Donners Bend (23 page)

Just as Jamie was finishing up
their friendly
snowman, Wesley took a section of snow, packed it into a ball, and threw it straight at the back of his brother’s head, hitting his black fedora
.

Jamie turned around slowly, “Was that you, little man
?

Wesley nodded with a little smile.

Jamie smiled back and began making a snowball of his own, sending Wesley running away and screaming at the top of his lungs
.

That was all it took for the sno
wball fight
to
begin...

There weren’t actually sides, so it was every man for him
,
or herself as snowballs flew like bombs around them as if they were taking part in a
n infamous
battle
. 
After a mini-war against Gracie and Leah,
Jon
changed his victim to
Ellie
. 
He grabbed a snowball, crept up behind her, and buried it right into the hole between her scarf and bare neck
. 
She screamed as the snow touched her skin and began to melt and slide down her back.

“
Johnny
!” she yelled and began laughing as she ran after him, picking up snow as she ran and trying to hit him back, but missing every time
.

“Try and catch me, Mae!”
Jon
returned, quickening his pace.

She tried numerous times again to pack together another snowball, but it was too hard to do as she ran
, a
nd besides that, it’s also not easy to do when you’re laughing uncontrollably
. 
So finally, she just decided to do as he said
,
try and catch him
. 
After chasing him around
for
a few moments
,
she gained a few feet
,
so that while he was trying to run she was able to jump atop him and send them both to the ground
. 
They rolled around a few minutes like children and
Ellie
was able to grab a few fistfuls of snow and stuff them beneath
Jon
’s scarf
.

“Mae
! 
Mae!” he laughed, “Stop
! 
Stop
! 
I didn’t mean to!”

The children laughed as they watched and yelled out, “Get’m,
Ellie
!”

Finally, when both were completely
exhausted, they collapsed onto the ground next to one another
. 
Both were smi
ling
and completely out of breath
. 
Little white puffs came out of their mouths because of the cold
. 

“Truce?”
Jon
asked
,
and
reached o
ut
his hand.

Ellie
shook it and agreed, “Truce.”

Although neither
Ellie
nor
Jon
had seen it, a sadness had appeared in Jamie’s eyes as he’d watched them thro
w
snowballs at one another and wrestle in the snow
. 
After
Jon
had left, and the
Rhodes and
Ellie
arrived at home later that evening, they warmed up by the fire and sipped hot cocoa
. 
Jamie
was distant.  He
sat a little farther off with his glasses on and a book in his hand
, but
he wasn’t actually reading
.

As he thought about that day, he pulled out and lit a cigar
. 

The joyful month of December passed fairly quickly and before
Ellie
knew it, it was Christmas Eve
.

Ellie
sat in the middle of a long table in the
Rhodes
’
elegant dining room that evening
. 
At one end of the table sat
Louise
, at the other
end,
Robert
, and in between were their children, parents,
Ellie
, and Jamie’s friend
Phillip
Browning
. 
All were dressed in their finest and the meal was by far one of the best
Ellie
had ever had the honor to partake in
. 
Candles, holly, and arrangements of poinsettias acted as the centerpiece and ran down the table festively
. 
Ellie
sat near the children, and though she was also there as a friend, she was supposed to be working and looking after the children as well
.

As she listened to yet another of
Phillip
’s amusing stories
Ellie
couldn’t help but smile
. 
It seemed everyone around her was
smiling
and joyful as well, for how could they not be on such a wonderful day?

Until, something changed the festive atmosphere.  It was as if a
match was
lit:

“What are you planning to do now James?”
Louise
’s mother,
Anna
Day-Harris, asked politely, “Will you be going back to school, or finding a job, or
...
”

Jamie looked up and replied simply, “For the moment, I’m taking some time off
. 
Thank you for asking, Grandma
Anna
.”

She nodded in reply, but
Robert
wouldn’t let it go at that:

“You can’t take time off forever.”

“I know that, father,” Jamie replied.

