Blood and Fire - Chapter Thirty

After a few minutes Liz turns around and takes a last look in the mirror.  She even acknowledges to herself that looks prettier than she has in a very long time.

“There you are.  What time will Darcy be here to pick you up?” excitedly asks Char reluctantly adding “I hate to see your suitcases all packed.  I wish that you could just find a way to move here.  I’ve enjoyed your company so much these last few weeks.  I know you have to go back to work, but maybe they could transfer you here permanently.”

“Is that a doorbell?  Darcy is not supposed to be here for another hour” rather nervously asks Liz “I’m ready but I don’t think my thoughts are”.

Quickly leaving to answer the door, Char calls from the hallway loud enough so Liz can hear her from the front room “It’s Jennings and Alice Hammer! How are you? It’s so good to see you again!”

“Well, we’ve got our car packed with all our junk but we thought that we’d stop by for a minute before heading back home to the Silver Crest” explains Jennings stretching in purple sweat pants and a t-shirt that   reads “All of General William Booth’s best men – are women!”

“I’m not sure Mr. Woodhouse has known what to do with us being gone so long” giggles Alice Hammer “He’s called Jennings nearly every day to make sure she has taken her vitamins. I think he’s lonely. He even called this morning to see if she had filled up the gas tank.  On our last trip coming back from Girl Guard Camp, I was convinced that we could go another 40 miles on empty.  Generally, I think they just put an “E” on a car as a warning, there usually is at least a tank left”

“It depends on how long you have driven on the bright red ‘E’ for empty “, interjects Jennings with a sigh.

“Well anyway, we didn’t make it.  We had to call Mr. Woodhouse.  Emma had to drive him out to Dry Creek to get us because he doesn’t drive at night with a gallon of gas so we could make it to the next station”  Looking sheepishly Alice Hammer explains “I didn’t run out of gas on purpose.  I was just trying to find out how many miles I could go on empty before the car stopped.”

Lost in thought Jennings softly adds “Mr. Woodhouse would have come out to rescue anyone” then catching the gleam in Liz’s eye, slightly clearing her throat, Jennings more firmly states “Being a little closer to town for that experiment might have been a little more practical but it was rather an adventure anyway.”

“Yes, it was!” confirms Alice Hammer “Since Jennings was teaching the Survival emblem she had a bunch of supplies in the trunk.  Jennings showed me how to make emergency glow lights out of soda bottles.”

“How do you do that?” quizzically asks Liz wondering how Jennings always finds unique ways of doing something at just the right moment.

“Well, you take a Mountain Dew bottle and drink 3/4ths of it.  This wasn’t a problem because both of us were very thirty in that we were not too far from Dry Creek.  It has got to be one of the hottest places in the division during the summer” frankly acknowledges Alice Hammer  continuing “Anyway, what you do is add a little bit of baking soda and 3 caps of peroxide.  Jennings already had this in her emergency kit in case either of us should hurt ourselves.”

“This sounds interesting.  Then what do you do?” asks Liz.

“All you have to do is tighten the lid and shake.  Then you have a bottled glow stick!” excitedly explains Jennings remembering the good time they had together.  “It came in handing when Alice Hammer was trying to run from a little friendly critter.”

“It wasn’t friendly and it almost got me!” contradicts Alice Hammer “It was huge!”

“It was not … it was just an rambling armadillo waddling his way along the road ..” remembers Jennings giggling to herself.  “I’ve never seen her run so fast in her spandex and sundress!”

“It had huge teeth and was coming right for me!” justifies Alice Hammer “Liz, you would have run too! Unfortunately, it was my favorite sundress with the blue polka dots with little moons scattered in between too. I ripped it when I leaped over the large pothole in the road.  Fortunately, I was wearing tennis shoes so I landed quite well, rather graceful I think …”.

“Alice looked like she was trying out for the Olympics!” jokes Jennings “It wasn’t too long after that that Mr. Woodhouse arrived and gave us a life to the gas station.  He’s a very thoughtful man.”

“Yes, that’s true.  I think he thinks about you just as much as you talk about him” offers Alice Hammer waiting for her chance to tease Jennings a bit “She has a pile of stuff by her door of things that she wants to show him to talk about when he comes over.”

Jennings shakes her head slightly trying and quickly moving her intense eyes side-to-side to give Alice Hammer a signal that she is completely intentionally missing that this is a subject that is not suppose to be discussed to the general public.

Jennings eyes widen and glare at her best friend standing before her.  “Alice Hammer, I think we have taken up enough of their time.  It is time to go” motioning a pointed finger towards the door.

Innocently Alice Hammer ignoring Jennings’ body language continues “Jennings has had a crush on him for years.  But what I think he likes the most is when she bakes cookies for him on Saturday mornings.  She fixes his favorite kinds: powdered snicker doodles, frosted Cameroons, and macadamia nut cookies.  He comes over and stays for hours talking about his favorite talk radio shows.”

