A New Beginning~Part 2

Emma’s mind was racing. How would she be able to move everything from this building in just a few days and what would she do with it? Her dear friend Lily Kramer was helping clean up the last of the remains of the party and noticed Emma’s ashen face. Emma told Lily what had happened and her friend was ready with a solution. Lily’s Uncle Jonas lived on a farm just outside of Greensboro. He was in the process of selling off the farm animals before he and his wife Ethel retired from the farming business and moved to Camden Corners to be closer to their daughter and their grandchildren. There were several empty barns and Lily was certain her Uncle, a very generous fellow, would be happy to let her store the items in the barns.

Nettie Dawson happened to overhear the conversation. She knew what Mr. Wilson was capable of and wasn’t surprised that he had taken advantage of Grandpa Amos and was now taking advantage of Emma. Nettie gathered up the remaining townsfolk and came up with a plan. Tomorrow morning, as soon as the sun was up everyone would load up their wagons with everything in the store that wasn’t nailed down and deliver it to the farm. Seth Greenfield was already on his way to the Fulbright farm to inform Jonas what was going to be taking place. Not surprisingly, the Fulbrights opened their barns and their arms to help Emma out of the mess she was in. Emma would also be without living quarters and Ethel Fulbright was busy dusting her daughter’s old room so that Emma would have a place to sleep.

The next morning the town was a bustle of activity as the shelves of the store were cleared, the living quarters emptied and all the treasures Amos had stored were removed and placed carefully on one wagon after another. After each wagon made their delivery, they came full circle and reloaded. Nettie supervised the whole process and by late afternoon, everything was out of the building including a stray peanut that had fallen behind the counter.

Emma was so grateful to her friends for all of their help but felt a sadness when she walked around Grandpa Amos’ store for the last time. It was time to move on though and on her way out of the store she noticed a copy of the Greensboro Weekly sitting on the bench just outside the door. Without thinking, she picked up the paper and realized she would now be out of a job because there was no way she would be able to work for that curmudgeon again.

Lily was waiting for her friend to drive her in her horse and buggy to her temporary home on the Fulbright farm. All of her friends from Greensboro were at the farm with tables of food set up in one corner of the only barn that wasn’t filled with items from Grandpa’s building. Mr. Warren was there to greet Emma and let her know that he would be buying all of the merchandise from Grandpa’s store. He thought she might like to keep the old cash register as a memento. He paid her generously for his purchases. No one knew that Grandpa had helped him out of several jams through the years when things weren’t going smoothly for him. Emma was learning more about her Grandfather’s generosity every day and realizing what a truly remarkable man he had been. When she was afraid he was taking advantage of people who were losing their homes, he was actually paying more money for their belongings than they were worth. So many families had benefited from him buying their treasures and adding a bit extra to the purchase price enabling them to settle with their debtors. In helping out Emma, half the town was showing their gratitude to her Grandpa and the other half simply liked Emma and old Amos. Soon after most of the guests had departed for home, Emma walked Lily to her buggy in order to get the overnight bag she had packed. Lily picked up the forgotten newspaper, it slipped out of her hand and opened to the ad Emma had placed regarding the sale of the Antique Shop in Camden Corners. Emma and Lily looked at each other and knew at that moment that they would be on their way to Camden Corners in the morning. 

Check back tomorrow to see what happens next.  A New Beginning and other short stories are available in their entirety in Camden Corners Volume One on smashwords.com; Kindle and Nook.