Tuesday, December 21, 2004

A North Dakota Chiveree They are excited! The Campfire Girls are planning a trip to Medora and their teacher and leader will accompany them. The cold March day is typical for North Dakota and 1930 is no exception. The girls crowd around Miss Ness’s teacher desk and they bubble and giggle with energy as only 9th graders can. The 150-mile trip from Menoken to Medora across the North Dakota Badlands would be in a Dodge panel van that serves as the school bus for the Menoken school district. Neal has the left hinged panel of the hood up on his Blue Dodge school bus as he waits for the children to come clamoring down the dozen concrete steps that form the entrance to the bi-level red stucco school building. The schoolhouse is the pride of the community – Four large classrooms each hold up to 20 school desks with room for the teacher to oversee the children arranged by grade in each of four columns. Mildred, Beverly, Violet and Ruth speaking simultaneously press Miss Ness for confirmation that the school board has approved the trip and importantly the use of the school bus and the driver’s time to transport the group next month. Miss Ness responds to the girls as her jet-black hair and fair skin frame a happy but serious look on her face. A young looking 27 year old, she is trim with well-rounded curves on her 5-foot frame. Neal closes the school bus hood and latches each of the spring-loaded catches that secure the left hand hood panel. He walks up the outside steps and opens the double door to the middle landing of the 2-story schoolhouse. Looking up the wide stairway he sees Gertrude Ness coming down the stairs. She is beautiful he says to himself and she smiles at him as if to read his mind. Neal takes her hand as she reaches the bottom step and looks down at her. He reminds me of Abe Lincoln, Gertrude thought. He is tall (6 feet) from her perspective. All her brothers are rather short and pretty feisty. But Neal is incredibly calm and very strong - he doesn’t have an ounce of fat on him she thought. “The bus is ready for that trip to the badlands”, he says in a matter of fact tone. “Well the school board has approved the trip”, she says with a slight smile and quick glance to see his reaction. He grins a satisfied look at her and steps out of the way as the children start streaming out of both upstairs classrooms. “I’ll see you tonight if you want to go to the chiveree” he says over his shoulder as he hurries down the steps to open the school bus doors for the children. She nods a smile, looks after him for a moment and then turns to hurry back to her office where she performs her additional duty as principal of the school. Chiverees were not Gertrude’s favorite thing to do, but Neal seems to enjoy them and she feels good when he is happy. Neal pulls up to the Cecil Dance combination store and residence where Gertrude gets her room and board as part of her teaching contract. The Dances maintain the local Post Office, gas station and a few groceries for the local farming community. Getting out of his blue panel van, Neal turned to the three couples in the back of the van and said, “I’ll be right back”. Walking up to the side entrance of the Dance’s store he raps on the door and Jenny Dance lets him in with “It’s a beautiful night isn’t it?” “Yah, it is decent out tonight – good thing too because we have six heifers ready to calve soon” he replied. Gertrude appeared in the hallway wearing a dark blue dress with white poka dots – she had a black cloth coat over her arm which she let Neal help her with. Adjusting a black matching hat on her head, she smiled and said she was ready to go. “Good night Jenny, I will let myself in” Gertrude said as she and Neal made their way down the brick path to the van parked in the street. Elmer and Martha, Leonard and Elsie, George and Gracie sitting on the wooden benches in the back of Neal’s school bus van try to keep the pots and pans quiet as the Dodge jounces over the dirt and gravel road on the way to Jim and Agnes’ farmhouse. Jim and Agnes have been going together off and on for about a year and then Agnes decides that it is time to get married. They decided to keep the wedding simple so they had quietly gone to the Burleigh County judge in Bismarck and gotten married that wintry March day. Neal driving carefully but with authority too makes his way up to the section line post at the edge of Jim’s stubble wheat field. Turning off the lights Neal eases up to within about 100 feet of the weathered 2-story farmhouse. Cutting the engine, he climbs out the driver’s side and quietly closes the door. Moving around the vehicle, he unlatches the back door of the van and lets the 3 couples in the back make their way out while trying to keep the pots and pans quiet. Taking two kettles and two cookie sheets, Neal steps to the passenger door and opens it for Gertrude. She steps down to the running board and then to the dirt road. Handing her a kettle and a cookie sheet, Neal takes her hand and the four couples make their way to the side of the house under the honeymooners bedroom window. On the count of three, a terrible clatter and banging begin that quickly interrupts any thought of privacy that Jim and Agnes may have thought of enjoying that night. Jim throws a chamber pot out the window, which is easily avoided by the noisemakers. The missile brings increased vigor to the noise making and Jim and Agnes finally put their clothes on and come down to the front door to let the happy well wishers into the living room. Agnes dutifully goes out to the kitchen to make coffee while Jim reluctantly opens the first of several bottles of peppermint schnapps. The party continues into the night and at about 2:00am, Neal loads up his happy couples and makes his way back to drop them off one by one before taking Gertrude back to the Dances’ place. As they walk up the path, Neal holds her hand and then as they reach the door, he takes her into his arms. The warm sweet rush of desire envelopes them and he kisses her with not a little passion. They stand clinging to each other savoring the closeness. “I have to go in now – I have six-week exams to grade this weekend,” Gertrude whispers. Kissing her again, he replies “I’ll see you tomorrow night at 6” and he reluctantly turns and walks back to the van. Neal remembered the first night that he saw Gertrude. Hired by the school board to teach high school and to act as the principal of Menoken consolidated school, she had just finished a teaching contract at the North Dakota training school in Mandan. “Menoken Principal will be a step up and should be a lot less stressful than dealing with the juvenile inmates of the State Training School”, she thought as Conrad Holmes offered her the contract to sign. Neal as one of the five members of the school board had cast his vote for the trim young woman not only because she had good credentials, but she was a good looker too! “I hope she isn’t engaged to anyone”, Neal thought. 10:11:39 PM