Lucy had more trouble getting the kids to come in to warm up! They were having so much fun playing in the snow tunnels. The boys even enjoyed it! They never got snow like this and they sure weren’t going to let it go to waste! She smiled as she watched them playing hide and seek in the snow tunnels in the corn field! They all had a hardy supper that night. The kids were eating like they were half starved, they had played so hard!
The next week, things were back to normal, with most of the snow melted. Carl got to thinking about what the sheriff had said to Bobby Brown. He turned to John, while they were working side-by-side, getting the best seeds ready for planting in the spring and said, “ I just remembered Bobby promised the sheriff that he would go in to the court the day after Christmas and we stayed over the border a couple of days. I wonder if he ever went in and if so how late he was and how his court date went.”
“Did I forget to tell you Bobby done called last Wednesday and said to tell you he got two nights in jail but he was already out and he said he was going to cover those oil spots with gravel and pick up all of the nails. He said he was just going to use those nails again!” John said to his brother.”
“Well, I wish you would’ve let me know sooner so I could’ve gone and helped him. Oh well, no harm done and I’m glad things turned out well for him,” Carl said with a smile. “I’m goin to go in and talk with Pa. We got some things to work out.”
John knew things seemed to be gettin more serious with Carl and his girl, Molly Jones, so he figured it had to do with her. He knew Carl would talk with him about it all when he was good and ready and probably after Carl had worked things out with pa.
“Pa, can I have a word with you?” asked a nervous Carl.
“Shore, how about we talk out on the front porch? We haven’t got to use that swing fur a while now with the all of the snow we had. It’s nice to see the grass agin!” Earl said.
They each took a cup of coffee with them and sat down. “What have you got on your mind, Carl?” His father asked.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Carl dove right in before he could change his mind. He was so nervous! “You know ol man Henry’s wife died not long ago and his kids have all moved into town, so he is lookin to sell his piece of land. He’s got 40 acres on some pretty fertile land and it comes with water. I took Molly down to look at it. She likes it as good as I do. Pa, I want to ask her to marry me and I want your blessin. And I want to ask what you think about Henry’s land and what do you think I should do?” Carl ran his words together, he was so nervous!
Earl asked him what the price was Henry was askin and how much he had saved. All the while he was feelin pretty nervous, too, but tryin not to show it. Why this would be his first child to leave the nest and Earl felt pretty responsible to help Carl make it work. What should he say?
Carl said, “I have enough money saved to pay fur a quarter of the land and I need to talk with him and see if he will let me pay the rest of the price off on time.”
Earl said, “I see. What kind of work do you aim to do to support yourselves, Carl?”
Carl said, “We have talked about becoming tobacco farmers, pa. There is a big ol barn where we can dry out the tobacco and plenty of flat land to grow it on. We will have a house, spring house, barn, henhouse and plenty of fencin already up. That’s goin to save me a lot of time not havin to build all of that! What do you think,pa?”
“Well, Carl, you always did have a good head on yore shoulders. It seems like you are off to a good start. You have my blessin. I think you’d better tell yore ma, though and see what she has to say.”
His ma shed a few tears, not wanting to part with any of her children, but came around to Carl’s point of view. He was pretty convincing!
Later that evening, Earl and Lucy had a chance to talk alone. “I’ve got a little bit of corn and some rye and barley that I got from that man down by Donna’s folk’s place that I’ve been savin. I checked the farmer’s almanac while you and Carl were talkin and realized we was to have some unseasonably warm weather the first couple of weeks of March. We aren’t dependin on any money from shine this time of year since we are well set on supplies, food, seed, etc. Moonshine should be at a premium since it is not the season to run it right now. Lucy, what I’m tryin to say is we could run a batch and surprise Carl with a weddin present to help buy that land.”
Lucy was so happy with Earl’s suggestion that she started cryin agin. These was tears of joy, tho!
