Family Life – Rebekah Lyn Books

Go West~The final chapter

Chapter 57 the final chapter

Go West

by DiVoran Lites

Chapter Fifty Seven

The Final Chapter

Ellie

After supper, Ellie changed into work shoes so she could help clean the kitchen. She then walked out the back door to breathe some cool air. The moon spread its light over the fence, the barn, and the mountains. She should have been exhausted after all the excitement of the past few days, but at first, she felt exhilarated and restless. She was glad she and Aldon weren’t enemies anymore, but now they would go their separate ways, she with her grandparents and he to take over Bill’s job in Hollywoodland so he could send money home. She knew, though that he was excited about working with horses. A sense of loss washed over her. What could life possibly be without Aldon? The answer came: without Aldon, life was nothing.

“How about a ride in the moonlight?” Aldon came out of the house pulling the screen door closed behind him.

“I’d be delighted,” she said forcing herself to sound cheerful. If these were their last moments together, she wanted him to remember her as a strong woman, not a fussy feminine chit who could cry and embarrass him.

In the barn, they saddled Chief and Summer and decided to allow Sunrise to follow along. No need in leaving him so that he would whinny for the rest of the evening calling the mare.

Ellie knew that if she didn’t go back inside and change, she’d have to ride in her chiffon dress. If, however, she left Aldon waiting while she changed, someone else would come along and claim his attention.

He cupped his hands so she could use them as a stirrup. He boosted her into the saddle. As she settled in she pulled her skirt down so he wouldn’t see her knees, but then a heady surge of freedom replaced her embarrassment. So what if Aldon saw her knees?

Ellie had no idea where they were heading as they rode upward. She just wanted to be with Aldon. When the road became a trail, she fell back and let him take the lead. Looking at his straight back in the moonlight she gave a sigh of thanksgiving. If there was ever anyone, anywhere, that she wanted to be friends with, it was Aldon.

At the beginning of the trail that led to the warm spring, Ellie pulled back on Summer’s reins and the horse paused. “This is where we got kidnapped,” Ellie said

Aldon half turned in the saddle to look back at her. He locked his eyes with hers. “That’s all over. You’re with me now

She tapped the mare’s belly with her heels. Yes, she knew she was safe with Aldon. He’d protect her with everything he had in him. When they arrived at the pond, the well-trained horses waited for the couple to dismount before they began to graze.

“Do you ever feel sorry for horses not being able to lie down to sleep?” She asked dropping the reins in order to “ground-tie” the mare and dismounting.

“I never thought about it,” Aldon said as they approached a fall of boulders at the edge of the spring. “Their knees lock, you know, to keep them upright. Would you like to dangle your toes in the spring?”

“Oh, yes,” said she. “I’ve heard so much about it. I’ve never been in a warm spring before. I always love the water.”

Aldon steadied her as she sank onto a big rock then he knelt to remove her shoes. He looked at her silk stockings as if he didn’t know what to do with them. Not at all shy, which surprised her, she reached under the skirt to release the garter tabs and showed him how to roll the stockings down. He finished the first one, pulling it off her foot, and he stuck the roll into his shirt pocket. She could see that her feet looked pale in the bright moonlight.

“Your feet,” he said taking one in both hands. “They’re so beautiful.” He lowered his head and kissed the top of it. His eyelashes tickled and she sighed. When he looked up at her, the reflection of the moon caught in his eyes and gave them a shine like that of a sweet and vulnerable child’s.

“Oh,” she thought. “He truly loves me. He loves me as much as I love him.” Warmth spread through her entire body as peace filled her soul. She sighed.

He drew her to her feet and lifted her so he could carry her. Her arms slid around his neck as she snuggled against him with her head on his shoulder. Heedless of his boots, he walked into the water. It soon crept as high as her waist. She was bathed in joy. From somewhere she thought she heard a melody. Overhead, the stars swirled like dancing angels.

“Ellie, Honey,” he said, his deep voice resonating in her ear. “Do you know that I love you more than life?”

“I know,” she answered breathless. “I’m so glad.”

“Why?” He asked.

“What do you love about me?” she questioned him ignoring the fact that he had asked first.

“Your eyes, your hair, your long slender limbs, your smile, your sweetness, your sense of humor, your excellence in everything you do, your kindness, your courtesy, your willingness to be a servant to all”

“Stop!” She said, laughing. “That’s enough!”

“But none of that matters. It’s you I love and always will, no matter what.”

“How do you know?” she asked charmed and receptive.

“It’s the way I’m made. Good old Aldon, steady as a plow horse, sets his mind to something, goes straight at it, and keeps plowing until his days come to an end… until death do us part.”

