Page 88 of Return to Telegraph Creek

“What about Spot?”Peter said.

I could see that he was as excited about the cow as Lizzie was, but he was trying to act as though he wasn’t.

Lizzie frowned.“No, that’s too plain for a cow as pretty as she is.What about…Gwendolyn?”

Peter laughed, gazing at Oscar and me, as if waiting for us to protest such a grandiose moniker for a simple milch cow.

I glanced at Oscar and raised my eyes.

“I think that’s a mighty fine name for her.Don’t you, Jimmy?”

“I suppose it’s all right.Bit long, though.”

“Seems a bit fancy,” Peter said, “for a cow.”

“’Tisn’t!‘Tis a fine name for such a lovely cow.And we can call her Gwen for short,” Lizzie said.

Peter rolled his eyes.“All right.I suppose.”

“Let’s get Gwen settled into the barn, then.We’ve got a nice little stall built for her,” Oscar said, holding out his hand to Lizzie.“Come on.”

None of the children had gone in there yet, and I held my breath as Oscar waited patiently for Lizzie to decide if she would do it.

She glanced at Peter, who nodded, as if to let her know he thought ’twas all right.Then she took Oscar’s hand, and he led her and the cow into the barn, with Peter and me following behind.

The children seemed wary as they entered the space, but I hoped it looked different enough from what it had been like before that ’twouldn’t be too hard to see it in anew.We’d installed a glass window near the roof to let in more natural light, and that made a world of difference.

Peter and Lizzie gazed about them—at first, with trepidation, then with more relaxed expressions.

“Here… Help me get her into the stall.”Oscar fished a small carrot out of his pocket.“Can you lead her in?”

Lizzie nodded and took the carrot.

“Here, Gwendolyn,” she said, showing the cow the treat.

Gwendolyn’s ears flapped forward, and she bellowed, making Lizzie and Peter laugh.

“Come on.It’s all right,” Lizzie said, backing into the stall as Gwendolyn followed her.In a moment, the sweet cow was munching on the carrot, and Lizzie was standing beside her, petting her and saying kind things in her big brown ear.

Peter rested his crossed arms on the stall door and gazed at them, appearing relaxed and content—more so than I’d ever seen him.

“I reckon she likes you, Lizzie,” he said.

Lizzie beamed at him.Then she turned to me.

“I need to learn how to milk her, don’t I?”

I nodded.“Sure.And Peter, too, so you’ll both know how.”

’Twas beginning to feel like the children and Cal might be all right.But we still needed to come up with a long-term plan.

Chapter Thirty

Maggie Corrigan

’Twas a few days later, at The Angel, when Miss June came to see us.

We answered the knock on our bedroom door, and there she was, standing with Trick, who was still dressed in men’s clothes.I wondered if Trick would ever go back to working at The Angel, and if Miss June would care if she didn’t.