Chapter Twenty-Six
Albert Reagan stood at the front of the hall before a microphone and its stand. He announced to the gathering:
"We thank you Lord, for this year's abundant harvest and for the good health and happiness of everyone on the farm. Please bless us with a happy and safe winter, and may all our farmhands return home safely."
With the thanks and prayer over, the party began in earnest. Everyone dug into the feast before them as the mariachi band behind Albert began to play. Walking away from the microphone, Albert headed toward the head table. Seated at the table were: Judy (Albert's wife), Bobby with his girlfriend Angela, Mirabelle and the rest of the ranchers.
Albert spoke up above the din of the room and the band, saying, "Come on, Judy." Judy got up and walked away with Albert.
"Where are they going?" Mirabelle asked Bobby, who was seated on Angela's left side.
"They're off to all of the tables to thank the farmhands and housekeepers," replied Bobby. Mirabelle nodded.
It was Thanksgiving Day and the ranchers had all been invited to the festivities at Bobby Reagan's family's ranch. Before them sat a table completely covered with food.
"Now you see where I developed my appetite," said Bobby to Mirabelle. She nodded, for a skinny guy he sure was a voracious eater.
Mirabelle looked at Angela who sat on her left. She was a pretty sixteen-year-old with brown hair and brown eyes.
"So, Angela," said Mirabelle, "Bobby tells me you're quite a singer."
Angela blushed then said, "Oh, not really. I just sing for fun."
Bobby spoke up, "She's going to sing us a song after dinner."
"I don't know," interjected Angela.
"Now, you promised," answered Bobby.
Angela nodded, looking a little regretful.
Kirk, who sat across from Mirabelle, spoke next, "Bobby, where did your folks get that band?" He said referring to the mariachis up front.
"They're some of the farmhands," answered Bobby. "Those poor guys have to play while they watch us eat. They won't eat until we're all done," he noted.
The ranchers continued to converse until Albert and Judy returned.
"Finally!" exclaimed Bobby, "Let's eat!"
Judy Reagan spoke up, "At least wait till we've sat down, Bobby." His fork was already in his hand poised for action.
His father Albert said to him as he sat down, "Bobby do you want people to think we raised you in the barn?"
Bobby frowned and waited. After his parents were seated he stared at them until Albert gave a nod, upon which Bobby made for the food. As Bobby proceeded to shovel his dinner into his mouth, Albert said to the others, "Please help yourselves." Whereupon they did.
After dinner was over, Bobby nudged Angela with his elbow and said, "Time for you to go up."
"Bobby, I'm nervous. Can I just skip singing?" she asked.
"No," responded Bobby, "You promised."
Angela sighed and reluctantly got up. As she walked up the microphone (now happily deserted by the feeding mariarchis), Bobby said to the others, "Wait till you hear her sing. She's really something."
Angela spoke into the mike, "Hi, everyone. Um. I'm going to sing a song, okay?" She started and soon the entire hall sat silently listening to her sing a most incredibly beautiful song. Everyone was mesmerized. Mirabelle was amazed that such an ordinary-looking teenage girl--the typical kind with long brown hair in a tail, white shirt, blue skirt, blue shoes and bobby socks--could have such remarkable singing ability. After Angela had finished, the hall filled with thunderous applause. Angela smiled and then went back to the table.
"See," said Bobby to the others as Angela sat down.
"Wow, you're really talented," Mirabelle said to Angela.
"Thanks," Angela shyly replied.
After drinking (Angela had a kiddie cocktail), everyone got up and milled around. Mirabelle found herself walking up to Michael and Kirk who were engaged in conversation:
"So did you make your decision?" Michael asked Kirk.
"I did, " he replied, "I'm going."
"I hope you find her," responded Michael, "but you might not like what you find."
"I know," answered Kirk, "but I have to find out whatever happened. Maybe I'll be back in the spring. I'll write."
Michael nodded in reply.
Mirabelle walked up to the two and asked, "What's new, gentlemen?" She had overheard their conversation but decided to feign ignorance.
Kirk replied to her, "I'm off to Boston for a spell. Maybe I'll see you guys in the spring."
Mirabelle nodded. She hoped Kirk would find whatever he was searching for.
Michael spoke to Mirabelle, "That leaves just you and Joseph with me on the ranch. Bobby's staying home for the winter. We should be okay, though." Michael stood silently waiting for a response from Mirabelle. Getting none, he added, "There's less to do on the ranch in the winter."
Mirabelle nodded in reply.
As Kirk and Michael continued talking, Mirabelle sidled her way towards the exit. She wanted to get some fresh air and to have a look at the stars. Before she reached the door, however, she found herself being pulled to the side by her arm.
"Sorry, Mirabelle," said Bobby, who had grasped her arm from his seat at a table, "but could you help me here a moment?"
"Sure," answered Mirabelle, wondering what he wanted.
"Mirabelle," said Bobby, "I want you to give your honest opinion to Angela about her singing."
Mirabelle looked at Angela who was looking at her with expectant yet worried eyes. Mirabelle answered, "I think you have the most incredible singing ability I've ever heard."
"Oh, you're just saying that," responded Angela, blushing.
"No, I'm not," answered Mirabelle. She was serious.
