Little Lost Leon: Chapter Fourteen

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Evelyn was one of the former members of the underground cabal who shied away from reentering polite society.  For she was just too ashamed of what she had done while being, Sister Evangeline.

Against the strong objections of all closely concerned, Evelyn had moved out of the main house at Rainbow’s End to live with Vernon’s sisters in their new house around a quarter mile away.  When she heard about Ruby being found and moving back to stay in the main house, Evelyn took great precautions to never let Ruby see her.

Ruby made several attempts to tell Evelyn that she harbored absolutely no ill-will against her, but they all proved to be futile.  Vernon, Alfred and Miranda urged her to be patient, but after three months of trying to be as gentle as possible, Ruby was fresh out of patience.

So, Ruby decided to take a more aggressive approach that was really rather clever.  For Ruby started slipping a piece of paper under the door to Evelyn’s room that was reminiscent of the piece of paper Sister Evangeline had gave her the first day Ruby was aware of being at Master Mark’s compound.  The text was as follows.

BE SWEET

IT IS SOUR TO REFUSE THE AMOUNT OF OUR

HEAVENLY FATHER’S GRACE AFFORDED YOU.

IT IS SOUR TO REFUSE TO FORGIVE YOURSELF

 FOR BEING TOO WEAK TO WITHSTAND DARK FORCES

 THAT CANNOT BE NATURALLY WITHSTOOD.

IT IS SOUR TO REFUSE TO ACCEPT THE FORGIVENESS

 OF THOSE YOU HURT WHILE UNDER THE

 FULL CONTROL OF DARK FORCES.

IT IS SOUR TO REFUSE TO BE MY FRIEND.

BE SWEET

The third time Ruby slipped one of those notices under Evelyn’s door, she had not yet straightened up before Evelyn swung the door open and rushed out to embrace Ruby.  Neither one said a thing for a good five minutes.  For their tears were saying everything that needed to be said.

Well, at least for what needed to be said at first between Ruby and Evelyn.  For it was like a timer went off, and they started talking about anything and everything that came to mind for hours on end after that first five minutes.

Evelyn was rather reluctant to talk about what she had been up to after Ruby left, but Ruby did not hold anything back.  When Ruby mentioned that Alfred had not found a trace of her mother’s family, Evelyn became uncomfortable.

Ruby sensed that Evelyn was uncomfortable and asked her what was wrong.  It took some prodding, but Evelyn finally told her that she had overheard Master Mark and Vernon’s father talking about what should be done about Rev. Ben and his crone of a wife, Sandra.  Vernon had already told Ruby about his family’s connection to her mother’s parents, but he did not know the full story.  For Stephen had went along with Master Mark’s plan to have an associate near Atlanta, Georgia come up to ask Rev. Ben to move his traveling tent revival down there to minister to all of the lost souls suffering so after the devastation wrought in that area during the Civil War.  Rev. Ben had eagerly agreed, with much of that being because of all of the bad memories the Blue Valley region held of his missing daughter and lost junior evangelist, and there was no trace of Rev. Ben or anything to do with him left to be found after he pulled up stakes.

Evelyn also became very uncomfortable when Ruby talked about giving Bonnie the sleeping potion before she disappeared over the horizon after Leon’s birth.  For Evelyn had taught Ruby about the use of potions to obtain certain results, and she immediately recognized that Ruby had accidently given Bonnie way too much.

Evelyn was quite intrigued when Ruby talked about Samuel and his book proposal.  For she thought that she could also work with him on a book that might help other lost souls to not wander down the dark path she had tread.

Much to both of their delight, Ruby and Evelyn had another thing in common besides being former ladies of the evening.  For they both had a great interest in food that went far beyond merely preparation and eating.

No, Evelyn had not just mixed potions according to an ancient text.  For she had also grew many of the ingredients.  Since leaving her dark past behind, Evelyn had turned her horticultural interests toward foodstuffs for both people and animals.

Speaking of animals, Evelyn still loved her black cats with blue eyes.  Having them around in the past had strongly bolstered her reputation as being a powerful witch, but she had always loved them more for simply being so lovable to her.

Ruby had never really been in a position to have a pet.  For even during the relatively stable time being married Cyrus, he did not like cats other than to kill rats and mice feeding off the grains stored for his cattle, and dogs were strictly for chasing off coyotes, with neither one having a place around the house.

Ah, but Ruby always had a powerful urge to eat, and she was a lot like Miranda.  For it seemed like both could eat their weight in even sweets without becoming the least bit fat.

With Evelyn now being able to go about much more freely outside of the house she shared with Vernon’s sisters, she enrolled in all sorts of agricultural and scientific classes at BVA, and she greatly contributed to a new pet food line for both dogs and cats.

