Donners Bend (18 page)

“If it wasn’t for me they wouldn’t have a roof over their heads nor a cent to their names, and nor would you!”

“I know that, but you’re still their father
. 
Do you remember when I was a boy
? 
The games you used to play with me
? 
We’d have a war in the backyard, or you’d take me to that
darn
lake for fishing, or you’d teach me to fence
. 
Why haven’t you ever done that with Gracie
, o
r Leah, Demi, and Wesley
? 
Why not, pops?”

“Enough!”
Robert
bellowed, “I will not be spoken to with such a lack of respect.”

Jamie, ignoring his father, ran a hand through his hair and whispered to himself, “Someday you shall see, dear
father that
the man you’d hoped
you
to be one day is not the man you have recently become.” He rose his voice to an audible volume then, and said briefly in a flat, placid tone, “
Good night
, father.”

Unbeknownst to either man, two or three of the
Thompson
’s servants had gathered outside the doorway, listening to the fight
. 
They watched as Jamie left the room and walked back down the stairs, leaving his father to deal with his animosity alone
. 

The only man of the trio, a butler, gave a small chuckle and said sarcastically, “Never before have I seen such a loving father and son.”

Although it rained in
Donners Bend
every other day if not more, for the past five days it had not rained a drop
. 
The people waited, but still neither rain nor clouds had appeared
. 
Each morning they went out on their front porches, looked up to the sky, and called to their neighbors, “During the night?”

“Nope,” was their reply, as they shook their heads back and forth
, a
nd the people would look back
to the cloudless sky and
wonder
.
 

Despite what one would think, they didn’t cherish those rainless days as they should
. 
They didn’t go out for picnics, or ride horseback through the hills, or even take walks in the sunshine
. 
They sat on their porches and waited
. 
It wasn’t that they really wanted the rain that badly, it was just that they missed the normalcy it brought
. 
Without rain,
Donners Bend
wasn’t
Donners Bend
. 

The people sat on their porches and they waited and they wondered
. 
They wondered when the rainy days of
Donners Bend
would be back again
. 

Jon
and
Ellie
sat outside on the sixth dry night
. 
Ellie
sat on her porch on the second step to the ground with her bare feet stretched out in front of her and her hair tied up into a little ponytail on the top of her head
. 
She always wished her hair would fall like
Marcelle’s
did, in beautiful wavy curls that always looked amazing, but no matter how she styled it, it always looked the same: short and wispy in that indescribable, light brown/blond color
, but
when she was with
Jon
,
Ellie
didn’t seem to really care what she looked like and she tied her hair up on the top of her head because even though it looked ridiculous for a lady to do, that was most comfortable
. 

“I miss it,” said
Jon
. 
He was lying on the dry grass with his hands behind his head and his whitish-blond hair fal
ling
lazily into his eyes as he looked up to the stars
. 
The sleeves of h
is blue plaid sh
irt were rolled up to his elbows,
and his feet were bare as well
. 

“Miss what?”

“The rain.”

“Why do you miss the rain?”

He shrugged, “I don’t know.”

The wind blew stray hair from her ponytail into
Ellie
’s face, but she blew them straight out again and sighed
. 
The stars twinkled on the velvety black blanket of sky above them, but neither said a word
. 
Ellie
had read somewhere long ago that true friendship is when silence between two people was comfortable
. 
She never felt more at ease than she did with
Jon
.

“Maybe it’s just because I’m used to it,”
Jon
suggested, referring back to the brief conversation they’d had more than ten minutes before
. 

“Maybe,”
Ellie
agreed.

“Or maybe it’s because I like drama
. 
My mother always said when I was a child I liked drama more than the ordinary
. 
She said I’d prefer a thunderstorm to a sunny day anytime because I thought something interesting might occur in the storm
. 
Sunny days were boring, I thought.”

“Sometimes they are boring.”

Jon
nodded, “Sometimes they are.”

The wind blew again and the leaves began to rustle
. 
All was quiet and dark but the whist
ling
wind and the soft light of the stubby candle
Ellie
had set on the top step
. 
More than ten minutes had passed again before the silence was broken.

“
Jon
?”

“Hmm?”

