{"id":330,"date":"2014-11-27T04:20:39","date_gmt":"2014-11-27T04:20:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.byrdspilmandewey.com\/?page_id=330"},"modified":"2017-11-20T15:22:27","modified_gmt":"2017-11-20T15:22:27","slug":"thanksgiving-at-ben-trovato-fan-fiction","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.byrdspilmandewey.com\/?page_id=330","title":{"rendered":"Thanksgiving at Ben Trovato – Fan Fiction"},"content":{"rendered":"

This story takes place in 1894, when West Palm Beach was just beginning as a tiny town. We are at the home of Fred S. Dewey and Byrd Spilman Dewey, who lived on the shores of Lake Worth in a grand two-story house. Mrs. Dewey wrote children\u2019s stories about her cats and dogs. Her most famous book was Bruno, written in 1899 about her beloved dog. It became a national bestseller, selling over 100,000 copies its first year. In her books, Mrs. Dewey becomes the character of Judith Sunshine and her husband Fred becomes Julius Sunshine. This story is an imagined tale of one eventful Thanksgiving at The Blessed Isle, which is what the Deweys called their lakeside estate.<\/em><\/p>\n

Outside, the Northeast breezes had once again returned to The Blessed Isle, bringing their cool winds and reminding us here in the South that indeed it was Autumn. Judith Sunshine had started her preparations for the Grand Feast of Thanksgiving, at least the Southern Florida version of it.
\n\u201cHow many will be joining us for our feast?\u201d asked Julius at the tea table. \u201cCounting just people, or the cattle as well?\u201d Judith asked with a wry smile.
\n\u201cJust counting those at the table.\u201d said Julius.
\n“Well, the Kinzels, the Greens and their children Constance, Prudence and Frankie, and the newspaperman Mr. Metcalf and his new bride, so that makes eleven at the table.\u201d said Judith.\"thank2\"<\/a>
\n\u201cThat\u2019s quite a crowd, Judith \u2013 are the children going to help you?\u201d Julius asked.
\n\u201cTheir little hands can certainly help peel the sweet potatoes we got from Will Moore, and the apples as well.\u201d
\nJust then there was a knock at the back door, and Judith opened it to see Jackson, the young grocer boy.
\n\u201cGood morning, Mrs. Sunshine. I have your groceries.\u201d said Jackson.
\n\u201cBring in the boxes and put them on the kitchen table.\u201d said Judith.
\nJudith began to unpack all the good things so reminiscent of her northern days \u2013 red apples, fresh cranberries, pumpkin and all the \u201cfixins\u201d for a special feast.
\nBut what of the bird! The Sunshines had a few turkeys in their chicken park, but they were pets, a part of The Blessed Isle\u2019s \u201ccattle,\u201d which consisted of cats, dogs, chickens, turkeys and birds.
\nThe children who played at The Blessed Isle often would chase the Tom Turkey General Bragg around the yard, and the Sunshine\u2019s dog Foozle gave him a good chase as well. Mr. Burkhardt at the Pioneer Grocery on Clematis Street was taking orders for turkeys, but somehow that didn\u2019t seem right being as they had turkeys for pets. So Julius and Judith settled on something as delicious \u2013 a venison roast from their good friends the Seminole Indians.
\nAs the day before the Grand Feast arrived, Judith began her preparations. Mrs. Sunshine set\u00a0the house in perfect order, the good china was on the dining room table, and Julius started a little fire in the dining room fireplace, just for a lovely effect.
\nAs Judith gazed down to the long wharf on Lake Worth, she spied a sailboat just arriving. Out sprang her small helpers \u2013 the Green\u2019s three children \u2013 eager and excited about the coming day.\"thank3\"<\/a>
\n\u201cOh Mrs. Sunshine, my sister and I couldn\u2019t sleep all night because we were so excited!\u201d cried Prudence.
\nAt once the girls were peeling the sweet potatoes and apples. Little Frankie wanted to help too, so he was sent to the garden to pick string beans. Soon he filled the basket\u00a0with the beans, and Frankie darted in the house. \u201cDONE! Can I go play with Foozle?\u201d asked Frankie.
\n\u201cWhy certainly! But don\u2019t get into any trouble!\u201d said Judith.
\nThe apples and cranberries were simmering on the stove, saved bread was toasting for the dressing, and the pumpkin was mashed for the pie.
\n\u201cOh my stars, I am out of cinnamon.\u201d Judith exclaimed as she looked dumbfounded into her spice cupboard.
\n\u201cWould you girls run over to Mrs. Kinzel and see if she has any?\u201d
\n\u201cSure Mrs. Sunshine!\u201d said Prudence.
\nThe two little girls darted through the yard, their little white dresses and black stockings flying as fast as their feet would take them.
\nAs they were running, they spied General Bragg in the chicken yard. They both stopped suddenly – tomorrow was Thanksgiving!
\nAnd on Thanksgiving you eat turkey.
\n\u201cI don\u2019t want to eat our good friend General Bragg tomorrow! What can we do?\u201d cried Prudence.
\n\u201cLet\u2019s find Frankie! He will think of something!\u201d said Constance.
\nFrankie was down by the lake playing fetch with Foozle and a cocoanut. \"thank5\"<\/a>The girls ran down the hill and were out of breath as they gasped to Frankie \u201cWe must save General Bragg!\u201d
\n\u201cWhy? I saw him over in the chicken park.\u201d said Frankie with a puzzled look.
\n\u201cBut tomorrow is Thanksgiving!\u201d cried Prudence. \u201cAnd he will be on the menu!\u201d
\nSo the three children thought of a plan \u2013 they would kidnap General Bragg and make sure he was safe for Thanksgiving.
\nThe two girls ran to Mrs. Kinzel\u2019s house and asked if she had cinnamon; she did and gave the girls the small jar.
\n\u201cOh Mrs. Kinzel, we are so hungry! Could we have some crackers?\u201d asked Constance. Mrs. Kinzel found some Pilot crackers in a tin and gave each girl one.
\n\u201cThank you!\u201d said Prudence.
\nThe girls darted back to The Blessed Isle. Judith opened the door for the girls.
\n\u201cWell that took a while. Did she have the cinnamon?\u201d, said Judith.
