Lindsey Cleaver and her friends, Louise Rutherford and Martha Haskell were talking about what to do for Halloween this year. She and the girls had some of the same looks and traits their fathers had. Unlike Martha, Lindsey didn’t have any brothers or sisters to talk with. She was an only child. Sometimes she wished she had another brother or sister to joke around with.

“What do you have in mind, Martha?”

Louise was the first to speak. Lindsey still didn’t have any ideas what they could do. Lindsey didn’t pay much attention to the ideas her friends were discussing. She was mostly paying attention to the letter she’d received from her father, Wally Cleaver. She opened the letter. This is what Wally’s letter said:

‘Dear Lindsey,

I hope you and the girls are having a good Halloween this year. Your Uncle Beaver and Aunt Olivia went shopping for the trick – or – treaters. I thought you and the girls would dress up. I’m sorry I wasn’t the perfect father, but with depression hanging around, it can be difficult to pay attention to my daughter.

Your Uncle Beaver sends you his love. Louise and Martha better stay out of trouble this Halloween. We miss you. It will not have weather this Halloween while there are trick – or – treaters are collecting candy. If I had been a better parent, sweetheart, we would have fun every year when Halloween comes around. I do wish your mother was still alive and see what a beautiful young woman you turned out to be.’

Lindsey stopped reading her father’s message for a few minutes. What Wally had just said about her mother was true. She and Louise and Martha were in a campus just outside of Mayfield, so it was easy for them to go home whenever they wanted to. When she finished reading Wally’s last paragraph, she could feel tears coming down.

“Lindsey, you’re not paying attention to our ideas,” Martha Haskell said.

“You look like you were in another world,” Louise said, who happened to agree with Martha.

Both of the girls saw there were tears coming down her cheeks.

“Why are you crying, Lindsey? You were in a good mood five minutes ago,” Martha told her.

Before Lindsey could say anything, remembered Louise had only been in America for a few years. Most of her teenage years she had spent a long time in an orphanage. Before moving to America, Louise had lived in Africa. When she met her adoptive father, Clarence (aka Lumpy) Rutherford and at that second her life changed and became friends with her and Martha, so this was why Louise wasn’t born in America to look like Lumpy, but like Martha and Lindsey, she was beautiful.

“Sorry, girls. I was just reading a letter that recently came in from my father,” Lindsey told Louise and Martha.

“It’s no wonder you were in a different world,” Martha replied.

“What did Mr. Cleaver’s letter say that made you cry?” Louise asked.

“I just finished reading this last paragraph, but there’s more than what I just read. I’ll share it so you girls can see why the tears.”

Lindsey found the recent paragraph and began to share with her friends.

‘Your Uncle Beaver sends you his love. Louise and Martha better stay out of trouble this Halloween. We miss you. It will not have weather this Halloween while trick – or – treaters are collecting candy. If I had been a better parent, sweetheart, we would have fun every Halloween comes around. I do wish your mother was still alive to see what a beautiful young woman you turned out to be.

That’s when Lindsey stopped.

“That was nice of your dad to say that. My father says the same thing to me and Lucy almost all of the time,” Martha told her.

“I still hear that from other people when Dad talks to them in person and tell him I should’ve been his daughter in the beginning of fatherhood instead of living in Kenya. Speaking of which, would you two girls want to go to Africa with me sometime?”

Lindsey and Martha looked at one another and Lindsey said, “As far as you already know, Martha and I have never been out of America. We’ll be sure to keep this in mind for future vacations.”

When Lindsey finished speaking, Martha nodded in agreement.

“That does sound like a fun idea,” Martha told her.

“I’ll read the rest of Dad’s letter later. I’d better go back to my dorm room to start on my homework.”

“We’ll keep talking about Halloween another time,” Louise said.

Unlike Lindsey, neither she or Martha were good students. Somehow Lindsey picked up doing a good job in school like Wally did. She and Martha usually received Cs and Ds, but were mostly messing around enough to sit still in class. Martha would be the first to start causing trouble. Martha had been told several times from Eddie that she reminded him when he grew up with Wally and Lumpy back in the fifties. Back in those days, children spent most of their time playing outside and not play video games. Martha asked Louise if she wanted to play a video game with her.

