Elias bowed again and departed. Joe resisted an impulse to assist him out of the door with the toe of his shoe. Elias was not simply passing by. He had ridden out to see if there was any way he could get a mortgage on everything the Towers had left. Joe felt a cold and clammy thing that was not physical or born of any solid substance, brush his heart. He turned to see Emma staring fixedly at the four youngest children. Her glance roved to Barbara and Tad. Then her eyes met his squarely. The color that had left her cheeks came back to them now in a rush.
"Joe, I think it's time we told the children we're going to Oregon!"
"Hi-eee!" Tad shrieked.
Emma cast a reproving glance at him and Tad quieted. But his eyes danced and a beatific smile lighted his whole face.
"O'gon," Carlyle said again. "We go O'gon."
"It's Oregon, isn't it, mama?" little Emma corrected.
Emma said, heaving a deep and tremulous sigh, "Yes, dear, it's Oregon."
"I think," Barbara said, "that it's going to be just wonderful!"
Joe turned to look at her, startled because there was a quality in her voice that had never been present before. She spoke like an adult, but her eyes were wide with excitement and her cheeks were flushed. Joe shook his head. He had thought that, of all the family, Barbara might shrink from such a trip and all it involved. Joe said,
"Bobby, you really want to go!"