\n\u201cYes here it is!\u201d Constance put the jar on the table. \u201cMay we go play with Frankie?\u201d
\n\u201cYes you may\u201d said Judith \u2013 \u201cbut don\u2019t get dirty in those pretty dresses!\u201d
\nConstance and Prudence met Frankie on the side of the house. The girls took the crackers they had gotten from Mrs. Kinzel and broke off tiny pieces so General Bragg would follow them. \"thank4\"<\/a>They led him deep into the pine woods. Frankie had taken some chicken wire he found in the garden and made a little pen between some trees. General Bragg walked into the pen and Frankie twisted the wire shut. The turkey was safe \u2013 \u00a0Frankie crushed the rest of the crackers for him, and filled a small tin cup with water from the bird bath.
\nThe three children returned to the house, and soon their father came to claim the turkey saviors.
\nThe next day was the Grand Feast. Judith got up betimes to set the venison in the oven, and her pies were already cooling on the window sill. She prepared some bread scraps and cracked wheat for her feathered friends at the bird table and went to gather eggs in the chicken park. She walked out with her pan full of good things; she found it odd that General Bragg was nowhere to be seen.
\n\u201cJulius, have you seen General Bragg?\u201d
\nJulius was tending the roses and replied \u201cWhy no! He\u2019s not in the chicken park?\u201d
\n\u201cNo I was just there. Let\u2019s look for him.\u201d
\nJudith and Julius looked far and wide across The Blessed Isle \u2013 under the house, out by the wharf, in the pine-apple patch \u2013 no General Bragg!
\n\u201cOh Julius, do you think someone has taken our General Bragg for their Thanksgiving dinner?\u201d said Judith in a dejected and sad tone.
\n\u201cAll our neighbors know him \u2013 I can\u2019t believe they would do such a thing!\u201d exclaimed Julius.
\n\u201cWell, I can\u2019t look anymore or my dinner will not be done \u2013 everyone will be here at noon!\u201d cried Judith.
\nThe guests for the grand feast began to arrive a few minutes before noon. Soon all were sitting cozily in the front parlor with a grand view of the lake. Judith was busy in the kitchen with Mrs. Green helping to dish up the meal.
\n\u201cMrs. Sunshine, you look rather distraught today \u2013 is everything all right?\u201d asked Mrs. Green.
\n\u201cIt may seem rather silly to you, but our prized pet turkey General Bragg is missing.\u201d said Judith.
\n\u201cOh my, that is distressing!\u201d said Mrs. Green.
\n\u201cMy children always talk about him and Foozle.\u201d
\nSoon Julius was carving the venison in the kitchen, arranging the meat on a platter for the table. All took their places at the beautiful table, set with an ivory lace tablecloth and red candles. A blessing was said, and the plates were filled with the fresh vegetables and succulent meat. The three children looked downheartedly at their plates as the meat was dished up, thinking their effort at saving General Bragg had been a failure.
\nMrs. Green was watching her children, and noticed that were not eating their meal. She whispered in Constance\u2019s ear \u201cYou are being very rude to Mrs. Sunshine \u2013 don\u2019t you like her meal?\u201d Just then Constance cried out \u201cI can\u2019t eat our friend General Bragg!\u201d Tears soon began to flow from all three children.
\n\u201cGeneral Bragg!\u201d exclaimed Judith. \u201cYou thought we cooked General Bragg? Heavens no \u2013 in fact he has been missing all day!\u201d
\nJust then the children lit up.
\n\u201cWe know where he is! Over in the woods!\u201d
\n\u201cIn the woods? What\u2019s he doing there?\u201d asked Julius.
\n\u201cWe knew it was Thanksgiving and that General Bragg might be our dinner, so we made a pen to hide him in the woods.\u201d said Frankie.
\n\u201cWell let\u2019s go get him.\u201d said Julius, leading the children from the table out the back door to the woods. They all returned a few minutes later, General Bragg being shooed along by Frankie with a stick, over to the chicken park to rejoin all the biddies.
\nOnce back in the house, the children dashed to the table, and began to eat heartily.
\n\u201cAll this fuss over a turkey!\u201d exclaimed Dr. Kinzel.
\n\u201cWell at least I have the headline for my newspaper \u00a0– <\/em>Kidnapped Turkey Found!\u201d said Mr. Metcalf jokingly.
\n\u201cAmen to that\u201d said Julius.
\nAs Judith washed the dishes, she gazed out back to the chicken park to see General Bragg happily clawing at the dirt, realizing a peaceful tone had returned to The Blessed Isle.
\nShe was indeed thankful.<\/p>\n

-Judith Sunshine<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This story takes place in 1894, when West Palm Beach was just beginning as a tiny town. We are at the home of Fred S. Dewey and Byrd Spilman Dewey, who lived on the shores of Lake Worth in a grand two-story house. Mrs. Dewey wrote children\u2019s stories about her \u2026 Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":79,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-330","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.byrdspilmandewey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/330","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.byrdspilmandewey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.byrdspilmandewey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.byrdspilmandewey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.byrdspilmandewey.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=330"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.byrdspilmandewey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/330\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":370,"href":"https:\/\/www.byrdspilmandewey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/330\/revisions\/370"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.byrdspilmandewey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/79"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.byrdspilmandewey.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=330"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}