3 those that never sing

8/6/2019 3 Those That Never Sing

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Chapter Two

The Contract

Saturday, February 21, 1914

Bill came bounding up the stairs to Vestas bedroom. Since she was the only girl

in the family, and since at sixteen, she had become a young woman, she had been given

the nursery for her own room. It was hers even though she was away at school most of

the time. Barely eight by ten feet, the room had been occupied for as long as she could

remember by babies. Her earliest memories were of Speck lying in the tiny childs bed

there. And she could very well remember the fuss Badger put up when he had to move

in with Speck so she could have what he had only known as his room.

But since Delphos officially left home following his marriage year before last,

the boys shared a bedroom with their brother Fay. Now he had started to high school

too. This meant that her youngest brothers could share the larger bedroom mostly to


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themselves and Vesta could enjoy the complete privacy of her little cell. She went there

to write in her diary and study her schoolwork. And the boys returned to the little room,

too, one by one, to tell her their dreams and fears, their animosities and their secrets.

She became their confessor, an exalted position she would always retain.

Today, Vesta heard the loud clomping of someone taking stairs two at a time and

then Bill burst unannounced into her room, fresh off the train from Hutchinson. Look!

Look!

Shouldnt you at least knock, Billy? Vesta chided him. She couldnt have

missed his coming had her room been out in the barn.

Bill was twenty-four years old, but looked more boyish than some other young

men his age. He was by far the best looking of the Holmes boys, a fact that had not

escaped him. At 510 he was shorter than his younger brother Delphos, but as tall as

his father, and a lean, flat-bellied stripling with chestnut hair and black eyes, sharp like

an eagle. His features were chiseled and perfect. He was a boy that the girls in towns all

over the countryside swooned for, even if they knew that he was secretly engaged to a

Catholic girl from Langdon.

A fiercely competitive athlete, especially in baseball, he threw himself into each

game without reservation. He had played baseball for almost as long as he could

remember. And he had played on every sandlot in three counties for the last seven

summers: Friday and Saturday night games, Sunday afternoon games they were all

foils for his passion. Often these games were followed by drinking and women and

spittin tobacco, but Bill avoided those binges out of deference to Rosa. He had no

enemies. Once an older challenger started a fight in the middle of a street in South


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Hutchinson. Bill whipped him in front of a saloon, and then took the man back inside

and bought him a beer. The man, Charlie Hopkins, became his lifelong friend.

Apart from Rosa Kelley and his fledgling career as a barber, baseball had

become the occupying force in his life. And it was baseball that brought him bouncing

into his sisters room on this particular Saturday.

Bill handed Vesta an impressive brown, linen paper envelope, unsealed. She

opened the envelope and took out a long, important looking document printed on

matching paper.


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The contract promised to pay him $70 per month during the championship

season(unless releasedbefore its termination inaccordance with the provisions ofthis

contract),with an option for the 1915 season.

He beamed. Im playing ball for SaltCity, Sis!

Seventy Dollars a Month, Vesta gasped, whispering in awe. Why, Bill,

youll be rich!

It was true. In only three months he would earn nearly as much as another man

might make in an entire year. And on top of his baseball salary, he could continue

barbering when he was not playing. That is, unless a major league team took notice and

he got an offer to go to Kansas City or

possibly St. Louis. Who could know

what the future held? Another local

boy, Smokey Joe Wood, had just

been written up in the Hutchinson paper

after signing a contract with the Boston

Red Sox that would pay him $7,500 a

year!

"SMOKY"JOEWOOD

HUTCHINSONSALT PACKERS1907DEBUT 8/24/08 BOSTONREDSOX

MLB 1908-1915 & 1917-1922

Wait till I tell Rosa! Were finally gonna have enough money to settle down.

Vesta saw the twinkle in his eyes, but cautioned.

SSHHhh! Mama will hear you. No one had yet dared confront Josie with the

news that Bill intended to marry Rosa, though it had become accpeted knowledge to

most of the gentry around Langdon. Nevertheless, Josie remained steadfast that no son

of hers would ever marry a Papist.


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Oh dont worry about it, Sis, Mama will come around.

Vesta gave her brother a look that conveyed her doubts, but she did not pursue an

argument. The eldest and their mothers favorite son, he could charm the oil out of a

snake. If any of her brothers could get his way with Mama, Vesta thought, it would be

Bill. Even the arrival of her first grandchild from Delphos the year before had not

dimmed Josies conviction that her Billy would be the most successful of her five sons.

But Vesta doubted that even her brother charm could overturn Josies belief that the

Catholic Church was the enemy of the righteous and itself an institution as much to be

feared as disdained.

