Friendships Ch. 07

Miss Molly said, "Amy, to solve problems you first need to figure at least some of the problems you may have. Second, what all the options are. Third, what are all the good and bad things about each option."

Dr. Daisy went and got a pad of paper and wrote down in a column the words 'Who', 'What', 'Where', 'When', 'Why', and How'.

"Some people use what is called the five 'W's and an H" to solve problems. Now think back to what you did when you called the clinic and told me about 'Sky' when she was sick. You won't be able to fill in everything in detail, so some may have general answers. Try to fill out your piece of paper to see how good you did. Tell us out loud the answer. Tell us if you told me or Krynn the answer."

"Um, let's see 'WHO'. I told Krynn it was 'Sky'," Amy smiled.

"'What', I told Krynn 'Sky' was sick." Amy filled in the next entry.

"Where, here at the ranch in her stable. I told Krynn that."

Dr. Daisy said, "Very good Amy. Some of these questions are tricky because they have more than one answer. If 'Sky' was limping, wouldn't you not tell me what leg? If she would not let you touch her tummy wouldn't that be good to know? You need to tell me as many detailed observations as you can like looking at her chart, doing a brief exam to find any potential problem spots."

"Uh-uh."

The twins were just soaking this conversation in. This is exactly what they needed to know about helping them out.

"OK Amy, what is the next one?"

"When, um 'Now'."

Dr. Daisy said, "Didn't you tell Krynn she was getting worse, how did you know that?"

"Because I checked her after breakfast."

"That was very good to know, it let me know it was more urgent and might be longer lasting. We still do not know the 'Why' or 'How'. When other horses started getting sick Miss Sarah knew her horses had only three things in common; food, water and hay."

"She ordered an emergency supply of food and burned the rest of it. All the stalls were totally cleaned with new hay, in case something bad was in the hay. I gave vitamins and dewormers to help fight off their sickness. I also took blood and water samples."

"You three gave devotion and prayer. You didn't let one of you go it alone. Moral support is very important, even if you think you didn't do very much, it may have been very important for the person who is having the problem."

Miss Sarah said, "Now apply it to your current problem."

Miss Sarah started asking leading questions, "What is your problem?"

"To get the children here to the ranch to help with the gardening."

"How are you going to do that if I don't let you have a car to pick them up?"

A twin squealed, "Pick them up with 'Sky', 'Friend' and 'Companion', otherwise they would be too tired to help."

Miss Sarah said, "How long do you want them here? When do you want them to come? When can you have them here, so I can put it on my schedule?"

Amy said, "I think two hours would be a good amount of time, maybe after dinner."

Miss Sarah said, "Two hours seems a good amount of time, but you are wasting half your day. How can you improve your schedule?"

A twin said, "Well, from 9:00 to 10:00 we ride our horses. At 10:00 it is feed time and they all get a good wash down and brush down along with cleaning the stall. Everyone knows all their jobs. We are doing it much faster now. We are done around 10:30. With three people we just can work fast."

"So what time is your next schedule event?"

"Dinner time at 12:00."

Miss Sarah could see the girls were not connecting the dots.

"Let me see if I can help you solve your problem. People like to be rewarded for helping others. I mean if you help a friend move, it would be nice to have a pizza for lunch."

"If you are working outside on a hot day, getting all muddy and sweaty, it would be nice to take a break."

Miss Ceres said, "Problem solving is tough, even adults only take a few things at a time and then think about it some more. We have thought about this problem, so we had time to get a few more answers. You didn't have any time at all. You figured out that horseback would be the best way to get them here."

"We thought you would tell Miss Sarah you would always want to ride your horses together from 8:30 to 10:00. While you are taking care your horses, the children could get a jumpstart for all the jobs I will give them. Miss Molly will give you harder jobs, so we can get more done. They will not work as many days as you do."

"Inviting them to dinner would be a nice gesture, especially if there is some ice-cold lemonade waiting on the table."

"If you want to plan to do something after bedtime, it has to be cleared by me and your parents. We almost lost Miss Molly one night; it was a very sad night."

