Journey With the Comet

by Dana Wayne Haley

  “You’re one to talk, Murdy,” she replied. “You drive like a drunken sailor; one who never even learned how to drive. Maybe you should let little Wally drive the next time.”

  After the children finally stopped laughing, their mother told them it was time to head inside for supper. The disappointed kids did as she said, realizing that there were plenty of sledding days ahead that winter.

  —5—

  Occasionally the Haley children went sledding on nearby Ohio Street, even though its hills were significantly steeper and their parents considered it much more dangerous than the Winter Fun Road. Nonetheless, with danger came excitement, and no matter how hard the parents tried, the children always managed to take two or three slides on Ohio Street before they were finally caught and told to stop. Of all the Haley children, Leona was the most daring, and as such was always trying to talk Lillian and Arlene into sledding on Ohio Street with her, usually successfully. Although that road was nearly flat near the Haleys’ driveway, it had a very steep slope just north and just south of it, with the starting point for sledding adjacent to the Terrill house, about 600 feet north of the Haley driveway.

  When the children came speeding down the hill, they had the option of continuing straight down Ohio Street or of making a left turn onto the Winter Fun Road. If they chose to go straight, the slope was somewhat mild for about 700 feet beyond their driveway. At that point, a few feet beyond Eunice’s house, there was another steeper portion that went downhill for about 500 feet before it leveled off into a valley that just happened to fall on the east-west boundary of Bangor and Hermon. That steep hill, the one Bobby’s horse had trouble climbing the day the Haleys moved to Glenburn, was appropriately called Carver Hill; and the valley at the bottom was referred to as Death Valley by the children in this part of Glenburn.

  The anticipation of flying down Carver Hill excited the Haley kids because it was the steepest one on Ohio Street. As such, when they were finally speeding down it, they could be heard screaming all the way to the bottom. Sometimes, however, making the turn onto the Winter Fun Road was the most fun of all. The sled’s speed was usually so great when they reached the intersection that, as they turned the corner, its momentum would cause it to slide high up a manmade bank of snow. Then, if all went well, gravity would mercifully overcome its momentum and pull the sled back down the curved bank and carry its riders safely down the Winter Fun Road.

  The enormous mound of snow, typically 6 feet high or more, was strategically placed at the corner of the Winter Fun Road by Murdock to keep the turning sled from careening into the ditch. However, sometimes the sled’s speed was such that even gravity couldn’t counteract its momentum, and the new American Glider would go flying over the bank, with the sled and anyone on it ending up splattered in the soft snow on the other side of the bank.

  —6—

  Leona enjoyed snow sledding so much that many times she went alone if no one else wanted to go. Even with the long and, at times, lonely walk back to the top of the hill, she would typically spend more than two hours sledding, sometimes in frigid weather. Doing any other outside activity in such weather would force Leona into the warm house to seek another form of entertainment; however, when she was sledding, the temperature had to be way below zero before she gave up and headed inside; even then it usually took a strong wind to accompany the cold temperatures.

  Of course, Margaret would always keep an eagle eye on her youngest daughter through the kitchen window, the one over her sink that looked directly out onto the Winter Fun Road. She waited in anticipation each time Leona crashed into the snow-bank or ditch to see if her daughter would be okay. Fortunately for Margaret, Leona was quite skilled at sledding and seldom crashed, or got hurt when she did. Just the same, each time the inevitable crashes occurred, Margaret’s heart would nearly stop.

  One cold and icy day in February of 1919 Leona was sledding alone on Ohio Street and Margaret saw her daughter approaching the Winter Fun Road at a very high rate of speed. The worried mother prayed that she would not attempt to make the turn onto it. But Leona did, and her sled flew up the bank of snow, seemingly headed over it, where Margaret was sure her daughter would go flying into a nearby cluster of trees. Fortunately, Leona was able to keep the sled from going over the bank, but when gravity forced it down off the snow-mound and back onto the road, the sled picked up way too much speed. Leona was going so fast that, even as skilled as she was, she could not control the sled as it swerved from side to side on the icy road. Finally, she lost all control of the sled and it headed dangerously for the ditch. When it by chance hit a small clump of frozen snow the sled went flying through the air, and so did Leona. Her sled slammed headfirst into soft snow, and Leona went tumbling head-over-heels along the snow-filled ditch, out of sight of her mother’s vision.