“Maybe we’ll never die,” she said.

“My love for you will never die, because God put it in my heart. He wants you to be my mate for life. Would you consider that, big-city girl? I don’t have a lot of this world’s goods to offer, but I know I can make you happy.”

“Yes, I would consider it.” She pondered, holding her breath. She then made him wait while she counted to ten. “Yes, I’ve considered–I will be your mate for life.”

“Yippee-e-e,” his voice rose into a triumphal yell that echoed off the boulders. They had come to a deep place in the pond and Ellie felt her body grow light as if she would float right out of his arms. Aldon stepped into a hole and began to sink. There was nothing either of them could do, he lowered her into the water in time for her to stand on the bottom. He bent his head. She lifted her face to his. His mouth touched hers. They stood immersed in each other until her whole body was tingling. She wished he could hold her like this forever. She opened her eyes and saw over his shoulder that cloud sized green lights waved above the peaks. She had heard that sometimes the Arora Borealis could be seen from the pond. It was the seal of God’s love and approval on their approaching union.

The End

elegant lines

Epilogue

The same Sunday, Pastor Rudd performed the marriage ceremony in the church in town. The entire community attended. The bride wore a creamy satin dress decorated in imported lace loaned to her by her employer. She carried a small Bible borrowed from her mother. A silver dollar nestled in her pocket, and tiny, blue ribbon- rosettes held her veil at her temples. The groom wore a Western suit and a new pair of tooled boots that Ellie’s grandfather had brought from the store in Chicago.

On Monday they loaded their horses in the train and began the long journey to California, making plans as they went. Ellie knew that her family would soon follow, but they would buy a place nearby so they could still be a family.

Go West~Chapter 39

Go West

by DiVoran Lites

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Ellie and Vera

Vera kept talking long after Ellie’s heart had slid into her stomach. Now she wanted the tale to go back to being a secret, but it was too late. Elegant Mr. Louis Norton had used her mother and discarded her. The result was that Ellie was illegitimate. She knew bad names existed for children whose parents weren’t married, but she never dreamed that they would apply to her. And to have had her mother hurt like that – to have such a wholly self-centered man for a father — well, she wanted to crawl under the bed and stay, never to be seen again.

“Mr. Norton had his chauffer drive me to the convent, and that’s how you came to be born there,” said Vera. “Now, maybe you understand why I never told you.”

When her mother reached for her arm, Ellie steeled herself against moving away. How could anyone be so foolish and naïve, she wondered? Then she recalled that her mother had been only sixteen-years-old when she was duped and manipulated by that evil man. She was pregnant and friendless in the big city.

“The nuns were good to me considering I got myself into all this trouble, but I still felt lonely, and I wanted to keep you. You were the only one born there that week. They planned to send you away to some rich people who wanted a baby. The guard nun, however, fell asleep, so I wrapped you in a blanket and escaped through the courtyard. We needed a place to sleep that night so, right away I looked for a job. I’ll always thank God for sending us to the Williams family who ran a pub on skid row. I reminded them of their daughter, who had recently died in childbirth so they gave me a waitressing job and room and board. They insisted I wait a week to begin work, then because you were a newborn, they let you sleep in a big box behind the bar. You were such a good baby. You were happy and you made everyone who saw you smile.

I wrote my folks and waited for an answer, but instead they came to Chicago to find me. We decided not to meet with Mr. Norton now that we know what a bad man he really was. Dad got a job in the stockyards and mother worked in a general store. By then we had a small apartment and I was able to stay at home and look after you during the day. At night your grandmother and grandad took care of you while I continued to work for the Williamses. The three of us eventually saved enough money to start a small neighborhood store of our own. Here again, the pub owners were a big help. When we began to get ahead and got into the department store business your granddad paid them back many times over for what they had done for us. I’m so ashamed and sorry.” Vera’s voice held tears.

“Dear Mother, I had no idea, A young girl who had never been away from home just wouldn’t know. Shouldn’t your parents have been more wary?” Ellie now patted the hand resting next to her on the bed.

“I’ve thought about it over the years, of course,” said Vera. “But I never have had much confidence in myself since that happened and I keep trying to think what I might have done different. But if I’m honest, I got to say, I’ve always been so glad to have a beautiful and good child like you that I could never regret having you and keeping you.”

“Now I understand why you always warned me about men, especially older men. You wanted me to avoid that kind of a situation. Sometimes I felt confused because it seemed as if Grandmother was trying to marry me off to a rich politician, and you seemed reluctant for me to go anywhere with a boy at all. I am sorry you never married, never had a life of your own. Thanks for loving me and looking after me all my life. You were always there quietly in the background.

