird was watered and turned out to graze.\u00a0 Father and son hurried to wash up and were waiting when Bronwen and Mary brought in the rarebit and A.C.’s favorite: Teisen Nionod<\/em>, which was made of onions, potatoes, and butter.\u00a0 There was also poacher’s pie-consisting of beef, rabbit and chicken-and a tossed salad.\u00a0 Adam blessed the food and they had just begun eating when Elen and her brothers burst into the room accompanied by Duchess, who was barking excitedly.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Grandma, the baby’s coming!” Elen exclaimed as A.C. silenced Duchess with a piece of rabbit.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Tada<\/em> said to stay with Grandpa until he comes to get us,” Huw added, letting the satchel he’d been carrying fall to the floor with a thud.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “A.C., would you please drive me to the parsonage,” Bronwen said.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Too right!” A.C. replied, then quickly putting another forkful of poacher’s pie in his mouth and grabbing a slice of rarebit as he stood up.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Did you three walk from the parsonage?” Adam inquired.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “No, Grandpa,” Elen replied.\u00a0 “Dylan and I rode Sport-”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “And I rode Buttermilk,” Huw interjected.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “We turned the ponies into the paddock,” Elen said then.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “That’s fine.\u00a0 We can put them in the barn in a bit,” Adam said with a smile.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Would you like some rarebit?” Bronwen asked her grandchildren.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Too right!” Dylan exclaimed, taking the empty chair across from where A.C. had been sitting.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I’d like some, Grandma,” Huw said with a big smile, sitting next to his brother.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “What about you, Elen?” Adam asked his granddaughter.\u00a0 “Would you like some of Grandma’s rarebit?”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Yes, please,” Elen replied, sitting beside her grandpa.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Mary had heard Duchess barking and Dylan and Huw always let the door slam behind them, so she went to see if Bronwen needed anything.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Yes, thank you, Mary,” Bronwen said as she got three more plates from the china cabinet and set them in front of the grandchildren.\u00a0 “Please bring three glasses of milk.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Right,” Mary replied with a smile.\u00a0 “And I’ll make some more rarebit.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Leaving the grandchildren happily eating their melted cheese on toast, Bronwen went upstairs to pack a few things to take with her to the parsonage.\u00a0 She always stayed with her daughters the first week after they gave birth to help out.\u00a0 When she’d finished packing, she looked out the window and could see A.C. was waiting in the surrey.\u00a0 She hurried to the dining room and kissed Adam goodbye before leaving.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The children finished their rarebit before Adam was done eating but Mary had been keeping an eye on them and brought in the spotted dick that Bronwen had made, and served it to the children.\u00a0 Adam smiled his gratitude.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n When Adam finished he said, “I think we’d better decide on sleeping arrangements.”\u00a0 Reluctantly he added, “Boys, the only room with two beds is the one Aunt Gwyneth and Aunt Penny shared.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “A girls’ room?” Huw said, sounding horrified.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “The bed in the guestroom is really only meant for one,” Adam said, “but if you don’t mind being a little crowded, you and Dylan can sleep in that room.\u00a0 Elen, you can sleep in your aunts’ old bedroom or your mama’s.\u00a0 Which would you prefer?”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Mama’s,” Elen said with a happy smile.\u00a0 Adam felt relieved.\u00a0 He and Bronwen didn’t consciously keep Penny’s room as a shrine, but no one had used it since her death.\u00a0 Her clothes and toys had all been given away, but for her parents, the room was full of memories.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Once the children were done with their pudding, they all went out to the paddock to care for Buttercup the cow, the horses and ponies.\u00a0 A.C. returned from the parsonage and took care of the carriage horses and Blackbird.\u00a0 After all the livestock had been cared for, they spent the rest of the evening playing Old Bachelor<\/em>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n When the boys had brushed their teeth and changed into their pyjamas, Adam came to hear them say their prayers and tuck them in.\u00a0 They looked crowded, but he could understand their not wanting to sleep in the very feminine bedroom with the pale green dimity curtains and ruffled canopies on the beds and the wallpaper with it bouquets of violets.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Do you think mama had the baby, Grandpa?” Huw asked quietly.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “No,” Adam replied, smoothing back his oldest grandson’s thick black hair.\u00a0 “Your tada<\/em> would have come to tell us if she had.”\u00a0 He kissed each boy’s cheek and then said, “Now, you go to sleep and I bet that in the morning you’ll have a new baby sister or brother.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Night, Grandpa,” they said sleepily as he closed the door.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Elen had packed a book and was curled up in one of the library’s window seats, totally absorbed in her story.\u00a0 A.C. had set up the cribbage board so he and Adam could play once the children were in bed.\u00a0 While he waited, he decided to write to Miranda and Sarah.\u00a0 Adam retrieved his newspaper from the table in the entryway and sat in the library to finish it.\u00a0 He kept checking his pocket watch so he’d know when it was Elen’s bedtime.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n When he told her it was time for her to go to bed, she looked at him pleadingly with her big brown eyes.\u00a0 “Please, may I stay up until Tada<\/em> comes to tell us Mama had the baby?”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Adam smiled at her but shook his head.\u00a0 “The baby might not be born for hours yet.”\u00a0 Seeing her disappointed expression he said gently, “Tell you what.\u00a0 I promise that if your tada<\/em> arrives in the night, he’ll wake you up and tell you about the baby.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Thank you, Grandpa!” she exclaimed, throwing her arms around him in a hug.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Time to put up the cribbage board,” Adam said after checking his watch and seeing it was a little after midnight.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Can’t we wait a little longer?” A.C. asked.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Adam shook his head.\u00a0 “Mary will hear if Dafydd comes in the night, and she’ll get us.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “This baby is sure taking a long time to be born,” A.C. complained as he put up the cribbage board and the cards.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Adam smiled slightly.\u00a0 “Not really.\u00a0 It’s only been about five hours.\u00a0 Some babies, like you and Dylan, are in a big hurry to be born, but others aren’t.”\u00a0 He smiled slightly and put a comforting hand on his son’s shoulder.\u00a0 “Our staying awake won’t make the baby arrive any faster, so we might as well go to bed.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A.C. nodded and said with a yawn, “Night then, Dad.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In spite of his words to A.C., Adam knew he wouldn’t sleep until he’d learned Beth had safely given birth.\u00a0 He and A.C. turned down all the lamps but two.\u00a0 A.C. headed up the backstairs to his bedroom with his lamp, but Adam walked to the front door to lock it.\u00a0 He wondered if Bronwen had taken her novel with her and decided to check before locking the door.\u00a0 He found Sanctuary<\/strong> still laying face down on the swing and picked it up, noting where Bronwen had been reading.\u00a0 Then he quietly checked on the boys.\u00a0 They’d kicked the covers half off and since the end of May and the beginning of June marked the transition from autumn to winter, the night was growing chilly.\u00a0 Adam set the lamp and book down, then carefully tucked the bedclothes back around the boys.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I wish you could see your great-grandsons, Pa<\/em>, he thought as he gently ran his hand over Dylan’s tousled curls.\u00a0 You would be so proud of them.\u00a0 I’ll always be thankful to Dafydd for making it possible for you to spend time with Elen and Huw. <\/em>\u00a0His lips quirked up in a wry grin as he thought, You had a chance to spend time with Jon, and I envy you that.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n He walked up the backstairs and noticed with a little smile that A.C.’s light was out.\u00a0 He opened Elen’s door carefully and could see she was sleeping soundly, cocooned in her covers.\u00a0 With a smile, he walked to his bedroom.\u00a0 He set the lamp on his nightstand and moved the old rocking chair Bronwen had used to rock each of their children to sleep closer to the light.\u00a0 He marked Bronwen’s place in Sanctuary <\/strong>with one of the pretty commemorative bookmarks he’d given her as a birthday present in the vain hope she wouldn’t damage the spines of any more of their books.\u00a0 Then he opened the book to the first page and began reading.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Adam jerked awake, the stillness of the night broken by the sound of soft but persistent knocking downstairs.\u00a0 He grabbed the lamp and rushed down the stairs.