"I'm tellin' you, Ma!...I was working with a piece of steel this morning,...lost my grip and almost cut my right arm clean off!"
"I'm glad you're all right now, John...but I so wish you'd not talk about things like that while we're eating..." Franziska told her son, as they were at the table, having supper...
"I wish he wouldn't either...Its boring..." Frances said...
"Frances, bear with him...He's just excited about his job...Plus your Ma and I love to hear about it..."
"Yes, Pa...But what's so special about some silly ol' iron factory!"
"Awww...you're just a woman and don't understand 'man's work'...You just stick to cookin' and other housework, sis..."
"I may be a woman...and even though you are two years older than me, I can still beat you up, Joseph Leo Gruber!" Frances threatened.
"Oh yeah, I'd love to see you try!" Joe smirked.
Frances was getting angry...and it sure showed! Her fists were clenched on the table and she gave Joseph such a look!...
"Franziska Catherine Gruber! You move out of that chair and your Pa will certainly take you out behind the woodshed..." Her mother, who was also named Franziska, told her.
Frances took a deep breath and let it out..."Yes Ma..."
"Just be glad you have a favorite brother!" John said, putting an arm around his sister, who was 5 years younger than he...
Frances gave him a smirky smile..."I love all of my brothers equally!"
"Well, of course!" Joseph said..."But we also have a love/hate relationship! We love to hate each other..."
"Oh shut up, you fool!" Frances laughed...
"Frances...I wish you wouldn't use those harsh words to your brothers..."
"Ma...I'm not using them harshly..."
"Yeah Ma, she's just joking with us!" George, Frances' oldest brother, who was 24, insisted.
"Well, as long as you are kidding each other...I just don't want my children being harsh..."
"We won't Ma...And I like to kid Frances!...Its what I do...Its my job!" Joseph Gruber grinned devilishly.
"You're fired, Joe..." Frances said, seriously...and then everyone bursted into laughter...
"Well now...you boys finish your supper and get to bed...You and your Pa have fields to plow in the morning...Bright and early..."
"Yes Ma..." Joesph said...and went up to bed, as he was finished with his meal.
"Can I have thirds on the pot roast? I'm starving, Ma!" George stood up, taking his plate with him and trotted over to the cookstove.
"Keep on eatin' like that boy, and you'll become one!"
"Oh c'mon Pa! If I don't eat, I'll waste away to nothin'!" George laughed...
"You're a Gruber...and they certainly don't have that problem!" Big George said...Yes, Mr. Gruber's name was also George...Everyone just called him "Big George." Because that's what he was, BIG and tall...
"You should know, honey..." Ma Gruber giggled...placing her hands on his broad shoulders...and she twisted his black handlebar mustache...
"But you love me anyway, don't you, sweetheart..."
"Yes I do..." She said and leaned down and gave him a quick peck on the lips...
"Oh, and I almost forgot! I'm working with a German man now!" John said, going back to his conversation...
"A fellow German, eh?" Big George said..."What's his name?"
"Fred Lay...Remember when I went on business to New Jersey a couple years ago?"
"Yes..." Frances said.
"I met him then...on the train ride..." John said, in between bites of his supper..."Very interesting fellow...He knows about six languages...and can do just about any trade you ask him to do! Its like he tries it just once, and he can pick it up that quick..."
"I hope he's a hard worker...Hope he doesn't slack off..." Big George said...
"Oh no...He's a very hard worker! He can sure put his ax to the grindstone!" John said...
"Are you going to sit there talking all night John,...or are you going to eat your supper?" His mother asked him...
"Yes Ma..." John said and finished the rest of his supper...
George stretched himself and yawned..."I'm gonna head up to bed...'Night Ma and Pa...John...Frances..."
"Good night George...Sleep well..." Ma Gruber said...
"You betch'a, Ma! With that good supper you made tonight..." He grinned...
"Thank you, son..."
"I made the mashed potatoes, you know...and the cake we had for dessert..." Frances said...her elbow resting on the table, with her hand on her cheek...
"Those were good too!...No wonder I wanted more!" George smiled.
Frances laughed..."Of what? The potatoes or the cake?"
George knodded and smiled..."Both!"
"George..." Frances laughed and put her hand to her face and sat there chuckling...
"Good night, sister..." George said...giving Frances a bear hug.