Miss Penny said, "What Miss Sarah is not trying to tell you is what I did that night. My brother and I and our two dates were very drunk, and we were going to a big party we heard about at another campus. We were both going race car fast, but ours was faster."

"I was so drunk, I just saw something white on the road; 'Spirit' jumped off the road saving Molly's life. The flashlight Molly was holding was destroyed. We went flying off the road, rolled down the hill and I wound up hanging upside down in a creek. My date died."

"My brother and his date were going almost as fast as we were, and they slammed into the 'Great Oak' tree. You can still see the markings. Our dates were brother and sister and I lost my brother. They found me the next day. Being the only one left, really was crazy."

"At the 'Thanksgiving bash' I listened to all the seniors there to get wisdom. There were three other people that helped me. One said, 'Penny, it seems you are at a turning point in your life. The question is 'Which way are you going to turn?' The second person did not say anything, and the third person taught me how to do jobs around the ranch. Can you guess who they were?"

"Well the second one has to be Miss Joy."

"The first one has to be Miss Sarah. She gets all serious when she wants to make a point," said a twin.

"The last one has to be Dr. Daisy. She is younger and lived here after Miss Molly," said the other twin.

Maddy was working hard on her latest story. It took her over a week just to get the information.

Her editor e-mailed her to tell her to make an additional smaller story.

The small story was a full 'Above the fold' story.

Sarah laid a newspaper in front of Maddy. "Have you ever seen one of these before Maddy?" Sarah laid another paper down.

Up by the banner in big bold red letters read 'EXTRA! EXTRA!

This was the pet article, every quote, picture and anything else Maddy put in was there. Some were rearranged to fit the paper better. These were town kids talking to town kids in the universal language of animals. It was included on their website, so they did not need reprints. Full color pictures with names of the pets appeared.

Dr. Daisy laughed, "Look, the first one is 'Chipper'; she was the first pet I saw at the clinic."

Everyone was entranced by all the interesting and thoughtful stories the children told.

All the coverage was shining a large spotlight on Northfield; both mid-sized and big businesses were moving in, some headquarters, and some manufacturing. All the workers needed a place to live. South Hill was now building in more scenic areas. The price tags were going up.

The corporate area was put in a totally different area than the town. It was made clear to all prospective buyers the town would be a horse friendly area. The town had decided long ago that the ranch would be a focal point of the town. Mr. Mayor fought to keep it that way. Oddly, the prospective buyers were in total agreement with that policy.

Greek row was filled. The commissioners were thrilled at the high GPA most of them had.

"Mr. Mayor, how would you like me to make your day? I got all the scores for the Euro Disney concert today. The big secret is after Molly, Krynn and Francine perform in Paris, all the kids will get Disney Concert series certificates," said the South Hill music director with glee.

The music director then called Molly, Krynn and Francine.

It did not take long for the news to travel. Miss Joy was already scheming about a Disney dress up parade for anyone who wanted to dress up. Everyone in town would want Miss Joy to be Snow White.

"For our French friends, Molly, Krynn and Francine will soon be starting to practice for a Euro Disney concert. They are just buying one-way tickets, so their stay could be extended. Stay tuned for further details." Sarah typed out on Facebook.

The work was demanding for all the students in the orchestra and choir, but they reveled in it. It had been four months, they were getting close. The Music Director called Miss Joy to update her.

Miss Joy came running into the clubhouse saying, "Children, everyone knows that Disney has lots of parades. Who wants to help make one for our friends doing the new concert?" All hands shot into the air.

They made many giant silhouettes picked from Disney sketchbooks to adorn Miss Sarah's wagons. As they colored, Disney music constantly played so all the children would know all the songs Molly would play by heart.

An audio/visual nerd at the college thought having the lyrics displayed digitally, high up on both side of the wagons that people would not have to know the song. He had a surprise for Molly.

Molly wanted to use her small first guitar for the parade, but because it was outdoors she needed a larger sound box.

The parade was the day before the concert. Everyone was in high spirits. The children did an excellent job with all the art work. Everyone was singing Disney songs along the route. Everyone was in a costume. Elsa thought it would be fun if she dressed up as Anna and Anna dressed up as her.