Ruby had been already spending as much time as possible in the main house kitchen cooking with the staff, and she dreamed of opening a grand restaurant someday.  Combined with what Evelyn was learning at BVA, Graham’s insights and Miranda’s emotional support, Ruby’s Restaurant was quickly becoming much more than just a dream.

Needless to say, Alfred was quite enthusiastic in his support of Ruby’s Restaurant, and Vernon was so very glad to be along for the ride.  So was Leon.

It took a little over a year to transform Graham’s old restaurant into Ruby’s vision, and it was quite a sight to behold.  Architectural students at BVA worked on the overall design, and Shire supplied the furnishing to Ruby’s exacting standards.

The menu consisted of items made from sustainable ingredients that were mostly produced locally.  The rest were brought in from other parts of the country, as well as imported from other countries.

Ingredients were not the only imports, and this led to some disharmony in the kitchen.  For the French and Italian chefs did not always speak the same language when it came to preparations, but the diners never failed to sing the praises of what was brought out to their tables.

Miranda clung to her dream of someday becoming an accomplished novelist, and when Samuel declined to pursue a book with Ruby because of his focus was now being on other stories he wanted to write, Miranda jumped on it.  She also wrote a novel based on Evelyn’s differing points of view, and both books quickly became best-sellers around the globe.  No, I am not plagiarizing her work with this book, but I did borrow a little from her notes.

No, Leon did not want a novel based on his life to be written at the time, but he thoroughly enjoyed reading Miranda’s books based on his mother’s and Evelyn’s experiences.  Although, his face did become rather flushed while reading some passages of the book about his mother’s very enthusiastic efforts to comfort others.

Leon helped some with his mother’s restaurant by waiting tables from time to time, but the food business was not an area of great interest to him.  On the other hand, one of the waitresses working regularly on the evening shift was.

Her name was Victoria, and Leon had first met her at an orientation meeting for new BVA students.  Leon found out her schedule, and he had made a point of just happening to run into her on campus without arousing her suspicions.

Leon’s efforts failed miserably, but Victoria did not mind at all.  For he had caught her eye, as well.

No, Victoria was not attracted to Leon because of him being the nephew of the founders of BVA.  It certainly did not hurt, but his frequent fumbling attempts to say the right thing at the right time tickled her funny bone quite a lot.  Evidently, love can be also deaf, as well as blind.

No, Victoria was most definitely not blind.  In fact, she found Leon’s sapphire-blue eyes mesmerizing, and it was all she could do to keep from getting lost in them when they just happened to run into each other on campus.

Victoria’s efforts to be shy proved to be just as much of a failure as Leon’s, and they were purposefully in each other’s company at every possible opportunity.  Victoria had come to BVA to study fashion design, and Ruby took her right under her wing.  For aside from the food business, Ruby loved fashion, and Victoria spent a lot time over at the main house at Rainbow’s End.

A compromise was finally reached between mother and son concerning who had priority over Victoria’s attention.  Vernon was left out of the negotiations, but he was just happy to see his wife and son so happy.

When asked about it, Victoria would just grin.  Aside from being stunningly beautiful, she was also quite bright.

Alfred had a hand in settling the dispute over Victoria’s attention.  For he asked Victoria to attend a symposium on automotive design being held at BVA, and she fell in love with it—much to Leon’s delight.

Ruby accused Alfred of taking sides against her, but Alfred knew that she was not serious.  Besides, it was not long before Ruby was also offering her suggestions on how an automobile could be made more aesthetically appealing.

Leon kept focused on the mechanical side of things, and he was recognized as being one of most outstanding engineering students at BVA.  No, it most definitely had nothing to do with him being closely related to the founders, and he received the same sort of recognition for his work at Shire.

Leon still made time to wait tables at his mother’s restaurant during Victoria’s shifts.  They would try to outdo one another to get better tips, and whoever totaled more had bragging rights until the next round.  Yes, their tables benefited greatly from their competitive spirits.

Victoria believed that she had one up on Leon when she discovered that they had been born on exactly the same day.  No, not just on the same day, as in May 18th.  The same day, as in May 18, 1875!

Moreover, Victoria and Leon could have been born at exactly the same time.  Since Ruby had no idea just what time she had given birth to Leon, it could not be verified.  Nonetheless, Ruby could remember giving birth around a couple of hours before high noon on that day, and Victoria had been born at 10:00 AM.

Victoria swore Ruby to secrecy concerning her birthday so they could hold a party for them both on that day, with Victoria envisioning it being a genuine surprise party for Leon.  Ah, but she did not know that Leon had already seen her records in the BVA office, and he had an even bigger surprise in-store for Victoria.

Oh yes, Ruby already knew about it, and she conceded to Vernon that waiting until the big day was killing her.  Vernon admitted that he was rather anxious about it, himself.

