Free The Visions of Ransom Lake by Marcia Lynn McClure

explanation and not pry further. She was relieved for a moment when he nodded, but her nerves gave a sensitive jump as he spoke again.
    “ Been out to ol’ Ransom Lake’s farm, huh? Is he still alive out there?” As she had suspected, he did know where she had been. There was no point in trying to hide it any longer.
    “ Yes. Quite alive and well. Very well,” she added nervously, remembering the vision of him in only trousers and suspenders. “He gave us a couple bushels of apples, and I’m sure Aunt Myra will have Yvonne and me canning them this afternoon.”
    “ Oh,” Jerome muttered as a frown puckered his brow. “I was hopin’ ya could go for a walk with me later today.”
    “ Oh, I’d love to, Mr. Clayton…but I promised Aunt Myra I’d help her this afternoon. After all, I’ve already been out and about while poor Yvonne has been stuck inside.” Vaden sighed inwardly, for she didn’t feel like enduring a walk with Jerome that day. Actually, she never felt like enduring a walk with Jerome, but he was so persistent that propriety demanded she be polite in accepting him once in a while.
    “ Ya like bein’ outside, don’t you, Miss Vaden?” Jerome commented. His smile was understanding and charming, and Vaden felt guilty for not wanting to walk with him.
    “ I do. The outdoors breathes life into me,” she confessed.
    They talked lightly as they walked toward the mercantile. When they reached it, Jerome tipped his hat to Vaden. She smiled at him before entering the store and thanked him for escorting her home.
    “ He’s plumb gone on ya, sweet pea!” Myra exclaimed as Vaden entered the store.
    “ I think you’ve got him captured completely,” Yvonne affirmed.
    “ What if I don’t want to have him captured completely?” Vaden sighed.
    Yvonne laughed. “Don’t be ridiculous, Vay! Now, where have you been? Uncle Dan’s been home for half an hour!”
    Vaden glanced to her uncle for support. He smiled and shrugged his shoulders as he winked at her.
    “ I’m glad you’re finally back. Them Wimber children have been waitin’ on you near to an hour, Vaden,” Myra lovingly scolded. “Child! You’ve gotten mud all over your skirt again, dear. Ya must be more careful. But, then again…you’re the one havin’ to scrub out the stain.”
    “ I’m sorry, Auntie. I just…I just…” Vaden began to defend herself.
    “ I know, sweetie. I know.” Myra smiled lovingly at her niece. “Now, what about these little stinkers? They’ve been waitin’ on ya.”
    “ But I told them a story only two days ago, Auntie,” Vaden reminded. The Wimber children, and there were so many being there were two Wimber families in town, had discovered Vaden’s unique talent for storytelling several days after she and Yvonne arrived. Sue Ellen Wimber had asked Vaden and Yvonne to keep an eye on her young ones and their cousins while she and her sister-in-law, Margaret, went out to visit old Mrs. Tilits, who lived a ways out of town and was ailing. It wasn’t long before Yvonne’s nerves were completely frayed, and Vaden was left to tend to the children alone. So she told them a story—the story of Snow White. They adored it, sitting in silent memorization as she dramatically acted out the tale to them. There were five younger Wimber children, and the smiling, anxious faces of the two boys and three girls beamed at Vaden as she approached them.
    “ I just told you a story two days ago,” Vaden stated as she placed her hands on her hips and frowned down at them.
    “ Oh, please, Miss Vaden! Just a short one. Please!” they pleaded.
    Vaden smiled and relented. “Just one short one. Just one.” The children squealed with delighted, sitting down where they stood, in the center of the mercantile, awaiting their story. “Very well, we begin. Now this,” Vaden began, dropping her voice to a near whisper, “is the story of Rapunzel.” She rolled the r off the tip of her tongue theatrically as she reached up,