The Edge of Town

by Dorothy Garlock

  “Sure. Wesley is a barnstormer. That means he flies around the county putting on shows and giving rides.”

  “Rides! Do you think—”

  “No!” Julie cut Jack off in midsentence.

  “Ah … Sis—”

  Evan was beaming down at Julie. “I want you to meet Wesley. He’s quite a guy.”

  “Oh, I can’t. Not like this!” With her hands in the pockets, she held out her wet apron.

  “Then run put on a clean one. He’ll be landing in a minute or two.” He gave her a gentle push and she ran to the house.

  Not until she opened the door did she remember the pudding in the oven. She removed it quickly, raced upstairs and slipped into a clean dress, poked at her hair with her fingertips and ran back downstairs.

  Her father, with Birdie and Elsie, drove into the yard as she went out the back door. Julie ignored them and hurried to where Evan and the rest of the family waited at the edge of the pasture. The plane was coming in slowly. It bumped the ground once, then settled down to a roll. Jason took a few steps toward the plane.

  “Wait, Jason,” Evan cautioned. “Wait until he stops and turns off the propellers. The blades can cut a man in two.”

  “How come you know him?” Joe asked.

  “I met him in France. Wesley Marsh is one of the most skilled pilots to come out of the war.”

  “Have you been up with him?”

  “Quite a few times. I had a letter from him a week or two ago. He said he was going to Colorado to put on a show and if he could find the farm he’d stop by.”

  The plane rolled to a stop, the engine was cut and gradually the propeller blades ceased to turn. The man who climbed out of the cockpit wore a helmet, a brown jacket and a red scarf around his neck. Evan, holding Julie’s hand as if he feared she would run away from him, led the way across the field to meet the pilot. The family followed, Joy riding on Joe’s shoulders.

  Evan and his friend met each other with a hand clasp, then slaps on the back. It was obvious they were good friends and glad to see each other.

  “I didn’t have an idea I’d find you so soon.” Wesley Marsh was a small, wiry man with thick light hair, a pug nose and bright blue eyes. When he smiled, he showed a mouth filled with gold-capped teeth.

  “My place is a half mile over. I knew it was you when I saw the stars on the underwing. These are my friends, the Jones family. Julie, meet Wesley Marsh. He saved our bacon a time or two during the war by bringing in ammunition in such a reckless way the Germans didn’t bother with him because they were sure he wouldn’t make it and would blow himself up.”

  “How do you do, Mr. Marsh?” Julie extended her hand.

  Howdy, ma’am.” His bright eyes went from Evan to Julie because Evan was still holding on to her other hand.

  “The rest of the troop are Julie’s brothers and sisters.” Evan introduced them all and Wesley gave each one his attention and shook hands.

  “My name’s Joy,” Joy declared from atop Joe’s shoulders.

  “And a pretty little girl you are, too.”

  “Wanta kiss?”

  Julie groaned. Evan grinned and squeezed her hand.

  “Why, shore, honey.”

  Joe stooped down, and Joy planted a kiss on Wesley’s cheek.

  “That was worth comin’ down for, sugarfoot. Anybody else givin’ out samples?” Wesley’s laughing eyes went from Jill to Julie.

  “That’s all you’re getting, jelly bean. When he lands after a performance,” Evan explained, “the ladies swarm over him. He’s getting spoiled.”

  “But I’m havin’ a hell of a lot of fun.”

  “Can we look at the airplane?” Jason asked.

  “Why, shore, come on over. I promise it won’t bite.”

  Julie looked back across the field toward the house. Her father stood alone at the edge of the pasture. He looked so lonely, so left out. Julie tugged on Evan’s hand and mouthed, “Papa.”

  Evan turned, whistled and waved for Jethro to come. Julie held her breath, then her father started across the pasture toward them.

  For a half hour Evan entertained them with stories of Wesley’s aerial feats, and Wesley patiently showed them the plane. He lifted Jason up to sit in the passenger seat while he explained that he would meet his wing-walker in Colorado. The man would walk the length of the upper wing, then climb down to the lower wing, then onto the wheels, before parachuting to earth.

  “Anyone want to go for a ride?”

  “Jack and I would like to try it,” Joe said.

  “Joe … please don’t.”

  “It’s the chance of a lifetime, Sis.”

  “I can take only one at a time.”

  Jethro stepped forward. “What’s the cost for the boys to have a ride?”

  “A couple cans of gasoline,” Wesley said and grinned at Evan. Not wanting to interfere, Evan waited for the nod of agreement from Jethro.

