Her Chocolate Cake Is Fantastic

We waved goodbye to Grandpa and watched his trail ofred dust as he drove rapidly to Commerce.

Grandma turned to me and said, "Now it's time to gather the eggs. Would you please go to the pantry and bring the basket?"

"Oh, by the way, Grandpa and I want to take you Saturday afternoon to Wilson's Church to the dinner on the grounds. I will need to make one of my chocolate cakes and a churn of ice cream. I need as many eggs as possible by tomorrow morning. We should have no trouble there as all our hens are good layers."

I was so excited over the homemade ice cream and chocolate cake that I ran out with the basket to get all the eggs I could find in the hen house.

Grandma watched me with a big smile on her face. "Her enthusiasm proves shet beginning to enjoy her visit alone," Grandma thought and was pleased.

In a very short time, I appear4d in the kitchen doorway with a beaming smile. "Grandma, will sixteen eggs be enough for your cake and the ice cream? That sixteenth egg wasn't easy for me to get as "Ole Red" really wanted to keep it! "

. "That is more than enough," Grandma said, and I was so happy. "Ole Red" really doesn't like to part with her eggs. She squawks pretty loud sometimes. I have an idea, though, most of the time, her squawk is worse than her peckl"

I chuckled at Grandma's attempt at humor.

Soon Grandma made her famous chocolate cake and she had let me help with the homemade ice cream. I did fine until, along toward the last, the handle of the freezer became so hard to turn that I couldn't budge it. Grandma came to help me. She said, "You've done a finejob. I was able to get the cake packed in my cake box, and I put a few snacks in a bag for us to eat in the wagon on the way."

"That's great, Grandma. You remembered last year, you wished we'd had something to munch on as the wagon takes so long to get to church. It's fun, though. I like to dangle my legs offthe back and sing along with the others. We had such a good time last year."

"Marie told me that she and Mary and Cary are coming, too. At the last minute, Woody decided to go with us. We'll have a nice crowd in the wagon, and enough to really enjoy singing as we ride," Grandma said.

"I'm so glad they are all coming. It won't be quite the same without Mickey and Buck, but they couldn't come this year." Kathryn Bush

Austin appeared from the barn. He had filled the wagon with soft hay. He also had hitched Nellie Belle up with his own horse, Perkins, securely to the wagon. It was noon, and as soon as Grandpa arrived home, we would be on our way. Grandpa was rarely late.

I looked down the road towards Commerce, and sure enough, I spotted a continuous cloud of dust which I knew was my Grandpa's speeding car! In no time at all, Grandpa was seated on the high wagon seat ready to guide us to Wilson's Church. Many years ago, he'd tried to whip the horses into speeding, but Grandma had quickly put a stop to that! She told him that half the fun of riding in the wagon to the church was the leisurely pace so that the singing would be enjoyed by all.

Grandpa got down and lifted his small wife up into the place beside him on the buckboard seat. "Everyone pile in andbe seated,'Said Grandpa.

One by one, we climbed into the wagon with Austin's help. Soon we were all comfortably seated. Mary Cary, and I were already dangling our feet off the back. I looked back and saw that Woody wanted to be back there with us, but there was not quite enough room. She settled down just behind us. I turned to Woody and said, "Woody, I think I can move over just a little, and you can just squeeze in."

"Nah, I'm fine," she said. "When we start singing, it will be easier for me to harmonize since I'm in the middle."

"You sure?" I asked, still feeling guilty to be sitting in the best place in the wagon.

"Yep, enjoy it. Next year, Mickey and I will sit there!" She grinned at me.

Grandma started singing some rounds and we all happily joined in. We sang one after another. Then we started our favorite hymns. As Grandma said when we started the hymns, 'After all, we are riding to the church!"

After we arrived at Wilson's Church, we realized we were among the last to get there. Grandpa expertly released the horses from the wagon and hitched them to a nearby tree. We would be there a while; and the horses needed freedom from the traces.

Grandma said, "If everyone will take one or two items, we can get our food to the table quickly." Most of the people may have gotten there ahead of the Reynolds clan, but no one dared use their usual table. Grandma and Grandpa were both important pillars ofthe church, and everyone respected their chosen table as for their use only. After all, Grandma was known as the greatest student of the Bible in the entire congregation. It was widely known that she had read the Bible through four times. Many people went to her for her wise advice when problems occurred in their lives. Grandpa was an Elder in the church, and had been for more years than most of the people could remember.

We realized as we were unloading our food from the baskets that almost everyone was ready to serve theirs. We quickly set our table and the Minister asked Grandpa to say the blessing. His grace was fairly short as Grandpa, as well as the rest ofus, had worked up a tremendous appetite. The only noise we heard for a few minutes was the happy consumption of delicious food.

I thought, "This is almost like our family reunions. It will be coming up very soon. I'll be able to "Pig Out" twice this summer. This occasion proved to be very pleasant, especially for the adults. It wasn't long before us kids began to be

50 FORTY GRAND

fidgety, as we were ready for the fun ride back home in the wagon, We saw that the food was gone and all ofthe ice cream and cake had disappeared.

Pretty soon, Grandpa hitched the horses again to the wagon for the ride back to his farm. Everyone elimbed aboard. I said to Woody, "You take my place. I'll sit in the harmonizing section."

She protested, but I insisted. She grinned happily and climbed in, immediately dangling her own feet. The only thing she had to contend with was being so close to the twins. They always teased her so. She managed to ignore them and we all had a good ride home. My ride wasn't so bad either; and it was a good spot for harmonizing!