Donners Bend (7 page)

“I am not going to lose,”
Jon
said surely.

He lost two minutes later
. 

Ellie
put a lightweight red coat over her pale yellow dress and tied a large-brimmed floppy white hat with a red bow fal
ling off
of the back onto her head
. 
And
Jon
wore a brown corduroy blazer and tweed newsboy cap.

“Would you like to sit in front or back, my dear?”
Jon
asked as pulled her by the hand over to his horse Penny.

Ellie
shrugged, “Back, I suppose, would be fine.

“Alright then.”

Jon
hopped onto the horse, sliding one leg over to the other side
. 
He held out his hand to
Ellie
, “Come on up, Mae
. 
There’s plenty of room.”

Ellie
smiled and took his hand
. 
Using only a little strength,
Jon
was able to pull her up onto Penny’s back behind him
. 

“Make sure you hold onto tightly,” he warned, “For we won’t exactly be moving slowly, my dear.”

As instructed,
Ellie
wrapped her arms tightly around
Jon
’s waist.

“Ready?” he asked.

“Ready.”

W
ith that, they were off
. 
Through the grassy hills of
Donners Bend
’s countryside they rode, laughing all the while
. 
Jon
was right, they didn’t move slowly; Penny ran as fast as a bullet across the land just as the sun was beginning to set
. 
Although
Ellie
’s hat was tied on with a ribbon that ran beneath her chin, she was still afraid it might fall off, so she held onto it with one hand and onto
Jon
with the other
. 
Every so often
Jon
would turn his head around as they were riding and point out some various landmark or building.

They passed by
Ol’ Smith’s
shop, a few old abandoned farms,
Jon
’s house, and the
Rhodes orchard
and mansion
. 
They could see the children playing in the backyard
. 
Gracie sat on a red gingham blanket, braiding her doll’s hair, while Leah and Demi climbed
up
one of the smaller trees, and Wesley swung back and forth on a little wooden swing hanging from one of the tree’s branches by two strands of ro
p
e
. 
Juliet, the maid, sat next to Gracie and read a book quietly.

“Shall we say hello?” asked
Jon
as he turned his head around quickly
. 
His hair flew into his grayish brown eyes, making
Ellie
smile
. 

“Well?” he laughed.

Ellie
nodded, “Yes
, a
quick hello.”

As they neared the
Rhodes
’,
Jon
pulled back the reins a little
to
slow Penny down.

“Who is it?” Gracie asked, setting down her doll and standing up to get a better view
. 
She looked up to Leah and Demi in the tree for her answer.

“It’s
Ellie
!” Demi exclaimed, preparing to hop down from her seat on the branch.

“It’s
Ellie
! 
It’s
Ellie
!” Leah repeated.

“Be careful,” Juliet reminded, as they jumped down onto the grass.

Wesley stood up on the swing and called out, “It’s a horsie
! 
It’s a horsie!”

Gracie laughed, “Good call, Wes!”

“Good evening Gracie, Leah, Demi, Wesley,”
Ellie
paused, “And Juliet, of course
. 
You’re doing well I hope?”

Juliet nodded and said shyly, “Quite well.”

“Who’s your friend?” Demi asked, coming forward.

“My name’s
Jon
. 
Jonathan Robert Smithton
. 
What’s yours?”
Jon
called down.

“I’m
Demi Louise
Irene
Rhodes
, but
everybody calls me Demi.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Demi.”

“
Johnny
,” said
Ellie
, “I’d also like you to meet Gracie, Leah, and Wesley.”

Jon
smiled, “It’s nice to meet you all.”

“Can we come on a ride too?” asked Wesley.

“I’m sorry, son, but I don’t think there’s room,”
Jon
answered.

“That’s alright,” Juliet added, “For I don’t think mistress would want the children going out right now.”

“Yes, that’s probably true,”
Ellie
agreed.

“Are you
Ellie
’s sweetheart?” Gracie asked of
Jon
.

