more of the same day
Nov. 15th, 2011 10:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
smackenzie"That was the whole idea. Better you than William." Con winks. "I suppose we should wait for him and Luisa. Pity she is not quite small enough to sit on my shoulders too."
Julia laughs. James is just grateful that Con likes him better than William.
James and Con and Julia stand and wait for William and Luisa to work their way back out of the mass of people who were watching the parade, but when the crowd has thinned out enough and they have not returned, Julia climbs back on the bench to see if she can see them.
"William!" she yells. "Luisa!" She looks frustrated. "I can see them," she tells Con and James, "but they do not see me. Or hear me, evidently."
Con steps up onto the bench as well, and when Julia points in William and Luisa's direction, he takes a deep breath and yells "William Jonathan Britton Godwin!" so loudly that Julia winces and James puts his hands over his ears.
"That should do it," Con says, sounding pleased with himself.
"Why did you not yell for Luisa too?" James asks.
"Do you know her last name?"
James has always just called her "Luisa". He has never needed to know her last name. Now he wonders what it is, and if he will ever need to call to her in a crowd of people. He should know it, just in case.
A minute later she and William walk over to them. William looks a bit annoyed, but as soon as Julia asks if they found a good spot from which to watch the procession, he brightens and starts to tell her all about the soldiers that they saw, and the sailors, and especially the men on horses.
"If I were old enough to join the Army," he says, "I would join the cavalry."
"And a horse would bite you the first chance it got," Con says cheerfully.
"Horses like me," William sniffs, and it is true, at least for the one horse he has ridden that James knows about. The weekend before Easter they took the train to see Nathaniel, because he said he would not come down to the city for Mass, and when they were there, Nathaniel took them to see the stables and let them ride one of the horses. Aimee would not consent to sitting in a saddle, but she stroked the horse's nose and talked to it while Mr Godwin lifted William onto its back and got him settled.
The horse liked William, if its patience and easy walk was anything to go by, and the fact that it did not want to stand still long enough for Con to swing himself into the saddle. It did not seem to like Julia much either, but Mrs Godwin, who had been quite an equestrienne in her youth, coaxed it into a trot and then a gallop while the rest of her family stood in the doorway of the stable and stared.
The cavalry unit has clearly made an impression on William, because as they head for home he chatters on about the mounted soldiers and the horses and how he would like a horse to ride over the summer. Luisa listens patiently, although she must have heard a lot of it already. Con looks like he is listening as well, but James knows better.
"What is Luisa's last name?" he asks Julia.
"I do not know," she admits. "Ask her when William gives her a break."
William finally runs out of steam, and James takes the opportunity to walk up next to Luisa and ask her what her last name is.
"You do not know?" she asks, grinning. "I know yours."
"Everyone knows mine. What if I need to stand on a bench and get your attention in a crowd of people?"
"Then you will yell 'Luisa!' very loudly and I will hear you."
"But – "
"Sermattei," she tells him.
"Serma... tey?" He is unfamiliar with Italian names and cannot pronounce hers. He is starting to understand why he has only ever called her by her first name.
"Close enough. Shall I spell it for you too?"
"Yes please."
"I do not have paper, but when we get back to the house I will write out my name for you, so if you ever need it, you will have it."
"Thank you." He feels oddly accomplished.
There are still a few ladies in the parlor when they get home, although it seems as if Mrs Godwin's luncheon is over. Nathaniel is still up in the nursery, but rather than reading his book, he is sitting at the child-size table where Aimee has set up a tea party for her dolls, and he is now pretending to drink from one of her tiny teacups as she pretends to pour tea for the rest of her "guests".
"Did you enjoy the parade?" he asks, when Luisa and William and James troop in. Con disappeared into the kitchen and Mrs Godwin caught Julia and pulled her into the parlor to meet the ladies who are still here.
"We did, thank you," Luisa says. "It was very majestic and stirring. Have you two been up here all afternoon?"
"Momma told me to stop playing with the dogs because they were getting overexcited," Aimee says, still carefully pouring tea. "Ming did bark quite a lot. But Pierre was very good."