  After Joe was strapped in, the family moved back to the edge of the field. Julie’s heart was beating like a hammer when Wesley spun the propellers. The motor purred and he climbed into the cockpit.

  “I wish he wasn’t going,” she said.

  “It’ll be all right. Soon people will be riding in airplanes all the time. Wesley is good. He can land that thing on a dime … almost.” Uncaring that Jethro was there, Evan took her arm and pulled her close to him.

  It suddenly dawned on Joy that Joe was going up in the airplane.

  “I don’t want Joe to go. I’m scared he’ll fall.”

  “He’ll be all right, punkin.” Jethro lifted her up in his arms.

  The plane picked up speed and suddenly climbed into the air. Julie bowed her head and closed her eyes. Please, God, bring Joe down safely.

  “They’re circling around. They must be over town now.” In her excitement, Jill clutched her father’s arm, all thoughts of Birdie gone.

  After two circles of the area, the plane leveled off and came down in the pasture and rolled to a stop. Joe jumped out and ran across the field.

  “He said to stay clear of the propellers and to strap yourself in,” he shouted to Jack, who had run out to meet him.

  As soon as Jack was in the plane, it began to roll again, the start of another agonizing ten minutes for Julie. Joe was so excited he could hardly talk.

  “It was great, Pa. You should go up. I saw the whole town and the river curling around it. It was quiet up there. The motor didn’t even sound as loud. I was holding on for dear life …I don’t know why, I wasn’t about to fall out.” He laughed. “I can’t imagine a man getting out and walking on the wing while the plane’s up there.”

  Julie wasn’t hearing a thing her brother said. Her mind was on Jack up there in the sky without anything under him but that little old airplane.

  “Don’t worry,” Evan whispered in her ear.

  “I can’t … help it.”

  “Why don’t you go up, Pa?” Joe was saying.

  “Go for a ride, Jethro,” Evan urged. “You might not get another chance for a long time.”

  “Well …” Jethro grinned at Julie. “Why not?” He stood Joy on her feet when the plane came down and started across the field.

  “Maybe he doesn’t have enough gas to take him up,” Julie said hopefully.

  “He’ll know if he has enough gas or not.”

  “You’ve known him for a long time?”

  “A couple years during the war, and I’ve seen him a time or two since.”

  “It was great!” Jack’s freckled face was split with a huge smile. “Great! I’m goin’ to fly one of them someday.”

  “Me, too.” Jason looked up at his brother. “Would my foot keep me from flying a airplane, Jack?”

  “Naw. You don’t use your feet. You could do it if anyone could.”

  “I can’t play baseball, so I’ll fly airplanes,” Jason said as Jack looped his arm over his brother’s shoulders.

  When the plane came in after taking Jethro for a ride, Wesley cut the
engine and climbed down from the cockpit. Julie was exceedingly glad all in her family were back on the ground.

  “How come you didn’t go up?” Julie asked Evan.

  “I wanted the boys to go.”

  “It was wonderful for them … now that they’re down,” she added and smiled at him. “Thank you.”

  “Jethro seems to have enjoyed himself.” Evan watched Jethro and Wesley come across the field, each carrying a gas can.

  After Evan, Wesley and Jethro left to buy gas in town, Joe and Jack refueled the fires beneath the copper boilers. The jars of tomatoes were removed from the hot water and turned upside down on the porch to cool and secure the seal. A new batch of jars was set carefully on the racks in the boilers.

  When Julie went into the kitchen, Birdie and Elsie were at the table eating from bowls of pudding covered with thick cream. Birdie had scooped pudding from the pan Julie had taken from the oven when she came in to change her dress.

  “Where did Jethro go?”

  “To town.”

  “He just came from there.”

  “Well, he went back,” Jill said. “Shall I set the table, Julie?”

  “Yes, please. Wipe the oilcloth with a damp cloth.”

  Jill wiped the table, sopping up cream from around Elsie’s bowl. She ignored both Elsie and Birdie.

  “You hate me, don’t you?” Birdie said suddenly.

  Jill said, “Yes,” as Julie said, “No.”

  “Hate me all you want. Jethro would marry me in a minute if I wanted him to. Then, my girl, you’d be out of here on your ear.”

  She spoke to Julie, but a shrill angry cry came from Jill.

  “You are mean and hateful! And … yes, I hate you!”

  “Honey,” Julie said calmly, “will you please go see about Joy? She’s probably all sticky. Wash her off at the well.”

