Page 38 of Hope’s Enduring Echo
Jennie
Jennie was amazed at how much of the distance Daisy walked. She possessed determination. She allowed her father or Leo to piggyback her for short stretches, but then she wanted down to go on her own. Jennie decided she was small but mighty, and she hoped the little girl would always remember her tenth birthday. Not only the miles she traversed, but the things Mr. DeWeece told her, the experience of exposing millennia-old bones, and sharing the experience with her big brother.
As their little band neared the cabin, the sound of laughter carried on the breeze. At first she thought she was hearing the workers, but the tone was too light and airy for men’s hearty guffaws. Then she recognized Mama’s sweet laugh. A smile tugged at her lips. Mama and Mrs. Day must be having a good time together. She was happy. Mama needed friends as badly as Jennie did.
She jogged the final yards and found the cabin door propped open. The women were sitting at the table, napkins dotted with cookie crumbs and empty coffee mugs between them. Mama looked over as Jennie came in, and she held out one arm. Jennie pattered across the floor and hugged Mama’s neck. Mama stood, keeping her arm looped around Jennie’s waist.
“Sweetheart, I’m glad you’re back. Take the washbasin to my room and change into one of my dresses. We’re going into town this evening.”
Jennie reared back. “We are? But…but what about the packing? What about Rags? What…” She ran out of what-abouts.
Mama laughed again, the sound music to Jennie’s ears. “Rags will be fine in the shed. We’re going to—”
Leo, his father, and Daisy came in, and Daisy scampered to her mother. The little girl started to say something, but Mrs. Day put her finger over the child’s mouth, and Daisy pursed her lips. She might have even held her breath.
“—have a late dinner at the hotel with the Day family,” Mama went on as if no interruption had occurred. “If Prime and Delia are available, I’ll ask them to join us. There’s much we need to discuss.”
Jennie blinked at her. “There is?”
“Yes, there is.” She sighed, a happy, relief-laden sigh. Then she released Jennie and flicked her fingers at her. “Hurry, now. The other mountain climbers need to freshen up, too, and there’s not much time.”
Jennie hurried through a wash, her thoughts tumbling. What was Mama up to? Why did they need to include Uncle Prime and Aunt Delia? And what about Daddy? It didn’t feel fair to leave him out of the evening’s activities.
Mrs. Day sat with Mama for the train ride to town. The girls crowded onto a bench with Mr. Day, which left Jennie with Leo. With each rocking motion, their shoulders bumped. Even though the connection aggravated her bruise, she didn’t try to move away. If they would soon part, she wanted to make as many memories with him as possible. Even ones as silly as bumping shoulders on a rocking, noisy train car.
Uncle Prime was at the hotel, overseeing the filling of water barrels for the guests’ bathing needs. With the water pipeline closed, none of the spigots in the hotel produced water. He was too busy to join them for dinner, but he telephoned Aunt Delia, and she came.
Reverend Day ordered the special—roast duck, mashed yams, buttered green peas, and rolls with an assortment of jams—for everyone, but he let Daisy choose the dessert. She wanted chocolate cake, and the server promised to reserve the biggest piece in the cooler for her. They chatted as they ate the delicious dinner but said nothing of great importance. Jennie found herself getting impatient. Why had Mama made such a big to-do about including Aunt Delia if they were going to talk only about the latest fashions and the many ways the pipeline’s break affected the hotel’s efficiency?
By the time the server delivered Daisy’s cake to the table, Jennie was a bundle of nerves. They sang to the little girl, who beamed in delight, and then Reverend Day laid his arm across the back of Daisy’s chair and turned a serious look on her.
“Daisy, we’ve had a very nice day and a very nice dinner. You received many nice gifts, and you are about to eat the most beautiful slice of cake I’ve ever seen. You’ve had a good birthday celebration, yes?”
The child sat with her fork gripped in her fist, her eyes glued on her father’s face. “Yes, sir.”
“Good. Now I need you to be very quiet and allow the grown-ups to talk. You are not to interrupt or ask questions. And later, you are not to repeat anything you hear us say.” He glanced at Myrtle. “That goes for you, too, young lady.” Myrtle gave a somber nod. He kissed Daisy’s forehead. “Eat your cake.”
Daisy dove in.
Reverend Day held his hand to his wife. “Martha, you are the planner of this entire chain of events, so please…”
“Thank you, dear.” Mrs. Day sent a smile around the table and began to talk. She spoke about a program at the university offering psychoanalysis sessions for no cost to the patient. She talked about the variety of job opportunities for women in the city—everything from store clerk to seamstress to bakery worker. She talked about the good schools, including their art, music, and athletic programs. She talked about a parishioner of their church, a kindly gentleman who owned three apartment buildings. “He often bemoans the difficulty of finding suitable tenants,” she said with a little shake of her head, “and I know he’d welcome a respectable, responsible family like the Wards.”
Jennie listened, trying to understand the purpose of this information windfall, and suddenly it all clicked in her mind. She gasped. “Mama, are we—”
“Etta, are you moving to Denver?” Aunt Delia spoke over Jennie, her voice shrill.
Mama immediately patted her sister’s hand. “Delia, are you listening? Have you heard all the reasons why Denver would be a good choice for our family?”
Jennie, on Aunt Delia’s other side, leaned forward and caught Mama’s eye.
“I don’t understand. You’ve never talked about moving to Denver. Why now?”