\u00a0 Mary, in her nightgown and robe, was hurrying from her bedroom, carrying her lamp.\u00a0 Adam unlocked the door, the lamplight revealing the beaming face of his son-in-law.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “It’s a girl, Tada<\/em>!” Dafydd exclaimed in a low but exultant voice.\u00a0 “Bethan is fine and so is the baby.\u00a0 We’re naming her Si\u00e2n Myfanawy.\u00a0 Myfanawy is for my mother,” he added.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “That’s wonderful, Dafydd,” Adam said, putting his hand on his son-in-law’s shoulder and squeezing it affectionately.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Oh, Mam<\/em> told me that she wants Elen and the boys to spend tomorrow night-no, I mean today-here with you and A.C.,” Dafydd said.\u00a0 “Of course, you can all come see Bethan and the baby after church.”\u00a0 He grinned lopsidedly.\u00a0 “This will be my shortest sermon ever.”\u00a0 He yawned and then said, “Well, I’m going home to get a little sleep.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Uh, I promised Elen that if she went to bed without arguing, you’d wake her up and tell her when the baby was born,” Adam said with a tiny smile.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Dafydd shrugged and then smiled before following Adam into the house and up the stairs.\u00a0 Adam opened the bedroom door and then waited and followed Dafydd inside.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The sleepy father sat down on the bed beside his little girl and gently shook her shoulder.\u00a0 “Wake up, Elen fach<\/em>,” he said softly, and slowly Elen’s eyes opened.\u00a0 As soon as she saw her tada<\/em>, they opened very wide.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Mama had the baby?” she asked excitedly.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “That’s right,” Dafydd said with a warm smile.\u00a0 “Your little sister, Si\u00e2n, arrived about a half an hour ago.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I want to see her,” Elen said excitedly, starting to sit up.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Na<\/em>, Elen fach<\/em>,” Dafydd said, shaking his head.\u00a0 “Your mama and your sister are sleeping.\u00a0 Your grandpa will bring you to see them after church.\u00a0 Now, you need to go back to sleep.\u00a0 That’s what your grandpa and I are going to do.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Okay,” Elen said reluctantly, but her eyelids were beginning to droop.\u00a0 Smiling, Dafyyd leaned down and kissed her forehead before leaving the room.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n As Dafydd headed back to the parsonage, Adam went to wake A.C. and give him the news before going to bed for a couple of hours.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The next morning, after making sure Elen and A.C. were up, Adam went to wake the boys and give them the news about their little sister.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I wanted a brother,” Huw said, looking disappointed.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I already got a sister,” Dylan said with a scowl.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “But Elen doesn’t,” Adam said quietly.\u00a0 “She has two brothers.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Oh, right,” Huw said.\u00a0 “I forgot about that.\u00a0 When can we see Mama and the baby?”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “After church,” Adam replied.\u00a0 “Hurry up and get dressed, boys.\u00a0 We’ve got to take care of the livestock before breakfast and then we all have to get dressed for church.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n When they finished their barn chores, they found Mary had cooked up a big American-style breakfast of sausages, biscuits and gravy, and scrambled eggs.\u00a0 After they’d finished eating, Adam dressed quickly so he could help the children.\u00a0 Elen needed him to tie her hair ribbon and the sash on her dress.\u00a0 That accomplished, he went to check on the boys.\u00a0 They were already in their dark blue sailor suits and were tying their shoes.\u00a0 They had both forgotten to brush their hair and since they were running a little late, Adam decided to brush Dylan’s curls.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Ouch, Grandpa,” Dylan yelled, trying to wriggle away.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “He always makes a fuss about brushing his hair,” Elen said from the doorway.\u00a0 “Oh, you’ve got a hole in your stocking, Huw,” she said, pointing.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “It’s not very big,” he retorted with a scowl.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I hope not,” Adam said, glancing at Huw’s black stockings and noting the hole at his knee, just below his knickerbockers.\u00a0 There was no time to ask Mary to darn it now.\u00a0 He put the hairbrush down and called, “A.C., we need to leave now.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n As the five of them walked out onto the verandah, they saw Rhys and Matilda waiting by the front gate.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Aunt Matilda!\u00a0 Uncle Rhys!” Dylan yelled as he ran down the steps to the gate, “I got a new sister!”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “That’s wonderful news, Dylan bach<\/em>,” Rhys said with an enormous smile.\u00a0 “What’s her name?”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Si\u00e2n,” Elen said quickly before her brothers could open their mouths.\u00a0 Then she smiled smugly.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “She’s named for Mam<\/em> and for Dafydd’s mother,” Adam added quietly as they began the walk to church.\u00a0 “I’m afraid Dafydd didn’t get much sleep last night.”\u00a0 He grinned as he added, “Said this would be his shortest sermon ever.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “We’re going to see Mama and Si\u00e2n after church,” Elen said then.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Yes, and then you’ll spend the night with me and Uncle A.C. and go home on Monday after school,” Adam said.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Oh, you must have high tea with us today,” Matilda said.\u00a0 “I’ll fix crumpets, Shepherd’s Pie and lamingtons.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The children cheered and A.C. looked as if he wanted to.\u00a0 Mary had Sunday evenings off so he and his dad would have been fixing high tea and they couldn’t cook nearly as well as Aunt Matilda.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n As they approached the church, they spotted Gwyneth and Mark and Llywelyn and Emma with their families.\u00a0 Elen wasn’t going to let Dylan be the first with the news this time so she shouted as loudly as she could, “I have a sister!”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Elen,” Matilda scolded, “it’s not ladylike to shout.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n At the same time Huw yelled, “Her name is Si\u00e2n!”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A.C. couldn’t stop from grinning at the expression on his aunt’s face while his dad just rolled his eyes.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The others hurried over, Jory and Ifor trotting to keep up with adults’ longer stride.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “That’s wonderful news,” Gwyneth said to her niece and nephews with a dimpled smile.\u00a0 Then she asked her daddy, “When was the baby born?”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Sometime after midnight,” Adam replied.\u00a0 “Si\u00e2n wasn’t in as big a hurry to be born as Dylan,” and he ruffled Dylan’s thick mop of curls.\u00a0 “A.C. and I are taking the children to see their mama and their new sister after the service.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Tell Beth I’ll come see her this evening,” Gwyneth said.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Meanwhile, Matilda and Rhys greeted their grandson and then Matilda reached out her arms for her granddaughter.\u00a0 Five-month-old Cathy clung to her mama and refused to go to her grandma.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I’m sorry, Mama,” Llywelyn said, seeing his mama’s hurt expression.\u00a0 “She doesn’t want anyone but Emma or me to hold her right now.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Emma was torn between feeling pleased that Cathy made it plain she would rather be with her mama and feeling sorry for her mother-in-law.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Friends who’d heard Elen and Huw shout the news now began to gather around, congratulating Adam and inquiring about Beth and the baby.\u00a0 Adam answered the questions and then shepherded his charges inside the church to take their customary places in the front pew.\u00a0 When Dafydd approached the pulpit, he smiled at his children and then at his father- and brother-in-law.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n When the service was over, Dafydd accepted the congratulations of his congregation.\u00a0 The three children squirmed with impatience as they waited for him to finish so they could all hurry to the parsonage.\u00a0 When they finally arrived, they found Bronwen sitting on the little verandah with Nani and Colwyn, the Jones’s two terriers, curled up at her feet.\u00a0 The minute she saw them, she stood up and came to meet them at the gate, the two little dogs trotting at her heels.\u00a0 When they began to bark, she quickly commanded them to be quiet.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Your mama and baby sister are sleeping,” she told the children, “so you can’t see them yet.”\u00a0 Seeing the disappointment on their faces, she added, “I’ve made vegetable soup and ham sandwiches.\u00a0 After you eat them, I’ll check and see if your mama is awake.”\u00a0 Seeing Dylan ready to cheer, she said quickly, “You must be quiet, Dylan bach<\/em>,” and the little boy clapped his hands over his mouth and nodded.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n As the seven of them squeezed around the table in the parsonage kitchen, Bronwen quietly asked Adam about high tea.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Matilda invited us to join them so we’ll be well fed.\u00a0 Never fear,” Adam replied with a wink.