The Newlyweds Part 2
A terrible rainstorm keeps Almanzo and Laura in the barn overnight and they have to make the best of it. Story is complete in one chapter.
The Newlyweds Part 2
“We’re almost there,” an extremely wet Almanzo urged Skip and Barnum inside the barn while Laura, who was also soaked, held the doors open against the wind and rain.
“Alright, Beth, we got ‘em inside,” Almanzo called out as Laura closed the doors against the storm.
“You got the sandwiches Sis made? I could use another. “
“Which ones do you want? We have two chicken salad sandwiches and three egg salad sandwiches left in….” Laura started to say as she slipped on the wet ground and fell into Almanzo, who managed to catch her before she hit him in the face.
Almanzo did what any body would have done, he tried to pull her up, but she kept slipping. Actually, the both of them kept slipping as the ground became wetter and wetter. “The roof above us is leaking, Manly, I think we ..”
But he slipped and she slipped at the same time. He grabbed her arms, but she fell anyway, taking him with her into the mud.
The basket of sandwiches wrapped up in wax paper slipped off of Laura’s arm and fell sideways to the floor, spilling them out into the mud.
The two of them tried to get up, but they kept falling. They kept laughing and laughing until they couldn’t laugh anymore.
Almanzo finally got his balance and pulled her up. “Beth?” he asked. “Are you alright?”
“I think so, Manly, but my clothes…”
Almanzo smiled. “Never mind you, look at me. I’m a sight, huh? I think this makes that mud fight you had with Nellie look like a picnic.” He looked up. “We’re going to have to patch up that leak, Beth. I wonder how long it’s been doin’ that?”
Laura looked at him and smiled. “Well, here’s something you might like. I think we should get out of these clothes, Manly, before we catch our death.”
Almanzo smiled as he looked at Laura. “I don’t know who looks worse, but yes, you’re right about those clothes. Then maybe we can relax and have those leftover sandwiches.” He eyes scanned the ground. “Where are they anyway? Didn’t you have…” His voice trailed off.
“Beth?”
“I had the basket on my arm, Manly, did you take them? Where could they possibly..”
“Beth?” Almanzo said again, picking his head up. He stared at her, his eyes wide with worry. “Beth, look, over there. The sandwiches, most of them spilled out into the mud.”
Laura followed his finger and stared at the basket, which was lying on its side. Two of the sandwiches were buried in the mud, but still fully wrapped. The rest of the sandwiches lay about in different position, some wrapped, some lay on the ground unwrapped. Halves of sandwiches were on thrown every which way. Barnum was munching what looked to be egg salad and Skip was devouring an entire chicken salad sandwich.
Almanzo turned to look at Laura and found her looking at him. “Your sister,” she started to say, when Almanzo shook his head.
“How can you blame Sis?” he said looking at her. “This isn’t her fault; she did the best she could. How would she know that..”
“I’m not blaming anybody, Manly,” she said, putting her arms around his neck. “This isn’t her fault, it’s not your fault either. No one knew about the weather, no one knew the roof had a leak, how could anyone? It hasn’t rained for weeks. This is the first big rainstorm in a….”
Laura stopped talking and stared at Almanzo, who she found was looking at her. He seemed to be lost in her brown eyes, which right now were starting to well up with tears.
“Beth,” he whispered as he wrapped his arms around her, pulled her close and kissed her. When they pulled apart, Almanzo looked at her with a concerned look on his face.
“Let’s not argue anymore tonight, okay? It was an accident. Things happen, Beth, it’s not the end of the world. And do you know what?”
“What,” she answered, as he dried her tears with his thumb rubbing against her cheek.
“We can salvage some of those sandwiches and we can stop that leak, but do you know what’s really important to me now? It’s you Beth, all I care about is you. I love you.” He placed his hands on either side of her face and pulled her close, bringing his lips down to hers.
And again, they slipped as both fell down into the mud; with Almanzo falling first and Laura landing right on top of him.
XXXXXXXXXXXX
It was still raining when Almanzo woke and found Laura next to him, snoring lightly. He smiled and shook his head. He sat up and looked around. They had climbed into the loft so that they’d get away from that nasty leak. He was going to have to patch it up and quickly. He already covered the ground with hay so no one else would slip.
He looked up and to their left side to find that they had removed their wet and mud filled clothes. Beth had them drying on a pallet not too far away from where they were sleeping.
And suddenly, something occurred to him. “Beth,” he said, “Wake up. I need to ask you about the lesson plan for tomorrow. Sis has been asking about it for…”
Laura’s eyes opened and she smiled. “Open my journal, Manly. I wrote it out last night. We’ll give it to her first thing in the morning. She’ll be happy as a….”
But she never finished the rest of her sentence.
And as they parted, his eye flew open. “Our clothes, they’re all muddy. She’ll know that we..”
Laura smiled and shook her head. “Our clothes will dry and so will the mud. We’ll be able to brush them off and no one will be the wiser. We can go inside and change quickly and I’ll wash them out when we get back tomorrow night.”
Almanzo smiled, his eyes never leaving her face. “You have the answer to everything, don’t you?”
Laura touched his cheek. “No one has the answer to everything, Manly. No one knows what will happen next and sometimes, we can’t control everything that happens either. There is nothing written down, there is nothing to follow. Everything happens for a reason. There are no plans, Manly; everything happens at the spur of the moment. And we’ll just have to deal with it, whether it’s good or bad.”
Almanzo looked at her. He lost his smile and his eyes went wide. “What about my temper and what about my stubbornness? We’ve got to control it, Beth. I don’t want you mad at me.”
“Don’t you worry, Almanzo. No one is perfect. We’re both stubborn and we both have a temper. We all have our faults, Manly. We’ll get used to each other. Just give it some time. We’re new at this.”
Almanzo smiled and touched her cheek. ”I don’t know where I’d be without you, Beth. You’re my life and my love. I can’t make it without you. I love you.”
Laura smiled and looked into his eyes. “And I love you, Manly. Everything will work out, you’ll see. And I have a feeling that we’ll be together for a long, long time.”
And Almanzo lay down next to her on the pallet, put his arms around her and pulled her close.
And everything else was forgotten.
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