TDTLBU Chapter Twenty-Four

 Emma stirred, rolling over in bed and propping herself on her elbow. In the patterned glow of moonlight shining through the window, she could just barely see her sister across the room. Katie lay with her face buried in her pillow, her shoulders trembling as she struggled to muffle her sobs.

“Katie!” Emma whispered. Her sister turned her head, tangled hair obscuring her face. “Are you awake?” she continued, feeling ridiculous in uttering this nonsensical statement.

“Mmm…” Katie murmured, running her fingers through her hair. “Can’t sleep.”

“That makes two of us.” Emma sighed heavily, falling back against her pillow and directing her gaze towards the ceiling. The crack was still there… would always be there, she assumed, until the end of time. How many sleepless nights had she traced its zig-zagged pattern across the ceiling, while her mind wandered unceasingly through the shadowy realm of the imagination!

“Tomorrow Josh and Ronnie leave,” Katie whispered. “And then all that’ll be left of the Cavalry is us girls.”

“True, but I’m strongly contemplating kicking Lissie out,” Emma muttered fiercely, clenching her hands into fists.

“Why Emma!” Katie gasped. “Your best friend… why?”

“She broke Ronnie’s heart,” Emma grit her teeth. “And why, I can’t imagine. I know she loves him.”

“How do you… did Ronnie…” Katie got no further. A sudden thump against the windowpane startled her and she sat bolt upright, clutching her quilt. It was quickly followed by an even louder thump as snow splattered over the glass. Emma was already on her feet, snatching her own quilt from her bed and wrapping it around her shoulders.

“What is it?” Katie frowned as Emma moved towards the window.

“Elementary, my dear Watson," Emma threw up the window with a flourish. "It's Scout." Leaning dangerously far over the window sash, she called out to the dark figure standing out in the snow. 

"What the blazes are you doing out there, Scout? Don't you realize it's midnight? Amscray, before I sic Toast on you."

"You're forgetting that Toast is my dog," Josh called back. "I don't care what book quotes you throw at him, you won't be getting him on your side anytime soon!"

"I'll have plenty of time while you're gone, Soldier," Emma laughed. "He'll be a regular scholar by the time you return. Anyway, you should be at home, in bed, getting some rest. You ship out tomorrow."

"That's why I'm here. Can't sleep. Couldn't we call an emergency meeting of the Cavalry?"

"With only four of us?"

"Better four 'n one! I do intend to hold this meeting, even if I'm the only attendee."

"Mom and Dad are going to kill us," Emma sighed. "Come round to the front door, you heathen, and I'll get Ronnie. He'll be awful mad, being woken up in the middle of the night like this." 

Although they did manage to rouse the entire household, entirely on accident of course, no one was as angry about it as had been previously assumed. Donna merely smiled sadly and bustled off to the kitchen for cookies and hot chocolate while Jim built up the fire on the living room hearth. Toast had followed Josh in and for once, no one ordered him out again. The remains of the Cavalry huddled round the fire long into the night, sipping hot chocolate and laughing. No one mentioned the war… not even once. 

✯✯✯

“It ought to be a cloudy day,” Katie murmured to Emma as they stood on the platform at the Jefferson train station. “Cloudy and gray and rainy and miserable.” 

“Oh, but we’ll be giving them a cheerful and sunny send-off,” Emma countered, smiling as happily as she could manage. “They’ll look back to this day and smile.”

Three weeks had passed much too swiftly. And now they would be saying goodbye. Dozens of soldiers lined the station platform, surrounded by their loved ones. Many were weeping, many were solemn, and many plastered cheerful smiles on their faces. George and his young wife clung to each other in the corner, their baby girl pressed between them. They hadn’t moved for a long time. She was weeping, and he was silent. Charlie was talking to his sweetheart, holding both her hands tightly in his. She was smiling up at him, looking just as happy as ever, if one could ignore the terror in her eyes. Myra wiped away tears, but still she smiled as she and Rob said goodbye to Josh. Donna was able to fight her tears long enough to keep them back as she and Jim spoke to Ronnie. Emma and Katie held back, restraining an exuberant Mickey who was wishing loudly that he could go off and fight too. At last they could hold him no longer and turned him loose. He made a beeline for Ronnie, nearly knocking him off his feet as he caught him off guard. Katie followed, smiling through her tears as she hugged her brother. Josh turned to Emma, smiling at her crookedly as he twisted his hat in his hands.

