18. Just Among Girls
Billy Ellis and Buzzy Hancock raced up the Craig driveway, hooting and howling as they ran.
Tommy appeared on the front porch just as they reached the steps. He waved at them vigorously and called, “Hey, guys! C’mon! Hurry up!”
Billy and Buzzy hurdled the porch rail and collapsed on the porch swing. “Jeepers!” Buzzy panted. “We’ve run just about a mile!” He fanned himself with his open hand. “What’s the big news?” He snorted. “Hurry ’n’ tell us, because we gotta get back to school and pick up the stuff for the game.”
“Jack went to the clinic last night,” Tommy said importantly.
Billy and Buzzy stared at each other in consternation.
“Aw, gee,” Billy said quickly. “He isn’t sick again, is he?”
Tommy paused a moment, enjoying the scene. “Dr. Loring had him put in the hospital because he thinks he’s well again—”
“Zowie!” Buzzy cried. “Really?”
“And they had to make lab tests to be sure,” Tommy continued importantly.
“Well, tell us. When’re they going to know if he’s okay?”
Tommy puffed himself up. “I already know,” he said. “You can ask me if you want to know.”
The two boys jumped on him and wrestled him down. “C’mon!” Buzzy cried. “Stop being an egghead! Tell us!”
Tommy freed himself and sat up. “Take it easy, you guys!”
“Talk, son,” Billy demanded, aiming at him with an imaginary gun.
“Okay. Okay,” Tommy said. “Jack’s coming home this morning. He’s all through his exams. As far as they know, he’s okay.”
Billy and Buzzy both let out an Indian war whoop and threw themselves down on the swing again.
“He’s not supposed to have a lot of excitement,” Tommy cried. “But jeepers, I don’t know how he’s going to avoid it! The things that go on round this house!” He took a big breath. “I guess you guys know both Frank Howard and Ralph are supposed to come this week.”
“Aw, love!” Buzzy protested. “What’s so exciting about that?”
Tommy shrugged. “Search me,” he said. “But the way Kit ’n’ Jean act, you’d think it was the most important thing ever.” He rolled his eyes and added, “It gets pretty exciting when there’s going to be a wedding, though.”
“Who’s gonna get married?” Billy asked. “Kit or Jean?”
Tommy made a face at him. “You dopey guy!” he cried. “Kit has a whole college to go through! How could she get married?”
Buzzy shrugged. “I can’t figure out what women can do. Hey, Tommy, give us the key to the gym locker, will you? We got a ball game, today.”
Tommy tossed him the key. “I’ll meet you guys out on the field,” he said. “I want to wait for Jack.”
Billy and Buzzy vaulted the porch railing and raced down the driveway. Tommy put his hands in his pockets and sat down on the swing. He whistled as he swung himself back and forth.
Pretty soon the Craigs’ car turned in the drive, and Tommy jumped up. Waving, he dashed down the steps and waited till Mrs. Craig had pulled the car up in front of the house.
Jack opened the door and was about to jump out when Mrs. Craig restrained him.
“Just a minute, Jack,” she said. “You mustn’t be so active!”
“Aw, Mom!” Jack protested, but he waited till she came around to help him out. Tommy supported him on the other side.
“I’m well, Tommy!” he cried. “I can get up ’n’ everything!”
Mrs. Craig laughed. “Easy, son,” she advised. “Dr. Loring said you were just to get up for a little while each day.”
Jack shrugged. “Aw, gee,” he complained. “Do I have to go back to bed now?”
Mrs. Craig nodded. “I’m afraid so, Jack.”
Jack grimaced. “I’m sick of that old bed!”
After Jack had been settled in his room, Tommy and Mrs. Craig came downstairs together. Tommy turned to his mother, puzzled.
“What’s with him?” he asked. “For months he lies there and doesn’t make a peep. Now all of a sudden he gets dopey and cross.”
Mrs. Craig laughed. “And I don’t blame him. As long as he knew he was sick, he just grinned and took it. Now he knows he’s well again and he’s impatient to be up leading a normal life.”
