The Salvationist - Chapter Twenty

“This is the best stew I’ve had in ages!” suggests Grant happily garnishing another spoonful while munching on some southern cornbread.

“Isn’t that your third bowl?” Asks April wondering how he can manage to eat so much in one setting.

“Actually, it is my fourth if you must know” states Grant correcting her and liking the feeling of it a little too much.

“Personally, I’m waiting to make room for the chocolate cake. It looks absolutely divine!” states April quite tempted by the dessert table “Are you going to have any Elton? I’ll get you a slice if you want one.”

“No thanks. I think that I will have wait until later. Dinner was quite filling” explains Elton patting his stomach as evidence of his statement.

Robert glances over at the dessert buffet and asks April “If you don’t mind, I’d like a piece of the carrot cake. I don’t like carrots but I do appreciate the tasty flavor of carrot cake very much.”

Harriet smiles at his comment feeling a little relief from the large amounts of medication. “It is kind-of like saying I like rum cake but without the rum which I do by the way. Cake is good any way it is made. Although I do feel like I’ve had a bit of something with all this cough syrup I’ve been taking.” Robert sweetly smiles at her in agreement because he has noticed that Harriet is a little spacier than usual today.

After dinner everyone settles around the fire place in the meeting room. Elton sincerely offers a relevant devotional the intuitively speaks to each person and offers a contemplative thought to consider.

A game of charades is pulled out of its brightly decorated box. Harriet volunteers to go first. The men and women are divided on two uneven teams of 4 and 5 since Robert’s sisters have now arrived but only Ashley has decided to stay for the evening while her sister returns to the room for some extra sleep.

As Harriet reads her card, she makes faces while she concentrates on what she is reading. Harriet makes large hand motions and turns around in the circle flapping her arms. Her team is clueless. Aprils shouts “A bird!” Emma yells “A quarter!” Jane cries “A spinning top!”. Ashley suggests “A tornado!” followed by April shouting again “A can opener!” Finally the time in the hourglass is up. Harriet shrugs her shoulders and states “The Universe” to dumbfounded looks of everyone else.

Next it is Grant’s turn. He squats with his hands spread apart at shoulder level, He pretends to put something over his head. Grant smiles and turns to the side and then throws his head back. Within seconds Robert is shouting “A motorcycle!” which of course he is right.

Emma stands up and straightens her shirt ready for the competition. She intently studies her card for a moment. She starts point to each person in the room, and then nods her head and then pretends to write something down in her hand. She then showcases something in an attitude similar to Vanna White and then goes back to pointing and writing down. April understands immediately as soon as Emma’s “story” is completed. Harriet is shouting “teacher!” and Ashley “mother!” and Jane “boss!” April with a look of authority shouts “auctioneer!” Emma taps her nose excited that the women have won a point.

Knightly follows next taking a moment to consider what would be the best way to portray the image on his card. He acts like he is putting on something and then is rowing a canoe. He pretends to tread water and pats his chest back and forth between the movements. Without much ado, Grants yells “Life Jacket!” Again the men have gained a point within seconds.

April not satisfied with the results is up next. She glances at her card and rolls her eyes. She starts punching her hand and then appears to be pulling on something and then back to punching her hand. Emma yells “cash register!” Harriet shouts “bubble gum” with a confused “What?” look from Ashley next to her. Jane suggests “knitting”. Time runs out. April a little disgusted with her team explains “calculator” and sulks back to her seat.

Elton is up next. He pulls up on the edge of his trousers and puffs out his chest in a confident smug look at his opponents. April holds out her hand in a silent motion as if pushing away his nonsense. Grant chuckles at the non-verbal interaction between the two of them.

Elton stares at the chosen card for a moment. He takes in a deep breath. The timer is flipped over. He makes a box shape with his hands. Then he points upwards. He acts as if he is climbing and then takes his hand on his forehead as if peering out at something. He shivers and peers again. Knightly yells “hiking”. Grants shouts “explorer”. Elton goes back to the box shape again and then peering. Robert yells “Empire state building!” Elton is ecstatic over Robert’s achievement and gives him a high-five. The girls look at each other in disgusted disbelief. April asks “Are you cheating?” as if they would answer honestly if they were.