“Sure gonna miss you, Scout.” Emma grinned wryly, wiping away a stubborn tear. She had promised herself she wouldn’t cry and yet here she was, crying. She felt rather disgusted with herself. “Don’t worry,” she laughed. “I’m not gonna lose it. I promise.” But she suddenly and unexpectedly threw her arms around him, resting her head on his shoulder. 

“Gonna miss you too, Emma,” his voice was strangely husky, as if he was about to cry. And yet it held a note of excitement too. Of anticipation for the unknown dangers and excitement and adventures to come. “You hold the fort down here, okay?”

“Sure will. And you give ‘em hell over there, okay?”

“Tsk, tsk,” Josh laughed. “Language, Emma! But you better believe I will.”

“I know it. Just promise you’ll come home safe and in one piece.”

“Will do.” Josh saluted her as she pulled away. “See you soon.”

“Ronnie…” Emma turned to her brother, blinking furiously as another tear threatened to fall. Her voice broke and she hugged him fiercely, holding on as if she was afraid to let go. “Don’t you dare go and die on me.”

“Not planning on it,” he smiled as he held her close. 

“Wish I was going over there with you. Both of you.”

“Why?” Josh interposed, grinning. “To fight the Huns or to keep an eye on us?”

"Could be the Japs," Ronnie put in.

“Both. Fighting and babysitting you, I mean. Someone’s gotta make sure you eat your vegetables and wear clean shirts and socks!”

“Something’s telling me we’re not gonna be seeing a lot of vegetables over there,” Ronnie grinned. 

“And have you ever seen either of us refuse to eat anything?” Josh put in, jabbing Ronnie with his elbow. “Especially this guy. He eats like a horse. And as for clean socks and shirts, I’m not promising anything.”

“You’d better!” 

“Ha!” Josh cried as Emma stepped back, another tear sliding down her cheek. “You’re crying again! You promised you wouldn’t cry… why are you crying?”

“I… was just thinking…” she smiled. “How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.”

“That was a quote from a book, wasn’t it? Of course it was. You’re always repeating book quotes… is there anything original in your head?” Josh grinned.

“Oh, you shut up Scout, or I’ll take it back!” Emma was rejoined by her family as they surrounded her on the platform, waving as the boys moved to step onto the train. Ronnie hung back a moment, scanning the crowd with hopeful eyes. His heart sinking, he shook his head and turned to follow the others. But someone called his name.

“Ronnie!” Melissa was pushing through the crowd, fighting her way towards him as best she could. He reached her side in moments, his face suddenly alight with renewed hope.

“Ronnie…” she gasped out breathlessly. “I just… couldn’t let you go without… saying goodbye.”

“Lissie…” he reached out to take her hands in his. “I… I’m glad you came.”

“Me too.” She smiled, but her smile quivered and threatened to vanish as her eyes filled with tears. “You take care of yourself over there. Promise?” He nodded.

“Will you… reconsider, Lissie?”

“There isn’t anything to reconsider,” she spoke slowly, but firmly, without hesitation. “I’m… so sorry, Ron. I didn’t mean for it to happen this way. I mean…” she added quickly. “I didn’t… didn’t want things to go this far. I…” she stopped, flushing, not knowing how to explain what she meant. She couldn't lie to him... but how could she tell him the truth? She was too afraid to speak. And so she fell silent. His eyes clouded over and he dropped her hands.

“I’ll miss you, Lissie. Miss you awfully.” His voice was no more than a whisper. Stooping, he pressed a gentle kiss to her cheek and stepped back, moving towards the train, but keeping his eyes on her a moment longer.

“I’ll… miss you too. God be with you,” she called as he lifted his hand in farewell, then turned to board the train. He was the last one to step into the car. The boys were all hanging head and shoulders out of the windows, some sharing last-minute kisses with wives and sweethearts as friends on the ground lifted them up. Others waved, calling out farewells to family. The train slowly began to roll out of the station as Ronnie found a vacant seat next to Josh.

“Look at Emma,” Josh chuckled as he leaned farther out the window. Emma was jumping up and down, waving her hat and shouting hurrahs. Mickey was copying her, more or less, as the rest of the family stood still and waved normally. 

“She and Mickey are cut from the same cloth,” Ronnie grinned. He caught one last glimpse of Melissa in the crowd. She met his eyes for one brief moment, then turned and vanished into the mass of people on the platform. 

"And so ends an era," Emma sighed as the train vanished over the horizon. "And a new one begins. Well, Katie," she linked her arm through her sister's and pushed her hat to a jaunty angle. "We're all that's left now. And we've got a lot to do. Let's get to it, shall we?"