  Margaret held her breath until she saw her daughter’s head peeking over the snow-bank as she crawled up and over it, back onto the road. Although covered with white from head to toe, Leona was laughing hysterically, and Margaret was relieved to see that. She felt like running outside to scold her daring daughter, but instinctively knew that it would be useless to do so. She could make Leona stay in her room for three weeks, and as soon as her bedroom prison time was up, her fearless girl would be right back at it again.

  When Margaret’s breathing returned to normal she thought about what had just happened and began to laugh, albeit nervously. Just then Murdock came into the kitchen and asked: “What’s so funny, Maggie?”

  “Leona,” she answered.

  “What’s she done now?”

  “Oh, nothing too serious, other than crashing the sled, almost killing herself, and me too I might add. I don’t think my heart can take too much more of her daring.”

  Murdock looked quizzically at his wife and was about to say something else, but thought better. Instead he just turned and walked out of the kitchen, saying to himself: “Women!?”

  Margaret, somewhat amused by his reaction, turned to look out the window and once again saw Leona singing to herself as she walked casually up the road toward the house, all the while brushing snow from her clothes. Margaret was relieved, knowing everything was fine; at least, until the next time.

  —7—

  No doubt the scariest sled ride of all for Leona happened the winter of 1920. While sledding on major roadways was relatively safe on the sparsely populated west side of Glenburn, one still had to keep a watchful eye out for travelers in horse-drawn sleighs. They posed the most danger. Even though most sleigh drivers were careful not to go too fast during the winter, it was not unusual for them to come around a corner into the oncoming path of a fast moving sled, especially when both the sled and sleigh were hidden by a high snow-bank; and that’s exactly what happened to Leona when she was making a run on Ohio Street.

  The road was very icy that day and she had picked up so much speed on the steep hill near her home that the flat portion next to her driveway didn’t slow her sled much. Although she wanted to make the challenging turn onto the Winter Fun Road, this time she decided against it, knowing the turn would be too daring, even for her, so she continued on down Ohio Street. Just as the 10-year-old was approaching the Cemetery Road intersection she saw a light-gray horse pulling a small two-person sleigh gallop right in front of her. Its blinders kept the large muscular horse from noticing Leona’s sled speeding toward it. Thankfully for Leona, just before the sled was about to crash into its powerful front legs, the horse caught a glimpse of something and was spooked, causing it to rear up on its hind legs. In the meantime, Leona was trying to turn the sled sharply toward the far side of the icy road, but instead it spun sideways and continued spinning like a slow-motion top, heading straight for the frightened horse. She slid dangerously beneath it, passing under its kicking front legs.

  As she often did, Eunice was in her kitchen watching Leona sledding that day, and the sleigh driver—old Mr. Kelley—was mome
ntarily distracted when he saw her waving at him through the kitchen window, politely waving back. When his horse reared, Mr. Kelley finally noticed Leona coming on her sled and frantically yelled “Whoa!” while simultaneously pulling back on the reins, keeping the horse standing on its hind legs for an instant longer. The skidding sled was barely out from under the horse when its iron-shoed hoofs hit the ground, just missing Leona’s head by inches. After the sled finally stopped, she found herself a few feet beyond the Cemetery Road lying face-up in the snowy ditch, curiously staring and marveling at the passing clouds.

  Leona heard Mr. Kelley ask: “Are you okay, Leona?”

  She nodded her head yes; then she saw a horrified Eunice come frantically running out of her house, shouting:

  “Heavens to Betsy, Leona! Are you still in one piece?”

  Leona was just beginning to brush the snow off her clothes when Eunice spoke. She got to her feet—her winter hat and jacket still white with snow—and responded:

  “I’m okay, Grandma. Just a little scared, that’s all. I think my heart’s pounding faster than a frightened deer’s though.”

