Banghart. Mr. Banghart is nuts. C-squad is you and Mr. Banghart.”
“Uh huh.”
“A- and B-squads are a couple of other crews. They’re out working another part of the farm about a mile from here.”
“Sounds a little like the Army,” Haley ventured.
Annie arose from the cot with effort, smoothed her apron, and walked over to Haley’s side. “It’s the only way to get a lick of work out of anyone, organization is, according to the General,” she said. She looked at the picture that was absorbing most of his attention.
“The glass on it got cracked somehow,” he said. “Maybe I could go into town and get another one. Do you suppose that would be possible?”
“Well, I don’t know. You’ll have to ask the General about that, too. He says you’re going to be a pretty busy boy around here, and I imagine he’ll want you to stick close to the farm for a while, anyway. Sometimes,” she said bitterly, “the girls walk into town and leave me to make the beds and wash the dishes, and straighten up the house all by myself — like today. I suppose they could get you another glass, if you asked them, if they could leave off chasing boys long enough to do it.” She studied the photograph. “Those your folks?”
“Yes, my mother and father,” said Haley gravely. “This was taken when they were very young, of course. You can tell that by the way Mother’s got her hair fixed. They somehow never had many pictures taken of themselves together. This is about the only one.”
“They’re both very nice looking,” said Annie. She squinted so as to see the picture more sharply. “You’d never know that the General and your mother were brother and sister, except for maybe the lines around her eyes.” She paused, and something like warmth came into her eyes for the first time since Haley had seen them. “Golly,” she said, “I can imagine what you’ve been through. We lost our mother while the war was going on, you know, and I had to kind of try and take over. Believe me, I know how you feel, Haley.”
Haley did not want to talk or think about it. He turned his back on her, and busied himself with straightening the contents of his sock drawer.
“It’s funny about relatives, isn’t it?” mused Annie. “Here you are my first cousin, even if it is by adoption, and I never laid eyes on you before today, and the General’s never seen you. I just wonder where Kitty and Hope and I’ll be twenty years from today.” She made clucking noises, and shook her head slowly.
The sound of voices and the crunching of footfalls in the gravel driveway below brought Haley and Annie from their separate reveries.
“I’m good and sick of walking. You’ve got a license. Why don’t you put your foot down and demand to use the car?” complained a high, melodic girl’s voice.
“That’s your cousin Hope,” said Annie. “She’s about your age.”
“He’d reenlist as a private first,” said a second voice, with a gentle twang, pitched somewhat lower than the first. “If I got a speck of dust on it, I might as well stick my head in the oven and turn on the gas. Remember what he did to that poor pigeon?”
“That’s your cousin Kitty,” Annie explained. “She’s a year older, and president of her sorority at the high school.”
“You’re going to have to do the dishes tonight. Roy is coming by for me at seven, dear,” said Kitty’s voice.
“Drop dead,” said Hope.
“OK, then let the mother hen do it again,” said Kitty. The front door slammed, and the conversation stopped.
“I’m the mother hen,” muttered Annie. “I have no doubt that they’ll tell you a lot of kind things about me when my back is turned. They may not have been behind the door when God passed out the pretty faces, but Heaven only knows where they were when He divided up the gratitude.”
Haley was embarrassed, not knowing what comment was
“Uh huh.”
“A- and B-squads are a couple of other crews. They’re out working another part of the farm about a mile from here.”
“Sounds a little like the Army,” Haley ventured.
Annie arose from the cot with effort, smoothed her apron, and walked over to Haley’s side. “It’s the only way to get a lick of work out of anyone, organization is, according to the General,” she said. She looked at the picture that was absorbing most of his attention.
“The glass on it got cracked somehow,” he said. “Maybe I could go into town and get another one. Do you suppose that would be possible?”
“Well, I don’t know. You’ll have to ask the General about that, too. He says you’re going to be a pretty busy boy around here, and I imagine he’ll want you to stick close to the farm for a while, anyway. Sometimes,” she said bitterly, “the girls walk into town and leave me to make the beds and wash the dishes, and straighten up the house all by myself — like today. I suppose they could get you another glass, if you asked them, if they could leave off chasing boys long enough to do it.” She studied the photograph. “Those your folks?”
“Yes, my mother and father,” said Haley gravely. “This was taken when they were very young, of course. You can tell that by the way Mother’s got her hair fixed. They somehow never had many pictures taken of themselves together. This is about the only one.”
“They’re both very nice looking,” said Annie. She squinted so as to see the picture more sharply. “You’d never know that the General and your mother were brother and sister, except for maybe the lines around her eyes.” She paused, and something like warmth came into her eyes for the first time since Haley had seen them. “Golly,” she said, “I can imagine what you’ve been through. We lost our mother while the war was going on, you know, and I had to kind of try and take over. Believe me, I know how you feel, Haley.”
Haley did not want to talk or think about it. He turned his back on her, and busied himself with straightening the contents of his sock drawer.
“It’s funny about relatives, isn’t it?” mused Annie. “Here you are my first cousin, even if it is by adoption, and I never laid eyes on you before today, and the General’s never seen you. I just wonder where Kitty and Hope and I’ll be twenty years from today.” She made clucking noises, and shook her head slowly.
The sound of voices and the crunching of footfalls in the gravel driveway below brought Haley and Annie from their separate reveries.
“I’m good and sick of walking. You’ve got a license. Why don’t you put your foot down and demand to use the car?” complained a high, melodic girl’s voice.
“That’s your cousin Hope,” said Annie. “She’s about your age.”
“He’d reenlist as a private first,” said a second voice, with a gentle twang, pitched somewhat lower than the first. “If I got a speck of dust on it, I might as well stick my head in the oven and turn on the gas. Remember what he did to that poor pigeon?”
“That’s your cousin Kitty,” Annie explained. “She’s a year older, and president of her sorority at the high school.”
“You’re going to have to do the dishes tonight. Roy is coming by for me at seven, dear,” said Kitty’s voice.
“Drop dead,” said Hope.
“OK, then let the mother hen do it again,” said Kitty. The front door slammed, and the conversation stopped.
“I’m the mother hen,” muttered Annie. “I have no doubt that they’ll tell you a lot of kind things about me when my back is turned. They may not have been behind the door when God passed out the pretty faces, but Heaven only knows where they were when He divided up the gratitude.”
Haley was embarrassed, not knowing what comment was
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