Jane stands in front of the group waiting for her turn to be on display. Grant smiles at her but Jane cautiously responds with a slight smirk. He confuses her just about every moment they are together. She reads her card and stands still expressionless. In a flash she is acting like she is being blown away and staggering all over the floor in a very dramatic manner. The guys have forgotten that they are playing a game and enjoy watching for a moment a glimpse of Jane’s surprisingly dramatic ability.

Emma shouts “Fainting!” April suggests “Falling!” Ashley is not too sure and offers “Rewind!” Harriet yells “Car Wash!” with all the girls pausing to look at her for a moment wondering where that came from. April suggests “It’s the medication” and smiles at Harriet.

Emma finally gets it just before the time is up, “Gone with the Wind!” Jane jumps up and down while clapping her hands excited that they have gained another point for their team.

As Robert takes his place, Harriet looks at him again. She thinks he is very handsome in his brown plaid shirt tonight that matches his eyes. She misses his laughter and charming ways. “Elton is so boring sometimes” she thinks to herself for a moment. “I like being around Robert. He always makes me feel good about being myself and we have a good time together”.

Robert notices Harriet looking at him and winks at her before turning his head away. She raises her shoulders and giggles in automatic response to his personalized attention.

Robert puts one hand in his jean pocket as he holds the card in the other swaying back and forth in his rawhide boots as he reads it pondering what exactly he wants to do.

He grabs his heart and closes his eyes. He puts his hand backwards against his forehead as if he is going to faint. He takes his hands as if he is praying and puts them under his chin with his eyes rolled back and his jaw open in a sigh. Everyone is laughing rather than guessing at the exaggerated staging. Grant finally yells “A crush!” Knightly suggests “love!”

Elton gets it because he has seen way too much of it lately “Devotion!” Robert points his index finger at him “Good job, man!” April claps for Elton too. Emma turns to her sarcastically, “Are you sure that you are on the right team?” Elton interprets Emma’s response as being a little jealous of April thereby confirming her affection for him. April wittedly returns “I’d join his team any day if he would let me” encouragingly smiling at Elton hoping he picks up her obvious hint of affection.

It is now Ashley’s turn. Ashley smiles really big when she reads her card. She walks around with her hands on her stomach with her back thrown way out in an arch. She makes a rounded mouth look. Emma yells “Pregnancy”. Aprils suggests “Stomach ache!” Harriet shouts “An opera singer!” which is met with sneers from April and chuckles from the other men. April happens to enjoy going to the opera and has season tickets. She has never seen an opera singer perform that way. Jane finally yells “Santa Claus!”

This is the last card for the men and Grant is up again because of the unevenness of the teams. He places a hand on his hip with his foot sticking out to the side in a relaxed manner. Grant licks his bottom lip as he considers why he would like to do to get the final winning point of the game.

He points to heaven and then folds his hands to pray. He then points to his third finger on his left hand.

Immediately before anyone else can respond Harriet out of turn shouts “A wedding!” April snaps her head and says “Shush! You’re not even on that team!”

Harriet shrugs her shoulders and giggles “Oh yeah” as April shakes her head and wonders just how much cough syrup Harriet has had so far that night.

Knightly sees the answer right away because it is one of his favorite movies “Lord of the Rings!”. He likes to watch all three at once on a rainy Saturday.

At his answer, Elton stands up and does his own creative victory dance shaking all over and doing some strange footwork while singing “We win! We win! Oh yes we win! We did it! We did it!” Everyone else is silent for a moment enjoying Elton’s peculiar antics. As soon as he stops everyone starts laughing and begins to mimic him. Elton blushes but also appreciates that his victory dance has been so well received.

Afterwards Elton brings out the chocolate candy bars and graham crackers with wire hire hangers to roast the marshmallows in the large brick fire place. There is a lot of chatter and comfortableness among the group.

In an effort to make her move, April scoots as close as she can next to Elton sitting on the floor. Elton in response leans back on one hand to give himself some space to breathe. Emma nudges Harriet to sit on the other side of Elton as she continues to hack from coughing. Elton looks like a pendulum most of the night trying to avoid illness or touching someone on the other side.

Without asking, Grant offers to help Jane put the marshmallows on her wire. She thanks him but it still rather cautious in her friendliness not really wanting to feel rejected at the moment yet again at his whim. Jane catches Grant staring at her almost in a look of apology but doesn’t want to read too deeply into what she believes she is seeing. Jane politely smiles back at Grant.

