Marlee Learns Pretend Stories Are Called Adventures

 Grandma Lu kept looking out the kitchen window watching for Marlee. "So little Miss wants to go to Texas. I wonder where that idea came from. Oh there she is. It will be good to see her. I haven't seen much of her since she started school."

"Hey, Marlee! I'm so glad to see you. You are growing like a weed. How are you? Sit. Sit. I'll get us a glass of juice and a cookie. How does that sound? Good." She brought the things to the table and they chit chatted for awhile and finally Grandma Lu said, "Okay what's all this about you wanting to go to Texas? Where in the world did you get that idea?"

As Grandma Lu sat and listened to Marlee she just grinned and said, "Oh is that right? Really? Okay, now you know that I write stories, but do you know that they are just pretend? Remember all the adventures that we wrote together? Those were fun, weren't they? That's what these stories are. Just fun, but mostly not for kids this time, but I understand where you got this from. You looked at your Grandma's phone and saw you in the pictures didn't you? Yes, I put you in the stories, Whitlee too. You wore your prairie dresses, but Marlee you don't have to go to Texas to be in the stories, you can just pretend to go.

 Look I'll show you how to do that. Come with me into my office and I'll show you how. Look. See this picture of you pretending to do laundry? You have your prairie dress and bonnet on. Remember how you hated the bonnet? Well, I'll just bet that little girls in those days hated them too. Let's put your picture in the scrapbook that Allie finds. Remember your name is Maggie in the story." Marlee giggled and said, "That's fun and you did that so easy. You call our stories adventures don't you?" Grandma Lu gave her a hug and said, "I sure do. Fun pretend adventures."

" I'll bet between you and me we can go to Texas in about two minutes instead of ten or twelve hours. As you get older and learn how to read you can travel not only to Texas, but all over the world. Reading books and stories even magazines is a wonderful thing. So pay attention in school and learn everything you can and maybe someday you can write pretend stories all by yourself."

 She gave Marlee another hug and said, "You had better get back to your grandma's house now. I need to get back to the story I'm writing. Thank you so much for visiting." She watched Marlee until she turned up the sidewalk to her grandma's house. Waved at her, shook her head and said, "She is such a smart little cookie she just might end up being a writer someday. I do know this, that whatever she decides to do she will do well. Now back to the unanswered phone calls in Texas, Miss Marlee, she chuckled. Now old woman, let's figure this out. It seems to me that the sheriff was the only one to answer his phone the others blew it off and never did answer their phones. Let's find out why."

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"This is the sheriff. May I ask who is calling? Is that right? So you are closing up K.R.'s office. Well I'd say it's about time. Oh, no I don't know where to send it. I'll tell you what why don't you just mail it to my office and I'll contact the sender. Thanks so much for calling and I'll take care of it. Good night."

Maxine heard the sheriff talking on the phone. "What was that all about?" 

"Well, someone sent mail to K.R.'s office in Springfield, Illinois. They are in the process of closing it up. No one has been paid. I think the manager of the building is boxing everything up. It seems that there is a letter addressed to K.R. and they wanted to know what to do with it. I told them to send it to me and I'd let the warden know about it. Then he can take it from there. I'll call him in the morning. So are you going to say yes?" Maxine looked up into those eyes she had become so fond of and said, "Are you sure you know what you are doing? We'd probably fight like cats and dogs. I'm not an easy person to get along with. Plus you would have to spend money on taking me out to eat. I love to try new places and then of course, there is K.R. Then there is the town folks. They associate me with K.R. Don't forget Rex. He's the reason K.R. is the way he is. You are not going to change my mind about that, my dear. I guess if there are some things that we will never agree upon. Can we agree to disagree and just not bring them up?" They agreed and soon the when and where particulars of the wedding were discussed. They decided not to wait long and that they wanted to get married on horseback on the ranch!

When Allie woke up the next morning she picked up her phone and saw that she had missed a phone call. She didn't recognize the number. "Hmm, I wonder who this is? She was always careful about responding to numbers that she didn't recognize. There are just too many crazies out there. I don't need another problem in my life." So she didn't call the number back, but went out to the barn to see about the new horses that had come in the day before. The children's parents had driven over and picked up the kids. They seemed like nice folks, but they told her that they had been spreading the word that she was the owner of the Double D ranch which was a rescue ranch and would take in horses that were neglected and abused or abandoned. They were sure that before she knew it she would have all kinds of horses to take care of. "What? Now what do I do, she thought. I didn't want a rescue ranch. I wanted a place for visitors to come, take riding lessons, make friends, find some peace and quiet in today's busy noisy world. I don't have the help to care for what sounds like a lot of horses." She smiled and said, "Thank you. I will help when I can, but I would like to see the Double D as a refuge for people rather than horses. So unless it is an emergency situation, I will have to find another ranch for them to go to. But thanks so much for helping these five that the children brought over. We will get them well and then we can find an adopted home with someone to love and care for them."

Later on that day Allie realized that the unknown caller might be someone that was answering the help wanted ad in the Money Magazine she and Pat had placed. She decided to call the number back. She was in need of more ranch hands that was a fact. It was a young woman that was  answering her ad. She had just graduated from high school and really wanted to live on a ranch and help horses. After quite a lengthy conversation she told the girl to write her an essay telling her why she wanted to go to Texas and why she wanted to work on a ranch. She would be considered for free transportation if the essay qualified as one of the best. She was assured that she would be sending it in the next mail.

Allie grinned and thought, "Well, if nothing else her bubbly personality and energy would be a plus. We shall see what she says in that essay."

Allie's phone rang again and it was Josh. "Hey, Allie. There's a dance in town tonight. Would you like to go with me? I think we need a fun night. No fighting, just good music and there's usually good food at these things in town. What do you think? Can we make it a whole night without fighting?"

Allie's heart did a little dance. "Well, let me think about it. What do you wear to these things? Do I have to dress up? Can I wear jeans and boots? Oh well, maybe. I'll let you know. Okay? And by the way it isn't my fault that you always argue with me. Bye."

Allie found herself grinning at the thought of dancing with Josh on a date! Well, maybe they could get along for a couple of hours. She'd better go up and look in the closet to see if she had a decent pair of clean jeans. She loved her new boots, but she did need a cowboy hat here in Texas. She grinned again. Her ranch, her new home. She closed her eyes and thought, "Things were better, if only her mom was there to reassure her and encourage her to let people tear down the walls that she had spent building. Okay, I'll do it. But I'm not going to call him back for awhile. And I'm going to drive myself into town just in case he makes me mad like he always does. That way I'll have a way home."

When Rex woke up the next morning he smiled so big he thought his face would break in two. She said, "Yes!" Yes! She said she'd marry me. She will have to drive me places and I don't care. I will live with her and no more nursing home! I love that woman to pieces. I never thought I'd be so happy again. I'd better get dressed and down to breakfast. Pat will be here any minute." When he got dressed and ready to go to the dining room he picked up his phone. He no longer smiled. His face went white with anger. He knew his blood pressure was going up and he couldn't have that or he'd have another stroke. "I'm not going to let him ruin my life. No never!" 

The ringing stopped and the message that was left was never listened to. 

Before calling Allie Josh had not noticed he had a missed call.