Keeping Victoria's Secret (35 page)

He looked at Victoria. “You do look very much
like your grandmother when she was young. You have her eyes y dear
and same color hair.” He paused, fiddling with his glass and
looking away wistfully.

“What I did, was to go straight to Joe
Douglas, Fred’s daddy, a lawyer here in Pippins Grove. I knew him
pretty well. He’d lost an eye in an accident when he was a boy and
the service wouldn’t take him, so he stayed here and practiced law
in town. Before I returned to duty I made a will, leaving
everything to my sister in case I never came back from the war. I
just didn’t want that wife of mine getting anything. Couldn’t bear
the thought of returning here to live in the same town with Betsy.
Joe suggested I sign a legal paper giving my sister the farm, so it
was hers no matter what happened to me. I wanted to get my affairs
in order before I returned to the army you see. Those documents
were the reason Joe Douglas knew the farm belonged to my sister,
Victoria, and not me or my wife and children.”

Fred nodded. “Elvira showed me an entry in
her mother’s diary that said as much. She verified that the child
was not Alexander’s. Elvira’s mother was in a position to know that
for certain.”

Jack leaned forward, curious. “Mr. Willet,
how come everyone believed that you’d been killed in the war?”

“I’m getting to that young man. As I was
saying, I took care of my affairs, and then returned to my
division. Out in the Pacific I served in the New Guinea Campaign,
and the invasion of Leyte in the Philippine Islands.”

He paused, sipped his tea, before continuing.
“I saw some terrible things on those islands. Japs were a stubborn
enemy. They rarely gave up. Either we killed them or they killed
themselves, choosing suicide, rather than surrender. Anyhow, it was
October 1944 we landed on Leyte. Few weeks later I was down with
jungle fever. Lots of the American boys got sick in that god awful
jungle. I was delirious and out of my head when they evacuated me
in an army plane with several other wounded men. A good buddy of
mine, Albert Simmons was on the plane with me. Al had a couple of
bullet holes in his arm. There was an army nurse on board assigned
to us. I was out of my head with fever most of the time, but I
remember the plane taking off. The next thing I knew, salt water
was pouring in. We’d crashed into the sea during a storm." He
sipped slowly.

"Somehow they got us into life rafts before
it sank. Fortunately, we weren’t far from a small island. There
were Japs on the island but some Filipinos got us off the beach and
hid us in their village in the hills.” Alexander closed his eyes,
searching his memory.

Wanting to know what happened next, Jack
prompted him to continue. “Mr. Willet, sounds like you were really
lucky the villagers were there to help. Did some of the others go
down with the plane?”

He nodded slowly. “I was one of the lucky
ones I suppose. They didn’t all make it out before the airplane
sank. Only good thing, guess you’d say, is they were probably not
conscious when the plane went under. That army nurse, her name was
Laura Morgan, she took care of me and the guys that managed to get
out of the plane. I came around after a while and got over the
fever. My buddy, Al Simmons, didn’t make it; he died a few days
later. It’s what I did next that caused the confusion later on. I
took his dog tags and hung them on my neck along with my own. We’d
do that so we could later identify for the army those who didn’t
make it, you understand? For another month we stayed in the village
with the Filipinos, managing to keep clear of the Japs. Then in
December everything went all to hell.”

Once again, Alexander Willet paused gazing at
the orchards. He picked up his glass and saw that it was empty save
for a few scraps of ice. He rattled the ice idly, looking into the
glass.

“Mr. Willet, let me get you some more tea,”
said Vicky, getting to her feet. “I guess I should call you Great
Uncle Alexander.”

“Thank you my dear. All this talking is
thirsty work.”

She gathered up all the glasses and coffee
cups and went inside.

“So, what do you mean everything went to hell
Mr. Willet?” asked Jack.

“Well you see, after Laura nursed me back to
health and we settled in to village life with the Filipinos, we
fell in love. These things just happen you know. It doesn’t matter
what any of us intend. Life still happens, when we least expect it.
We just couldn’t help it, but it was our love for each other that
saved our lives. One day we went for a walk, just the two of us.
That was the day the Japs discovered the village and attacked.”