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The children said little and ate as fast as they could.\u00a0 When they’d finished, Bronwen asked Elen to clear away the empty bowls and plates while she checked to see if Beth was awake.\u00a0 She returned, saying with a smile, “Your mama is awake.\u00a0 Si\u00e2n is still sleeping, so you’ll have to be quiet.\u00a0 Understand?”\u00a0 The three children nodded vigorously before jumping to their feet.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n As they approached the open door of their parents’ bedroom, the children could see their mama, propped against the plump pillows she’d made using down from the geese she raised.\u00a0 Her long black hair was neatly braided and she wore a pretty ruffled bed jacket that she’d sewn herself.\u00a0 When she saw the children, she smiled and her large hazel eyes lit up.\u00a0 Dylan ran and jumped on the bed beside her and Dafydd, who’d followed the children, put a hand on the older children’s shoulders to prevent them from following Dylan’s example.\u00a0 Beth smiled at her littlest boy and kissed his cheek.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I missed you, Mama,” Dylan said with a smile.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I missed you, too, Dylan bach<\/em>,” Beth replied, stroking his silky curls.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Huw and Elen walked over then and took turns hugging their mama while their tada<\/em> stood at the foot of the bed and smiled at his family.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Where’s Si\u00e2n?” Elen asked, and Beth pointed to the cradle on the other side of the bed where it hadn’t been visible from the doorway.\u00a0 Elen and Huw walked around the bed to get a better view of their baby sister.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “She doesn’t have any hair,” Huw whispered loudly.\u00a0 “Cathy has hair.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Si\u00e2n may not have any now, but she’ll grow some as she gets bigger,” Beth said with a little grin.\u00a0 She glanced at the doorway and saw her daddy smiling at her.\u00a0 “Another granddaughter for you” she said proudly, and he walked over and hugged her gently.\u00a0 Then he joined Elen and Huw by the cradle.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Gazing down at the tiny form in the cradle he’d made for her mother so many years before he said softly, “She’s beautiful, Princess.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Just then the baby began to whimper so he asked Beth, “May I?”\u00a0 She nodded and watched contentedly as her daddy carefully lifted his newest grandchild and held her in his arms.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “You’re a pretty little girl, aren’t you?” he crooned, but the whimpers changed to screams of hunger, and Dylan put his hands over his ears.\u00a0 “Si\u00e2n is hungry,” Adam said to the older children, “so we’re going to have to leave now.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Seeing the disappointed looks, Beth said, “After Si\u00e2n’s eaten, you may each hold her.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Elen and Huw looked very pleased but Dylan said with a pout, “I wanna stay wif you, Mama.\u00a0 Let Grandma feed Si\u00e2n.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Adam handed the baby to Beth while Dafydd sat beside Dylan and put his hands on his shoulders.\u00a0 “Grandma can’t feed Si\u00e2n; only your mama can,” Dafydd said in a firm but gentle tone to his little boy.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Adam held out his hand to Dylan.\u00a0 “C’mon, mate.\u00a0 Let’s go see if Nani and Colwyn want to play fetch.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “No!\u00a0 I wanna stay wif Mama!” Dylan yelled so Dafydd picked him up and gave him one swat on his behind.\u00a0 Adam took Dylan’s hand and led him out of the room, followed by Huw and Elen, who both put their hands over their ears to blot out the loud crying of their younger siblings.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A.C. and Huw went outside with Adam and Dylan, who was still crying for his mama, while Elen stayed in the kitchen and dried the dishes Bronwen washed.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “What’s wrong with Dylan?” she asked her grandma as they worked together.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Oh, he’s just not used to having a baby in the house,” Bronwen replied.\u00a0 She saw her granddaughter still looked puzzled so she tried to explain better.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “When Huw was born, you had to get used to sharing your mama with a baby.\u00a0 When Dylan came along, Huw had to share her with a baby.\u00a0 Now it’s Dylan’s turn.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Dafydd entered the kitchen then and said with a big smile, “Would you like to hold your sister now, Elen?”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Too right!” Elen exclaimed in delight.\u00a0 Then she looked at the dishes that she hadn’t dried yet.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Don’t worry about the dishes,” Bronwen said.\u00a0 “You go with your tada<\/em>.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Thanks, Grandma!” Elen said with a beaming smile.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n As soon as she entered the bedroom, she heard little cooing sounds coming from her baby sister.\u00a0 “Sit in the rocking chair and I’ll bring the baby to you,” her tada<\/em> said.\u00a0 When he brought the baby over, he explained how she needed to support the baby’s head, and then he very gently placed the baby in her arms.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “G’day, Si\u00e2n.\u00a0 I’m your big sister Elen,” she said and to her delight, the baby opened her eyes at looked right at her and waved her arms.\u00a0 “She likes me!”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Too right she does,” her mama said, smiling warmly at her daughters.\u00a0 Dafydd called, “Mam<\/em>,” and Bronwen stuck her head in the doorway.\u00a0 “Please ask the boys to come in so they can take their turns holding Si\u00e2n,” Dafydd said, and Bronwen nodded.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n When she walked out the backdoor, she saw A.C. and Huw throwing sticks for Nani and Colwyn, who fetched them with great enthusiasm.\u00a0 Adam was watching Beth’s goose, gander and goslings eating grass in their pen.\u00a0 Dylan was sitting by himself under the lemon tree, obviously sulking.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Boys,” she called, and Huw ran over to her.\u00a0 Dylan remained by the tree.\u00a0 “You may come hold the baby now,” she said to Huw, and with a big grin he ran inside, followed by A.C.\u00a0 Bronwen walked over to Dylan and said gently, “Don’t you want to hold your baby sister, Dylan bach<\/em>?”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “No!\u00a0 I don’t wanna hold no baby,” he replied.\u00a0 Nani ran over and flopped down next to him, setting her head on his knee.\u00a0 Dylan began to pet her, refusing to look at his grandma.\u00a0 She watched at him with concern and then walked toward Adam, who’d begun playing fetch with Colwyn.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Dylan’s still sulking, I see,” Adam commented as he threw the stick one last time.\u00a0 When Bronwen nodded, he said thoughtfully, “I would have expected this behavior from Jory, not Dylan.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Yes.\u00a0 Dylan is normally such a sweet-tempered child.\u00a0 I’m really surprised,” she said with a frown.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Why don’t you go inside and let me have a talk with him,” Adam said, and she nodded.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Adam walked over to his grandson.\u00a0 Dylan pretended to be paying so much attention to Nani that he didn’t notice his grandpa.\u00a0 Adam smiled just a little.\u00a0 Miranda’s Jon might have inherited Bronwen’s violet eyes, but Dylan resembled her the most.\u00a0 He was small and fine-boned just like her and he had the same triangular-shaped face.\u00a0 Apparently the resemblance didn’t end there: he could be just as stubborn as his grandma.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Adam held out his hand and said, “Come sit with me on the steps, Dylan.”\u00a0 The five-year-old shot a rebellious look at his tall grandpa, but then he stood up and put his little hand in his grandpa’s large one.\u00a0 They walked over to the steps leading to the back door and sat down side by side.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “You know, Dylan,” Adam began, “when I was a little boy like you, I got a baby brother.\u00a0 Now, at first, I thought that was wonderful.\u00a0 I didn’t have any brothers or sisters and I was pretty lonely.\u00a0 I figured my baby brother could play with me.\u00a0 I’d teach him how to play marbles and catch and kick-the-can.\u00a0 But then I found out that all baby brothers do is sleep and eat and get their nappies dirty.”\u00a0 Dylan couldn’t hold back a giggle at that.\u00a0 He’d been at Ifor’s house when Cathy got her nappy dirty and it stunk.\u00a0 Adam grinned at him and continued.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Not only couldn’t I play with my baby brother, but I noticed my tada<\/em> and mama didn’t have much time for me.\u00a0 The only one they seemed to care about was the baby.\u00a0 That made me mad and I didn’t want anything to do with that baby.\u00a0 I felt awful sorry for myself.”\u00a0 Adam paused for a moment and glanced at Dylan out of the corner of his eye to judge his reaction.\u00a0 Smiling a little to himself he said, “One day my mama was fixing our dinner and my tada<\/em> was feeding our mules when I heard my baby brother crying.\u00a0 My mama and tada<\/em> didn’t seem to hear and the baby cried louder and louder.\u00a0 He cried so loudly it made my ears hurt so I decided to see if I could make him stop.\u00a0 He was lying in his cradle so I started rocking it.\u00a0 He liked that.\u00a0 He stopped crying and he smiled at me.\u00a0 My tada<\/em> and mama told me that babies that little don’t smile, but I didn’t care because I knew that he smiled at me.