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“That’s the problem. Sally panicked, came running back, and sent Eleanor out to get Franklin.”
“I see,” Lena said, becoming more thoughtful. Eleanor, of all her children, was the most sensitive. A little bit on the quiet side and always thoughtful, she was the one who was least likely to get married. Lena had worried about her some, and then she had given her over to the Lord. It wasn’t always in God’s plan for people to get married. Maybe Eleanor was one of those people. She’d made it through her anxiety, and she had a deep, strong grounding in the Lord. Lena supposed that was really all a person needed.
Even if Lena did want to see her married, happily, with a family of her own.
“The last text Eleanor sent to me was that she was fine, everything was okay, and her phone was almost out of battery.”
“And you haven’t heard from her since?”
“I’m assuming her phone went dead.”
“So you’re assuming she’s at the shack with Franklin?”
“Yes. I believe she was looking at a cat when she sent me the text. Which, Sally said there was a cat there that was pregnant, which is how she got Franklin to go out in the first place. She said she was in distress, although she wasn’t. Anyway, I know that Eleanor made it out to get Franklin, but I don’t know what happened after that. I wanted Ryan to go out and get them, but he just laughed and said that they would be fine.”
Lena could see her son Ryan laughing over that. Ever since he’d come back from rodeo, he’d been not quite the same person.
Lena wasn’t sure what to do to help him.
Still, that was a typical sibling reaction. Especially a brother.
“And no one else can go?”
“Noah’s car doesn’t go very well in the snow, and Matt and Luke and Davis have already told people that they would take them home from the dance if the snow started. They’re going to be busy, and I hated to ask them. My car has bald tires, and I know that Eleanor’s does too. We’ve been talking about how we needed to get tires on our vehicles, and we just haven’t with all of the things that have been going on. My wedding and now this party have taken up all of our spare time.”
Lena considered the situation. Part of her was worried for her daughter’s safety. A Michigan snowstorm was nothing to sneeze at. Especially one like this, with lake-effect snow possibly dumping feet onto the ground, followed by a cold front.
People died in weather like this.
But her daughter was safe, had reached the shed, there was wood and a stove and the provisions that Sally had left.
“What are you thinking?” Lena finally said as Sunday continued to stand beside her.
“Well, I said something to you because... Honestly, I feel like we should just leave her there. I mean, Eleanor probably wouldn’t be with Franklin on her own, and this might be good for her. Not that I want anything to happen to her. You know I love her more than life. But I think she’ll be fine. Sally and Peter both said, when I questioned them separately, that the shack had been outfitted with wood and there was a stove. Peter said he had the stove cleaned, since he’d been planning on selling it. He hadn’t done anything with the piles of firewood, which were stacked against the back of the shack. Sally said she had food and water and matches and blankets in the pack that she left. I... I feel like they’re going to be okay. But I wanted to come talk to you. Because I can go get them if no one else can. Or Noah will. He’ll do that first. I know he will if I ask him.”
Lena nodded. Normally she wouldn’t even consider leaving them there. But they would be fine, they had plenty of food, plenty of water, and plenty of wood for a fire. If she didn’t think that Eleanor was perfectly capable of taking care of herself, she would be more concerned, but while Eleanor wasn’t the most socially adept person, she was very scrappy and was very good at figuring out solutions to problems.
She had no fear for her life or her welfare.
And if they really wanted to get back, Eleanor could drive in the snow. Even with the bald tires.
She took a breath and blew it out. Knowing that if she made the wrong decision, she could regret it for the rest of her life.
Lord?
Sometimes God told her plainly what to do, and she didn’t worry about making the wrong decision, but right now, she wasn’t sure what decision was the best one, and she didn’t feel any particularly strong guidance from the Lord.
She should have faith in her daughter, in her daughter’s skills, and in her daughter’s abilities.
“I think they’ll be fine.” She nodded, thinking to herself that she would drive out, just drive around, making sure that things were okay, before she came back.
She trusted her daughter, but she was also a mother, and while she believed that Eleanor would be okay, she’d feel a lot better if she made sure of it.
Still, she wouldn’t mention that to Sunday, because then Sunday would insist that Noah drive, or she drive, and Lena could just slip out and do it on her own.
“That’s what I thought too, but I just wanted to run it over with you. After all, Sally was going to leave Peter and Norma Jean there by themselves.”
“Well, I definitely think that Sally needs to get out more. That was a crazy, harebrained scheme. And one that could have backfired in a big way, if she didn’t make the proper preparations.”
