{"id":655,"date":"2011-11-08T17:39:33","date_gmt":"2011-11-08T22:39:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.znfrey.com\/blog\/?p=655"},"modified":"2011-11-11T03:53:27","modified_gmt":"2011-11-11T08:53:27","slug":"all-that-is-gold-does-not-glitter-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.znfrey.com\/blog\/2011\/11\/all-that-is-gold-does-not-glitter-part-2.html\/","title":{"rendered":"All That Is Gold Does Not Glitter – Part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

(Continued from Part 1<\/a>…)<\/em><\/p>\n

Dinner started that night was what had become the usual chaos — Mom sitting at the end of the big table with her feet up on a stool, looking tired; Dad at the other end of the table bellowing occasional questions or orders about some child\u2019s work; and Aunt Kateri and Cousin Meg bustling around the kitchen, bringing out huge plates of food and having to make themselves heard over the din of excited children to ask Mom questions about where serving dishes or some final ingredient were hiding. \u00a0Doug kept quiet; while he didn\u2019t really mind helping with food, the kitchen wasn\u2019t his place and it seemed to him the best way to help was to stay out of the way until asked specifically. \u00a0With Kateri and Meg, and sisters Maddie and Lizzie already moving around the kitchen at high speed, he felt he would be underfoot – even if he was taller than all of them.
\n\u201cAll right, everyone, gather \u2018round,\u201d Dad called. \u00a0\u201cBless us O Lord, and these Thy gifts, which we are about to receive, from Thy bounty, through Christ, our Lord,\u201d they all intoned together, and after the Sign of the Cross attacked the food. \u00a0Tonight\u2019s feast was one of Doug\u2019s favorites – what Mom insisted on calling \u201cbreakfast casserole,\u201d even if they had it for dinner more often than breakfast. \u00a0It was the second-best use for stale bread that Doug knew (bread pudding was the first), and loaded with eggs, cheese, and what must be nearly the end of last fall\u2019s sausage. \u00a0Rounding out the meal were some loaves of fresh bread, barely cool enough to be sliced, and big bowls of fresh-picked salad.
\nAs the family chattered about the usual chores and lessons, it was fourteen-year-old Lizzie who brought up the trip: \u00a0“So Dad – we heard the transmitter is out? \u00a0Who are you taking to town with you?”
\nDad chuckled. \u00a0“All theoretically, of course? \u00a0No motive at all for asking?”
\nLizzie smiled at Dad, showing off her dimples, as the other children laughed. \u00a0“Who, me? \u00a0Well, just maybe<\/em> I would like a chance to wear my town dress.”
\n“She’s just hoping to see if some boy<\/em> will notice her,” suggested Michael. \u00a0That got even more laughter, while Lizzie stuck her tongue out at her brother.
\n“A chance to go to Mass would be nice,” added Maddie.
\nDad held up his hands. \u00a0“Whoa, whoa! \u00a0Hold your horses. \u00a0Who said I was taking anyone into town?”
\nLizzie looked hurt. \u00a0“You’re not going to take any of us?”
\nDad went on. \u00a0Who said I was going into town? \u00a0You know how close the baby is. \u00a0And we’re\u00a0 extra busy, what with apples still to pick and the last of the corn still not in. \u00a0I’ve decided to send Doug.”
\nSilence fell for a half-second, then died as all the kids tried to talk at once. \u00a0“No fair!” seemed to be the most common. \u00a0“That’s OK, Doug can still take me,” Lizzie attempted.
\n“NO.” \u00a0Doug and his father answered in unison. \u00a0“This is a business trip, Lizzie,” Dad went on. \u00a0“So, I don’t want Doug distracted with keeping track of you and any boys you might want to make eyes at. \u00a0Besides, you’re to help Meg and Kateri with the delivery.”
\n“That’s right, honey,” Mom added. \u00a0“You were so excited about this baby, you should stay.”
\n“I’m still the baby!” Jessica insisted.
\n“For a few more days, baby girl. \u00a0Then you get to be a big sister.”
\n“Big sisters are a pain in the butt.”<\/p>\n

After dinner, cleanup, evening chores and family prayers, finally it was time for sleep. \u00a0Even though the new gin pole and block-and-tackle had taken a lot of the work out of loading the big logs, it was still took more strength than most chores, and his muscles hadn’t completely adjusted yet. \u00a0While the trip would be a good break, it also meant that he’d lose that conditioning by the time he got back. \u00a0Oh, well, TANSTAAFL, as Dad would say.
\nDoug shared a room with Michael, his next-youngest brother who would be turning thirteen just before Christmas. \u00a0He let Michael chatter at him about the day, grunting or answering non-committally until he ran out of steam. \u00a0Doug grabbed a book from the small bookshelf, picked up his reading light from its charger by the window, and extinguished the lamp.
\n\u201cWhat\u2019s Freddo up to now?\u201d asked Michael.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s \u2018Frodo,\u2019\u201d corrected Doug. \u00a0\u201cI\u2019m not sure – they finally got out of the forest with that weird singing guy, and now they\u2019re at the gate of some little settlement in the middle of nowhere.\u201d
\n\u201cSounds like Twin Springs.\u201d
\n\u201cNah, it\u2019s enough bigger than us that it\u2019s got an inn that serves beer. \u00a0And the only Little People running around Twin Springs are all the rugrats.\u201d
\n\u201cYou figure out why Dad and Grandpa are crazy about this story?\u201d
\n\u201cNot yet.\u201d
\nFor Christmas last year, his parents and grandparents had combined to get him a copy of the new edition of The Lord of the Rings<\/em>, an old 20th-century fairy tale that had recently been brought back into print. \u00a0Dad had an ancient, falling-apart copy of it in his \u201cno children allowed!\u201d shelf of fragile books. \u00a0He had read through it to the kids when Doug was very young, but he didn\u2019t remember much more than that there was a magic ring that would let you rule the world, and a bunch of battles. \u00a0So far, the story involved a lot of walking through the forest, which was only so interesting. \u00a0Real life had a lot of that already. \u00a0Except that, if Yooper forests had elves, they were extremely well-hidden.
\nDoug opened to \u201cThe Sign of the Prancing Pony\u201d and read until he was sure from Michael\u2019s snoring that he wouldn\u2019t budge until morning choretime. \u00a0Then, he put the book on the nightstand and carefully wiggled at one of the knots in the wall planking until it came out. \u00a0Reaching in, he pulled out two small objects that glittered in the light of his LED.
\nNot enough for a ring<\/em>, he thought, but still, maybe enough to change his world. \u00a0Houghton had a State mineral office, so he should be able to get an assay done. \u00a0And then… maybe he wouldn\u2019t have to haul logs or shear sheep anymore.<\/p>\n

(To be continued in Part 3<\/a>…)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Continued from Part 1…) Dinner started that night was what had become the usual chaos — Mom sitting at the end of the big table with her feet up on a stool, looking tired; Dad at the other end of the table bellowing occasional questions or orders about some child\u2019s work; and Aunt Kateri and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[47],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-655","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fiction"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2sZgq-az","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.znfrey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/655","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.znfrey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.znfrey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.znfrey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.znfrey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=655"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.znfrey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/655\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":683,"href":"https:\/\/www.znfrey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/655\/revisions\/683"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.znfrey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=655"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.znfrey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=655"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.znfrey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=655"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}