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Logan and I packed only what we needed for the short stay in Winnerow and set out in our new Rolls-Royce. As we drove down the long, winding drive and out the main gate of Farthinggale Manor, Logan looked into the rearview mirror and smiled as though he were looking back at another woman he loved, one he knew he would soon return to and embrace. Once again my heart fluttered in my chest as though a butterfly had emerged from its cocoon within it. I couldn't help it; I felt jealous of the power and beauty of Farthy.
"I'm glad we spent our honeymoon there," Logan said, "because to us, Farthinggale will always be a place of love."
He looked at me and smiled, his face filled with such optimism, I thought there might be enough for both of us. He reached out to take my hand and caught my fingers greedily into his.
I tightened my grip on his fingers and he looked at me lovingly.
"You are happy, Heaven?"
"Yes,
Logan. I'm very happy."
"I'm glad," he said, "because from now on, that's all that's going to matter to me."
I prayed that he would always feel that way.
It was strange driving into Winnerow after the week we had spent at Farthy. I felt as though I had moved from one dream existence into another and back again. We had decided that we would spend our time here in my cabin and would keep it as a place for us to use whenever Logan or both of us had to return to Winnerow on business. However, when we entered Winnerow, we went directly to his parent's home so that Logan could announce his new plans.
It was the dinner hour when we arrived, and when Logan opened the door to his parents' home, calling, "Mom, Dad, Heaven and I are back!" his mother rushed to the door to greet us, a flower-print apron tied around her dress, her hands still dredged with flour. "Why, Logan, Heaven," she declared, "you're not due back for a week." A frown wrinkled her brow. "I hope everything is all right?" She looked at Logan, anticipating news.
"All right? It's far better than all right, Mona! You are now looking at the executive vice-president of marketing and research of Tatterton Toys. And at the beautiful director of the board of the about-to-beconstructed local Tatterton Toys Willies Factory." Truly Logan seemed like a kid again, playing king of the mountain.
"I can't believe it." His mother's face fell. She wiped her hands on her apron, obviously trying to hide her shock and disappointment. Then she looked up again. "I must say I'm truly astonished. But what about the pharmacy?"
"Mom! This is the opportunity of a lifetime. Go get Dad and I'll tell you both all about it. I just know you're going to be thrilled for us, for all of
Winnerow!"
At first Logan's dad was visibly upset. "Son, I was so looking forward to us being in business together," he said.
But when Logan described the salary he would be making and then described the proposed Tatterton Toy Factory and its economic potential for Winnerow, his parents changed their reaction. In fact, I thought his mother looked at me with new eyes.
Suddenly she realized that her son was going to be far better off than he could ever have been if he had married one of the town girls and settled in Winnerow.
However, I sensed that her new warm feelings for me were not deep ones. She still wasn't impressed with me; she was impressed with the power and the wealth behind me. I couldn't blame her all that much for it. From what I had seen of the world during my short and troubled existence, her reactions were typical of most people.
Before we left for the cabin, I paid a visit to Mr. Meeks, the school principal, and told him of my intention to resign my teaching position. "The children will miss you," he said. "Especially the hill people's children. But perhaps you are right; perhaps you will be doing even greater things for them by bringing Tatterton Toys here and providing
employment and opportunity. Goodness knows, there's not very much of that around here for them now. Of course, I wish you the best of luck."
I thanked him and then Logan and I drove to the cabin. No matter where I had been or how long I had stayed away, I knew the cabin would always be the same when I returned. Even though it was modernized, the woods around it wore the eternal face of the nature I had known as a child. I heard the same birds, saw the same crooked trees, walked through the same deep, cool shadows, heard the same silvery sounds of the rambling brook. This would forever remain sacred to me.
I made Logan a fine supper that first night in the cabin. We sat on the porch like Granny and Grandpa and discussed our plans for the future until we both grew tired enough to fall asleep in each other's arms. In the morning, after breakfast, Logan went back into Winnerow to tie up some business ends and I drove up and down the side roads, searching for what would be a perfect location for the Tatterton Toy Factory. Logan told me to look for a place that had access to transportation, a place that was close enough to the village so that the employees could easily spend their money there. Once the business interests in the town realized the benefits the factory would bring, there would be no opposition to it, he explained. I knew he was merely repeating Tony's instructions.
I found the perfect location rather quickly. It was a flat piece of land that provided a wonderful view of the mountains, yet was merely a mile or so from the downtown area. Anyone would be inspired working here, I thought. I rushed back to Winnerow to meet Logan and tell him, but his father said he had gone back to the cabin to find some papers he had left in a suitcase. I had unpacked the suitcases and organized everything on shelves and in drawers. Afraid that he wouldn't find what he was searching for, I decided not to wait for him to return. I drove back to the cabin myself.
As soon as I made the turn to approach it, I slowed down. Fanny's car was parked beside Logan's. I had decided not to call or see her until I had finished my business here, but she had obviously heard we had arrived and had come searching for us.
I parked my car and got out slowly. Before I reached the front door, I heard Logan's strange pleas.
"Please, Fanny, you can't parade about like that. Now do what you have to do and go. Please don't cause any problems for us. Please."
I heard Fanny's familiar tantalizing laugh and pulled open the front door.
There she stood near the bathroom, a towel wrapped around her naked hips, her arms folded over her bare bosom. Her hair was wild. She looked like some mythical sex creature, an enchantress tempting him to be unfaithful while his marriage was still in its infant stages. For a moment she stared at me with those dark eyes, her smile frozen on her face. But when she saw the look on my face, she only laughed.
"Why, Heaven, goodness sakes, ya can scare the devil out of a lost and lustful preacher with a look like that."