Vera took hold of Ellie’s hand and Ellie’s heart was flooded with love and compassion. She gently squeezed the hard-working hand of her mother.

“I love you, Mom,” she whispered.

DiVoran’s Promise Posters, Paintings from Go West as well as other art can be purchased as note cards and framable art

Creative Arts

Go West~Chapter 37

Go West

by DiVoran Lites

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Family Comes to Visit

Ellie

It was almost the end of summer — round-up time when Ellie drove to the station to meet her mother and grandparents off the Chicago train. The mountains, as yet, had no snow on them, but she knew from the talk around the table that Aldon was planning to bring the cattle down this week in order to avoid bad weather for the trek.

That afternoon, when she hugged the members of her small family in their elegant department store suits, she felt tall — tall and protective. When Granddad removed his hat she saw him in a way she hadn’t seen him before. Was his hair always pure white? Had his shoulders drooped slightly the last time she saw him? Mother looked as if she were Grandmother’s sister instead of her daughter, and Grandmother was looking downright frail. Had they changed or had she developed a more mature way of looking at them? She would need to watch and listen in order to understand whether they had problems now that they hadn’t had before or whether they were the same as always and it was she who had changed.

At the ranch, Aldon, Molly, Kate and Seraphina, everyone except the Solanos, came out to welcome them and usher them inside. Ellie, Kate, and Seraphina had moved to the third floor so that the guests would only need to climb one set of stairs. Aldon lugged their Alexander Clark Co. Ltd. luggage to their rooms right away they might change into more comfortable clothing.

It wasn’t quite suppertime when they came downstairs so Molly asked Ellie and Aldon to show them around. At the corral, they stood and watched Sunrise leap and mince around Summer. Ellie’s mother, Vera, laughing at the colt’s feistiness, thanked Aldon for giving the mustangs to Ellie.

“She’s a good horse. Did she write about how well she and Summer placed in the rodeo race?” Aldon asked.

At bedtime, Vera came up to her room carrying a brown-paper wrapped package. She handed it to her daughter and Ellie tore it open.

“That’s beautiful,” she said, running her hand around the smooth silver frame. She glanced into her reflection, though, and thought her face looked drawn and shadows under her eyes spoke of poor sleep.

“Thank you, it’s just right. I hope he’ll accept it from me.” Ellie said putting it on the desk.

“Why would he not?” Vera asked. “What’s going on between you and that handsome young cowboy?” Vera sat on the bed, and patted the spot beside her. Ellie sat down too. These bedrooms were smaller than the one on the second floor and had even less space for a private visit.

“I don’t think anything is going on between us. Not anymore,” Ellie sighed.

“Are you fond of him?” Vera lifted Ellie’s chin and turned her head so the young woman would look at her. Ellie nodded.

“Does he love you?” Vera’s voice held a poignancy her daughter had rarely heard.

“I thought he did.” Ellie wiped away a tear, hoping her mother hadn’t noticed that she was crying.

“But you’re afraid of something?” Vera seemed genuinely interested. Suddenly, Ellie realized that all her life she and her mother had been nearly strangers. Vera was only sixteen years older and they could have been friends, but something had kept them apart. She did know that Vera was always busy keeping house and entertaining for Grandmother while she was either away at school or working at the store. She would love to know something about her own father – anything would do. She had made up stories and fantasies about a handsome young man who carried a three-year-old on his shoulders, but no one at home had ever mentioned him.

“Are you afraid Aldon will leave you as you believe your father left us?” Vera asked.

“Did you love my dad before he abandoned us?” Ellie sensed a possibility of finally learning what had happened between her parents.

“No,” Vera said taking a deep breath. “I didn’t know him very well?”

“You didn’t know…him?” Ellie gasped. “How else could you have had a child…? Ellie stared at Vera who now refused to meet her eyes.

“You had the best possible father in your Granddad, why don’t we leave it at that?”

“Because, I want to know, I’ve always wanted to know.”

“Oh, Honey, I love you, isn’t that enough?” Vera lightly touched Ellie’s knee.

“I know you love me. You’ve shown it in many ways. I’m so grateful for the work you’ve done to take care of us all. Living with Grandmother and Granddad instead of getting out on your own couldn’t have been easy. Even though we didn’t have much time together, you kept me clean, fed, and dressed. I now realize there were times when you wanted to talk and I was too busy, and I’m sorry. Please, Mother, tell me the whole story.”

DiVoran’s Promise Posters, Paintings from Go West as well as other art can be purchased as note cards and framable art

Creative Arts

Go West~Chapter 35

Go West

by DiVoran Lites

Chapter Thirty-five

Ellie

“Where were you born? “ Ellie sat with her back against the head of the bed while Nancy lay flat.

