Laughter in the Wind (10 page)

Olivia didn’t waste time and jumped into an explanation about Mary Farthing and the old house by Peacock Cemetery. Grandma nodded. “I thought I knew that house. So, Mary Farthing is the MJ in your picture? Let me see it again.”

Olivia pulled the picture out of her notebook and followed Grandma over to her recliner where she sat to study it. “Yes, I do believe that’s Mary Farthing in the middle. I don’t remember anyone calling her MJ, but it’s possible. Ralph,” she began, setting her finger on the lone male subject in the picture, “you know, I think the Farthings had a hired hand named Ralph. If it was him, he stayed with them for several years. I believe he lived in a small shack out behind their house. He took off several months before Mary died. I think the story was that he and Mr. Farthing got into a dispute over something and he just picked up and left town. I don’t remember a last name, but Ralph seems right.”

“Grandma, you are wonderful!” Olivia exclaimed, giving her another hug. “You’ve moved us one step closer to figuring this out. Did you ever meet Jane, the other woman in the photo? She was my great-grandmother.”

“No, I didn’t,” she said. “Did she ever live around here?”

“I don’t think so,” Olivia said. “She was from St. Louis. MJ, or Mary, must have met her while she was living in St. Louis.”

Grandma was looking at the picture with a slightly puzzled look. “Are you sure your great-grandmother is the one on the left? If I had to guess, I’d say you look more like the one in the middle. Maybe I’m wrong about which one is Mary.”

“No, I have other pictures of Gran at home and I’m sure that’s her,” Olivia said, looking more closely at the picture as well. “But I see what you mean. I do resemble Mary some. Isn’t that funny?” She slipped the picture back into her notebook.

“Grandma, do you believe in ghosts?” Olivia asked, going over to sit next to Rebecca on the sofa.

“I do. Rebecca’s grandfather saw and heard a ghost right there at Peacock Cemetery.”

“Really?” both girls responded to this. Rebecca hadn’t heard this story before.

“Yes, he did. He was coming home with his mule and wagon from helping Mr. Johnson plow his fields. He stopped to open the gate by the Farthings so he could drive across the field to get home. It was dusk and he was trying to get home before all the light was gone. The old mule started spooking on him, he thought he heard a hoot owl off in the distance. He was able to get the mule calmed down and through the gate but he had to tie him to a tree while he closed the gate because he was still so skittish. Your grandfather came around that stand of trees and saw something moving over in the cemetery. Back then, there was a nice fence all around the cemetery. He thought it was a person, but whatever it was, it moved right through that fence like it wasn’t even there. It was heading toward the old house, making that sound he thought was from the hoot owl. He gave the mule its head and let it tear out of there in the opposite direction with him and the wagon in tow, fast as it would go. He always said that was the fastest trip he ever made in a wagon across those fields. When he got home that evening, he was pale as a ghost. I was really worried because I thought something was wrong with him. But when he told me that story, I knew he believed every word of it.”

“I know you were pretty young when he died, Rebecca, so you didn’t know him very well. But your father and the rest of my children didn’t get their storytelling skills from their father. They got them from my father. If your grandpa said that was what happened, then that was what happened.”

“Now, why do you want to know if I believe in ghosts?”

“Well,” Olivia began hesitantly, clearly not wanting to sound foolish.

Rebecca picked up the story for her. “Grandma, we heard something at Peacock Cemetery yesterday. It was right after we figured out about the house and the identity of MJ. We were still there by the house when we heard laughing coming from the cemetery. It sounded like two women laughing. We ran to the cemetery but couldn’t see anyone around.”

“Who knows, girls? Maybe it was laughter you heard. There are a lot of things in this world we just can’t explain.”

Grandma arose from her recliner and hugged Olivia, who was closest, then Rebecca. “Girls, I hate to rush you out the door but I think my ride to church is here.” Grandma could see both of her driveways from her recliner and could also watch all the traffic that passed her house, so she never missed a thing.

They stepped out the door together and Rebecca introduced Olivia to her Aunt Sally, who had walked up to the porch to see what was keeping her mother. As they headed for the Buick, Rebecca and Olivia both had an extra spring in their step, full of excitement about their discoveries.

