The last bit of snow should be melting today as it's supposed to be in the upper 40s. It snowed all of Saturday and then melted by Monday. Then it snowed again most of the day Wednesday, but we only ended up with about an inch that time. It was pretty though. It looks like spring weather is coming back. Is it here to stay? I guess we'll just have to wait and see.
This has been a busy week. I got my new computer and am trying to get everything switched over from the old one. (I know, I had just gotten a new computer last summer, but this one actually has the programs I need to do all the layout for my books! And there were some things I didn't like with my other one.) I'm also working on the layout for "Gift from the Storm." And, like I said, I'm going to let you all see the cover for this book!
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| Otherwise known as "Dr. Morgan" |
What do you think? Does it make you want to get the book? I will let you know as soon as it comes out.
The exciting news of this week is that I've started writing TCR-5! I haven't gotten very far into the story yet, so if any of you have ideas, or think you might know what it will be about, please, send me a note through the "Contact Author" on the sidebar and I'll add them to my list of ideas. And who knows, it might be the perfect idea to add to this book. :) So, send your thoughts my way! You can also be praying as I write.
This story that you get to read now is another from the "Ria and the Gang" collection. Who knows, maybe if I write enough of these stories, I'll finally put them all into a book and you will have a sequel to "Home Fires of the Great War." I hope you enjoy!
Millie Comes to Visit
Part 1
“Mama!” ten-year-old Ria shouted, jerking open the screen door and dashing into the house. When no answering voice came to her, she raced into the kitchen and, seeing her mother out in the garden, flew out the back door, jumped over the steps and bounded across the yard calling, “Mama! Guess what! Guess what!”
Mrs. Mitchell looked up from the weeds she was pulling at her excited daughter. “I don’t know—“ she began, but Ria interrupted.
“The train comes on Tuesday! And she can stay here, can’t she? Both of them? Oh, do say they can. In my room. Finally, she is coming, and they’ll stay at Grandma’s, but they want to stay here!” Ria was skipping around waving something white, her dark hair bouncing up and down with each exuberant hop. “And, Mama, can’t I go meet her? Please? And don’t let the gang go. There’s too many of them right at first. Oh, she’s coming, they’re coming!” Giving a scream of joy, Ria hugged herself and whirled around.
“Who are you talking about, Dear?” Emma Mitchell wiped her dirt covered hands on her apron, brushed back a piece of hair with the back of her hand, and sat back on her heels. The August sun was warm, and she was grateful for the shade of the tree. “Suppose you settle down a little and tell me all about it,” she offered, smiling but looking confused.
But Ria was much too elated to settle down to anything. Her news was the best she had ever had and her excitement knew no bounds. “Oh,” she exclaimed, “I have to tell Daddy! I can’t wait until he gets home! It won’t take long, Please, Mama, say I can go!” the flushed faced girl begged, wild to be off.
“I suppose—,” Mrs. Mitchell began but never finished her sentence for Ria was off like the wind. Shaking her head, Emma returned to her weeds. “I suppose I’ll find out what it is all about sometime. Ria is more puzzling and exciting than all the gang put together.” She forgot that at one time she had told her twin brother, “I want lots of girls because boys are so hard to understand.”
It wasn’t until they were all sitting around the supper table that evening that any of the Mitchell family learned the cause of Ria’s great excitement.
“Millie wrote and said they were all coming for a visit!” she bubbled between bites of her supper. “They are coming on Tuesday, and Millie wants to come here, and you will let her won’t you, Mama, Daddy? And Allie too. Just think, girls to share my room at last!” She uttered a half suppressed squeal. “And no boys!”
“So, you’re kicking us out?” Jimmy teased.
Ria wrinkled her nose at him. “No extra boys.”
“Carrie and Roy coming here!” Emma’s face lit up. It had been eight years since she had seen her sister, and she shared her daughter’s delight over the news. Carrie was the only one of the Foster family who had a daughter close to Ria in age and her family lived far away in Massachusetts. Now they were really coming.
“What else did Millie say?”
Millie and Ria, though they had only met once when they were quite small, had begun writing to each other almost as soon as they could print their names on pieces of paper to be enclosed with their mothers’ letters.
“That she wants to stay here and she can hardly wait! I can’t wait either! There’s so much to plan!” And Ria gave a bounce in her seat, bumping Johnny’s arm and nearly causing him to spill his water.
“Settle down, Ria,” Mr. Mitchell admonished with a smile. “Tuesday isn’t very far away, thankfully, but you’ll have plenty of time to plan everything after you’ve eaten.”
Ria grinned at her father and began to eat, though sitting still right then was an impossibility. How she wished it were Tuesday already!
To Ria, the days dragged by, even though her mother tried to keep her busy cleaning the house, and her brothers took her with them when the gang met. Even her father drove her out to the farm on Saturday to help Grandma with the extra baking and cleaning. At last Tuesday arrived and Ria was out of bed before the sun had fully risen.
Dashing across the hall, she pounded on her brothers’ doors. “Hurry and get dressed and straighten your rooms ‘cause Millie is coming today!”
There was the sound of some grumbled moans, but no answering voices.
“Ed, Chris!” Ria knocked on their door again before trying her success on the twins’ door.
Farther down the hall a door opened and her father looked out. “Ria, what are you doing?” he questioned gently. “It’s barely five o’clock. I know you’re excited, but it’s still rather early in the morning, and the train won’t get here until after lunch. Why don’t you go back to bed for a while and try to get some more sleep.”
“I can’t sleep, Daddy. I’m much too wide awake!” Ria gave a skip in her bare feet and her father could see she spoke truly.
With a sigh, he instructed softly, “Then go back to your room and do something quietly until everyone else gets up.” Pulling his head back, he muttered, “It’s going to be a long morning.”
