This chapter is dedicated to the late, great Betty White.
It occurred to me a couple of days ago that Betty and the character of Annie were both born in the year 1922. That thought inspired this little fic.
Rest in peace, Betty and thank you for all the joy you gave us.
...
August 17, 1934
"Oh my gosh, it's so pretty!" Annie exclaimed excitedly as she and her parents gazed out over the glorious expanse of Lake Tahoe from the top of the beautiful Emerald Bay.
"It really is magnificent", Grace beamed, looking out over the water with an awestruck expression to match her daughter's.
"It is, isn't it?" Oliver replied, a look of wonderment on his face, which was rather flushed after their hike.
Eleven year old Annie pointed down to the lake below. "Look! There's some people down there swimming. Oh can we go swimming too, Daddy Warbucks, please can we?"
"I don't see why not. You go on down and we'll follow you in a moment. This view is just too romantic to walk away from so fast", he grinned, wrapping his arm around his wife's shoulders.
"Are you sure it's safe for her to be going down there alone?" Grace asked him, her smile dropping in concern.
"She'll be fine. We can see her", Oliver reassured Grace. "Just watch out for bears, hunny!" He called after Annie and Grace turned her head sharply with a gasp.
"I'm kidding", Oliver chuckled while Grace shot him daggers.
"If you hadn't just brought me to one of the most beautiful places in America, you would be in so much trouble right now", she admonished him, to which Oliver merely laughed and smacked a kiss to her cheek, turning back to take in the spectacular view.
Annie clambered down the cliff face until she reached the edge of the lake. She breathed in contentedness as she stared out across the bay.
"Hiya, what's your name? Mine's Betty. Betty White" A beautiful young fresh-faced girl with dark hair and rather tanned skin popped up beside Annie.
"Oh, I'm Annie. Annie Bennett-Warbucks", Annie smiled at the friendly girl.
"Nice to meet you, Annie. Are you here with your family?"
"Yes, my parents. They're up there", Annie pointed to where Grace and Oliver were standing at the top of the cliff, still looking off across the lake.
"Me too. Mine are over there", Betty pointed to a tent in the distance at a man and a woman who were alternating between cleaning hiking boots and drinking out of a canteen.
"Where are you from, Annie?"
"New York."
"Wow. I've never been to New York before. What's it like?" Betty asked her excitedly.
Annie smiled, recalling the night late the year before when she herself had discovered NYC for the very first time after being isolated in an orphanage for eleven years. "It's uh, it's very crowded, very noisy. Nothing like here, that's for sure." She cast her eyes upward in amazement. "I never knew you could see so much of the sky all at once."
Betty grinned. "Yeah. I guess it's pretty special, huh? I'm from California, there's a lot of open spaces, and my folks and I have explored most of 'em. Actually, we just got back from climbing the high sierra." The enthusiastic girl pointed up to the mountain range towering above them.
Annie's jaw dropped. "You mean, you climbed all the way up there?" She asked the girl in astonishment.
"Aha", Betty nodded happily. "Well, not all the way to the top, but nearly. We've been doing the climb every year since I could walk. Although the first couple of years my parents had to carry me in a rucksack part of the way."
Both of the girls giggled together.
Betty's eyes widened in excitement as she seemed to switch gears all of a sudden. "Do you have any pets, Annie?"
Annie became equally excited by the question. "Yes, I do. I have a dog named Sandy."
"I have six dogs, two cats, a rabbit, a hamster, six goldfish and fourteen chickens", Betty said proudly.
"Wow, that's a lot! Do you live at a zoo?" Annie exclaimed.
"No", Betty laughed. "They're just my pets. I love animals…Where's your dog? Did you bring him with ya?" Betty asked.
"Oh no, he's at home in New York."
Betty gave her a quizzical look. "Who's lookin' after him?"
"Oh, we have lots of people who live at my house so they're all looking after him", Annie explained, but Betty's face remained confused.
"He wasn't able to travel with us because he can't fly in the airplane",. Annie tried explaining, but that only made Betty more perplexed.
Betty's jaw dropped. "You came here in an airplane?!"
"Aha", Annie nodded.
"Wow…Are you rich or something?"
Annie chuckled. "Well, actually…"
"Oh, Annie there you are. I thought you were putting your bathing suit on."
"Oh, hi Daddy Warbucks. Daddy Warbucks, this is Betty", Annie introduced the pair.
"How do you do, Betty?" Oliver bowed his head at the young lady.
"Very well, Sir. How do you do?"
"Very well indeed", Oliver smiled at the youngster, very pleased to see that Annie had made a friend on their trip already.
"Are you going swimming? Mind if I join you?" Betty asked excitedly.
"Well, I think there's enough room in the lake for all of us, don't you?" Oliver laughed, making the girls laugh as well.
