The Wilmington morning star., 1947-04-24

hSJ
And Wade is simply beside him
self he's so pleased. I'm glad, too.
I think a child will be good for
Val-even if it will make me
grandmother" p
"a very young and lovely one,
though" Steve said CALAMITY.
And Aunt Pen smiled with pleas
ure. Good for her. I didn't think
Val was that sensible. I'll knit it
a whole outfit, sweater, leggings.
little cap"
Sherry sat there her eyes on
the blazing logs, thinking. Won
dering about Val. Was she sensi-
BILE, as Aunt Pen said? Or had she
merely decided, since Wade had
been generous and understanding
about her affair with Kelvin Blake
and the near-tragedy that eli
NAKED it, that she could be gen.
erous. too, and give him the child
he wanted so badly? Even if that
was it, the gesture might bear
rich rewards for Val. She had
seemed different the last few times
Sherry had seen her. She
had come home from her trip
with Wade a little more mature,
less youthfully self-centered. And
already, months before their child
would be born. their marriage
seemed to have acquired a new
depth and stability.
Maybe Val had been wiser than
they knew when she married
Wade Darlington. Maybe they
could find happiness together. Had
her affair with Kelvin been a final
looking back, a, striving to find
once more something lovely and
young-but dead now and better
forgotten? Sherry hoped it was
like that. Thinking of the warm
glow in Val's eyes when she spoke
of the baby, the generous curve
of her mouth as she thanked Wade
for one of his innumerable small
attentions, Sherry felt almost con-
WINGED.
And thinking of Val, Sherry felt
more hopeful for her own future.
Val had loved and lost and had
fought and Numbered her way
through to a measure of happiness
! and contentment. Maybe you had
to compromise with life, 10 turn
your back on the love that might
not be, to take a second choice.
But her heart cried out. I'll
never love anyone but Lex.
Still, she had the sense to go
away and try to make some sort
o. life for herself. That was Ger
tainly better than brooding.
Friends and work - they were
supposed to help, weren't they?
Well. she would work hard. And
she would try to make new
friends. And some day, when she
had grown older and wiser, the
pain of forgetting might lessen
somewhat.
On Sunday Sherry rode horse
back with Lex over the fami-
liar winding roads they had taken
SO many times before. She urged
her horse on, her hair whipping in
the wind, the ends of her scarlet
kerchief Tapping. She tried to shut
the door of her mind against the
words that pushed upon it. Last
time. Last time.
After a while they left their
horses grazing, tied to a maple
sapling, and walked through a
small wood to the bank of a
stream. Not far beyond the spot
where they dropped down onto
the springy green sod, a crude
weathered little bridge spanned
the water.
Sherry said, pointing toward it.
My father built that bridge long
ago, before l was born"
Lex looked toward it for a mo-
ment in silence. Then he said,
There's a sort of Immortality in a
thing like that. It's like a monu-
ment to the MAJ who built t. Only
it's even better than the usual
monument, because it serves a
purpose and that gives it meaning
and Importance"
Sherry nodded. Il never thought
Of it like that, but it's true"
"Or take a house." Lex carried
the idea further, "like Steve's
house, that his grandfather built.
Don't you believe some part of old
Fabian Jeffrey survives in those
very walls and in the trees he
planted and the fields he titled, all
the works of his hands
and brain?"
Sherry had felt that. although
she had never tried before to put
it into words. Its a sort OF
linking Of the past and the future,
like a chain. Ridge Farm should
be handed on to children
of Steve's. It seems such a pity it
won't be-"
They sat there, side by side,
their eyes dreaming on space, the
little stream flowing gently before
them. Idly Lex picked up a stone
and tossed it into the water. The
rlDDlGS WlO0IlCu d1io WIZ SNA'
Sherry's glance rested on his
hands as he clasped them again
around his knee. His hands were
different now than when she had
frs met him. Harder, calloused,
more weathered looking. Like
steve's hands, Sherry thought, o.
perhaps just like all farmers
hands. 1t was a good look OF
| strength and capability, tempered
with gentleness.
Her eyes lifted and met Lexis
glance. She asked. cts still ex-
actly what you want, isn't it,
Lex? All this-the woods and the
fields and the quietness and
peace?'
He said, Its what I'll always
want. I'm more sure every day.
And when they're your w fields
YOU pillow and seed, as I've al
ready begun to do-that's a good
thing. Sherry. A fine thing, It fills