Mr. Williams put an end to any thought of going back and forth. “We are obligated to give other venues a chance.”
The next day, Allerton was to race in the 2:37 class of seasoned horses for a purse of $500. There were ten horses answering the call for the race. Ichi Ban was the strong favorite for the race selling for $10 and $10 for the rest of the field.
The favorite Ichi Ban won the first heat of the race in a time of 2:29. The next heat was won by Allerton in a time of 2:27. Allerton also won the third heat with a time of 2:26 1/4. Ichi Ban changed drivers, Mr. Prentice dismounted Ichi Ban and allowed John Splan to drive. Allerton was in good spirits and form for the race. Splan made a great charge at the finish of the fourth heat, but was unable to catch the surprisingly fast pace of Allerton. The final heat trotted by Allerton was the fastest heat by a three-year-old this early in the season at 2:24 ½.
After this performance, Allerton receive praise from the horsemen around the country. Most agreed that he could beat any three-year-old in the Midwest, with the exception of Axtell. This added more appeal to the great unofficial race planned for the Buchanan County Fair between his two horses as an unofficial historic race.
Erma Morton and her brother Francis Groober discussed allowing Clara to stay with them over the holiday celebrations. He was intent on keeping Clara away from Gilbert. Gilbert had stopped writing to Clara for several months, so Mr. Groober felt he may have left Independence, or more likely been arrested for something. He gave them instructions that Clara was not to have any contact with Gilbert.
Clara and Erma were greeted by Erma’s husband C. W. Morton at the Illinois Central Railroad Station early July 3rd. Clara couldn’t help herself from scanning the area in hopes to see Gilbert. She was determined to find Gilbert despite her father. She needed to keep any attempt to contact Gilbert from her aunt.
Eva had also accompanied Clara and Mrs. Morton back to Independence. Eva had kept in touch with Mr. Jaworski, from the creamery. The Groober’s had hired another maid, so she could come back to Independence to work for the Morton’s permanently. She also could pursue a relationship with Mr. Jaworski. Clara had a friend in Eva, who was in favor of her meeting with Gilbert.
In Independence there was a great number of people interested in getting the news of the horses performances, when they were racing. Crowds gathered at the three newspaper offices in Independence to hear the results of the Minneapolis races. The Conservative, The Bulletin, and the Buchanan County Journal, all were packed with excited cheering fans.
C. E. Purdy, a general store owner, started an organization of citizens to make blankets and wreaths for the two horses. They wanted to give the gifts to them the next day during the Fourth of July festivities. They would be arriving by train after traveling through the night on July 4th.
Some women worked through the night to design and produce the gifts. The train was expected to arrive in Independence at 4:00 a.m. There were hundreds of citizens planning to be there to greet them.
A crowd gathered at the train station by midnight and by four-thirty there were nearly five hundred cheering as the train pulled in, including Clara. There was a weak glow in the east as the sun rose, along with hundreds of lanterns carried by people at the Burlington Cedar Rapids Northern Railroad Station lit the area nicely.
Clara eagerly scanned through the crowd in hopes to see Gilbert. She moved through the crowd to get closer to the horses. Gilbert led Allerton off the train; and the crowd began to cheer. Clara strained to see Allerton, she didn’t notice Gilbert until he stumbled on a loose plank. Her eyes popped open and her mouth dropped. A beaming smile appeared on her face as she burst with excitement.
She tried to attract Gilbert’s attention by smiling and waving her hand, but the large crowd smothered her attempts. His thoughts were focused on leading Allerton carefully out of the train car, the crowd was a nuisance.
When Mr. McHenry led Axtell off the train the crowd erupted in cheers. The band began to play, ‘Hail to The Chief.’ The horses were led to separate wagons, loaded up and taken to their stables.
Clara worked herself through the crowd closer to Allerton’s wagon hoping to catch Gilbert’s attention. After securing Allerton in the wagon he came out and saw a girl starring at him. She was in front of the crowd with a weak smile and tears glistening on her cheeks. He knew in an instant it was Clara. He noticed she had grown into a woman with her curly auburn hair blowing lazily in the dawn light. His stomach turned in knots as he took a moment to gather his wits.
