Legend of the Roses - 1. Chapter 1

Toby Jenkins, with his two sons, Tab and Jim, lived on a 500-acre farm just south of Wichita, Kansas. When Toby’s wife Mary died, Toby hired the boy’s friend, Tony, who lived next door to assist on the farm.

The farm wasn’t the typical farm. Toby raised animals for the slaughterhouses in Wichita, primarily beef and pork. A breeding stock of cows and sows were maintained to provide the animals for the market. The farm was self-sufficient in providing the feed and hay needed for the animals. Toby also cultivated a small few acres to raise food for the family. As time passed, Toby was able to increase the size of his farm by buying additional adjoining acreage.

Toby and the boys took good care of the livestock, knowing they had a reputation to maintain. In the fall of every year, an auction was held among Wichita’s various meat packing houses. At these auctions, Toby’s livestock always sold for top dollar. He took pride in this and made it his business to ensure that his livestock was the best. No false fattening before the auction as a lot of livestock farmers did.

Toby also knew that with his reputation, many local businesses would want to purchase his livestock but could not afford to buy in large lots. To satisfy these small businesses, Toby always made sure that he had enough small lot sizes available for them and a price they could afford. Besides keeping a few animals for his personal use, Toby always sold out.

The community where the farm was located was small. Everyone knew their neighbor. On Saturday nights, the young people would get together, go into the small town, and have a good time. There was only one cinema, one ice cream parlor (part of the local drug store), one pizza place, and a diner. But this was enough for the community and the young people to have a good time, meeting up with friends. During one of these Saturdays, Jim met up with a school friend by the name of Rose. Jim always liked Rose but being three grades ahead of her in school, felt too much of an age difference. But as time went on, this proved to be a false assumption on Jim’s part.

On one Saturday night, Tab and Tony had decided to meet at the ice cream parlor before heading home, waiting for Jim. When they got there, they noticed that Jim was already there sitting with Rose. He had a great big smile on his face. Tab looked at Tony ,” That looks like love to me”.

After finishing their ice cream, the boys headed home in the old truck. They noticed the lovesick smile on Jim’s face all the way home. Not a word was spoken. When they got home, Tab and Tony decided to confront Jim to find out why he had such a smile on his face. Jim told them that he asked Rose to marry him, and she said yes. Just as they were congratulating Jim, the phone rang. Tab went to answer it, and when he came back, they knew something was wrong. Tab told them that the car Rose was riding in had an accident on the way home, and Rose was killed. When Jim heard the news, he passed out. When he was revived, he began to cry. Tab and Tony did their best to console him, but they understood it was best to let him cry. They knew that Jim understood they were there for him.

Toby, Tab, and Tony bought a special place for Rose. It was on a hill with large shade trees. Jim spent several hours each day visiting the grave. He would purchase roses and place them on her grave and made sure they were replaced as needed.

Jim never seemed right after Rose’s death. He did all of his chores, pitched in, and helped as needed, but appeared elsewhere. He refused to go into town on Saturday nights but instead chose to stay at home. Toby died shortly after Rose and was buried next to his wife, Mary. The effect on Jim seemed to increase his pain. One Saturday, upon returning home, Tab and Tony couldn’t find Jim anywhere in the house. They began looking around the farm for him, and upon entering the barn, they found Jim. In his despair, he had hung himself. Jim was buried next to Rose on that hill. The loss of Jim was hard to take for Tab. Except for Tony, Jim was all that was left of the family. After much thought, Tab purchased the lot next to Jim and made plans in the event of his death. He was to be buried next to his brother. When he told Tony that, Tony also bought the lot next to Tab. Jim and Tab were as close to Tony as any brother could be.

Every Sunday after church, Tab and Tony would go and visit Jim and Rose. One Sunday in the spring, Jim bought a red rose plant and a white rose plant. He planted the red rose on Rose’s grave, and the white rose on Jim’s grave. Tab and Tony took good care of those plants, and they thrived. There was some concern about the winter, but the plants seem to do well all through the winter. In the spring, Tab and Tony found the rose bushes as fresh as the day there were planted. As the summer passed, the rose bushes continue to grow and produced more and more roses. The story of the rose bushes that grew in the winter eventually made it into the town. People who were visiting family graves took a walk up to Jim and Rose’s graves to see the roses. There was no question that the roses were very beautiful and numerous.

One evening, a group of boys from the town decided they would go to the graves and cut a roses bouquet for their mothers. As the boys approached the graves, they saw that the roses were in full bloom and had a special glow to them. When the first boy went to cut a rose, a strong wind came and forced him back from the bush. The next boy laughed at him, and when he went to cut a rose, the wind blew stronger and blew him to the ground. As the boys looked at the grave, they thought they saw a man in white and a woman in red looking at them in a mean way. The boys ran from the grave as fast as they could and began telling everyone what they saw.

People came from all around to visit the graves as a result of hearing the story. Tab and Tony noticed that the rose bushes had grown and now cover the full gravesite. The roses continue to flourish, except from among the roses that had entangled with each other, one pink rose had emerged. This was strange, and Tab and Tony were not sure what happened. But was it a mystery to be solved, or was it a part of a legend? As Tab and Tony were about to leave, they noticed a slight breeze had developed, and when they looked up at the tombstone, they saw a man in white smiling at them holding hands with a woman in red. Tab looked at Tony; they smiled and then waved at the apparition.

It is said that if one could find that graveyard, at the top of the hill among the trees, you will find two graves with roses growing on them. If you come in peace and a soft, warm breeze is blowing, you might see a man in white and a lady in red holding hands and smiling at each other.