"Easter In Dodge" I've never written an Easter story and decided why not. So here's my first Easter story with the Dillons.
It was the day before Easter, and the little whitewashed Sunday school building behind the church was alive with giggles, splashes of color, and the unmistakable smells of boiled onion skins, both red and yellow, hickory bark, and purple cabbage. Inside, a dozen children huddled around a long wooden table, each armed with a hard-boiled egg, a spoon, and a jar of dye in front of them. Ruby Dillon was deep in concentration as she carefully dipped her egg into a jar of purple cabbage juice.
"Careful not to drop it, Ruby," warned Miss Perkins, the Sunday school teacher, who stood at the head of the table in her flour-dusted apron. "No cracked eggs this year, remember?"
"I didn't drop it last year," Ruby insisted, her tongue poking out the side of her mouth as she slowly twirled her egg in the dye. "That was Charlie. He blamed me, but it was his egg."
Charlie Mitchell, seated across from her, looked up from his bright orange egg and scowled. "You bumped my arm!"
"Did not!" Ruby protested, defending herself. "You bumped my arm!"
"Children," Miss Perkins said sternly, raising a hand. "Let's focus on coloring, not arguing. Jesus wouldn't want his Easter eggs scrambled." That earned a round of giggles, and Ruby couldn't help but grin, even if Charlie was wrong. "Now remember, each of you get to dye five eggs. They will use them for tomorrow's Easter egg hunt."
As the hour passed, the table turned into a rainbow battlefield. Fingers were stained blue, green, and red. Several eggs were a bit creative, one with a mustache drawn in pencil, another half-dyed in two competing colors. Ruby held up one of her favorites, a pale yellow egg with tiny white flower designs she'd made by wrapping a bit of lace around it before dipping.
"This one's for Momma," she said softly, setting it carefully in the straw-filled basket beside her. "She likes yellow."
Miss Perkins walked up to Ruby. "That's very sweet of you, but I'm afraid we need all these eggs for tomorrow." Miss Perkins saw Ruby's face fall with disappointment. She wanted to let her keep that egg, but if she let Ruby keep an egg, then she would have to let all the kids keep an egg. And that just wasn't possible. "I talked to your momma when she dropped you and some of the eggs off. She told me the two of you were gonna dye eggs together. Maybe you can make her a pretty yellow egg then. You can even take that piece of lace."
Ruby's eyes lit up. She had almost forgotten about dying eggs with Momma. "Thank you, Miss Perkins," she said as she put the piece of lace in the pocket of her smock.
Miss Perkins clapped her hands. "Alright, my little chicks, that's enough eggs for today. Let's get these eggs in these baskets. Please be gentle when you do it. Mr. Hagen and Mr. O'Brien agreed to pick them up and hide them early tomorrow morning. "
A short time later Kitty and the other mothers arrived to pick up their children. Ruby led Kitty over to the basket of eggs that contained the pale yellow one with white flowers. She carefully picked the egg up and turned to her momma. "I made this one. I wanted to give it to you because yellow is your favorite color, but Miss Perkins said we need all the eggs for the egg hunt tomorrow."
Kitty kissed Ruby's forehead. "That was very sweet of you, but Miss Perkins is right. We do need all the eggs. But you 'n I are gonna dye eggs this afternoon. You can make a yellow one then."
Ruby smiled and pulled the piece of lace out of her pocket. "Miss Perkin gave this to me, so I can also put pretty flowers on it."
In the distance the sound of jangling spurs and whistling could be heard. Festus had entered the Sunday School house with Newly right behind him. "Are them there eggs the ones we needs ta be a hidin'?" Festus asked.
"Yes they are," Miss Perkins replied. "We really appreciate you gentlemen doing this for the kids."
"Ain't nutin', Miss Perkins," said Fetus. "Me 'n Newly are mighty glad ta do it."
"I understand that you two have all the instructions and know what to do," said Miss Perkins.
Newly answered this time. "Yes, Miss Perkins. You have nothing to worry about." He and Festus gathered the baskets of eggs and left.
