The Wilmington morning star., 1947-11-20

Tor a sight OF Bill that the last
few hours had seemed unendur-
ably long-and then not to have
him meet her
Behind her warm, eager
voice said, "Well, bless you,
child, here you are-and I'm
that glad to see you'll"
Warm arms enfolded her, and
Cathy laughed and cried as the
woman patted her back
and kissed her cheek.
"Well, well, if it amt a sight
for sore eyes to see you again!
Cathy, I've missed you - and
land alive, the way I've worried
about you!"
1t was Aunt Maggie West
brook, big, kindly, warm-heart-
ed; the woman who had taken
a frightened, big-eyed ten-year.
old girl, when her mother died,
and given her a home. Aunt
Maggie, who was not really g
relative at all, but a neighbo1
who had known and loved
Cathy's mother and who h a d
been unable to see the small.
Cathy 60 to an institution.
They clung together for a mo.
ment and then Aunt Maggie
wiped her eyes and blew her
nose vigorously. "Well, good
grief,' she said, "ain't no sense
in us standing here bowling our
heads off. l bet you'd like hot
bath and a good nights sleep
and some real victuals more
than anything in the world just
about now. I've got the Betsy
Bug right over here"
Scooping up Cathy's b ag in
one strong, ample hand, her
other arm about the girl, Aunt
Maggie sailed across the plat
form. "Sailed" was good
word, Cathy told herself half
way between tears and laugh
ter, for though Aunt Maggie
was big and heavy she moved
with an astonishing ightness;
her unfashionably long skirts
billowed a little with the energy
of her movement and gave the
impression of a sturdy, depend,
able sailing ship in a strong
wind.
"Aunt Maggie" Cathy
paused beside the ancient car
which Aunt Maggie alternately
reviled and cajoled and abused
where is Bill?"
Aunt Maggie looked unhappy,
but said casually, "He's out OF
town, chick. That old harr.dan
sent him away yesterday or a
business trip" Aunt Maggie's S
tone put quotation marks about
the last two words.
"But he knew I was coming
home, I wired him." protested
Cathy.
"Want to bet he never laid
eyes on the message? Not if
you sent it to the house. The
old battle-ax would have hid it
from him." said Aunt Maggie
grimly, as she inserted her am
pie body behind the wheel of the
little car that she fondly called
the Betsy-Bug.
"Oh, but surely she wouldn' t
do that!"
"Look, chick. that woman
would do anything If she
thought she could get away with
it! I wouldn't put anything past
her! She's so darned scared
that her precious boy will snap
her apron strings and find a
life of his own-and wife -
where she can't boss him
around"
Cathy frowned, remembering
Edith Kendall, the arrogant
woman who was Bills aunt, SC
jealously possessive that she
couldn't bear for him to have
a thought in which she did not
share. Cathy's chin tilted little
and her eyes went dark. Well,
she loved Bill and Bill loved
her, and they were going to be
married whether he had his
Aunt Edith's consent or not. II
was too utterly absurd, she told
herself furious1y. Bill was twen.
ty-eight; that his aunt should at
tempt to interfere in his life to
the extent Of preventing his
marriage was simply unthink-
able.
They were driving through
the busy small city now, and
Aunt Maggie was briskly giving
a resume Of business changes
in the slightly more than three
years since Cathy had gone
away to complete her training
as an army nurse. There we're
a few aggressively mirror-front-
ed shops; but the old ones that
were part Of Cathy's memories
were still there, and gradually,
in the thrill Of being home, she
forgot a little of her hurt that
Bill was not here.
Leaving the business district,
the Betsy-Bug made its sedate
way at twenty-five miles an
hour through a district that
grew increasingly PROSPEROUS