They stared at one another for a few seconds. She mouthed the words and held up two fingers, “The tree in two hours.” Gilbert nodded. She beamed like the sun as she melted back into the crowd. She couldn’t help looking back at him. She felt great relief finding him and making arrangements to meet him.
Gilbert was flooded with emotions and confusing thoughts. The feeling for her had changed since the last time he had seen her. He had written nearly every week for three years and only in the last year, had he tried not to think of her. She had not returned any of his letters and he had not heard from her in all that time. They were strangers to each other now. Four years ago he loved her as a friend and a companion; now with a simple look, he realized he loved her as a woman.
Gilbert returned to the stables to care for Allerton, even though his mind was in a whirlwind of thoughts, he cared for Allerton meticulously. He found Allerton was tired and not his usual playful self. Mr. Williams came to the stables, and the two of them discussed whether or not to have the horses in the parade later that day. They decided that Allerton would not appear in the parade and should not participate in any races later. They didn’t want to risk a tired Allerton making him susceptible to sickness or fatigue. If he were to get sick now, it would affect his performance the rest of the season.
They decided Axtell should miss the parade, but could trot in an exhibition race later in the afternoon. Mr. Williams did not want to disappoint the great citizens of Independence that have supported them.
Gilbert finished caring for the horses personally and instructed Barney to finish up. It was tough to keep his thoughts in line during the long walk into town. His stomach was turning, knowing the situation awaiting him. He was torn emotionally between love and hatred. His thoughts briefly fleeted to Laura and what he should do about her.
He arrived at the tree early, which gave him time to reflect on his confused feelings. He was mad at her, yet he would die for her. He sat on a limb with his back against the trunk. He reflected on how peaceful the wind blew wavily through the long leaves of the willow. There were several birds flittering around the tree. They didn’t seem to be upset with Gilbert, but moderately curious of him. He closed his eyes, leaned back.
Clara soon silently parted the hanging branches and peered in. Gilbert was immediately aware of her presence. He closed his eyes hard before opening them to see her. She carried a box that appeared to be heavy as she placed it gently on the ground. Her dress was bright flowery pinks and pale green angelizing her womanly figure. She looked up to see Gilbert sitting on his favorite limb looking at her.
Gilbert spoke sarcastically at her, “It has been nice around here without you.” He didn’t know why he said that, it didn’t make sense. But it was too late to take it back, besides it was how he felt.
Clara was silent as she looked up to Gilbert who began to climb down from the tree branch. She had been waiting anxiously for four years to say, “I’m sorry, for what happened. I tried to tell father what really happened, but he wouldn’t listen. He was so angry, you have no idea.”
Gilbert just starred at her with a glare of defiance. Clara had been tormented the last four years not being able to tell Gilbert what was happening. The awful abuse and anger her father held against her.
“I wrote to you every week for three years,” Gilbert sternly spoke, continuing to stare at her with contempt, “no return, no not
hin’.”
Clara was offended by his lack of concern for her suffering. “Well, I guess there is nothing left to say.” Tears streamed down her cheeks.
Gilbert continued to look at her, his rage toward her not wavering. All he could think about was writing all those letters and not even one coming his way. “I guess not.”
Clara turned to leave, she gestured lazily at the box she brought. “They’re yours, throw them away for all I care.” She walked through the hanging strands of the weeping willow and defiantly wiped away weeping tears, then silently walked away.
Gilbert found his stomach suddenly felt hollow and lifeless. He was flushed with cold sweat as he realized what was happening. For years he wanted to be with her, and now, when he had a chance, this is how he reacted. When he recovered, he curiously retrieved the box she had left behind. He opened up the box and there he found letters dated from years in the past all addressed to him. His heart pounded with joy then quickly turned to a pounding of panic. He hurriedly placed the lid on the box, shoved it under his arm and ran out from under the tree. He looked, frantically around for Clara, but did not see her. He thought desperately to figure out which way she would have gone.
