Free Melinda and the Wild West by Linda Weaver Clarke Page A

to meet you, Henry,” Melinda
said. “I’m sure I’ll be obliged to use your services every now and
then.”
    Henry held his hand out for a handshake and
smiled charmingly. “Melinda, I’m glad to meet you at last. I’ve
heard so much good said about you. I’m sorry that I haven’t taken
the time to come over to the school. I tend to spend an awful lot
of time over in Montpelier, helping the teachers with a few
problems there.”
    The three of them were interrupted by the
sound of loud and excited voices. They turned and saw a huddle of
men surrounding Uncle William, who was showing them a picture of a
quadricycle from a magazine. Melinda and Henry moved toward them to
see the picture.
    William exclaimed with excitement, “The
article under this picture says: ‘On June 4, 1896, Henry Ford put
the finishing touches on his magnificent creation. It is
gasoline-powered and Ford calls it the Quadricycle since it runs on
four bicycle tires.’” William looked up at the men and smiled. “The
Quadricycle is built on a steel frame with a seat and metal arms on
each side of the seat. There is an electric bell in front of the
dash and it has a bicycle lamp for driving at night. So, you see,
boys, this is going to take the place of horses.”
    “Not a chance.” One of the men said,
emphasizing his disapproval. “I wouldn’t ride in one of those
contraptions if someone paid me.”
    “You’ll see. This Henry Ford is serious
about making more of these quadricycles. And when he starts selling
them, I’m going to be the first to buy one.”
    William smiled as the men guffawed at his
silly notion, slapping him on the back with amusement.
    Melinda was beginning to think the town social was a
wonderful place to meet people. Henry took Melinda in his arms,
glided her around the room, and danced several dances with her. He
was a good dancer and a very good conversationalist. He seemed to
be genuinely interested in her and asked several questions about
her and her background. She noticed they had quite a few things in
common, too. She surmised that he would make a wonderful
friend.
    As Melinda socialized, she scanned the room for
Gilbert, but he was nowhere in sight. After she thought about it,
however, she guessed it was for the best that he was not there. It
was simply unwise to get involved with a student’s parent
anyway.

Chapter 12
THANKSGIVING DAY
     
    October gave way to the crisp chill of
November, and Melinda was excited to spend Thanksgiving Day with
her aunt and uncle. A fire was made in the fireplace. As it
crackled and popped, Melinda thought what a pleasant sound it made.
It was sort of a homey sound and she liked it. As they busily
prepared the turkey, cranberries, and potatoes, Melinda and Martha
listened to the soothing voice of Uncle William.
    Uncle William was sitting
comfortably in a kitchen chair reading to Martha and Melinda from
the Woman’s Journal , a newspaper about women’s suffrage published out of Boston,
which Melinda had received from her parents that week. Her parents
wanted her to keep up with what was happening in the
world.
    Uncle William seemed to enjoy reading about the
events around the world. “Melinda, listen to this,” he said with
enthusiasm. “Your Boston newspaper has something about Idaho.
Listen: ‘Welcome, Idaho! State number four has wheeled into line!
An unexampled victory for woman suffrage has been achieved in the
State of Idaho.’ Martha, that means that you can vote next year;
and you, too, Melinda, if you renew your teaching contract. You’ll
be an Idaho State citizen.”
    Melinda smiled. “Sounds good to me.” She
turned and looked thoughtful with her hand on her hip. “Uncle
William, you were right about a Republican becoming the next
president. How did you know?”
    “Well, it only made sense to me after the
mess that the Democrats got us into.”
    “I bet the Democrats don’t see it that way,
though. You’d probably have quite an argument.” Melinda