Charlie laid on her back and looked up thru the trees at the bits of blue sky. She could hear the water in the creek working over
some rocks. There were birds making their sounds, and she tried to decipher what bird it might be.
There came a high whistle, piercing thru the air, like it did when Scott put his two fingers in his mouth the way that he did to
make that whistle.
Charlie sat up, her feet slippery in the mud, and scrambled up the bank of the creek, carrying her shoes and stockings in her hand.
She tried to whistle back, but no matter how hard she tried, or practiced, she couldn't whistle the way that Scott did, like that.
Her whistle was a puny, regular sort of a whistle.
Once she was above the creek bank, where she could be seen, Charlie called out to Scott.
"I'm coming!"
She and Scott met halfway, and he smiled at her.
"I thought I'd find you down here," he said. "It's time for supper."
"I tried to whistle back to you," Charlie said. "I wish I could whistle like you do."
"Just takes practice," Scott said.
"I've tried, but I still can't do it," Charlie said.
Scott reached out and put a hand on the back of Charlie's head, leaving it there as they began walking back to the hacienda.
"When did you learn to whistle that way?" Charlie asked him, still fascinated by it.
"I think I was about ten or so, maybe a little younger," he said.
"Did somebody teach you? Your grandpa?"
Scott gave a slight shake of his head. "No. Definitely not."
When Charlie looked up at him in a puzzled way, Scott said, "My grandfather was no nonsense. He wouldn't have thought it gentlemanly
behavior, whistling like that. If I remember it right, a friend at school showed me how to do it."
"Oh," Charlie said. "He wasn't much fun, was he?"
"No, he wasn't much fun," Scott said, dryly.
Charlie felt remorseful. "I didn't mean to sound like I was criticizing him."
"I know you didn't," he said, and gave the back of her neck a gentle squeeze with his hand.
As they neared the house, Scott said, "It's interesting that you brought my grandfather up right now."
"How come?" Charlie asked, looking up at him again.
"Because he's coming for a visit."
"He is?" Charlie asked, surprised. She knew that Scott sometimes got a letter from his grandfather, and she assumed that Scott also
wrote letters back, but his grandfather had not visited at Lancer since she'd been here with the family.
"He is."
"Has he ever visited here before?" she asked.
"He has, once. It was a year or so before you came along."
"Oh." Charlie thought for a long moment. "Are you glad that he's coming? To visit?" she asked, tentatively. Scott didn't seem as though
he was unhappy about the prospect. But, yet, he didn't seem overly happy about it, either. Just more-resigned to it.
"It will be good to see him again," Scott said.
"Does he know about me?" Charlie asked, holding her breath until he answered. If his grandfather did not know about her-that wouldn't
be a very comfortable thing to face. He sounded like a harsh sort of a man, and Charlie thought he might even be
judgmental.
"Of course he knows about you," Scott said, looking somewhat amused.
"He knows that I'm all adopted-and everything?" Charlie continued.
"Yes, kiddo, he knows."
"I bet he didn't like the idea of it much, did he?" Charlie pressed.
Scott paused, pulling Charlie to a stop. He turned and put his hands on her upper arms, and bent slightly to look directly
at her.
"Why would you say that?" Scott asked her.
"I don't know," Charlie said, evasively.
"Charlie." That was all. But Charlie knew that he expected a real answer.
"Well, because," she said. "He probably wishes you would have waited until you got married, and then had babies. Not like me. I mean-I'm
almost grown all the way up."
Scott's expression seemed as a mixture of being amused and trying to appear stern.
"First of all," he said. "You are not almost grown all the way up. You're growing up, yes, but you've got a long way to go yet. Stop
trying to rush things. Alright?"
Charlie gave him a half-smile. "Alright."
"And secondly, my grandfather knows how we met, and how we got to know each other over a period of time. If he has any reservations about
you and I, then that's his opinion. He's not going to make you feel any less glad about being adopted, or about being a part of this family. That's something you
do not have to worry about."
"Okay," Charlie said.
"He says he's looking forward to meeting you," Scott added, straightening to his full height, and dropping his hands from her arms.
"Really?" Charlie asked, eyeing Scott somewhat skeptically.
"Yes. Really," Scott said.
Charlie gave him a genuine smile.
"Now let's get to supper before Johnny eats our share of Maria's fried chicken. And you go to the pump and wash your feet before you go in,"
Scott told her.
Charlie gave her muddy toes a quick glance.
"I guess I'd better," she said.
L
Welcome back to Charlie's world! I hope you like the beginnings of this story, which will progress to include Scott's
grandfather. For better or for worse...
And, next chapter or so will show Charlie's choice of name for Scott. I'm hoping that when it is written, that it seems natural and easy.