Page 43 - Ninety Miles From Nowhere

“A Rose By Any Other Name...”
Chapter 10
Rose at my homestead
The highlight of my entire stay out there -- as far as visitors were concerned -- was my college friend, Rose Conrad, who came out from Iowa. I had known her when we both attended the Oklahoma College for Women at Chickasha, Oklahoma. She was far, far from home but was living with her aunt in Chickasha.
Her father was a conductor on the railroad, and all members of the family had railway passes. She came as far as Magdalena on the trail, then came out to the homestead with the mailman.
Rose was a beautiful blonde girl, taller than I (wasn’t everybody?), and more sophisticated. At home she led a hectic social life, but I knew about some of the sorrowful periods she had gone through and knew her frivolity was just a cover-up for her deeper feelings.
Our friendship was quiet and without stress. We could sit for hours without either one of us saying a word - no frantic compulsion to fill all silences with inane conversation. Our rapport was so great that if one made a remark after one of those silences, the other replied as if we’d been discussing the subject - or as if she’d been thinking about the same thing.
Rose was such a good sport, and was so much fun, that everyone loved her. The men teased her unmercifully, even Van who was only fourteen. She was such a tenderfoot that they told her tall tales and she believed them. The women were always on her side against the teasing of the men.
Many neighbors came down to see us while she was there because they wanted to meet her. Peggy was at home then and she spent all one day with us. Leon and Dick were