“Sure, I’d love to,” Louise said.

Then she and Martha headed back to the room and play a game for awhile.

In her dorm room, Lindsey reopened Wally’s letter. She wanted to read the last of Wally’s letter before she started her homework. Here’s what the rest of Wally’s letter said:

‘Sweetheart, before you came back to Mayfield when Uncle Beaver told you about my health problems, where did you run off to without talking to your own father? I know we never gotten around to talking about that, but now I think we should talk about it. This could probably be why I never was much of a father to you. I always got up – to – date whenever you and Uncle Beaver had a chance to talk.

I understand you have to concentrate on your schoolwork. You do remind me about myself when I was your age. When Grandma June and Grandpa Ward were alive at that time, they didn’t help us on our homework when we got stuck. Grandpa Ward wanted us to be independent without them helping us. I better end this letter, but I do hope you and the girls would come to Mayfield for Thanksgiving.

Love,

Dad

Lindsey could understand why Wally wanted to know where she went without keeping in contact with her Uncle Beaver and not her father. She ran away about ten or so years ago when her mother died. She was able to pay for her own schooling without her mother and Wally’s help once she ran away. When that did happen, she still spoke with Martha and Louise. When she closed Wally’s letter, she grabbed her schoolbooks and sat at her desk.

2: Chapter 2

Since her father wanted to know what did make her run away a long time ago, Lindsey still wasn’t so sure how or when she should tell him or leave as is. She wanted to think more about this and share with Wally when the time was right. So she thought she would write her father now and send it off later. Here is what her letter said:

‘Dear Dad,

I usually don’t want to share with you what happened so long ago yet. Give me some time to think about this and you will know by then. How does that sound to you? I did show Louise and Martha your letter and the paragraph you said about Mom. That really made me break into tears.

At least both of us do know is that I’m not a sensitive person. What you said about Mom is true. I would like to have a chance with her if she hadn’t died so soon. I know that’s what made me run away from home. I guess I could tell you what happened in this letter instead of telling you later.

When Mom first died, I wasn’t so sure if I wanted to live with just one parent who was the last one to live when the other spouse dies. I know children like myself usually don’t do this sort of thing. What you just said about your being a better parent is true, but if my running away from home never happened, I would have been a better child to you.

Now when I learned from Uncle Beaver you started having health problems, it made me tell myself this running away from home should be put to an end. When I ran away, I found myself a good paying job to care for myself and I did very well by saving money in the bank, paying bills and taxes, doctor and dentists bills, etc. At least it also was enough to pay for food and clothes as well. At least I gave myself a runaway girl by saving money to support myself. Now that I’ve told you about what happened, you don’t need to worry about this any longer. I’d better sign off for now and will write you again soon.

Love,

Lindsey

After Lindsey went through her response to Wally’s letter, it still made her think she wasn’t ready to share with Wally about her running away from home. Since he had asked, she would indeed know he had to know sooner or later. This is why she wrote this letter just to get it over with. Now was a good time to let her runaway life to an end. She addressed an envelope and put in the mail and was sure Wally would write back. Now it was time for her to finish up her book report.

 

 

3: Chapter 3

The next day, Martha and Louise still were talking about what they wanted to do for Halloween.

“I think I have an idea,” Martha said.

She was the first to speak after a few moments of silence.

“What?” Louise asked.

Lindsey didn’t reply yet. She was busy chewing a cucumber, so that’s why she didn’t join in on the conversation.

“Why don’t we just do a party right here at the campus?” Martha asked.

“Great idea, Martha. Don’t you think that’s a great idea, Lindsey?” Louise asked.

Lindsey finished the last of her cucumber. When she finished, she said, “Yes, I do. That means you both will be in charge of the whole thing. That was a good idea, Martha.”

“Aren’t you going to be there too?” Martha asked her.

“I just might but let’s see what comes up.”

“And just what do you exactly mean by that, Lindsey? Remember the last time we wanted to invite you to a movie with us and you ditched out on us?” Louise asked.

