Just An Idea

"But, pa..." Laura pleaded to her father.

"My decision is final, Laura. You and Almanzo are going to wait two years before you can get married." Charles stood firmly on the ground in the barn. His mind was made up months ago, before Almanzo even proposed to his second daughter. The young couple was going to have to wait until Laura was eighteen before they could tie the knot. He held nothing against Almanzo. Charles just wanted to make sure that this was the best thing for his daughter.

"I'm not going to lose him, pa. I'm not going to wait!" Laura screamed, ran out of the barn and sprinted away from the little house...away from her pa. Laura could feel tears begin to roll down her checks. This was not how she expected everything to turn out.

The young girl stopped running when she realized how far she was from home. Laura wiped her eyes and tried to catch her breath. Her pa knew that she wanted to marry Almanzo Wilder for months now. That man was the love of her life and not even her pa could stop her from marrying him.

Laura found herself walking past a small creek. She watched the clear water flow freely downstream. If only she could be that free. Then, Laura heard voices coming from further up the creek. As she approached the voices, she realized it was only Albert, Andy and Willie, who were all fishing together. She cleaned her face with her sleeve, not wanting to draw attention to her sadness. Those boys would not be interested, and very likely would not understand what she was going through.

"Hey, Laura!" Her adopted-brother yelled over to her. "Come on over here."

Laura slowly made her way over to the boys. "Hi, guys."

"Do you wanna help me catch this one fish, Laura?" Willie asked, not even looking up at her. "He's right over here."

She shook her head. "Not right now, Willie. I'm not really in the mood for fishing."

"Are you feeling okay, Laura?" Andy asked, being the mature one of the three boys.

Laura looked up. She wanted to pour her heart out and reveal everything that has been bothering her. She wanted to talk all about Almanzo, her pa, the proposal and so much more. Of course that was probably be last thing Andy would want to listen to. "I'm fine, Andy."

"Girls are terrible at lying." Andy said under his breath.

"Well, if you guys aren't going to help me catch this fish, I'm going to head back home." Willie said to the group. He picked up his poll and ran off, leaving the three old friends at the creek.

What Laura did not know, was that Albert and Andy knew all about what was going on with her and Almanzo's relationship. Almost the entire town did. It was the gossip of the decade.

"Laura?" Albert sat next to his sister. "Are you still mad at pa for not letting you marry Almanzo?"

Now, Laura got mad. "He's letting me marry Almanzo. He just doesn't want us getting married right now. He's forcing us to wait two years."

"Because you're too young and he only wants to protect you."

"He doesn't understand that I could lose Almanzo. I want to marry him now. What if when we're waiting he finds someone else?"

"That doesn't sound like love to me." Andy added in his own comment.

Laura turned around, shocked that Andrew Garvey would say something like that to her. He had no idea of what she was going through. She did not want to hear another man telling her that her marrying Almanzo was wrong.

Laura staggered away from the two boys. The only problem was that she had no idea where else to go. She could not go back home, or into town, or even to the Wilder house. Who knows what would happen if someone saw her there?

So, Laura decided just to walk the roads outside of town. Hopefully the nice long walk let help her clear her mind and clam her emotions. Luckily for her, the newly setting sun painted the sky in golden streaks and the soft breeze cooled the air around her. It would have been a perfect evening, if only she was not being pulled in so many directions. Then, Laura looked up and saw a wagon driving down the road. Surprisingly, it was none other than Almanzo Wilder.

"Hi, Beth." Almanzo said, with a wide smile. "Did you talk to your pa?"

Laura sighed. "I did. He didn't change his mind. He still wants us to wait."

Almanzo shook his head in disappointment. "I don't want to wait two years, Beth. I want to marry you now."

"I want to marry you too, but I don't think he'll ever change his mind."

"Why does his opinion matter anyways? It's our life together, not his."

"Manly, you asked for his blessing and you wanted his approval."

"I only did that for you."

Laura took a step back. What Almanzo was saying confused her. Her family was everything to her. There was no way Laura could go against her father in that way. She thought Almanzo respected her family.

"Almanzo."

The older man picked up the reins and prepared himself to head off. "Try talking to your father again, because I'm not waiting, Beth. I mean it." Almanzo drove his rig away from Laura.