No, our Heavenly Father was not revealing a thing about how it would go to them, and Vernon had even pleaded with Him to have mercy on such suffering parents.  When Alfred asked Vernon about it, Vernon said that he could swear that he had heard Him softly snickering.  Alfred then suddenly remembered that he had to attend to some pressing Shire business elsewhere else and rushed out of Vernon’s BVA office to keep Vernon from hearing him doing a little snickering, himself.  ‘Twas a sad situation for Vernon, indeed.

Leon acted like May 18th was just another day during the hours leading up to the time for the big surprise party.  Quite naturally, both Ruby and Vernon wished their son would at least pretend to be a little nervous to make them feel a little better about their own weak knees.

Victoria came over to the main house to help set up her surprise party a couple of hours before it was scheduled to begin, and Ruby truly believed that they were the longest two years of her life.  Leon was out with the Church Mice checking to see if the local deer population had left any morel mushrooms to be found.

The Church Mice was the nickname adopted by Pete, RePete, Amanda, Loren, Annie and Rusty when they were all together.  Not even Amanda and Rusty were all that little anymore, but they all still scampered about like mice regularly do.

Leon had asked his father to ride out in the direction they would be and fire off a couple of rounds from William's shotgun in plenty of time for them to get back to the main house for the party.  Vernon did as he was asked, and the Church Mice came scampering toward Leon when the shots were heard.

Leon wanted to be fashionably late to the party, but his mother had made him believe that she would drag him in by his hair if he tried it.  So, Leon was right on time.

Everyone in attendance waited in breathless anticipation for Leon to enter the room.  Victoria was standing in the center, and her eyes bugged out when she saw Leon approaching her.  For he was holding in his hands out in front of him a small wooden box.

Leon went down on one knee and held the box up to Victoria.  She slowly took the box out of Leon’s hands, opened it and promptly fainted.

Needless to say, everyone in the room were shocked—including Leon.  For that was not at all the reaction he expected.

Ruby and Evelyn were the first to rush to Victoria’s side.  Leon could only stand there and stare.

Victoria bolted upright and exclaimed, “I first heard them, and then I saw that it was a chorus of angels singing, ‘Hallelujah!  Hallelujah!  Hallelujah!’  They were right there behind my beloved.  Did anyone else see and hear them?”

“I just heard you call me your beloved.  Does that mean that you will marry me, Victoria?”

“YES, I WILL MARRY YOU, MY DEAR, DEAR LEON!  I WILL CHERISH YOU FOR THE REST OF MY DAYS IN THIS WORLD AND FOR ALL OF ETERNITY!”

No, no one else in the room had seen or heard the chorus of angels, but no one doubted what Victoria had experienced.  Although, many were having a hard time believing what they had just experienced.  For they had just came to attend what they expected to be a grand birthday party, and there they were being eyewitnesses to the most romantic scene they could naturally imagine!

Of course, Leon knew better, but even he had no idea that Victoria would faint.  For what he imagined was her choking up, which would give him an opportunity to get a dig in on her for fumbling with saying the right thing at the right time.

Victoria finally placed the ring on her finger, and then Alfred explained just how truly special the ring truly was.  For Leon had actually made it!

The idea had come to Leon during a geology lecture at BVA, and Leon had dedicated all of his considerable energy into making the engagement ring for Victoria from scratch, so to speak, when time allowed.  No, he did not go mine for the gold, but he did smelt the ore and refine the metal at the BVA foundry.  He even cut the stone out of a rough diamond that has been found by a Shire associate in Arkansas.  No, diamonds usually found in Arkansas were not of gem-quality, but this one certainly was.

It was, of course, the thought behind the ring that made it the most valuable to Victoria, and Alfred had to concede that his title as being the most romantic one in the family might be in jeopardy.  No, it did not take any pressure off of Alfred whatsoever when he saw Miranda looking at him with a look that clearly said, “Okay, what are you going to do to top that?”  Alfred had nothing.

Later on, Vernon complimented his son on being so calm during the time leading up to his proposal to Victoria, and Leon told his father the reason was that he knew, which went far beyond merely believing, that everything would go just fine.  When Vernon pressed him to further explain, Leon started at nearly the beginning of his existence.

No, Leon did not remember being in the womb, nor seeing his mother, but he did remember the first time Wayne saw him and all that happened while he was in his presence the rest of Wayne’s days.  Leon even remembered our Heavenly Father having him reach out to Wayne when Leon was less than a month old and what He had him say to Wayne just before he passed on.

Then Leon told his father something even more shocking.  For he said that he was actually a witness to our Heavenly Father reaching out to Wayne while suspended between life and death, and recounted, word for word, what was said between them.  Vernon later wrote it all down, and I was blessed with receiving a copy of the account.