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Adam saw Dylan gazing at him with wide eyes and ruffled his curls.\u00a0 “For a little while, my mama and tada<\/em> did spend a lot of time with my baby brother, but it wasn’t because they loved him more than they loved me.\u00a0 It was just because babies can’t do anything for themselves; someone has to take care of them.\u00a0 But you know what, Dylan?”\u00a0 Dylan shook his head.\u00a0 “Babies grow up pretty quick.\u00a0 It wasn’t that long before my baby brother was crawling and then he started walking and pretty soon I could teach him to play games with me.\u00a0 He was the best friend I ever had.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Adam put his hand on his grandson’s neck and gave it a gentle squeeze.\u00a0 “For a little while, your mama is going to have to spend a lot of time taking care of Si\u00e2n but she’ll grow up quicker than you think.\u00a0 Look how fast Cathy is growing.”\u00a0 Adam stopped then and saw that Dylan was thinking seriously about what he’d said.\u00a0 He waited patiently until the little boy looked up at him and smiled.\u00a0 “How about we go see Si\u00e2n now?\u00a0 Why, she hasn’t even had a chance to meet you yet.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Think she’ll smile at me, Grandpa?” Dylan asked hopefully.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “She just might, Dylan.\u00a0 She just might,” Adam replied with a warm smile.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n That Friday evening as Adam and A..C. cared for the livestock, Adam said, “You know, son, I think it’s time to begin training Blackbird as a cutting horse.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Beauty!” A.C. exclaimed and Adam grinned at his son’s enthusiasm.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I want to get an early start tomorrow, so we should leave the pub at nine o’clock,” Adam added.\u00a0 A.C. started to protest but Adam held up his hand and cut him off.\u00a0 “Which would you rather do?\u00a0 Stay at the pub with your friends until closing time, or train Blackbird tomorrow?\u00a0 It’s your choice.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A.C. glared at his dad resentfully.\u00a0 When is Dad going to treat me like a man and not a billy lid?<\/em>\u00a0 He turned away and started currying Blackbird.\u00a0 The rhythmic movements were calming and he began to feel foolish.\u00a0 Dad didn’t say I couldn’t go to the pub at all.<\/em>\u00a0 Just come home early so we can get an early start tomorrow<\/em>.\u00a0 He turned back to face his dad, who had started grooming Mercury.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I’ll come home at nine,” he said quietly, and his dad looked up and smiled at him.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n “The two most important things for you to remember about training a cutting horse,” Adam said after he and A.C. were mounted, “are to be consistent in your signals and reward your horse when he’s done what you want him to do.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “No worries,” A.C. said with a big grin, patting Blackbird’s neck affectionately, and Adam was reminded so strongly of Joe.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n ~\u00a0 *\u00a0 ~\u00a0 * \u00a0~<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Adam smiled slightly as his youngest brother led his black-and-white pinto into the corral.\u00a0 Little Joe looked so skinny-all arms and legs.\u00a0 Was I ever that young?<\/em> Adam thought, shaking his head slightly.\u00a0 He’d just turned twenty-seven exactly two weeks after his brother’s fourteenth birthday, but his adolescence seemed eons ago.\u00a0 As Adam watched his brother, he noticed that Little Joe’s brown curls were much longer than his own black ones, and Adam knew Little Joe wasn’t going to be able to put off a haircut much longer.\u00a0 Pa always said he wasn’t allowing any of his sons to look like cheap riverboat gamblers.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Did ya use a snaffle bit like I said, Joe?” Adam asked.\u00a0 “Remember, it’ll be easier on Cochise’s mouth.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Sure, Adam,” and Adam heard the impatience in his youngest brother’s voice.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Okay, then let’s mount up.\u00a0 First, we’re doing some trotting and cantering to warm the horses up.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Why can’t I just start training Cooch?” Little Joe asked.\u00a0 His impatience was more obvious, and Adam frowned in irritation.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Cuz he’s too fresh, Shortshanks,” Hoss Cartwright interjected from his perch on the corral.\u00a0 The sandy-haired twenty-year-old dwarfed both his brothers and not only in height:\u00a0 He had a stocky build and a barrel chest.\u00a0 “Ya asked Adam to help ya train Cochise, didn’t ya?” Hoss continued.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Yeah,” Little Joe replied reluctantly.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Well then, let him help,” Hoss said with a big smile, his clear blue eyes twinkling.\u00a0 After a moment, Little Joe grinned at his brothers.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Adam swung easily onto the back of his long-legged chestnut and Joe gracefully vaulted onto his pinto.\u00a0 They trotted at first and then urged their horses into the faster gait.\u00a0 When Adam judged the horses had had enough of a warm-up, he slowed back to a trot and then a walk.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “All right, Joe, the most important thing for Cochise to learn is how to stop,” Adam explained.\u00a0 “He always needs to stop straight, with his hind feet directly underneath him.\u00a0 Sport and I will show you what I mean.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Adam and Hoss both watched Joe and Cochise work.\u00a0 When Adam judged it was time to stop, he looked at Hoss with a raised eyebrow and saw Hoss’s slight nod.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “That’s enough for today, Joe,” Adam called.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Not yet, Adam,” Little Joe called back, his tone dismissive.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Joe, I said that’s it for today,” Adam snapped.\u00a0 Hoss jumped off the fence and walked over to his younger brother.\u00a0 Little Joe pulled on the reins, stopping Cochise, but his expression was sulky.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Shortshanks, Cochise has worked hard fer you.\u00a0 You can work him more tomorrow,” he said calmly.\u00a0 “Right now, why don’t the two of ya go fer a nice gallop.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Little Joe nodded, and then he glanced over at his oldest brother with a mischievous smile.\u00a0 “Hey, Adam, ya wanna race?”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Adam rolled his eyes, but then grinned back.\u00a0 “Sure, Little Buddy, you’re on.\u00a0 Hoss, open the gate for us, okay?”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The big young man jumped down, then swung the gate open, and watched his two brothers ride off hell-for-leather, a big smile lighting up his face.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n ~\u00a0 *\u00a0 ~\u00a0 *\u00a0 ~<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Adam remembered Hoss’s words to Joe when A.C. complained about having to stop for the day.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Yeah, I guess I wasn’t thinking about Blackbird,” the boy said, patting the gelding’s neck.\u00a0 “Enough work, boy.\u00a0 How about some fun?\u00a0 Let’s go for a gallop.”\u00a0 He turned to his dad, flashing his dimpled grin, and asked, “You and Mercury feel up to a race?\u00a0 To that gum tree.\u00a0 We’ll give you a head start.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Pride goeth before a fall, son,” Adam said with a dimpled grin of his own and signaled for Mercury to gallop.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The two horses ran neck and neck, but at the last minute, Mercury pulled ahead.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “That was a bonzer race, Dad,” A.C. said with a big smile as they walked the horses to cool them down.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Well, Mercury hadn’t been working the way Blackbird had,” Adam said with a wink.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Dad,” A.C. asked slowly as the horses walked side by side, “do you ever miss being a cowboy?”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Adam was silent and his son waited for his response.\u00a0 “No, I can honestly say that I don’t miss branding and castrating calves, hunting for strays, going on cattle drives, or breaking wild broncos.”\u00a0 He smiled slightly, but A.C. saw the sadness in his dad’s eyes.\u00a0 “What I do miss is working with your uncles and spending time with them.\u00a0 And your grandpa.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I used to wish I could have a brother,” A.C. said softly.\u00a0 “When you’d tell me stories about you and Uncle Hoss and Uncle Joe, I used to envy you.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Adam smiled just a little.\u00a0 “Well, we’re even because when I’d watch you and your sisters with your mama, I realized how much I’d missed.”\u00a0 He paused and said, “I really loved your Grandma Inger and your Grandma Marie but I wish I could have known my own mother.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n They rode along in silence.\u00a0 A.C. glanced over at his dad.\u00a0 He was startled to suddenly realize that there was very little grey left in his dad’s mustache and beard; it was almost snowy white.\u00a0 And there were deep lines radiating out from the corners of his dad’s eyes from years of squinting into the sun.\u00a0 Even though A.C. knew his dad was older than all his mates’ dads, he’d always seemed ageless.\u00a0 A.C. doubted any of his mates’ dads could have beaten him in a race.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n He decided this might be a good time to ask about something that had been on his mind lately, since the time was drawing nearer when he’d be working at Cartwright & Davies copper mine.\u00a0 “Dad,” he began.