“I remember that. You ditched us because you wanted to concentrate on schoolwork instead,” Martha added.

What Louise and Martha had just said was true.

“Yes, I do remember that. Schoolwork is pretty important especially if you want to pass and graduate.”

What Lindsey had just said was true. She was more into focusing on schoolwork so she could graduate. She really didn’t have many interests in what she wanted to do once she, Martha, and Louise graduated from college. Martha wasn’t that much interested in school like Lindsey was, but ever since she and her friends started college, she’d been trying her best, but found college harder than she thought it would. It sounded like Louise thought the same thing.

Louise had been educated all of her life while living in the orphanage, but she still got low grades like she is since she and the girls are at a higher level. As usual, college was always hard, which means you have a lot of tests to work on if you work hard from all of the studying you have to do. Lindsey and her friends knew this was true: all of the hard work you have to do, it takes a lot of credit.

 

 

4: Chapter 4

"We’ll stay out of trouble. Watch for yourself. Has your father said anything to you about Louise and I to stay out of trouble?” Martha asked.

“No. You girls saw what he wrote.”

“Oh, yeah. I guess we forgot about it,” Louise said.

She’d been paying attention to this conversation.

“Did you promise Mr. Cleaver you’d tell him about what will happen at the party?” Louise asked.

“I didn’t tell him anything. This is up to the two of you to tell your fathers about the party. I won’t be involved.”

Lindsey had a good point, Louise and Martha saw, but didn’t reply back.

“You do have a point, Lindsey,” Louise told her.

“I’m happy you girls paid attention what I just pointed out. This isn’t my job to write home about the party. It wasn’t my idea. If there is any trouble at the party, you can call Mr. Haskell and Mr. Rutherford or write them.”

After she said that, she left Louise and Martha behind. It was time to start on focusing today’s pile of homework

After Lindsey disappeared to her dorm room, Martha and Louise decided to buy a cookie or two. Once they did that, they also went to their dorm room, but not to attend homework esponsibilities. Instead they decided to check their e – mail and play a card game or two. So they did. They still didn’t touch their homework when it was bedtime. This time it was Martha’s turn to turn the lights off.

“Think Lindsey is in bed herself?” Louise asked.

“Have no idea. Maybe she’s still at her desk.”

“Good thought. Since she’s not a fan of dating, why don’t we give her a surprise while we have the party?” Martha said, turning around so she could see Louise better.

“I think you have a point, Martha. How about somebody from the men’s basketball team?” Think that could work?”

“I think you made a good choice. Tomorrow we eat lunch with the boys,” Martha told her friend.

“Good idea. Whatever you do, don’t say a word about it.”

“Agreed,” Martha said.

That’s when both friends fell asleep.

 

 

5: Chapter 5

It was now lunchtime for Lindsey and her friends. She didn’t seem to care if Martha and Louise would join her or not. She never liked buying lunch, so she packed her own lunch, but every once in a while she would treat herself to a chocolate chip cookie. While eating her lunch, she decided to write her father. It had been a while since they wrote.

When she finished drinking some water from her water bottle, she grabbed out a pen and began to write:

Dear Dad,

I know it’s been a while since our last conversation. You know how I’ve never been a fan of Halloween, but our relationship is at a new beginning.

I don’t know what you have planned for this Halloween besides passing out candy. I already have something planned, but as usual, it is mostly Martha and Louise’s idea. They came up with the idea of throwing a party. I did tell the girls it was their idea, but I’ll let them be in charge. If anything does go wrong, it’s not my problem to solve, but I will help them decorate and the rest is theirs.

For some reason, the girls aren’t eating lunch with me today as they usually do. All I see at the minute is them eating lunch with the men’s basketball team. I don’t care what they talk about with the boys. At least you know I am more interested in track like you were back in the day. I’ll write again soon.

Love,

Lindsey

Lindsey reread the letter she had just written to Wally. She usually didn’t write to bore Wally with a long letter. He usually did the same thing. Once she finished looking over on what she’d just written, she thought it looked long enough. She’ll proofread later.

