Interference

Chapter 6

Almanzo and Charles raced to the Sleepy Eye train station. Halfway there a wheel broke and they wasted the better part of an hour repairing it. Charles chirruped the horses into a gallop to make up for the lost time. They hoped to catch Eliza Jane before the last train of the day pulled out.

It was almost five o'clock when they reached the station. Almanzo jumped off the wagon and ran to the platform. Charles followed closely behind him. There was no sign of Eliza Jane outside, so they went in to talk to the stationmaster.

"Excuse me," said Almanzo.

"Can I help you?"

"Yeah, I'm lookin for someone. A woman in her thirties, tall, red hair and glasses. Have you seen her?"

The man eyed Almanzo suspiciously. "Why do you want to know?"

"She's my sister. I need to talk to her."

The man still wasn't sure he should give Almanzo any information. Charles walked up to the counter and greeted the stationmaster.

"Hello Hank."

"Afternoon, Charles. How ya been?"

"Just fine." Charles slapped Almanzo on the back. "Hank, I'd like you to meet my future son-in-law, Almanzo Wilder."

The man smiled. "Afternoon, Mr. Wilder. Didn't know you were a friend of Charles."

Almanzo nodded. "So did you see her?"

"She came through earlier and bought a ticket to St. Louis. The train left about fifteen minutes ago."

"St. Louis…are you sure?" Almanzo asked in surprise.

"Yep, the only one way ticket to St. Louis I sold today."

Almanzo turned around to face Charles. "Why would she go there?"

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At the Wilder place, Harv finished the chores and went in to wash up. He found Laura in the kitchen preparing supper."

"Whatcha makin?"

"Fried chicken and beans. There's some leftover corn bread too."

"That's good, for a minute there I thought you were makin cinnamon chicken," laughed Harv.

"Very funny. Will that joke haunt me forever?"

"Well I ain't the one that used cayenne pepper instead of cinnamon."

"It kept Almanzo away from Nellie, didn't it?" laughed Laura.

"What a woman won't do for love."

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When Harv and Laura sat down to supper they prayed Eliza Jane would be found and that everyone would make it home safely.

"Harv, can I ask you something?"

"Sure Laura."

"How do you feel about Eliza Jane?"

Harv's eyes opened wide and he almost choked on his bite of chicken. Laura saw how uncomfortable he was and stared down into her plate. She wondered if she should share what Eliza Jane had told her. Eliza Jane would probably be angry at her later, but Laura decided her safety was more important than avoiding her wrath.

"I think I know why she left town," admitted Laura.

"What does your question havta do with that?"

"Harv, did you know that Eliza Jane has feelings for you…strong feelings?"

Harv dropped his fork and it clattered onto the plate. He stared at Laura for a moment while he tried to form his lips into words. All he could manage was a confused, "What?"

"She loves you. She told me the day we picnicked together."

"Why didn't she say somethin?" asked Harv.

"I think she was waiting for you," Laura replied. "She believes there's something wrong with her that keeps men away."

"That's nonsense."

"Not to her. She's never had a beau. You're the first man that's ever called her by her first name. Maybe she was scared to tell you because she didn't want you to turn her down."

"Why would I do that?"

"Well, you've never said you cared for her. And when you told her Almanzo came up with the idea for you to ask her to supper, she might have thought you weren't interested at all."

"Gosh Laura, I must be stupid or somethin. I never knew she felt that way."

"But how do you feel Harv?"

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Nellie Dalton was working the switchboard when the call came in. "Walnut Grove," she answered.

"Nellie, it's Charles Ingalls."

"Hello Mr. Ingalls. Any luck finding Miss Wider?"

"She boarded a train going to St. Louis about half an hour ago."

"Oh my goodness. What will you do now?"

"It's too late to drive back. Almanzo and I will stay with Mary and Adam at the blind school and head home in the morning. Caroline isn't still there, is she?"

"No, she's not. She left right after school got out."

"Is there a way you can get a message to her…let her know what's going on?

"Certainly, I'll have Father go out to your place right away."

"Can you call Laura? She's over at Almanzo and Eliza Jane's place?"

"Of course I will."