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n His dad turned his head and looked at him.\u00a0 “Yes?”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “May I ask you a question?”\u00a0 His dad nodded so he said, “What’s it like going into our mine?”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Dark and hot.\u00a0 Not my favorite thing to do,” Adam replied with his crooked grin.\u00a0 His expression grew grave as he added, “Especially after nearly being killed in a cave-in.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A.C.’s eyebrows shot straight up.\u00a0 “Fair dinkum?\u00a0 I- I don’t remember ever hearing about that.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Adam sighed just a little.\u00a0 “I never mentioned it to your mama or your sisters.\u00a0 It was in Virginia City back in 1860.\u00a0 All the silver mines on the Comstock were plagued with cave-ins then.\u00a0 One of the directors of the Ophir mine hired a mining engineer named Philipp Deidesheimer to come up with a solution to the problem.\u00a0 The Ponderosa supplied the Ophir’s timber and the Ophir’s superintendent, Gil Fenton, was a good friend of mine and so I wanted to meet Philipp and discuss the problem.”\u00a0 He smiled.\u00a0 “Philipp was already making a name for himself and I was a little nervous about offering to act as his sounding board, but he said he’d welcome the chance to talk with someone who understood the engineering problem.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A..C.’s face showed that he found it difficult to believe his dad was ever unsure of himself, which made Adam’s lips quirk up slightly.\u00a0 As his thoughts drifted back to those early days of the Comstock Lode, his expression was wistful and his voice was low and sad.\u00a0 “Gil and I met with Philipp that first time down in the Ophir.\u00a0 We were heading for the cage to return to the surface when the ceiling and walls caved in around us.\u00a0 Gil had been walking a little ways behind Philipp and me.\u00a0 Philipp and I could see each other, but not Gil.\u00a0 When we heard the sound of tapping, Philipp handed me his pick so I could answer, but the air was bad and we grew so weak that I no longer had the strength to lift the pick and hit the wall.\u00a0 We would have been left for dead if it weren’t for your Uncle Hoss.\u00a0 He kept the miners digging until he was able to get to us.”\u00a0 Adam stopped and sighed.\u00a0 “Gil wasn’t as lucky,” he added softly.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A.C. whistled.\u00a0 “I don’t think I could have gone back in a mine after that.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “It wasn’t easy,” Adam admitted, “but I wasn’t going to let my fear control my life.”\u00a0 He paused, and then winked at his son.\u00a0 “Rhys and I let Llywelyn and Mark do all the underground inspections now.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n After a minute or two, A.C. asked, “When you bought our cattle station, didn’t you ever think of running it and letting Uncle Rhys run the mine?”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “No,” Adam replied without hesitation.\u00a0 “Life on a cattle station is very isolated.\u00a0 I remember how hard it was on your Grandma Marie moving from a city like New Orleans to the Ponderosa.\u00a0 I didn’t want to ask your mama to make that kind of sacrifice.\u00a0 Here in Cloncurry, she had your Aunt Matilda living right next door and they had become good friends.”\u00a0 He grinned broadly adding, “Besides, I’m not that enamored of cattle.\u00a0 I’d already spent around twenty years of my life raising them, and that was enough.’<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A.C. smiled but thought, I’d rather work with cattle any day than down in a mine.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Chapter 5<\/strong><\/p>\n “You’ve got your tucker-bag?” Beth, who was balancing the nearly seven-month-old Si\u00e2n on one hip, asked Huw.\u00a0 He nodded.\u00a0 “And your swag?”\u00a0 Another nod.\u00a0 “And you remembered to pack your toothbrush?”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u2018Yes, Mama.\u00a0 Can I go now?\u00a0 Uncle A.C. \u2018n’ Grandpa’ll be waitin’ for me,” Huw said, sounding a little anxious.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Wish I could go,” Dylan said with a pout.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “You’re too young,” Beth said firmly.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “But I’m two years older than Huw!” Elen whined.\u00a0 “Why can’t I go?”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “‘Cause you’re a girl, and girls don’t go bush,” Huw retorted smugly.\u00a0 Elen stuck her tongue out at him.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “That’s enough, Elen,” Dafydd said in a no-nonsense tone.\u00a0 “If you can’t behave properly, then you can’t go visit your grandma.”\u00a0 Elen nodded, her expression petulant, which caused her parents to sigh in exasperation.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “You mind your grandpa, Huw,” Beth said as Huw mounted his cream Welsh pony, Buttermilk.\u00a0 Huw nodded impatiently because he’d heard it before at least a hundred times.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Elen mounted her pony, held out her arm to help Dylan mount up behind her, and the three of them set off for their grandparents’ house.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n It was December 27 and there were three weeks left of the summer holiday.\u00a0 A.C. would be spending them at the cattle station his dad and uncle owned.\u00a0 Since it was time for Adam to check the station’s books, he was traveling with A.C., and he asked Beth and Dafydd if Huw could come with them.\u00a0 Huw would be eight in March, and Adam thought he was old enough to enjoy camping out with his uncle and his grandpa.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Beth was reluctant but her daddy and her husband were able to persuade her.\u00a0 As soon as Elen and Dylan learned of their brother’s upcoming adventure, they begged to come along, and sulked when they were told no.\u00a0 Bronwen felt bad for them and came up with the idea of Elen and Dylan staying with her while Huw was gone.\u00a0 Dylan told Jory and Ifor.\u00a0 They both begged their grandmas to let them stay, and Bronwen and Matilda readily agreed.\u00a0 They were both looking forward to spending time with their grandchildren while Beth, Gwyneth, and Emma were looking forward to having only one child to care for and a little time to themselves.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Christmas and Boxing Day it had rained very hard so the road was muddy, but the Mitchell grass was green and growing tall.\u00a0 As the Jones children approached their grandparents’ house, they saw Jory and Ifor riding on their ponies and waved a greeting.\u00a0 Adam and A.C. had been waiting just in front of the Cartwrights front yard for Huw’s arrival, letting their mounts graze.\u00a0 Huw’s eyes grew very round as he saw they were both wearing pistols at their hips.\u00a0 He waved goodbye to his siblings and cousins as he rode off between his grandpa and his uncle.\u00a0 Bronwen was waving goodbye from the verandah and had to smile, for Huw and his Welsh mountain pony were dwarfed by his tall uncle and grandpa on their Walers.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The slippery, muddy ground meant Adam, A.C., and Huw kept their mounts at a walk, but even so Adam figured they would arrive at the station by mid-morning the next day.\u00a0 In the meantime, he enjoyed the beauty all around him-the green tussocks of Mitchell grass and the splashes of color provided by the yellow flowers of the wattle tree and the red flowers of the bottlebrush.\u00a0 He spotted some bright green wild budgerigars, which Miranda and Sarah had written were called parakeets in the States. \u00a0He smiled as he remembered that Sarah had once had a parakeet she’d named Billy Boy for William.\u00a0 As the three drew closer to the river, the gidgee and gum trees grew thicker.\u00a0 In addition to budgerigars, the travelers saw Galahs with their distinctive grey and rosy-pink plumage, Cloncurry parrots with their pale green back and yellow belly, and the less colorful-although considerably more raucous-Kookaburras.\u00a0 A.C. showed Huw koalas sleeping in a gum tree, and Huw spotted a pair of dingos on his own.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n About half the year the Cloncurry River was dry but now, at the height of the rainy season, they would need to use the bridge to cross the river.\u00a0 As they rode across, Adam commented, “I know it’s hard to believe, but back in 1883, before either of you were born, the river rose higher than the bridge.\u00a0 Your Uncle Rhys and I were worried that our homes would be flooded since we’re so close to the river.”\u00a0 He smiled at Huw, who was looking up at him with round, wondering eyes.\u00a0 “Your mama was a little older than you are now, Huw, and your Aunt Miranda a little younger.\u00a0 Aunt Gwyneth was about the age of Jory and Ifor, and your Aunt Penny was about Benny’s age.\u00a0 I remember Aunt Gwyneth wanted to know if Uncle Rhys and I were going to build an ark.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Did she really?” A.C. asked with a chuckle.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Too right,” Adam replied with a smile.\u00a0 “And she wanted to go catch two dingos and two koalas.\u00a0 Two of everything, except snakes,” and both boys laughed.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n About an hour after they crossed the river, it began to rain.\u00a0 They stopped and put on their mackintoshes and then continued to ride.\u00a0 At midday it was still raining and Adam knew Huw couldn’t be having any fun, but he wasn’t complaining.\u00a0 Adam was thankful there been little thunder and lightening, but even so they needed to avoid the trees.\u00a0 At least since the temperature had been 90 degrees when they’d left, he didn’t have to worry about Huw catching cold.\u00a0 He wasn’t used to spending this many hours in the saddle though.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Let’s get down and stretch our legs a bit,” Adam suggested.\u00a0 “I’ve got some beef jerky in my tuckerbag.\u00a0 We can eat it while we walk.