Mrs. Day tsk-tsk ed, her face wreathed with regret. “Oh, dear, I’m afraid I’ve upset everyone. That wasn’t my intention. But after praying for Claude, Etta, and Jennie for so many weeks and asking God to direct their paths, it seemed as if He was carving a pathway for them to follow and it led to Denver. If I’ve offended you with my zealous appeal, please forgive me.”
Jennie couldn’t find it in her heart to be angry with Leo’s mother. She hadn’t acted in malice—she’d only taken Jennie by surprise. And Aunt Delia, too. Jennie leaned sideways and brushed shoulders with her aunt. “There’s nothing to forgive, Mrs. Day. Right, Aunt Delia?”
Aunt Delia nodded stiffly, but her expression remained flustered.
Mama cleared her throat. “Delia, no decisions have been made. I wouldn’t make such life-impacting changes without talking to Claude. But after praying with Martha this afternoon, I do think this is a good option for us. The Days even offered to let Claude and me stay in Leo’s room until I locate a job and an apartment opens up. Don’t you see?”
Aunt Delia hung her head. “I’m sorry for being such a baby, Etta. But you…you’re all I have left of family. You’ve always been close by. It’s hard to imagine you so many miles from Prime and me.”
Suddenly Leo sat up. “Wait a minute. If you’ve offered the Wards the use of my room, does this mean you aren’t going to insist I go home for the rest of the summer?”
Jennie hadn’t even considered how the invitation displaced Leo from his house. But thinking about it now sent a shaft of joy through the center of her heart. She looked at Reverend Day, her pulse skittering, and waited for him to confirm what she was hoping.
“Son…” The reverend lowered his head for a moment, then peered past Daisy, who was making a terrible mess of her cake. A slow smile lifted the corners of his lips. “Your friend Mr. DeWeece made a valid point this afternoon. When we don’t do as God directs, we suffer consequences, and often those consequences affect more than the one who strays. God has clearly directed you to the study of paleontology. I was wrong to push you down a route of my choosing. Stubborn pride inspired my determination. But watching you today and hearing how Mr. DeWeece has been impacted by your determination to align your findings with biblical truths humbled me. I won’t stand in your way anymore. I will cheer you on.”
Leo pushed his chair back and rounded the table. He stopped next to his father’s chair and stuck out his hand. “Thank you, sir.”
Reverend Day stood and took Leo’s hand. Then he pulled Leo into a bear hug of an embrace. For a moment, Leo stood with his arms limp, as if too shocked to react. He had once told Jennie that his father wasn’t a demonstrative man. But Leo was now on the receiving end of the biggest, tightest, most public hug she had ever seen, and it came from his father. After a few seconds’ pause, Leo threw his arms around his father’s neck, and the two men rocked back and forth, patting each other on the back.
The view went blurry—Jennie was looking through a sheen of tears. She’d prayed for Leo’s father to be happy with his son’s career choice. God had answered. Were the suggestions Mrs. Day made also God’s answers to their prayers? The thought of being in a big city full of strangers unnerved her, but at least they’d have the friends around this table. Maybe moving to Denver wouldn’t be so bad.
The men separated and settled into their chairs again. Jennie wiped her eyes and turned to Mama. “If you believe God is directing us to Denver, I’ll go without a fuss. He knows best. Yes?”
Mama released a happy sigh. “Yes, He does.” Then she sobered. “But before we make travel plans, we must get your daddy’s agreement.”
Reverend Day cleared his throat. “Please allow me to talk to Mr. Ward. I have some experience in counseling parishioners. He might be more willing to listen to a stranger.”
Jennie remembered how unresistingly Daddy had gone to Dr. Whiteside’s office with the men Mr. Cambrie sent out. Reverend Day might get through to Daddy better than she or Mama could. Except…
She leaned past Leo toward the preacher. “Sir? If you want to get Daddy’s attention, ask the server to wrap a piece of pound cake with strawberries and take it along. Daddy can’t resist it.”
Mrs. Day clapped her hands together and laughed. “What a coincidence! We have a strawberry patch in our backyard, and I bake pound cake every Saturday for our fellowship meals after Sunday service at church.”
Leo winked at her, and Jennie sat back, shaking her head in amazement. She almost thought she heard a wry chuckle drift from the heavens. She’d called out to the Lord, waited patiently…mostly, and He had answered her cries in the most unexpected ways. Daddy would agree to go to Denver—she knew he would. But there was still one more problem yet to be solved. How would she be able to draw the dinosaur skeleton for Mr. DeWeece if she was in Denver?
Daisy tugged her father’s sleeve, and he looked at her. She rasped in a whisper that carried across the table to Jennie’s ears. “Father, if Mr. and Mrs. Ward are going to sleep in Leo’s room, does that mean Jennie will sleep in me and Myrtle’s room?”
“That should be ‘Myrtle’s and my room,’?” the reverend said.
“Myrtle’s and my room?” Daisy sent a shy smile at Jennie. “Because I want her to share my bed.”
Myrtle released a little huff. “My bed is bigger. She can share with me.”
Jennie’s heart warmed at their unselfishness. Fondness swelled for every member of Leo’s family. When she’d prayed for friends, she hadn’t expected a whole group.
Reverend Day cleared his throat. “That’s kind of you girls, but I believe Jennie’s mother has something else in mind for Jennie.”
Jennie whipped her attention to Mama. She did? What other change was coming?