When they got to the stadium, they saw the infield of the track was fenced off; everyone had to dismount the floats.

Everyone filled the stands and were singing. Molly was playing at full volume.

Molly's surprise was soon coming.

As soon as Molly played the first note of 'You have a friend in me', large red, white and blue foot high lyrics appeared on the wagons. Soon the low-level fireworks started and lasted until the end. The crowd cheered, then they started singing random Disney tunes.

The concert was so special that the Euro Disney Music Director was going to do a totally different concert before he heard Francine. People in Northfield considered the concert a landmark point in their lives, never to be forgotten. A 'Where were you when...?' type of question.

Sarah typed, "To our French friends: Prepare for the best concert you will ever see in your life time. We need three extra tickets for all concerts."

Miss Dawn drove the minivan to the airport; there was Francine and Krynn. Molly and the girls heard about this place called France ever since Mr. Jerry and Miss Gail got married; now it was their turn to find out about it. Of course, you knew Dr. Daisy was not going to stay in Northfield while her best friend was going on this glorious adventure. She would be there for all the ups and downs.

Francine's parents lived several hours outside Paris. It was all pasture land. Molly was not going to pass up the opportunity to get tips from the farmers; maybe Ceres could grow grapes.

Francine was a great guide. She knew all the good places to visit and she wanted everyone to meet her French friends. All that could wait, Francine knew the first place they needed to go was to a public stable.

It was a great idea; it settled everyone after a long trip. Francine told the stable master that three of the four were expert teachers and all four were taught by Miss Dawn and 'Apache'. Just Krynn and I do not ride well.

With that information the ranch's owner took them on the grand tour. To his surprise, Molly taught him several things that made riding more fun. Molly told him, "Miss Dawn calls that 'Finding the Freedom'."

Dr. Daisy said to the owner, "If you want a treat, take your wife to the Disney concerts in a couple weeks. Francine, Molly and Krynn will be in it. I can't tell you any secrets, but it will be the best concert Disney ever put on."

Every night at the supper table Francine's parents loves to hear all the stories from that day's events. Francine would go from mid-morning to mid-afternoon with all their visits, then have supper with her parents.

With every day came new stories full of enthusiasm. Francine and her parents realized they were looking at everything they knew so well with new eyes.

The next day, Francine introduced everyone to her three friends. It was if they were long lost friends. Molly thought it would be a clever idea for each of Francine's friends to pick out one or two of their favorite places to go visit, then have a good time visiting them.

"Francine, all three of us wish we could see your concerts, but Euro Disney is super expensive," one of her friends said glumly.

In no time the week had passed, and it was time to go to Francis's Inn.

That first night, Francis mentioned that he received a call from Disney saying all the girls would get Free VIP access season passes. You just need to go down and get your picture taken.

"Isn't that a shame Molly, such a waste," Dr. Daisy said.

Krynn said, "I hate when they talk in riddles. You always think they are on empath mode and you are missing out on something."

Molly asked Krynn, "Krynn, if the six of us get Free VIP passes, what are we going to do with the three that we already paid for and don't have pictures on them yet? Daisy and I don't know many people in France, maybe Francine can help us. It would be a shame to waste them. It would be pretty easy to print out our receipts and give them to someone else."

Francine's mother said, "Francine, don't you think friendships are a good thing?"

"Yes Mother, I think everyone needs to have them. I don't know what I would do if I didn't have my friends with me when I was growing up."

Francine squealed, she was already on speed dial to her friend.

"Hey you, listen. Disney is going to give all six of us Free VIP passes. That means the ones Daisy and the girls got will go to waste if someone does not use them. Get the others and pack for a week. We are at Francis's Inn, hurry up and get here." There was no answer, the other girl already hung up.

Before bedtime, Francis welcomed three young women, each holding two large suitcases. It was a short, but joyous reunion. Molly, Daisy and the girls always went to bed early because they got up at sun up, being eight hours difference in time did not help.

Everyone could hear Molly playing her guitar ever so faintly. She had been playing for Daisy before bedtime for so long it was just second nature by now.