The table had gone silent, for everyone could sense the growing tension
. 
The flames were slowly spreading.

“Well, if you’re going to be so da
rn
smart about it, then I suppose you’ve also realized that it’s been more than eight months since you came back
from
Lakewood
. 
Eight months is
enough time to do something with your life, in my opinion, but as far as I can see
,
you haven’t done a
blasted
thing.”

Louise
, becoming quite flustered at her husband’s behavior, said quietly, “Please dear
. 
The children are present.”

But
Robert
paid h
er no
mind
, “You haven’t done any
thing
! 
Isn’t that right, James
? 
Tell me
! 
Isn’t that right?”

Jamie was just about to lash back when little old
Anna
spoke again:

“Well, I’m sure James is smart enough that he has a very successful future lying ahead of him, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he followed in your footsteps,
Robert
.”

This only
angered
Robert
more, “After all the shame he’s put us through, I’d be embarrassed if he followed in my footsteps!”

Louise
stood up and took her mother’s arm, taking her away from the angered men, “Why don’t I go show you that new window treatment I just ordered in from the city
? 
I’m sure you’ll love it, mother.”

Anna
was easily led away, as was
Robert
’s elderly mother
Katherine
.

With the older ladies out of the way, the men forgot about the children, forgot about
Ellie
, and they certainly forgot their
manners
. 
The fire was
fully
ablaze.

“You needn’t worry, pop
. 
I wouldn’t follow in your footsteps if you paid me
. 
And besides my general disliking of the doctoring profession, if I did decide to go down that pathway
,
I’d have to be in school until I was thirty-five.”

“From what I can see from your past experiences at universities, that wouldn’t even be possible
. 
You’ve never even managed to
stay in a school for a year, much less ten!” laughed
Louise
’s father, Ebenezer Day-Harris
. 

Jamie smiled, remembering something, “But that wouldn’t matter much, would it Grandfather Eb
? 
You didn’t go to school at all from what I can recall, and yet still managed to run a successful lumber mill and earn a fortune or more.”

Ebenezer laughed, “That
’
tis
true, James.”

“But not every man has the luck of your grandfather here, and you can’t just wait and hope that the same
luck and
fate will be bestowed upon you!”
Robert
interrupted.

“I’m not waiting on fate!” Jamie returned, “I’m waiting for an opportunity to arise.”

Phillip
looked across the table at
Ellie
, his eyes wide
. 
He didn’t know whether they should sit, watch, and wait for the conflict to end or leave the table then
. 
And plus,
Ellie
had almost forgotten that the children were still present
. 
They decided to wait and hope it would end soon.

“Well, opportunities don’t always come and you can’t just sit on your
behind
and wait for them!”

“I’m not going to make some rash decision before I’m ready, father
! 
The rest of my life is hanging on what I do next, and I don’t want to make some silly mistake that I’ll come to regret years from now!”

In the midst of this
,
Gracie stood up with Leah behind her and asked
Ellie
, “May we be excused
? 
I’d like to practice on the piano.”

Ellie
nodded, “You may
.  Please
take Demi and Wesley with you, dear.”

She didn’t know why she hadn’t just gone herself
. 
It would have been most seemly since she would be the only lady present after all, but something in her wouldn’t let her leave
.

The children left, but no one
except
Ellie
seemed to notice.

“Well, if you don’t make a decision soon
,
you’ll end up having regret anyway
. 
You’ll regret that you wasted eight months lying around your parent’s house like a lazy bum instead of doing something with your life!”

“I don’t regret any of that and I know I never will!”

“Don’t be so sure!”

“I’ll decide what I’m going to do next when I’m good and ready
,
and I’m sick and tired of you nagging me about it every second of every
blasted
day!”

“I’m nagging you as a warning, because if you don’t decide soon
,
I’ll decide for you!”
Robert
ordered, “I’ve already got all the papers signed and ready for the Navy
. 
I thought about the Army as well, but you seemed more like a water man to me.”