Chapter 10

Almanzo couldn't sleep. Thoughts of his daughter and that young Reverend were moving around his head. He didn't care if Laura's father had acted the same way almost nineteen years ago now. He had a daughter of his own and he wasn't sure how to let her go.

Rose had walked over to him and asked if it would be alright if she and Rob could see each other again.

"He's looking to settle down, Rose," Almanzo said, "He told you as much."

"But Papa," she said, "I'm not ready for that yet. There is so much I want to do with my life. There is so much waiting for me."

Almanzo smiled and touched his daughter's cheek. It was exactly what Laura had told him. "You should explain that to him, Rose. The sooner the better. Don't get his hopes up."

"I'll take care of that, Papa. Don't you worry about me; I'm a big girl now."

She rushed into his arms. "I love you, Papa and I would never do anything to hurt you or Mama Beth. Not ever."

Almanzo smiled as he hugged his little girl. "I love you too, Rose," he answered, holding her close.

"Manly," Laura called softly, "Are you awake?"

Almanzo turned toward her. "Somethin' wrong, Beth?"

"I keep thinking about Pa."

"Beth," he whispered, his hand reaching out to caress her cheek.

"I'm frightened, I'm so afraid of losing him. He's so tired all the time, so weak. Manly, I'm not used to seeing him like this. He's still young yet, he just turned sixty six in January. I don't know what I'm going to do. I will never hear his fiddle play, never hear his laughter again."

She got out of bed and walked over to the bedroom window. Almanzo sat up. "Don't talk like that, Beth. He's not gone yet. We don't know how long, but he's still here." He walked over to her and placed his arms around her waist.

She turned from the window crying. "How am I going to face it when the time comes? I went through this with our baby boy. Now it's going to be the same thing all over again?"

"Everyone dies, Beth. Sooner or later, everyone goes." He hugged her tightly. "I've never told you, Beth, but after my stroke, I wanted to die. That's all I thought about, it was all that I wanted. It was your lack of strength and courage that brought me to my senses. I wanted to be there for you, as you were there for me."

He pulled her close and let her cry. "You will be there, Laura, and you'll face it as you have faced every other problem that the Lord has thrown in your path. I know you will. You once told me, a long time ago, that you were tougher than I thought you were. Well, prove it to me, Beth. Prove it to me as you did that same day when the railroad threatened to rob us of our land here, in Walnut Grove."

"Oh Manly, hold me, please hold me."

He held her close, listening to her sobbing against his nightshirt. He couldn't let go of his daughter and she couldn't let go of her Pa. There had to be some way to get through this. Some way to….

"Beth," he whispered in her ear. "I have an idea. It will bring us all together."

Laura pulled away from him. "What? What in the world are you talking about?"

Manly smiled. "Your Ma said it meant everything to have his family with him. Well, we can get everyone here. Mary, Carrie, Grace, James, Cassandra. Albert is here already. It's not too late."

"You mean a little get together?" Laura asked, "But what will we tell them?"

"The truth, Laura. I'll take you and Rose into town in the morning. You and Rose can find Albert. We know that Mary and Adam are in New York, we even know how to reach them. Grace and Carrie are both living in South Dakota and you know where they are. Albert keeps in touch with James and Cassandra. We can use the Oleson's new telephone system. That new seamstress who works in the store; the one who Rose talks with every day?"

"You mean Lena Howard?"

Almanzo nodded. "Sometimes she's the operator. She can make the calls for us."

Laura's eyes went wide. She ran into his arms for the second time. "Oh, Manly. It would be like Christmas and Ma would like that so much."

"And so would your Pa." Manly said, holding her close.

"Let's do it," she said, smiling up at him. Almanzo smiled and wiped the tears away with his thumb.

"There you go," he told her, pulling her close, rocking her back and forth. "That's my Beth."

Almanzo drove Rose, Laura and little Royal into town that morning. Jenny was still resting up, but was doing more and more things around the house. She and her husband took turns watching over little Jeb.

Lena was happy to make the calls, she told Rose. Lena Howard had just turned eighteen and Rose thought she was the prettiest woman she'd ever met. Deep blue, almost violet eyes and strawberry blond hair, always pinned up in a bun. Sometimes, when she sewed or read, she wore glasses. The other problem is that Lena was a little shy, while Rose was just the opposite, but they got along well and were constant companions while she was in town.

Mary and Adam could leave tomorrow and would probably arrive next week. Grace and her husband Nathan could be here by the end of the week. Carrie worked as a printer and traveled all over South Dakota managing newspapers. She was working in the Black Hills now and was seeing someone named David Swanzey. Maybe she'd meet Grace and Nathan on the train and they could get to Walnut Grove the same time.

Cassandra Ingalls worked as a typist for a small newspaper and James had become a lawyer, like Adam. They told Albert that they would be there by the end of the week. Neither one had married; they were living together in James' house a little outside Springfield where he had a small office.

Rose was learning the switchboard at the General Store while Lena basted a new dress. She was watching little Royal while Laura and Albert were talking across the street at his office.

"Hello, Miss Wilder, Miss Howard," she heard a voice call out. She looked up and saw the Reverend Miller smiling down at her.

"Hello, Rob," she said, suddenly tongue tied. "How are you this fine morning?"

"Just finished the first draft of my sermon this Sunday. Can I interest you ladies in having a bite?"

"Mama and I made a few sandwiches for my Papa and my grandparents this morning," Rose said. "We have some left over if you'd like."

Robert Miller smiled. "I would love anything that you make, Miss Wilder," he smiled, as she handed him one. "Maybe we can take a walk later, if you're not busy."

Rose smiled. "I offered to help out as switchboard operator, Rob," she said, "Lena and Rachel are a little busy with basting and sewing at the moment."

"Will you be finished by three?" he asked her. "I'll come by your house, that is if your father gives his permission."

"Papa's already given me his permission," Rose said, "but you can come by the house, anyway. I think he would like that rather than I meet you in town."

He smiled at her. "Well then, I'll see you at three," he said as Rose watched him open the door.

Rose sighed. This wasn't going to be easy, but she was going to have to tell him. It was the only way.