Higdon's Corner


a novel by
Lois Higdon Rice


Chapter Eight


The doctor had been right. Once Nell had completely broke out she did feel a lot better physically, but she did not feel she would ever be happy again. One morning she got out of bed, and supporting herself on the iron bedstead she got to the dresser mirror. It was a bad mistake for Nell, for when she saw her image in the mirror she was horrified. She got back in bed and prayed with all her heart that God would let her die. Lawrence continued to milk the cows, morning and evening, keeping the milk and cream they could use for the house and feeding the rest to the cat, dog and hogs. He couldn't go into town to sell it and no one would come by to pick it up.

"I don't know why anyone with small pox even needs a quarantine sign," his mother said as he went into the house and was warming himself by the pot belly stove before going out to fill the water bucket. "I think people must even be afraid to talk to us on the telephone. I called the grocery store and ordered a few things we need, asking if he could send them out with someone going by. He said he would try, but suspected he would have a hard time getting anyone to drop them off. So I guess we will have to just make do."

"Well, you can't blame people for being afraid of something like this."

*******

"Oh dear, Lawrence, there is a strange woman coming to the door. Do you think she didn't see the sign?" Mary asked her son, with concern in her voice.

Before he could answer the young woman was knocking at the door. "Here, Mr. Higdon, I brought your groceries," she said and then hurried away.

"Much obliged," he called after the woman hurrying to her car.

"Oh, thank Heaven," Mary said. "I was completely out of coffee. Who was that Lawrence?"

"I've seen her before, but I can't place her."

"Whoever she was, I appreciate her."

"Well, can you beat that? I know who she is. Do you remember, years ago, when I was a kid, my friend jumped on me for saying hello to a whore, and I didn't even know what the word meant, and I asked you. She is that girl. I wouldn't have known her. She used to be such a pretty woman."

"Well, God bless her, whoever she is or whatever she does. I've always wondered who decides one sin is so much worse than another. Seems like there is an awful lot of truth in that old saying, 'There's a little bit of bad in the best of us, and a little bit of good in the worst of us.'" Mary Higdon said, appreciatively, as she put the needed supplies away.

*****

"I'm so glad the children had small pox vaccinations," Mary said to Lawrence as she undressed the little ones to bathe them. The words were barely out of her mouth when she gasped, "Oh no, Lawrence, come quickly."

Lawrence's heart stood still as his mother insisted he look at the two little pox on Mildred's stomach. "I've been afraid of this," he said as he now wondered if he too would get them even though he had been immunized while in the Army. "Maybe the vaccine will keep her from being so sick. I guess all we can do is hope for the best. Let's be sure we don't let on to Nell. She is just beginning to get a little appetite back after two weeks."

Mary and Lawrence both prayed the little girl would be spared, and so it was. She ran a slight temperature for a day or two, but the two little sores were all that ever showed, and they healed quickly.

*****

"Oh, I thought I would never get to see my babies again," Nell said as she was finally able to negotiate the stairs. When she was finally seated comfortably near the warmth of the heating stove, she held her arms out take them in her arms, but both clung tightly to their grandmothers skirt, looking at their mother as if she were a stranger. Nell could not fight back the tears as they rejected her, "Do I look so bad my own children don't recognize me?" she cried.

"Nell, it's not that. They just haven't seen you for a month, and they're little. Give them a little time. You look fine. They'll warm up to you."

"Help me walk out into the kitchen," Nell said, trying to brace up under the disappointment. "I just want to look out the back door once again."

"Are you sure your are up to more walking?" Lawrence asked as she rose from the chair.

"Yes, I can manage," she said as she wobbled toward the kitchen. The brightness of the morning sun shining though the south window hurt her eyes as she continued her little tour. "Oh, it is so nice to be out of that bedroom. But will I ever feel good again?" she asked as she gladly returned to the security of the chair in the dining room.

Nell put her hands on her empty stomach as she continued, "And my baby didn't even get a chance to be baptized."

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you Nell, but I did baptize the baby," Mary offered.

"Oh, Mother Higdon, thank you so much." Nell said, reaching to hug the older woman. "I've worried myself sick that my baby would not get to see God. Do you think the baptism counts when they are stillborn? You don't think he will have to stay in Limbo, do you?"

"Nell, don't worry another minute about that. I just don't believe God punishes little children for things no one can help. We all did the best we could. Let's trust God." Mary Higdon said to her daughter in law and to herself as well. "Trust God." She only realized when she said it how weak her own trust had been since Robert had been killed. He had been her strength for so many years, and she now knew that she often borrowed on his undaunted faith. Always faithful to the laws of the church, she almost suddenly became aware of how much more spiritual her husband had been than she, and how he would never have believed God was a punishing God and certainly that his death was just an accident, not ordained by God to punish anyone, as she had often wondered in the past three years. In her efforts to console he daughter, in law she had received the absolution she had longed for, knowing at last she, too, had always done the best she could, and her ambition in wanting the gas lights was not a terrible thing that brought down God's wrath on her family. This good woman's heart lightened as she felt Nellie's weak arms hold her briefly and she finally accepted her husband's death.

