Camp Mansfield - Chapter Seven

 "Te -ee-ee-d?  Ted, Where are you?  Ted!" exclaims Mrs. Bartram searching through the house looking for her youngest son "WHAT are you doing?"

"Don't worry about it" nonchalantly answers Ted trying to defer his mother's attention at that moment.

"I think you need to explain this to me" disturbed remarks Mrs. Bartram quietly tapping her foot on the floor like a child ready for a temper tantrum.

"Really mother, it's nothing" replies Ted "I was just looking at some old things we have in the attic "There's plenty of old treasures here that I think most of us have forgotten about."

"Why do you have great grandma's wedding dress out of its package? I paid a fortune to have to stored correctly so it wouldn't mold or decay" slyly observes his mother "You certainly aren't thinking of doing anything that you would regret later."

"What?  What are you talking about?  I found this in the cedar closet and I wanted to see what it looked like" answers Ted ignoring his mother insinuations but also trying to deflect her intuition "I think you are jumping to conclusions."

"Mary Crawford will be arriving next week.  She was such a beautiful girl" trying to steer the attention away from the subject of Faith, Mrs. Bartram continues "You and Mary seemed to always get along well.  You made such an attractive couple! Whatever happened to her?"

"Don't you remember?  She decided to date everyone else at camp and ended up dating Tom" Ted smirks at the memory "I think she was only interested in me so that she could be around Tom who was two years older and probably wouldn't have noticed her otherwise."

"Nonsense! Mary looked like she could be a contestant for Miss Universe even as a teen.  Tom would have noticed her anyway.  But Tom had so many girlfriends, he really needed to settle on just one" quietly reflects Mrs. Bartram "He is such a handsome young man.  I'm so proud of my son!"

"Yeah" replies Ted with a sarcastic tone recalling his brother's multiple less than scrupulous girlfriends and issues with them as well as his current gambling debts that he more than once bailed Tom out of recently  "I think it is more than past time to reflect on his personal life and make some better choices."

In the corner, Mrs. Bartram glares at Ted out of the corner of her eye recognizing that Ted isn't exactly in agreement with her.  "Tom is good natured.  He just sometimes let himself get involved with people who are not good for him.  It's not his fault."

"He's a grown man.  You talk about him like he is still twelve.  He knows exactly what he is doing.  Tom doesn't care if he screws up his life or not, he lives in the moment regardless of the consequences or how it will affect others around him.  Tom is too self-absorbed to notice" accurately but disgusted replies Ted recalling many times that he supported Tom even when  he didn't deserve it because he was his brother.

"You're right.  But Tom has so much potential.  He only needs to find the right person who will keep him on track" remarks Mrs. Bartram satisfied with her answer and feelings of hopefulness of her son's prosperity.

"i feel sorry for whoever that will be" bluntly responds Ted "She probably deserves much better."

"Maybe Mary will make that difference.  Or, maybe even better she make that difference for you" shrewdly responds Mrs. Bartram finding an old camp photo of Mary in the photo album from the trunk and handing it to Ted to look at.  "Mary was so beautiful when she was younger."

"Yes" observes Ted looking at Mary in her swimsuit standing between her brother and Tom, with Faith and him standing on each side like bookends in the photo and then Ted replies with a chuckle "Faith is wearing her favorite pink shorts overalls.  I think she lived in them."

"Is that Faith?  I could hardly tell.  It just look like a tomboy in the picture" snidely replies his mother wanting him to notice instead the girl in the bikini whose parents might offer her more status and admiration than most as a future mother-in-law.  "Mary was such a nice girl.  She would often come over just to see how I was doing."

Impulsively Ted rolls his eyes and remembers more a girl coming over to talk to coerce his mother to find out what other girl his older brother was with at that moment and in some way plan and cause future interception.  "I think Mary had a few ulterior motives of her own."

"You're right" replies Mrs. Bartram "I think she was interested in both of my sons and getting to know and become friends with her future mother-in-law".

"Mmmmm .... I think dad might be wondering where we are right now" suggests Ted wanting to end this discussion as quickly as possible.