We need to leave here early tonight, Bill confided to his sister. He and Vesta

had planned to attend the box-dinner social at the JordanSpringsSchool to raise money

for supplies needed for the rest of the school year. Box dinners served the community

well. Not only would the event raise money for a worthy cause, it provided a socially

acceptable means to assist cupid in the mixing of young gentlemen and ladies. All the

eligible young people would come, carefully chaperoned during the dance, orchestra

music supplied by the local fiddle band. Hearts might be broken there and others would

soar with undisguised joy. But among the worst kept secrets in history were the

identities of the young craftswomen, whose talent aspired to catch a potential suitor. It

was a night not to be missed.

Say, you think Tommy will be there tonight?

Well I reckon hed be a fool to miss it. Though he was looking forward to

buying Rosas box supper, he had a brotherly chore to accomplish first. If Tommy

Smith came, Bill would sneak him a line on which of the box dinners Vesta had


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prepared for her beau. And Bill planned to arrange for Tommy to leave with Vesta so

that he could then see Rosa home after the dance.

The previous week Vesta went with Tommy to the Valentines Day party at the

county high school. They were both freshmen. Vesta looked forward to finishing high

school and perhaps even going to college afterwards. Tommy had no such plans. After

high school, whether he graduated or not, he would take over the family farm. Vesta

couldnt imagine becoming the wife of a farmer, so she filled Tommys head with

thoughts of going to college, which his family would probably never allow. Her own

parents had ambitions for her and insisted that she complete her education. An

independent, educated woman, Josie believed, would attract a more successful husband.

Despite her delicate features and

wispy blond hair that shone the color of

a deers back in morning sun, Vesta

never relied on her physical attributes to

get ahead. She always excelled in her

studies and had perfect attendance

certificates from her years at

JordanSprings. She studied her

schoolwork and the family Bible every

day and

Vesta, Age 16

wrote letters to her uncles, George and John Holmes, whom she had never met as they

lived back in Indiana.


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Tommy was her first sweetheart. They had exchanged notes throughout the

school year and talked to each other on many walks home after school. Her parents did

not allow her to court with boys because they wanted her to go to school and amount to

something. But Vesta knew that she was only a year younger than her mother when

Josie had married her father.

Bills plans went as scheduled that night at the Jordan Springs party. He found

Tommy Smith early in the evening and pointed out Vestas box dinner to him. He

suggested that she should have a proper escort home later. Tommy was happy to help

out.

Rosa had come with her brother Jim. Jim gave Bill the lowdown on Rosas box

and promised to find his own way home so that Bill could take Rosa home, the long

way.

With his good fortune, Bill had

bought a Model T Ford. From the time

he saw the first advertisement when he

was eighteen years old, he could not ever

1908 Model T


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remember wanting a thing more. Twenty horse power. Five passengers sailing through the air

with the top down at breakneck speeds approaching fifty miles per hour! A paradigm of

technology in streamlined beauty. With the top up, its profile spoke of dignity, modern elegance.

But most of all, the aura of automobile ownership spoke of freedom.Freedom of comings and

goings. Leaving later and arriving sooner. With $300 scrimped and saved from days of work

and a small loan from the Langdon State Bank, he had acquired one of the original models. Five

years old, but the bank Presidents own automobile, which he sold when he saw the 1913 sedan,

with an enclosed cab painted light brown, the color of sand. Bills car was Brunswick black,

oxidized to a dull charcoal patina, with an intact top. It operated with reasonably good

reliability, but Bill had learned to repair almost anything that could go wrong with it.

The Box Dinner

I. D. McClellan stood as auctioneer and called the raucous crowd of young people to

order beginning the main event of the night by selling the box dinners to the highest bidders.

I.D. had a big belly, a hearty laugh and a great stage presence, but he was no auctioneer. He was

a local farmer who was not afraid to stand before his neighbors and risk looking silly. No one

but his mother and a few close friends and family members knew that I.D. stood for Ian David.

Everyone who knew I.D. just called him by his initials, pronouncing his name, Idee, the way

some might have talked about good idees, or that drinking liquor at a social event like this

would be a bad idee.

The idea of the box dinner was to raise money for the JordanSpringsSchool. Each box

or basket came carefully wrapped and decorated with all the makings of dinner for two inside,

but with no clue of its origin. Rules prohibited anyone from divulging the identity of the girl


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whose dinner was up for bids, but following the rules would have cut half the fun. So the young,

single men of the group bid on the boxes and the right to eat dinner with its maker. Woe to the

squire who failed to get a high bid, for he would eat alone, or perhaps not at all. Pretty and

popular girls could count on eating dinner with the highest bidder regardless of the contents of

their boxes, and girls with well-known talents for cooking and baking could count on their meals

getting a good bid too. But the most fun was had at the expense of the young man who knew

whose basket he would buy and so did everyone else. Rivals ran up the bid so that a fellow who

was spoken for by one of the girls in the crowd would pay a dear price to have dinner with his

sweetheart. The men engaged in as much craft as possible to throw off the suspicions of the

other bidders. Bill Holmes and Tommy Smith were the two foils for the rest of the room at this

event.