"We saw a cavalry unit," William tells Nathaniel, ignoring his sister. "They looked very noble."
"There is something intrinsically noble about a man on a horse," Nathaniel agrees. "Were there many people?"
"Very many," James says. "Con put me on his shoulders so I could see, and Julia had to stand on a bench. And then we could not find Luisa and William when it was over."
"I had to squeeze through everyone to the street," William says. "I had to use my elbows."
"It sounds very claustrophobic," Nathaniel muses.
"What does that mean?" Aimee asks.
"Very crowded. I am not sorry I stayed here."
"There were no soldiers who looked like you," James says.
"No black men, you mean?"
"No. But I still think you and Lucas should have been marching with everyone."
Nathaniel shrugs. "Some men choose to participate. Some do not. Do not think less of Lucas for not marching."
"I do not think less of him, or you. But – "
"James," Luisa interrupts, "do not pester your brother. Are you hungry? Shall we see if Mrs Malcolm will give us a snack?"
"I want a snack," William says.
"Me too," Aimee pipes up.
"No, thank you," Nathaniel says, because it seems as if Luisa is about to ask him as well.
She takes the younger Godwins downstairs and into the kitchen, where Con is sitting at the table eating a hard-boiled-egg sandwich and talking to Mrs Malcolm about Scotland. Mrs Malcolm came to the United States thirty-five years ago, from a city called Aberdeen, and whenever anyone tells her they cannot understand her because of her accent, she laughs and says that if she were to go back home, they would tell her that she has lost it and sounds just like an American.
Now she is telling Con about her sister, who followed a young man to Canada, of all places, and now lives on a farm in the middle of the country, far from civilization and culture and family.
"Your sister is mad," Con says decisively, "to live in the middle of nowhere."
"She is, at that," Mrs Malcom says. "But I love her."
"Mrs Malcolm," Aimee says, "may I have a sandwich too?"
"Well, hello. You may indeed. There are some slices of hard-boiled egg left from your mam's luncheon."
"Jam, please."
"Jam it is. What about you gentlement?" she asks William and James.
"Egg," James says, at the same time William says "Just butter, please."
"And Luisa," Con adds, winking at her. James can see Mrs Malcolm roll her eyes, but he guesses that Con cannot.
After a while Julia joins them, and they sit around the table and eat and listen to Mrs Malcolm talk about Aberdeen and the tiny house where she grew up and how she met her husband (he was a friend of her cousin's) and why she started cooking for other people, until Mrs Godwin finds them and tells them to leave her alone and let her get back to work.
Supper is late that night, because of the parade and Mrs Godwin's lunch party and Mr Godwin having to attend a reception in honor of some of his employees who served in the war. Nathaniel does not stay for supper but rather has Mr Sewell drive him to Lucas' apartment, where he will stay the night before going back to the rest home in the morning.
James can tell that his momma is a little upset by this, but she just kisses Nathaniel on both cheeks and wishes him a good night before he leaves.
"Why did he not eat with us?" James asks Julia later, after Luisa has gone home.
"Lucas' apartment is smaller and quieter," Julia says. "Nathaniel feels safer with his brother down the hall."
"But I wanted him to tell me about going into battle, fighting Germans and being in France. I wanted him to tell me if it was an adventure."
"I do not think it was. The war did odd things to people's minds, James. Sometimes it is better not to ask."
She seems uncharacteristically serious, so James lets the subject go.
"I learned Luisa's last name," he says.
"What is it?"
"Sermattei." He is proud of himself for remembering it correctly. When Luisa wrote it out for him, it did not look exactly the same way it sounds, so she made him repeat it until he got it right.
"So if you ever have to get her attention in a crowd of people, you can. Hopefully you will not have to."
The next day, when Mrs O'Donnell brings Sean and Liam over, James asks them if they saw any of the Memorial Day parade, and when they tell him they were standing at the beginning of it, the three of them start comparing notes as to who saw what and where was a better place to stand and should they watch the beginning or the end next year, or maybe see if they can watch it from the middle, and then they form themselves into individual units of one and march up and down the hallway until Mrs O'Donnell tells them to get out from underfoot and go play in the nursery with William and Aimee.
words: 1737
total words: 25,223
quickie research: italian last names
Julia laughs. James is just grateful that Con likes him better than William.