How the Mitchells managed to live through that morning was a puzzle to everyone, but at last it was time to leave for the station. The boys were dropped off at the park where some of them had a ROTC meeting and Ria, full of excitement, bounced in the backseat of the car. All she could think of was, “Millie is coming! Millie is coming! Millie is coming!”
When the train, its breaks hissing and whistle blowing, finally pulled to a stop before the little station, Ria was the first person every passenger saw.
Mrs. Mitchell looked up from the weeds she was pulling at her excited daughter. “I don’t know—“ she began, but Ria interrupted.
“The train comes on Tuesday! And she can stay here, can’t she? Both of them? Oh, do say they can. In my room. Finally, she is coming, and they’ll stay at Grandma’s, but they want to stay here!” Ria was skipping around waving something white, her dark hair bouncing up and down with each exuberant hop. “And, Mama, can’t I go meet her? Please? And don’t let the gang go. There’s too many of them right at first. Oh, she’s coming, they’re coming!” Giving a scream of joy, Ria hugged herself and whirled around.
“Who are you talking about, Dear?” Emma Mitchell wiped her dirt covered hands on her apron, brushed back a piece of hair with the back of her hand, and sat back on her heels. The August sun was warm, and she was grateful for the shade of the tree. “Suppose you settle down a little and tell me all about it,” she offered, smiling but looking confused.
But Ria was much too elated to settle down to anything. Her news was the best she had ever had and her excitement knew no bounds. “Oh,” she exclaimed, “I have to tell Daddy! I can’t wait until he gets home! It won’t take long, Please, Mama, say I can go!” the flushed faced girl begged, wild to be off.
“I suppose—,” Mrs. Mitchell began but never finished her sentence for Ria was off like the wind. Shaking her head, Emma returned to her weeds. “I suppose I’ll find out what it is all about sometime. Ria is more puzzling and exciting than all the gang put together.” She forgot that at one time she had told her twin brother, “I want lots of girls because boys are so hard to understand.”
It wasn’t until they were all sitting around the supper table that evening that any of the Mitchell family learned the cause of Ria’s great excitement.
“Millie wrote and said they were all coming for a visit!” she bubbled between bites of her supper. “They are coming on Tuesday, and Millie wants to come here, and you will let her won’t you, Mama, Daddy? And Allie too. Just think, girls to share my room at last!” She uttered a half suppressed squeal. “And no boys!”
“So, you’re kicking us out?” Jimmy teased.
Ria wrinkled her nose at him. “No extra boys.”
“Carrie and Roy coming here!” Emma’s face lit up. It had been eight years since she had seen her sister, and she shared her daughter’s delight over the news. Carrie was the only one of the Foster family who had a daughter close to Ria in age and her family lived far away in Massachusetts. Now they were really coming.
“What else did Millie say?”
Millie and Ria, though they had only met once when they were quite small, had begun writing to each other almost as soon as they could print their names on pieces of paper to be enclosed with their mothers’ letters.
“That she wants to stay here and she can hardly wait! I can’t wait either! There’s so much to plan!” And Ria gave a bounce in her seat, bumping Johnny’s arm and nearly causing him to spill his water.
“Settle down, Ria,” Mr. Mitchell admonished with a smile. “Tuesday isn’t very far away, thankfully, but you’ll have plenty of time to plan everything after you’ve eaten.”
Ria grinned at her father and began to eat, though sitting still right then was an impossibility. How she wished it were Tuesday already!
To Ria, the days dragged by, even though her mother tried to keep her busy cleaning the house, and her brothers took her with them when the gang met. Even her father drove her out to the farm on Saturday to help Grandma with the extra baking and cleaning. At last Tuesday arrived and Ria was out of bed before the sun had fully risen.
Dashing across the hall, she pounded on her brothers’ doors. “Hurry and get dressed and straighten your rooms ‘cause Millie is coming today!”
There was the sound of some grumbled moans, but no answering voices.
“Ed, Chris!” Ria knocked on their door again before trying her success on the twins’ door.
Farther down the hall a door opened and her father looked out. “Ria, what are you doing?” he questioned gently. “It’s barely five o’clock. I know you’re excited, but it’s still rather early in the morning, and the train won’t get here until after lunch. Why don’t you go back to bed for a while and try to get some more sleep.”
“I can’t sleep, Daddy. I’m much too wide awake!” Ria gave a skip in her bare feet and her father could see she spoke truly.
With a sigh, he instructed softly, “Then go back to your room and do something quietly until everyone else gets up.” Pulling his head back, he muttered, “It’s going to be a long morning.”
How the Mitchells managed to live through that morning was a puzzle to everyone, but at last it was time to leave for the station. The boys were dropped off at the park where some of them had a ROTC meeting and Ria, full of excitement, bounced in the backseat of the car. All she could think of was, “Millie is coming! Millie is coming! Millie is coming!”
When the train, its breaks hissing and whistle blowing, finally pulled to a stop before the little station, Ria was the first person every passenger saw.
Are you anything like Ria?
Will you be back for Part 2?
What would you do if you were Ria or one of her brothers?
8 comments:
Oooh, the cover is lovely, Rebekah! I love it! Very nice work. :)
I love the cover! It definitely has a lot of pull for me!
that cover is amazing. It gives a mysterious air almost. I love it.
I'm nothing like Ria! :) And I love the cover!! :)
I think I'm more like Ria's brothers than her! I love the cover, it's so beautiful. I can hardly wait to read the book.
I LOVE IT!!!! Both the cover AND the story. :) So, yes, I will definitely be back for part two!
I love the cover!
Yes, it does make me want to read the book!
Thanks for your comments, girls. I love the cover too, but I can't take credit for it. Perry designed it all for me. All I did was find the background picture. :)
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