"Where's Mama?" Annie asked her Father.
"Oh, she's filling our canteens. Until she gets back, why don't you introduce us to your parents, Betty?"
"Oh sure, they're right over here. Dad'll be so excited to hear you flew here on a plane!"
The Whites and The Warbucks' spent a wonderful afternoon together. Mr. and Mrs. White were just as charming as their daughter. They chatted with Oliver and Grace and got to know one another well over the course of the afternoon, while the girls were swimming and adventuring together. Tess and Horace White were astounded to find out that they were speaking to the Oliver Warbucks. Oliver and Grace were just as impressed with the other couple though, their industrialism and adventurous spirit. They all got along tremendously well.
As night fell across the Sierra Nevada Ranges, the two couples and their daughters shared dinner around a campfire. Annie and Betty were from such disparate backgrounds and had totally different life experiences, but the two of them got on like a house on fire. It was as if they had been friends forever. Betty told Annie about her home in Beverly Hills and Annie told Betty about her life growing up in the orphanage and how she was adopted by Mama and Daddy Warbucks the year before. They discovered they were quite close in age, with Betty having turned fourteen in January that year and Annie turning fourteen in the coming October.
As the adults sat around the campfire, girls lay on the hillside, looking up at the stars, they made promises to each other that they would remain in touch.
The girls were in hysterics laughing as Betty told Annie the names of every single one of her thirty pets and insisted she address the letters she was planning on sending to every single one of them.
"I'm going to need a very large envelope", Annie laughed with tears in her eyes.
Betty nodded in agreement. "I sent a fan letter to Jeneatte MacDonald earlier this year which was so long, I used twelve pieces of paper."
Annie chuckled. "I bet you needed a big envelope for all that."
"I did!" Betty confirmed with a grin. "She's simply the most divine person I've ever seen. I wanna be just like her when I'm older."
"I'm sorry, I don't even know who she is,'' Annie confessed with a shrug of her shoulders.
Betty laughed in surprise. "Oh Annie, you do have a lot to catch up on."
Mr. and Mrs. White retired to their tent but allowed Betty to stay with Annie - as if they could separate the new best friends!
"I think she's made a good friend today, Oliver", Grace said to her husband, smiling gently as she looked over at the two girls engaged in a very animated discussion.
"Yes indeed. Terrific parents too."
Grace sighed contentedly. "I'm so glad we came here. I mean, just look at this, Oliver. It's absolutely breathtaking." She stared in awe at the night sky, the millions of twinkling lights. Something not seen in New York for a very long time.
"Yes, I know what you mean", Oliver agreed with her. When she turned to look at him though, it wasn't the night sky he had his eyes on, but her. She ducked her head in shyness and gave his chest a gentle slap. Oliver simply chuckled and placed a kiss upon her blushing face.
As the moon settled in the sky and the stars came out in force, the two teenage girls lay side by side, on the brink of sleep.
"Annie", Betty spoke wistfully above the nocturnal sounds of nature.
"Yes Betty?"
"Promise me you'll write as soon as you get back to New York."
"I promise Betty."
"Good…Annie? Promise we'll be friends forever."
Both girls smiled happily as they took each other's hand and Annie spoke again. "I promise. Forever and a day."
…
June 1st, 1963
"Hello?"
"Annie?"
"Betty? Is that you?" Annie asked in surprise, not having heard her friend's voice in quite some time.
"It is", the girlish voice replied.
"Oh Betty, I've missed you! How are you?"
"Oh I'm fine, Annie. I'm real fine in fact. How are you? How's your Father?" Annie's last letter, which had arrived to Betty a few days prior, had mentioned that her Father's health had been sadly slowly declining.
"Oh, he's hanging in there, you know", her voice was tinged with sadness, but an upbeat lilt that said she was accepting of what was to come. That was Annie, ever the optimist. The tone of her voice lifted somewhat when she added, "Mama says he's not prepared to go until he's finished last year's tax returns."
The two women shared a somber laugh.
"Oh Annie, I'm sorry", Betty told her sympathetically.
"He's eighty-two Betty, it's…it's his time." There was a small silence while both ladies were processing the gravity of Annie's statement.
"Well, I actually have some news that might cheer you up ever so slightly."
"Well, I'd love to hear it! What is it?"
She could hear the woman's classically cheeky grin as she spoke the next few words. "I finally came to my senses and said yes to Allen. I'm getting married!"
Annie gasped in delight. "Oh Betty, congratulations! I'm so happy for you."
"Well, third time's the charm they say, so I'm hoping they're right", Betty joked with her old friend.
"Oh he seems like a wonderful man, Betty…Wait, since you're getting married to him, does that mean…" She was cut off by Betty's gentle chuckling, glad her friend had finally caught on.
"Get ready to roll out the red carpet Annie… I'm moving to New York!"
...