  “Mine too, dear,” Eunice said. “Now, come on into my house to let your clothes dry off.”

  Leona, thinking of Eunice’s fine cooking and funny stories, didn’t have to be asked twice. While walking toward the house with her grandmother, she began to laugh in a way that took Eunice by surprise.

  “What’s wrong with you, dear? Did that fall knock a few marbles loose?” she joked.

  “No, Grandma,” Leona laughed. “What you said hit me funny.”

  “What did I say?” Eunice asked.

  “Heavens to Betsy!” Leona said, trying to mock Eunice’s voice and expressions.

  “Oh mercy, I’ve been saying Heavens to Betsy all my life. Picked it up from my parents, I suspect.”

  “What’s it mean?” Leona asked.

  “Can’t say as I know, dear. Just use it when I’m shocked or amazed about somethin’ or th’other. Saying it just comes natural, I guess. I didn’t realize it was that funny though.”

  “I guess it isn’t, in itself,” Leona said. “But it brought something to mind.”

  “What’s that, dear?”

  “When I was younger, maybe 5 or 6, I heard Mama use it a couple of times. And all this time I thought she was saying Heavens to Bessie. I couldn’t understand what she meant. I thought maybe she wanted me to go to heaven, or something. The only thing is: I couldn’t figure out what on Earth I did wrong, or why she used my middle name and not my first. She never did that.”

  Leona and Eunice began to laugh hysterically, and then the little girl said:

  “Maybe you’re right, Grandma. Maybe I do have a few loose marbles after all.”

  “Well, don’t feel bad, Leona. I think we all do, if the truth be told.”

  The two began laughing hysterically again, and they found themselves laughing all the way into Eunice’s kitchen; doing so long after they got there. By the time they stopped, Grandma Eunice had prepared a delicious peanut butter and jelly sandwich for Leona and gave it to her, along with a large glass of milk. Then she got serious.

  “Boy, Leona, you were sure lucky that horse saw you coming and reared up the way it did. If it hadn’t, you’da taken the legs right out from under him for sure; and he’da probably fallen right on top of you. If that’ah happened, I’da been scraping you off the road—like a pumpkin smashed on Halloween.”

  After she stopped laughing, Leona spoke.

  “The horse didn’t see me, Grandma. It was scared by the eagle.”

  “The eagle? What eagle?”

  “The bald eagle that flew in front of him.”

  “What are you talking about, young lady? I watched the whole thing; there was no eagle out there.”

  “Yes there was. I saw it, plain as day.”

  “That’s impossible, dear. There’s no eagles around here, only chicken hawks. And I sure as heck would’ve seen a chicken hawk, not’ta mention a bald eagle.”

  “But I’m sure I saw an eagle, Grandma. It was huge! I don’t know how you could of missed it.”

  “Me either, Leona? Though, come to think of it, I’ve heard you have a thing about eagles. I guess your Ma and Pa were right: You have a very big imagination. I think the only thing bigger is your appetite. Now, go on and eat your sandwich.”

  When Leona was done, Eunice offered her granddaughter a fresh date-filled cookie, for which the little girl was extremely grateful. Leona was even more grateful when Eunice agreed not to tell her parents about the near collision, most grateful indeed. Leona could only hope that Mr. Kelley, who lived a mile up the Cemetery Road, would not mention the incident to her parents. For if he did, she knew it would be “goodbye sled” for at least two weeks.

  Fortunately, after she pleaded with him before heading home, Mr. Kelley kept his silence, and an appreciative Leona went on sledding and went on experiencing the thrills that came with it for the rest of that winter, and for many more to come.

  Chapter 39

  The Deer

  After a full day of sledding, barely avoiding a serious accident, Leona decided to hit the sack early, more than ready for a good night’s sleep. But when she opened the door to her normally dark bedroom she saw that the floor and walls were illuminated, albeit dimly. She wondered if she had left a kerosene lantern on low, or maybe she had left a candle burning, but then she noticed the outline of her four-pane window on the floor and she quickly realized it was the Moon in the now nearly cloudless sky that was lighting up her room.

