1940s: Thomas enlists
As if things weren't bad enough, 1943 start with another death. Early in the morning Buddy draws his last breath on the floor of their bedroom.
The very next morning, Abigail gets on a train to San Sequoia, but Thomas and the rest of the family head to church. As a young adult, Thomas has to register for the draft, but influenced by Anna's idealism, he wants to head straight for the recruitment office that has set up in church when there is no service.
"Are you sure you want to enlist right away?" Anna asks, suddenly feeling some of the horrors that her own mother felt when seeing her rush off into war. "Let yourself have a week or so off first?"
"Why wait? The war is now, isn't it?" Thomas replies. "You're the one that always says we should do our duty. Why shouldn't I want to do mine?"
Anna is at the same time incredibly proud and utterly terrified as she accompany him to the enlistment center.
At first Thomas is questioned, then he gets a medical check up to see if he is fit enough to be enlisted. At the end, he gets his papers and his uniform. Anna cannot help but to be impressed when she sees him. "I'm so proud of you!"
They bury him out by the trees he's spent so much time running around chasing squirrels in, close to Omisco.
The entire family is saddened by the loss, and for Thomas it is hard to muster up the energy to go to school, but he has no choice. Finals are drawing near and these are his last. He hugs Bronco for support before leaving in the morning.
That day everything is a bit up in the air, and unwatched, Misty makes another run for it. They find her gracing on a patch of grass some way from the house, apparently quite pleased with herself, if a bit tired from the ordeal. Anna is glad to have her back, but wishes she'd learn to stay put (and wonders how it is she keeps getting out. How high can she jump when no one is around to see her? With someone on her back it's still not that high.)
She hopes breeding her with Bronco will keep her calmer:
In school, Thomas tries to focus on his classes, but it's difficult. While he does good in school, Thomas still thinks breaks are way more fun. Shooting hoops with his friends is a great way to take his mind of things, and some of the pretty girls in his class are really supportive when you've lost both relatives and a dog in a short time. Sienna has him thinking he might be into blonds, but then Annabell's fiery red hair is kind of cute too. Following uncle Johnny's advice, Thomas flirts with both, but it's Annabell who gets his first kiss.
When the weekend rolls around, the town gathers to the Equestrian Centre for the big championship games. Anna is entering with Starbucks, and while he could have had more training, they still lands a silver. Anna is delighted! When they return home, the new trophy gets center stage on the mantel piece.
But as the finals are heading for a close, and Thomas' birthday is right around the corner, horrible news hits the family. William, Abigail and Joseph's youngest, has been killed in action!
Abigail is of course inconsolable. Her youngest child, and only son, dead! Her first instinct is to get on a train to San Sequoia, to console Amanda, but no matter her own pain she cannot leave. It's Thomas' birthday, and not just any birthday, but his coming of age birthday. Plans has been made long ago, people are on their way already, and there really is no way to cancel. So Abigail tries to put on a brave face, bake the cake, make the meal, and set everything up before the party, allowing herself only one small run to church to light a candle for her son.
Her efforts are appreciated, of course, but everyone else is as sad as she is. Josephine, Anna and Alice all lost their brother. Thomas and his siblings an uncle. No one is happy on this birthday, but everyone tries to seem to be. When the party is over and they can all go to bed, the family is exhausted.
The entire family is saddened by the loss, and for Thomas it is hard to muster up the energy to go to school, but he has no choice. Finals are drawing near and these are his last. He hugs Bronco for support before leaving in the morning.
That day everything is a bit up in the air, and unwatched, Misty makes another run for it. They find her gracing on a patch of grass some way from the house, apparently quite pleased with herself, if a bit tired from the ordeal. Anna is glad to have her back, but wishes she'd learn to stay put (and wonders how it is she keeps getting out. How high can she jump when no one is around to see her? With someone on her back it's still not that high.)
She hopes breeding her with Bronco will keep her calmer:
In school, Thomas tries to focus on his classes, but it's difficult. While he does good in school, Thomas still thinks breaks are way more fun. Shooting hoops with his friends is a great way to take his mind of things, and some of the pretty girls in his class are really supportive when you've lost both relatives and a dog in a short time. Sienna has him thinking he might be into blonds, but then Annabell's fiery red hair is kind of cute too. Following uncle Johnny's advice, Thomas flirts with both, but it's Annabell who gets his first kiss.