Martha then asked the guys if they would want to join in on the fun she and Louise were planning for the party.

“Guys, I only want to surprise Lindsey. Whatever you do, don’t say a word.”

All of the guys agreed they wouldn’t say anything.

Since Halloween was nearing, Lindsey did keep her promise to Louise and Martha to help set up the decorations. Halloween hadn’t been Lindsey’s favorite time of the year. Martha and Louise still seemed to enjoy it, even if they were only college students.

The party for that evening was about an hour long since the guys on the basketball team had to get to bed early the next day for practice first thing in the morning. Everyone on the team did keep their promise to Louise and Martha the guys from the basketball team was there.

She saw one of the them wall in her direction. His name was David. He was just about her age, a junior, had light blue eyes, wore a Seahawks cap, his light blonde hair was recently washed and combed. He was the first one to speak. They both had a few classes together, so they already knew each other.

“Hello, Lindsey.”

“Hello, David,” Lindsey returned.

“Martha and Louise invited the team and I to the party, so here I am.”

“I never expected to see you here, but it is a surprise to see you.”

Then David told Lindsey that Louise and Martha setting up a date for her.

“Martha! Louise!” everyone heard Lindsey scream.

Both of her friends immediately came to join Lindsey and David.

“What did you think of our surprise?” Martha asked.

“You girls already know I’m not interested in dating at the minute. Why did you do this?” she asked.

“Just to surprise you,” Louise answered.

Martha nodded in agreement.

“She’s right, Lindsey,” Martha said.

“You could have said something about this. I don’t like surprises very much.”

“Of course Louise and Martha knew that, but they didn’t reply.

“What do you want us to do?” Martha asked.

“Cancel the party. I’m not going to help you put the decorations away. All I’m going to do is watch you,.”

“Any ideas we should do, Lindsey?” Louise asked.

“Write Mr. Haskell and Mr. Rutherford to tell them what party you girls set up.”

“Sorry I made you angry, Lindsey,” David apologized.

“That’s okay, David. It’s not your fault.”

“I understand,” he said.

6: Chapter 6

This time it was Louise's turn to grab the mail. She let Martha let them inside their dorm.

"So what do we have in the mail today?" Martha asked.

Louise went through the stack.

"Bills, bills, bills. Boring. It's your turn this time to pay the bills," Louise answered.

Martha didn't want to start complaining about who should pay the bills, so she kept quiet.

"Oh, look at this, Martha. Our dads sent us something. Should we open the letters now or should we wait to share with Lindsey?"

"Hard choice, Louise. We already know she received two letters from Mr. Cleaver," Martha reminded her.

"That's right, Martha. I guess I forgot about that one," Louise said.

Martha let Louise open her letter first.

"What does your letter say, Louise?" Martha asked.

She loved it when they shared something like this.

"If I share with you, that's fine. At least you could do the same with what Mr. Haskell said."

"I want to," Martha told Louise.

After Louise unfolded Lumpy's letter, she cleared her throat.

"Here's what Dad says:

Dear Louise,

I heard about the party you and the girls had on Halloween. It looked like Lindsey doesn't want you and Martha to give her a hand by inviting all of the guts from the basketball team. Mr. Cleaver told me about the party, but it I were you girls, I wouldn't pick a handsome man to start a relationship if the couple weren't meant for each other. I never did that very often back in the fifties, but when I did, it didn't go so well. I would remember this in the future if I were you.

And we all know that Lindsey isn't ready to start a relationship right away, and her father was like that himself. He ended up marrying his high school sweetheart, and you know the rest of the story. Parties can be both fun and not so cool, but what I've been told, you girls didn't have anyone to call for the police, but it could've happened.

Since you and your friends are planning to come to Mayfield for the holidays, I want you and Martha to do one thing. Do not bring any boyfriends you girls are in a relationship with. If you do that, you are not to share the same bed. That has always been a rule. I wouldn't like it if you chose to do the opposite. Hope to hear from you again soon.

Love,

Dad

"Louise, what makes Mr. Rutherford think of that sort of thing? It doesn't make any sense to me," said Martha.