"Promise me Ted that you will at least be open to becoming better acquainted with Mary again.  When we met last month to discuss the details of renting the old cottage, she was so warm and kind.  Really, I believe she has grown up and matured quite nicely.  I think you would be a perfect match with her.  Give her a chance for my sake" begs Mrs. Bartram in a tone that she knows Ted finds hard to refuse "I don't ask for much, and this isn't even a difficult thing.  She's quite lovely you'll see."

"I'll be nice to her, but I can't promise much else" decidedly replies Ted returning the old photo albums to the cedar chest.  "I've got to live my own life and make the choices that are best for me."

As they walk downstairs they can hear Mr. Bartram's low voice mumbling to himself in distress.  He's pacing the kitchen and seems quite tense.  "I don't know what I am going to tell Faith" he says to his wife as she enters the dining room.

"What do you mean?  What does Faith not know?" questions Mrs. Bartram heading for the coffee pot "Why don't you sit down and we'll talk about it."

Thomas Bartram rubs his forehead with his handkerchief that he keeps in his back pocket of his jeans. "Faith will be devastated.  Apple Dumpling didn't make it."

"Ohhh ...." signs Ted wondering if Faith already knows since usually the first thing she does each morning is check on Apple Dumpling and if she is feeling well enough takes her out for a ride. "Have you seen Faith yet?"

"No, she texted me that she would be late coming to the stalls this morning" responds Thomas obviously struggling with his own attachment to Faith's horse and distress at telling her the news  "It's not going to be a good day for her."

"Dad, I'll go talk to her" offers Ted not wanting his friend to grieve too much and wanting to comfort her.  Grabbing his jacket and heading towards the front door "I'm on my way."

"Thanks Ted" mumbles Thomas wiping a stubborn tear from his eye and feeling sorry for Faith "Let her know it is going to be okay."

As quickly as he can, Ted shuttles over to Faith's cottage in his golf cart at the fastest speed it will go. He knocks on her front door, but no one answers.   He then notices that her golf cart is not parked in the tiny driveway and heads directly for the stalls.

As the smell of wet hay and straw rustles beneath his boots, he enters the stalls to find Faith on her knees holding her head in her hands sobbing in front of the stall with the name of  Apple Dumpling creatively carved with flowers in the wood of the frame.  Ted doesn't say anything but kneels on the grown next to her and after waiting a moment or two, puts his arm around her and lets her cry.

After a few moments, Faith leans into his shoulder barely aware that he is there but feeling instead the comfort of a friend.  With red swollen eyes Faith finally looks up to see whose arm has been around her in her grief, "I'm sorry Ted, I didn't mean to blubber all over you" taking a big rather unpleasant sniff.

Looking at her, Ted smiles "It's okay, I don't mind" softly patting down her ratty hair from crying so much and finding his own comfort being with her at this moment.

"She's was one of the last things that I have from my parents"  explains Faith "I think that I'm not only crying for her but the memory of my parents too."

Not saying anything, Ted nods his head and holds her closer to him until the sobbing subsides once again.  Her shoulders shudder in her sorrow until finally sighing deeply in resolution and stillness.

"Why don't we do something different today?" suggests Ted  "Why don't I take you back to the cottage, so you can be more comfortable.  I'm going to pick up some things and I will be back in about an hour."

Slowly Faith smiles up at him with stained checks and fussy hair, "Okay".

A few minutes later, Ted walks Faith up to her door who is greeted by Sampson.  Sensing immediately that something is wrong with his beloved owner, Sampson lays his head down on her foot while Faith speaks to Ted in the doorway.  "Thank you for just letting me cry.  I'm sorry if it was a bit messy.  I don't usually cry that much but I think that everything got to me".

"I don't mind.  Anytime, I'm here for you" sincerely offers Ted feeling connected to Faith in a way that he had not before. "You have to promise me that when something like that happens to me, you'll be there for me too."

"Anytime" smiles Faith for the first time that day "I'll bring some Kleenix with me next time though."

In response to how he is feeling, Ted quietly kisses her on the cheek as she turns to walk inside.  He is surprised how sweet it felt to kiss her innocently on the cheek even though it wasn't planned and not intended to be romantic but somehow it felt that it was anyway.  Checking his mood as he makes plans for the day, Ted wonders what it feels like to fall in love with someone.