The Return Home A Little House fanfic

 

 

 The Return Home

A sequel to The Hunters

Author's Note:

This story was done as a special request for The Writer's Fool who helped out with the plot and some of the dialogue. I wanted to give them credit and thank them for their help.

It was a normal day in Walnut Grove, a quiet and peaceful afternoon out on the prairie. Mary had been home from school hours ago and was doing her homework as she watched her youngest sister, Carrie while Caroline was outside finishing up her chores for the day. The sound of hoof beats and wagon wheels was something she had gotten used to over the years. It wasn't exactly a busy road they lived off of, but every once in a while, you could spot a rig driving past.  

But she never expected what happened next. She heard a familiar voice call out her name from behind her as she hung up the last of Charles' newly washed underwear on the clothesline.

"Caroline?"

She turned to find Isaiah Edwards staring at her, a concerned look on his face that replaced his usual cheerful and happy go lucky grin.

"Mr. Edwards, what are you doing here? Did something happen? Is everything alight? Where's Charles? Where's Laura? "

"There's been an accident, Caroline," Mr. Edwards said, locking eyes with her. "It's Charles."

Caroline gasped and shook her head. She stared back at him, her eyes filling up with tears.

"Where is he? Is Laura with him?"

"Don't you worry, Caroline, Charles is alright, there's nothin' to fret over." Mr. Edwards smiled. "Right now he's got two two doctors lookin' out for him and a lovin' daughter keepin' him company. There's only one thing missin' and that's you by his side. Come on, I'll take you over there. "

Caroline smiled, through her tears. She pulled him close, pecked his cheek and released him. "Let me tell the girls I've got to go into town for a while. I'll be right back."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Charles lay on the examining table waiting for Caroline to come. Doc Baker told him to wait there; he wanted to check on him one last time before he sent Charles home. He was outside right now discussing his condition with Doctor Canby.

He looked over at Laura; she had fallen asleep opposite him in a chair that Doc Baker moved inside from the waiting room. He couldn't have been prouder of his little half pint. He couldn't have done any of this without her. She was the only one who finally convinced old Sam Shelby to get out of that cabin of his. His own son couldn't do it, no matter how hard he tried. Sometimes, Charles thought, as he lay there on his own, sometimes you needed a woman's touch, a soft and loving woman to get you going, right? And it was especially true if that woman loved and cared for you. Why, they could convince you to do anything, couldn't they?

Laura was that kind of woman. Everyone said that about her. If she set her mind to something, she was going to do it, no matter what anyone told her. She would never give up until she got what she wanted. Look at how she had convinced him to take her hunting.

Charles wasn't sure if he could do it, but somehow, he had to convince Caroline to let her come along. He told her that she was getting older and that Laura would be a woman the rest of her life. This was her last chance to be a tomboy. Now what was wrong with that?

Even Edwards tried to convince him that taking a woman along wasn't the proper thing to do. And it was bad luck, besides.

But Laura was just as good as any son, wasn't she? She had followed his directions to Morgan's Creek to the letter and she had found Isaiah waiting for them, right where he was supposed to be.

But then, it wasn't only Laura that found him, was it? Sam Shelby started to remember things about the area, things he saw before he went blind. He recognized the sounds and smells of the area and, i1n remembering, he knew which way they had to go.

Charles had heard something about that. He had heard that people could see even though they were blind. He had heard that if one person's sense was impaired, their other senses took over and those senses became sharper and clearer.

And that's what happened to old Sam Shelby.

Charles was sure that it was because Laura was by his side. She had convinced him to keep going, to keep moving no matter the cost. A life was worth saving. And Laura loved her Pa so much that she was going to save him.

But it was her fault, wasn't it? Maybe Edwards was right after all. It was bad luck to bring a woman hunting. If she hadn't moved that bedroll around, none of this would have happened and he wouldn't be laid up in Doc Baker's office right now. He would have been out in the woods doing a little hunting while Isaiah made his delivery. He wouldn't have been lying in that trapper's cabin all by himself, bleeding to death.

