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Show PARENTS BY CHANCE I By Fran Pachter TEA and Dwight yearly opened their farm to visits from under-privileged children, city children chil-dren to whom a farm was something some-thing you read about in books. Being childless they derived great satisfaction from seeing the children temporarily uplifted from their sordid everyday existence. It was natural that Sally Bos-worth Bos-worth thought of them when needing need-ing temporary housing for a child. She appeared at the farm and presented pre-sented her plea. "Would you keep a child for a few weeks? The orphanage or-phanage is overcrowded and the little lad Toddy is quite grief stricken over the loss of his parents. par-ents. Bea hesitated but a moment, then said, "Sure we'll take him but we've never coped with just one, its always been a group." Dwight interrupted, "Send him along. It'll be fun to have a boy around here, probably less work than the others were." "I was so sure that you'd agree that I brought him with me. He's out in the car. His name is Todd Smith. He and his parents lived in a cold water flat on Fourth street. He has never had much because they were poor, but he has good manners and has never been In any trouble. Near as I can tell, this has been quite a blow to him as he loved his parents dearly. They were both killed. Dwight went to the window to get a look at their new guest. "Bea come here and look. He's a little shaver and looks scared to death." Bea came and stood alongside Dwight. She said, "Gosh, life sure hands out some tough ones for kids to bear." Todd came in and stood quietly by as Sally introduced him. His manner was that of one much older old-er than his twelve years. Bea resisted re-sisted the impulse to grab and hug him for his forlorn air cried out for reassurance of some kind. Dwight took away the awkward ness of the moment by saying, "Well Todd, lets go to the barn and find you a horse you can ride." Todd became Dwight's shadow and the boy's pleasure in the farm knew no bounds. Dwight on his horse and Todd on a pony of his own selection spent many hours absorbing nature at first hand. Bea on the other hand had not been as successful for the boy tended to shy away from any close intimacy with her. At night she often heard him sob into his pillow, yet she feared to Intrude for she knew they were tears of healing and were a release of the tension he hid so carefully during the day. At breakfast that morning Bea found a neatly set table with freshly fresh-ly picked violets awaiting her, hot steaming coffee, eggs and fruit. She exclaimed, "This is the nicest present I've ever had." Todd shyly handed her a neatly wrapped gift. Bea opened it to rind a delicate gold locket with a tiny picture of Todd inside it. In answer to her surprised look, Todd said, "It's for you to remember me when I'm gone." At that very moment Sally burst in with the news that kinfolk of Todd's had been found. They lived in England and would take the boy If he wanted to go. "I guess I have no choice," said Todd. "I have no one else." At that moment Bea cut in, "Can't we keep him, Sally?" To Todd she questioned, "Would you like to stay here, Todd?" The boy looked up at her and said very soberly, "More than anything else In the world." Sally looked at the three and then said, "You know its people like you who make my job worth going on with. I never dared hope it would work out this way." "Our boy," chorused Bea and Dwight. They sounded almost reverent rev-erent as they spoke for only they knew how long they had wanted a boy of their very own. |