Vestas box dinner came to the podium midway through the auction and Tommy Smith

knew from the hint Bill had given him earlier that she had fried chicken and all the trimmings

with her mothers biscuits and homemade sand plum jam wrapped in a blue and white checked

gingham tablecloth. He had not risked bidding until it was going once. But before I.D. could call

going twice, Tommy upped the bid a nickel and the chicken was out of the coop, so to speak.

This unleashed two more quick bids from Tommys rivals and the bid stood at half a dollar. The

same meal would have cost half as much at the caf in Langdon, but undaunted, Tommy upped

the bid to a dollar to throw off the other bidders. His strategy worked and Vesta proudly walked

forward to award her dinner to her wily bidder and not too secret boyfriend.

The auctions continued and Bill, thinking to throw off the competition, offered early bids

on two of the boxes, but dropped out of the bidding before he risked buying someone elses

meal. Finally, Rosas box came to the podium, the last box on the docket, so Bill had his work


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cut out for him. Several of his friends from the community had not won a meal yet, so there

would have been competition even if everyone had not known that Bill would be bidding on

Rosas box dinner.

What they didnt count on was the signed baseball contract in his hip pocket. Bill felt

pretty flush this evening, so he let the others run up the bidding until it looked like it was going

once, going twice and then Bill offered two dollars for Rosas meal. A gasp went through the

crowd, and nobody expected another bid, but from the back corner, Jim Kelley offered three.

The room grew quiet and Bill craned his neck to see where the bid had come from, offering a

confused grin to his bud who offered a casual salute and flashed a toothy grin back at him. Bill

offered three-fifty. Jim offered four. Bills face grew red. This did not look like so much fun

anymore, but he reached into his pocket and found the five dollar gold piece he carried with him

for good luck and flipped it in the air and hollered, Ive got five, but if Jimmie can call heads or

tails and get it right, he can win the auction!

Jim called, Tails!

Bill caught the spinning coin and slapped it on the back of his hand, revealing it to

Tommy and Vesta who stood beside him. Tommy called Heads it is!

Jim countered, Its not cheap to have supper with my sister, and laughed with everyone

in the room. Rosa awarded Bill his prize and everyone began unpacking their meals.

Bill had brought two extra bricks for warmth after the box social was over. The revelers

lined up bricks on the floor below the warm belly of the coal stove in the middle of the one-

room schoolhouse. When they left, they would take their hot bricks, wrap them in blankets and

put them on the floorboards to keep their feet warm on this cold winter night.


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Bill and Rosa left the party late enough not to arouse the suspicions of the chaperones

and yet early enough to have time to themselves and still make it home on time, so as not to

arouse the suspicions of Rosas parents. Bill loaded the bricks onto the middle of the floor in

the front seat, switched on the magneto and then went up front to crank the engine. It turned

over hard and started slowly, then roared to the occasion. The young people were covered from

head to foot in winter clothing so they did not notice the twenty-degree weather as much as they

noticed each other.

Halfway to the Kelley place, Bill pulled off to the side of the lane he had been following

and killed the engine. The sudden silence awed them both.

There is something I have to tell you, Rosa.

What is it, Bill? Rosa showed her concern, sensing the importance of an unforeseen

announcement.

Ive been given a contract to play baseball for the Salt Packers, he said beaming in the

moonlight.

Oh Bill! Through the layers of clothing and sleeves, corset, and wraps and her coat,

she put her arms around his shoulders and gave him a bear hug.

Seventy dollars a month, he bragged.

Bill, thats a fortune to play baseball.

Id a done it for free. But they want to pay me!

This is wonderful, Bill.

Im going to save it all so we can get a place in Hutch next year. We can get a place . .

. or that is, I can get a place and we can, er, I can start to settle down.


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Rosa demurely looked away, stilled by the enormity of what he was saying. Somewhere

off in the distance she heard the plaintive cry of an owl. She knew what Bill meant, but she

understood that he couldnt say so until his plans were all in place.

Rosa, tell me that youll wait for me. Youll see what I can do.

Rosa knew that Bill could have taken his pick of every eligible girl in the county. That

he wanted to marry her was a breathtaking dream come true for her. She felt light-headed at the

prospect of being Mrs. William Holmes, the eldest son of their best neighbors, family friends. It

was a romance she could hardly imagine.