"I have no clue. But if his thinking I started doing it without knowing about, and he's wrong. I don't have any boyfriends. I'll write back and say I don't have a boyfriend at all yet," Louise said, and then added, "What does your dad say?"

"Here's what my letter says:

Dear Martha,

I wanted to write to you to say your sister is not coming home for Thanksgiving. Something has happened to her, so there will be no Thanksgiving for the Haskells this year. I was contacted by your sister's roommates saying she wasn't able to come home.

I heard your sister is being held for hostage, but her friends don't have any idea to where Lucy could be. She did say something to her friends that she had plans since her latest boyfriend asked her to get away for the weekend. She hasn't been home since. I'm afraid you will have to spend the holiday waiting with me to hear from your sister. This is all I can say about in this letter. Please be safe on your way back to Mayfield. Hope to hear from you soon.

Love,

Dad

"Your dad hasn't said anything about contacting the rest of your family, but to me it looks like the police are already on their search to look for Lucy. I am sorry on the way your holiday this Thanksgiving won't be a happy one," Louise told her.

"I guess you're right, Louise. I guess I could share with Lindsey in case she hadn't been told from her father."

"I agree, Martha. I am sorry," Louise said and gave her friend a hug.

7: Chapter 7

The next day, which was a Friday, Martha and Louise were able to get together with Lindsey. As usual, all three girls had a lot of homework for the weekend, but Martha and Louise weren't very good at keeping up with their schoolwork like Lindsey does.

"Lindsey, Louise and I have a question for you," Martha began.

"What is it?" Lindsey asked.

"Both Martha and I received letters from our fathers," Louise started.

Martha nodded.

"Why are you telling me all of this for?" asked Lindsey.

"Our fathers mentioned the party Louise and I had on Halloween. Were you the one who told them?" Martha asked.

Both girls watched Lindsey give them full eye contact so she could give them their answer.

"I told Dad about it. He told me he'd pass it on to Mr. Rutherford and Mr. Haskell," Lindsey answered.

"We kinda guessed that since they both did mention our relationship with you and that we should keep in mind to keep your relationship with other people and try to stop setting you up with blind dates," Martha told Lindsey.

"You girls should know by now I'm not interested in anybody right now, but let me thank you for trying your best," Lindsey told her friends.

"Sorry, Lindsey. We both think it's a good idea to start getting interested in dating one of these guys before the school year is over," Louise told her.

"I always kept this sort of promise to myself schoolwork comes first, dating comes whenever I'm ready. I have told myself that dating is on hold until we graduate from school.

"Okay. Don't get mad at us," Louise said.

"Remember to keep in mind on this subject in the future. Can you girls promise?" Lindsey asked.

"We will do our best, Lindsey. At last we are still friends," Martha added.

"How about you girls give me a better answer by saying you will keep this instead of saying maybe? We have been friends with Louise when Mr. Rutherford retired back to America so Louise could have the opportunity to have friends," Lindsey reminded Martha.

"Right. I guess I did forget that bit of detail. Thanks for reminding me," Martha said.

"You're welcome," Lindsey returned.

8: Chapter 8

That evening, Martha and Louise tried to focus on their homework, but instead they kept getting distracted.

“Louise, are you having trouble focusing on homework?” Martha asked.

“Of course. What about you?” Louise asked.

“Not at all. Think we should start writing our fathers? It’s been a while, you know,” Martha told her friend.

“True. Did I ever mention that when I was living in Kenya, I had a hard time concentrating on my schoolwork?” Louise asked.

“I don’t think you did, Louise. From what you just said, this was before Mr. Rutherford starting working in Africa?” Martha asked.

“That’s right. I wasn’t the only child in the orphanage who had problems concentrating on schoolwork, so it was nice to see that I wasn’t alone in that sort of area,” Louise added.

Martha didn’t say a word after her friend finished speaking.

“Let’s get started on the letters, shall we?” Martha asked a few seconds later.

“Sounds good to me. Maybe we could share what we have written,” Louise told Martha.

“I like that idea. We’d better get to work,” she said.

