Donners Bend (19 page)

“Don’t try to change t
he
subject, lass!” Demi shouted
. 
She poked her sword into
Ellie
’s
back, “Off the plank with ye
! 
I believe the gators are hungry today.”

A drizzle of rain began to fall.

“We need to fly back
! 
Quick, Tink
, s
ome pixie dust!” Jamie ordered.

Gracie did as she was asked and began running to the house; Leah followed.

Jamie took Demi and
Ellie
grabbed Wesley as the rain began to pour from the many dark clouds that had suddenly swarmed above them
. 
Within a moment all four were soaked.

“A little wet, Wendy?” Jamie asked with a smile when they’d stepped inside.

Ellie
returned the grin, “Just a little.”

“I’ve got an idea!” Leah shouted, “We can get into our jammies early and sip hot cocoa by the fire
. 
Can we, Peter
? 
Please?”

“Don’t ask me, ask Wendy.”

“Please, Wendy?”

Ellie
looked to Jamie, “I’ll take the girls and you take Wesley?”

“Sounds like a plan to me.”

Once all had slipped into warm pajamas, even
Ellie
,
who wore one of
Louise
Rhodes’ nightgowns
after
Jamie plea
ded
with her
to
do so,
they gathered around the fireplace in the parlor with a cup of hot cocoa for each and a plate of warm muffins
. 
Wesley fell asleep instantly and Demi was also beginning to doze off
. 
The two older girls were braiding one another’s hair
. 

“It’s not letting up any, is it?” asked
Ellie
.

Jamie, who was seated in an armchair in front of the curtains, took a peek outside and confirmed, “Nope
. 
And I doubt it will anytime soon
. 
The last time
Donners Bend
went so long without rain it ended up raining for three days straight.”

“Really?”

Jamie nodded, “I doubt my parents will be coming home tonight
. 
It’d be too hard to take that long ride home from Rutherford in the rain.”

The rain grew even harder and began pounding on the roof and windows
. 
Ellie
was surprised the children didn’t wake up
. 
And then, it grew even worse as lightning flashed, thunder boomed, and a horrible thunderstorm began
. 

“Maybe I should get home before it gets any worse,”
Ellie
suggested as she stood up with a worried expression.

“You’re going home
,
Ellie
?” Gracie asked in a small voice.

“Well I’d rather go home now before the storm gets any worse.”

“I’d
advise
against that,” said Jamie, “I doubt it’ll let up
unt
il morning.”

“Th
e
n what are you suggesting?”

“You can stay here!” Leah exclaimed, “We can have a slumber party!”

“I don’t know
,
girls,”
Ellie
answered skeptically, “I should probably just return to my own house
. 
I don’t know if it’d be proper for me to stay here for the night.”

“Please,
Ellie
? 
It’ll be lots of fun,” Gracie promised, “And it’s not like you’d be intruding
. 
We
want
you to stay.”

“We promise you’ll enjoy yourself
. 
We could build a tent like we used to do during stormy nights a long time ago
. 
Remember, Jamie?”

“I remember,” Jamie replied with a chuckle.

“I’m sorry, girls
. 
That sounds like a lot of fun but
...
”

“I really don’t think you should be going home in this weather,” Jamie added, looking out from above his glasses as he read his paper.”

“Well, if you all feel so strongly about it
,
I suppose I could stay
...
”

With that said,
there she remained
un
til morning
...
 

All through the night the thunderstorm continued
. 
As he had promised, Jamie, with the help of
Ellie
, set up a tent in the parlor by using clothespins to hang a few sheets from the couches and chairs
. 
It wasn’t the best, but it would do
. 
All the children brought in their blankets and pillows and set up sleeping areas inside
. 
After much insistence,
Ellie
lay
down between Leah and Wesley
, and Jamie was
between Gracie and Demi
. 

Wesley curled up into
Ellie
’s lap as his brother pulled out a storybook and began reading them a story about a lonely, forgotten princess and the prince, who traveled through dangerous forests, sailed through rough seas, and battled evil monsters to rescue her
. 
By the end of the story all the children had fallen asleep, and surprisingly, so had
Ellie
. 

