Like Gold Refined

by Janette Oke

  Olivia was braver than her big sister. She had to be placed on a kitchen chair in order to reach. When the voice of Belinda greeted her, she giggled, then began to babble back in her childish prattle. But she had no idea where to speak. Much of her conversation was buried in Virginia’s bib apron or spoken to the wall. She did not want to relinquish the new toy, and Virginia had to pluck it from her hand amid protests.

  Martha stood by, watching it all as though waiting to see if any harm would actually be done through the strange new instrument. When Olivia was disentangled from it, still crying to have it back, Martha reached out and pulled her away. “That’s enough, Olivia,” she informed the howling child. “You might get sick if you talk more.”

  Virginia was still on the phone and could not correct the misconception, because her mother was saying that the woman had sent word she was willing to come out and look things over. That was one more forward step, and Belinda sounded very pleased.

  Olivia stopped her crying and stood staring at the phone. How long would it take for her mother to begin to feel the ill effects that her sister had described? When the conversation continued and nothing happened, she lost interest and wandered off.

  “When will she come, Mama?”

  “Next week. She didn’t give a firm date—yet. She’ll let us know when she has made her arrangements. Your father says we might as well be prepared to make some adjustments. Coming from the city, she might not be taken with farm life.”

  “Adjustments? Like what?”

  “Well—for one thing—there is no inside plumbing. She may object to that.”

  Virginia thought about it. “I suppose,” she admitted at length. “If she does, what can be done?”

  “At this point, I’m not sure. We’ll have to deal with it when the time comes.”

  It was all they could do.

  CHAPTER 5

  The new telephone proved to be a continual source of pleasure for Virginia. Even on her busiest of days she could take a moment or two, if she so desired, to get in touch with family or friends. Even when it rang in the middle of some task that was difficult to drop, she found this addition to her rather isolated farm life a distinct advantage.

  It was through the telephone that she first got the latest news concerning her brother Danny. Her mother called, breath? less with excitement.

  “Danny is coming home.”

  “Home? When?”

  “Next week.”

  “Why?”

  Not that Virginia wasn’t as pleased as her mother to hear that they soon would see Danny, but her common sense told her that Danny would not leave his job at the city zoo to travel the long distance home without some good reason.

  “Listen to this,” explained her mother. “The zoo wishes to send Danny to Kenya for two years to study wildlife there.”

  “Kenya?” It was only an exotic name to Virginia.

  “Kenya. He is so excited that he hardly made sense on the phone.”

  “But why Kenya? Isn’t that … ”

  “There are huge tracts of land teeming with wildlife. Lions, elephants, hyenas, jackals, elands, rhinos … ”

  “You sound excited, too.”

  Belinda laughed. “I guess Danny’s enthusiasm was a bit contagious.”

  “But isn’t it … dangerous?”

  There was a moment of silence except for the soft static of the phone line. “I guess it is,” said Belinda finally. “Some. But Danny assured me he will be in good hands. They will place him with a game warden who knows the land and the animals.”

  Virginia wasn’t sure if that made her feel any better about Danny’s situation, but she did not wish to upset her mother. “I’m sure they will … ” She wasn’t sure how to finish so took another direction. “What is Alvira to do in the meantime?”

  “Alvira? Oh, she’s going with him, of course.”

  “With him? To Kenya?” It sounded preposterous to Vir? ginia.

  “Danny said he would not have agreed to go if they had suggested otherwise.”

  “No … I don’t suppose he would have.”

  “He’d never leave her here alone for two full years.” “But what if …?” Virginia stopped.

  “What if what?”

  “What if … if she … if a baby … ”

  There was silence again on the line. Virginia wished she had not raised the question.

  “I don’t know, dear” came Belinda’s voice at last. “I suspect that babies are born in Kenya, too.”

  Yes, with a high mortality rate, Virginia could have said. But her mother already knew that. Virginia decided to return to the original piece of information.

  “So when is he—are they—to arrive?”

  “Next Thursday. He thinks they will be here on Thursday.

  They have so much to do before leaving, and they will depart directly from here.”

  “How do they go?”

  “They take the train to New York—then catch the ship.”

  Virginia drew in a deep breath. “Well … they certainly will have lots of experiences to share when they get back home.”

  “Yes. Yes, they will. I told him to be sure to keep a diary. He said that will be Alvira’s job—while he’s out tracking animals.”

  “I guess it will give her something to do.”

  “Oh, she’s going to take her sketch pads with her. She is quite good at it, you know. Says she will enjoy having some new material to work on.” Her mother barely stopped to catch her breath. “Well, I must ring off. I want to phone Clara.”

  Virginia said good-bye and stepped back from the phone. She wasn’t sure whether to rejoice with Danny over his upcoming adventure or pray with every waking breath—maybe both.

  The Miss Groggins from the city who was considering the live-in position with the Davises arrived on the same train as Danny and Alvira. They all had hoped to give Danny and his wife their undivided attention for the few days the two would be with them. Instead, several members of the family were tied up with ongoing discussions and negotiations, trying to impress a city woman with the fact that country living was neither impossible nor unsatisfactory. She was not responding with much enthusiasm.