You know Ill wait for you. They were both quiet for a moment and looked tenderly

into one anothers eyes. Then Bill leaned towards her and she towards him. Their lips found

each others and they sealed their vow with a delicate kiss. Their gloved and mittened hands

reached out and they grasped each other passionately, holding on to each other long after their

lips had parted, saying nothing more as minutes passed until they knew it was time for them to

complete their ride home.

So Bills courtship with Rosa Kelley continued despite his mothers stern disapproval.

They kept company together at all the social events that filled the Langdon community

calendar. With everyones knowledge, if not tacit approval, the lovers would arrive separately

and leave together.


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In the spring of 1914, Bill began playing shortstop for the Salt Packers. Rosa and her

brother Jim went to almost all the baseball games he played. Rosa went home with Jim or with

Bill, depending on when and where the game was played.

Vesta was clearly smitten as well with Tommy Smith. During the school year they had

no difficulties keeping chaste company in the library, or the occasional soda parlor. During the

summer months, when Bill took Vesta to a dance or a covered dish dinner, she would leave for

home with Tommy. She was flattered and proud to have a beau and someone to go with like

her other girl friends. Most of the girls her age had already started hope chests, or hopeless

chests as Vesta called them, for they were looking to a time in the near future when they would

settle down with a good, hard-working man and raise children. But Vesta, largely due to her

parents ambitions for her, looked to the future as a modern woman. She would teach school

for a few years and save her money, and eventually settle down with a successful, older man.

Perhaps a doctor or lawyer in a city somewhere far away, likeTopeka or Wichita or at least,

Hutchinson. So went the dreams of her parents, especially her mother.

Tommys family had different aspirations. They had worked hard to acquire land in the

rich farming belt where they lived. As their only son (and like other members of the Arlington

Presbyterian Church), his future was predestined. He would continue his education until it

became inconvenient for him to be away from the demands of the wheat farm and cattle

operation. Then he would settle into the family business, and take himself a wife who would

bear children and manage the domestic affairs of the family. At age 18, he was the first member

of his family to earn an eighth grade diploma, a terminal degree of education for most young

people in those days. So he was prepared to enter life as an adult.


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These ambitions did not square with Vestas, nor especially with those of her father. As

the only daughter, Vesta was her fathers favorite. He became the man all others would have to

measure up against. But for a while, at first, anyway, her affair of the heart with Tommy

seemed harmless enough to all concerned, and so no intervention was called for. The children

seemed to be happy, and thus the romance continued and grew through the summer of 1914.

The Hutchinson Salt Packers always struggled to make ends meet, and despite a good

season in 1914, by fall, they had fallen short on reserves. Bill gave the crowds many a thrill, but

he failed to attract the attention of the scouts who had drafted Joe Wood a few years before.

When it came time to renegotiate contracts, all the boys on the team were disappointed to hear

that the owner, J. W. Hoskinson, planned to pull out of Hutchinson. No one received an offer for

the 1915 season. And no new impresario stepped forward to take his place for the next season.

Undaunted, having saved almost all the money hed received for the 1914 season, Bill

moved on. He had heard that the Sherow family wanted out of the Langdon Produce, a seasonal

business that sold produce, eggs, and dairy products from local farmers. Bill envisioned a place

for his barber chair and imagined that he would finally be established so that he and Rosa could

marry.

When he told Rosa about his plans, she squealed with delight, kissed his face and hugged

his neck. She began making plans, and together they set a date for the following spring, subject

to Bill closing on his business arrangements, and of course, to parental approval.


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Negotiations with Mr. Sherow proved almost immediately successful. He owned the

building and only wanted a tenant who would pay rent on time. The produce business had not

made much money under Sherows management, but to attract new customers, Bill expected to

capitalize on his own short-lived fame as a baseball star in the metropolis of Hutchinson. And

opening his own barbershop would bring added foot traffic to the business all year round. Bill

took the money he had saved playing ball and moved his well-used, ancient barber chair into the

building at the end of 1914.

Rosa and Bill brought up the idea of marriage to Frank and Margaret Kelley in January,

over a dinner of fried chicken, riced potatoes and white cream gravy with corn canned from last

years harvest. Frank had expected this moment for years. He sensed the bond of friendship and

romance that had evolved between his daughter and this fine, hard-working young man. But he

and Margaret had always taken for granted that their grandchildren would be raised in the

Catholic Church. They had hoped that Bill would choose to convert.

