Lillie had a black and white checked dress that Mamma had made from some goods that
Grandma had given her. A relative was having a dance and Mamma let Artie and Lillie go with
Uncle Tobe since he was going. Their Aunt Ellen and Uncle Mart lived next door to where the
dance was going to be and they were to stay with them. Aunt Ellen was Mamma's sister. It was
a long ways from home. The farthest Lillie had ever been from Mamma. Tobe had bought Lillie
a new pair of black patent leather shoes. Her favorite dress, though was too short and Mamma
would not let her wear it. So Mamma had told Aunt Ellen she could give it for her daughter, just
younger than Lillie, and in exchange would give Mamma a piece of goods with which to make
Lillie another dress. Lillie did not want to give up her favorite dress and begged her mother to
sew a strip of black material on the bottom to make it longer. But Mamma would not do it.
When they arrived at the aunts, Artie gave the package to the aunt it was put into a
dresser drawer. After everyone was in bed and asleep, Lillie took the dress from the drawer and
put it under her pillow. Next morning, when the aunt found it there, she decided she could not
accept the dress, and with some black goods she had, she made it long enough for Lillie. Even
after wearing it out, Lillie kept the dress.
The children at school took turns, two at a time, carrying water in a bucket from a house
across the road from the school, and pouring it into a large crock with a lid on it. That was the
drinking water for the school. A long handled dipper was used to drink from. The thought of
germs never occurred to anyone. Very seldom was anyone sick.
Such poems as THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH and THE CHILDREN'S HOUR,
HIAWATHA and others were learned in the springtime After the weather warmed up, with the
children sitting in the shade of the building with their backs against the wall. There was one
teacher for the six grades and everyone loved her. At noon, they would all eat lunch together, but
some days Lillie and Johnny would take their lard bucket off to themselves. They did not want
anyone to know their lunch was hoecake, spread with lard with salt sprinkled over it. Other
times, it would be mashed beans between slices of Mamma's bread. Many times, they would
trade their sandwich of beans to another child for an apple or something that they had all the time.
One day, Grandma came to see them and said she thought she would stay a few days with
them. Lillie was in her glory. She really did love Grandma. She would go along the canal banks
and in, under the mesquite trees with Grandma and they would pick wild greens, Dandelions or
wild mustard. There were many kinds and when they were finished boiling, she would call Lillie
and let her drink the water off of them. She was the only one of the kids that liked the 'green
water'.
One morning, she awakened the kids for school and told them there was a surprise in
Mamma's room, which was also the front room. When they went into the room, Mamma was
still in bed, which was unusual. On a cot in the room were two tiny babies, each with a fist in it's
mouth. Grandma said the doctor had come during the night and brought them two little twin
babies. One was a boy, David, and one was a girl, Ellen. Lillie asked which one was the boy and
when Grandma proudly pointed him out, Lillie covered his face with the blanket. She had enough
brothers and didn't care whether she had another or not. At the time, she didn't know she was
covering the face of a future country and western singer and composer. And, had she known, it
would have made no difference, he was still a brother.
She was so proud of the baby girl and told everyone about her, but hardly ever mentioned
the fact that Mamma had twins, which was really a great accomplishment.
One day when the twins were about nine months old, some men came to see her father.
She had thought it odd that he had put the car in behind the house and put a chain through the
wheel, thus fastening it to the house. And when he saw the car with the men in it coming, he
hurriedly went into the mesquite thicket. They were deputies from the sheriff's office and were
looking for a stolen car. They found it, chained to the back of the house, but having no legal right
to break the chain, they drove back the eight miles into town for the warrant. As soon as they
were out of sight, her father came from the thicket, unlocked the chain, and began a long drive
across the desert.. Not knowing where he was going, he told Mamma he would send for them.
The deputies came back with the warrant, not only for the car, but for her father's arrest.
They followed his tracks through the desert, found the fence he had cut to get t through onto the
highway but lost them when he hit the roadway. The road was only a graveled road, called the
Black Canyon Highway because it wound up in the mountains, or hills of black rocks. They gave
up the chase but warned the mother they would be watching for him to come back and Mamma
believed them.
The kids went on to school and life went along as usual, except Daddy was not there.
She missed him because sometimes he would take one of the little ones on his lap and sing to
them. He was of German-Polish descent and still knew some songs in German. He also sang
SMILE THE WHILE, I KISS YOU SAD ADIEU and many church songs. She always enjoyed
hearing him.