It took the girls not very long to write their letters. And plus the holidays were coming pretty fast as well, but like some of the other college students on campus wouldn’t make it home for Thanksgiving, so they were stuck back at the campus. Lindsey was able to travel to Mayfield for the Thanksgiving holiday. Their fathers thought this was a good rule that when the holidays arrive and you completed your schoolwork, you get to pay a short visit. If you didn’t finish your work, you weren’t going to visit for the holiday.

“Dumb rule our fathers made up, won’t you think?” Martha asked.

“Of course,” Louise agreed.

Martha was able to finish her letter to Eddie before Louise finished hers to Lumpy. Louise looked up from her letter.

“Are you finished already?” Louise asked.

“Yes. Wanna hear what I have?” Martha asked.

“Go right ahead. I can still concentrate on my letter to Dad,” Louise answered.

“Sounds like a good deal to me,” Martha replied.

Martha cleared her throat before she began reading her letter to Louise.

“Let me know what you think,” Martha told her.

“I plan to. You know that," Louise said as she sharpened her pencil.

So Martha began to read her letter.

“Here’s what I have:

Dear Dad,

I know it’s been a while since I last wrote to you. I’m sure Lucy is home for Thanksgiving. She must be your favorite child and I’m the troublemaker. I know you love us both, but that’s how I see it.

You seem to agree on that stupid rule that Mr. Cleaver thought up. It really makes no sense to me and Louise at all. Louise and I really don’t have much of anything going on since we can’t see you since that stupid rule was created. What does schoolwork have to do with coming home to visit family anyway?

I always wanted to spend the holidays with my family and take schoolwork off of my mind until school started again. Maybe that’s how I see it, I guess.

Do you and Lucy have anything planned since I can’t make it? As usual I’ll be with Louise. And you have to know by now that I don’t focus long enough to finish up homework that keeps piling up. I don’t have much else to report, so I hope to hear from you again soon. I do miss you a lot.

Love,

Martha

“What did you think?” Martha asked.

Louise answered, “I like it, but it’s okay to write a short message. These things happen, you know,” Martha pointed out.

“True that,” Louise said and that ended the conversation.

When Martha finished reading her letter to Louise, she saw Louise already ended writing her letter to Lumpy.

“Are you finished too?” Martha asked as Louise put the pencil down.

“Just finished,” Louise answered.

“Cool. What did you think of my letter?” Martha asked.

“I like it and you did make a lot of sense. Our fathers should have already figured out about that a long time ago. Wanna hear my letter?”

“Go right ahead,” Martha answered.

She hoped Louise’s letter was good as hers was. Louise began to read. Unlike Martha, there was no need to clear her throat.

Dear Dad,

I hope you are doing well. As usual, I do miss you. How is the weather in Mayfield these past few months? It’s been sunny here at the campus, so we hadn’t had much rain.

I’m sure you’re wishing to have me home for Thanksgiving, but you know how it is when you can’t concentrate on things such as schoolwork. (sticks tongue out) I really don’t have much to say in this letter to you, so I’ll just keep it nice and short. I don’t  have much to say right now, but when I think I have a better letter with a lot to say, but I hope it will be in the next update. I love you and want to say Happy Thanksgiving.

Love,

Louise

“What did you think?” Louise asked.

Martha answered, “i like it, but it’s okay to write a short message. These things happen, you know,” Martha pointed out.

“True that,” Louise said and that ended the conversation.

9: Chapter 9

Martha and Louise ate alone without Lindsey. They didn’t pay much attention wherever Lindsey ate with them or not.

“Have you seen or talked to Lindsey today?” Louise asked.

“No. What about you?”

“Nope. I just noticed she isn’t here with us,” Louise answered.

“Want me to try and find her?” Martha asked.

“Nah. I wouldn’t think there isn’t any need to do so,” Louise remarked.

“Okay. It was just a thought,” Martha said.

“I understand,” Louise told her friend.

While the two girls ate, they changed subjects throughout the lunch period. Everyone who was around them that day were doing the same thing.

“Have any tests coming up?” Louise asked.