"Hey, not too hard!" Frances laughed..."I'm fragile!"
Big George Gruber sat there smiling, watching his oldest and youngest children interact...George Jr., or as everyone called him, "Little George" and little was an under statement! He was just as big and tall as his Pa...Anyway, Little George was just a big 'ol teddy bear...Sweetest guy you ever met...but treat his little sister wrong, he could sure do you some SERIOUS bodily harm!
Just then, the fat, lazy, old tom cat jumped up on Big George's shoulder...
"Hey, Mr. Paws...Looking for a hand-out are ya?" Big George held up a green bean on his fork and the cat grabbed it with his teeth, and ate it..."Well, ain't that cute!" He had a piece of meat on his fork and the tom cat pawed at it and ate it..."Franziska! Come watch this cat!" Big George sat there laughing...
"George Michael Gruber! Get that dirty tom cat away from my kitchen table!"
Ma Gruber picked the lazy old tom cat up and put it outside the door..."Shoo!...Get out of here! Go!..." She then walked back to the kitchen..."I hate that cat!" She muttered.
"Frances, after the dishes are done, you can have some time to yourself..."
"Yes Pa...I think I might work on the quilt I'm making..."
Frances went outside to the well with the wash basin, filled it full of water, and came back inside and put it on the cookstove for it to heat up...When the water was hot, she took lye soap and scrubbed each plate, rinsed them, dried them and put them back into the cupboard...Since her evening chore was done, she grabbed her sewing things, sat down in her rocking chair in the front room, and worked on her quilt in the lamp light...John was still in the kitchen, telling Ma and Pa Gruber all about that Fred Lay fellow...It seemed that John talked for hours about the man...and Frances listened at the door before she retired for the night...
"He's such a nice, courteous, respectful young man...He's funny too! He said this saying...What was it again?...Something about a blind man and his deaf friend...Oh I can't remember now, but it was funny!" John said...
Frances stood there at the door, giggling.
"Hey little girl!...Heading to bed yet?"
"Yes Pa...Good night." She said, giving her father a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Good night, John..." She gave her older brother a kiss on the cheek as well, headed up to her room in the loft upstairs, and got ready for bed...
That summer had ended, and it was now fall...The leaves had changed colors and had fallen from the trees, covering the ground...
Liz Palmer, Frances' best friend came on a Sunday afternoon after church services...She knocked on the Gruber's front door...and waited...
"Yooooooo hooooooo!" Frances called when she heard the knock on the door...It was her way of saying "I heard you! Come on in!"
"Yoooo hoooo!" Liz echoed...and let herself in..."Hey Frances! They're showing one of those new 'picture show' things in town! Wanna come with me?"
"That sounds like so much fun!" Frances exclaimed..."Let me ask my Ma..." She went through the front room and went into the kitchen to ask her mother if she could go...
"Ma...Liz wants me to go to a 'picture show' with her...Can I?"
"How much is it?" Franziska asked, wiping flour-covered hands on her apron...
"Just a nickel!"
"Here then..." She smiled, reaching into her handbag...
"Thanks Ma!" Frances said excitedly, hugging her mother tightly...
"You're welcome...Have fun, girls..."
"C'mon Lizzie!"
"Don't call me Lizzie! I hate that!...Besides! You haven't called me that since we were six!"
"Okay Liz..." Frances laughed...and she started to go downstairs...
"Where are you going?...I thought we were going to the 'picture show!'..."
"We are, but I hear something!"
"Uggghhh! Must you always investigate?" Liz complained...
"Oh hush up, girl!" Frances whispered...She stood at the door of the room where visiting went on, it also served as the kitchen...Frances saw all of John's buddies scattered around the room...
"C'mon Frances, lets go!...This is nothing new! Your brothers' ALWAYS have friends over!"
"Shhh!" Frances said sharply, trying to listening to all the men talking and laughing.
"Hey, Frances! Wanna join us?" John asked, motioning for her to come in the room...
"Sure..." She smiled and walked in and sat down by her brother John...
"Hey, you know that guy I've been telling you about?"
"Fred Lay?...Yeah..." She said...
"That's him right over there..." He pointed to him, sitting there alone, over in the corner...
"Isn't he a looker?" John whisper to his younger sister..."What about him, for ya?"
"John!" Frances whispered, her cheeks turning bright red...
