The next trip into Wichita allowed ARJ another game of
‘find the differences,’ as they rolled through town. He looked over the side of
the wagon at the land around him. They passed mile after mile of flat brown
fields that stretched as far as he could see. The only thing that stretched that
far, back at home, was the ocean. He missed the harbor, walking the long pier
on Sunday afternoons with his family, and the ships that docked all along the
quay. He continued his game. More people rode their horses in Wichita than in
Ryde, where there were more horses pulling buggies and carts. The wagon wheels
sounded different in Wichita because the streets were all dirt. Dirt with deep
ruts. There were no cobblestones. He used to think the cobblestones were loud
and bumpy. Now, he missed them.
They arrived at the law offices in the middle of the
row of buildings on main street and, as Dad secured the wagon and calmed the
horse team, he reminded the boys to sit quietly while he and Mum talked to the
lawyer. Dad opened the office door and ushered the family into the long
building. There were three desks in the big office area behind a little wooden
fence with a swinging gate. ARJ didn’t remember ever seeing a fence inside a
building.
A tall man in a dark gray suit pushed through the
little gate. He greeted them at the door and shook Dad’s hand. The man nodded
at Mum who returned the nod with a nervous smile. “George Salisbury, Ma’am,” he said, and then
looked down at ARJ and JW standing silently behind their parents.
“Why don’t we go back to my desk and talk? The
children will be just fine on these chairs near the window.” Mum motioned with
her head toward the chairs and the boys walked to them and climbed up. They
each sat up straight in the smooth, varnished chairs with the big armrests, and
green leather seats. Mr. Salisbury opened the little gate, gestured widely to
them, and Dad, Mum, and Eva Anna went through before him. He followed and let
the gate go behind him. It rocked on its hinges back and forth several times
before catching in the closed position.
ARJ watched until his parents had walked to the back
of the long room to a desk near the back where a second man sat. The man stood
and shook hands with Dad and Mum. “Howitt,” he said, “E L Howitt. Please have a
seat.”
JW nudged him and whispered. “They’re so far back
there that I can hardly see them.”
ARJ nodded. “It’s not that far. They’ll come back this
way to leave.”
Now that they were the only ones at the front of the
office, it was very quiet.
A large wall clock on the opposite wall bonged, making
JW jump. They watched the pendulum swing back and forth as the clock announced
the hour.
Bong-Bong-Bong-Bong-Bong-Bong-Bong-Bong-Bong-Bong… ARJ
counted the bongs. “Ten o’clock.” He whispered to his brother. He looked back
toward his parents. They were in deep discussion with Mr. Salisbury.
They turned their heads and watched the busy scene out
the big window.
Clomp, clomp, clomp. Footsteps sounded on the wooden
boards outside. A man in a black suit and round
felt hat, with a gray band around it, stopped
in front of the office door. He gazed at a pocket watch he held in his hand
before stuffing it back in a vest pocket. The man pulled on the office door handle
and walked in, letting the door close loudly behind him.
The man turned to the right and hung his hat on a hook
on the opposite wall. He pivoted on his heal and stopped sharply to look at ARJ
and JW. “Do you have an appointment, gentlemen?” he asked, walking toward them.
The boys looked at each other, then ARJ stood and spoke in his best grown up
voice. “No sir, we’re waiting for our parents.”
“Very well, sir.” He held his right hand out to ARJ. “My
name is Mr. Brewer.”
“My name is Arthur Robert Jarman Dibbens, but everyone
calls me ARJ.”
“That sounds like an excellent idea, with such a long
name, Mr. Dibbens.” The man remarked. “And what is your name, good sir?” He
asked JW, extending his hand again.
“I’m John William, but they call me JW.” John William
said quietly.
“Aahh! Another good idea.” Mr. Brewer exclaimed. He
reached his hand into his jacket pocket and produced a small paper sack.
“Would you boys like a piece of candy while you wait?”
He unfolded the top and held the sack out in front of them.
“Thank you, sir.” They said, to which he nodded and
smiled.
“You are very welcome. Now, I must get on with my
work.” He said.
ARJ and JW put the licorice into their mouths as Mr.
Brewer took quick steps through the swinging gate and sat down behind a desk on
the right. The boys watched as he moved a stack of papers aside and pulled an
ink pen from a drawer.
A few minutes later, they heard Mr. Salisbury’s quick footsteps
as he walked toward the front desk and leaned over it, as he spoke quietly with
Mr. Brewer. ARJ heard only a few words of their conversation but the words,
‘big case’ and ‘might keep him out of prison’ was all ARJ needed to hear to
make him begin to worry again. He rotated in the chair until he was looking
through the window to the street outside. He watched as teams of horses pulled
wagons on the dirt street.
Across the way, ARJ saw the Sheriff’s office where
they’d been last week. The door opened and a man stepped out onto the
boardwalk. ARJ’s stomach did a flip as he recognized Robert Williams, the
leader of the mob that had invaded their farm.