  “You will have your own room, of course,” Belinda informed her as she showed her about the house. Virginia, who had gone out to the farm with her mother for moral support, stood back and observed. The woman’s face had not brightened.

  “In fact,” Belinda went on in her cheeriest voice, “you may have your pick of the bedrooms upstairs. The folks have their bed in the living room now.”

  “I noticed,” said the woman, her tone indicating that she was not particularly taken with beds in living rooms.

  Virginia was glad that her grandparents were not at home. Belinda had wisely arranged for Uncle Clare to take them for an afternoon drive. They, as yet, knew nothing about the proposed new arrangement. “There will be plenty of time to inform them of the plan when we know it’s going to work,” Belinda had stated. “No use stirring things up for nothing.” Virginia had secretly wondered, but she had not contradicted her mother.

  Now, as Virginia stood and studied the straight-backed, stern-faced Miss Groggins, she half hoped that her grandparents need never know of the plan. She was not at all taken with the woman. In fact, she didn’t like her at all. Miss Groggins was too stiff, too superior, too self-imposing, to her way of thinking. Why, she would take all the fun out of the household. Her grandparents would not survive without their little jokes, their teasing, their sense of humor. Her grandmother had always maintained that a sense of humor was as necessary to get one through life as a strong back or a right hand. Miss Groggins appeared not to share the sentiment in any way.

  “Will I be expected to do the cleaning?” she asked brusquely.

  “A woman comes in twice a week for the laundry and cleaning.”

  The woman’s eyes did not even flicker. “And the cooking?”

  “Mama still does the cooking.”

 
No glimmer.

  “You say your father has only one lower limb?”

  Virginia was not used to hearing one’s leg referred to in that impersonal manner.

  “Yes.”

  “So I’m expected to be a nurse?”

  “No. He is self-sufficient—still.”

  What is this woman supposed to do? Virginia found herself wondering. No cleaning, no cooking, no nursing care. What do we need her for?

  “I do have a cat. Cleopatra goes everywhere with me.”

  “A pet would be welcome.”

  The woman studied the house with a critical eye. For the first time in her life Virginia also looked at it in that manner. It had always seemed a perfect place to her. A place where love was freely given, where real people lived. Really lived. Now she could see that it was a bit shabby. A bit used. The wall? paper was faded. The doorframes worn. A spot of bare brown showed through the pattern of linoleum in front of the stove. The cupboard was tightly crammed with odd bits of china and silver, gathered as gifts from loving family members over the years. Knickknacks occupied every available space on stands, shelves, and windowsills. One might even say that the house was cluttered. But it had always been homey. Always been a haven of sorts. Virginia did not like how the woman carefully peered around through narrowed eyes, studying, assessing, judging without knowing anything about this home or the people.

  “I assume that is the bathroom,” the woman said at last as she pointed to a door.

  “No,” answered Belinda. “That is the pantry.”

  The woman’s face changed its expression for the first time.

  “I must have missed the bathroom.”

  “There is no bathroom,” said Belinda without batting an eye or altering her voice. Virginia was proud of her mother.

  The woman appeared to be totally caught off guard. “I don’t understand,” she said, flustered. “How can civilized persons manage to live in a house without … without a bathroom?”

  “We use the bedrooms for bathing, the outhouse for … other purposes.”

  “But … Outhouse? Good heavens!”

  “And we do not say ‘good heavens,’ even though we believe the heavens to be good,” Belinda went on softly but firmly. “If I didn’t alert you to this, my mama certainly would correct you the first time you used the term.” She turned abruptly as though to dismiss the matter. “Your main concern will be the health and safety of my parents. As I have told you, they are elderly. Mama has taken a few falls. I don’t expect you to altogether prevent that from happening. Such incidents can happen too quickly. But we do hope that your presence here might help her to feel she can slow down. And if something should happen, you can call quickly for help. My brother Luke is a doctor. He would come immediately.”

  The woman seemed to have not been listening. “No bath? room,” she said again.

  Belinda’s voice slowed so that each word she spoke was clear and distinct. “We need someone to stay with my parents, Miss Groggins. Someone dependable. Someone who will place their safety and well-being first above all else. There is no inside bathroom. There will not be—at this time. I have stated the salary that we will be offering. You may have the weekends off. Your—Cleopatra is welcome to join you. You may take the job—or leave it.”

  The words were spoken with a decisiveness that surprised Virginia.

  Miss Groggins was still flustered. She reached up a nervous hand and began to finger her lace collar. Her face flushed slightly, bringing a bit of color to the powdered cheeks. “Well, I … ”

  “Do you wish the employment—or not?” pressed Belinda. “My son and daughter-in-law will be out of the country for two years. I do not wish to spend further time on this now. Either you are interested—or you are not. And if not—I will continue to look elsewhere.”

  “I … I need some time to think,” the woman finally managed.

