Julia's Last Hope Part 3

Jennifer looked down at the bows on her shoes. One was crooked. She bent to twist it to its proper position. Felicity stirred restlessly beside her. Jennifer straightened and gave her sister a silencing look.

"Wea"we may be having some changes in our lives," John continued, and Julia nodded pleasantly, as though changes were always nice.

"The lumber mill has run out of trees to process in this area and is going to move on toa"to somewhere else."

Jennifer could not bring herself to look into her father's eyes. Felicity stirred again, and Jennifer placed a cautioning hand on her arm.

Julia remained silent, allowing John to say what he had to say in his own wordsa"his own time.

"That means there will no longer be work for me here," he finally managed.

If he expected an explosion of some sort, he was mistaken. The room was silent.

He waited a moment and then went on. "We might have to give up our home here and move to another town," he added.

The girls sat rigid.

"Do you understand what I am saying?" John asked the girls.

They both nodded.

"We will be fine," Julia put in, giving the girls one of her special smiles.

"What will we do till Papa finds work?" Felicity asked, directing her question to her mother. Julia's eyes clouded.

"It won't take Papa long to find work."

"But everyone uptown says they can't hire now. They don't know how longa""

Jennifer gave Felicity a jab.

Felicity stopped short, her eyes filling with horror.

John and Julia studied the two faces before them.

"You knew?" asked John.

Felicity nodded.

"They went to the drugstore today," explained Julia. "I should have realizeda"the whole town must be buzzing."

"How much did you hear uptown?" John asked.

"Actually," Jennifer replied slowly, "wea"we knew before we went uptown. That'sa"that's whya""

"We went uptown to try to find jobs," blurted Felicity. "But everyone said they would be moving soon and couldn't hire anybody. Everyone."

Julia's eyes filled with tears. "You went uptown looking for work?" she asked.

"We just wanted to help until Papa found work again," Jennifer apologized.

John looked shaken. "That was good of you," he managed to say. "But I hardly think my littlea" He hesitated when he saw their disapproving looks. "My two young ladies," he corrected. "I hardly think that my two young ladies need to look for worka"quite yet." He managed a weak smile.

"So how did you hear the news?" Julia asked.

Felicity spoke again. "We heard Papa's voice and wanted to see him, so we went to the parlor, but he was telling the news about the mill, so we left again."

"I see," sighed Julia.

"Let's pray together," John said, reaching for his wife's hand, as he always did for family prayer.

They bowed together. John had a difficult time voicing his concerns for the future and skirted the issue with a general prayer. He needed time to talk to the Lord alone about his worries. Maybe after he had worked through the situation he would be able to discuss the future more openly with his family.

Julia's hand tightened on his. She understood his tension.

Two weeks. Two weeks of work remained for every mill worker in town. After that the mill would be no more. The machinery would be dismantled and moved to a new location.

Two weeks. Two weeks to make plansa"to bolster oneself for the many changes that were sure to follow.

Some men handed in their notices, drew their wages, and left, hoping to find jobs elsewhere before the rush. Others stayed and put in the few hours that would earn them one last paycheck. Then what?

Chapter Five.

The Plan "Hettie, is the parlor set up for tea?" Julia asked her housekeeper.

"Yes, ma'am," the woman nodded.

"Where is Rose?"

"She's in the kitchen making extra sandwiches."

"Good. Did she get all my invitations handed out?"

"All but the one for Mrs. Pruett. She's gone to see her mother."

"Good," said Julia again. "Did Rose say how many we can count on coming?"

"Said most folks seem right anxious to be here," responded Hettie. "We expect most all of them."

Julia nodded. Her stomach was churning. She had never set out on such a venture before. She wasn't quite sure how to go about it nowa"but something had to be done.

"Did Rose tell everyone two o'clock?" Julia asked anxiously.

"I believe your invitation told them that, ma'am," Hettie reminded her.

"Oh, yes. Yes, of course," Julia responded, her cheeks slightly flushed.

Hettie busied herself with the tea service.

"Oh, Hettie, I am so nervous about this," Julia admitted, lifting trembling fingers to her cheeks. "What if it all goes wrong?"

"Well, now, what could go wrong? You are simply having neighbor ladies in for teaa"and while they are here you will discuss youra"oura"problem and see if anyone has any ideas how it might be remedied. Nothing difficult about that. Neighborhood ladies always talk about neighborhood problems."

Hettie made it sound so simple. "We'll need to get right to it," Julia said, casting a nervous glance at the clock. "It won't be long until the ladies will need to go home. We only have an hour or so until school will be dismissed."

"You can talk about a lot of ideas in an hour," Hettie said to comfort Julia.

Julia hoped so. She also hoped the women would be on time. Just as she was about to begin pacing, the doorbell rang. Hettie ushered in Mrs. Wright, the preacher's wife.