* * *

In a few minutes, they were back at Rebecca’s house. Before they could look through their notes, Rebecca knew she had to feed the cattle. She brought out her notebook, set it on the kitchen table and encouraged Olivia to start without her. Then she headed to the front door where her work coat and bib overalls were hanging in the hall closet. She had stepped into her bibs and was pulling them up to fasten the straps when Olivia walked up behind her.

“Can I come along to help?” she asked.

“Sure,” Rebecca said, pleased by her offer. None of her friends had ever shared her interest in livestock or farming. She looked down at the overalls she was wearing and realized she would need to find something to keep Olivia from getting too cold out on the tractor. “Mom, can Olivia borrow your overalls?” she yelled into the kitchen.

Beth appeared behind the girls and dug into the back of the closet, pulling out a worn pair of insulated overalls she kept handy for times when her husband needed her help with a new calf or a sick cow. “I think these will be a little loose but they’ll certainly be better than going without,” she said, holding up the overalls in front of Olivia’s petite frame.

Olivia stepped into the overalls and Rebecca helped her untwist the straps so she could fasten them. Meanwhile, Beth had reached back into the closet and pulled out an old Carhartt coat for her to wear also. Soon they were both bundled up and heading out the door.

Olivia stood by as Rebecca got the tractor started and speared a bale. She opened the gate for her as she pulled the tractor close and Rebecca drove quickly through, then she leaped from the tractor to help Olivia get the gate closed without any cows escaping. Olivia nervously followed Rebecca back through the herd toward the tractor, clearly amazed at the confidence Rebecca showed as she pushed the cattle out of their way, talking to them as if they understood every word she said. She climbed up onto the tractor again and reached a hand down to help Olivia up. Olivia sat on the fender Rebecca patted and held tightly to a handle beside her with one hand and Rebecca’s shoulder with the other.

“It’s okay.” Rebecca could feel by Olivia’s tight grip on her shoulder that Olivia was on edge and tried to reassure her. “I promise I won’t throw you off.” She smiled at Olivia and saw a nervous smile cross Olivia’s face at her words. She eased off the clutch and the tractor started forward slowly. Rebecca knew the cows were probably wondering why she was going so slowly but she didn’t want Olivia to be afraid of riding with her as she followed her normal routine. When she hopped down from the tractor to remove the netting from the bale, Olivia started to step down, also.

“Why don’t you stay up there? I’ll be right back,” Rebecca said.

Olivia sat down in the tractor seat and watched while Rebecca moved around the cattle, confident in her movements yet careful to be safe. Rebecca shoved the netting into a corner beside the seat then pulled herself up onto the tractor again. She sat down on the fender before Olivia had a chance to move from the seat.

“Okay, driver, let’s unroll this bale!”

Olivia didn’t look very eager to try driving the big machine, but Rebecca smiled encouragingly so she acquiesced. “What do I do?”

Rebecca led her patiently through the steps of moving the tractor forward, then showed her how to lower the hay bale to remove it from the spike. She guided Olivia as she turned the front of the tractor toward the bale and lowered the loader bucket to nudge it, causing the round bale to unroll. By the time she arrived back at the gate, she was still feeling pretty uncertain about her skills but Rebecca had pronounced her a pro. Olivia stepped down from the tractor after bringing it to a stop, bringing an end to her first tractor-driving lesson. She opened the gate for Rebecca to move the tractor through. After parking by the bales, Rebecca quickly walked over beside Olivia at the gate. They looked out across the pasture at the cows enjoying the hay.

“You really love working with them, don’t you?” Olivia asked.

“Yeah, I guess I do. I like doing outside stuff and I love animals,” she admitted.

“Maybe you should consider a career that involves working with them,” Olivia suggested.

“Yeah, maybe,” Rebecca answered noncommittally.

As if sensing her unwillingness to discuss career plans, Olivia changed the topic. “That was great. I can’t believe I drove a tractor.”

“You did pretty well for a rookie,” Rebecca allowed. “Let’s go to the house and look at our notes now.”