And he had been thirsty. Charles could never remember being so thirsty in his entire life. If he hadn't tipped over that pail of water, he wouldn't have forced himself to get more from the creek.

Edwards had told him that they found him lying, unconscious, on his back. His head was on a rock and his face was sideways, tilted toward the water. He could have drowned; he could have hurt himself on those rocks. And it was all because of….

No, it wasn't her fault. He couldn't tell Caroline it was all her fault, she'd never let Half Pint go with him again. It was his fault; it was Charles Ingalls who had been careless and he knew it. He left the gun unguarded, propped up against the tree and fully loaded to boot. He thought that it would be fine to leave it there where he'd be able to grab it at a moment's notice. That's what hunting was all about, wasn't it? It wasn't the first time he had done something like that and that meant it was okay, right

No, he thought, it wasn't right, nothing about this was right. No matter how many times he had done it, Charles hadn't thought of the consequences. Anyone could have hit that gun and it would have gone off. It could have been an animal brushing against it; it could have been Edwards, why it could even have been Sam Shelby.

And worst of all, it could have been Laura, his daughter, who he loved so much. She was the girl he bonded with, the girl who was just like him in every way possible.

He would never have forgiven himself.

He looked over at Laura and the tears began to roll down his cheeks. Stop it, Charles, he thought to himself, he couldn't let Caroline see him like this. Where was everyone anyway, Edwards should have been back now. How long could it take for those two doctors to go over his condition? He wanted to go home, he wanted to sleep; he needed sleep.

Still facing his daughter, Charles closed his eyes and knew no more.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Laura's Remembrance Book

The conference between Doc Baker and Doctor Canby had been interrupted with the arrival of Ma and Mr. Edwards. Pa and I were woken up when the four of them entered the examining room. I ran to Ma's side and she hugged me.  I wanted to ask her what she had heard, but she told me to be quiet and listen. And I did listen as Doctor Canby explained that Charles was much better, the fever had stayed down and that they could go on home any time they wanted. The wound was healing nicely, he continued and it could take anywhere from thirteen days to a year to heal fully.

Doc Baker told Ma and me that we could finally take Pa home, but he wanted to see him back in a week to check on his wound.

Later that night, while Pa was asleep, Ma heard me climbing down from the loft. She caught me as I opened the front door to go outside. She knew that I had been crying and she wrapped her arms me, She told me it would better if we walked over to the barn and got out of the damp night air.

She comforted me and told me that she was glad I had gone. Ma told me that she was so proud of me and how quickly I made my decision to save Pa.  It wasn't my fault , she told me. and that it was meant to happen. It's a good lesson for us all to learn. It was the same thing that Mr. Shelby had said in the trapper's cabin when I told him it was my fault.

I hugged her and told her that I understood. She nodded her head and put her arm around me. And we walked back to the little house together.

But there was something I didn't tell her, something that I kept secret and something that can only be found in these pages.

Pa was sleeping on and off and I wanted to keep an eye on him until Ma and Mr. Edwards arrived. I had asked Doc Baker if I could stay in the room and be there for him in case he needed anything. He agreed and placed a chair inside the examining room and asked me to keep him informed.

I was in the room when both doctors went outside to talk. I stood at the window and watched them for a while until I heard Pa call my name.  

"Yes, Pa?" I said, as I ran over to him.  "Do you need anything?"

"Half Pint," he said, looking at me, "I am going to tell you something and I don't want you to repeat it to anyone else,  Promise me that you won't tell anyone." 

I shook my head. "I won't tell anyone, Pa, I promise."

Pa smiled and stroked my hair. "Listen to me Laura," he said, kissing my forehead.  He pulled me close. "I want to thank you for everything you've done. You and Mr. Shelby saved my life and I will always remember that. And I want you to know that none of this was your fault. You hear me? None of what happened was ever your fault. I want you to remember that, Half Pint, always."

He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close. "And I want you to know how much I love you," he whispered in her ear.

"I love you too, Pa," I whispered back, as he let me go. I didn't have a chance to tell him that Mr. Shelby had already explained this to me because he had fallen asleep again.