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n As they walked along, leading their horses, Adam put his free hand on Huw’s shoulder and said, “You know, Huw, I’m really proud of you for not complaining about the rain.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “You’re a fair dinkum jackeroo, mate,” A.C. said with a big grin and a wink.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Huw was practically glowing with happiness at this praise.\u00a0 It made it a lot easier to bear his sore legs and his soaking wet shoes and socks.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Did you have to ride in rain like this when you were a jackeroo, Grandpa?” he asked as he chewed on the jerky.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Too right I did,” Adam said, grinning crookedly.\u00a0 “And so will your Uncle A.C. while he’s working at the station.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n As they walked, the rain began to taper off.\u00a0 Soon the sun came out and the temperature soared.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I know you’re sore, Huw, but we need to mount up and ride for a bit.\u00a0 Then we’ll make camp for the night,” Adam said, patting the little boy’s shoulder.\u00a0 He saw Huw’s little grimace as he settled in the saddle.\u00a0 Maybe I should have waited a couple of years before taking him camping<\/em>, Adam thought.\u00a0 He’s still so young.\u00a0 But he’s plucky and I’m proud of him.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n When they made camp, Adam had the boys gather firewood.\u00a0 “But you both be careful,” he warned.\u00a0 “I remember that on the first cattle drive I went on, I was nearly bit by a rattlesnake gathering firewood.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “We’ll be careful,” A.C. said, and he patted the pistol at his hip.\u00a0 “C’mon, mate.\u00a0 Let’s see if we can find some dry wood, or least only a little damp.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n While the boys looked for wood, Adam unsaddled the horses and let them graze while he tied a picket line between two gum trees.\u00a0 The boys returned with wood that was slightly damp, and Adam and A.C. quickly whittled some chips.\u00a0 Adam got his old flint and steel and managed to start a fire while A.C. set up the tent of waxed canvas they’d brought, knowing it might rain.\u00a0 Huw had seen both his parents use matches to light the fire in their stove, but he found his grandpa’s method almost magical.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Could you teach me to start a fire like that?” he asked eagerly.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Let’s see what your parents say,” Adam temporized.\u00a0 “They may want me to wait until you’re a few years older.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Who taught you?” Huw asked then.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “We’ll get supper started and then I’ll tell you,” Adam replied, ruffling his grandson’s hair.\u00a0 He tossed A.C. the billy, saying, “You fix the Billy Tea, and Huw and I will start the beans and the damper.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Their tuckerbags were made of waxed canvas, which kept their supplies reasonably dry.\u00a0 Adam started the beans cooking first and then as he mixed the flour, water and salt for the damper, he said to Huw, “My tada<\/em>-your great-grandpa-taught me how to use a flint and steel to start a fire.\u00a0 Matches weren’t that easy to come by in those days and they were expensive, so we used a flint and steel.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I met my great-grandpa when I was little, didn’t I?” Huw asked then.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “That’s right.\u00a0 You and Elen both met him when we all sailed to the States for your Aunt Miranda and Uncle William’s wedding.\u00a0 You met your grandma’s parents then, too.”\u00a0 He smiled at his grandson and said, “The damper is ready, so we put it in the fire and cover it with ash.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n As the three of them sat around the campfire waiting for their supper to be ready, Adam said to Huw, “You know, you and your uncle are lucky that you got to gather wood for our fire.”\u00a0 A.C. grinned because he’d heard this story before.\u00a0 “When I was about Dylan’s age, I was traveling west with my tada<\/em> and my mama.\u00a0 We had to cross the great prairie to reach California.\u00a0 The prairie was like an ocean, except it was an ocean of grass instead of water.\u00a0 That tall grass rippled in the wind just like waves on the sea.\u00a0 But there weren’t any trees on the prairie, so there wasn’t any wood to gather for a fire.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Did you burn grass?” Huw asked, scrunching his forehead in thought.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “No, grass burns too fast,” Adam replied.\u00a0 “We burned buffalo chips.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “What’re buffalo chips?” Huw asked.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “You know what a buffalo is?” Adam queried and Huw nodded.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Buffalo chips are dried buffalo dung,” A.C. interjected.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Euww!\u00a0 Yuk!” Huw exclaimed, making a face.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “It may sound disgusting, but it was a good fuel,” Adam said with a slow smile.\u00a0 “And it was the children’s job to collect their family’s buffalo chips.”\u00a0 He smiled more broadly as he said, “The girls hated it more than we did, but if they didn’t have any brothers, then it was their job.” \u00a0Huw grinned at the thought of Elen having to pick up buffalo dung.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I like this damper,” Huw said as he broke off his third piece of the hot bread.\u00a0 “Did you eat damper when you were a boy, Grandpa?”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “No, I never had damper until I came to Queensland,” Adam replied.\u00a0 “When I was a little boy traveling west, we ate johnnycakes.\u00a0 They’re also pretty easy to make on the trail.\u00a0 Instead of flour, you use cornmeal.\u00a0 That’s maize that’s been ground fine like flour.\u00a0 You boil some water and mix it in with the cornmeal and a little salt.\u00a0 Then you spoon the batter on a griddle and fry it just like flapjacks.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I’d like to try some,” Huw said and was disappointed when his grandpa shook his head.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “You can’t get cornmeal here.\u00a0 Sorry, mate,” Adam said with a little smile.\u00a0 “Now, did you check your tuckerbag?”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I forgot!” Huw exclaimed. He jumped up and ran over to where his swag and tuckerbag were sitting by his saddle and looked inside.\u00a0 “Ginger cookies!” he exclaimed.\u00a0 “Want one, Grandpa?\u00a0 Uncle A.C.?”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “These are as good as Mama’s,” A.C. said with a smile after he bit into one.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Well, your mama passed Hop Sing’s recipe along to Beth and Gwyneth,” Adam said between bites.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n When they finished eating, A.C. suggested, “Let’s sing.\u00a0 Start us off, Dad.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “All right,” Adam said.\u00a0 “How about Sweet Betsy from Pike<\/em>?”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Beauty!” Huw exclaimed.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Adam began and the others joined in:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Did you ever hear tell of Sweet Betsy from Pike, \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n The Injuns came down in a thundering horde, Singing too-ra-li-oo-ra-li-oo-ra-li-ay.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n They sang Brisbane<\/em> Ladies, Waltzing Matilda, Sosban Fach, Men of Harlech<\/em> and Wait for the Wagon<\/em>.\u00a0 By then they were growing hoarse (and Huw could hardly keep his eyes open) so Adam suggested it was time to sleep.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Huw lay between his grandpa and his uncle, watching the stars in the velvety black sky through the opening in the tent, and thought of the day’s events.\u00a0 He was stiff and sore, but he felt warm all over as he thought of his grandpa saying he was proud of him and Uncle A.C. calling him a fair dinkum jackeroo.\u00a0 Then he thought of Elen and Dylan. \u00a0I wonder what they did today.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n ~\u00a0\u00a0 ~\u00a0\u00a0 ~<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “What would you children like to do this morning?” Bronwen asked after helping the little boys unsaddle their ponies and turn them into the fenced in pasture with Elen’s Sport.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Could we go swimming?” Elen asked eagerly.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Oh, I thought we’d go swimming this afternoon.\u00a0 Aunt Matilda has volunteered to watch Si\u00e2n, Cathy and Benny while they take their nap so your mamas can come swimming with us.”\u00a0 (Llywelyn and Mark had just started teaching Ifor and Jory to swim a few weeks earlier and although Dylan was a year older, he was still not an experienced swimmer so they needed lots of supervision.)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Elen looked disappointed but then she said, “Could we play croquet?”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I wanna play croquet!” Dylan agreed enthusiastically.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Ifor frowned a little and said, “I don’t know how,” and Jory said sullenly, “Me, neither.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “We’ll teach you,” Matilda said to coax them.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “It’s fun,” Dylan added, and the two younger boys finally agreed.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The croquet mallets were hard for a couple of not-quite five-year-olds to manage and they soon decided it would be more fun to play fetch with Duchess.