Laura did not know what to do. She would never be able to change her father's mind about the wedding date. But at the same time, she might not be able to keep Almanzo for much longer. Would he really leave her if they were not married right away?

Laura suddenly realized how late it had gotten and started walking home. The sun had almost completely disappeared from the sky and it was getting harder to see the path in front of her.

It was then, she saw someone else walking the path. They slowed down when they noticed the young girl. "Laura?" Thank goodness it was only Andy. "What are you still doing out this late?"

"I was just walking home." She answered slowly.

"I'm sorry about what I said earlier. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings like that." Andy apologized, knowing that he hit a nerve with his old friend.

"It's alright, Andy." The two walked together for a little while.

"Andy, can I ask you something?" Laura knew she was going to take a chance in asking this. "If you wanted to marry a girl as soon as possible, but her father wanted you to wait, what would you do?"

Andy took a second to figure out what he was going to say. "To tell you the truth, my first idea would be to run away with her."

"Run away?"

"Yea. Run away, get married and face the consequences later. I probably would never follow through with it though."

That got Laura's mind wondering. What if she ran away with Almanzo? They could get married with no one to stop them. It seemed like a simple enough plan, but with a few major complications. "What about your parents?"

"I'd hope my pa would be fine with it." Andy's voice dropped and his eyes went somewhere else.

Laura realized that she made a terrible mistake by saying the word 'parents'. "Oh, Andy. I'm sorry. I just...my mind slipped." She had been so focused on Almanzo for so long, Laura had been separating herself from her other friends. Andy was probably still grieving the death of his mother. Of course, he had been doing a good job hiding it from others.

"It's okay, Laura. Don't worry about it. You have other things to be concerned about." Andy tried to calm down his panicked friend.

"Should I run away with Almanzo?" Laura asked straight out.

Andy bit his lip. "I didn't mean run away with him. I'm going to have to side with your pa on this one. We're all to young to get married now."

Laura stopped walking and faced Andy. "But, Almanzo doesn't want to wait. I'm just going to end up losing him."

"If he really loves you, he'll gladly wait a lifetime for you. That's what I would really do." Andy stepped to the side and began walking to his own home in the darkness.

But it was too late. Laura already had an idea racing around in her mind. It was an idea that she would have never thought about as a little girl, but she was a woman now. People have eloped before and her father always said to do whatever you can for the ones you love. Laura loved Almanzo more than ever before. They did not have to run away forever, just long enough to get married.

Laura did not go home after that short conversation. She ran straight to the Wilder house to talk to her husband-to-be. Before she could even knock, the front door opened to reveal Almanzo.

"Beth, what are you doing here? Is everything alright? What did your pa say?" Almanzo asked, looking very concerned.

Laura tried to catch her breath again. "No, Manly. He would never change his mind, but neither would I. I want to marry." She spoke very fast.

"Well, so do I." Almanzo was getting rather confused.

"So let's get married now, or next week, or whenever. My pa always said you should do everything you can to make the ones you love happy. I love you and I don't want to lose you."

"What are you saying?"

"Let's run away. Let's run away and get married."

Laura never returned home that night. She and Almanzo took his rig and traveled to Mankato in the dead of night. They did not want to wait another minute to be married. They planned to get a judge to marry them, stay in a hotel for a few days, then return home to face the consequences. Laura never felt so thrilled and so anxious. She would have to write a book about the night she married Almanzo Wilder in the most unbelievable way.

"Did she say where she was going after she left the creek?" Charles yelled at his adopted-son.

"No, pa. She just ran off." Albert tried to explain.

Everyone in the Ingalls house was worried about Laura, Charles especially. No one seemed to have any idea where Laura could have gone. Caroline, however, had a growing suspicion. "Do you think she might have went to the Wilders?"

Charles immediately got up and ran to his wagon, but not before grabbing his rifle. If Laura was really at Almanzo's house, he might change his mind to not letting her marry that man at all. He rode to the house in utter anger. As he pulled up to the large house, Charles saw Eliza Jane through the window, pacing around her living room. He walked up and quickly opened the front door.

"Eliza Jane, where's my daughter?" Charles asked in a demanding voice.

Eliza Jane was speechless and shacking. "I-I don't know." She was telling the truth. "I saw Almanzo drive off and I don't know where he was going."

"If he has my daughter, he's going to wish he never came to Walnut Grove and laid eyes on my daughter."