To this day, I don't remember when or how I wandered back to my chair in the examining room. What I do remember is how peaceful and calm Pa looked while he slept. And I remember that I watched him until my own eyes grew tired.

I never told anyone else about my secret, not even Ma or Pa.  No one knows, except you and me.

And I hope you'll never tell anyone else.

I Remember An Original Story

 

I Remember

There was a time when the world was younger, that is the time I remember the most.  That’s when I was at my best, when things were simpler, when life was easier, when we all thought nothing could stop us and the world was ours. 

There are so many things that happened in my life, from the time that I was born until now.  And I remember it all, although looking at me now; you’d never see me for what I once was.

I was small, like most things are when they first start out and not very beautiful, but one couple fell in love the minute they noticed me.   They doted on me and they took care of me, but as my family prospered, I began to grow as well.   

Parties were held here, holidays celebrated and weddings attended.   And I was the center of attention.  Everyone complimented on how beautiful I was and how well  I held up under the circumstances.  So many people admired me that they visited me often.   

It was then I noticed that people started to leave.  I had heard that they were having families of their own and, for some reason, they couldn’t stay.  But I still got to see them every once in a while, although a lot of the time they spent was outdoors.  There were still parties and holiday celebrations and the families still came.  And it was still busy, especially at those times. 

But then something happened.  I had heard that my family had run out of money.  There was a stock market crash, whatever that was, and people were losing everything they had.  There were tragedies all over; one of them even affected my family. 

There was talk about moving somewhere else, but nothing ever happened. I even heard that they found some money hidden away and that they would stay with me.

I think it was the next day, I can’t be for sure, I found I had been abandoned, forgotten.  My family, who had loved me enough to care for me, had run off in the middle of the night.  I was heartbroken.

I do remember someone had come back, I do not know when as I have no knowledge of time as it passes.  I wasn’t exactly sure who they were or why they were here.  All I know is that they stayed with me comforted me and told me that everything would be alright, that someone would come for me. 

 One day, he did not come back.  Again, there was no one there to care for me.  I didn’t know what I was going to do.  I needed someone to comfort me, to help and protect me. 

Soon there were other people inside, strangers that I didn’t recognize.  They began to show up, out of nowhere.  I did not know who they were or what they wanted.  All I knew is that one by one, they grabbed things, things of value, things that had meant so much to my family.

It was later on that I realized that the strangers were gone and had not returned.

 And once again, I was lonely. 

Time passed, but not sure how much time.  I watched and waited, but things remained quiet.  I remembered that I heard noises and glass breaking all around me.  I wondered what was happening, but after a while I paid no attention.  There was nothing I could do about it anyway.

One day, I heard people talking outside. I wasn’t sure what they wanted, but they seemed to be very excited and interested in something.    I couldn’t make out what they were talking about, but I will never forget how very interested they were.

Again, other people showed up. And again, they were strangers to me. But this time, they didn’t take anything, no, this time they brought things with them.  They were things to clean with like paint, tools, brooms, soap and water. I watched and waited to see what would happen next.

And I am so glad that I did.   I now have new owners and I’m back to myself again.   I am as popular as I was when my original family came in, fixed me up and watched me grow.

This is now a place where students, teachers and people from all walks of life come in to look at exhibits, which are changed every three months.  People are watching out for me and taking great care of me. There is a sign outside with the word museum for all to see.

I am no longer lonely.

But sometimes, late at night, I always remember my earliest days when I was small and when the world was younger.  That’s when I was at my best, when things were simpler, when life was easier, when we all thought nothing could stop us and the world was ours.   

   

The New In Laws A Little House fanfic

 

The New In Laws

A Story by Request

This story is slightly different. It's about Laura and Almanzo by way of Charles and Caroline. It's the first night after Laura and Almanzo's spur of the moment wedding in Sleepy Eye and Charles has a lot on his mind.

The New In Laws

Charles stood at the corral fence in silence and all by himself. He had a lot on mind this night. This time, it wasn't about money, it wasn't about the Olesons and it certainly wasn't about who was going to win the arm wrestling contest at the Grange Picnic.