That evening Matt and Kitty were having a hard time getting Ruby to settle down for bed. The excitement of the arrival of the Easter Bunny practically had her bouncing off the walls. "Ruby, if you don't settle down and get to bed, the Easter Bunny is going to hop right past this house. He won't hide the eggs or fill your basket," Matt gently warned.
"Daddy's absolutely right," said Kitty as she handed Ruby her Easter basket. "Now put this on the coffee table next to the eggs and let's go to bed."
Ruby took her basket and put it on the coffee table. "I don't want the Easter Bunny to hop by this house. I'll try to go to sleep, but it's gonna be hard. My eyes aren't even tired."
Matt and Kitty led Ruby to her bedroom. "Try really hard," said Kitty. Matt and Kitty did their bedtime routine with Ruby and left her bedroom.
Once they were back in the parlor, Matt softly spoke. "When do you think we can fill her basket?"
"Certainly not now," Kitty replied. "I'd hate for her to come out here and see it filled. How would we explain that? We'll have to wait until she's asleep."
The first light of Easter Sunday broke gently over the town of Dodge. Inside her and Matt's bedroom, Kitty was brushing her red hair at her vanity. Matt stepped into the room, freshly shaved and already dressed in new clothes that Kitty had ordered for him a few weeks ago. They arrived on Friday. Matt tugged at the stiff collar of his new dress shirt, looking more like a man preparing for a hanging than a church service.
Kitty gave Matt a look. "Is something wrong with the shirt? I ordered the size I always order you."
"The size is fine," said Matt. "It just feels too stiff or something. I wish you would've laundered it like you usually do when I get a new shirt."
"I'm afraid I didn't have time," Kitty responded as she put up her hair. "It didn't arrive until Friday and I was too busy yesterday. I'm sure you'll make it through Easter services this morning."
Matt sighed, "Let's just hope nobody tries to rob the bank today. I don't think I can shoot straight in this thing." He walked to the door and looked down the hallway towards Ruby's bedroom. "Do you think we should wake her up soon? I'm sure she's gonna wanna find the eggs and see what the Easter Bunny left her before we go to church."
"I want to let her sleep as long as possible," Kitty replied. "She was still tossin' and turnin' after nine o'clock. Usually she's asleep no later than half past eight." Kitty stood up and walked to her chifferobe. She pulled out a new dress she had recently ordered. In fact she ordered the entire family a new Easter wardrobe. Kitty put her new dress on.
Matt appreciatively looked at his wife. "Honey, you look beautiful." Kitty gave him a smile of appreciation, a smile that was reserved just for him.
Matt and Kitty had been in the kitchen, when they heard their daughters shriek of excitement. Kitty had pulled a pan of fresh biscuits out of the oven. She planned on making a light breakfast, so her family would be hungry for the big ham dinner. Kitty put the biscuits on the table and put a towel over them, so they wouldn't get cold. After that she and Matt walked to the parlor.
Ruby was still in her nightgown, examining the contents of her Easter basket. Inside the basket there was candy corn, a chocolate bunny, jelly beans, and a new toothbrush. "Look what the Easter Bunny gave me." She picked up the toothbrush. "He gave me one of these last year."
Kitty smiled. "He's a smart Easter Bunny. He gives you all that sugar and then makes sure you have something to clean it off of your teeth."
"Don't forget that you have eggs to find," reminded Matt as he pointed to the empty basket that had eight eggs in there the night before.
"Oh yeah!" Ruby exclaimed. She grabbed the basket, ran around the parlor, and found the eggs. "I found them all."
Kitty took the eggs. "Great. We can eat them with our ham dinner. It's time to get dressed. Your new dress is all ready. After we get you ready, we'll eat breakfast and go to church." Ruby was dressed in a pale blue dress with white lace at the sleeves. Kitty put Ruby's hair up just right so her Easter bonnet would sit nicely on top of her head.
The Dillons arrived at the church just in time to see Doc arriving in his buggy. "Look!" Ruby pointed towards her grandpa. "It's Grandpa Doc!" She waved at him. Doc smiled and waved back. He steered his buggy towards the Dillons' wagon. "Happy Easter, Grandpa!"