When the weekend rolls around, the town gathers to the Equestrian Centre for the big championship games. Anna is entering with Starbucks, and while he could have had more training, they still lands a silver. Anna is delighted! When they return home, the new trophy gets center stage on the mantel piece.
But as the finals are heading for a close, and Thomas' birthday is right around the corner, horrible news hits the family. William, Abigail and Joseph's youngest, has been killed in action!
Abigail is of course inconsolable. Her youngest child, and only son, dead! Her first instinct is to get on a train to San Sequoia, to console Amanda, but no matter her own pain she cannot leave. It's Thomas' birthday, and not just any birthday, but his coming of age birthday. Plans has been made long ago, people are on their way already, and there really is no way to cancel. So Abigail tries to put on a brave face, bake the cake, make the meal, and set everything up before the party, allowing herself only one small run to church to light a candle for her son.
Her efforts are appreciated, of course, but everyone else is as sad as she is. Josephine, Anna and Alice all lost their brother. Thomas and his siblings an uncle. No one is happy on this birthday, but everyone tries to seem to be. When the party is over and they can all go to bed, the family is exhausted.
The very next morning, Abigail gets on a train to San Sequoia, but Thomas and the rest of the family head to church. As a young adult, Thomas has to register for the draft, but influenced by Anna's idealism, he wants to head straight for the recruitment office that has set up in church when there is no service.
"Are you sure you want to enlist right away?" Anna asks, suddenly feeling some of the horrors that her own mother felt when seeing her rush off into war. "Let yourself have a week or so off first?"
"Why wait? The war is now, isn't it?" Thomas replies. "You're the one that always says we should do our duty. Why shouldn't I want to do mine?"
Anna is at the same time incredibly proud and utterly terrified as she accompany him to the enlistment center.
At first Thomas is questioned, then he gets a medical check up to see if he is fit enough to be enlisted. At the end, he gets his papers and his uniform. Anna cannot help but to be impressed when she sees him. "I'm so proud of you!"
Josephine, on the other hand, does not feel proud - only terrified. Her baby boy? In a war!?! Furious she gets on a train to Chestnut Ridge and confronts her sister.
"This is your fault! You have filled him with all these ideals and now he's going to war that has already claimed our brother and nephew! Now you want to let them have my boy too!"
Anna does understand, and tries to reason with her sister. In the end, however, what Josephine needs is not reason, but a shoulder to cry on and someone to understand her fear.
"I'll try to keep an eye on him, to... watch over him. I can't keep him from harm, no one can, but I can try to be there in some way. I'll find a way."Anna says, although at this point she has no clue on what she could possibly do or how that would work, but she wants her sister to feel some relief from her fear.
"Promise?" Josephine.
"I promise!" Anna answers, knowing she will do anything in her power to keep that promise, even if she right now has no clue how. At the moment it's not that important anyway, there is still a lot of training for Thomas to get through before he's shipped anywhere, and in the meantime Anna can figure out how to keep an eye on him.
"This is your fault! You have filled him with all these ideals and now he's going to war that has already claimed our brother and nephew! Now you want to let them have my boy too!"
Anna does understand, and tries to reason with her sister. In the end, however, what Josephine needs is not reason, but a shoulder to cry on and someone to understand her fear.
"I'll try to keep an eye on him, to... watch over him. I can't keep him from harm, no one can, but I can try to be there in some way. I'll find a way."Anna says, although at this point she has no clue on what she could possibly do or how that would work, but she wants her sister to feel some relief from her fear.
"Promise?" Josephine.
"I promise!" Anna answers, knowing she will do anything in her power to keep that promise, even if she right now has no clue how. At the moment it's not that important anyway, there is still a lot of training for Thomas to get through before he's shipped anywhere, and in the meantime Anna can figure out how to keep an eye on him.
For Thomas, now in training, life back at the farm already seems far away. His days are now filled with marching, line ups, sparring and training. By dinner he's starving, by nightfall exhausted. But he's not alone. Almost everyone in his old class is here with him. They will train together now, and they all hope they'll fight together when the time comes.
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