“
. . . S
o, they both lived happily ever after
. 
The end
.
”
Jamie looked around at his “attentive” listeners and gave a small smile
. 

After tucking in all three girls and giv
ing
them each a goodnight kiss, Jamie took Wesley from
Ellie
’s arms and set him down into his own bed
. 

“Goodnight, little man,” he said, ruff
li
n
g Wesley’s dark curls
. 

“Night, night,” Wesley replied before drifting back into dreamland
. 

Then, Jamie gently pushed
Ellie
onto her own blankets and covered her up with a quilt
. 
He was just about to lie down on his own blanket when he realized it was gone
. 
The space set up originally between Gracie and Demi for him to sleep in had
disappeared
. 
Everyone had taken a little more space than intended, until there was nothing left for Jamie
. 

He scratched his head and put his hands on his hips, trying to decide what to do
. 
Finally, he grabbed a spare blanket and left the tent
. 
He took off his glasses,
and rested
down upon the couch,
before setting
his green Peter hat over his face to block out any light
. 
The continuous pounding of rain and blasts of thunder became a calming symphony and they soon
ushered
Jamie to sleep
. 

Very, very early the next morning
,
Ellie
woke when she felt the wrigg
li
n
g of one little body on her right side, and from the left side a snoring little girl stole what was left of
Ellie
’s blanket as she slept.

Ellie
yawned and stretched out her arms, looking around her dazedly
. 
The first thing she noticed was that a corner of the tent had fallen down and was now set upon Gracie’s head
. 
The second was that someone was missing
. 
That someone was Jamie
. 

Ellie
yawned again and stood up
. 
She couldn’t stand up all the way though, because the roof of the tent had caved in a little over the night
. 
Carefully tiptoeing her way around the sleeping children, she left the tent and walked into the parlor.

A smile crept over
Ellie
’s face as she spotted Jamie sound
a
sleep beneath a navy blanket on the couch
. 
She’d never see
n
him look as sweet and lovable as he did
at that moment
. 
He was like a gentle, angelic
,
little boy in a world of solitude
. 
She couldn’t see much of his face though, for his green Peter Pan hat with
its
red feather sticking out the back was placed on top of one side of his face
. 
He wore a pair of blue plaid pajama pants and a plain white t-shirt
. 

Ellie
crept across the cold wooden floor and took a seat on the rug beside the fireplace
. 
She didn’t know how long she sat there, but she knew she’d heard the clock ring more than once, and it
rang every half hour
. 
Finally, as it struck for the third time, Jamie began to stir
. 
The movement caused his hat to tumble down the floor and towards
Ellie
. 
Jamie began to reach for it, but then after seeing how far it had gone he changed his mind, closed his eyes, and began to drift off again.

A
s he did,
Ellie
crawled over to pick up the hat herself and Jamie’s eyes opened once again
. 
Seeing his eyes upon her,
Ellie
smiled
. 
His thick, dark hair stuck up in random directions from a bad night of sleep, but it still looked adorable to
Ellie
. 
Even more when consider
ing
a night or two of missed shaving had caused a beard to begin growing around his chin
. 
Although he didn’t smile back,
Ellie
knew he was content from the sparkle she saw in his slit-like brown eyes
. 
He could barely keep them open he was so tired
. 
After stretching his arms out lazily and scratching his mess of hair, Jamie looked back at
Ellie
, scooted closer to the back of the couch, and patted the empty space he’d made as an invitation to her
. 

Without a thought to it,
Ellie
rose, set the hat on the ground, and laid down on the couch with her back to him
. 
She felt him wriggle around a bit as he settled into a comfortable position and set down the other half of the blanket onto her
. 
His arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her closer to his warm body, but she didn’t think much of it
. 

Thinking back to that night later,
Ellie
always wondered why
. 
She wondered why he had scooted over
. 
Why she’d accepted his silent invitation
. 
Why she didn’t even think about it an instant before lying down beside him
, but
most of all, why it didn’t seem strange to her
. 
She never found any of the answers
.