With his plans moving at such a rapid pace, Bill decided the time had come to announce

to his parents about his and Rosas plans for marriage. He could not have been more wrong

about his mothers reaction. He chose tell them over one of Josies best suppers, roast chicken

with new potatoes, boiled and buttered, and of course, her flaky biscuits. The table consisted of

Jonas and Josie, Bill, Speck and Badger. Skip rested under the table, waiting for crumbs. The

boys were fidgeting in anticipation of a slice of apple pie after Josie finished clearing the dishes.

Bill chose the moment just before she started clearing the dishes to share his news.

You what?! Josie gasped as if someone had plunged a knife into her heart.

We want to be married in May, Mama. Speck and Badger looked at each other

uneasily, both wondering if they were going to get pie.


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In what church? Josie never imagined that anyone from the Kelley family would

convert to be a Protestant, but the idea of her son being married in a Catholic Mass was

unspeakable. An anathema of the spirit.

Jonas looked at his two youngest sons and told them it was time to go check their

homework for school the next day, and the boys looked at each other wondering which was

worse, no pie, not getting to watch the fight, or having to go check their homework. Skip

followed them up the stairs without being called, his ears relaxed, tail hung low.

Well, I dont guess weve talked too much about that, Bill answered his mother, But I

imagine that wed get married in her church. Dont you usually get married in the brides

church? Unless you get married at home? Bill feigned naivet, but he was not disingenuous.

Few couples got married in church. Most married in intimate gatherings in the home of the

bride. But a Catholic wedding would require a mass. And Josie took it for granted that her son

was prepared to submit to something she regarded as a heathen ritual.

Ill not hear of it, William Green Holmes! using his full name for emphasis. Youll

not marry a Catholic if youre a son of mine!

But Mama Bill started to tell his mother that he loved Rosa Kelley and that he had

always loved her and that he didnt know how he could ever love anyone else. All those words

stuck in his throat as his temper rivaled for position with a breaking heart. Talk to her Papa,

Bill pleaded. Somehow he had always known that his mother would react this way. He knew he

couldnt talk her out of her pronouncement, though he had lived with the denial of both these

facts for years now. Jonas remained silent, still choosing his words.

Ill not have you convert to the Roman church. And Ill not have my grandchildren

taught by nuns. She spat the word out as if it were an obscenity.


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Mama

No Mama, young man. The souls of you and your unborn children demand that I do

the right thing here. Ill hear no more talk of this.

Bill stared blankly into the space between himself and his mother. He looked at his

father, who sat stolidly looking at his plate. Finally, he spoke.

In time, son, you will see that your mother is right about this. Bill could not believe

what he heard from his father. He felt as if he had somehow left his own body and watched the

drama unfold as if on a stage.

And I vow that if you defy me on this, Ill pray to my dying day for the souls of the

bastard grandchildren you get with that woman. If youre not married in the Christian Church

and the children baptized and raised in the Sunday School classes there, Ill have no business

with either one of you until its so.

Bill left the house in a daze. This could not be happening. Everything had gone so well

for him over the last several months. He had not expected this. But he knew better. Mama

could not be serious. She was. His life had been almost perfect until now. He had gone to

school to become a barber and his business had picked up to the point that it would support him

and in time, even a family. Baseball had made him a popular figure in the county seat. Men

liked him. Some came in for a shave and a haircut just so Bill could regale them with stories of

the games hed played in and the antics of other ballplayers hed gotten to know. And being a

member of the Salt Packers had in itself created a financial windfall that enabled him at last to


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follow his heart. Sure, the team folding in Hutchinson had been a disappointment, but he had

money in the bank and there would be other teams if he wanted to play on them.

But now, at twenty-five, he just wanted to settle down, start a family and become a

respected member of the community, like his own brother, Delphos, his father and Uncle

Sherman. Renting the Langdon Produce would have been the first step. He thought it would

become a busy mart with people coming and going, seasonal produce in the summer months,

eggs and dairy products and even bread year round. And the barber shop. Mr. Duncan could

stand the competition, or not. Why maybe he would even put in with him. Build a better

mousetrap. He imagined people would sooner come to him anyway. Good old Mr. Duncan had

never starred in a baseball game, but maybe they could consolidate their trade and have a two-

chair operation, like in Hutchinson. Why, some shops had three.

But he didnt care about that any more. Rosa would have helped him get the Produce up

and running. Her course of study in school had emphasized business, and with her personality,

she would have just been a great draw for the business. But that was shot now.

He felt his anger grow towards his mother. And God. Truth was, he didnt like himself

very much right now, either. Eldest son, first born child. He was used to getting his own way.

They had no right. He didnt want to talk to anyone. Rosa, the one person he had been able to

share his dreams with, who helped him overcome his fears, she was the last person on earth he

wanted to see. He was ashamed of himself. He was afraid of his mother, a fierce little woman

about half his size. Why would he not stand up to her? Why did it matter what she thought?