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “You can’t just quit!” Elen yelled at them, but they ignored her.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Aunt Matilda and I will play in their place,” Bronwen said soothingly.\u00a0 “I think they’re just a little too young for croquet.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n They’d only played a few strokes when the sky grew dark and the rain began to fall in sheets.\u00a0 Bronwen and Matilda hurried to the verandah while the children ran about, throwing their heads back and drinking the raindrops, their clothes quickly becoming sodden.\u00a0 Duchess chased after them, barking excitedly.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “They won’t need to go swimming now,” Matilda said, shaking her head a little in disapproval.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Oh, if the rain stops, we’ll still go,’ Bronwen said with a smile.\u00a0 \u2018They have lots of energy and they need to use it.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The rain did stop so Beth, Gwyneth and Emma brought their little ones to stay with Matilda while they went swimming with the older children.\u00a0 At nearly three, Benny felt he’d outgrown naps and was sulking because he wasn’t allowed to go swimming with the others.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I’m afraid he’s feeling very cross,” Gwyneth apologized to her aunt.\u00a0 “He had a full-blown temper tantrum when I told him he couldn’t go swimming with us.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Don’t worry,” Matilda said reassuringly.\u00a0 “I know how to deal with fractious little boys.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Emma spied the lamingtons her mother-in-law had made setting on the dining room table and said, “Please don’t feed Cathy any lamingtons.\u00a0 They’re too rich for her.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Grandma will take good care of her little girl.\u00a0 Don’t you worry. \u00a0You all just go have fun at the river,” Matilda said, balancing the sleepy Si\u00e2n on one hip and holding one of Cathy’s hands in her free one.\u00a0 Benny’s lip stuck out in a pout and he kicked the doorjamb in frustration as he watched the others leave.\u00a0 When Cathy realized her mama was leaving her, she began to cry, “Ma-ma!\u00a0 Ma-ma!” and try to run after her.\u00a0 When she began crying, that was the signal for Si\u00e2n to begin as well and Benny couldn’t hold back his angry tears.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Desperate for a way to calm the children, Matilda asked Benny if he’d like a lamington.\u00a0 He nodded and she let go of Cathy’s hand so she could hand one of the cakes to Benny, who couldn’t reach them.\u00a0 Cathy immediately headed for the front door, calling for her mama.\u00a0 Matilda quickly handed the sweet to Benny and then hurried after Cathy.\u00a0 Luckily for Matilda, Cathy had just learned to walk so she hadn’t gotten very far.\u00a0 From an open window in the dining room, Matilda spied the verandah’s big swing and had an inspiration.\u00a0 She would see if she could rock the children to sleep.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Let’s all go sit on the swing,” she suggested cheerfully.\u00a0 “Won’t that be fun?”\u00a0 The only response from the two girls was more crying but Benny, whose face and hands were now smeared with chocolate, nodded and walked out onto the verandah, leaving sticky handprints on the door.\u00a0 He wasn’t quite tall enough to get on the swing, which kept moving away from him.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I’ll help you, Benny.\u00a0 Wait just a moment,” Matilda said.\u00a0 She set Si\u00e2n down first which necessitated letting go of Cathy’s hand.\u00a0 She immediately toddled toward the steps so Matilda hurried after and set her on the swing before giving Benny a boost up.\u00a0 Before the girls could try to wriggle off and hurt themselves, she sat between them and began to rock the swing.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Higher, Aunt Tilda,” Benny commanded while both girls continued to wail loudly.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “This swing doesn’t go very high,” Matilda said, picking Cathy up and holding her on her lap.\u00a0 “I know, let’s sing.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Sing Jesus Loves Me<\/em>,” Benny said immediately and Matilda smiled at him.\u00a0 The girls gradually began to quiet as Matilda and Benny sang.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Let’s try All Things Bright and Beautiful<\/em>,” Matilda suggested next.\u00a0 She was teaching Benny and the other small children in Sunday School that children’s hymn.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n All things bright and beautiful, \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Each little flower that opens, \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n All things bright and beautiful, \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n He gave us eyes to see them, \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n All things bright and beautiful, <\/p>\n By the time she and Benny finished, the girls had stopped crying and looked like they were almost asleep.\u00a0 Benny wanted to sing Jesus Loves Me<\/em> again and when they finished, the two girls had fallen asleep.\u00a0 Benny, however, was wide awake.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Would you like Aunt Matilda to tell you a story?” she asked.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Tell about the pigs,” he replied enthusiastically.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Right.\u00a0 You take that pillow,” and she indicated the one in the corner by the armrest, “and lie down on the swing and I’ll tell you about the three little pigs.”\u00a0 He looked rebellious but when she added, “If you don’t lie down, you won’t get a story,” he obeyed.\u00a0 When she finished, he sleepily requested the bears and he nodded off before Goldilocks finished trying out the beds.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n That evening, Llywelyn opened his front door and called, “I’m home!”\u00a0 Cathy had just finished getting her nappy changed and toddled into the entryway as fast as her short little legs would take her, squealing, “Dad-dy!\u00a0 Dad-dy!”\u00a0 Emma walked quietly behind Cathy.\u00a0 Llywelyn’s attention was focused on Cathy and he didn’t notice how quiet his wife was.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “How’s Daddy’s little girl?” Llywelyn said, lifting Cathy into his arms and enjoying her smacking kisses.\u00a0 Still holding Cathy in one arm, he turned to kiss Emma.\u00a0 He felt how tense she was and in a low voice he asked her what was wrong.\u00a0 She merely shrugged.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Cathy was fretful during high tea and Emma had to leave the table and change her nappy.\u00a0 Llywelyn noticed Cathy’s nappy needed to be changed several times that evening.\u00a0 Once Cathy had been put to bed, Llywelyn and Emma went to the parlor as they usually did.\u00a0 Llywelyn would read the newspaper aloud as Emma worked on her mending or darning.\u00a0 Tonight, Llywelyn set the newspaper to one side and quietly asked, “Will you tell me what’s wrong, Love?\u00a0 Don’t say nothing because I know something is.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Emma kept her eyes focused on her mending as she replied.\u00a0 “I’d rather not discuss it.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “You’d rather brood on it?” he queried in the same even tone and she sighed.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “No, but I don’t want to argue with you,” she answered, still refusing to look up from her mending.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n It was Llywelyn’s turn to sigh.\u00a0 “So it’s about my mother and Cathy,” he said bleakly, and she nodded.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “When I took Cathy to your mother’s so she could watch her while I went swimming with Ifor, I noticed that she’d made lamingtons.\u00a0 I asked her not to give any to Cathy.”\u00a0 Emma was watching her husband and added, “You know they are too rich for her and she has diarrhea if she eats them.”\u00a0 She saw him nod and continued.\u00a0 “When we finished swimming and I went to get Cathy, your mother was feeding her little bits of lamington.\u00a0 I reminded her that I’d asked her not to do that, and she just said the little bit she was giving her wouldn’t hurt.”\u00a0 Emma stopped and then said quietly, “Cathy has been having diarrhea.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Llywelyn sighed.\u00a0 Ever since Cathy’s birth, there had been tension between his wife and his mother.\u00a0 He guessed his mama did tend to monopolize Cathy, but she adored her granddaughter and Llywelyn hadn’t seen any harm in it\u00a0 His mama had been denied the little girl she’d always wanted so it was only natural she’d make a fuss over her granddaughter.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Mama didn’t mean any harm,” he began, but Emma cut him off.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “You always take her side,” she said bitterly, and he was shocked to see tears in his wife’s eyes.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “She’s my mother, Emma,” he said softly.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “And I’m your wife, Llywelyn.\u00a0 Cathy is our daughter.\u00a0 Your mother shouldn’t disregard our wishes. \u00a0It’s wrong.”\u00a0 Emma despised the way her voice shook and the angry tears that filled her eyes.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Llywelyn’s shoulders slumped as he nodded.\u00a0 “You’re right.\u00a0 It’s still early so I’ll go talk with Mama.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n As Llywelyn walked up the steps of his parents’ verandah, he could hear his son’s excited voice shouting, “You got the Old Bachelor, Grandpa!”\u00a0 He frowned a little because it was nearly an hour past Ifor’s bedtime.\u00a0 He knocked on the front door and Daisy, his parents’ Aboriginal maid, let him in.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n As soon as Ifor spotted Llywelyn, he threw down his cards and jumped off his chair so he could run to his daddy.