by Mary Wingfield Bell
Chapter Six -
What a dreary sight they saw. There were only a few jagged
tree stumps standing on the ridge but they were black as coal and
so was the ground. The fire had burned furiously, destroying
everything. The cloudy day made the whole outlook gloomy; there
was not a streak of blue in the sky.
"How dreadful it looks!" sighed Delight.
"Everything was so pretty before the fire," said Maggie.
"I wish snow would come and cover all that black stuff," said
Abner. "I wish snow would be on the ground till spring."
"But on this side of the brook everything is fine," remarked
Delight. She thought about the two houses still standing and she
was thinking about the grapevine tree. The fire had not even come
close to that tree.
There were long icicles and small ice fingers hanging from the
porch roof. There were tiny icicles on the shrubbery in the yard.
The brownish grass had a thin coat of ice all over. Delight knew
that she couldn't go out in such weather.
The Canberry children ate a late breakfast with Delight. Then
they went home. Grandpa scraped ice from the steps. He fed the
chickens inside the chicken house. Grandma baked bread and pies.
The heat from the oven helped keep out the damp cold.
Delight drew sketches of the ridge the way she remembered it.
Then she drew pictures of the damaged area.
"Grandma, will the ridge and hill ever be pretty again?" asked
Delight.
"Yes, dear," replied Mrs. Capley. "The spring will bring new
grass up through the black soil. The flowers will bloom again. The
violets, dogwoods and rhododendrons will be beautiful, probably
even lovelier than ever. There will be new shoots of tender young
trees. They will grow and in a few years Dogwood Hollow will be
much the same.
Delight was happy to hear that everything would grow back
again.
When the sun came out in the afternoon, the ice melted. The
girl was so glad to see the sun.
"Grandma, may I visit the grapevine tree?" asked Delight.
"Dear, I'm afraid not," answered the old woman. "The ground
and foliage are much too wet. Maybe you can go there tomorrow. I
have to tell you that winter is closing in and you won't be able
to spend so much time under that tree."
"Too bad," said Delight sadly. "I do like to swing. Do you
think the grapevine will stay on the tree all winter?
"Of course the leaves are dead but the vine is strong," said
Grandma. "I won't be surprised if the vine is still there come
spring."
Hilda Canberry came about four o'clock. She sat down by
Delight at the dining table. Grandma made tea for Hilda and
herself. Delight drank apple juice. The house was pleasantly warm
and each one there had a thankful heart. God answered their
prayers the night before.
"There's much to be thankful for," remarked Hilda.
"Yes, indeed," agreed Mrs. Capley. "Here we are still in this
comfortable cottage with no fire damage at all, well maybe cinders
on the front porch."
"God is so good," added Delight, pushing her long blond hair
behind her ears with her fingers. "God saved all of us and our
homes. I love Him so much."
"Bless you, dear," returned Hilda. "You are so right. In a few
days will be the Thanksgiving holiday. I think it would be great
to celebrate the day together."
"How about that, Grandma?" asked the girl.
"Why, that's wonderful!" agreed Grandma.
"Your place or mine?" asked Hilda.
"It would be convenient to celebrate Thanksgiving Day here,"
offered Mrs. Capley.
"O.K.," said Hilda. "Hank will buy the turkey and the fixin's
but you can make the pies, Mrs. Capley. No one bakes a pie as good
as your pies. Does that idea suit you?"
"Sure," said Grandma "but you come early and cook the turkey
here. We will all have a nice day and thank God again for the
answered prayers."
The plans pleased the crippled girl very much. She was so
happy that Abner and Maggie would spend the holiday at her house.
"It's settled then," said the neighbor. "We shall feast
together. I will come early to put the turkey in the oven. I must
be going now. My family will be hungry for supper."
"Wait, Hilda," said Grandma. "Take this chocolate pie for your
dessert tonight."
"How nice," returned Hilda. "Thank you so much." She went out
the door.
After Hilda left Grandpa came with a letter from Pleasure, his
daughter who lived in Chicago with her husband and two children.
He gave the letter to Grandma and she read it out loud. Delight's
aunt had written that they could not come for Thanksgiving Day and
probably would not be in Dogwood Hollow for Christmas.
"That's too bad," said Delight. "We can still have a good time
on Christmas day. Abner and Maggie will be here with their
parents."