******

Days passed and Nell's strength and her babies both returned to her. The quarantine sign was gone and the last scab had disappeared. Her skin was blotchy, but there were no deep scars. She could finally believe she would not be scarred for the rest of her life as she had so feared. Lawrence took her to the pasture and showed her where the little boy was buried, and she felt secure that he was with God.

"Come outside, Nellie," Lawrence called one day on returning from town one Saturday. To her delight when he opened a big flat box she saw dozens of squirmy, cheeping, yellow chicks.

Lawrence believed he finally saw those blue eyes twinkle again. At last his Nellie was back to life. "How would you like to go visit your folks tomorrow?" he asked, wanting to celebrate.

"Oh Lawrence, could we?" she shrieked with delight.

*****

When the Schaefer family saw the little Ford rolling up their drive-way just before noon on Sunday, the whole group ran to greet their guests, Nell, with Robert on her lap, and Lawrence, bringing the auto to a stop, were beaming in the front seat, and Mary Higdon sat with her arm around Mildred in the back.

Mary Schaefer nearly squeezed her daughter to pieces, so happy to see her again. "Oh, Nellie, you look so much better than I dared to hope," she said as she held her daughter back from her to examine her.

"Well, I guess I look better than I did a month ago. I thought I never wanted to leave the house again. But it feels so good to be here," she said, basking in the love of her family, as well as the familiar surroundings.

"Something sure smells good in here," Lawrence said as he came into the dining room where the long table was already set with the best dishes.

"It will be ready soon, I'll bet you're hungry." Mary Schaefer said, as she moved to take her guests hats and coats to the bedroom.

Mary Higdon said to Nell, "You visit with your sisters, and I'll help your mother finish getting dinner on." She followed the other Mary to the kitchen.

"Joe, will you go to the cistern and draw a bucket of water," Mary called to her gangly 16 year old son.

Pete and Lawrence went to the cellar for a glass of wine before dinner and talked of current events.

"Wasn't that the darndest thing you ever heard of, that St. Francis Dam of the Los Angeles water supply breaking? They say it dumped over 12 billion gallons of water into the San Francisquito Canyon and Santa Clara River Valley and probably over 400 people have already died?"

"Yes, I read about that in the paper. They say it will cost up to 30 million dollars to repair it, and they are really concerned about typhoid spreading from the contaminated water," Lawrence added.

"I hope they don't get an epidemic of that going. I had typhoid when I first came down here and it is nothing to sneeze at."

"I've really been out of touch with the world the past month or so. I guess the stock market is at a record high." Lawrence offered.

"None of it is making much sense. They say unemployment is at an all time high and Coolidge is trying to create jobs. Then the next thing you hear is that Ford came out with a new car, called the Model A and he took 50,000 orders the first day. One day the stock market breaks a record high and the next it drops. Not that it effects a man like me much, but I sure hope the farm prices stay up. We're sending Joe off to St. Gregory's high school next year and Aggie will be going to Oklahoma College for Women."

"Me too," Lawrence agreed, as the men came up the stairs to join the family. "I need to get caught up. You know I couldn't sell a drop of milk that whole month we were quarantined. But, I don't want to think of that now. I just want to get to your wife's great meal."

Aggie and Josephine hustled Mildred and Robert in from where they were playing, Marie and Nell came laughing from the bedroom where they had been talking, Joe pushed his long legs under the table, bumping the table and shaking the water glasses as he did, but fortunately avoiding any great spills. When the men were seated and the two Marys scanned the table one last time to be sure they had everything on and then took their places, the eleven happy people made the Sign of the Cross and began, in unison, "Bless us, oh Lord, and these Thy gifts,------------------.

*******

The visit to her family was a tonic for Nellie, and for the rest of the family as well.

Nell slowly began to pick up her duties to relieve her mother-in-law, who had been working too hard for too long.

Mary, now 55 years old, walked through her yard on a day in late summer, as she had done many times in the past 21 years, looking at the beautiful lilac bushes, the seven sister rose bush, the prolific orchard, the sturdy barn and separator house, the cellar where the summer crops were stored after months of canning and preserving, and of course the round iron lid that covered the fatal gas plant. Tears never failed to fill her eyes as she passed it, ever feeling cheated that he was taken from her at on 56 years of age. She pondered the idea of moving to Okarche, where she would be closer to her daughters and have the conveniences of indoor plumbing. She shuddered at the thought of leaving Higdon's Corner, where every building and plant was a product of her family's sweat, but as Nell and Lawrence's family increased, the house that seemed so big when they built it seemed to be shrinking daily. She slowly returned to the kitchen where Nell and Lawrence were talking.

"Do you think you could manage the milking by yourself for a day or so, Nell? A few of my friends are going down to the river to fish and camp out next week and they asked if I would like to come along."

"I'm sure I could handle it for a couple of milkings," she replied "You could use a little time off for fun. You've been through a lot these past few months. You wouldn't be gone but a day or so would you?"