No, this time it was his daughter, Laura. She was growing up and he refused to see it, refused to hear about it and refused to admit it, even to himself.

In Sleepy Eye last night, at the Blind School to be exact, Laura and Almanzo got married at the spur of the moment. Charles was just as happy and excited as the newlyweds were, but that happiness and excitement was starting to wear off. Reality was starting to sink in.

His second oldest daughter, the one who was just like him and the one who he had bonded with, was gone now. It wasn't like she moved so far away, the two of them were just up the road, separated by miles, two or three the most, if that.

But Laura had been his baby, his little girl, his little half pint of sweet cider half-drunk up.

Charles should have seen it coming, especially the first day that boy came to town. The first thing he did was give Laura what she called the "grown up nickname" of Beth. It was no wonder that Laura couldn't stop talking about him. She made every excuse to see him and to be with him.

And in the beginning, it seemed as if Almanzo didn't take Laura's infatuation seriously, but he never tried to discourage her either. Almanzo knew that there was a ten year difference in their ages, but it didn't seem to bother him as much, not as much as it bothered Charles.

And it confused him. The more he tried to keep her from seeing or talking about Almanzo, the more she pursued him.

And the angrier it made Charles. He wanted so badly to beat him in the arm wrestling contest at the Grange Picnic. He wanted to make Laura understand that it was too early for her to marry. He wanted her to wait until she was eighteen, that was the proper thing to do.

Charles hadn't been as strict with Mary. He practically pushed her to get married. He hadn't minded that she was sixteen at the time either. But then again, Mary knew what she wanted. Mary was older, she was smart and she took charge of the family. He knew that Mary would be able to handle anything that came her way with confidence.

And then everything changed. All the hopes and dreams that Charles had for the future were gone, along with Mary's eyesight.

And now they looked to Laura to help out. And it meant that Laura had to grow up. But Charles never thought of her that way. Charles was convinced of that, no matter what or how many times Laura told him that she was a woman, she was still a little girl to him, his half pint. She was too young to get involved with anyone now, especially someone like Almanzo who was a grown man in his twenties. Besides which, he couldn't understand what Almanzo saw in her. She was too young for him. She didn't know what she wanted, not at sixteen.

Caroline had told him that he was wrong; that she had her mind made up, that she knew what she wanted, that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with Almanzo. Charles knew it wasn't true and Almanzo had proved it by going to Sleepy Eye, leaving Laura upset and on her own. He never even mentioned when or if he would return.

And then there was the saloon girl….

So Charles made the trip to Sleepy Eye to tell Almanzo Wilder just what he thought of him. But it turned out that he had been wrong about him. And it was starting to sink in that he had been wrong about Laura too. She loved Almanzo and Charles knew now that Almanzo was in love with her. Even Houston, the caretaker of the old courthouse, knew that Almanzo was in love with Laura, no matter how much he tried to hide it. And Charles knew that he couldn't keep them apart anymore.

It seemed that Almanzo had taken an extra job to help Laura pay the rent that she still owed to the owner, Mr. Pims. Working two jobs had caused Almanzo to develop a bad bout of pneumonia and he was burning up with fever. So Charles decided he would drive her to Sleepy Eye so that she could be with Almanzo when he recovered.

Charles never forgot the way she looked at Almanzo as he opened the door to Houston's room. It was the same look that she had given him when he spoke about the land he had just bought from Mr. Gray. It was the same look that she had given him during and after the wedding ceremony.

It was the look of happiness when you knew you had found your one and only. It was the look of excitement at being together for the first time. And it was the look of true love knowing that you would be spending the rest of your lives together, forever.

And then Charles remembered when she was younger, when they would go fishing together, when she would come to him for advice and when she supported him ….

"Charles," he heard Caroline call from somewhere behind him. "Charles, it's late. I would think you'd be tired after we made that trip from Sleepy Eye this morning."

He looked up at his wife, his eyes welled up with tears.