“Why would you bring that up? I don’t like talking about school, you know,” Martha reminded her.

“I know what you mean. Plus you know we don’t concentrate on it very well like Lindsey does,” Louise said.

“At this moment you’re starting to act like her,” Martha told Louise.

“Sorry,” Louise replied.

“That’s okay, but remember not to do this again without Lindsey here,” Martha said.

“Done deal. She likes to keep up with it, doesn’t she?” Louise asked.

“You bet she does. I guess she wants to work hard to end up on the honors list,” Martha said.

“If we’re going to want better grades, we better stop this if we want to graduate,” Louise said.

“I guess you’re right, Louise. We better get a move on so we can spend Christmas in Mayfiled this year. It wasn’t fair Lindsey got to go with us on Thanksgiving. If we’re going to plan on coming home for Christmas, starting tonight,” Martha told her.

“True.”

10: Chapter 10

Lindsey sighed. She didn’t bother to think about Martha and Louise, but they sure have lost their fat chance to coming back to Mayfield for Thanksgiving, and she didn’t plan to stay behind with the girls when Christmas came. Leave it to them to decide, she told herself.

At least she always did her schoolwork when it was first given out. And Lindsey was always having Bs and As, she always had time to spend a short visit with Wally in Mayfield. She and her father were never close to each other, but when she heard about his health, she returned back to Mayfield and see what she could to help out.

Lindsey grabbed out one of her history books. History had never been a favorite subject of hers, but when she did get stuck, she would put the assignment on hold and go to an easier subject and go from there. Her favorite class had to be English.

Before she got started on that night’s history assignment, she headed to a pencil sharpener. It looked like it almost broke, so now was the time to sharpen it. But she decided to write to Wally before it got too late. Here’s what she wrote:

Dear Dad,

I wanted to say that I had fun over the Thanksgiving holiday when I came to visit you. I just don’t understand why the girls plan on not focusing on schoolwork. Everybody’s different, I guess. I’ll just keep this short since homework is calling.

Maybe Martha and Louise could have a tutor and help them focusing to get better grades? I just might suggest it to them. If they want to come home to Mayfield for Christmas with me, now would be the time.

I hope you like my thought about Louise and Martha. It’s not my job to help them with their schoolwork and focus on my own. You know how it is. I think I’ll end this letter now but I know we’ll keep in touch until then. I already miss you.

Love,

Lindsey

Lindsey reread the letter she’d just written to Wally. Like most people, she’d prefer keeping in contact with somebody by writing letters and talk on the telephone. Those times already had come and gone, but she knew that as a fact. She reread her letter about three times to check if there’s anything she missed, but since she didn’t see any words that needed to take out or what, but she decided to leave as is. She’ll mail this in the morning, she told herself.

11: Chapter 11

Lindsey, Louise and Martha saw how fast time was nearing Christmas. This time Martha and Louise were able to get caught up on their schoolwork assignments, even if school wasn’t an interesting subject to them. They were more distracted to focus on their schoolwork. This time they worked hard since they wanted to come home to Mayfield for Christmas.

“Have you girls decided to act more like adults this Christmas instead of acting like children?” Lindsey asked.

Martha and Louise couldn’t find any words to say, so all they did was nod their heads, letting Lindsey know they could come home with Lindsey for Christmas.

“That’s good, girls. Dad wants me to come home a little early and he did tell me it’s starting to snow a few inches, but wants me to come home before a blizzard or whatever becomes serious enough to cancel out for people to travel.”

“When did you talk to Mr. Cleaver?”

Louise was the first to ask that question.

“Only a few days ago. He hopes you girls decide to act more like adults instead of young and immature children. You girls weren’t acting like adults on Thanksgiving, so it was your idea to stay back here on campus,” Lindsey remarked, still not happy with her friends.

“You act like Mr. Rutherford and your father when you talk to us, Lindsey. Look, Mr. Rutherford and Dad were immature in the fifties,” Martha replied.

“I know the story already, so you don’t need to remind me. When our fathers were teenagers back then, some people were sure really immature, but Dad was mature for somebody his age,” Lindsey said.