Francine, Krynn and Molly were to report to the concert hall at 14:00; Francine said that meant 2:00 PM. Noon was 12:00.

One of Francine's friends asked Molly how she knew people here.

Francine laughed, "Do you three remember when the church bells rang for so long?"

"Yes, it was for when someone named Molly became a Christian.

"You are that Molly?"

Daisy said, "I am sorry if I woke you at 4:00 AM. Miss Marie gets carried away sometimes.

Rehearsal was to last two hours. The others decided to take in a few shows while they waited; it would be a good time for a break.

Everything was going well at rehearsal until Francine started her solo of the French National Anthem. Everyone in the troupe knew Francine was special. She was more than talented, she had a God given gift.

After one verse, the director halted Francine.

Francine was confused. "Did I do something wrong Monsieur?"

The director walked to the back of the hall. "Let me hear that again Francine."

As he walked back to the front, everyone could see he was crying. "Francine, where did that come from?"

Francine answered simply, "I am home Monsieur. I want to show everyone that I think France is the best country in the whole world. What better way to show it than singing our National Anthem?"

This is what made Francine so good, she took an intangible and used it to lift her singing to another level.

When they all got out of rehearsal Molly said, "Sorry we are late. Francine had to explain why her singing was so much better. She even made him cry. It took fifteen minutes before we got on track."

News of Francine's singing talent leaked out; the concerts sold out.

The owner of the public stable surprised his wife with tickets for two concerts b. They had never been to Euro Disney before and they were never ones to go out much. This will be a treat.

The concert had several National Anthems woven through out it, most were sung by the chorus. Francine was the only one with a solo.

Molly concerned the director; every time she played she had her eyes closed, yet, she played better than some following the score. When he asked Molly about it she responded, "Whatever I play I offer it up as a prayer. I let the Holy Spirit to guide my fingers. I just sit in the chair."

Back home, 'Beauty's' health was failing; she was several years older than 'Apache'.

Miss Sarah and Miss Dawn went before the city council to find out what they could do after both passed.

They had a big meeting one night after supper. Amy with tears flowing down her cheeks as scolded Miss Sarah and Miss Dawn, "You only kill an animal to put it out of their misery and suffering. If 'Beauty' dies or is so sick she is suffering, then Dr. Daisy can put her down. If 'Apache' is still strong and God wants him to live many more years, you must wait. Who made you God?" Amy fled to her room.

"Sarah, you know she is right. Dr. Daisy is not going to play God, but she will help when the time is right and proper," Miss Dawn said as she followed Amy upstairs to comfort her.

"You know Sarah, when I got 'Apache' they were going to put him down. I said then that they had no right to kill such a beautiful animal. I want to keep 'Apache' as long possible. We will know when to put both down and I want your pledge that you will not put them down until they are ready to leave this world."

Sarah just nodded.

Daisy knew soon she would have to ask Sarah if she just wanted to let nature takes its course with 'Beauty' or to keep treating 'Beauty' so she could live a few more months.

Sarah spiraled into depression. 'Beauty' was the last living thing she had of her Mom; that is why she made 'Beauty' her horse. True, 'True Guardian' was her son and 'Angel' was her daughter, but it was not the same in Sarah's eyes.

Today was the day of the first concert; the VIP passes let everyone get right down front for the concert. Francine and Krynn looked to Molly to find out where Daisy was.

The music director looked to Francine who was being energized from the energy of the live audience and her eyes were sparkling. She would totally captivate the audience.

The stable owner and his wife were sitting about half way back in the hall. They were full of anticipation.

Then Daisy spotted Miss Marie, then some others, and still then others. She could not believe how many of the town people had come out in support of Molly, Krynn and Francine.

All nine girls had a long prayer meeting at sun up; the Holy Spirit must have had a long talk to Molly and Krynn. They would perform like never before and just get better with each concert.

The music director could not believe what was happening to his three guest players; rehearsal was never like this.

When Francine stepped up to the microphone there was total silence; many had their hand over their hearts. She did not disappoint. Many were weeping as they held their heads high during their National Anthem. Cheers abounded as Francine walked back to her place.