The man looked around and down both ends of the street, and ARJ instinctively
shrunk back from the window. He
stayed frozen until the man mounted his horse and rode away.
ARJ
felt his heart beating fast and put his hand to his chest to slow it down.
‘Dad
said everything will be alright. I have even said my prayers about it every
night since.’ He thought to himself as he
twisted away from the window.
Something
on the wall behind him caught his eye. He turned to see it better. The object
was round and engraved, and immediately, ARJ knew what it had to be. It was the
seal of Kansas Dad had told him about. He found the plowing farmer, and the
steamboat, the sunrise, buffalo being hunted by Indians, and the rows of stars
above it. Then he spotted the strange words written above the scene.
AD
ASTRA PER ASPERA
ARJ
remembered exactly what Dad said the words meant because he had repeated them
in his mind at least once a day since then.
‘To
the stars through difficulties’ He said to himself. The Kansas Motto; his new
motto.
ARJ
wondered to himself,
‘Why
couldn’t we have found a place to live that didn’t have difficulties?’
He
didn’t have the answer to that question. Perhaps there were no places like
that. Home wasn’t like that either. There were many difficulties on the Isle of
Wight but the difference there was that he didn’t feel so alone. They had
Grandpa and Grandma Dibbens, Grandma Jarman and Aunt Emily on the island; there
was Uncle William, and Uncle Albert, all of their cousins… There, they never
felt alone in their difficulties.
“Boys,”
ARJ’s
thoughts were suddenly interrupted by Mum’s voice.
“We’re
ready to go. How about we stop at the grocery story before we go home?”
The
boys slid off the chairs and followed Mum outside. “Goodbye, boys!” Mr.
Brewer’s voice boomed from behind. They turned and waved goodbye as they walked
through the door.
The
grocery was on the right, at the end of the walk.
“No
need to ride.” Dad said, “I’ll walk you down and come back and move the wagon
closer to the store.”
ARJ
and JW ran ahead. When they reached the store, ARJ stopped and pulled on JW’s
sleeve.
“Did
you hear that?” He asked.
A
soft whine came from around the corner. They backstepped until they could see
the side of the building to investigate. In the narrow alleyway between the
buildings, a dog scratched on a side entry of the store. It seemed to be white,
but with hundreds of big and little brown and black spots, big black spots
circled its eyes and covered its floppy ears. It whined again and scratched at
the door.
“Do
you think it lives at the store?” JW asked.
“Possibly.
It might be hungry.”
Mum
and Dad caught up with them and scooted them on through the heavy door of the
shop.
The
store was filled with wonderful things and the boys looked around as Mum talked
to the storekeeper who stood behind a glass case. “Three pounds of buckwheat
flour and …” The boys peered into crates and barrels, wandering around as they
heard Mum start her order. They finally found the case they were looking for; a
case filled with toys.
“Look
at the horses.” John William pointed to the top shelf.
“Do
you see the soldier in the back?”
“I
like that drum!”
“Look
at this book here in front!”
JW
knelt so he could see the ink drawing on the book’s cover a little better.
“Look at all the cows!” he exclaimed! “And the men riding the horses!” ARJ
studied the picture for a minute. It looked as if the artist had drawn a
thousand cows. Three cowboys were herding the cattle. Under the picture, the
caption said, ‘Cattle Drive to Wichita!’ in neat print.
“They
come to Wichita?” ARJ exclaimed, mostly to himself.
JW
looked up and said, “If they come to Wichita, I want to see them!”
“I
don’t know where they’d put all those cows." ARJ told his brother.
"We didn’t have that many cows on the whole island!”
The
boys looked up at the sound of scratching on the door behind the display case.
The store clerk walked over to the door and looked out.
“I
think your dog wants in, Sir.” ARJ told him.
“It
isn’t my dog, but it’s been hanging around here for a few days.” He opened the
door a crack and attempted to shoo it away, but the dog took advantage of the
opening and pushed its way inside. The dog went directly to the boys, wagging
its tail and jumping on them.
Dad
appeared behind them and bent to pet it.
The
clerk reached the dog and tried to direct it back out. “You boys don’t need a
dog, do you?”
“How
much does he cost?” ARJ asked.
“You
can have him for free if you’ll take him with you. He must be a stray looking
for a home. I can’t have him getting in the store every time a door opens!”
The
boys looked up at Dad.
“You
know, we could use a good dog to watch over the farm...” He patted the dog’s
head.
As
they started for home, ‘Buddy’ sat between ARJ and JW in the back of the wagon,
surrounded by the staples Mum had ordered. but was immediately interrupted by Mum and
Dad’s conversation.
“Arthur,
do you think the lawyers can help us?”
“They
seem to feel fairly confident the jury will find me not guilty.”
