Does anybody in the whole world remember the old song,”When You and I Were Young, Maggie?” It starts like this: “I wandered today to the hill, Maggie To watch the scene below: The creek and the rusty old mill, Maggie,Where we sat in the long, long ago.” Not to wax too sentimental this early in the morning, let me say I sometimes miss the really old songs, those dusty old relics that nobody hears any more, and I sit down at the piano and play them. If the doors are closed and no one is around but my dog (who doesn’t complain much) I sing the lyrics as I play.
In the third Darcy and Flora book, Best Left Buried, I couldn’t resist including two characters who are not quite as old as “When You and I Were Young” but they might be considered antiques. Their names are Georgia and Carolina Jenkins. They live in a two-storied Victorian house and the old boards creak when the winds blows hard. They drink tea while perching on the stuffed seats of beautifully carved chairs and their manners are impeccable. Just note this interview with Flora:
‘So, Flora Tucker, what brings you out this way? I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of times you’ve come to visit.’”
“Georgia smiled and shook her head.’Now sister, you know it’s not polite to ask,’ she said.”
“I was grateful for the opening so I just came out with it, ‘You two probably know more about Levi’s past than most people and I’ve got a puzzle of my own I’d like to ask you, about something that happened during World War I.’”
“Carolina set her cup back into the saucer so hard I thought it would break. Her voice fairly crackled when she said, ‘We may be old, Miss, but we’re not that old.’”
“Georgia ignored her sister. ‘We heard stories about that time from Mama and Papa.’”
The “Papa” Georgia referred to was Judge Jenkins, a rather harsh, forbidding man who, it was rumored, had sent men to the gallows. Now, he might actually have been as old as the Maggie song.
Anyhow, I like antique songs, furniture, and people. And, even though I can’t believe it’s true, I’ve heard rumors that I may have actually joined their ranks. But you know what they say about antiques: we grow more valuable with time. We also grow rarer, like the occasions that I hear very old songs. But, we won’t dwell on that!
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