James and Con and Julia stand and wait for William and Luisa to work their way back out of the mass of people who were watching the parade, but when the crowd has thinned out enough and they have not returned, Julia climbs back on the bench to see if she can see them.
"William!" she yells. "Luisa!" She looks frustrated. "I can see them," she tells Con and James, "but they do not see me. Or hear me, evidently."
Con steps up onto the bench as well, and when Julia points in William and Luisa's direction, he takes a deep breath and yells "William Jonathan Britton Godwin!" so loudly that Julia winces and James puts his hands over his ears.
"That should do it," Con says, sounding pleased with himself.
"Why did you not yell for Luisa too?" James asks.
"Do you know her last name?"
James has always just called her "Luisa". He has never needed to know her last name. Now he wonders what it is, and if he will ever need to call to her in a crowd of people. He should know it, just in case.
A minute later she and William walk over to them. William looks a bit annoyed, but as soon as Julia asks if they found a good spot from which to watch the procession, he brightens and starts to tell her all about the soldiers that they saw, and the sailors, and especially the men on horses.
"If I were old enough to join the Army," he says, "I would join the cavalry."
"And a horse would bite you the first chance it got," Con says cheerfully.
"Horses like me," William sniffs, and it is true, at least for the one horse he has ridden that James knows about. The weekend before Easter they took the train to see Nathaniel, because he said he would not come down to the city for Mass, and when they were there, Nathaniel took them to see the stables and let them ride one of the horses. Aimee would not consent to sitting in a saddle, but she stroked the horse's nose and talked to it while Mr Godwin lifted William onto its back and got him settled.
The horse liked William, if its patience and easy walk was anything to go by, and the fact that it did not want to stand still long enough for Con to swing himself into the saddle. It did not seem to like Julia much either, but Mrs Godwin, who had been quite an equestrienne in her youth, coaxed it into a trot and then a gallop while the rest of her family stood in the doorway of the stable and stared.
The cavalry unit has clearly made an impression on William, because as they head for home he chatters on about the mounted soldiers and the horses and how he would like a horse to ride over the summer. Luisa listens patiently, although she must have heard a lot of it already. Con looks like he is listening as well, but James knows better.
"What is Luisa's last name?" he asks Julia.
"I do not know," she admits. "Ask her when William gives her a break."
William finally runs out of steam, and James takes the opportunity to walk up next to Luisa and ask her what her last name is.
"You do not know?" she asks, grinning. "I know yours."
"Everyone knows mine. What if I need to stand on a bench and get your attention in a crowd of people?"
"Then you will yell 'Luisa!' very loudly and I will hear you."
"But – "
"Sermattei," she tells him.
"Serma... tey?" He is unfamiliar with Italian names and cannot pronounce hers. He is starting to understand why he has only ever called her by her first name.
"Close enough. Shall I spell it for you too?"
"Yes please."
"I do not have paper, but when we get back to the house I will write out my name for you, so if you ever need it, you will have it."
"Thank you." He feels oddly accomplished.
There are still a few ladies in the parlor when they get home, although it seems as if Mrs Godwin's luncheon is over. Nathaniel is still up in the nursery, but rather than reading his book, he is sitting at the child-size table where Aimee has set up a tea party for her dolls, and he is now pretending to drink from one of her tiny teacups as she pretends to pour tea for the rest of her "guests".
"Did you enjoy the parade?" he asks, when Luisa and William and James troop in. Con disappeared into the kitchen and Mrs Godwin caught Julia and pulled her into the parlor to meet the ladies who are still here.
"We did, thank you," Luisa says. "It was very majestic and stirring. Have you two been up here all afternoon?"
"Momma told me to stop playing with the dogs because they were getting overexcited," Aimee says, still carefully pouring tea. "Ming did bark quite a lot. But Pierre was very good."
"We saw a cavalry unit," William tells Nathaniel, ignoring his sister. "They looked very noble."