Was she right about Catholics? Should he follow her directives? What would become of him

now? What would he say to Rosa?


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He left the house and drove south until the road became narrow. He turned off on a lane

that led down to the side of Silver Creek and parked there, killing the magneto and staring out

over the steering wheel, his right arm straight ahead, hand over the wheel, looking at nothing.

The gaunt trees that grew beside the creek poked out of the barren winterscape reaching for a

spring that would not come yet for weeks. If ever, Bill thought.

He sat there in his car for hours until the last of the days sunlight began to fade, trying to

figure out a way around his mothers pronouncement. He decided that Rosa would have to

convert and become a protestant. After all, he thought, hadnt Mama more or less said if their

children would be baptized and raised in Sunday School classes at the Christian Church in

Langdon, it would be okay for them to go ahead? That was it, he thought, get Rosa to go along

with him on this and everything would work out fine, wouldnt it? That Rosa had taught him

almost every good thing he knew about Catholicism did not enter his mind. Only the belief that

she would want to be married to him as much as he wanted to be married to her. He quickly

became convinced of his ability to shape her decision.

Bill looked at his watch. The Kelleys would be finished with dinner by the time he could

get to their place. He knew he could make them see it his way. He switched the magneto back

on and jumped out to crank the car. It started on the first try and he drove fast and recklessly to

the Kelley place, formulating his idea as he went. Should he talk to Rosa or Mr. Kelley first?

He had always gotten along with Frank Kelley, a gentle fellow with a strong work ethic and not

too many words. True, they had never discussed religion. Their tacit understanding had always

allowed them to go their separate ways on that subject. Bill turned off the road, drove the short

distance up the Kelley driveway and parked in front of their house.


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Frank Kelley answered the door. Bill had not really decided who to talk to first, but

when Rosas father opened the door, he decided that he would broach the subject with him, man-

to-man.

Evenin Mr. Kelley, youre just the man I wanted to talk to.

Evenin, Bill.

I wonder, do you think we could we take a little walk? Its about Rosa. The fact that

the evening chill had set on escaped Bill. Frank looked at the young man, wondering what was

on his mind, before answering.

Ill get my coat. You want to step inside?

Uhm, no. Thats okay. Ill just wait right here.

The older man retreated into the house with a bewildered look on his face. Bill remained

on the front porch, shifting his weight from one side to the other, looking around as if he had lost

something, but mustering his confidence and charm all the while. He looked out across the road

opposite the Kelley place and saw a deer in the field. Deer were uncommon on the plains and

Bill had only seen one once before. The animals were shy and more apt to bolt when observed,

but this doe stood, feet planted, looking as if she understood the pain that the young man felt, her

brown eyes bulging from either side of her elongated, thin head, her big ears alert. They stared

at each other until Mr. Kelley pushed the screen door open and stepped out onto the porch. This

sudden movement caused the deer to bolt and in seconds she disappeared into the copse of trees

further back into the field.

Now what seems to be the matter, Bill? Frank buttoned his coat in the middle against

the night air.


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Well, its about the wedding, sir. Bill stepped off the porch and Rosas father followed

him into the yard. They walked towards the gazebo at the rear of the house, where Bill had knelt

to seek Rosas hand in marriage on a summer night that now seemed long ago. I was talking to

my mama, and she was asking where it ought to be held, and I was wondering, what you thought

about that?

I guess we havent made any arrangements yet, least not until we all agree on the date,

but I imagine that Rosas mother will want there to be a service at St. Teresas in Hutch. The

words pummeled Bills ears. It was not what he wanted to hear.

Well, thats just it, he paused, lost for words. Im not sure if Mamas going to want to

go along with a Catholic wedding.

Shes opposed to you converting? They entered the gazebo and sat facing each other.

Well, its not that, Bill answered as if by instinct, without thinking about his answer

first, then not knowing what to do with his lie. Uhm. I guess it is that, he confessed.

We could think of having a blessing without Mass, Frank offered, but what about the

children? Wed want to see them christened. He waited. When Bill did not respond, he

continued, Its like baptism, but its done when the child is still an infant.

Oh, yes, Bill stammered, I know. His thoughts were running wild and he had trouble

staying in focus with the man he would have to be his father-in-law.

Bill imagined holding a baby over the baptistery at the front of the Christian Church

where the preacher immersed new congregants so that their sins could be washed away. He

knew instinctively that you might hurt a baby by dunking it into water, but he didnt see the point

of sprinkling an infant with holy water. It was foreign to his experience at his mothers church


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where only adults or children over twelve years could make a decision for baptism and ask God

to cleanse their sins.

