David C. McLavic - 19. Chapter 19

Leaving the train I looked for Uncle Harry. I didn’t see him and became concerned. A conductor asked me if I was okay. I told him about looking for my uncle but I didn’t see him. The conductor looked around and then asked me if my name was David McLavic

And when I said it was, he pointed to a man holding a paper with my name on it. Walking over to the man he asked him if he was looking for a young boy named David. The man said he was, and he was here to bring the boy to his uncle. After a few acknowledgments, the young man named Peter explained that he was Uncle Harry’s chauffeur. He placed my luggage in the car's boot, opened the rear seat door for me and we were off.

On the way, he stopped for gas and I used the men’s room. When I was finished, I headed to the car. One young man was washing the windows and the other was gassing up the car. Peter seeing me went and got two bottles of pop.

“You can ride up front. It makes conversation easier.” When he opened the door I laughed. There were two pillows on the right front seat. 'Uncle must sit here.”

The ride was smooth, we went through several small towns, more like villages. Leaving the main road Peter turned onto a dirt road which wound it’s way through a forest.

“Are there any wild animals in this forest?”

“Yes, look there.” Peter slowed the car, and pointed to a large animal with horns.

“What is that?”

“It’s a male deer. Watch.” Peter blew the horn and the deer took off. Peter drove a few feet and stopped. Pointed to a spot in the forest and there was the deer. “We frightened it but they don’t go far. Now if he heard a shot from a gun, he would be long gone.”

“Are there other animals in these woods?”

“Yes, there are bears and wolves. Sometimes in the evening, you can hear the wolves howling.”

I thought about what Peter said about the animals that lived in these woods. Is Uncle a hunter? If he was like Dad, he didn’t hunt. So if he didn’t hunt, why a cabin and so far from the city?

“Peter, do you hunt?”

“Not anymore. Before your Uncle hired me, I had to hunt to live. Then, the only wild animals were rabbits which I could easily trap. I also stole chickens but that wasn’t really hunting. Now working for your Uncle, I no longer need to hunt or steal food.”

I thought about Peter living on the street, as he called it. I suddenly became glad that I didn’t have to do that.

Without noticing it, we were on a dirt road leaving the forest behind us.

“Your Uncle’s cabin is just a few minutes away.”

Pulling up in front of the building that reminded me of a train car, “Your Uncle comes here a lot. He said that when he has a case that required a good think, this was the place to get it,”

Getting out of the car, I noticed four windows, two on each side of the door which looked like it was in the center of the building. After seeing his home in Philadelphia I had expected a much fancier cabin. There wasn’t a front porch which would have been nice.

Following Peter, we headed for the front door. Peter knocked one time when the door was open and there was Uncle Harry.

Grabbing me, he lifted me off the ground in a hug. “Good to see you, David. I am assuming this is a surprise. When I found out you were coming East, I asked your dad to book you through to Philly. Peter will take you to your Mom’s farm.”

You couldn’t help to notice, Uncle Harry had in a pair of jeans and a checkered cloth shirt, There was no question he was relaxing. Entering the building, there was Aunt Dorothy in jeans and a shirt similar to Uncle Harry’s.

“Take your bag into that room and change into your play clothes. We don’t dress fancy here.”

Pointing to a door, I took my suitcase and changed into the clothes I would wear at the farm.

Changed, “I have someone I want you to meet.”

Heading toward the door on my left, there was a kitchen and in that kitchen was Miss Elly. I don’t know what she had cooked for lunch but the aroma made me hungry. As soon as she saw me, she had her arms around me. “David, it’s good to see you.”

Lunch brought back memories of her cooking when we were in Philly.

After lunch, Uncle Harry gave me a quick tour. Walking out the back door, there was a porch with a swing, and two Adirondack chairs. Beyond the porch was a grass lawn leading to a stream. Looking into the stream, you could see fish wiggling in the stream like at Caleb’s. This stream brought to mind, Caleb and him expecting me while here I was in the eastern part of Pennsylvania.

Along the stream, there were berry bushes. Uncle said in the fall these bushes are loaded with wild berries. They like to sit on the porch and quietly watch the animals as they come to eat the berries. I thought about that and decided I would rather live in Uncle’s cabin than in the city.

One thing I noticed. There wasn’t a front porch and in my mind, it needed one. So over the next few days, I designed a porch for the front of the cabin. I showed it to Miss Elly, who took it to Aunt Dorothy . I am not sure who made the decision, but when I wanted to show it to Uncle Harry, I was told he was gone on some business and will be back in about two hours.

It seems when you are having a good time, time passes fast. But when you are waiting for something, time moves slowly. I was surprised when Uncle Harry came back with another man. I found out he was a carpenter who was going to build my porch. Uncle Harry introduced me to him as the designer of the porch. I was proud that Uncle Harry thought so much about my design. He was going to have it built.

The next day, a load of lumber was delivered to the cabin. I was excited and then Uncle Harry said he made arrangements for me to go to the farm. He promised he would send me photos. At first, I was disappointed I wouldn’t see the job completed but then I remembered that I wanted to go to the farm to see Carl.

Early the next morning, Peter had the car ready and I left for the farm. Miss Elly gave us a package, she said it was something to nibble on while we were driving to the farm. I was anxious to see what it was, but Peter said not to open it now but to wait until we stopped for gas and we could get something to drink.