  When Leona looked out the window, she saw that the Moon was almost full and that she could see trees and bushes clearly silhouetted against the snowy white background. She quickly changed into her pajamas, with only the moonlight to help her see. Then she plunked herself down in her little rocking chair near the window and just stared at the intriguing Moon. Occasionally it would pass behind a cloud, but not for long.

  It was going on 7:30 when she noticed something moving at the far corner of the back field: a small deer, maybe eight or nine months old. It was pawing at the ground under an apple tree that was only 20 feet from the woods. Before long she saw another small deer come out of the woods to join what Leona assumed to be its sibling. A few seconds later three larger deer came out and all were clearly visible against the moonlit snow. The excited girl ran out of her room and down the stairs.

  “Mama, Papa. Come quick. There are five deer playing near the woods. You can see them real good from my bedroom window.”

  The Haleys ran up the stairs following their young daughter, while Arlene and Lillian rushed from their bedroom into their sister’s. Little Wally was downstairs, fast asleep in his crib. Next year, on his 6th birthday, he would likely be sleeping on the top bunk in Leona’s room.

  “Aren’t they beautiful,” Margaret said when she saw the five deer silhouetted against the snow.

  “I’ve never seen a prettier sight,” Murdock replied.

  “Let me look,” Arlene said while impatiently pushing her way toward the window.

  “Take it easy, Arlene!” her father said. “There’s plenty of room for everyone. You and Leona sit here on the floor, and Lillian, your mother, and I can look out over you.”

  They stayed like that for almost a half-hour, watching the beautiful animals and laughing at the little fawns playing in the snow. When the deer were finished looking for apples under that far away tree, they made their way toward the Haley house. The playful deer came single-file along a path in the snow that according to Murdock they had made about two weeks earlier.

  “From the looks of the tracks I saw,” he said, “they’ve been following that path almost every night.”

  The two fawns led the way toward the house, with the larger deer following close behind. Third in line was a nearly grown doe, and behind it was a large doe and
buck, most likely the mother and father. The five deer stopped under another apple tree that was about halfway between the woods and the house, 150 feet away.

  “Look how big that buck is,” Lillian said. “I’ve never seen a deer that big before.”

  “It is big,” Murdock agreed, although not as big as some he had seen in these woods.

  In a while, one of the fawns walked toward the northwest corner of the Haley house where an evergreen bush was located.

  “I think they’re gonna snack on your bushes, Maggie,” Murdock said.

  “They’d better not, or I’ll snack on them. Murdy, where’s your gun?” Margaret said while winking at her husband and turning to see the expression on Leona’s face; as expected, it was a look of horror.

  Murdock laughed and knew he needed to say something to reassure Leona.

  “Don’t worry, Maggie, they won’t hurt your bushes. They just like to nibble on the tips.”

  Soon the other fawn joined its sibling and both were nibbling away on the bushes outside Margaret’s bedroom window, just as Murdock predicted.

  “Let’s go down and see if we can get a closer look at them,” Leona suggested.

  “Okay, but be quiet,” Murdock warned. “Tiptoe down the stairs and stop dead in your tracks if you see them looking in the window.”

  Upon entering their parents’ bedroom the children tiptoed to the window and were face-to-face with the small deer. One was eating away, while the other was looking around, keeping watch. Suddenly, Arlene sneezed and the heads and tails of the two small deer shot high into the air. Then they sprang away with their bobbing white tails providing a warning to the other deer. Soon, all were running toward the corner of the woods from which they came. The three larger deer went into the woods one by one, but the more courageous youngsters stopped under the apple tree and stood frozen, turning only their heads. Leona ran up to her room when the deer began running, and looked out the window, seeing only the two fawns. But after a while she saw the other deer slowly edging their way out of the woods to the tree where the fawns were now busy eating frozen apples.