Spring

There'd been very little rain that year, and by April the Oklahoma panhandle was swirling with dust storms. Cows died and spring crops choked in the hazy sunshine. Everyone and everything was covered with a fine layer of dust.

One day the sky began to turn a bruised purple and Tex Winchester switched on the radio. There was always a threat of tornadoes in this flat land. Outside, Ellie was working double time to haul the wash off the clothesline before the storm hit. The weathervane creaked on the roof of their barn. Dust devils sprung up in the nearby fields.

Right as the first drops began to hit, Ellie hit the porch steps running and Tex flung the door open. The laundry, the clothespins and Ellie slid in, all in that order. They were both prepared to run for the storm shelter, just off the back porch.

"I think this may be just a thunderstorm," Tex said, running a hand through his too-long dirty blonde hair. Ellie folded her arms and watched the sky darken. Lightning licked out of a cloud in the distance.

"Well," she said, still frowning out at the weather.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you. Your mom called today," Tex said, stepping away from the window.

"What did she want? They're still coming tomorrow, right?"

Tex sighed. He was fine with seeing Hawkeye and Margaret, but he'd had a little falling-out with his father, who had insisted on coming to Oklahoma with the Pierces.

"Yeah, they'll be here."

Ellie sat down at the kitchen table and started to fold the clothing. "So, what did Mom want?"

"Nothing. She just misses you and wanted to talk."

Ellie felt tears coming to her eyes. For one of the first times in her life, she missed her parents. Tex noticed her shining eyes and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Honey, it's okay. You'll see them. We'll see so much of our parents we'll get sick of them. Besides, the house is clean and there's plenty of food. I brought home two more pies today from Mrs. Redmond."

"Oh," Ellie said, in a small voice. She leaned against her husband's arm.

Five months had passed since they'd been married. There was no honeymoon. Tex had to be in Wheeless the next week to start his work. The town doctor had died and the closest hospital was forty miles away in Boise City. Even though Tex had grown up in Texas, nothing prepared him for the flatness and desolation of the panhandle. Ellie was constantly amazed by the place and how much work Tex had to do to keep the scattered populatin healthy. The state paid most of his salary because many of the patients couldn't afford to pay anything. Most had no insurance. His clinic doubled as an emergency room and free clinic for them.

He worked to the point of exhaustion. His patients paid him in pies and fried chicken. Ellie was doing some teaching at Oklahoma Panhandle State and trying to write a book. She was also two months pregnant.

"Are you hungry? Let's try one of those pies," Ellie said, breaking Tex's train of thought.

"She said one was peach and one was pieplant, whatever that is."

Ellie pulled one out of the refrigerator and set it down. She started at it for a long time before hacking into it with a butcher knife.

"This must be the pieplant. It's really strange," she said, performing a pie autopsy. She snatched a little piece and took a bite, looking thoughtful as she chewed.

"What does it taste like?" Tex asked, curious.

"Shoney's strawberry pie filling...and sour celery."

He watched her swallow, frowning. He stuck a finger in pie and scooped out a mouthful. Ellie went to get a glass of water, to try to wash the taste out of her mouth.

"It's some kind of rhubarb. But it's awful," Tex said through the mouthful.

"Drought rhubarb," Ellie said, shaking her head. "I know! Let's see if our parents will eat it."

They re-arranged the pie to look like it wasn't mutilated. The peach pie looked better, but neither could get the lingering sour taste out of their mouths. Tex, who was looking gaunt and pale anyways, sat heavily at the table and buried his face in his hands.

"Let's just make some popcorn and go to bed. Why don't you go up and take a shower, I'll make the popcorn, and then we'll watch 'Sixty Minutes'," Ellie said, trying to be cheerful.

"Come here," he said, pulling her down into his lap. Tex kissed Ellie, who put a hand on his cheek.

"El, you take good care of me. One day when I'm not so tired, I'll take care of you all day."

"Okay," she said, kissing him back. Ellie slid off his lap and turned the burner on. The storm was shaking and rocking the old house.

Ellie wasn't afraid of these storms, just fascinated in a wild, curious way. Tex went upstairs and turned on the air conditioner in the bedroom, then went to the shower. The water soothed his tired muscles and stung his sunburnt shoulders.

He'd been up since three a.m. tending to an old man who insisted on dying at home. The family became sure the end was near, but the old codger hung on for six hours, cussing and fighting Tex off the whole time. Then a farmhand got kicked in the groin by a horse and needed attention. The guy's balls were the size of cantaloupes before the swelling subsided. On top of all this, a stready stream of patients came in with anything from ingrown toenails to violent hangovers. The clinic nurse, an older woman who grew up in a nearby town, just shook her head. "Must be a full moon tonight," was all Barbara Sills could say.

Barbara reminded him of Ellie's mother. A tough old bird, but very pretty. A large part of their weekend had also been devoted to making the spare farmhouse functional for their guests. The basement had a finished office, so they'd painted the whole thing and decorated with whatever Wheeless had to offer, which wasn't very much. Ellie had the presence of mind to stuff a record player in the cramped room with the single bed. This would be Charles Winchester's little home away from home. They would have put the Pierces down there but neither felt like moving the large bed from the downstairs bedroom to the basement. So, Ellie put her parents on the main floor and hoped everyone would stay out of each other's way. The home had two bathrooms, and for that they'd all be thankful.

The house came with the job. They were given the deed the first day they came to town. The floors were unsanded in some spots and the kitchen was terribly outdated. The pipes moaned, the doors squealed, the roof leaked and Ellie was suspicious of the old knob and tube wiring that sometimes hissed and popped when you'd plug in anything more complicated than a toaster. But it was a big, sturdy old structure and it was paid for. Charles Winchester could find every little flaw the house had and carry on, but even he had never been given a free house.

Ellie was already in bed when Tex came in from the shower. She was in pajamas, just lying on the covers eating popcorn. Tex put on a pair of boxers and jumped in beside her. His body, which had always been muscular, was getting a little gaunt. He worried about everything...the baby, his practice and most of all, Ellie. She wasn't sleeping much and seemed distracted sometimes. Hawkeye had told him a big secret the night before the wedding.

"You're going to have to keep an eye on her. I don't know if you've noticed, but she can get a little down on herself sometimes. When she was sixteen, I found her in the upstairs hallway drowning in the contents of her stomach. If I hadn't been at home, she wouldn't have made it," Hawkeye said, crying. " I had to pump her stomach over the bathtub. Fifty semi-dissolved Valiums came out. God knows, Margaret and I tried to make her happy. I had always hoped she wouldn't have to deal with the emotional problems the Pierce family has, but it just wasn't in the cards. Promise me you'll take care of her. I can't let you marry her any other way."

He promised.

They sat silently through "Sixty Minutes". When the show was over and the popcorn was down to the old maids, Tex put the bowl on the floor and wrapped his arms around Ellie, who was finally sleeping. His hands traced around her long-ago accident scars and he fell asleep, dreading the next day.

XXXX

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