I dont know if my mama would go along with that.

Its not just up to your mama, is it son?

Well, no, but, it sounds like if we go ahead with what youre saying, she might have a

pretty hard time getting used to the idea.

You willing to go up against your mother?

I dont know how well you know my mother.

Shes a fine woman.

Shes that.

Rosas a fine woman.

Shes that.

Sometimes you have to choose, son.

But if you and Mrs. Kelley would let us raise our children at the Christian Church .

Its not only for Margaret and me to say, Bill. Have you and Rosa talked this over?

Bill felt now that Frank Kelley had not told the whole truth either. He imagined that Mr. and

Mrs. Kelley had pretty strong notions about which church their grandchildren should be raised in

too. And he pretty well knew what Rosa would say about their choice. He had talked with Rosa

about everything, even about going to church together. Or apart.Or, for that matter, not at all.

Without a Catholic Church in Langdon, why couldnt they just continue avoiding the decision?

Why did they have to make these commitments now? And then he understood. The children.

What had his mother just said to him, this very evening? The souls of his unborn children that he

would get with Rosa. Theres the problem. Now he understood.


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We both know we love each other and we know that we want to have children. Lots of

them.

And what do you believe, Bill? Religion-wise? Bill did not answer right away, but

thought about the question, as if his answer meant the difference between what would be and

what would not be.

Well I believe in God and everything. I just dont know about the idea of a one true

church. I havent actually thought about it very much. I pray sometimes, but I never thought to

ask God for answers about where to go to church.

Mostly its been about fixing things that have gone wrong?

I guess.

Bill, I cant tell you what to do. It sounds like your mother has an idea that your

children ought to be brought up the wayshe believes. And it doesnt sound like you and Rosa

have talked much about what the two ofyou believe. I think before you and I decide anything

that you and Rosa ought to have a talk.

In another few moments the men rose and walked to the house without saying more. Bill

noticed the curtain close on the window facing the gazebo and saw the lights of the lamps inside

the house as they glowed through the lace curtains at the windows. He followed Rosas father

into the house and found Rosa there, waiting for them, a delighted but curious smile at the sight

of her fiance, mixed with a curious eye towards the business they had been conducting out of

earshot. Theresa and Margaret Kelley remained in the kitchen, making do with household

chores, pretending not to attend to the business at hand.

Why dont you and Rosa sit in the parlor? Frank motioned to the sitting room to one

side of the front door. Ill bring her mother in to join you in a little while. Rosa looked from


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face to face of the men facing her. She knitted her brows just ever so much and cocked her head

a bit to one side at the serious looks they shared. She took Bills arm and pulled him away from

the door and onto the sofa. A doily on the back of the sofa slipped down, catching on the back of

Bills corduroy coat as he and Rosa sat.

Now whats on your mind tonight, Bill?

Oh, just trying to get some things figured out, I guess.

What things are those?

Bill sighed. Rosa sensed the stress as he exhaled. Sensed that he hadnt yet released very

much of it. After what seemed like a long silence, he spoke. Its mama.

Rosa frowned and turned her head a bit to the side, as if to hear better. Josie was a sweet

little woman. Everyone adored her. Her cooking was renowned in the community and everyone

held her sons and daughter in high regard. Rosa sensed something new on the horizon tonight,

though, and that from Bills appearance, it was serious. Somethings wrong with your mother?

Is she sick?

Its not that. I dont think she wants us to get married. Rosas eyes widened at Bills

sudden candor.

Why would she oppose us getting married?

She Bill could not find words.

She doesnt want you to convert. Rosa answered her own question with certainty. Bill

looked up, startled, into Rosas face. How had she guessed? Rosas expression confirmed her

response. Somehow she had known what Bill had not suspected, or at least, not acknowledged

before. That Josie could not countenance the Kelleys past the howdy neighbor, arms-length

relationship that they had always had. Mutual convenience, yes, but a merger of the two


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families? Two strong brick buildings stood between that happening. Two churches with two

very different traditions and approaches towards the same thing: worshipping God. So God

could not bless this union, because the parents wouldnt allow it.

You agreed to take instruction, Rosa accused, feeling betrayed. You wouldnt have to

convert. She waited, as if to test what she had just said. Least not at first.Unless you want

to.Maybe never. She ended her response, but sounded dubious.

But if we have children Bill started. It had never been if until this moment. Rosa

noticed the change in terms.

Our children would be raised in the Church.

The Catholic Church? Bill asked.

Well, of course. Theyd have to be raised in the church to get to heaven.

So I wouldnt be going to heaven then with them, unless I converted?

