Rover

 “What is it, Ella?”, Janie asked the excited girl. “It’s late; you should have been back long before now. I was getting worried.”

“I know, Ma, but look what I found on the way home. “, she said, producing a wounded rabbit.

“I couldn’t just leave it.”

Janie gave an exasperated sigh, then shook her head. “No, I suppose you couldn’t , could you?”She began to look the frightened rabbit over carefully. She took the rabbit from her daughter, saying “Get me some fresh water from the well,  and I’ll see to his wounds.”

A little while later, Ella’s rabbit was sitting on the kitchen cabinet with a bandaged leg.

“Can I keep him, Ma?”

Janie sighed. “I don’t know Ella; we’ll see.” Then she smiled. “But he needs a name. What’ll we call him?”

Ella brightened at the mention of naming him; it meant she had hope of keeping him as a pet, if they were naming him. “I’ll call him Rover!”

“Rover it is, then…… I think I have some carrots in the icebox. He should like those.”, Janie told her daughter.  She helped her fix a box  with an old quilt in it for Rover to lay in. “You can pick grass from outside for him, too.”

“What’s for dinner, Ma? It smells good.”

“Peas and potatoes, and cornbread, and I stewed some apples for dessert; any apples that are left can be for breakfast in the morning……There are still some apples on the tree; Rover might like those as well.”

“Do you think Pa will ever come home, Ma?”, Ella asked, as her mother dished up dinner for the both of them.

“Honey, we’ve been through this before. Your pa isn’t coming  back.  He’s a rambling man, not meant to be tied down. It isn’t that he loves you any less.”, Janie explained.  “He sends letters and packages.”

“But it isn’t the same!”, wails Ella.

“I know my girl; believe me I know……but it’s just the way your Pa is, and we have to accept that, whether we like it or not.”

Janie looked at the fiery red hair and devil’s mark on her daughter’s cheek, both constant reminders of the man she had lost, as if she needed any reminders. John was just the way he was, and she was the way she was, and that was all there was to it.

Ella and her mother finished their dinner in silence, and then Janie ladled up small dishes of the stewed apples, putting a dollop of whipped cream on top of both, just the way Ella liked.  Soon Ella was smiling again, and talking about Rover, who was napping quietly in his box.

“Here’s an apple that I cut up for Rover. You can give it to him now, if you want.”, Janie told Ella.

She petted the rabbit’s dark, soft fur gently, and knew they were going to keep Rover. Ella knew it too, and said, “Thank you, Ma!”, putting her arms around Janie and hugging her tightly.

Janie washed up the dishes from supper, and then she drew a warm bath for Ella, so she could get ready for bed, as there was school tomorrow. She combed out Ella’s wet hair, and sat her in front of the heater for it to dry. Ella was petting Rover, of course.   There was mending for Janie to do to their clothes, and she wrote a couple of letters as well, while waiting for Ella’s hair to day.

Once Ella was tucked into bed, Rover asleep in his box at her bedside, Janie drew herself a long hot bath to wash off the day’s grime. She combed out her wet hair, and put on a fresh cotton nightgown, sitting in front of the heater for her hair to dry.  She thought about John, with a long familiar aching in her heart. She missed him, just as much as Ella did. She went to sleep as she nearly always did, with a tear-stained pillow.

The next morning, while Ella was getting ready for school, Janie heard her cry  out.

“Ma, he’s gone! Rover’s gone!”

Janie tried to calm her down, and they searched the cabin over again for him, but no Rover, and the cabin door was open, so he could have gotten out on his own.

“Maybe Rover is a rover, just like your Pa, girl. Maybe he’s not meant to be kept inside in a box.”

Ella was strangely quiet, and she nodded, even though her eyes were bright with tears. “Just like Pa.”

“Come on now, my girl, you’d best get ready for school.”