In 1978 Addy Dawson was ten years old when her family moved to the small farming community of Pleasant View. Addy is quickly befriended by a another ten year old girl named Elizabeth Mitchell or as everyone in town calls her 'Cricket'. Addy soon learns that Cricket is a very special girl with a strangely unique gift. The two girls develop a close friendship while hanging out on the branches of a big oak called the Lookout Tree. As their friendship matures, Addy learns that Cricket's mother has died, that her father treats his daughter as nothing more than a nuisance, and that Cricket feels alone and abandoned by a mother that she never knew. The long conversations at the Lookout Tree are both profound and innocent and provide a depth of love that only friends, true friends, can share. As the year progresses, Cricket becomes extremely ill. Her condition sets into motion a chain of events that will ultimately, unite a community, bring redemption to a neglectful father, and will forever, change the lives of those closest to Cricket. The Lookout Tree will delight your senses as it takes us back to a time when joy could be found flying through the air in an old tire swing, riding a bike with a friend on a dirt-covered, country road, or lounging lazily under the shady leaves of a giant oak tree. This simple story of love and friendship will put a smile on your face, tug at your heart strings, and when it is finished, will make you want to go back to the beginning and start all over again.

The Lookout Tree

By J. Scott Romig

AuthorHouse

Copyright © 2009 J. Scott Romig
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4490-4143-4

Contents

1. New Life in Pleasant View.......................................12. Cricket.........................................................93. Hurt Feelings and a Chance Meeting..............................194. Animal Farm.....................................................275. A Church, A Barn, and Danger on a Dirt Road.....................356. Cadence, Calvin, and the 4th of July............................437. The Lookout Tree and One Stormy Night...........................538. Rescue at the River.............................................639. A Special Gift Revealed.........................................7110. A Day at the Zoo................................................8111. On Thin Ice.....................................................8912. A Quilt, Shackles, and Unwanted News............................9913. A Father's Redemption...........................................10914. A Night with Friends............................................11715. Swan Lake.......................................................12516. Honor from a Bully..............................................13517. Goodbye to My Friend............................................14518. Epilogue: Years Later...........................................157

Chapter One

New Life in Pleasant View

I remember the first time that I met Cricket. It was a blistering hot day in June of 1978. Her real name was Elizabeth Ann Mitchell, but everyone in the small village of Pleasant View called her Cricket. At first glance, there really didn't appear to be anything special about Cricket. In fact most people in town considered her to be (oh dear, how should I put this tactfully?) annoying and a tad bit simple.

You see Cricket didn't have a filter; you know that filter that prevents you from saying everything that you are thinking? Well, Cricket had no such restraints. She said whatever came to her hyperactive, little mind. Today, I suppose that we would say she was suffering from autism and perhaps ADHD, but in 1978, most people were simply not familiar with such labels. All I knew, at the time, was that Cricket was simple, impulsive, easily agitated, tender-hearted, and honest. Almost honest to a fault. And as I grew to know Cricket, I learned to love and respect her for each and every one of her most unique character traits.

Yes, Cricket was ... different and the truth was that most people had a difficult time understanding and interacting with her and as I stated before, most people found her annoying, but for me, Cricket would touch my life is such a way that I would be changed forever.

But before I talk about that, let me tell you a little about myself and how I came to live in the sleepy, small town of Pleasant View, Illinois. My name is Addison Jane Dawson, but you can call me Addy; everyone else does. I was named after my great grandfather, Addison Jay Dawson, who spent most of his life as a missionary in the outback of Australia, ministering to the aborigines.

I was born in the small town of Rensselaer, Indiana but we didn't live there for very long. In fact, I don't really remember anything about Rensselaer because we moved from there when I was only a year old.

My father worked as a mechanical engineer designing aircraft engines for Bristwell Aeronautics, a company that the government contracted to build fighter jets for the navy. Bristwell had nine different design centers located all around the world. By the time I was ten years old, my dad had worked at seven of these facilities. So, needless to say, we moved a lot.

In the spring of 1978 we had just finished our second year of living in New Braunfels, Texas, a small community just north of San Antonio, and I loved it there. It was sunny and warm all year around. My school was exciting and fun, and I had two of the best friends a person could ever hope to have, Tammy Cortez and Odelia Solana.

The Guadalupe River ran right through the middle of New Braunfels and during the summers Tammy, Odelia, and I would float lazily down the gentle stream on an inner tube to the town of Gruene, which was about two miles or so away. Once there we would toss our inner tubes up on the grassy slope of the river's edge and stroll into town.

The village of Gruene, Texas was a postcard community. There was only one street that wound through the town and it was lined with a diner, two or three antique shops, a novelty store, a soda shop, and, of course, Gruene Hall which was and still is today a dance hall. We girls would spend our summer days hanging out in front of the soda shop, eating ice cream, and making memories. We would laugh and play and run and then at the end of the day, we would go back to the grassy slope, pick up our inner tubes, and make our way back home along the path that ran next to the river. I still consider those two years in Texas as some of the fondest times in my life.

So, as you can imagine, I was nearly devastated when my father came home, sat me and my brother Chance down at the kitchen table, and told us that we were moving.

"What?" I shouted impulsively, startling my mother who was setting the table for supper. "What do you mean?" I asked in disbelief, glancing quickly at my mom for her reaction to this pronouncement and then back to my dad.

"Calm down, Addy," Dad said, raising his hands defensively. "I," he started then pausing and catching my mother's eye before looking back to me, "I mean, we have wanted to talk to you kids about this for a couple of months now and ..."

"You mean you've known about this for a couple of months?" I interrupted quickly, jumping to my feet and leaning over the table. I could feel my face flush with anger.

"Watch your tone, Addy," my mother said sternly, her eyes glancing at me with a look of warning that only a mother could give. "Give your father a chance to explain, then you can give your input."

My mother, Margaret Ann Dawson, was a kind and gentle woman, but she could be stern if our behavior required an adjustment or at least I thought she could be stern. The truth of the matter is that I never really was brave enough to find out what would happen if I ignored her 'advice' to 'watch my tone.' So I obediently sat back down and crossed my arms, to show my hardened displeasure with the entire circumstance.

"As I was saying," my father started again, "I know that I have had to move this family a lot over the years and I know what a hardship it has been for you. As soon as you get used to a school and make friends, we move and you have to start all over again."

"I don't mind moving, Pop," Chance said taking an apple from a bowl of fruit that was sitting on the table. "I don't really like it here. It's too hot. I want to move back north where we get some snow every once in a while." He rubbed the apple on his shirt and took a bite. His cavalier attitude only enraged me more.

"Why don't you shut up, Chance!" I yelled without thinking. "You don't care about anything ..."

"ADDY!" my mother said firmly, "you will sit down and keep quiet until your father has finished. And you have just lost the use of your bicycle for a week for your rudeness. We don't say 'shut up' in this family. Do you understand?"

I crossed my arms again and looked down at the table with a scowl. "Yes," I mumbled.

"Now apologize to your brother," my mother ordered. Even though I wasn't looking at her, I could...