After removing their work coats and overalls, they headed to the kitchen and sat down around the table with their notebooks spread out in front of them. As they reviewed their notes again, Olivia asked, “Census records? Do you have any notes about census records for the Farthings? Maybe they listed Ralph on their census in nineteen-thirty.”

“I didn’t get to that book,” Rebecca confessed, thinking about their evening with the Genealogical Society. “But maybe I can reach one of the officers of the group this week and look at their records again. I don’t think I could stand to wait until their next meeting.”

Olivia agreed. “If you can take care of that I’ll see what I can find out from Uncle Steve. He likes to talk and sometimes I can get him to tell me things he doesn’t mean to. If I play him right, maybe he’ll slip up,” she laughed. “Does that sound like a plan, detective?”

Rebecca grinned and replied, “Sounds good to me, inspector.”

Their eyes met and they grew quiet, each thinking what neither had said. Plans were easier to make for their investigations than they were for getting to see each other again. Thanksgiving was a week and a half away and family commitments couldn’t be broken. They both had studying and classes, with end of semester less than a month away. And the more than two-hour drive between them didn’t make things easier.

Rebecca drew up her schedule for the next few weeks on a piece of notebook paper. When Olivia saw what she was doing, she quickly did the same. They exchanged papers and Rebecca brightened when she noticed an opening in common.

“What are you doing next Saturday evening?” she asked, with a shy smile.

“Depends on what you have in mind,” Olivia replied, lifting one eyebrow and smiling back at her.

“I could probably get the parents to let me meet you halfway if you want to meet for dinner,” she suggested. “A couple of towns in that general area have a theater, if you want to catch a show.”

“Are you asking me on a date?” Olivia teased quietly, aware of Rebecca’s mother’s presence in the next room.

“Yes,” Rebecca responded quickly and with conviction.

“Then the answer is yes, I would love that.”

Rebecca thought she would burst from the warmth that flooded her when she heard Olivia’s response and the muscles in her stomach clenched when she saw that funny smile cross her face again.

They gathered their papers together and finalized their plans. Rebecca helped Olivia carry her things to her car. “What time do you have to leave?” she asked, not really wanting to hear the answer.

“I probably need to hit the road in about an hour.” Olivia didn’t sound any more eager to leave than Rebecca was for her to go.

“Let’s go for a walk and we’ll come back for a sandwich before you go,” Rebecca suggested.

“Do you think it’s safe with the deer hunters around?”

“It should be. Everyone lets Dad know before they hunt on us and with the leaves already fallen from the trees we can see a hunter in his orange for a mile,” Rebecca reassured her.

“Why don’t we take the sandwiches with us, like a picnic?” Olivia said.

“It’s a little cold for a picnic, but that’s okay with me if that’s what you want to do,” Rebecca agreed. “I guess we could wear overalls again.”

“Maybe I can think of some way to keep you warm,” Olivia suggested as she turned to head back into the house.

Rebecca blushed and was unable to move for a couple of seconds. She ran to catch up and caught the door just before it closed behind Olivia.

Ten minutes later, with a Thermos filled with steaming hot coffee and ham sandwiches, chips, and two cups placed in a bag, they donned their insulated bib overalls again, placed their blaze-orange caps on, and added blaze-orange vests at Beth’s insistence. They carried their meal across the back pasture, crossed the fence to the adjoining pasture and continued over the hill to the back corner of the property. As they walked, they kept their eyes out for hunters, easily identifiable in the bright orange, but they neither saw nor heard any and were glad for the privacy.

Rebecca knew this corner was the most secluded part of the farm. She had told her father that she wanted a house there some day, away from the rest of the world.

“It’s beautiful back here,” Olivia said. “Rugged and so private, like the rest of the world has disappeared.”

“That’s why I like it,” Rebecca said. She showed Olivia a tree to set their food under then she grabbed her hand and led her around her dream house, showing her the view out her imaginary front window and sitting beside her on her illusion of a porch.

Finally, Olivia looked at her watch. “We had better eat then head back.”

They ate quickly and in silence, watching a squirrel scamper around from tree to tree in the draw below them, making sounds like a much larger animal as it crashed through the leaves. They heard distant shots from time to time but Rebecca assured Olivia they were miles away, with the sound traveling along the draws and hollers around them.