Rosa did not answer. This was not a question she ever posited in Catechism; its answer

self-evident to everyone, she thought. The hopelessness of the situation had started to become

clear. She couldnt be sure what had happened between Bill and his mother, but from the look in

his eyes, she had a pretty good idea that the sentence was irreversible.

Margaret and Frank Kelley entered the room at this uncomfortable moment and looked at

the two young people, sensing that their timing had been unfortunate. Margaret tried to put a

light touch on their intrusion.

Discussing plans?

There may not be anything to plan, Mother. Rosa said. Her words dropped on the

parlor floor like icicles falling from the eaves in morning sunlight. Margaret and Frank looked at


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each other, uncertain what needed to be said, cautious of saying something wrong, before either

said anything.

Would you like to talk to Father Gawain, Bill? Frank asked.

I dont know. I dont think it would do any good. Now Bill had found his voice and he

talked plainly, as if he had to blurt it out. Look. If we get married and have children and raise

them Catholics, my parents wont speak to me nor have anything to do with us. Ever. She told

me. Today. Its like she cursed us. Or at least threatened us. But shes serious and shes not

going to change her mind.

Have you talked to your father? Frank asked.

Yes. But hes not going to stop her. Church is mamas idea and he goes along with it

and everything, and hes not going to stand her down on this.

You cant be sure of that. You should talk some more to him.

Why? So I can convert and be a Catholic? Let my children be raised by priests and

nuns? Bill wanted to recapture those words as soon as he let them escape. There followed a

stunned silence, which Margaret Kelley broke after she considered her words in the quiet of her

home and in the presence of ones she loved, including the young man who would be her son-in-

law.

No one has in mind that anyone but you and Rose Mary should raise your children,

Bill. She used her daughters given name, for emphasis. At least not in this house. But it is

true that we would expect our grandchildren to be christened in the church, and raised in the

church, and on these matters you will find that we will not negotiate, either.

Rosa sat in silence. She saw the whole life that she had dreamed of pass by her. Tears

welled up in her eyes. Her dreams faded into the night mist that had settled with the fog onto the


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road outside the Kelley home. Afraid she might burst into tears, she stood and walked out of the

room without looking at Bill, who listened as she climbed the stairs in the hallway outside the

parlor. Rosa let loose a mournful cry before she closed the door to her bedroom. Theresa came

into the parlor with ten-year old Agnes just as Rosa left. She looked confused, as if she had

stepped into an unfamiliar room in the wrong house. Bill stood and walked past the sisters,

looking up the staircase for a moment before turning towards the front door. He looked into the

parlor where Mr. and Mrs. Kelley had also gotten to their feet and looked back at him.

Good night, Bill said. The color had drained from his face as if he had just witnessed a

public hanging. Im sorry. Tell Rosa his voice faltered, Tell Rosa Im sorry. With that

he opened the door and found his way to the car and climbed inside. He sat for a moment before

he remembered to turn the magneto and get back out to crank the engine. It started after a couple

of pulls, and he went back around the side of the car, climbed inside, engaged the transmission,

and accelerated slowly as the car made a rumbling exit from the Kelley place. By the time he

reached the first mile intersection out of the Kelleys driveway, he braked hard and stopped the

car. A cloud of dust fogged the Model T and Bill as he jumped out the door and onto the ground.

There he wretched on all fours, like a dog with a bone caught in his throat, hacking up only bile

until he fell face first into the dirt and cried out loud to God, for his pain, where no one could

hear him.

Frank and Margaret Kelley never discussed their childrens failed plans with Josie and

Jonas Holmes. The Kelleys and the Holmeses continued to greet each other with proper, if


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distant respect when they met in public, but neither asked about the others family, nor their

crops or livestock, nor any thing of more or less consequence.

Cold arctic winds swept down over the Kansas plains in the months that followed. The

young man faced their sting with bitter disappointment. Rosa completed her studies in school,

but she did not help Bill open the Langdon Produce. He accomplished that on his own, but with

little enthusiasm, and few of his plans for it materialized that summer. He continued to play

baseball in the sandlots and it became the only true passion in his life. Billy was gone now. He

thought himself grown up. In the baseball stands, his fans recognized Bill Holmes. And most of

the people who remained in his life thought him self-assured, confidant. But Bill felt only the

anger of a broken heart.

He no longer went home by himself, but followed his team members into the saloons

after the games, where he learned to drink whiskey, chew tobacco, and smoke hand-rolled

cigarettes. There he found women who did not care where, or if he went to church. If he went to

church, they werent interested to know what the sign on the shingle outside the door said. And

he learned that he could have his way with most of them, and they made themselves available for

his comfort, if only temporal, and he for theirs.


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3 those that never sing

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