Knightly takes his place next to Emma who is also sitting next to Harriet. Sitting on the floor, Knightly rests his hand on his bended knee as the marshmallows brown in the fire. He likes how Emma’s reflection looks in the firelight. Emma toasts her own marshmallow with great skill for the perfect s’more as she lets everyone know.

Robert is casually sitting between Jane and April asking questions here and there about each other making friends with them. Ashley feels that she needs to go check on her sister. Ashley is tired and announces that she will see them all in the morning.

Harriet notices Robert chatting with the other girls and asks “Robert, how did you learn to cook marshmallows so well?”

“I like going camping. My family use to go every summer when I was a kid. I still take my tent and like to spend a few days of vacation camping out and hiking at different national parks.”

“Sounds like fun! Maybe we can all go on a camping trip together some time!” suggests Harriet thinking what a wonderful idea that would be.

“I hate bugs. I don’t like to be cold. I definitely need a hot shower in the morning. I don’t think so” offers April.

“They generally have cabins you can rent and showers are usually available too” replies Robert.

“I’ve been camping before and it is not so bad. We went out for one night a week at Adventure Corps camp” shares Elton “I liked all the ghost stories I heard as a kid sitting around the campfire. I still remember a few of them”.

“I don’t like scary stories either. I don’t see the point” states April rather firmly.

“Robert, you have to take us sometime camping!” as Harriet swings her lighted marshmallow on fire hanging by a thread from the wire over Robert’s head.

“Whoa Harriet!” Robert exclaims grabbing the wire from her as the marshmallow falls and he tries to catch it with his bare hands. He juggles the hot marshmallow over to a napkin where it finally comes to rest. He licks the remaining marshmallow from his hands as Emma shakes her head because he didn’t use a napkin instead.

“I think that I’m getting a little sleepy” as Harriet coughs and sneezes a few more times while she looks as if her illness is invading her body.

“I’ll help you to your room” suggests Robert standing before anyone else has a chance to offer.

Harriet smiles at him and says “Thanks!” as they leave the meeting room together.

“I’ll walk with you” offers Jane “I’m pretty tired. Goodnight everyone! I’ll see you in the morning!”

“Breakfast is at 8:30 am with devotions at nine” states Elton reminding her and the others of the schedule.

“I think that I am heading upstairs too” Grant jumps up quickly following behind Jane and begins talking to her as they walk towards the elevator.

Emma, Knightly, Elton and April are left in front of the fire place. The four of them talk for a couple more hours about every topic under the sun but not necessarily very personal subjects but more of a sharing of opinions. The conversation is casual and relaxed. Elton and April share many common stories of their experiences as first year officers on the field.

Emma and Knightly share stories about working at area command and divisional headquarters and seek some insight in how they can be more useful and helpful to the corps officers in their area. Both Elton and April make some valid suggestions and points about their perceptions about the roles of the administrative offices. It is an enlightening conversation for everyone.

As the conversation continues Elton begins to admire April’s insights and practical viewpoints. He finds her knowledge of business practices and procedures rather impressive. He also discovers she is much more intelligent than he originally thought as April shares her suggestions and observations with realistic assessments of her experiences.

Elton finds Emma enchanting but some of her statements seem rather shallow and from a narrower viewpoint than he assumed and expected from her. He is amazed at the lack of understanding and awareness of some of the complicated situations that many of the people that he helps are involved in. He hopes that in the future, her experience will given her a better understanding and deeper empathy of others who do not have as many opportunities that have been available to her. But he lets these trepidations slide into the back of his mind as he admires how lovely she looks in the glow of the fire place.

Wisely contemplating the suggestions of April and Elton brought about by experience, Knightly considers that he will try to take some time in the future to develop a better plan of communication and connection with the officers in the division. He believes that by working as a team this will help him to focus on their needs and allow them to be more practical in their outcome management.

As the conversation continues, Knightly finds that Emma is maturing some over the past few months. He likes to see how she is evolving into a confident woman. He wonders what the next year will bring for her and possibly for them as each day unfolds.

Finally, the group separates and goes to their individual rooms for a good night’s rest and an exciting day tomorrow.