"Happy Easter, Darlin'" Doc replied. "You 'n yer momma both look so pretty."
"Thank you, Doc," Kitty smiled. "Happy Easter."
"Grandpa Doc," said Ruby getting her grandpa's attention. "The Easter Bunny gave me candy corn, jelly beans, and a chocolate bunny."
Doc shook his head. "I told that rabbit to watch out for cavities."
"He gave me a toothbrush too," Ruby grumbled.
"Smart bunny," Doc responded.
"That's what Momma said," Ruby replied. The three adults laughed.
"We better get inside, if we want to find a seat," Matt stated. He hopped down from the wagon and assisted his girls.
As the town gathered in the little church that morning, Matt, Kitty, and Ruby took their seats. Doc, Festus, and Newly sat behind them. The sun poured through the stained-glass windows, casting color throughout the church. As the choir began singing "I Know That My Redeemer Lives," Ruby sang along.
"That concludes our Easter service," said Reverend Tolbert. "Any child ages two years to ten years old is welcome to participate in an Easter egg hunt behind the Sunday school building. We have special places roped off for specific age groups. They have been marked. There are four different sections, two to four year olds, five and six year olds, seven and eight year olds, and nine and ten year olds. Hopefully you brought your baskets or something to carry eggs in. Let's go outside. Once everyone is ready, I'll tell the kids when to go."
The congregation filed out of the church, and the children ran to their wagons to get their baskets. The parents of the younger children got their baskets. Matt went to get Ruby's. Once all the children had their baskets, they walked behind the Sunday school building and found the area for their age.
"Momma, where do I go?" asked Ruby.
"What do you mean?" Kitty questioned. "You have to go to the area where your age is labeled."
"Do I go to the five and six year old spot or the seven and eight year old spot?" asked Ruby.
"Yer not seven years old yet," said Matt. "You need to go to the five and six year old spot." Matt looked at Kitty. "Right?"
"I would say so," said Kitty. "Next year she'll go to the seven and eight year old area." Kitty knew Ruby could probably go to the seven and eight year old area, but she was growing up too quickly as it was. "You better hurry and get over there. It looks like Reverend Tolbert is about to begin." Ruby hurried over to her area.
"On your mark, get set, go!" Reverend Tolbert shouted. The children ran around laughing as they found eggs and filled their baskets.
Matt and Kitty stood next to each other and watched their daughter find eggs. Matt had his arm around Kitty's shoulder. He leaned over and kissed her temple. "I love seeing her so happy," he said.
"Me too," Kitty agreed.
Just then, Ruby ran up to them, basket nearly full, cheeks flushed and grinning. "Momma, Daddy, look at my pretty eggs!"
Matt and Kitty looked into Ruby's basket. "It looks like you did pretty well," Matt observed.
Ruby pulled out an egg from the bottom of her basket. It was the one she wanted to give her momma. "Look, Momma. I found the egg I wanted to give you."
Kitty took the egg and smiled. "I guess it was meant for you to find." She put it back in the basket. "We'll keep it in the basket so it doesn't crack."
On the way home, Ruby insisted that Matt not drive too fast. She didn't want any of her eggs to break. Matt promised he wouldn't go too fast. That afternoon Doc, Festus, and Newly joined the Dillons for an Easter ham dinner. After dinner everyone gathered in the parlor, except for Festus and Newly. They rode back to Dodge. Even though it was Easter Sunday, one couldn't assume that the trouble would stay away. Before they left, Kitty had packed up some food for them to take to Sam. They were happy to do so.
Later that night Ruby was snuggled under her quilt. "You know, I really like the month of April. We get to celebrate Easter and in a few days it's gonna be my birthday."
Kitty gave Ruby a kiss on the cheek. "It certainly is a wonderful month. Happy Easter, sweetheart."
Matt knelt down and gave Ruby a kiss on her other cheek. "It most certainly is. Happy Easter, Little Gemstone." Matt stood up and blew out the lantern on Ruby's dresser. He and Kitty left the bedroom. They had barely shut the door, when they heard Ruby clicking. The Easter festivities had worn her out.
The end of this story. Happy Easter!