Leon admitted to have forgotten all of that and had lost his way before being found at Wayne’s cabin that wonderful morning.  He went on to tell his father about trying to kill himself and not being very receptive to the angel who had visited him while he was lying in his own vomit.

Vernon was very gratified to hear his son also tell him that he had helped him to also hear our Heavenly Father’s voice and that was why he was so calm before proposing to Victoria, which changed when she fainted.  For Leon had not received any insight on that happening.

Vernon thought about all of the things our Heavenly Father often did not tell him about—especially when he felt like he should have been consulted beforehand, which made him chuckle to himself.  Vernon was in mid-chuckle when it came to him that Leon had only fired one shot from his pistol and that all of the rounds had been fired when our Heavenly Father had him switch it with the outlaw’s pistol.

Vernon never did learn how the other five rounds in Leon’s pistol came to be fired.  Yes, it could be speculated that Leon had just forgot to make sure it was fully loaded, but the boy had been gearing up to go to war…

The wedding ceremony for Leon and Victoria was every bit as grand as the ceremony for Alfred and Miranda years before.  Where Ruby had insisted on having a very simple ceremony that was attended by very few when her and Vernon were officially wed, she wanted everyone in the region at Leon and Victoria's wedding and spared no expense.

Victoria's folks were nowhere near being just simple hillbillies, but they spent the entire evening with their mouths agape over the lavish gala Ruby and Miranda had orchestrated—naturally speaking, of course.  Oh yes, Victoria and her mother had been consulted, but Ruby and Miranda had ran wild with even their suggestions.

Alfred and Vernon were somewhat concerned about making such an excessive display of wealth, but their objections were duly noted and silenced when it turned out that Ruby and Miranda had only spent a small fraction of what it appeared to cost.  For donations to the cause had come in from very happy Shire associates and customers all over the globe—not to mention delighted parents of BVA students.

Therefore, the lavish gala was indeed an excessive display of wealth—just not of money and resources that could have been put to much better use as a blessing to others.  For it was, if anything, as much a celebration of the wealth of goodness our Heavenly Father had placed in the hearts of the contributors as of the marriage of Leon and Victoria.

As the celebration wound down, Alfred reflected on how far he had been brought since being that stupidly brave little boy trying to defend his mother against the savage assaults of his father, and he wondered if it would be better to build on to the main house to accommodate the marriages of Pete, RePete, Amanda, Loren, Annie and Rusty or build more houses at Rainbow’s End.  “Yes,” Alfred concluded to himself, “What a long, strange trip it has been.”

Leon and Victoria honeymooned in William and Marie’s old cabin, and no one dared to disturb them.  For Leon had made it clearly known that William had learned a thing or two about setting deadly traps during the Civil War and had taught him all he knew about it.

Ruby and Vernon had already laid claim to Wayne’s old place as being their quiet getaway, and Leon and Victoria followed suit with William and Marie’s place later on.  As a BVA geology project, several students widened the passage between the two opening of the cave to allow for someone to walk upright from one side to the other in less than an hour while it took several hours more to travel around the outside of the ridge in even an automobile.

No, it did not take very long at all before Leon was driving all over the place behind the wheel of a small truck he designed.  Although, Leon had to be careful to not run out of fuel.  For Uncle Alfred was lagging far behind establishing enough Shire gasoline stations to allow for lengthy ventures around the region.

Edgar could read the proverbial writing on the wall as well as anyone, and he started breeding Morgans with Thoroughbreds to produce Quarter Horses.  Evelyn also took a great interest in this endeavor.

Moreover, Edgar and Evelyn took a great interest in each other.  Oh yes, Alfred and Graham had as much fun with that as Edgar and Evelyn had with each other.

Graham had talked Alfred out of destroying Manfred’s old cabin, and he moved there when he retired from being Chairman Graham.  He figured that it would be a good place to spend the remainder of his days in quiet seclusion when he wanted it, and he was not at all wrong.  For memories of Manfred’s mania endured in the region, but Graham had made peace with his memories.

Ruby’s Restaurant gave birth to several more locations, and Victoria partnered with Ruby to open even more fine clothing stores.  Miranda had a hand with both endeavors, and she continued with her writing, which even the celebrated Russian author was a big fan of.

Leon and Miranda decided to not get in a hurry about starting a family.  Evidently, our Heavenly Father had other plans.  For around a year and a half after their wedding, little Hannah was born.

It was while out walking with Hannah near the Blue Valley train depot a few years later that an old and very grey George called out to Leon.  “Hey, didn’t I used to know you as Little Lost Leon?”

Leon grinned real big, as they say round those parts, and replied to George.  “Not lost—just disoriented.”