  “I…I …” Jill was so enraged she couldn’t articulate what she wanted to say.

  “Go on.” Julie felt strangely calm. She put a cloth in Jill’s hand and gently pushed her out of the kitchen.

  “What she needs is a good slap now and then. When she’s under my care, that’s what she’ll get.”

  Julie turned to look directly at Birdie. “She will never be under your care. Nor will Jason or Joy.”

  “Do you think Evan will marry you and take you and those kids to live in that hog pen with Walter Johnson? Jethro will never let that happen. He’s beginning to understand just what kind of a man Evan Johnson is.”

  “With your help, I suppose.”

  “Of course. When I take over here, there will be some changes in this house. There will be no coming to the table in nightclothes, I can guarantee you that. And a decent cloth will cover the table at mealtime, not this filthy oilcloth. Jill and Joy will be taught to act like ladies, and those brothers of yours—”

  The screen door was flung back and Joe came into the kitchen. He stood with his hands on his hips and looked from Birdie to Julie. His face was as angry as Julie had ever seen it.

  “What about Julie’s brothers, Mrs. Stuart?” he asked sharply.

  “Don’t talk to me in that tone of voice, young man.” Birdie had been enjoying baiting Julie and had not expected to be confronted by her tall, blond brother. She was momentarily shaken.

  “Mrs. Stuart is explaining how it’s going to be when she takes over here.” Julie spoke calmly, although inside she was raging.

  “Tell me, Mrs. Stuart,” Joe said softly.

  “I’ll tell you nothing. I’ll talk to your father. It’s strange to me that Jethro has two adult children still living at home, living off his toil, still eating his food. I would think the two of you would be ashamed.” She stood. “Come on, sugar, we’ll sit in the porch swing and wait for Jethro.”

  “Mama, she said she didn’t have raisins, but she did. They were in the pudding.”

  “It’s what we should have expected, sugar.” Birdie shot Julie a private, tight smile and raised her brows.

  Julie held her breath until she heard the front screen door close. She was too angry to cry. Strangely, she felt relief. Now things were out in the open, and she no longer had to suffer Birdie’s little digs alone.

  “Sis, what are we going to do? Jill’s out in the barn crying. She and Jason want to leave home. Jack wants to come in here and strangle that woman!” Joe had a look of total frustration on his face. “Jack and I could leave. We could find work enough to get by. But we’ll not go and leave you and the kids with her.”

  “Please don’t even think of it. If we can wait it out, Papa will see her for what she is. That is …if—”

  “She don’t get him in bed. He’d marry her thinking he had made her pregnant.”

  “It’s what I’m afraid of.” Even in anger, Julie’s face reddened at the subject.

  “Evan said for us to hold off and not rock the boat for a few more days. He thinks something might happen by the middle of the week.”

  “What could possibly happen?”

  “He didn’t say. He just said things have a way of working out.”

  “You’ve talked to him about it?”

  “Yeah. Quite a few times. Where do you think Jack and I go evenings? We can’t sit on the porch. Papa isn’t interested in playing cards. I’ve been saving money to buy a Victrola, but I don’t want to buy it while she’s here.”

  “A Victrola? We could dance to the music.” Julie’s face brightened with the thought of dancing with Evan.

  “Evan has one. It’s a small one that sits on a table. I saw one in the furniture store that is tall and has a place for records.”

  “I don’t know what to do about tonight. I’ll not leave the kids here with her and Papa. I’m afraid of what Jill will do, and poor little Jason is so unhappy. Elsie asked him if he was a cripple because he was a bad boy.”

  Joe swore under his breath. “I’ll take them with me to watch Jack play ball.”

  “Do you think Papa will let you take the car?”

  “If not, we’ll walk. Jack and I can take turns carrying Joy on the way back. Or I could hitch up the wagon. That’s how we got around before we had the car. You go and be with Evan. I’ll take care of the kids.”

  “Oh, Joe. What would I do without you?”

  “Right now you’d better get some dinner on. I’m sure Papa will invite Evan and Mr. Marsh to eat.”

  “Did you enjoy the ride in the airplane? I was so scared something would happen and you’d fall.”

  “It was just…great!” Joe’s beautiful smile appeared as if by magic. “Evan is a swell guy. I’m so glad he likes you and that you like him. Some words passed between him and Mr. Marsh about giving us a ride. I didn’t hear what was said, but right after that Mr. Marsh asked if anyone wanted a ride.”