You dont know if the blood you smelled was hers, Tucker.
Pewter was now sorry she hadnt gone to the barns.
And your idea means whoever put the body there would have to be lucky that the pile wasnt frozen.
Or they knew the maintenance routine.
Tucker sat still.
If only we could get Mom back there.
Thats not going to be anytime soon.
Mrs. Murphy looked toward the window.
Whiteout.
T
he wind whipped the heavy snows sideways at times. The mercury hung at twenty-two degrees but threatened to go lower as the night of March 25 deepened. By six, the time of the celebration, the auditorium held the students who lived on campus and most of the faculty and staff. The over-eighty alumnae had been bused in. All the alumnae board, except for Mariah, sat in the front row on the right of the center aisle. The elderly graduates sat on the left. The auditorium was half-full. There was no way those living far away could fight the storm. As it was, the students would be walking back to their residence halls holding hands in a chain. Losing ones way in a whiteout was easy, far easier than one would suspect. All people in cold climates knew stories of farmers frozen to death not ten yards from the barn door.
Harry left her three animal companions in the house. None of them had minded. She sat toward the front. Big Mim and Little Mim sat directly below the podium. Inez sat next to Jahnae Barnett and Aunt Tally on the stage.
Jahnae spoke, lovingly sketching the universitys history. It was founded in 1870, five years after the end of The War Between the States, in response to the needs of female children orphaned by the conflict. Sixty-one years later, Tally Urquhart graduated. The Great
Depression was two years old; Germany was rearming. Dismal though things might be, sound entered movies, and people flocked to theaters to forget their troubles. Professional sports provided another bright spot. It might have been the Great Depression, but the young were ever hopeful. This applied to the class of 1931 and to Inezs class, 1933.
Then as now, one of the hallmarks of William Woods was the lifelong friendships forged during the students two years. William Woods became a four-year institution years after Tally and then Inez had graduated. At this, Jahnae introduced Inez, providing a bit of her history.
Inez could always command an audience. I first met Tally Urquhart in 1931, my freshman year, in the stable. She said, Put your hands down.
I was riding a hunter but with Saddle Seat hands. From that day to this, my oldest and dearest friend has spoken her mind, usually without honey-coating her thoughts. She was right. My hands needed to come down.
As you can imagine, weve lived through a great deal. Were still here. I will always be grateful to William Woods for the superior education I received at a time when not many women managed to achieve a higher education nor were encouraged to do so. Most of our classmates are gone now, but we have maintained vibrant friendships. I hope this one lasts another eighty years and then some, but failing that, well make the most of what time we have left.
Without further ado, Tally Urquhart.
To thunderous applause, Inez took her seat next to Jahnae, who leaned over to congratulate her.
Using her gold-headed cane from Inez, Tally reached the podium without hobbling. Given Tallys short stature, Jahnae had arranged for a low podium. Tally wanted to stand. No chair for her.
Aunt Tallys eyes, still quite good, swept the audience, lingering on her niece and grand-niece; then she cast her eyes at Harry. Taking a deep breath, she addressed the assembled.
Thank you for braving a Missouri spring to be here. She paused
for the ripple of laughter, then continued, You know how old I am. A woman who will tell her age will tell anything. I intend to do just that.
I applaud your good sense in attending William Woods. I look back on my time here with untrammeled joy. I know I speak for Inez, too, for all the Grande Dames. The rest of our classmates have gone on. I miss them. This will happen to you many decades from now, the good-byes to those who sustained you in life. You go on. You retain their wisdom. You try to incorporate their best qualities into your behavior.
One professor stands out in my minda wonderful, wonderful history professor, Chuck Jones. He used to tell us over and over againto the point where Inez and I could look at each other, wink, and then repeatTrust your instincts and dont expect life to be logical. He told us the truth.
I will now try to live up to what I learned here, to what life has taught me, and to my own instincts. I will tell you the truth as best I know it.
The first truth really is to trust your instincts. How easy that sounds. How difficult in practice. Why? Because all religion and government want to do is take you away from you. This isnt to say that organized religion is bad, only that it has strayed far away from spirit and is now part and parcel of the political structure. I guess the leaders of the various churches have forgotten Christs words, Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesars and to God the things that are Gods.
As to the United States government, at the federal level it is a disaster. At the state level it can be intrusive. At the local level it often works very well. The further a politician is removed from those who are governed, the more mistakes he or she makes. And we have no statesmen, only politicians, hence the disasters that will accumulate and intensify until you become involved, which is to say fight back. Rememberin fact, tattoo this on the inside of your eyelidsJeffersons quote that every American should hold sacred: That government is best which governs least.
Never ever believe that laws will solve a problem. The law allows what honor forbids. A problem will be solved only by people, not by a piece of paper.
She caught her breath, smiled, then continued, So much for the so-called big issues. Now to life.
Never hope more than you work.
Animals never make a virtue out of boredom, best you dont, either.
Dont get addicted to the struggle. If that statement doesnt make sense now, it will over time.
There are some people you cant satisfy even if you blow a fan on them in hell. Ditch em. If that person is your boss, start looking for another job.
Corruption is like a lilybrush against it, however lightly, and some of the pollen smears on you. Therefore choose your friends and your employers wisely. When the day comes that some of you start your own businesses and hire employees, concern yourself more with that persons character than their resume. This gets back to the first thing I said: Trust your instincts.
No dog would pay for sex. Humans, mostly men, worldwide, do. And people call dogs dumb animals.
For Gods sake, dont try to be perfect. Its impossible and you will become impossibly tedious.
I have always believed a window into a persons true nature is how they treat animals, children, and the elderly. A person who mistreats animals isnt worth knowing. A person who mistreats childrenespecially those who abuse and kill themshould be shot without wasting any taxpayer money for a trial and for feeding them in prison. When a perpetrator of heinous crimes can live in a climate-controlled environment and eat three meals a day while good people go hungry, something is very wrong. Americans are paying for serial killers, rapists, and child abusers to live better than they do.
She paused for a moment, again swept the room with her eyes, and moved on to less troubling subjects. Fall in love with open eyes. Easier said than done, so should you find yourself in a situation where you