Alexander licked his lips, closed his eyes
and put his head back against his chair. For a long time he was
silent. Jack wondered if he’d fallen asleep. He sighed at last and
sat up, rubbing his eyes. Then he began again. “When we returned,
the entire village had been slaughtered.” Everyone was dead. His
hands trembled as he relived in his mind the events of that
day.

Vicky returned and handed a fresh glass of
tea to the old man.

“Thank you Victoria.” He looked up and
rewarded her with his grateful smile.

“What was it the Japanese did Mr. Willet?”
asked Jack softly.

He turned back to Jack. “Son, you don’t want
to know the answer to that question, and I don’t want to tell you.
It wasn’t pretty and I won’t burden anyone else with the details.
What we did then was to find a few supplies, and got out as quick
as we could.

We didn’t know it then, but there was a
typhoon coming. They called it Halsey’s typhoon because Admiral
Bull Halsey’s fleet got caught up in it. Three destroyers were sunk
and about eight hundred of our sailors drowned. During the storm
Laura and I huddled together in the jungle, just holding each
other. When the storm was over the Japs spotted us and we were on
the run. I don’t know why but I headed for the ocean, the Japs
chasing us through the jungle. On the beach, I spotted a boat out
in the water and we swam for it, with the Japs shooting at us.”

His three listeners sat forward, eager to
hear more.

“Laura and I made it to that boat. I don’t
know how. The good Lord was watching over us that day I guess. We
drifted all that day, and most of the next before a Navy ship
picked us up. That’s when I was first mistaken for another man. I
wore my friend’s dog tags, but my own had disappeared. Everyone
called me Al which was no surprise. I didn’t realize for days they
thought I was Al Simmons. By the time I returned to the States the
army had listed Alexander Willet as missing and presumed dead.

Laura and I were separated in Hawaii but I
tracked her down. We settled down near her home town in Ohio. I
decided to keep my stolen identity so I wouldn’t have to return
home. It wasn’t hard to get hold of Al’s personal information,
mostly from the War Department. We know today how easy folks can
steal an identity if they want. I can tell you, it was a whole lot
easier in 1945.”

Vicky interrupted him. “Why would you do
that? Why would you let your family and friends think you were dead
all those years?”

“You might wonder why that was. I came back
to the Grove in 1946 and went to see Fred’s father without letting
anyone else know. I made some inquiries about the family. What I
discovered was my wife, Betsy, was living with that Van Winkle
fellow and planning to marry him. Victoria had married this young
man’s Uncle, Charley Conner, and my parents had passed on.

Betsy and I would have had to divorce and
make her infidelity public. I decided to keep my secret. I wanted
to make a new life for myself with Laura and forget the war. I
asked Joe Douglas to keep quiet and I guess he did all those years.
Time to time I would check in with him to find out how things were
in the Grove. I felt bad for Victoria, felt guilty, but at the time
I thought it was for the best.” The old man slumped in his chair,
obviously drained.

Fred got to his feet. “That war effected many
lives. People did things they might never have done otherwise.”

Vicky was overwhelmed with all she’d just
learned. She sat with eyes closed, thinking. No one spoke for a
while, as they digested Alexander’s story.

“Victoria?” It was Alexander, speaking to
her.

She opened her eyes and turned to him.

“Victoria dear, do you know how to make an
apple pie? A real apple pie.”

Vicky smiled at him. “Why yes Uncle
Alexander. In fact I have Nanna’s recipe.”

“Nanna. That’s what you called her?”

Jack got to his feet. “Mr. Willet, would you
like to stay here tonight with us in your old home? Maybe we can
talk Victoria into baking us a pie.”

“We’d love to have you,” said Vicky.

“Well then,” said Fred. “Mr. Willet, I’ll
give you a lift back to your motel and you can pick up your things.
What do you say?”

Jack said, “Okay Fred. You and Mr. Willet
come back and we’ll have dinner all ready. I think Victoria
probably has a million questions for him about her
grandmother.”