"What? You don't think he's handsome?"
"No...He is..." She said quickly and quietly...Suddenly, Fred jumped to his feet and came directly over to Frances...He smiled and politely shook her slender hand. "Hey,...I'm quite sure you were the girl herding cattle...this past summer..."
Frances smiled and blushed..."Yes...That was me, all right..."
Fred sat down next to her and they carried on a conversation...
"Uh...I'm sorry I didn't return your greeting that day...I feel bad now..."
"Oh its all right..." Fred chuckled..."In my country, Germany, EVERYONE greets each other...Whether we know each other or not...Its just a habit of mine, I guess." He smiled...
Frances smiled at him and looked down at her hand and then looked back up at his face... "Is he going to let go of my hand yet?...Any day now, Fred..."
"This is so strange...but kind of nice...but I just can't believe I'm in the house of the young girl that..."
"That snubbed you?" Frances giggled...
"Hey now,...you didn't snub me!" Fred laughed..."If I were you, I wouldn't want to speak to a strange guy like me!"
Frances laughed..."You're not strange!"
Fred smiled..."And I guess I just couldn't resist saying hello to a pretty girl such as yourself..."
That made Frances turn even redder than before...
"Aww...I'm embarrassing you! I'm sorry..." He appoligized...
"No...no its okay...Its just getting kind of warm in here...you know...with all the folks in here..." She made an excuse for her ruddy cheeks...
"I see, said the blind man to his deaf friend..." Fred smiled...
Frances giggled. "What a cute saying!"
"Oh thanks...Learned it from a friend...He'd also say, 'And were off...like a herd of turtles!'..."
"That's cute..." She said, giggling again...
Fred smiled..."You have such a cute laugh..."
"Thanks..." Frances smiled at him...
"Can we go ALREADY, Frances?" Both Fred and Frances looked up at Liz, who was standing in the doorway, tapping her foot...beginning to get annoyed...
"That's my best friend Liz...We're going to one of those new-fangled 'pitcure show' things today!...I'd invite you Fred, but I'm sure you'd want to spend the day with John..."
"Wouldn't want to make your brother jealous, eh?" Fred laughed...and him saying that made Frances laugh too...
"Well, I'll be here later...Your Ma and Pa want me to stay for supper tonight..."
"That's wonderful!" She exclaimed...
"Yes...I'll get to see you again..." Fred said, taking her hand in his...
Frances blushed..."I'll...I'll see you tonight, Fred..." She got up and joined her friend, Liz...and they left to go to the 'picture show.'
"Who's he?" Liz asked...
"Who's who?"
"That man you were talking to, Frances!"
"He's nobody..." She smiled, turning red...
"He is soooooo not nobody!...He held your hand...I saw him do it!...Is he your beau?"
"He's not my beau..." Frances insisted...
"Frances...your chin is quivering! It only does that when you like a boy!"
"It is not!" She said, trying to cover her chin with her hand...
"Yes it is!...1,2,3,...There it goes! There it goes!" Liz Palmer laughed, pointing at her quivering chin..."Anyway, tell me about him! Where'd you meet him?"
Frances told her how they met on Peru Road...how he said hello to her several times...but she never said a word to him...
"Oh this is so romantic and sweet!" Liz said...
"I don't think so...He probably thought I was either deaf or retarded...Or maybe even both!"
"He did not!...I saw him hold your hand!" Liz smiled..."It was like love at first sight! What if you two get married?"
"Liz, like it would even work out for us! He's George's age!" Frances and her oldest brother George were 8 years apart.
"Like a man that old would see anything in me that would interest him!" Frances exclaimed.
"You might be surprised..." Liz smiled at her.
Later, they made it into town and enjoyed watching the 'picture show.' The girls spent HOURS in town, Frances walked her best friend home, and made it, an hour or so before they were to sit down to supper...
"I tell you, Fred!...You better watch out for Frances, here...She has quite the fiesty side!"
"Oh really, George!..." Fred laughed and looked over at Frances, and winked at her...It made her blush terribly.
"Why sure!...Just two years ago, she was walking down Peru Road...where y'all met...with our two cows, Bessie and Bossie...and she..." George began...telling Fred some family stories at the suppertable...