A disgruntled Jennings shuffles her tennis shoe over to Alice Hammer and inconspicuously gives it a little tap.  Alice Hammer mischievously continues enjoying the rare temporary power over making Jennings squirm for a moment “You know I wouldn’t be surprised if I hear wedding bells ringing not too far in the distant future.  What do you think Jennings?”

In a tone of authority Jennings reprimands “Alice Hammer there are some things that are meant to be kept between oneself and a friend.  Discussing the dimensions of my love life isn’t a suggested topic of conversation open to review by anyone.”

 “Char isn’t anyone.  She’s knows Mr. Woodhouse and Emma.  I’m sure she could ask Mr. Woodhouse how he exactly feels about you if she wanted to” coyly defends Alice Hammer continuing “She’s going to see him next week at the Divisional Rally anyway.  Maybe if you want her too, she can ask him then for you and she can let you know”.

Standing there in complete disbelief Jennings glares at her for a second.  “This is precisely why I do not want to talk about my love life!  I’m not going to talk to you any more about him” slightly muffed and turning her back to face the opposite direction from Alice Hammer.

“We’ll see about that. You can’t help yourself. You talk about him all the time.  I know more about his laundry, what he has for dinner, and what he reads in the paper than I need to” honestly admits Alice Hammer “Jennings don’t worry about it.  Everybody knows already.  Just yesterday Major Debourgh was discussing the details with me”.

“Major Debourgh, why would she need to know who I’m dating?” excitedly asks Jennings as her temper rises.

“Sooooo … you ARE dating Mr. Woodhouse!” giggles Alice Hammer “I thought so but you just wouldn’t admit it!”

Immediately on hearing this revelation Jennings turns beat red and then quickly looks over to Char being confronted with the reality that her personal life has been exposed. “Char, I don’t know what you are hearing but I’m not sure that I want everyone to know.”

“Are you dating Mr. Woodhouse?” asks Liz coming from behind Char “How exciting!  I’m so happy for you.  The two of you make such a cute couple too!”

In response to her heart being discovered Jennings visibly begins to shake “Girls, please.  Love doesn’t come around very often in one’s life.  I’d like to preserve what tenderness and sweetness that I can in our relationship without too much random gossip destroying its true glow and beauty” seeing that the girls are gushing at her words Jennings decides to add a few more for clarity “In other words, I don’t want him to get too scared of the commitment and back off before I have a chance to convince him that being with me is the best choice he could ever make.”

Liz and Char giggle while Alice Hammer gives her a hug “Don’t worry.  From now on I’ll just keep the secret between the two of us.  But I do need to let you know that I already told Ethel, Mrs. Olson, Mrs. Dashwood, and a just few other Home League members and maybe a handful in the Sunshine Club” adding a sweet smile hoping that the forgiveness will come more quickly rather than later.

“Oh Char before I forget, we brought some cookies for you before we leave town.  I have a feeling this is going to be a long drive” offers Alice Hammer a little concerned about another possible lengthy reprimand in private “But, fortunately I brought some audio books to listen to The Two Widows and the Occurrences on Chawton Lane and The Masterminds of Mansfield Park.

Trying to change the subject Jennings looks at Liz “What are you all dressed up for?  Do you have a date tonight for Valentine’s Day?”

Blushing Liz admits “Yes, Darcy is taking me out tonight.  I’m not sure where we are going.  He wanted to keep it a surprise.  I hope that I’m not too overdressed but I wanted to look nice.”

“You look very pretty tonight Liz” recommends Alice Hammer “I’m sure Darcy will like your outfit and your beautiful spirit too.” Enthusiastically giggling  Alice Hammer adds “ He’s such a handsome young man with such a nice attitude.  If I were thirty years younger, you might find me as one of your competition.”

Jennings looks at her best friend for fifty years in disbelief and rolls her eyes, “You would have had to find a way to ignore Fred first.  I think you both were in love with each other since second grade. I doubt he would have given you enough room to even notice Darcy if he had been around or that you would have even wanted to”.

“Yes, you are so right” smiling and lost in her memories Alice Hammer confirms “my eyes were only for my little snookims since the first day we met.  Some days I really miss him.  But I’m sure he’s looking down from heaven and having a good laugh once in awhile.”

“Well, we can’t stay too long.  We just wanted to drop off the cookies and come by and say goodbye before heading back.” Then looking over to Char and giving her a warm hug Jennings offers “I wish the best to you and Collins, Char.  I hope your marriage brings you many happy moments to brighten each day and that in the difficult times offers enough support to make it through until the sun rises the next day.”

Hugging both Char and Liz at the same time in a giant bear hug, Alice Hammer wipes a tear from her rouged cheek.  “I hate goodbyes even if they are only for a few days.”