One day, she and Johnny came in from school and again, found their mother packing.
How many times had they come home to the same scene? But this time, Uncle Mart and his
father, they called him Granddad, were coming early in the morning with two trucks to take them
to where their father was. He was at a ranch he had 'found' on the bank of a river. They were all
excited and raced around, gathering up all of their favorite toys and what-nots.
When they were awakened in the wee hours of the morning, nearly everything had been
loaded onto the trucks. Breakfast was eaten quickly and everyone piled into their assigned places
in the trucks. They wanted to be out of the area before it became daylight. What a fun day this
was going to be! They drove north into the black hills, almost into a small town by the funny
name of Bumble Bee. They could see no bees of any kind but if Uncle Mart said it was the name
of the town, there had to be bees someplace.
Aquick lunch was fixed while the children played in the small creek that flowed along so
lazy and cool looking. A large canvas was spread on the ground and the kids told to sit in the
center of it, and their lunch was brought to them. A large can of pork and beans had been opened
and a box of soda crackers to go with it. No plates were used and each was given a spoon to 'dig
in' with. And dig in, they did. They hadn't realized how hungry they were. When finished, the
can was rinsed out and each used it for a last drink of water from the creek before starting on.
Somewhere along the way,, darkness began to overtake them and a night camp was made.
The beds were spread out on the ground and again a quick meal was fixed over a campfire.
Mamma made fried bread and some potatoes and more canned beans were given each of the kids
and the grownups too, along with some canned peaches Uncle Mart had brought from home. No
one had to be told to shut up and go to sleep. There was no whispering or giggles from anyone
that night.
Another early start and before they knew it, the trucks were being driven down the middle
of the Aqua Fria River bed, which was mostly dry except for a small stream down one side. AS
they rode along, the children saw things they had never seen before, huge high banks, large rocks,
many birds, new to them and cattle roaming all over the hillsides. They were enjoying it all until
the first truck came to a stop and the second truck pulled in behind it. Out to the side was their
daddy's truck, stuck in the sand. They did not dare try to get his truck out because as Heavily
loaded as each truck was, had either one got out of the ruts they were in, it too, would have been
stuck. So all they could do was drive on down the river bed. Then they saw a man ahead of them
waving his arms and calling to them. It was daddy. He climbed on the running board of the first
and guided them to the house he had 'found'. None of the children ever thought to ask how so
many houses got lost in the first place. He guided them out of the river bed, up a slight
embankment and over a fairly level road for a short distance. Then they saw the house, the most
beautiful and biggest house they had ever seen. And who came out to meet them but Matt!
Daddy had stopped off and picked him up on the way. Lillie was the first out of the truck and
swung up into his arms in the biggest bear hug she had ever had.
The trucks were unloaded as soon as possible so the four men could take a couple of
mules and go back and pull Daddy's truck in. The mules had run loose and become wild but
daddy and Matt had caught them and gentled them so they could be handled. They were still a
little wild but if handled right, they could be used for plowing and such things.
In the mountains where they were, they never knew when it would rain and a flash flood
would come down the river. During the summer, it happened real often, with no warning except
a roaring that could be heard. And if that should happen, the truck would have been taken right
down the river. The truck was brought in safely and next morning, Uncle Mart and Granddad left
for home where they were needed.
There was lots of exploring to be done by the children, hills to climb and lots of things
across the river. Directly behind the house was a dugout, for to the kids, a cave. Inside were
shelves and a work table. When Mamma began milking thee cows that were brought in, she
would pour it into pans and set on the table to cool. The thick yellow cream would rise to the top
and Mamma would skim it off to put into a churn and make beautiful yellow butter. The cream
on top of the milk looked so delicious and Lillie yearned to have some of it. One morning she
was in the dugout, all alone, and there were those pans of milk with all that cream on the top.
Every day, she would stand and look at those pans and finally it became an obsession with her.
She had to have some of that cream. This one morning, she was in the cave and, after looking all
around, walked over to the pan. There was absolutely no one around so she bent over, and
suddenly, her tongue, like a snake's, shot out and slurped a miniature highway across the pan.
Wow, was it good! At least for the few minutes before picking herself up off the floor where
Mamma had slapped her. Where in the world did Mamma come from? There was not supposed
to be anyone around but she must have come from someplace. When Lillie stood before her
mother, she was expecting much more than a lecture but all her mother said was, "Next time,
ask!"
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