"George, PLEASE don't tell him that story!" Frances wailed...with her hand to her face...She was getting embarrassed by her brothers saying all of this in front of Fred...Except for their very first meeting on Peru Road, she just met the man! She was so embarrassed, thanks to her brothers, she wanted to hide UNDER the table!...
"Fine then...I'll tell it!" Joseph gave her a sneaky look and then laughed..."Anyway, she was walking down the road with the cows like she did every summer and she came across one of the school mistresses, Miss Prim..."
"That's what I called her, because she was so prim and proper..."
"And really bossy!" Joe continued the story..."She taught school at the East Stone Hill school...and every time, EVERY TIME, that those cows...or the herding dog Frances kept with her got a little to close to her liking...she would scold my poor little sister!"
"I didn't even GO to the E.S.H. school!...Gee, I had teacher problems! And she wasn't even my teacher!" Frances laughed.
"And anyway,...one day Frances was herding Bessie and Bossie..and guess who comes down Peru Road?...Miss Prim...And yes...she scolded Frances..." John took over the story this time..."Frances...tell Fred what you did to the poor woman!" He said, almost unable to control his laughter.
"Well,..." Frances laughed and she knew she was turning as red as Fred's shirt that he was wearing..."Almost every day, I'd kill a snake with my buggy whip...I hate snakes...now be in mind, I'm NOT afraid of them,...I just hate the creatures!"
"Sure, you aren't afraid of them!" Joe said sarcastically...
"Shut up, Joseph Leo!" Frances laughed..."Anyway, one day...I killed a bull snake with my whip and I knew that Miss Prim would be coming down the road later, so, I thought I'd have a little 'fun' with her! So, I took the dead bull snake, layed it all coiled up in the road and waited for Miss Prim...Just as I figured, there she was, walking down Peru Road, her nose stuck in the book she was reading...well now, she took one look at that coiled-up bull snake, let out one heck of a powerful scream, threw her book in the air and she took off through a barbed-wire fence!" Everyone listening to Frances tell her story, laughed their heads off!..."The poor woman tore her dress into pieces!...I was soooo sorry! I never meant to scare her that bad!...I picked up her book and saw a couple of schoolkids from the E.S.H. school and gave the book to one of the boys...He was glad to return the book back to his teacher...and he kindly did that for me..."
"Did she ever bother you again?" Fred asked, still laughing as the rest of them were...
Frances smiled, laughed and shook her head..."No! Never again!"
After supper, Frances collected up all the plates...and got the wash basin and started to head out the door...
"Here, let me help you with that..." Fred said, jumping to his feet and offered to take the wash basin from her...
"Oh no...I've got it, but thanks, Fred..."
"Really, I'll take it...I can't stand to see a woman carry anything heavy..."
"Its not heavy!" She laughed..."I told you I can handle it! I do this every day!"
"Well, I just want to be a gentleman..." Fred said, smiling at her...
"And you are...I can tell..."
"Just let me walk you out, then?" He smiled.
"Sure..." She smiled...and she knew she blushed again...she just couldn't help it...
Fred grabbed the door for her, made sure she got outside okay, and followed her out...
"So...Thanks to my brothers...You know I have a fiesty side..." She laughed...
"Oh, it can be overlooked..." Fred joked..."And I'm sure your as sweet as maple syrup, besides!"
Frances laughed..."Thanks...but I guess I get my fiestyness from Ma...You should've seen her when she was pregnant with my older sister Katie!..."
"You have an older sister?...What? Is she married off already?" He asked...
"Ummm...no...Katie passed away at nine months old...I never knew her..."
"Oh, I'm sorry...I hit a sore spot, didn't I?"
"No...Its all right...How were you to know?...Anyway, what were we talking about?...Oh yeah! My Ma!...Well, we had some mean neighbors, the Raymess family...and little Eddie Raymess, oh he was such a little demon child! Anyway, Eddie loved to throw rocks at our dog Jack...and Ma chased Eddie all the way back to his farm and tanned his little hide...right in front of his mother!" Frances laughed.
"Oh my!" Fred said...
