Well grandma Dowel collected her granddaughter at the training station and took care right away to school. Was a country school. It was a hot day . I believe this was in the ’30s her brother didn’t come with her he had come the summer before . Her brother had gotten a job it came completely lodging and food was a mouth they didn’t have to worry about feeding just coming off the depression in the 30s depression started in the 20s. It wasn’t a lot of jobs around so the government stepped in and gave a multitude of jobs a young man boys to plant trees.
He’s young man also built roads in the Black hills South Coast there responsible for the roads and the pigtails in Custer State Park. My granddad was in it in the ’30s. Civil Corps of Conservation . The brother’s name is Joey. Joey sister’s name was Mary Alice. Mary Ellison brought Bootsy, her cat who came from her grandma’s house when she was a kitten and she wrote in the badge car all the way from Chicago.
Grandma was forever in fact a booty would have to live in the greenery she had better her feet. Sounds weird but she said that that’s how you get them to like where they are My time to get the butter all off their feet they’re coming to where they are. It was a Mildred who Grandma had said that her family went to kind of sort to you to call a friend .
I always thought it it’s best that you didn’t tell anybody what you thought of somebody else he wish it out to figure it out for himself that way you’re not responsible for tainting someone’s idea of people that might be their friends. She was the only one in the classroom this Mildred that was sitting by herself.
And like things happen you would you would expect that the teacher had assigned the extra chair at Mildred’s desk to Mary Alice. Maria’s thought that Mildred thought that she was swanky because she had come from Chicago and would look down her nose on Mildred but that was in the case at all. still Mildred demanded a dollar.
Back then like today a dollar is a fortune. So she followed Mary Alice home to get that bit of money from her grandma. but Mrs Dowl was smarter than both of those girls
Grandma made Mildred leave her boots outside on the porch. The two girls sat down at the table and had some sweet buttermilk and a big chunk of cornbread. And then Grandma disappeared. It wasn’t long before Mary Ellis saw Mildred’s horse wandering away from the house with Mildred’s shoes over the neck of the horse.
Grandma said well Mildred it’s about time you start getting home it’ll be looking for you and Mildred went out on the porch and no boots. she went a little bit further toward the itching post I know horse so she started toward all being sucking feet. Grandma can’t even know what it’s going to take her some time to get home and Mary Ella said well she’s going to be fit to be tied tomorrow and she’s going to take after me.
Grandma is a smart old bird she said no she won’t be at a school for a few days. Mary Alice she’s got that horse she’ll ride into school. this is I don’t believe she’s got that horse. I know every horse in this valley and that horse belongs to the Petersons I’m pretty sure that’s his name but I’m I can’t really remember so we’re just go with that. cuz when I entire she didn’t go toward Mildred’s house she went toward the Peterson’s.
You mean your dad stole that doors, said Mary Alice. Grandma said yep you still a lot of horses before he went up the river to the penitentiary but quite some time before he sees the outside world. was in Mary Alice asked what happened to her cat she said well I better her feet and she’s in the greenery and Mary Ellison she won’t like it out there she won’t know what to do she’ll start Grandma say she’s not going to starve in the grainery plenty of mice.
I was thinking it was Halloween or there was going to be a Halloween party and all the folks were supposed to bring something for the table of food. Grandma Dowel believed that she was going to make pies .
They had supper and then Grandma took Mary off to the back yard and they stick down the out house. And I would house is a bathroom it’s a little building that sits a bed away from the house and it’s called the other house. grandma doll tied a piece of rope but two inches off the ground from one side to the other side and then she and Mary Alice and a couple pales turned upside down sad and wait and a greenery with boots the cat.
The boys and neighborhood have been busy going around at night upturning their dreams or out houses thinking it’s a lot of fun no one knew who they were. so they’re out there waiting for them being very quiet in the greenery so it boots. then after weight long.
Christian they heard a lot of every breathing and the boys have made it the first one the leader went down no one could see him it was dark out there wasn’t long another one went down, name Grandma Dow and sound of a banshee screaming at a cover lungs jumped out which was pretty good for a tall older woman toward the boys.
They lit out there like their tail is on fire. And on the ground was a fancy pocket knife and a bag of flower and a hack saw tools of the trade of boys who wanted it cause Mischief.
Next day Mary Alice went to school Only to find out that grandma was right Mildred was not there. That night after supper. everything was cleaned up as usual and washed up and then they got dressed and they went back to the grainery and took Mary Alice’s father’s wagon and she was pulling it and Grandma had burlap sacks in her pocket ran off the wind.
Got down the road between neighbor’s house had a big pecan tree. The neighbor was a miser a miser means that he liked to keep what was his didn’t like to share. but had told Mrs Dow that she could have every single one of the pecans she found on the ground. Grandma found with her flashlight that there were hardly any on the ground. Grandma was not surprised.
So the news of the tractor. Grandma didn’t know how to drive a tractor and she went out there to the barn grabbed a rubber from a tire and looked at rubber over the throttle of the tractor and got up on the tractor started up and you can hear chug,chug,chug. There was a little bit of an incline coming out of that barn.
The tractor came on out of the barn zooming down hill it stopped I’m going to ran into the tree. Mary Alice continue to look at the house he was one window in the bathroom and a second floor at the light on. You know in that tractor get that tree it was as if that tree had been a part of a big wind.
Millions you’ve not hundreds of pecans. filters big bags of brittle app put them on the wagon and Mary all else is doing her best to pull it as fast as she could out of that old fellow’s yard.
She was hoping her going home now but Grandma had other plans. She said now we’re going to go and get some pumpkins. Mary Alice said and where we’re going to get them. Grandma said and we’re going to use Johnson cuz I can’t remember the name of the people that they’re going to borrow the pumpkins from. Mary said we’re going to pay for them and Grandma said no we’ll stick up high on their porch.
That fancy knife from that one boy sure came in handy she cut a couple of the ends of the pumpkin and it took two big ones and a little one.
Everything home carried inside .The tops were removed and seeds taking out. I guess I never thought of how they made pumpkin pie back then because we would boil the pumpkin and then get out the meat of the pumpkin and that’s what we were using honey bites I don’t think it was at different 50 years ago.
Well the pumpkin was cooking I snuck up to bed. who is that morning We were making fires in the kitchen when I rolled out the crust and Grandma missed the stuff together with the pies. and you’re all done Grandma asked what I was going to weird Halloween and I said I’m 15 grandma I’m too old for Halloween. Grandma wish not too old for Halloween she got all gos it up they took all the pies in town for the table at the at the party.
The knife that was used to cut the pies was that knife that that young fellow had who had come to Grandma Dowel’s house to top all her out house but failed. The boys father was in line and saw the knife and knew in the instant that his boy was one of the ones going around knocking over bathrooms.
Val Whitewolf 