“And you take a lot of interest from Mr. Cleaver, so it’s no surprise, Lindsey. Why do you keep talking like a mother to me and Martha, even if we’re all the same age?” Louise asked.

“And besides, I never had a real mother and father like you girls do, so why bother talking this way to your friends?” Louise reminded Lindsey.

Lindsey didn’t say a word, so she saw there was no need to have an answer for Louise. A few days later, Lindsey, Martha and Louise were all set to fly back home to Mayfield for Christmas. Like all buildings and houses, the airport was also decorated for the Christmas holiday. Every once in a while, Lindsey liked winter, but had lost interest in dressing up in boots, gloves, and jackets to play in the snow. Those days are long gone, she saw.

Lindsey saw that Wally was right when he told her over the phone. About three inches of snow. Good thing I packed a lot of winter clothes, Lindsey told herself.

“This airport sure is in the holiday spirit,” Martha remarked, looking around the crowd of people.

“I know. When I was in the orphanage, it also had decorations for the holidays to brighten up the holiday spirit for the children and teenagers,” Louise told her friends.

“At least the children and teens are lucky enough to celebrate Christmas,” Martha replied.

“Doesn’t everybody?” Louise asked.

“Not everybody, girls. Louise, there are all sorts of homeless people around the world who don’t have a Merry Christmas since they don’t have much shelter,” Lindsey reminded her.

“I almost forgot about them,” Louise said.

“You’re lucky enough to live in a normal house with things you have access to,” Martha told her.

Louise didn’t bother to say anything, so she stayed quiet. And she saw her friends made a lot of sense. The three girls took a taxi to their parent’s houses as they usually did.

The taxi driver dropped Lindsey off first, and then Martha and Louise. Martha even liked the way Eddie’s decorations were hung. When she got to the doorstep, she rang the doorbell. There was no answer at the door. She saw a note on the front door telling her he went to town to do some last – minute Christmas shopping.

“Great. Just what I need when I come home for the Christmas holiday – wait until somebody comes to greet their family in the cold weather.”

Louise didn’t bother to say anything, so she stayed quiet. And she saw her friends made a lot of sense. The three girls took a taxi to their parent’s houses as they usually did.

The taxi driver dropped Lindsey off first, and then Martha and Louise. Martha even liked the way Eddie’s decorations were hung. When she got to the doorstep, she rang the doorbell. There was no answer at the door. She saw a note on the front door telling her he went to town to do some last – minute Christmas shopping.

“Great. Just what I need when I come home for the Christmas holiday – wait until somebody comes to greet their family in the cold weather.”

Martha saw there was no sign of neighbors outside. She didn’t blame them since it was very cold. She got lucky – she found a spare key under the door mat, so she was able to let herself in. It began to snow a little heavier.

Martha hoped Eddie wouldn’t be snowed in so she couldn’t come home in time. And Martha didn’t want to share a lonely Christmas without family like most people. And it sure looked that way. Martha decided to check the kitchen telephone to see if it still had dial tone. It was dead and that wasn’t a very good sign.

It made Martha wonder if their fathers were home to agree them. There was no need to cross her fingers. Martha told herself. And this looked to be a not so happy Christmas since Eddie got snowed in. She would hate to share this with the girls.

Time flew by and now Lindsey, Louise and Martha were flying back to the campus.

“You’ve been quiet, Martha. Is there something on your mind?” Lindsey asked her.

“I had a lonely Christmas. I got a note at the front door from Dad, telling me he went to do some last – minute Christmas shopping.”

“Then what happened?” Louise asked.

“He never returned home. It looked like Dad got snowed in, so I ended up spending Christmas alone. This isn’t very much of a happy Christmas to me this year,” Martha said, feeling tears.

“Sorry to hear this, Martha. Maybe next year would be better,” Lindsey said as she and Louise do a group hug.

“I hope you’re right, Lindsey. Let’s see what happens next year,” Martha said and the girls stopped hugging.

Note: I know it's not Christmas anymore, but I hope you enjoy the late update on Christmas. Happy reading!