He walked through town not knowing where she had gone. He had to think of what Clara would do. He thought to himself, what would the old Clara have done, but he didn’t know what the new Clara would do. He had never had a fight with her before, so he had no idea how she would react. He thought she would search for a place of solitude. The wishing tree was out of bounds having just come from there.
He thought she maybe dazed and wandered across the iron bridge. As he walked, Laura saw him following the same path she had just seen Clara take. She was tempted to call out to him, but wanted to see what was happening.
Gilbert was on the bridge when he spotted Clara on the bank sitting on a rock. Her head in her hands. He ran across the bridge and around the large Wapsipinicon Mill building. He then ran north along the rivers edge. He came around a group of bushes to see her sitting on the rock. Her body shaking as she cried uncontrollably.
Gilbert stopped running and silently walked slowly toward her. He spoke to her slowly, “Why didn’t you send them?”
Clara quickly tried to clear her eyes of tears before turning toward him. She tried to speak, but could not squeeze a word out. Her deep green eyes were full of tears. She tried to speak twice more, but went into sobbing fits. Gilbert didn’t wait for an explanation, he knew there must have been a good reason. He moved to her and put his arms out to hug her. She fell into his arms in an uncontrollable fit of passionate sobs.
“I understand now,” he said as tears filled his eyes as well, “I promise I will never doubt you again.” They stayed in a tight silent hug for several minutes. Gilbert pulled back and wiped tears from her face with his handkerchief.
“I tried -- to send -- them,” she said stammering through her words between sobs. She gained more control of her emotions. “My father forbid me to send them. I tried to sneak one out once.” She chuckled slightly, “He told the doctor that I broke my arm when I fell from the buggy trying to get out. He was wild and raging whenever anything reminded him of us.” Gilbert felt a great anger at the thought of her father hurting her.
“Did you ever get my letters?” He asked.
Clara looked at him in disbelief and shaking her head. “I did know, you wrote. Eva secretly told me one time.” She reflected back, “I always believed you would send letters, but I never saw any. I thought you lost interest in me, and I was sure of it today when you treated me so badly.” She hung her head down, “I didn’t know what happened to you. Where you went or if you were even alive. I just wrote letters, like you were still around and could read them.”
“I wrote nearly every week for three years and I stopped writing a few months ago. I thought you weren’t interested, and I needed to move on.” He said, showing shame that his feelings weren’t strong enough to see the facts of the situation. “I should have suspected something was wrong. I should have gone to Dubuque to find you.”
“I was so excited to come to Independence to find you, more then anything else in the world.” She chuckled pitifully, shaking her head. “My father would bad-mouth you and he eventually convinced me you didn’t care for me or you would have written. I was surprised he let me come here, while he stayed in Dubuque.” They sat down next to the river and looked out over the gentle flow of water. There was a mother duck leading several smaller ducks past them near the bank of the river.
“I wish I had some bread to feed them.”
“I have some cornbread in my pouch here.” He reached into his pouch and pulled out two discs of cornbread. “I like to have something handy to eat when I am working.” He held one out to her, “Would you like one?”
Clara was hungry, “Shall we split them with the ducks?”
“I think we can manage.” He broke off half handing it to her. “This is for you.”
“Thank you.”
“This is for me.” He took the other half, taking a bite of it. Clara broke a piece off to feed to the ducks. The ducks were reluctant at first to go after the corn bread. The mother duck slowly investigated it, then suddenly snapped it up. Clara broke another piece off and threw it for the ducklings.
“They are so little and cute.” Clara broke off more pieces tossing them out for the ducklings. Some of the crumbs landed on the bank. They waddled over and snapped them up. Some raced to the crumbs and once in a while one snapped at another. Soon she had given away all her cornbread.
Gilbert couldn’t figure out why Mr. Groober would let Clara come to town. He thought out loud, “Since he had been collecting my letters, he would know I had stopped sending letters to you.” He thought for a moment, “He probably thought I had given up, and it would be safe for you to come back.”