\u00a0 Llywelyn hunkered down and hugged his son then said blandly, “You’re up late tonight, aren’t you, mate?”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Rhys said, “We thought we’d let him stay up as a treat.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Llywelyn smiled sardonically and said quietly, “It won’t be much of a treat for you when he’s a little crosspatch tomorrow.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Ifor’s a good boy,” Matilda said.\u00a0 “You won’t be a crosspatch, will you?”\u00a0 The little boy shook his head but his daddy only smiled knowingly.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Since Daddy’s here, I’ll hear your prayer and tuck you in.\u00a0 Then I want to talk with Grandma.”\u00a0 Llywelyn held out a hand and a little reluctantly Ifor put one of his in it and allowed himself to be led to his daddy’s old bedroom.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n When Llywelyn returned, he found his father sitting in his favorite chair reading the Cloncurry Advocate<\/em> while his mother was sewing a little dress for Cathy.\u00a0 She looked up when he entered the drawing room and smiled at him.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Sit here,” she said, patting the settee beside her.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n He had rehearsed what he would say on the walk over, but it was hard-harder than he’d realized.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n After sitting beside her, he cleared his throat and said, “There’s something I have to talk with you about, Mama.”\u00a0 She looked at him expectantly so he continued.\u00a0 “When I got home this evening, Emma was upset.\u00a0 At first, she wouldn’t talk to me about it but I finally persuaded her.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Oh, she’s not still upset that I fed Cathy a little lamington, is she?” Matilda said in an exasperated tone.\u00a0 “I told her that little bit wouldn’t hurt Cathy.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Well, you were wrong, Mama,” he replied, his tone sharper than he’d intended.\u00a0 “Cathy’s had diarrhea just as Emma knew she would.\u00a0 But what really upsets Emma is the fact that you totally disregard her wishes when it comes to Cathy.”\u00a0 Seeing his mama’s stricken expression, he said hurriedly, “I don’t want to hurt you, Mama, and neither does Emma.\u00a0 We both love you,” and he patted her on the shoulder comfortingly.\u00a0 “We want you to be close to Cathy, but we just ask that you respect our wishes.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Matilda didn’t trust her voice, and nodded, struggling to hold back her tears.\u00a0 Llywelyn patted her shoulder again, feeling awkward, and then stood up.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I’ll see you both at Cathy’s birthday party,” he said to his parents.\u00a0 “Hooroo.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n After their son left, Rhys went over and sat down by Matilda and took her in his arms and held her comfortingly.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The next morning while Matilda and Daisy prepared breakfast, Rhys went to wake Ifor so he could help take care of his pony just as he did at home.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Time to wake up, Ifor,” Rhys said cheerfully as he gently shook the child’s shoulder.\u00a0 Ifor only mumbled and tried to roll into a ball.\u00a0 “Ifor, you have to get up.\u00a0 Brownie’s hungry and you need to come feed him,” Rhys said firmly and shook his grandson a little harder.\u00a0 Ifor’s response was to wriggle away so Rhys threw back the sheet and sat him up.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Ifor rubbed his eyes and said crossly, “Wanna sleep.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I’m afraid you have to get up and get dressed,” Rhys said.\u00a0 “You need to help take care of Brownie.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “No,” the little boy said, his lip coming out in a big pout.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Well, that means your daddy and mama will give Brownie to a little boy or girl who wants to take care of him,” Rhys answered.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “No!” Ifor yelled.\u00a0 “Brownie’s mine!”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “If he’s yours, then you need to get dressed and come take care of him,” Rhys said calmly.\u00a0 He stood in the doorway and waited as his sulky grandson got dressed.\u00a0 You were sure right about his being a crosspatch, son, <\/em>Rhys thought.\u00a0 He’ll be going to bed at his regular time tonight.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n As the three Davies gathered in the dining room for breakfast, Matilda fixed a plate for Ifor.\u00a0 When she sat the plate with a fried egg, bacon and toast in front of Ifor, he scowled.\u00a0 “I want porridge,” he announced.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “You can have porridge tomorrow morning,” Matilda said soothingly.\u00a0 “Just eat your eggs and bacon now”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “No!” Ifor shouted, shoving his plate so hard that he upset his glass of milk.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Matilda quickly mopped up the milk and Ifor looked apprehensively at his grandparents, alarmed by his own naughtiness.\u00a0 Rhys stood up and pushed his chair away from the table, saying sternly, “Stand up, Ifor.”\u00a0 Ifor stood, his chin and lower lip wobbling.\u00a0 Rhys walked over to the little boy, told him to bend over, and spanked him.\u00a0 Then he picked up his sobbing grandson and said quietly, “Grandpa doesn’t like to spank you, Ifor, but he has to when you misbehave.\u00a0 Now, if you want to play with your cousins today, you need to eat your breakfast.\u00a0 Understand?”\u00a0 The child was crying too hard to talk but he managed to nod.\u00a0 Rhys kissed his cheek and gently set him back in his chair.\u00a0 It took a few minutes for Ifor to collect himself but then he picked up his fork and reluctantly began to eat his egg, tears still rolling down his cheeks.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Breakfast was a silent meal.\u00a0 When Rhys finished, he kissed his wife and grandson goodbye and left for the mine.\u00a0 Ifor ate his food slowly and when he finally finished, Matilda smiled brightly and said they would go visit his cousins.\u00a0 Dylan and Jory were in the library, coloring with the box of Crayola crayons the Gordons had sent Dylan for his sixth birthday that November.\u00a0 Jory was drawing a picture of his pony, Blackie, so he’d appropriated the black crayon.\u00a0 Ifor claimed the brown so he could draw Brownie.\u00a0 Dylan was using the green crayon to draw grass, the blue for the sky and the yellow for the sun.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Where’s Elen?” Matilda asked Bronwen as they sat in the leather armchairs.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “She asked to see if Kerra and Molly wanted to play croquet,” Bronwen replied.\u00a0 “I told her if they did, I’d be the fourth player.\u00a0 I hope you don’t mind watching the boys on your own?”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “No,” Matilda replied.\u00a0 Bronwen noticed her friend seemed listless.\u00a0 She’d been looking forward to Ifor’s visit so much; Bronwen knew something must be wrong and decided to see if she could discover the problem.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “I had forgotten what it was like putting three children to bed,” she commented.\u00a0 “They all tried to convince me to let them stay up late.\u00a0 I almost weakened but luckily I remembered how grumpy children are if they don’t get enough sleep.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Rhys and I forgot,” Matilda said quietly.\u00a0 “Ifor was a little crosspatch this morning just as Llywelyn said he would be.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Llywelyn?” Bronwen repeated.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “He stopped by last night and saw we were letting Ifor stay up.”\u00a0 Matilda stopped and then said in an aggrieved tone, “Emma has been complaining to him about me, saying I interfere in the way she’s raising Cathy.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Ah,” Bronwen said slowly.\u00a0 She wasn’t surprised at Matilda’s news.\u00a0 Matilda doted on her little granddaughter and she did disregard her daughter-in-law’s wishes if they conflicted with her own. \u00a0If Adam were here,<\/em> Bronwen thought, he’d tell me not to be a <\/em>stickybeak.\u00a0 But I care about Matilda and Emma.\u00a0 I also care about Llywelyn, and he is in the middle of this.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n “You know, sometimes I think we were lucky,” Bronwen said slowly.\u00a0 “Your mother-in-law lived hundreds of miles away while I didn’t have one.\u00a0 When we first moved here, I wished
\nMy True Love Hath My Heart – Part 2
\n<\/a>My True Love Hath My Heart – Part 3<\/a>
\nFamily Reunion<\/a>
\nCartwright is the Name<\/a>
\nA Son and Heir<\/a>
\nThe Country of the Heart<\/a>
\nTo Bloom in Another Man’s Garden – Part 1<\/a>
\nTo Bloom in Another Man’s Garden – Part 2<\/a>
\nIn Memoriam<\/a>
\nThe Marriage of True Minds – Part 1<\/a>
\nThe Marriage of True Minds – Part 2<\/a>
\nThe Marriage of True Minds – Part 3<\/a>
\nThe Joys of Parents<\/a>
\nGrow Old Along with Me<\/a>
\nThe Best is Yet to Be<\/a><\/p>\n
\nO’Tannenbaum<\/a><\/p>\n
\nMiranda<\/p>\n
\nWho crossed the wide mountains with her lover Ike,
\nTwo yoke of cattle, a large yeller dog,
\nA tall Shanghai rooster, and a one-spotted hog. <\/em><\/p>\n
\nAnd Betsy was scared they would scalp her adored.
\nSo under the wagon-bed Betsy did crawl
\nAnd she fought off the Injuns with musket and ball.<\/em><\/p>\n
\nAll creatures great and small,
\nAll things wise and wonderful:
\nThe Lord God made them all.<\/em><\/p>\n
\nEach little bird that sings,
\nHe made their glowing colors,
\nHe made their tiny wings.<\/em><\/p>\n
\nAll creatures great and small,
\nAll things wise and wonderful:
\nThe Lord God made them all.<\/em><\/p>\n
\nAnd lips that we might tell
\nHow great is God Almighty,
\nWho has made all things well.<\/em><\/p>\n
\nAll creatures great and small,
\nAll things wise and wonderful:
\nThe Lord God made them all<\/em><\/p>\n