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

laughed.
“When will McKinley be inaugurated?”
    “March fourth. He’ll be our twenty-fifth
president.”
    Melinda set the table with a lacy tablecloth
and as she got the plates out of the cupboard, Aunt Martha said,
“Oh, I forgot to tell you. Put on two extra plates today. We’re
having company over.”
    Melinda smiled. Her aunt and uncle always
seemed to find someone to invite over and they enjoyed sharing
their food and charity with others.
    “We’ve invited that nice young man and his
daughter, Gilbert and Jenny.”
    Melinda froze. Her heart beat rapidly. She
looked over at her aunt with widened eyes and asked, “Mr. Roberts
and Jenny?”
    Aunt Martha nodded. “I know they don’t have
kin close around here and I always like to invite them over
whenever we have a special celebration.”
    Melinda quickly exited the room and ran upstairs
to fix her hair. As she looked into the mirror and primped, she
thought, “Why do I care what I look like? He’s just Jenny’s father.
He’s nothing to me.”
    She tried to ignore the fact that just
recently her heart would flutter whenever Gilbert’s name was
mentioned at the table.
    As she descended the stairs, she saw Gilbert
already sitting on the sofa with Jenny. He stood politely as she
walked into the room and he smiled with his hat in his hand.
    Melinda nodded to them. “Mr. Roberts.
Jenny.”
    “Please call me Gilbert. Mr. Roberts sounds
so formal. May I call you Melinda?”
    She smiled and nodded her assent.
    “Melinda, how are you doing?” Gilbert asked
with concern. “I haven’t talked to you since the bear attack in
October. I’ve seen you in town off and on, but we both seem to be
in a hurry and don’t take the time to visit. Are you doing all
right?”
    “Yes. It took a couple weeks to get over it.
I would have nightmares and wake up in a cold sweat. I had to take
the medicine the doctor gave me just before I went to bed so I
could sleep. But I’m all right now. I’m sleeping much better. I
have a lot to learn here in the West, don’t I?” She smiled and gave
a nervous sigh. “Thanks for asking.”
    Gilbert’s heart felt heavy as he listened
and knew that it must have been very difficult to overcome such a
tremendous fright. He was surprised that she still acted positive
about the West, and this made his admiration for her grow.
    Jenny looked at her father and excitedly
announced, “Did you know that we celebrate Thanksgiving because of
Abraham Lincoln?”
    “No, I didn’t, little darlin’.”
    Jenny blushed furiously and quickly leaned
over to her father and whispered, “Pa! Don’t call me that in front
of company.”
    “Oh, I’m sorry, Jen,” Gilbert said quietly
while trying very hard to suppress a chuckle. “So, tell me about
it.”
    “Well, Miss Gamble taught us that George
Washington wanted to make it a national holiday, but some were
against it.”
    “Against it?” Gilbert looked at Melinda and
smiled. He noticed how beautiful she looked and then turned back to
Jenny. “Why on earth would anyone oppose such a thing?”
    “It was because of Thomas Jefferson. He
didn’t like the idea.”
    Gilbert turned to Melinda and said, “Is that
so?”
    She nodded. “Unfortunately. The idea brought
a lot of discord because many felt that the hardships of just a few
Pilgrims did not warrant a national holiday.”
    Gilbert’s eyes widened. “Just a few
Pilgrims? They sound a bit snooty to me.”
    She laughed. “As Jenny was telling you, it
wasn’t until Abraham Lincoln became president. He proclaimed the
last Thursday in November as a National Day of Thanksgiving.”
    “Well, I’ll be! A person can never stop
learning no matter how old they are.”
    That made Jenny burst into laughter. After
getting her breath back, she said, “I thought you knew everything,
Pa.”
    “Not by a long shot!”
    Melinda joined in the laughter. Then she
excused herself to help Aunt Martha. She walked into the kitchen to
help her aunt put the food on