Interference
Chapter 8
Almanzo stood on the platform of the Sleepy Eye train station. He saw Eliza Jane and Harv step off the train and ran to meet them. He embraced his sister with all his might.
"Oh Sis, it's so good to see ya." Almanzo stepped back and smiled at her. He extended his hand out to Harv. Almanzo gave him a nod of approval.
"The wagon is right around the corner." Almanzo glanced over at his sister. "Laura is achin to see ya. She woulda come with me but she's teachin until you're ready to come back." Almanzo began to walk towards the wagon.
Eliza Jane grabbed his arm. "Mannie, I'm sorry for running off like I did."
"Aw, don't worry about. All I care about is that you're safe."
"No, I was wrong. I acted like a school girl." Eliza Jane hung her head in shame.
Almanzo touched her chin and lifted her head back up. "Sis, you're talkin to a man who left town because his future father-in-law insisted he wait two years to get married." Almanzo chuckled. "We all do foolish things when it comes to love."
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By the time they made it back to Walnut Grove, school was being dismissed for the day. Many of the school children ran to Almanzo's wagon when they spotted Miss Wilder. She was forced to get down and answer some of their questions while Almanzo and Harv sat laughing at one another.
Eliza Jane saw Laura coming down the schoolhouse steps. She excused herself and ran to meet her. She stooped down and hugged Laura.
"Oh Laura, I can't wait to tell you everything!"
"Does this mean you're not mad at me?" asked Laura warily.
"Mad? Of course I'm not mad. If you hadn't told Harv, he never would have come to look for me. I would probably still be in St. Louis feeling sorry for myself."
Laura smiled. "So I take it things went well."
"They went well enough. Can we have supper at Nellie's tonight? I simply have to tell you everything."
"Sure, I'd love to."
Eliza Jane hugged her once again and the women walked arm in arm over to Almanzo's wagon. Almanzo jumped off the seat and bent down to plant a small kiss on Laura's cheek.
"I wasn't gone too long, was I?" he whispered into her ear.
"Any time we're apart is too long for me," she whispered back.
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At supper Eliza Jane told Laura about her chance meeting with Harv at the boarding house. She filled Laura in on their conversations during the train ride home too.
"Harv told me all about his life in Illinois before moving to Minnesota. We had talked about it some before, but now he seemed to fill me in on all the details…like he really wants me to know him better. And I told him all about growing up in New York and how strict Mother and Father were. I even shared a few stories about his good old friend Manzo." Eliza Jane giggled like a young girl.
"Well you look happier than I've ever seen you," said Laura. In the back of her mind Laura was nervous Eliza Jane was getting her hopes up too high. "Eliza Jane, I am happy for you, but didn't Harv say you two would have to wait and see what happens?"
"Well yes…but he came back with me didn't he? And he says he'll be staying in Walnut Grove a while longer too."
"I know, but he hasn't proposed yet."
"Why are you trying to ruin my happiness Laura?"
"I'm not. I just don't want you to be disappointed if Harv doesn't ask you to marry him."
"Because you think he won't, don't you?"
"That's not what I think at all…"
"Why can't Harv and I be as happy as you and Almanzo?" Eliza Jane interrupted. "Are you worried we'll get married first, is that it?"
"Eliza Jane, I've never even given it a thought. I hope the two of you end up as happy as Almanzo and I." Laura reached over and placed her hand on Eliza Jane's shoulder. "I just don't want you to be as upset as you were when you ran away. I was worried about you. I didn't know where you had gone or what you would do." Laura turned away and looked into her plate. "And I felt awful when I thought it was all my fault."
Tears started to form in Laura's eyes. Eliza Jane put down her cup of coffee and smiled over at her. "I'm sorry Laura. This is all so new to me. Maybe you're right. I shouldn't count my eggs before they're hatched. But I can still dream, can't I?"
Laura smiled. "Why not, I did that for over a year while waiting for your brother to notice me."
The two women laughed.
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Life was good. Caroline and Laura's sister, Carrie worked in secret on patchwork quilts to put in Laura's keepsake box. Charles spent all his spare time building the keepsake box and a few special pieces of furniture for Laura's new home.
Almanzo had plowed and planted his crop at the new farm and tended to it with care. He remembered the words Charles spoke to him about farmer's wives and was determined to have a successful growing season.
Eliza Jane and Harv continued having supper almost every evening and they would often go on picnics after church services on Sundays. Laura hoped Harv planned to propose one day. She knew how crushed Eliza Jane would be if Harv ever left without her.
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Walnut Grove had been without rain for over a month. Crops were beginning to show the effects of the hot, dry weather. Almanzo's seedlings were struggling. While the irrigation ditches he dug were a big help, he knew the water supply was dwindling and his crop would need a healthy rain soon.
For days thunder rumbled across the prairie. Splashes of lightening brightened the night sky. The danger of prairie fires was high, and many nights Charles stared out the kitchen window hoping his worst fears wouldn't come true.
Thick, black clouds rolled in one evening. Charles and Almanzo looked out of their front windows, like many of their neighbors, fearing the impending doom. When it came, it was over in the matter of minutes, but the large balls of hail, left every man's crop smashed lifelessly into the ground. The rain that followed was no longer an answered prayer.
The next morning, Almanzo rode over to the new farm. He walked the entire field where his once promising crop laid. He let Laura down. They had no crop, no land, and no home. He thought of Charles' words once again. Just this once, he wished the words of wisdom Charles had imparted to him on that night long ago, proved wrong.