Read Online Once Upon a Misty Bluegrass Hill by Rebecca Bernadette Mance - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Rebecca Bernadette Mance
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lot of it free hand. "
Patrick emerg ed from the barn. " Fine job the girls did didn ' t they? "
Lacy dropped her can of food and the chickens attacked the scattered corn.
Jolene smiled at Bea. " Indeed, I wish I had her at Aunt Paula ' s house, she probably could fix the screen better than I ever did. "
" Patrick ! " The girls both shrieked and ran to Patrick nearly knocking him over in a competition for the biggest hug.
A scene from her childhood flitted across Jolene ' s mind leaving behind a hollow hole in her heart. She used to run to her Daddy just the same way when she was really small when he came in from working all day with the horses. Then when she was older she got to go out with him , which was even better .
Patrick swung Lacy up in his arms and held Bea ' s hand. " How is the schooling goin g ? "
Lacy ' s little mouth formed an exaggerated frown and her hazel green eyes affected as much sympathy as possible . " Boring. "
Patrick laughed. " Well it is a fine thing ye r mother taking time to teach yer so you donna have to ride the bus so far ta school and you help with the gardens and my hens. "
Bea swung out Patrick ' s free arm and danced under his elbow in a ballroom step. " We are going to DC with Dad next week. "
" All of yer ? " Patrick set Lacy down and walked with them toward the hen house.
" Yes and we are going to lots of museums while dad is working. "
" Boring! " Lacy chimed in.
Bea tapped her sister ' s head. " It is not boring! "
Patrick laughed. " Okay girls no w that is enough of that. Let us go see the handy work Bea has done to repair the house. "
Jolene watched them crouch in front of the hen door. " I ain ' t never been to DC, what is it like? " Jolene asked.
Bea opened the hen door to wordlessly illustrate her repair job. " A lot of historical buildings. We toured the Capital building last time. "
" Bea ' s and Lacy ' s father is an Air F orce lawyer. "
Jolene stepped forward. " Oh. Wow. Well my Daddy was in Vietnam a long time ago. "
Patrick stood up shaking his head. " Wasted war, that. War is a waste. "
Jolene felt a familiar burn in her stomach come to a rising anger that made her want to scream at Patrick even though he had saved her from Aunt Paula and brought her home again .
Such talk always did that to her .
Her father had a flag pole that he erected at the end of their driveway long before she was born. Every day he raised two flags. The American flag and the black POW flag. At night he took them down or put on the flood light.
The flag pole and the flags were gone.
They had been lost in the storm that took everything else.
" My Daddy didn ' t think it was a waste. He said that we don ' t know what would have happened with the communists if we didn ' t take a stand. " Jolene felt the heat rise across her face and neck under Patrick ' s close study . " Daddy said the Russians wasted resources on that war and so that helped win the cold war. " Jolene hesitated, gathering strength under her words. " Daddy said maybe with no Vietnam, they ' d have kept marching across everywhere. "
Patrick looked thoughtful. " Well that is an interesting notion. "
" My daddy had a flag pole with an American flag and a POW flag out there by the road. "
Bea started to lift the nesting box lids and pluck out the eggs. " We have a flag pole too! " Bea rolled the eggs i n her shirt. " I am going up to the house to clean the eggs. "
" Go on then, " Patrick s aid. " P ack some up for your mum. "
Patrick walked closer to Jolene , his morning glory eyes intense on her face . " What about now Jolene ? D o you think America should have gone to Iraq and Afghanistan? Don ' t you think those were a waste? "
Jolene looked off in the distance searching for words to match her feelings . She had thought about it a lot. She missed Flint more than anybody. That was her greatest loss. But then
Patrick emerg ed from the barn. " Fine job the girls did didn ' t they? "
Lacy dropped her can of food and the chickens attacked the scattered corn.
Jolene smiled at Bea. " Indeed, I wish I had her at Aunt Paula ' s house, she probably could fix the screen better than I ever did. "
" Patrick ! " The girls both shrieked and ran to Patrick nearly knocking him over in a competition for the biggest hug.
A scene from her childhood flitted across Jolene ' s mind leaving behind a hollow hole in her heart. She used to run to her Daddy just the same way when she was really small when he came in from working all day with the horses. Then when she was older she got to go out with him , which was even better .
Patrick swung Lacy up in his arms and held Bea ' s hand. " How is the schooling goin g ? "
Lacy ' s little mouth formed an exaggerated frown and her hazel green eyes affected as much sympathy as possible . " Boring. "
Patrick laughed. " Well it is a fine thing ye r mother taking time to teach yer so you donna have to ride the bus so far ta school and you help with the gardens and my hens. "
Bea swung out Patrick ' s free arm and danced under his elbow in a ballroom step. " We are going to DC with Dad next week. "
" All of yer ? " Patrick set Lacy down and walked with them toward the hen house.
" Yes and we are going to lots of museums while dad is working. "
" Boring! " Lacy chimed in.
Bea tapped her sister ' s head. " It is not boring! "
Patrick laughed. " Okay girls no w that is enough of that. Let us go see the handy work Bea has done to repair the house. "
Jolene watched them crouch in front of the hen door. " I ain ' t never been to DC, what is it like? " Jolene asked.
Bea opened the hen door to wordlessly illustrate her repair job. " A lot of historical buildings. We toured the Capital building last time. "
" Bea ' s and Lacy ' s father is an Air F orce lawyer. "
Jolene stepped forward. " Oh. Wow. Well my Daddy was in Vietnam a long time ago. "
Patrick stood up shaking his head. " Wasted war, that. War is a waste. "
Jolene felt a familiar burn in her stomach come to a rising anger that made her want to scream at Patrick even though he had saved her from Aunt Paula and brought her home again .
Such talk always did that to her .
Her father had a flag pole that he erected at the end of their driveway long before she was born. Every day he raised two flags. The American flag and the black POW flag. At night he took them down or put on the flood light.
The flag pole and the flags were gone.
They had been lost in the storm that took everything else.
" My Daddy didn ' t think it was a waste. He said that we don ' t know what would have happened with the communists if we didn ' t take a stand. " Jolene felt the heat rise across her face and neck under Patrick ' s close study . " Daddy said the Russians wasted resources on that war and so that helped win the cold war. " Jolene hesitated, gathering strength under her words. " Daddy said maybe with no Vietnam, they ' d have kept marching across everywhere. "
Patrick looked thoughtful. " Well that is an interesting notion. "
" My daddy had a flag pole with an American flag and a POW flag out there by the road. "
Bea started to lift the nesting box lids and pluck out the eggs. " We have a flag pole too! " Bea rolled the eggs i n her shirt. " I am going up to the house to clean the eggs. "
" Go on then, " Patrick s aid. " P ack some up for your mum. "
Patrick walked closer to Jolene , his morning glory eyes intense on her face . " What about now Jolene ? D o you think America should have gone to Iraq and Afghanistan? Don ' t you think those were a waste? "
Jolene looked off in the distance searching for words to match her feelings . She had thought about it a lot. She missed Flint more than anybody. That was her greatest loss. But then
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