"Oh, I am so glad you were able to come," said Julia, taking the woman's hand. "I may need your help. I don't know how to do thisa"this sort of thing."

Mrs. Wright held Julia's hand firmly. "Don't be nervous," she whispered, "just pretend you are leading the missionary women's group at church. You always do such a nice job."

"Thank you," Julia returned, managing a smile.

The doorbell continued to ring until fourteen ladies were gathered in the s.p.a.cious Harrigan parlor. Hettie and Rose busied themselves serving tea and dainty sandwiches, followed by flaky pastries. Julia studied the clock and then the neighbors before her. The news about the mill hung heavily about each of them. An unfamiliar seriousness shadowed their faces, a darkness veiled their eyes, and their shoulders sagged under the invisible load. In spite of their attempts to be casual, Julia knew they felt every bit as anxious as she did.

She rose to her feet and cleared her throat.

"You all know that I have invited you here for more than just tea today," she said candidly. "Though it is a treat to have the fellows.h.i.+p of good neighbors, we all share a common burden at this time. Ia"I don't know if there is anythinga"that wea"as womena"wivesa"can do about the situation our husbands are ina"but I thought maybea"if we put our heads togethera"we might come up with something."

All eyes focused on Julia. All ears listened carefully.

Julia s.h.i.+fted her weight from one foot to another.

"Now thena"we know this is a lumber town. That we have no other industry to keep us going. But is therea"is there any other possibility? I meana"what might this town be able to do fora"for commerce?"

They searched one another's faces. Each woman seemed to be looking to a neighbor for an answer, but no one was finding it.

"We must think," said Julia with such urgency that her brow puckered and her hands twisted before her.

"Without the mill I don't see much hope," ventured a somber faced woman.

Several in the circle shrugged in agreement.

"Let's look at what we do have," Julia suggested. "Hettie, would you bring that chalkboard, please?" With the easel beside her, Julia continued. "What do we have here?" she asked the women.

Blank looks clouded faces.

"We can't farm," said one woman frankly. "These mountains hardly leave room for a small garden."

"But we do have gardensa"all of us," replied Julia, and she wrote "Gardens" to get things started.

"We have some wild berry patches scattered here and there," one woman ventured, and Julia added that to her list.

"We have more'n our share of mountains," offered a timid young woman.

"Mountains," said Julia, writing the word in big letters. "Lots of people love mountains. Nowa"what do people go to mountains fora"besides lumber?"

"Restin'," answered an elderly woman almost hidden in a corner.

Julia stopped with her chalk suspended. An idea was beginning to form. She wasn't sure if it was crazya"or feasible. But she had to share it with her neighbors.

"Do youa"do you suppose we could make our little town into aa"a resort town?" she asked breathlessly.

"Don't have much for a hotel," commented the banker's wife.

Julia shook her head. It was true. The only hotel in town was in sorry shape. It was used mostly as a boarding place for unmarried, often transient mill workers. The owner had never bothered to "fancy up" the place.

"Well, maybe we coulda"could use our own homes," Julia ventured.

Eyes moved about the room. They traveled over Julia's thick carpets, rich velvet draperies, expensive paintings, china cups, and silver service. No one spoke but each of the women knew what the others were thinking. Julia Harrigan had the only house in town that visitors might pay to stay in.

"Well, we might not be able to handle many at a time," Julia went on, "but the train will continue to pa.s.s through. If we could just advertisea"then we coulda"could set up attractions and tours and cottage industries."

"Such as?" probed one woman.

Julia lifted her chalk again. "How many of you can knit?" she asked. Eleven hands went up. "Crochet?" asked Julia. Nine responded. "Sew?" All hands were raised, though some hesitantly.

"Seea"it's not impossible. And we can cooka"and bakea"and grow our gardens and make jam from those wild berries. We could make this a real tourist town if we tried."

By now Julia's face was s.h.i.+ning with the possibility. Others seemed to catch the spirit.

"Do you really thinka"?"

"Would there be enougha"?"

"How could we advertisea"?"

Questions began to flow. Julia had no ready answers, but she did have interest. Would it really work? Could it?

"We need to think about this some more," she said. "I know the children will be returning from school soon and you need to be homea"but let's think about this and meet here again next Tuesday.

"And spread the word to your neighbors," Julia suggested. "Ifa"if it seems workable, we will form committees. There will be much work to do. It will take all of usa"working together."

It was a different group of ladies who left Julia's house than had gathered a short time earlier. Dull eyes now had a sparkle. Worried brows were smooth again. Dark shadows had disappeared from faces.

Where only despair had been, there was now hope. Frail, fragile hopea"but hope nonetheless.

"Hettie, do you think Mama's plan could work?" Jennifer asked a few days later.