Childhood Memories

"Whatcha up to?"

Laura looked up from her writing desk and turned to face Almanzo who was standing at the doorway of her study.

"What does it look like?" she answered smiling at him. Instead of getting up, she turned back to her desk and picked up her pencil.

"You know,"Almanzo smiled. He inched away from the doorway and stood blocking the entrance. "I've never seen a woman with more remembrances than you."

Laura put the pencil down and turned to face him. "Come on, Manly," she said, "you have to have memories of your childhood too. Everyone does. "

Almanzo laughed. He walked toward her, grabbing an extra wicker chair which Laura always kept for visitors. He set down next to her.

"Yeah, I do, Beth" he nodded his head, "but I never wrote them down before."

Laura smiled and placed her hand to Almanzo's cheek. "Maybe they're not as exciting as mine."

He smiled, grabbing her hand. "Oh really, is that what you think? I can think of plenty. Like the time I…"

Laura shook her head. "Save the memories for later, Manly. One day I'll write them all down for you so we can sit and discuss them. Right now I want to finish this."

"You mind sharing some of them, Beth?" he asked, taking both her hands in his. Day's done. I've checked on things at the farm and everything is well. We can sit here and I can listen to you remember. I haven't heard your voice all day. I was beginning to miss it."

Laura laughed and looked into her husband's eyes. "Which one do you want to hear?" she asked him.

"Why don't you start at the beginning, Beth," he said, still holding her hands in his. "We'll figure the rest out."

"If I had a remembrance book, I would mark down how it was when we left our little house in the big woods to go west to Indian Territory. We had to go, Pa said, because so many people had come to live in the big woods, there wasn't enough game anymore for him to hunt and he feared we might go hungry. Ma said we might never again see Grandma and Grandpa, or Aunt Docia and Aunt Ruby and Uncle George. Though it made me sad, I still thought it a fine thing to go where there had never been a road before. We'd go where the land was more bountiful, he said, and he sold our house and land and cow, and packed whatever would fit in the wagon. I was glad Pa took his fiddle, for it makes a joysome sound. Mary was afraid to go, but I knew nothing bad could happen as long as we had Pa and Jack. Jack is my best and truest friend and Pa says there has never been a better watchdog. I knew there would be rivers to cross and hills to climb, and I was glad, for this is a fair land and I rejoiced that I would see it."

That was the first time I met Mr. Edwards. My family loved him, except maybe Ma, but she didn't take to kindly to him the first time especially when he taught me to spit.

"Laura! Just what do you think you're doing? Ma asked me. I repeated what she said and then she pounced on Mr. Edwards.

"Spit?" she asked. "Do you consider that a worthy accomplishment, Mr. Edwards?" and I remember his answer, clear as a bell.

"Well, I don't know how worth it is, ma'am, but it sure comes in handy in a stiff breeze."

Christmas came and went on the prairie and he brought us our presents from Santa. Mr. Edwards explained to all of us that he met him and his pack mule coming out of a saloon in Independence. My sisters and I got silver cups, candy canes and a penny each. And that's when Ma changed her mind about him. It wasn't too long that we were evicted from our first little house on the prairie and moved on from there to Walnut Grove, Minnesota.

"I didn't realize that you met him out in Kansas," Almanzo said, smiling. He watched as Laura nodded her head. "Well you said start at the beginning. What else would you like to hear?"

"How about the first time you met the Olesons?"

Laura smiled. "Now how many times have you heard that story, Mr. Wilder?" Laura asked, smiling at him.

"I guess I lost count," he answered, smiling back. "Always loved to hear it, no matter how many times you tell it. "

Nellie and her mother always referred to Mary and me as "country girls." She stared us down when we walked into the classroom. We even had a fight at recess. Well, it was more of a shoving match, really. But we found out later who Nellie and her brother Willie were spoiled rotten by the high and mighty Mrs. Harriet Oleson. She tried to rule with an iron fist and that included her husband, Nels, even though he sometimes stuck up for himself. He would do play fair while Mrs. Oleson would not. Ma was one that was treated unfairly, especially when she brought in her eggs to sell. Some were brown and so Mrs. Oleson would give her a lower price. That is, until she sold the brown eggs to someone at Hansen's Mill for three cents more than Mrs. Oleson would give her.

I did learn how to read and write, despite Nellie's bossy attitude, thanks to our wonderful teacher, Miss Beadle. We were becoming more accepted in town. But there was always competition between the Olesons and the Ingalls, especially Nellie and me. Personalities, I guess. How we got to be friends later on was a miracle.

"Well," Almanzo laughed, "I do remember when we first got to town. You and Nellie fought over me. The cinnamon chicken, remember?"

Laura smiled and nodded her head. "It was more like cayenne pepper chicken, Manly. I couldn't believe you forgave me for all that. "

"You weren't spoiled and stuck up, Beth. You were full of spunk and confident. I guess I fell in love with you the first time I ever saw you."

"There were plenty of times that I was scared, especially when Miss Beadle sent us home from school early one Christmas Eve. Mary, Carrie and I got lost and we found an abandoned barn where we took shelter. Pa managed to find us so we were one of the lucky ones as were Mr. Edward's adopted kids, Carl and Alicia. I will never forget that."

"There was also the time that Pa and I went hunting. No one wanted me to go, but I got to go anyway. Maybe it was a lucky thing to because Pa was accidently shot. I took charge and found my way to the Shelby's cabin where I found Sam Shelby. He helped me bring Pa back to the cabin. We found Mr. Edwards, and then we found Dr. Canby. We hurried back to the cabin, but by that time Pa was gone. Mr. Edwards found Pa in Morgan Creek. Somehow, we got him back to the cabin. We prayed and waited while the doctor operated on him."

Almanzo nodded. "Sam Shelby and his boy Ben, wasn't it? Sam was blind wasn't he?"

Laura nodded. "We met them on the trail. They were doing some trapping, well actually Ben was. Sam refused to go. Then Ben met someone called Glover and disappeared."

"But you still convinced Sam to help didn't you?

"Yes, I managed to. I may have felt confident at the time, but I always felt guilty. Always felt as if it was my fault for hitting that gun with my bedroll. It was the same as when Freddie died and I ran into the mountains. "

"Yep, I remember you telling me about that. You didn't pray for your brother to get well like everyone else did. "

Laura stood up and moved closer to her husband. "I spoke with Reverend Alden when we attended church and he told me that I had to get closer to God. So I climbed a mountain to get closer. And then I met Jonathan who helped me. He made me a cross with my name on it, but I lost it in the stream. I didn't want to be found until God took me instead of my brother. I didn't want to be found until that happened. Jonathan told me to build a fire so that God could find me quicker and so we did. That's when Pa and Mr. Edwards found me and took me home. When I tried to find Jonathan again, he had disappeared."

Almanzo stood and wrapped his arms around his wife. Their daughter, Rose, was grown and was now a successful author. She had come back to Mansfield in 1928 and built for them a small house where they could retire and enjoy life. They called it the Rock House because its siding was built of rocks. It had all the modern conveniences of the day and the Wilders had been trying it out for almost a year now.

The clock on the mantel struck 12 midnight. The two broke apart.

"Guess we've been reminiscing too long," Almanzo said, placing an arm around her shoulders. "Come on, it's time for bed."

He gave Laura a squeeze and the two walked out of the study and headed for the bedroom. It had been a long day, but it was fun to remember; at least every now and then.