The Festigue’s, Part 3

Hello all! A good Sunday Morning to you!  I said that I would be doing the finale to the Festigue's today but, it seems, I won't. The story still wants telling and so we will see where it goes, okay?  I may throw in some questions just to see how you feel about them, okay? If you do not like them, we can always pitch them. Get your coffee and then read at your leisure. I took the liberty of doing this blog ahead of time, which seems to work well for me.

Robert sat still! He had his eyes glued to his sister but he sat still. Janie quieted Baby Timmy and Bess stood up to survey the damage to her jelly, hoping that some of her jars were left intact, gasped and promptly fainted again. Only one jar of her jelly was left, which automatically disqualified her from the  grand prize contest because the rules clearly stated that there must be a jar for each judge and there were three judges.

Doc Merrywinkle had reached her by then and barked to Redforth “Bring her to my office right away!”  Redforth, stammered, “Sure, Doc, sure.”

Old man Myads walked over to Janie and told her to follow him. While Redforth was getting his truck for taking Bess to Doc. Merrywinkle’s office, Old Mrs. Huffipton was heard to exclaim, “Well I never! Putting his hands all over an unmarried girl, humph, and she didn’t look that sick to me, to be doing all that fainting!”

Another lady exclaimed, “She might be hatching; you never know.  Remember Lotty’s girl…everybody thought she was so nice and sweet and her carrying on wit Silas Drake all the while. Just sayin’.”  

Old man Myads turned midstride and said, “Listen here you popping off old jay bird biddies! If I so much as hear you (pointing to Old Mrs. Huffipton) mention that girl’s name again in such a manner, your husband will not work at my sawmill any longer and I’ll make sure that your (pointing to Old Mrs. Huffipton’s sidekick) kin back east know that you have never made a jar of jelly in your life, that you have been sending them this girl’s jelly under your name! You got that popinjay!” Mrs. Huffipton said, “Course everybody knows that Bess is a good girl, her taking on the chore of raisin’ her brothers and her sister n all. Uhm hum, Bess is a good girl."
Having had his say, old man Myads strode off still holding Robert by the hand with  a tearful Janie carrying Baby Timmy, in tow.

Doing What I Can, While I Can

Alma Jones

 

1. Why do you think the Myads seem to be concerning themselves to the extent that they are in the Festigue children's lives? Do you think it is just Christian kindness? Do you think Old Man Festigue has ulterior motives?

2. Do you think that the "biddies" have learned their lesson regarding talking unnecessarily and mean spirited about people in general, or just about Bess? Or do you think they learned a lesson at all?

3. Will Bess be alright?

4. Will Robert learn a lesson about responsibility?

5. What do you think will happen to the Festigue children?

6. Is it fair that Bess has had to take on the rearing of her siblings?

7.  Do you think some agent from the state will try to take custody of the children from Bess? If you do, how did they find out about the Festigue children?

So many questions! And all waiting to be answered...(smile)

Join me here tomorrow for the latest in the lives of these poor children, won't you? And lastly, what would you want done if these children were yours?

Aside - If you still have dependent children, have you made provision for them, just in case? Just a thought, but a necessarily serious one because your children are your greatest and your most vulnerable asset.