Ellie
and
Jon
laughed and
Jon
replied, “Well, that was rather straightforward, wasn’t it
? 
The

answer is no, miss
, but
we are very good friends
. 
Isn’t that right, Mae?”

“Oh, yes
. 
Quite right,”
Ellie
said with a smile.

“Why do you call
Ellie
, Mae?” asked Leah as she cocked her head to the side confusedly.

Jon
grinned, “I don’t know
. 
It’s just a little nickname I use for her
, but
I’m not the only one using a nickname
. 
You should ask her why she always calls me
Johnny
instead of
Jon
.”

Leah turned to
Ellie
, “Why do you?”

Ellie
wrapped her arms around
Jon
’s waist tighter, giving him a hug, and said, “Because he looks like a
Johnny
to me.”

Leah giggled, “That’s silly.”

Looking up to the darkening sky,
Jon
said, “We’d best be off now, Mae
, but
it was nice meeting all of you,” he tipped his hat at the children.

“It was nice meeting you too,” Gracie replied politely like the perfect little lady her mother had taught her to be.

“
Goodbye
!”
Ellie
called, waving behind her as Penny began to canter off around the orchard and back into the hills
. 

Because
Ellie
hadn’t lived in
Donners Bend
long and she was
very
unacquainted with the land, she asked
Jon
, “Where are we going now
? 
Home?”

He shook his head, “Not just yet.”

Jon
guided Penny down dirt paths, across rocky streams, and through thick forests
. 
The wind whipped
Ellie
’s feathery hair behind her, and her hat flew right off her head
. 
If it hadn’t been for the red ribbon around her chin it would have fallen off completely, but now the ribbon ran across her collarbone and the hat sat on her back
. 
Ellie
laid her head lightly on the back of
Jon
’s shoulder, causing
Jon
to smile.

Finally, they reached what
Jon
had been searching for.

“This is where I used to come play as a child,” he told
Ellie
, “I’d come here to be alone, to be free, to be calm
. 
No one ever knew about it, until now.”

They were
in
the middle of the forest
. 
Ten large pine trees made a perfect circle around the grassy area in which they were
. 
Looking up, the sun
was shining b
eautifully through the trees and into this one, heavenly-like ring
. 
It was like someone had taken a piece of the sky and framed it in this one magical spot in the center of the dark forest
. 

Jon
hopped off Penny and lead
Ellie
in an orbit around the outer edge of the circle by Penny’s reins
. 

“It’s beautiful,”
Ellie
said truthfully, for she couldn’t take her eyes off the piece of sky above her
. 

Jon
smiled, “I used to come here to read, and dream, and just think
. 
I called it my
felicity,
I don’t know how I even knew what
felicity
was at that age, but I guess I must have learned it somewhere.
  It’s that blissful place of pure contentment.
”

They stayed there, in
Jon
’s
felicity
, for who knows how long
. 
Jon
lost track of the time, but it must not have been too late for the darkness couldn’t prevent them from seeing one another
. 
Together they lay on the ground in the middle of the grassy circle
. 

“Do you know what?”
Jon
asked finally.

“What?”

“I don’t think I’ve felt this perfectly content in a long time.”

“Me neither.”

Just as the sun dipped beneath the horizon in the distance,
Ellie
felt a light drop of water hit her forehead
. 

“Did you feel that?” she whispered.

“Feel what?”

Another drop hit her arm, “That.”

“Oh no,”
Jon
said as he sat up, “It’s raining, isn’t it?”

Only seconds after he held out both his hands, drops of rain hit each.

“Come on, Mae,” he said taking
Ellie
’s hand and pul
li
n
g her up, “We have to go
. 
It’s too late to be far away from home in the rain.”

Jon
hopped on Penny and pulled
Ellie
up behind him
. 
Without warning,
Jon
kicked Penny’s sides and they were off
. 
Ellie
held onto
Jon
’s middle tightly and bit her lip from fright.