"Thanks Nellie. By the way, how are you feeling?"

"Better. The morning sickness is gone, but Percival still does most of the cooking and serving. You would think I'm sick instead of pregnant."

Charles laughed. He remembered how nervous he was when Caroline was pregnant for Mary.

"Thanks again Nellie. I'll see you tomorrow morning."

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The ring of the phone made Laura jump. She ran to pick up the receiver.

"Hello?" she said breathing hard.

"Oh hi Nellie." Laura crossed her fingers.

"He did?"

Harv stood next to Laura trying to figure out what Nellie was saying.

"She did? Why would she go there…Oh, I see."

Harv watched Laura's face for signs of what happened to Eliza Jane.

"Okay. Thanks for calling Nellie."

A concerned Laura put down the receiver and looked at Harv.

"Well…" he said.

"Eliza Jane is on her way to St. Louis."

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It was ten o'clock in the morning when Charles and Almanzo reached Walnut Grove. They stopped by the schoolhouse to talk to Laura. When she saw them come in, she sent the class out for recess. Once they were alone she hugged them. They heard the front door to the school open and turned around to find Harv Miller walking in with his hat in his left hand.

"Hope I'm not interruptin. I saw ya come in and thought I would see if ya had any good news."

"Come on in Harv," Almanzo said as he waved him in. "Nothin new. She's in St. Louis somewhere."

Harv nodded and looked away from Almanzo. He couldn't look him in the eye knowing he was the reason Eliza Jane ran off.

"I just don't understand why she went there when she doesn't know anybody in St. Louis," said Almanzo.

"That's probably why she went there."

"What?" Laura, Charles, and Almanzo said together.

"Look, if ya just run off and left your home, would ya go someplace where they'd find you right away?"

"Harv's right," said Charles. "Do we know yet why she ran off?"

"I think it was cuz of me," admitted Harv.

"What makes ya think that?" asked Almanzo.

"Cuz Laura told me Eliza Jane is in love with me."

Charles shot a sharp glance at his daughter. She knew he was angry that she betrayed a confidence. She would have to deal with that later.

"My sister is in love with you?" replied a confused Almanzo.

"Manly, I know I shouldn't have told Harv, but I was afraid that Eliza Jane might do something silly. She didn't know you had asked Harv to take her out to supper, so she probably thought all along that Harv was interested in her. But when she found out that it wasn't Harv's idea, she might have thought he didn't care for her at all."

"I guess, but why would she run off?"

"Maybe she felt foolish."

"How are we going to find her?" asked Charles.

"Well I guess I'm goin to St. Louis tomorrow," said Almanzo.

"Manzo, you have too much to do here to take off to St. Louis…with the weddin and a new farm, you can't spend your time lookin for Eliza Jane. Sides, what would Laura do without you?" Harv joked.

"Well I can't ask Charles to do it; he's got his own family to take care of."

"I'll go. It's my fault she ran off…and I think the two of us need to talk. I don't have any ties here to keep me from goin to St. Louis. And I won't stop lookin til I find her."

They all looked at each other but no one wanted to speak. The children could be heard playing outside and Laura knew it was time to bring school to order.

After a few minutes Charles spoke up. "I agree that Harv should be the one to go. He's right; he doesn't have other commitments that would keep him in Walnut Grove. You can try to concentrate on the new place and Laura can keep teaching until Eliza Jane comes back."

"How will you know where to look?" asked Laura.

"I won't, but once I get there maybe I'll come up with a few ideas. St. Louis is a big place. She could hide anywhere."

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The next morning Almanzo drove Harv to the train station in Sleepy Eye. They talked on the platform for a moment..

"You'll call as soon as you can, won't you?" asked Almanzo.

"You can count on it. Trust me Manzo, I'll find her."

The two men shook hands and then Harv made his way up the steps. He found himself a window seat and pulled down the window.

"Take care of that beautiful girl of yours," Harv called to Almanzo.

"Take care of my sister," Almanzo replied.

Harv nodded and then he waved to Almanzo as the train began to pull out of the station. Almanzo watched the train until it went around the bend. Harv had never seen his friend look so scared.