Meg, Kevin, and Greg
Meg pulled the plug and let the dishwater escape down the drain. She rinsed the sink, dried her hands, and turned to look out the window at the boys in the yard. Kevin and Greg were playing with the dogs. They would throw the ball and the dogs would chase after it, each trying to get there first. Icarus, the calico cat sat and watched with a bored air. As Meg watched Icarus began to slowly meander down the yard in the direction of the area where the ball was being thrown. Greg tossed the ball and the dogs were in hot pursuit. Then Meg laughed as Icarus launched herself at the ball and both dogs skidded to a stop. The dogs watched in consternation as Icarus sat down on top of the ball and began to groom herself. She had to be the weirdest cat she had ever seen. Kevin and Greg were laughing hysterically when she walked across the deck and onto the grass. She reached down and picked Icarus up and headed back to the house. Daisy and Elvira resumed their quest for the ball.
“Who wants to go for a walk?” she called over her shoulder and both boys headed for the house followed by the two happy dogs.
Very soon the trio came out of the house with water bottles, hats, walking sticks, two jumping dogs and a cat lagging behind. They started up the winding dirt road that would take them past Fred Himes, Jr’s little cabin and barn. When Kevin realized where they were going he turned to his mother and smiled.
“Mom! Can we stop and say hello to Fred? He seems like a lonely little guy and I do owe him a debt of gratitude.”
Meg smiled. “Of course. It would be rude not to since we are going right past there anyway. We both owe him a great deal I think.”
The dogs ran ahead and then back. Icarus had not followed long and had lain down beside the road to wait for their return.. Fred’s barn came into view first and Meg studied it as they passed. The barn was fairly new and she decided that Fred must have built it in the last few years. It was not the traditional barn with a hay loft above and animals below. It was about half the size of a working barn. It was painted Barn Red and trimmed in white which rather surprised Meg. Sort of like something in a story book.
This was the first time she had given any thought at all to where Fred lived. When the cabin came in sight she was not surprised at all to see how small it was. It appeared to be three or four rooms. It was typical log cabin construction and the spaces between the logs were filled and well maintained. There were no curtains in the windows. The area around the cabin was clear of weeds or any kind of undergrowth. That was good in case of a forest fire. His old pickup sat in the yard with the hood raised.
Kevin looked at her quizzically. “Shall I knock on the door?” Before Meg could answer Fred stepped around the corner of the house balancing five cans of oil and a filter in his arms. Kevin and Greg quickly hurried to help as the cans began to teeter. “Looks like we got here in just the nick of time.” But Fred kept control of the cans.
Fred appeared to be taken aback at the sight of so many people in his yard. Nobody ever came up here and now there were three people right on his front yard! And one of them was the boy he was going to go down and see. It made him feel kind of warm inside. He smiled. “Well, hello there. I was just changing my oil.” He stopped and flushed. That was a stupid thing to say! They could see he was changing the oil. He looked at the little dog at his feet looking up at him. It appeared to be smiling. Did dogs smile? He had never given thought to that before. Sure looked like they did. He smiled at the little dog and then looked up to see all three of them watching him and smiling at him smiling at the dog.
“That dog looks like it is smiling at me!” His eyes met Meg’s and at that moment the cans that were teetering finished their descent causing every one to jump back. Elvira yipped and ran for the clearing followed closely by Daisy. The four adults suddenly burst into laughter.
Kevin was the first to regain his composure. “Well, I don’t think Greg and I were of much help here.” He bent and began to retrieve cans of oil. “Where shall we put these?”
“Oh, right there on the fender will be good. I always try to save a trip and it always ends up more work then it would have been if I just made two trips to begin with.” He shuffled his feet as he stood only a few feet from Mrs. Parker. He blushed. “Guess you are going for a walk, huh?” Another brilliant observation on his part and this brought another flush.
“Yes, Fred. Would you care to join us?” Having deposited the cans and filter and spout, the boys returned and waited expectantly for his answer.
Fred shuffled his feet before replying, “Oh, I ain’t much of a one for just walking unless I am trailing something. And besides that, I need to get this oil changed so I can go into town today and get supplies. Winter will be here and I won’t be ready.”
Meg realized at once that Fred was very uncomfortable and laid her hand on Kevin’s arm and looked at Greg. “Well, boys, I have an idea. Let’s let Fred continue with his plans for today and since we have plans for the rest of the day, we could maybe plan a cook out tomorrow evening. Would that work for you, Fred? “ Then she hesitated and added, “ The boys are leaving in the next couple of days and we can call it a farewell party.”
Fred’s eyes clouded and a tear escaped down his cheek. The trio looked at him in consternation. They had no way of knowing that in his mind he had escaped to a time when he danced with mother to Gene Watson on the radio singing Farewell Party. “There’ll be flowers from those, who’ll cry when I’m gone, and leave you in this world alone. Don’t be mad at me, for wanting to keep you till my life on this old world is through. You’ll be free at the end of my farewell party, but I’ll go away loving you….”
He once more saw his beautiful mother in her flowered dress and white patent leather shoes smiling at him as she stood at the window waiting for father to come home from work. Mother was so fragile.
Fred’s body was suddenly wracked with sobs as he turned and ran into the house, closing and locking the door behind him, leaving the visitors staring at the door. They glanced at each other uneasily at this show of raw emotion, then turned as one and started back up the mountain. Daisy and Elvira followed with a soulful look back at the cabin in the woods.
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