"It would have been so nice for them to be here." Grandma
said, wiping away a tear that had fallen on her cheek.
"I'll bring in the wood box and work on Hiram's present," said
Grandpa.
Mr. Capley was carving a little monkey for Hiram. The dog for
Hannah was already finished. Grandpa spent a long time carving a
plaque for Delight's Aunt Pleasure. It was the picture of the
fireplace in the Capley house showing the andirons, the fire
tools, and the mantel with the tambourine clock that rested on two
long arms. The clock sat in the center of the mantel. On each end
of the shelf was a figurine grandpa had carved. It took much
patience to carve the small objects in the wooden picture. It was
very beautiful and would remind Pleasure of her family in Dogwood
Hollow.
The days that followed, after the big fire, remained cold but
there was no more ice after the first sleet of the fall melted.
When Delight and the Canberry children went back to school,
they had an exciting story to tell the boys and girls about the
ravaging fire. They told how God answered prayer by sending rain
and sleet.
Miss Rains heard the children talking about the fire. She
asked Abner to come to the front of the room and tell the story to
the whole class. The classmates listened. No one even threw a spit
ball. Abner sat down after telling how hard they worked to put out
the blazes. He felt proud of being able to tell such an
interesting story.
In a short while the students had their minds on something
besides the fire. Many were making plans for Thanksgiving.
One day after school Abner and Maggie went home with Delight.
Mrs. Capley had a big plastic container full of cookies for the
youngsters to decorate. There were pumpkin shaped cookies and
turkey-shaped cookies. Also there were a few shaped like bunches
of grapes that Grandma designed with a sharp knife and her
thimble.
"Oh, Grandma!" squealed Delight when she saw the grape bunch
cookies. She knew that her grandmother was thinking especially of
her when she made them.
Abner and Maggie looked puzzled. The grape cookies were nice
but pumpkin and turkey ones were best for Thanksgiving time.
There was a twinkle in Grandma's eye. She was pleased that the
grape cookies had surprised Delight. Mrs. Capley and her
granddaughter understood each other.
There is no need for spoken words thought Delight. Grandma
must think about the grapevine tree, too. When spring comes, I
will visit the place again.
The three children were at the dining table. Grandma put small
bowls of colored frosting on the table. She showed them how to cut
off corners of envelopes, put in frosting and squeeze the frosting
onto the cookies.
By the time the cookies were brightly colored, it was dark.
Mr. Canberry came for his children.
"I'll take these two off of your hands," he said.
"We've had a good time," returned Grandma. She gave Abner and
Maggie a bag of overly browned and broken cookies.
"Good!" said Abner. "We will take some cookies in our school
lunch."
When Hank Canberry went shopping for a turkey. He bought one
that weighed 20 lbs. It was next to the largest one in Brown's
Meat Market.
"My!" Hilda exclaimed. "We don't need one so big."
Hank allowed there might be someone who needed turkey on that
day - maybe a family who could not afford turkey. Anyway, he was
so thankful this year. He wanted to do things in a big way.
Grandpa helped Grandma clean the house including the
porches. The dining room was decorated with pilgrims, Indians
and wigwams that the children brought to the Capley house from
school.
Everything was going as planned. It was Thanksgiving morning
and Hilda was busy at work in Grandma's kitchen - getting the
turkey ready for cooking and making stuffing. Mr. Canberry and the
children were coming around one o'clock.
"Grandma, where's the poultry seasoning?" asked Hilda.
"Right side cabinet - upper shelf," replied Mrs. Capley.
At that moment the telephone rang. Grandma answered it. On the
other end of the line was a child speaking. She could hardly hear
what was being said.
"Speak up, dear," said Mrs. Capley, "so I can hear you."
It was So Lin, the ten year old refugee, who had come from far
across the ocean to live in Apple Hill with his mother, brother
and two sisters.
"Please come, Mrs. Capley," begged So Lin. "Mama is very sick.
I don't know what to do."
"Where are you?" asked Grandma.
He was calling from Mark's Store.
"Hilda, I'm sorry to leave you with all the work to do but I
must help the refugees. The mother is ill."
"I understand," said Hilda. "The poor soul needs someone to
help her. Go! We will be thankful and make the most of the
day."
Grandma took a dozen eggs and a loaf of bread with her.
"I'll go with you, Comfort," said Mr. Capley.
While Grandma bundled up in warm clothes, Grandpa took a box
of fire wood from the back porch.
