Purebred Read Free

long-distance calls, will you, Dad? Don’t you think it’s going to be great?”
    Colonel Hanson smiled at his daughter’s enthusiasm. “I think it sounds wonderful,” he said. “It’ll do you good to get to know your mother’s family. Now why don’t you go make us a salad to go with dinner.” With a final pat on her shoulder he disappeared into his office, shutting the door behind him.
    Carole felt a little deflated. She had expected her father to seem a little more excited—and she wasn’t quite in the mood to wash vegetables. As she set to work, her mind was still on her family tree and all the relatives she wanted to call.
    Her mother had had two sisters, one older, one younger, and one younger brother. Her older sister, Elaine, lived in North Carolina with her husband and three sons. Carole had been to visit them not too long ago. She really liked her aunt Elaine.
    Most of the rest of her mother’s relatives lived on aChristmas-tree farm in Minnesota. Carole had never been there, and she hadn’t seen any of those relatives for years. Her mother’s brother, her uncle John, had a wife—Aunt Lily—and one daughter, Louise. Her mother’s younger sister, Aunt Jessie, lived with them, as did her mother’s grandmother, Carole’s own great-grandmother, who was called Grand Alice.
    Carole couldn’t remember anything specific about John, Lily, or Louise, but she vaguely remembered Grand Alice as being incredibly old with bright eyes and a sharp, kind voice. And Aunt Jessie—there was something mysterious about Aunt Jessie, but Carole couldn’t remember what it was. In fact, she couldn’t even remember if she’d ever known what it was. Mysteries, she decided, would only make her project more interesting.
    She rinsed the lettuce in cold water and began to make plans. Tonight she’d make a list of questions and call Aunt Elaine. This weekend, when the rates were lower, she’d call the Foley relatives in Minnesota. She’d probably need to spend a long time on the phone.
    Her father came back into the kitchen with a big smile on his face. “We’re all set,” he announced.
    “We are? About what?”
    “The trip,” Colonel Hanson replied. “It’s on. Taken care of. Permission granted, Private!”
    “Sir! Yes, sir!” Carole saluted. “Permission granted to do what, sir!”
    Her father smiled, enjoying her confusion. “To go visit the family, of course,” he said. “Isn’t that what you wanted to do?”
    “Fantastic!” Carole was thrilled. “Are we going back to North Carolina?”
    “Guess again—Minnesota!”
    “Wow!” Carole was flabbergasted. She never dreamed they’d be able to go all the way to Minnesota, just like that, just for her project. And what a project it would be!
    “Remember?” her father said. “The Foleys have always wanted us to come visit them. I don’t think you’ve seen any of them since your mother’s funeral, and they told me then that they wanted to be sure to stay in touch with you. Besides, this is a great time for us to go. Work at the base will be slow for the next few weeks, and I’ve got some time off coming.”
    Over dinner Colonel Hanson went over the details of their trip. They would leave for Minnesota on the Tuesday after Christmas and stay until the next Monday, January second. They would be able to spend the New Year with the Foleys. “You’ll have six days to talk to them,” Colonel Hanson said. “Think that’ll be plenty?”
    “Six days to talk and listen,” Carole replied. “It’ll be more than plenty—this is going to be great!”
    Colonel Hanson pulled out the atlas to show Carole where they were going. It would be a long and difficult trip, even though they would be able to fly most of the way. TheFoleys lived in the Arrowhead region of Minnesota—a remote, forested area in the northeastern corner, Nyberg, the small town where they lived, was halfway between Lake Superior and Ontario, Canada, and less than twenty miles from the