“My people came from Germany in 1876 and built this ranch,” said Nancy, so I was born on a neighboring ranch.

“My mother and her sister were born here in Colorado, but the stork dropped me in Chicago.” Ellie settled in for a short chat with Aldon’s mother. “Was Trudy your only sister?” Ellie wanted to know about Aldon’s family whether she stayed at the ranch or not. It would be something to think about when she was alone.

“Yes, Trudy was the eldest. After me, Papa got what the ranch needed, which was a passel of boys.”

“How many is a passel?” Amazed at how much better she felt talking to Nancy, Ellie began to relax.

“For us it was four. Karl died of the Spanish Influenza in 1918.” Nancy’s voice faltered.

“I’m so sorry. Your brothers are quite the gentlemen. I danced with them, you know.” Ellie smiled to herself thinking of the gallant older men who each in his own way reminded her of a giant.”

“Those big old fellows are as easy-going as they come, but they’ve had a great deal of hardship in their lives. They told me you were a sweet little thing. You received their blessing.” Nancy said.

“A sweet little thing?” Ellie sat up fully awake staring at Nancy. “That’s not how I want to be thought of.”

“Oh, no? How do you want them to think of you?” Nancy touched Ellie’s elbow as if to console her.

“As a good, strong, capable woman like you.” Ellie felt the anger simmering again as she recalled Aldon’s embarrassing and unnecessary rescue.

“You are strong and capable.” Nancy reached up and laid her warm hand against Ellie’s cheek. “And beautiful, too, no wonder Aldon is enraptured by you.”

“He’s what?” Ellie jerked her head back.

“Are you attracted to him? “Nancy asked.

“Well, I was, but…”

“His temper worries you.” Nancy nodded.

“I don’t like the idea of men fighting over me. That doesn’t do a woman’s reputation any good, does it?” Ellie started to get up, but when her feet hit the cold floor, she changed her mind. Ready now to talk in earnest she rested her back against a pillow and the iron rungs of the bedstead.

“I have never seen him jealous before. Maybe he’s going to have to learn not to be, but he has always been protective and that will stay with him.” Nancy pulled herself into a sitting position like Ellie’s.

Chapter 35 Robert “He hasn’t said much about his father,” Ellie glanced at Nancy to gauge her expression in reaction to the question.

“Robert had a rough upbringing, but he was a good man. He believed in discipline for children and horses, all our people did.”

“When did you know you loved Robert?” Ellie asked. Both pair of legs stretched toward the foot of the bed and Ellie pulled up the quilt.

“Being neighbors, our families worked the ranches together. On joint workdays, Robert kept my brothers from teasing me too much. They had a lot of respect for him. At haying time one year, when I was about eight, I was wearing a blue-print flour sack dress and running in the meadow with my hair flying. Robert caught me up under the arms and turned in circles with me. It made me dizzy, but when he set me down, he said I was as pretty as a Mountain Bluebird. It always makes me happy to think about that time. Eleven-year-old boys don’t usually speak kindly to small girls let alone protect them from their brothers. I knew he must have thought a lot of me to call me after a Mountain Bluebird. They are one of the prettiest things you ever saw.” She sighed. “They get their color from the sky.”

“Robert was small and dark-headed. Men sometimes called him Shorty and sometimes Pee Wee. He always resented it, but once he proved he was a fighter, they stopped. When I got my growth, I was taller than he was, and when we started stepping out we took some teasing. Inside, though, he was the biggest man I ever knew.”

“What happened to your Robert?” Ellie scooted down in the bed taking her pillow with her.

“After the war — after Paul…” Nancy sighed and drew her knees up under the cover with a low moan. “He got so sad he’d barely speak. It broke my heart, and I tried everything to cheer him. I grieved for Paul, too, but I knew I would see him again. It was awful to lose my husband to bitterness, but I still had two that needed me.

“When you lose your best friend and want to tell somebody about it, it would be your best friend whom you would tell, it’s the loneliest feeling in the world.” Ellie wondered if that made sense as she closed her eyes for a moment. In her imagination she saw Aldon’s face looking surprised and hurt. Biting her lower lip, she willed herself not to cry.

“You’re right, Robert always did his work, but he couldn’t find any peace, so he took to sitting at the kitchen table late into the night drinking beer. At first, I tried to stay and visit, but I couldn’t stay awake all night and do chores the next day, so I started coming upstairs without him. One morning in the wee hours, I realized he hadn’t come to bed, so I went downstairs and he was still at the table. I thought he had just laid his head down, but when I touched him, I knew he was gone.” Nancy dabbed at her eyes with the sheet.