  “Very well. I will take you back to town. You may catch the afternoon train or spend the night at the boardinghouse, as you choose. I will expect your answer by tomorrow afternoon.”

  The ride back to town was a quiet one. Even Belinda and Virginia did not chat. The woman did decide to spend the night at the boardinghouse. There was no use traveling all the way back to the city if there was a chance that she might be staying, she said stiffly. They said their good-byes and moved on. With all of her heart Virginia hoped the answer would be no and that the stuffy woman would pick up her Cleopatra and head back to the city.

  “Well,” said Belinda when they were alone. “That didn’t go so well, did it?” She gave her shoulders a bit of a shake as though to remove the agitation of the afternoon.

  “No,” agreed Virginia, easing the Ford out from the parking area.

  “Rather like an iceberg, wasn’t she?”

  “Icebergs must be more warm and pleasant than that,” quipped Virginia.

  “Stiff as a barn fence rail,” continued Belinda.

  Virginia had never heard her mother use such expressions before. She cast a sideways glance at her to see if her ears were playing tricks. At the same moment Belinda turned to her. They looked at each other for a moment, then both burst into laughter.

  “Well,” Virginia offered when she could speak again, “at least we have had an experience.”

  “Mama and Papa would enjoy this,” added Belinda. “It’s a shame we can’t share it with them.”

  They stopped by Clara’s so Virginia could pick up her children and then drove on to the Simpson home. All the family was gathering for a time with Danny and Alvira. Even Rodney and Grace had arranged for three days with the family and were motoring home with their little ones. Belinda was beside herself. It had been some time since she’d had her entire family together. The nice weather meant the little cousins could play outside in the fenced yard. Grandpa Drew and Grandma Belinda had over the years added to the play equipment. Swings, a teeter-totter, a full sandbox, plus various smaller toys soon scattered across the yard, kept them all happy and busy. The fathers were stationed on the back porch to oversee the activity while the mothers busied themselves in the kitchen preparing the bountiful meal.

  Miss Groggins and Cleopatra offered no further interference. After reporting her change of plans by phone, the woman and cat took the afternoon train back to the city.

  Belinda expressed both relief and disappointment. The woman would not have been satisfactory, but now they would have to start the search all over again.

  Virginia felt nothing but thankfulness. She would not have wished to impose someone with such a sour disposition on her grandparents. They deserve much better than that, she thought as she looked over at them sitting side by side across the room, smiling at the joyful commotion.

  The evening was full of good-natured banter and chatter as the group filled one another in on what had been happening in their lives. And the remembering. So much remembering. Laughter and camaraderie and love spilled over and poured out on all present. Virginia found herself wishing she did not have to go home at day’s end. That she could just stay and soak it all in. That they could all stay. That things could remain like this. Family together. Love and laughter. The whole outside world shut away.

  But even as she wished it, Virginia knew that the dream was unrealistic. There was a world out there. Responsibilities for each one around the table. They were not children anymore. They were all adults. Adults with lives that called them away from this home where they had grown up. Away from this haven of safety and security. It was their job now to supply the same kind of haven for the children in their care. Virginia looked around at her little brood and prayed inwardly that they—each one of them—would have the same warm feelings about the home they would one day leave. Lord, may it ever be a nice place to come back to, she silently entreated.

  All too soon they were pushing back chairs and commenting about getting children home to their own beds. Little James already slept in his father’s arms, and Olivia, who had been determined to keep up with the old
er siblings and cousins, had finally succumbed, curled up against her grandfather.

  “Before you all go,” said a shaky voice, sounding squeaky with nervousness, “I’d like … I’d like to say something.”

  Virginia looked over to where Francine sat with Dalton. He had stood to his feet, face flushed, mouth twitching. Virginia had never seen the self-assured young man look so nervous before.

  “This … ” He tugged at his shirt collar and took another deep breath. “This seems to be a good time … a good place to … to … ” He flushed a deeper red and reached for Francine’s hand and pulled her up beside him.

  “Francine and I … Francine has honored me by promising to become my wife. I have her permission—in fact, it was her idea that we announce this to the family tonight.” Once he finally got started, he seemed in a big hurry to get everything said. He did not even pause when the family members began to clap and cheer. “We are planning to be married at Christmastime, and we know that Danny and Alvira will be many miles away. We will be thinking of them, but I’m not prepared to wait longer than that for this lovely young lady”—he turned to the blushing Francine—“until they get home again. I’ve waited much too long already.” He pulled her closer.

  At another round of clapping, he fished in his jacket pocket and came up with a black velvet box. Then he turned to the young woman beside him.

  “Francine,” he said, and his voice was now steady and mellow. “I love you. Have loved you since the day we met, I think. I have appreciated getting to know you over the many months we have been keeping company. My love has continued to grow. And I know that it will not stop growing in the many years we have together—whatever God blesses us with. I’m … I’m so happy that you have already accepted my proposal of marriage. But now … I am asking you again in the presence of your family, whom I have also learned to love and respect—my future family—will you marry me?”