Bobby said to Mirabelle, "I keep telling her she has a gift for singing and that she should use it." He asked Angela, "Don't you want to be more than some farmer's wife?"
"I'm just a girl, Bobby," she answered, unhappily.
"I can't do it for you, Angela," Bobby countered, "You've got to follow that dream... for yourself."
Mirabelle, feeling increasingly excluded from the conversation, surreptitiously got up.
"Oh, sorry, Mirabelle," Bobby said to her when he noticed Mirabelle getting up. "I'm just trying to talk some sense into her," he said gesturing towards Angela. Mirabelle nodded then excused herself and headed towards the exit.
Passing through the exit, Mirabelle found herself outside of the hall, standing on its porch. She looked out at the now empty fields of the farm. The bare fields radiated a soft greyish glow in the light of the full moon and stars. Turning her head to the right she found Albert and Judy sitting on a bench, sharing a blanket.
"Oh, hello Mr. Reagan, Mrs. Reagan," she said. Mirabelle suddenly noticed how cold it was outside. She wished she had brought her coat with her.
"Hi, Mirabelle. Come have a seat. There's a spare blanket next to me," said Mrs. Reagan.
"Thank you," replied Mirabelle before she sat herself down and wrapped herself in the blanket. Mirabelle turned her head to look at Mrs. Reagan.
Judy Reagan, unlike Bobby, was rather short and a bit plump, Mirabelle noted. She didn't share his blonde hair, either, hers being brown. She did, however, have Bobby's green eyes.
"You're not cold are you?" Albert asked Mirabelle while bending forward and turning his head to look at her.
"No, I'm fine, thank you," answered Mirabelle.
Albert nodded and asked, "Out to look at the stars?"
Mirabelle looked at him before answering. Like Bobby he was tall and slim--she had noted this when she had met him earlier. His short-cut hair was a combination of straw-coloured blonde and grey, and his eyes were an icy blue. She responded to his querie regarding the stars with a "Yes, they're so beautiful."
Mirabelle turned her head to look at the stars. Their twinkling lights winked in and out endlessly in the cold night air and their multitudinous glowing bodies filled the black sky limitlessly. Finished savouring the beauty of the stars, Mirabelle lowered her gaze to look at the contrastingly stark fields below the skies and remarked, "The fields look so barren."
"They'll be covered with snow, soon," replied Albert.
"The Reagans' farm was so large and successful," Mirabelle thought to herself as she looked at the vast fields. She wondered how they had managed to create it and so asked her host, "How did you manage to create such a successful farm, Mr. Reagan?"
"Through a lot of hard work," he answered. He leaned forward and turned his head to look at Mirabelle, then continued, "People don't see all the years of effort it took to make this farm a success. They only see how great it is right now. When my father came here, there was nothing here, nothing."
Mirabelle nodded.
Mr. Reagan continued, tossing Mirabelle a tidbit of wisdom, "You get out of life, what you put into it. Some people put in less and others put in more." He paused for a few seconds to think it over then said bluntly, "You get what you pay for."
After a quiet pause (during which her next question formed in her mind) Mirabelle asked, "Is Bobby your only child?"
"Yes, he is," answered Judy, who sat beside her.
"What do you see him doing in life," Mirabelle asked. She thought of her conversation with Bobby in Michael's barn.
"I don't know," answered Judy. "He's young, so he has time to figure out what he wants," she remarked.
"I'd like him to stay home and take over the farm. He and Angela can take over things while we retire," commented Albert, thinking about the future.
"Do you think he'll do that?" asked Mirabelle. She wondered if Bobby would one day return, permanently, to the farm and the life he was so eager to get away from.
"I hope so," replied Albert.
Mirabelle again gazed at the open fields before her, content to bask in the peacefulness of the night.
"Have you married yet, Mirabelle?" Judy asked out of the blue.
"No," answered Mirabelle. She wondered if she was supposed to feel sad.
"I can't see how a pretty girl like you hasn't been able to find a suitable suitor, yet," said Judy to her.
"I've just been confused over what I want exactly," answered Mirabelle, truthfully.
"What do you want in your heart, dearie?" asked Judy.
Mirabelle was a little put off. Judy couldn't have been more than fifteen years older than her and yet now she was speaking to Mirabelle like she was her grandmother or something.
"I just wanted someone who would understand me, that's all," answered Mirabelle after a long, hard look in her heart.
"Well, I hope you find him," replied Judy.
Albert and Judy cuddled under their blanket, while Mirabelle excused herself and headed back into the hall. She frowned as she walked to her table to sit down. Everywhere she went (at least everywhere where there were women) there was the relentless pressure on her to marry. She knew she wasn't getting any younger and that she didn't want to live the life of a spinster, but couldn't she wait to get married to someone she found she liked?
"Mirabelle, we're leaving now," spoke a voice to her from behind her chair.
Mirabelle turned around to see who it was. It was Joseph. "What was that?" she asked.
"We're going," he answered and patiently waited for her.
"Okay," Mirabelle replied. She forgot whatever it was she was she had thinking about.
Mirabelle got up and followed Joseph till they met with Michael and Kirk. After saying goodbye to Bobby and the others, the ranchers headed in their trucks back home.