"I know!...And anyway, Mrs. Raymess, shook her fist at my Ma and yelled,..."Just wait Mrs. Gruber!...You will get yours!" and one day when Ma came back from her doctor's appointment, as she was heavily pregnant with my older sister Katie,... and Little Eddie Raymess decided to throw some rocks at my brother John...He was just a year old then...Well, Mrs. Raymess was waiting for Ma in the street and she was wearing her 'fighting clothes.'...And she said, "Do you know what I am here for, Mrs. Gruber?" and Ma said, "Yes, Mrs. Raymess. I know..." and then Ma picked up John and put him out of harm's way...and as quick as a wink, she tore in into Mrs. Raymess, and they started fighting right in the middle of the street!...After a while, Ma and Mrs. Raymess were all bloody, their clothes torn...the fight was sure a humdinger! Everybody and their brother came closer and watched them fight! They were screamin' "Give her one for us, Mrs. Gruber!" and they were all ranting and cheering my Ma on, because they all hated the Raymess family, too!..." Frances laughed.
"Oh, wow!" Fred laughed. "What happened then?"
"Eddie decided to join the fight!" Frances said..."He took a board from the saw mill, and he hit Ma over the head with it!"
Fred cringed at the thought of it..."That had to smart! The poor lady!...What happened next?" Fred was REALLY getting into the story! He was a man after all, and loved a good fight...
"Well, Ma started to beat up both Mrs. Raymess and Eddie!...Mr. Raymess saw what was going on...and he decided to try and help his wife and son..."
"No way!...He wouldn't fight a pregnant woman!...Would he?" Fred asked...
"Oh, he tried to, the aweful cuss!...but as soon as he was going to grab my mother, Jack came a runnin', and jumped the fence in a single bound! Jack ran up to Mr. Raymess...and he...he!..." Frances started laughing, and couldn't get her words out!
"He what? What did Jack do?" Fred laughed...
Frances started giggling,..."He bit Mr. Raymess on the seat of his trousers and took with him some of the material...and a good chunk of Mr. Raymess' rear end!" She laughed...
Fred laughed..."I can't believe you just told me that!"
She blushed. "I know, sometimes I'm not very lady-like...and as you know now, I'm fiesty!...Well, I had to be! I have three tough older brothers! I had to protect myself!" Frances giggled...
Fred stared at her..."They seem kind enough to her...Were they always that way?...Or did they mistreat her as a little girl?"
"I'm kidding!" Frances laughed..."All three of my brothers are wonderful to me! They've always been...And don't worry about me and Joe...we love to joke with each other that way..."
"I figured..." The corners of his mouth turned upward...
"I love him...but sometimes he can get my blood a boilin'!"
"Remind me not to get on your bad side!" Fred laughed. "And do you always carry that buggy whip on Peru Road?"
"Yes...Every time..." Frances said...
"Okay...then I won't go down that road ever again!" He joked with her...
"I am not THAT bad!" Frances laughed...
"I know...I'm just joshin' you..."
"I know..." She smiled up at him. Frances went over to the well and filled the basin up with water and started to go back to the house...
"Here...Can I at least carry that back to the house for you?" Fred offered, taking the large wash tub filled with cold water from her...
"There's no stopping you, Fred Lay...Is there?" Frances laughed, putting her hands on her hips...
"Nope!" He laughed...
They walked back over to the house and stood in front of the door and talked awhile longer...She told him all sorts of stories about her family...
"By golly, I'd say you could make a living with your story tellin', Frances!...Maybe you could be a writer or somethin'!" Fred smiled...
"Oh, I don't know if I could do that! I don't think I'm very smart..."
"That ain't no reason!...Look at me!...I didn't get a very good education, but I taught myself about four or five languages!...And now I can read and write too!...You can do ANYTHING you put your mind to, Frances..."
Frances lips turned into a smile...she shivered as a cool autumn wind came through..."Brrr!...Winter'll be creeping up on us soon!...You ever survived an Iowa winter, Fred?"
"Sure have...Lived in Iowa as a boy..."
"It gets so cold and snowy! We can get some pretty bad snowstorms! One time Pa had to dig tunnels! Just so he and George, John and Joesph could get to the barn and the springhouse and everything!"
"Its beautiful though, isnt it?" Fred said.
"It is..." Frances smiled..."Especially on the trees!...Like God Above took a paintbrush and painted the pine branches..."
A/N: Fred never lived in Iowa as a boy. Obviously, he lived in Germany. I just changed it for the story.
Frances was quite a story-teller I guess! The story with her and Miss Prim is true. As well as Mrs. Gruber and the Raymess family.
John Gruber did work with Fred in the iron factory.