Soon the car reached the home of the refugees. So Lin's nine
year old brother opened the door. Behind him stood three sad-faced
children.
The house was dark and cold inside. So Lin led Grandma to the
bedroom where his mother lay. She had a fever.
Grandpa built a fire in the fireplace and made the room warm.
The children came in to get warm. One by one they took off the
coats they had on.
Grandma found medicine in the medicine cabinet and gave some
to the sick woman. Then she went to the kitchen, turned on the
small electric stove and made breakfast for everyone. There was
not a crumb of bread left.
Smiles began to appear on the sad faces of the children. This
made the Capleys glad they had come.
Grandpa mopped the dirty floor in the kitchen. Then he went
outside to gather as much fire wood as he could find and put it on
the little back porch.
Grandma put a load of clothes in the washing machine. Pam Lin
smiled weakly. All this help was sure to make her feel better.
At the Capley house everything was coming along as planned.
The big turkey was roasting in the oven. Hilda was mixing the
stuffing. Delight sat at the table making radish roses.
"Mrs. Canberry, why did So Lin's mother have to get sick when
we had planned such a special day?" asked Delight.
"I'm sure the lady did not choose to be ill," replied Hilda.
"Why should she want to be sick any day? When a person is sick,
don't matter the day - she is just sick."
"I know," returned Delight, "but we were all going to thank
God together."
"Perhaps Grandma will get here for dinner," said Hilda, "if
not, she will be here later."
"I hope so," said Delight.
Grandpa returned to the house to get some chopped chicken from
the freezer. Grandma wanted to make soup for Pam Lin.
"Looks like Grandma won't be here to eat with us," sighed the
Capley girl.
"Hilda, I'll probably bring the children here for dinner,"
Grandpa said, "that is, if you can manage. Comfort will stay with
the woman. She needs good care today."
"That's O.K.," answered Hilda. "What's four more plates,
anyway?"
When Grandpa arrived at the refugee's house, his wife was
helping the youngest girl get dressed. She was cleaning all the
children so they'd be ready for a Thanksgiving meal at her house.
Grandma was staying with Pam Lin and making chicken soup.
Abner, Maggie and their father joined Hilda and Delight at the
Capley home. They, too, were disappointed that Grandma would not
be present for the dinner.
By the time the feast was on the table Grandpa brought the
children. Their were now ten people to sit at the large table. The
refugee youngsters opened wide their eyes when they saw so much
food to eat.
Grandpa asked God's blessing on the meal and thanked him for
his loving care, especially saving them from the fire.
Delight looked around the table. Grandpa and all the guests
made a full table. How she wished Grandma was here. It did not
seem right to be eating Thanksgiving dinner without her.
Hilda made sure the little guests had plenty of food on their
plates and the meal went smoothly.
"Maggie, you know where Grandma keeps the plastic bags," said
Delight. "Please get one for me." The Capley girl put little
turkey and pumpkin cookies in a bag for the sick woman and her
family.
So Lin thought the cookies were special. He thanked Mrs.
Canberry for the good food and the children left with Grandpa.
It was late in the afternoon before Grandma was again in her
little cottage. It was good to be home. She was tired from a day's
work but very cheerful Mrs. Capley had left the sick woman resting
comfortably with her children well fed. There was much to be
thankful for.
Grandma would go back again next day to see if more help was
needed. More than that, she would pray for the health and
happiness of that family.
"So glad you are here, Grandma," Delight said happily. "The
dinner was good, but it was awful that you couldn't be with the
rest of us."
"I know dear," returned Grandma, "but there are times when God
calls us to do something important for one of his children."
"I thought our special Thanksgiving dinner was important,"
said Delight.
"It was very important, dear," said Grandma. "A sick person
could get worse or die if not taken care of. I hope you
understand."
"Oh sure," returned Delight. "You take very good care of me. I
love you."
"How about a piece of pie?" Grandma said, hugging her
granddaughter.
"Sure," smiled Delight. "The day is not all gone. We can still
thank God."
Mrs. Capley went back to Pam Lin's house the next day and
found the mother much better. She had expected the woman to be
better because she had helped and prayed for her.
It was late when Delight, Maggie and Abner got out of bed. It
was almost noon. The weather was even colder than the night
before. The three children went to the front window to see what
the ridge looked like in the light of day.
Return to Table of Contents