“Yeah,” Tommy said thoughtfully. “Gee, I sure wish he could see the game!”
Mrs. Craig patted her son’s head. “There will be lots of ballgames.” She sighed heavily. “Aren’t you supposed to be practicing for the game? I have a million things to do today, and I don’t want you underfoot.”
“You don’t practice for a ballgame the day you play it,” Tommy explained. “You just warm up.”
His mother smiled. “Then run along and warm up. Scat!”
Tommy grinned and made a dash for the door. He turned and called, “Keep your fingers crossed for us. Don’t forget!”
Mrs. Craig chuckled. “I will, dear.”
She went upstairs and stopped before Kit’s closed door. Inside she could hear soft voices.
“Girls,” she called, knocking at the door. “Aren’t you ever coming down for breakfast?”
“Come in, Mother,” Kit called back.
Kit and Doris were sitting on Kit’s unmade bed. They still wore their pajamas, and their hair was still uncombed.
“For heaven’s sake!” Mrs. Craig said. “It’s after nine o’clock! Goodness, you’d better hurry!”
Kit yawned and stretched. “It’s just lovely, being able to lounge around like this. We’ve been awake for hours!”
Mrs. Craig sat down on the edge of the bed and hugged her daughters. “You’re a couple of lazy ne’er-do-wells!” she said. “Now, up with you!”
Both girls jumped up and disappeared into the bathroom. Mrs. Craig could hear the shower going full blast. She smiled and started to pick up the bedroom.
Doris came out, fully clothed. “Oh, Mother, don’t,” she cried. “We’ll straighten things!”
Mrs. Craig looked at her daughter and suppressed a laugh. Doris’s face was a study in consternation.
“Ralph’s train comes in at three this afternoon,” Doris said finally.
“Yes, dear. I know,” Mrs. Craig replied.
Doris sat down and gazed out of the window. “This is awful to say when he’s practically my brother, but I sort of want to go to the ballgame.”
Kit came in, rubbing her head with a towel. “Since when are you so interested in baseball? I didn’t know you knew a ball from a bat!”
Doris blushed. “When a girl’s own brother has an important game, I think she ought to see it!”
“Humph!” Kit said. “The girl’s own brother has had a whole series of games this summer. I’ll bet you haven’t seen one yet!”
“That’s enough, Kit,” Mrs. Craig said severely.
Kit smiled. “I’m sorry, Doris,” she said, putting on a pair of blue jeans. “Come on, let’s get some breakfast.”
Mrs. Craig put an arm around Doris’s shoulder. “Never mind about Ralph coming, dear,” she said. “I’m sure both he and Jean will understand.”
Jean came in while Doris and Kit were eating breakfast. She poured herself a cup of coffee and took a doughnut from the cookie jar.
“I had breakfast at the hospital,” she told her mother, “but I’ll eat a little something just to be sociable.”
Mrs. Craig gazed fondly at her three daughters as they ate a leisurely breakfast. Kit, in blue jeans and cotton plaid shirt, had her bare feet wrapped around the rungs of her chair. Doris was pretty in a soft cotton frock. She wore loafers and no socks, but her bare legs were brown enough to give the illusion of stockings. Jean, on the other hand, was crisp and white in her nurse’s uniform.
Jean set down her coffee cup. “Mother,” she said finally, “is it all right if Ralph and I get married this fall?”
Doris and Kit looked at their sister.
“You sound as if you were planning a picnic,” Kit drawled.
“Well, for goodness sake,” Jean replied, “we’ve got to start planning sometime.”
“Of course you do, dear,” Mrs. Craig said.
“We thought an October wedding would be nice,” Jean cried. “October is my favorite month of the year.”
“Where do you want to be married? What church, I mean?” Mrs. Craig asked.
Jean jumped up and hugged her mother. “Oh, Mother,” she cried, “can’t I be married right here at home? I love this house so!”
Mrs. Craig beamed. “Of course, dear. We were hoping that’s what you would want.”