“How
will I find the courage to testify in front of the judge, not to mention the
three men who have threatened us for a second time… and the jury..., and all
the onlookers Mr. Brewer suspects will come to watch?”
“Just
remember how you felt that night.” Dad caught Mum’s eyes and held them. “You’ll
find the courage to speak.” He continued to hold her gaze for a long time,
before turning his eyes back to the road.
That evening, for the first time since the terrible
night of the mob, Dad walked to the far corner of the room and retrieved the
big case that held his euphonium. He set it on the bed and flipped the latch.
Pulling out the instrument, he adjusted the slides, tucked it under his arm and
headed for a chair near the fireplace.
ARJ sat petting Buddy and watched Dad, from his spot
on the floor, as he took a couple of slow, deep breathes and then lifted the
horn to play. The first notes coming from the euphonium soothed ARJ’s nerves
almost immediately. He felt the muscles in his back and neck relax.
Dad’s music melted the memory of the mob away. The
crowd whose anger was incited by the angry man he’d seen in town, and the
untrustworthy neighbor on the next farm, that had threatened their safety and
made the world seem more frightening than before.
As he listened to Dad play, ARJ could almost believe
that everything would be alright after all.
The deep, mellow tones resonated around the cabin, and
into each heart in the room, with a wondrous sound. ARJ could imagine the
individual notes escaping up the chimney, heading into the velvet blue of the
night toward the stars high above.
As Mum lay the baby in her crate bed, she began to
softly sing the hymn as Dad played.
“Abide with me! Fast falls the eventide;
The darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide!
When other helpers fail and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, oh, abide with me.”
ARJ joined in, trying to replicate the beautiful
harmony he loved to listen to in church. Some of the words were hard for him to
understand, but he knew what they meant, anyway.
“I need Thy presence every passing hour:
What but Thy grace can foil the tempter’s power?
Who like Thyself my guide and stay can be?
Through cloud and sunshine, oh, abide with me.”
By the time the song was done, John William and Eva
Anna were fast asleep. ARJ went to sit near Dad, feeling the warmth of the fire
at his back.
“Keep playing, Dad.”
His father lifted the instrument and Blessed Assurance
flowed from the bell of the euphonium.
At
the last note, ARJ touched his dad’s elbow.
“One
more song and then it’s time for bed.” Dad told him. The melody he played next
was one he knew his father had learned when he was younger. Dad called it a
waltz and ARJ counted ‘ONE, two, three, ONE, two, three’ in his head along with
the tune.
As
he listened to the music, he thought about the story Dad told him one day as
their covered wagon rocked along the bumpy trail, on their way to Kansas.
He
recalled starting the conversation himself and he closed his eyes and
remembered that day.
ARJ
had crawled out onto the wagon bench next to his father.
“Dad,
do you remember when you told us to think carefully about what to bring to
America because we didn’t have much? Why did you decide to bring the euphonium?
It’s so big and it takes up half of the wagon!” ARJ asked as he watched the
horses follow the trail ahead.
Dad
laughed. “What did YOU bring with you, son?”
“I
brought the little wooden sailing boat that Grandpa William carved me.” ARJ
answered. “…so I’ll never forget about him or the island.”
Dad
nodded.
“I
brought my horn for the same reason.”
Dad
handed ARJ the reins, letting him feel the power of the horses in his hands, as
he continued his story.
“I
was fourteen when I saw that second-hand horn in a shop window back in Ryde.
From the minute I saw it, I knew I had to have it.”
Dad
gestured for ARJ to keep his eye on the horses. “At the time, I had just
started working as a carter in the harbor, and every day I’d pause at that
window to admire it."
“Did
the euphonium cost a lot?” ARJ asked.
“For
me it was a lot.” Dad nodded.
“One
Sunday afternoon, I was walking the Promenade along the sea, with my parents
and brothers and sisters. As we walked by the shop, I paused, as was my habit,
and stared at the euphonium. My dad, your Grandpa William, stopped alongside
me.”
“And
he bought it for you?” The wagon suddenly tilted on the uneven ground and ARJ
quickly handed the reins back to Dad.
“Not
right away. He did ask me about it, though. I told him how much I wanted a
musical instrument. Grandpa William enjoyed music.
He
told me, ‘Son, keep working hard and someday you can buy whatever instrument
you wish.”
“So,
you bought it?”
Dad
shook his head. “One day, I came home from working in the harbor, and there was
the euphonium case sitting on the front porch. I was so surprised!"
"So,
it reminds you of home."
"It
does do that. And it reminds me of my dad. I imagine he just wanted me to be
happy. I think most dads know how to give their children good gifts. I’ll
always remember that unexpected kindness.”
Dad finished the waltz and ARJ suddenly felt sleepy.
He stood and hugged his dad, then Buddy, and moved toward the palette. In
seconds, he was asleep; lulled into his dreams by a few extra notes Dad played
before putting the euphonium away for the night.