"There is something intrinsically noble about a man on a horse," Nathaniel agrees. "Were there many people?"
"Very many," James says. "Con put me on his shoulders so I could see, and Julia had to stand on a bench. And then we could not find Luisa and William when it was over."
"I had to squeeze through everyone to the street," William says. "I had to use my elbows."
"It sounds very claustrophobic," Nathaniel muses.
"What does that mean?" Aimee asks.
"Very crowded. I am not sorry I stayed here."
"There were no soldiers who looked like you," James says.
"No black men, you mean?"
"No. But I still think you and Lucas should have been marching with everyone."
Nathaniel shrugs. "Some men choose to participate. Some do not. Do not think less of Lucas for not marching."
"I do not think less of him, or you. But – "
"James," Luisa interrupts, "do not pester your brother. Are you hungry? Shall we see if Mrs Malcolm will give us a snack?"
"I want a snack," William says.
"Me too," Aimee pipes up.
"No, thank you," Nathaniel says, because it seems as if Luisa is about to ask him as well.
She takes the younger Godwins downstairs and into the kitchen, where Con is sitting at the table eating a hard-boiled-egg sandwich and talking to Mrs Malcolm about Scotland. Mrs Malcolm came to the United States thirty-five years ago, from a city called Aberdeen, and whenever anyone tells her they cannot understand her because of her accent, she laughs and says that if she were to go back home, they would tell her that she has lost it and sounds just like an American.
Now she is telling Con about her sister, who followed a young man to Canada, of all places, and now lives on a farm in the middle of the country, far from civilization and culture and family.
"Your sister is mad," Con says decisively, "to live in the middle of nowhere."
"She is, at that," Mrs Malcom says. "But I love her."
"Mrs Malcolm," Aimee says, "may I have a sandwich too?"
"Well, hello. You may indeed. There are some slices of hard-boiled egg left from your mam's luncheon."
"Jam, please."
"Jam it is. What about you gentlement?" she asks William and James.
"Egg," James says, at the same time William says "Just butter, please."
"And Luisa," Con adds, winking at her. James can see Mrs Malcolm roll her eyes, but he guesses that Con cannot.
After a while Julia joins them, and they sit around the table and eat and listen to Mrs Malcolm talk about Aberdeen and the tiny house where she grew up and how she met her husband (he was a friend of her cousin's) and why she started cooking for other people, until Mrs Godwin finds them and tells them to leave her alone and let her get back to work.
Supper is late that night, because of the parade and Mrs Godwin's lunch party and Mr Godwin having to attend a reception in honor of some of his employees who served in the war. Nathaniel does not stay for supper but rather has Mr Sewell drive him to Lucas' apartment, where he will stay the night before going back to the rest home in the morning.
James can tell that his momma is a little upset by this, but she just kisses Nathaniel on both cheeks and wishes him a good night before he leaves.
"Why did he not eat with us?" James asks Julia later, after Luisa has gone home.
"Lucas' apartment is smaller and quieter," Julia says. "Nathaniel feels safer with his brother down the hall."
"But I wanted him to tell me about going into battle, fighting Germans and being in France. I wanted him to tell me if it was an adventure."
"I do not think it was. The war did odd things to people's minds, James. Sometimes it is better not to ask."
She seems uncharacteristically serious, so James lets the subject go.
"I learned Luisa's last name," he says.
"What is it?"
"Sermattei." He is proud of himself for remembering it correctly. When Luisa wrote it out for him, it did not look exactly the same way it sounds, so she made him repeat it until he got it right.
"So if you ever have to get her attention in a crowd of people, you can. Hopefully you will not have to."
The next day, when Mrs O'Donnell brings Sean and Liam over, James asks them if they saw any of the Memorial Day parade, and when they tell him they were standing at the beginning of it, the three of them start comparing notes as to who saw what and where was a better place to stand and should they watch the beginning or the end next year, or maybe see if they can watch it from the middle, and then they form themselves into individual units of one and march up and down the hallway until Mrs O'Donnell tells them to get out from underfoot and go play in the nursery with William and Aimee.
words: 1737
total words: 25,223
quickie research: italian last names