“Me, too,” Kit cried. “I wouldn’t be married anywhere else!”
Mrs. Craig stared at Kit. “Great heavens!” she cried. “You aren’t planning a wedding, too!”
Kit laughed. “Of course not! Not for years and years. By the time I’m ready to be married, I’ll be a plump little middle-aged woman, and Frank will be in a wheel chair.”
Mrs. Craig and the other girls were quiet for a moment. Finally Mrs. Craig said, “Then you’ve made a definite choice.”
Kit hesitated. “I ... I think so, Mother. I’m not sure.”
Doris stood up. “Come on, Jean,” she said. “I want to show you something.”
Kit caught her arm. “No, wait, Doris. There’s no reason you can’t hear this, too.” She studied her plate. “Frank and I talked a little bit about it while I was in Washington. Of course I want to finish school. But I ... I think I’m really in love with Frank Howard, Mother.”
Mrs. Craig sighed and folded her hands. “That’s the important thing, Kit,” she said. “And your father and I think he is a very fine person.”
Doris and Jean squealed.
“That’s wonderful, Kit!” Jean cried.
“Oh, jeepers! It’s thrilling!” Doris echoed.
Kit grimaced. “I’m sorry. Let’s get back to the wedding. Let’s have it in October with lots of bitter-sweet around and the bride and bridesmaids in bright autumn colors....”
“Hey, whose wedding is this?” Jean cried.
Kit scowled at her playfully. “Oh, you’ll want the regular conventional white and pastel wedding.”
“Well, what’s wrong with white and pastel?” Jean wanted to know.
Kit shrugged. “It’s your wedding,” she agreed. “Go ahead. Don’t be imaginative. I don’t care.”
Mrs. Craig laughed in exasperation. “You all sound as if you were children again. My goodness, Kit, whatever is wrong with you this morning?”
Kit laughed. “Oh, nothing. I’m just jealous. Everyone’s going to have her beau on hand but me.”
“And I don’t have any beau on hand or anywhere else,” Doris said, tossing her head.
Kit looked at her. “Is that so?” she drawled.
Doris jumped up, her cheeks scarlet. “Mother!” she cried. “Make her stop!”
Mrs. Craig sighed in exasperation. “Sometimes I wish you weren’t too big for me to turn over my knee, Katherine Craig!” she said.
Kit jumped up and put her arm around Doris. “I’m sorry, Doris,” she cried. “I was just teasing you.”
Jean was puzzled. “Whatever is this all about?” she asked. Kit started to explain, but Mrs. Craig broke in firmly.
“Tommy brought a friend home to dinner the other night, Jean,” she said. “A very nice boy from Mercyville. He won a scholarship to Timothy College, too. And he seemed to be very fond of Doris. That’s all.”
Jean whistled. “A friend of Tommy’s? He must be a baby!”
Doris stamped her foot. “He’s almost as old as Kit!” she said. “I think you’re both ... awful!” And she ran from the kitchen.
Mrs. Craig looked at her older daughters sternly. “Now really, girls,” she said, “I’m ashamed of you both!”
Jean and Kit looked at each other, crestfallen.
“Oh, golly,” Jean said. “I keep forgetting Doris is growing up.”
Mrs. Craig looked at them severely. “It would help if you two could remember how mixed up and difficult life seemed to be when you were her age.”
Kit jumped up impulsively. “We’re both dreadful,” she admitted. “But we’ll make it up to her. Why don’t we invite Bert to dinner? After the game?”
“I think it’s up to Doris,” Mrs. Craig replied. “I’ll suggest it, though,” she said, relenting a little.
Jean got up and went into the parlor. Doris was sitting on the piano bench, her hands resting on the piano keys. Jean slipped her arm around her sister’s shoulders.
“Your new friend sounds very nice, Doris,” she said shyly. “I hope I can meet him soon.”
Doris grinned. “He’s really quite wonderful,” she admitted candidly. “And he’s asked me out for our first date ... to a concert ... next week!”