“I miss the rain too.”

The next morning still not a drop of rain had fallen
. 
At work, during an extended playtime, Jamie suggested Peter Pan and the children happily agreed
. 
So at the moment they were dressing to fit their characters
. 

Leah and Wesley put on boys pajamas to play the parts of Michael and John Dar
ling
. 
Leah also tied up her long blond curls so she could look more boyish
. 

Ellie
, wearing a simple blue dress as Wendy Dar
ling
, helped Gracie into her costume
. 
Gracie wore a sparkly green dress and little green ballet slippers to play the part of
Tinker bell
. 
Her hair she pulled up into a bun and
Ellie
placed a little tiara on top
. 
She also carried a simple wand and a little green pouch filled with spark
ling
powder, her pixie dust.

Demi, though she was but a young girl, chose to play the evil Captain Hook.
  S
he wore
a
red jacket, a black pirate hat with white feather plume, and a “hook” covered her left hand
. 
She smiled with a feisty grin when she’d finished dressing and gave a nasty, “Arghh!”

And Jamie, last but not least, was back by popular demand as the boy who never grew up, Peter Pan
. 
He wore chocolate brown pants, a crisp white collared shirt rolled up at the sleeves, and upon his dark hair was an emerald green cap with a red feather sticking out the back
. 

Now, Wendy, Michael, John, and Captain Hook sat in Gracie and Leah’s bedroom, the setting of the first scene, in a little
li
n
e on the rug
. 
Even though Captain Hook technically wasn’t supposed to appear until later, Demi was included, and no one said a thing of it
. 
Jamie stood beside an injured Gracie who lay on the ground
. 
She liked to appear hurt several times during their little game so that she could act the part of a dramatic actress and everyone could bring her back to life.

“Do you believe in fairies?” Jamie, as Peter, asked in a whisper to the group.

They nodded in return.

“Say
quickly
that you believe.”

“We believe.”

“Clap your hands if you believe.”

All the children, plus
Ellie
, clapped their hands and Gracie rose from the ground, magically healed.

“
Every time a child says 'I don't believe in fairies' there is a little fairy somewhere that falls down dead,” said Jamie.

The children gasped.

But not more than a moment later, impatient Wesley, as Michael, asked, “Can we fly now, Jamie?”

Leah nudged him, “His name’s Peter.”

Wesley corrected himself, “Peter, can we fly now
? 
Please?”

“I suppose so.”

Acting like the doubtful Wendy,
Ellie
asked, “But how can we fly, Peter
? 
It seems impossible.”

“All you need is a wonderful thought and a little trust and of course
,
a pinch of pixie dust
. 
Tink?”

Gracie pulled out her pouch and sprinkled a pinch of dust onto each of their heads.

“Now close your eyes and think of the most wonderful things in the world,” Jamie instructed
. 

As soon as their eyes had closed, Jamie took Wesley and
Ellie
grabbed Leah and they “flew” them through the air
. 
Demi, wanting to fly too, began jumping on the bed and shouting, “We can fly
! 
We can fly!”

“Come on
Tink
! 
To
Never
L
and
we go!” Jamie shouted, heading out the door, “Follow me, Wendy
! 
Second star to the right and straight on till morning!”

They flew down the elegant stairway and out the door to the backyard, a.k.a
. 
Never
L
and
. 
There they went through many adventures full of pirates, mermaids, and Indians
. 
Jamie continually amazed
Ellie
with his childish side
. 
All the men she’d met his age, twenty-five, were far to
o
busy being “gentlemen” to ever consider a little fun once in a while
. 
I
t was strange to see so many sides to Jamie;
Ellie
had seen him as a pirate, a son thrown out of school, a smoking and dissatisfied love interest, a victorious fencer, a loved brother, and now, Peter Pan
. 

She’d chosen to forget all about that little incident at Emily’s wedding.

They were just in the middle of being forced to jump off the Captain Hook’s plank when
Ellie
felt a drop of water fall onto her arm
. 
She ignored it, but a moment later it happened again.

“Did you feel that?” she asked, turning around to face the angry Captain Hook
. 
She turned to Jamie, “Peter
? 
Is it raining?”