"Charles?" she whispered, reaching out to caress his cheek as the tears started to fall.

"Caroline, I was wrong and you were right. I should have let them marry earlier. I don't know why I didn't. "

Caroline frowned. "What are you talking about, Charles?"

"Almanzo." He told her, looking out on the prairie. "I don't know, Caroline. Maybe I was being overprotective of her. He was so much older it just felt strange to me. All I wanted to do was make sure she was doing the right thing. I mean, I didn't want to see her get hurt. But, last night, last night…."

"What about last night?"

"It was the way they kept looking at each other as if they knew they were meant for each other. They looked so happy together. There was a glow about them. It was as if they belonged together and that nothing could ever break them apart."

Caroline smiled and could feel her eyes welling up with tears. "Charles…"

"Is that how we felt? Is that how you felt? That we were always meant to be together and that there was no one else in the whole wide world for us but each other?"

Caroline looked at him and smiled. "I felt that way, Charles. I felt just like Laura. She knew the minute she met Almanzo that she was going to make him see her as a woman. She always knew that she was going to Laura Ingalls Wilder someday."

"And that's how you felt?"

She nodded and touched her husband's cheek. "What about you?"

Charles smiled. "It was the way I looked at you when I first met you. It was the way I felt when we were together and it was the way knew we would be together for the rest of our lives. There was always something between us, some spark that connected us. That's how I felt and that's how I still feel."

Charles wrapped his arms around her brought her closer. "I love you, Caroline. I always will."

"And I love you, Charles," she answered as he released her.

"I wonder what they're doing now." Charles answered, looking at his wife.

"What do you think they're doing? And anyway, you'll find out when we see them on Friday."

Charles frowned. "What does that mean?"

"Well, you know, Eliza Jane is leaving for St. Louis on Saturday. We're having the farewell party, remember? "

Charles shook his head. "Almost forgot. I think you invited everyone here, right?"

"This afternoon it was moved to Nellie's. Mrs. Oleson gave me an employee discount. "

Charles smiled. "Mrs. Oleson?"

"It was more Percival's idea. He's trying to show off Nellie's cooking."

Charles laughed and it was so infectious that Caroline laughed, too.

"Don't say anything, Charles. Percival wasn't supposed to tell me."

"Don't worry, I won't." Charles shook his head. "Hey, it beats you cooking and me drying the dishes."

And Charles put his arm around her as they walked toward the little house.

"Oh, and Charles? Albert and Carrie…."

He shook his head. "Are those two at it again?"

Caroline nodded. "Apparently, Carrie wakes Albert up every time she uses the outhouse."

"Alright, I'll talk to them."

Charles opened the door for her and they walked in the house together.

Kite Flying, Coloring Books and Other Things A Little House fanfic.

 

Kite Flying, Coloring Books and Other Things

A continuation of I Do, Again

Laura and Almanzo all learn a little something while babysitting the Ingalls kids while Ma and Pa are away on a second honeymoon.    

“You have everything?”  Almanzo asked his arms around his wife’s shoulders. 

“Yep, I do,” Laura answered kissing her husband lightly.  “And I have to thank you for the hard work you did helping me with my latest school project.”

Almanzo smiled.  “You know your Pa helped, too. 

“Yeah, I know,” she said, smiling.  “But it’s just going to have to wait until he gets back.  I’ve got a big supper planned for tomorrow night when Ma and Pa return from their second honeymoon.”

Almanzo frowned.  “I thought we were going over there.”

Laura smiled and kissed him.  “It’s the next night, Manly.  Remember, we talked about this last night.  You know, when I told you about your sister’s book and we talked about Sleepy Eye and…”

Laura’s voice trailed off.  “Manly, are you alright?”

Almanzo smiled up at her.  “You know, if we weren’t outside and you weren’t up in that rig, I’d climb up and kiss you right here in front of everyone.”

“Okay, Almanzo James Wilder, I dare you to come up and kiss me.”

Manly’s eyes widened and so did the smile.  “You shouldn’t dare me, Laura Ingalls Wilder,” he said as he started to climb into the seat.