"Oh, no. It's just for overnight. We'd leave tomorrow morning after the chores were done, spend the night and then be home the afternoon of the next day."

"Sure, why not? It'll do you good, and a fish fry sounds good to me." Nell responded willingly.

Lawrence perked up at the thought of the little trip, and gave Nell a big kiss on his way out to check out his fishing gear.

"I hope they are going to just be fishing. I wouldn't be surprised if they have a batch of home brew down there," Mary worried aloud.

Nellie didn't respond, but said under her breath as she left the room, "Would that be so terrible, for these hard working men to let their hair down once in a while?"

*********

Nell kissed Lawrence sweetly good-bye when his friends picked him up, saying as she waved after them as they drove out the long driveway, "Have a good time."

The evening milking went well and Nell enjoyed having little Mildred 'help' her as the skim milk found it's route to the slop buckets to be thrown to the hogs, and the rich cream rolled into the clean waiting cans to be sold. When they finished they went to the house where Mary had supper waiting for them. Robert was sitting in his highchair with a bread crust in his hand, half eating and half sucking on it. He gave his mama a big grin when she came in.

Nell was glad when the children were put to bed and she and Mary sat with their embroidery work on the big front porch.

"I've pretty well made up my mind, Nell. I am going to do as the girls suggest and move to Okarche. You and Lawrence need to have this place to yourself."

Nell would have lied if she had said one word to disagree, since being on their own had been her dream from the day she married. Trying not to sound too eager, she responded, "It would be nice to live in town with a few more conveniences."

When the sun had barely slipped below the horizon, Mary said she was tired and was going to bed.

Nell sat alone on the front porch for a while, basking in the quiet time, but weariness overtook her and she soon headed upstairs. By the time she reached the top of the stairs, her legs felt like rubber. "I must not be as strong as I thought," she said aloud to herself as she looked in the mirror to check if her blotchiness had faded anymore. She didn't know if it really looked better or if it was just wishful thinking.

She checked her panties as she took them off and put on her gown, hoping her menstrual period would start. She had been so irregular since she had been ill, but she was getting concerned about being pregnant. The thought was short lived as she said her prayers and got into bed. Her head barely touched the pillow and she was asleep.

The sun was shining in the east upstairs window and Robert was saying, "I'm hungry, Mama," when she awakened. Nell did not want to leave the soft comfort of the bed, but finally managed to drag herself out to go feed the persistent 2 year old.

"Oh, those cows," she said, remembering the milking to be done as she came into the big kitchen where Mary was drinking coffee.

"I'll feed Robert, Nell. Those cows are probably needing to be milked," Mary said gently but firmly, as if she was annoyed with Nell for sleeping so late.

"Thank you, Mother Higdon," Nell replied: then added, "You be a good boy for Grandma, Robert." She took the clean and waiting milk buckets and went to the barn.

"Thank Heavens Lawrence will be back in time to milk tonight," she consoled herself as she poured the last bucket of skimmed milk into the hog trough when at last the never ending job was finished until evening.

She trudged slowly back to the house, feeling so tired she wondered how she would face the big ironing that awaited her.

There was little time to think about how tired she felt. Mary had the flat irons heating on the cook stove and the ironing board and iron handles were all set up, with the big basket of stiff starched clothes waiting to have the wrinkles removed.

Nell made her way though the shirts and dresses, stopping only now and then to wipe the sweat from her brow, or go to the toilet. She even welcomed going to the old outhouse occasionally and sometimes lingered a little in the smelly building, looking through the Montgomery Ward catalog that was used for toilet paper.

As the last shirt was hung neatly on it's hanger Nellie looked at the clock. It was now 3 o'clock and Nellie was beginning to wonder what was keeping Lawrence and his friends. When the clock read 4 o'clock she began to worry and by 5 o'clock the worry had turned to anger. It was almost time to milk again and she did not want to do it all by herself again. At 5:30 she saw the cows filing in toward the barn and her anger overtook her, "Mother Higdon," she said, not trying to conceal her anger, "Will you watch the kids a little while? I am going to go find Lawrence. He's been gone long enough."

Nell hurried to the little Model T and drove it to the river. As her mother-in-law had predicted, there was much more evidence of a beer party than a fishing party and by the time she reached Lawrence she was livid. "It's time for you to get home and do the milking. I'm not doing it again by myself."

"Oh, Nellie, don't be mad. We're just having a little fun," Lawrence, who had had one home brew too many, chided as he tried to kiss his wife who was in no mood for romance.

She pulled away from him and suddenly in her anger she pulled back her arm and smacked him right on the mouth. It would be hard to say who was the most surprised, Nell or Lawrence, but the swing was effective, and Lawrence picked up his things and got into the running car.

Lawrence muttered and sputtered a million, "How could you embarrass me like that in front of my friends?"

Nellie was undaunted and when they pulled into the yard, she looked to the barn and said, "You milk them by yourself tonight and see how much fun it is."


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© Copyright 1995 Lois Rice, All Rights Reserved..
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