“My aunt had been after him to let me come back this Fourth of July because of Axtell. It must really be exciting to be as involved as you are?’
“It has been amazing.” Gilbert answered shortly.
“Now,” Clara looked down her nose at Gilbert, “Where’s the evidence of the undying love from you?”
“Well,” he didn’t want to say something stupid, “I never really gave up, but it was hard to live a life tormented by something that may never be.” He thought of Laura. “I was encouraged, that I needed to move on with my life.”
“I can understand that.”
“Even though I needed to go on. I couldn’t help but wish you were here and I would often pretend you were. I know it sounds crazy, but it’s true. I even talked to you out loud. One time Mr. Hussey caught me. We laughed, then he said I needed to do that, whenever I needed to do that.” Gilbert paused.
“Sounds like Mr. Hussey is a good friend.”
“Everyone has been great to me. The day you left town, Mr. Williams offered me a job to care for his horses.” Gilbert said, “It was my dream, I didn’t know what I was going to do.”
“I heard a few things, like your father was arrested and you were going into an orphanage or something.” She then asked, “Do you live with the Williams?”
“No,” he responded, “I have a room in the corner of the big barn.” Clara looked at him in pity. Gilbert quickly added, “It was my choice and it’s a nice place.”
“You look as though you have been eating well and you’re dressed in nice clothes. Did you have to quit school?”
Gilbert smiled, “I didn’t quit, Mr. Williams wouldn’t let me quit anyway.”
“The horses,” Clara brightly spoke out, “what is it like to take care of them?”
Gilbert smiled, “They are great horses, but caring for them is like any other horse, except the fact everyone is watching you do it, all - the - time.”
“You’re having a lot of fun aren’t you?” She asked.
“It excites me,” Gilbert ch
uckled.
Clara smiled while a tear streaked down her cheek. “You are right in the middle of all the exciting adventures. Wow.”
“Wow,” Gilbert took a long look at her noticing how beautiful she was. Her straight, pearly white teeth gave her smile a sweet glow. She had changed a great deal in the last four years. She had turned into the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. She no longer had freckles. Instead she had smooth healthy colored skin. She was obviously puffy in all the right places even though she wore a very prudish dress. They were both sixteen an accepted age for courting couples. “How long are you going to be in town?”
“I’ll be here for a few weeks. I may return for the fair next month or maybe I can stay until then. Are they really going to race Axtell and Allerton against each other?”
“Yeah,” he responded, “it’ll be a great race.”
They talked for nearly an hour getting caught up with what’s happened in their lives. As they talked, they walked back to their tree for privacy. As they walked, he became acutely aware that she was taller than he was. He addressed the situation as humourously as possible. “Well, you have certainly grown.”
“I’m so sorry,” She slouched down.
“Well, you can’t help it.” He sighed, “I hope for a growing spurt this summer.”
“Well if it makes you feel any better, I haven’t grown in a year.”
“So it is just up to me to catch up.”
“Boys do grow later in life, usually.”
He had the strongest urge to kiss her, but he hadn’t kissed her before and wasn’t sure she would let him. He had never thought of kissing her before. Now as he looked at her, he was conscious that she was expecting a kiss. He felt a sensation not felt before as he put his arms around her. She closed her eyes and Gilbert slowly tilted his head back and lifted his head towards her. It was humiliating, so he pulled her toward a rock and leapt on it. Now he was taller.
He tilted his head forward, she tilted her head back, they closed their eyes and waited for the connection of their lips. Their noses bumped into one another. Their eyes popped open as they embarrassingly smiled about it. She tilted her head slightly to her right, closed her eyes once again. He kept his eyes open to make sure they connected properly, then their lips met. The kiss was very slippery and he pulled his lips away quickly. He moved his head forward one more time and they kissed again. They slushed their lips around awkwardly. She moved abandoned the kiss and laid her head on his shoulder. They held each other tightly for several seconds.
Allerton and Axtell Page 15