“What in the world are you doing, Mr. Wilder?”  Laura asked as Almanzo made it to the top of the buckboard and sat down next to her. 

“What does it look like, Mrs. Wilder?”  he answered, as he put his arms around her and pulled her close.  “I’m kissing my wife in front of everyone.”

“Who is everyone, Manly? Do you mean like a passing squirrel?”

“Shh,” he said as he leaned in and….

“Almanzo,” a voice called out.  “I didn’t know you were tagging along.”

Manly and Beth turned around at the sound of Albert’s voice.  He had just come out of the farmhouse holding Grace’s hand.   Laura’s gaze turned to Almanzo, who she found was already staring back at her.

“Fooled you, didn’t he, Albert?” Laura whispered as they stared at one another.

“You shouldn’t have dared me,” he whispered, smiling at her.  “I love you, Beth.”

“And I love you, too, Manly.”

“You sure you don’t want to come?” Albert said, smiling as Almanzo jumped off the rig. 

“I’ll see all of you later at the schoolhouse.  Grace and I have a date this afternoon, don’t we?”

Grace nodded.  She looked up at Almanzo and held her hands out, a sign that she wanted to be picked up.

And Almanzo did just that. 

“Yep, we’re gonna go for a little walk, just the two of us, maybe even have a little picnic.  How does that sound?”

Grace nodded again as Almanzo placed her on his shoulder. 

“See you at the school later on,” he said as he watched Laura drive off. 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Laura and Almanzo were downstairs at the Wilder farm clearing up the supper dishes.  

“So, how did your day go?”  Manly said, as he put down the towel and walked over to where she was standing.   He wrapped his arms around her waist and swayed her back and forth. “That was another great project you thought up, Beth.  Those kites were the talk of Walnut Grove.”

“Hey, don’t be so modest Manly, you and Pa did plenty of work on them yourselves,” Laura said, standing of tip toe to kiss him.   

“We only made six of them.  All the kids couldn’t fly them at the same time.”   

Almanzo looked at her curiously.  “So what did you give them to do?”

“The new coloring books and paints came in,” Laura told him.  “I made sure that the kids switched off.  Some of them used the coloring books, some of them flew kites and believe it or not, some of them, like Albert, studied. 

Almanzo’s eyes opened wide.  “Albert was studying?”

 Laura nodded.  “Albert will be graduating next year, Manly.  He is thinking of becoming a doctor.  I’m giving him my books so he can prepare for them. “

Almanzo smiled.  “Time does fly, doesn’t it?”

Laura nodded.  “Speaking of time flying ,” Laura said, “where’s Albert?”

“Right here,” Albert answered, as he entered the kitchen, “Almanzo, you and Laura are hereby requested to come join us for some kite flying.”

Almanzo looked at Laura and smiled.  “Are we up to it?”

“Only until it gets dark, Albert,” Laura said, looking at her husband. 

But Albert hadn’t heard, he was already outside with his sisters.

Almanzo smiled and released her.  “He’s all excited.”

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

“The kids learned all about Benjamin Franklin and kite flying today,” Laura said, “It’s actually something that you see very rarely on the prairie.”

“In about an hour and a half, it will be way past Carrie and Grace’s bed time,”

“Well, Grace’s anyway,” Laura said, taking out some of the lemonade she had made.  She put the glass pitcher down, took out the glasses and handed them to Almanzo to carry out.

“We can sit on the porch and watch them,” she told him as she picked up the pitcher again.

“Correction, you can sit on the porch and watch them.  I want to fly at least one those paper kites,” Almanzo smiled and walked out the front door with the glasses in his hand.

Laura was right in back of him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

“Manly, I’m sorry about tonight.  I actually wanted a quiet night, just you and me…”

Almanzo smiled and wrapped her up in his arms.

“I had a good time, Beth.  It took me several tries to get that kite up, but I managed to.  After school was over, Carrie taught me and Grace about catching frogs down by the creek and Albert and I helped her get her kite up.  We all learned a little something.”