“Yes, I definitely do. I want to know
everything that Uncle Alexander can tell us about Nanna. I’ll go in
and put dinner on, and I’ll make an apple pie for dessert.”

Later, as Jack and Victoria were working in
the kitchen, they heard tires once more on the gravel outside.
Looking out, Jack said, “Hey, It’s Doc and Elvira.”

“Maybe they’d like to stay for dinner too?
Let’s ask them,” said Vicky.

“Good thing you’ve got that Italian food
thing going. You always make at least three times as much food as
we need, right?”

“You never know when you might have more
unexpected guests showing up." Vicky laughed. Grandma Buonadies
always said to make enough to feed your guests. She considered it a
shameful embarrassment to run out of food while people were still
eating.” Vicky said this as she retrieved a few more potatoes for
the pot. “Mashed potatoes sound good?”

Jack took Doc out to the barn to put together
a couple of baskets of apples and some of the late squash varieties
for him to take home, while Elvira kept Vicky company.

“Isn’t it wonderful that you’ve found an
uncle that you didn’t even know you had, Vicky Dear?”

“Yes, and I can’t wait to learn more about my
family.”

Elvira nodded, watching approvingly as Vicky
rolled out pie crust.

“Have you and Jack set a date for the wedding
yet?” ask Elvira.

“We’ve decided on October 27th, Mrs.
Sweeney.” She turned and smiled at the older woman. “Why wait until
next year when we’re so sure it’s what we want?”

“I don’t believe in long engagements.” said
Elvira. “It looks like you’ve got everything well under control
here. Vicky my dear, if you’ll excuse me, I think I’ll go out to
the porch and relax. Do you mind?”

“Please make yourself at home Mrs. Sweeney.
I’m fine. It’s such a beautiful day out there.”

Elvira settled herself in one of the wicker
chairs, watching the sun set over the Hudson River. Nearby Romeo
and Juliet sat curled into two little balls. Petting Romeo she told
them, “I am so relieved that those two nice young people finally
came to their senses.”

She’d wanted to have a few minutes to
herself. Everyone has their own little secrets, their small
pleasures. No harm in that, she mused. She reached furtively into
her bag and retrieved her book. I must find out what happens next,
she thought with a little thrill of anticipation. Finding her place
in Rendezvous Romance by Tori Baxter, she began reading.

Real Apple Pie

Crust for a 10” deep dish:

3 cups flour

1 cup cold lard

or 1/2 cup unsalted butter, chilled

and 1/2 cup shortening

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup cider or apple juice

1 large egg yolk

1 large egg white

In a large bowl, mix the flour and salt

Cut in the lard until it appears the size of
small peas. Beat egg yolk in the bottom of a glass measuring cup.
Add cider until it measures 1/2 cup and beat well. Add cider to the
mixture in the bowl and toss gently until it begins to come
together. Wrap in 2 plastic bags, pressing into 2 disks, and chill
for 1 hour. Roll out one disk and line a 10” deep-dish pie pan.
Brush crust with well beaten egg white and chill. Roll out second
disk, cover with plastic and chill also. A flat cookie sheet is
great for this. Prepare your filling.

Filling:

7-8 large assorted cooking apples peeled,
cored and sliced (8 cups)

5 tablespoons flour or 1/4 cup cornstarch

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon allspice

2 tablespoons lemon juice

3 tablespoons butter

In a large bowl, blend the cornstarch, sugar,
cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice. Toss with the apples and lemon juice.
Let stand while you roll out your crusts. Arrange the filling
compactly into the bottom crust; it will be very full. Dot apples
with pieces of butter. Brush rim with beaten egg white. Place top
crust on the filling pressing gently on the rim for a good seal.
Trim and fold the dough over, crimping the edges. Cut steam holes
and brush the top crust with remaining egg white. Sprinkle with
granulated sugar for a crunchy crust. Bake pie in preheated 350°F
oven for an hour or more until the crust is golden brown and juices
bubble out of the crust.

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