“What about Grace?  She can be fussy eater.”

“Oh, Beth, she’s a cutie.  She ate up all of your leftover eggs and we took a little walk into the wooded area out back.  I showed her some birds and some flowers and she was so attentive and interested that I thought I had finally found a friend. “

“And then it was time for supper.”

“And bedtime,” Almanzo said, “but this time I was ready for her.  I told her all about Cinderella and do you know what?”

“She fell asleep?”

Almanzo smiled and shook his head. “I don’t know how you did it, Beth, but I couldn’t get her to go to sleep at all.  She wanted to hear more about the birds, the plants and the flowers and I started to explain them to her.  When I started talking about all the different birds she saw today, she fell asleep.”  He smiled.  “If you ask me, I don’t think she cared one way or the other.”

Laura laughed as she slid closer to Almanzo.  “If that’s the case, do you think we’ll still need that fairy tale book when we go there tomorrow night?”

Almanzo looked at her.  “Wait a minute, didn’t you tell me that we were…”

“Well,” Laura said, looking at him.  “I got the day wrong.  You were right.  Remember yesterday when Mrs. Oleson called me over to the Mercantile?  That was them calling to tell me”

Almanzo sat up and frowned.  “So when are we going over there?”

“I’m sorry, Manly.  I was just so busy that I forget to tell you they were coming to pick up the kids at our place tomorrow night instead.”

Almanzo frowned.  “You knew all this time and you didn’t tell me?”

“I was going to, Manly, They were supposed to be here tonight, but Pa decided to stay a little longer.”

Almanzo looked at her. A shy smile was beginning to form on his lips and folded his arms across his chest.

“So that’s how you knew?”

She nodded. 

“Beth?”

“I just wanted to see if you were paying attention, Manly, I guess you were.”

Almanzo shook his head and put his arms around her waist. “Well, there’s something I forgot to tell you too, Beth.”

“What’s that?”

“You know that fairy tale book we were talking about yesterday?  Well, I mentioned it to Albert and he just smiled.  And…”

 “And?” Laura said, looking at him curiously.

Manly untangled his right arm from Laura’s waist and stretched it out to retrieve something behind him.  He fumbled with it at first, but in the end, he managed to bring it forward.

Laura’s eyes opened wide as he plopped it down on the bed.  She looked at it and then she looked up at him. 

“Where was it?” she asked, picking up Eliza Jane’s fat book of Grimm’s Fairy Tales.

“Same place you remembered it being, Beth, underneath your old bed in the loft.  Albert used it for a while, but he told me that the Cinderella story stopped working on Grace a while ago.  So he gave it to me when I asked him about it.  He thought we could use it when our baby is born.”

“You had it all the time and you didn’t tell me?”

Almanzo slid his right arm around Laura’s waist again.  He tried not to smile.  “I guess I just wanted to see if you were paying attention."

“MANLY,” Laura said, trying not to smile.  She put her arms around his waist.

“Maybe we should look into getting a copy of Audobon’s book on birds instead.  I saw a few of them in the Mercantile last week.  Maybe we should…”

But Almanzo never let her finish the sentence.

Author’s Note:

A few things to mention:

Kites and kite flying have been around since 450 BC.  They started in China, but spread to Europe in the 14^th to 15^th centuries .  From there, they moved to Maylasia and Japan in the 16^th and 17^th centuries.  Eventually they made it to America around 18^th to 19^th centuries. 

They were used for all kinds of things including, weather,military and scientific experiments.  The Wright Brothers and Alexander Graham Bell used their skills as kite flyers to perfect the early aeroplanes.   Later on, in the 50’s and 60’s, they would be used for parachutes and hang gliders.  In the 70’s and beyond, they were used for fun and for sport.  But kids and adults have been flying them since the 1600’s.

Coloring books were started in the 1870’s and 1880’s with the Little Folks’ Painting Book.  Watercolor paints have been around since the cave man and was used for everything from artistic painting to coloring books.

Watercolors were used by John J. Audobon while documenting his famous book of birds which I also mention in this story.