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By Root 1877 0

on the coldest day of the year. But the streets were lined with well-wishers and Hamm strutted beside her, smiling and waving at the crowd. Some said if you did not know better, the way he was carrying on you would have thought that he was the new governor. As they walked, even though the streets were lined with the cheering people, Betty Raye felt lonely. Her mother was not there today because the Oatman family had an engagement they could not change. Dorothy and Doc were invited as well but Mother Smith was ill and they had to cancel at the last minute. When they arrived at the mansion, Betty Raye saw a familiar face at the top of the stairs waiting for her. “Welcome home, Governor Betty,” said Alberta Peets, the ice-pick murderess. “I’ve already taken care of Governor Hamm’s things and put them in his room and your things is all ironed and ready to go and so is the boys.”

Betty Raye was never so glad to see anyone in her life. “Oh, thank you, Alberta.”

“I’m glad to do it. You know it’s not good for me to be idle. What do they say? Idle hands is the devil’s workshop. Or something like that.”

After she gave the boys their baths and got them ready for bed she came back in Betty Raye’s room.

“I see that Figg man is here again.”

“Cecil? Oh yes. Everybody’s back, the same old people.”

“Well, all I can say is he better be careful this time. My feet is worse than ever and he comes down in my kitchen and makes me wear them shoes again, no telling what I’m liable to do.”

When Betty Raye was dressed and ready for the Governor’s Ball, she sat down on the bed. “Alberta,” she said, “I’d give a million dollars not to have to go tonight.”

“Well, now that you’re a governor too I’ll bet they gonna have you do a lot of things you don’t want to.”

“I hope not.”

Cecil Figgs knocked on the door. “Darling, I don’t want to rush you but we need pictures before we go, so come on down as soon as you can. Do you need me to help you with anything?”

Betty Raye sighed and stood up. “No, I’m ready.”

Cecil opened the door and said, “Oh you look wonderful.” Then he noticed Alberta standing behind the door and added gaily, “Hello, Alberta, isn’t it exciting. Here we are all back together again.”

“Uh-huh,” she said, looking at him out of the corner of her eyes. “Here we are again.”

From the moment that they walked into the governor’s mansion after Betty Raye’s inauguration it was clear that nothing much had changed. Hamm immediately went to his office with his staff and they started setting up meetings and going over bills and laws that had not been passed during the last four years, figuring out ways to change them and still get what they wanted. However, Alberta’s prediction was correct. From then on Betty Raye’s days consisted of hours of standing around having her picture made with every beauty queen, FHA winner, Girl Scout, Boy Scout, Eagle Scout, Teacher of the Year, Businessman and -woman of the Year, and anyone to whom Cecil promised a picture with the governor, while Hamm and the boys sat in the other room working on state government. At the end of each day she sat with pen in hand and signed everything that Wendell put in front of her and then went upstairs to bed, alone as usual.

But life was not all bad. She spent most of her free time over at the new house, simply wandering around happily or outside doing a little gardening. And several months after the election, Neighbor Dorothy and Mother Smith, who was over her terrible flu, came up and visited for the day. She laughed when Dorothy gave her the chili dog Jimmy had wrapped in tinfoil to send her and she caught up with all the news about Bobby’s new job and Anna Lee’s new baby. They were surprised to see how big her two boys had grown. All in all it was a wonderful day.

Old Friends

Neighbor Dorothy never liked to brag, so after they had returned from visiting her friend the new governor of the state, close to the end of the show she simply told her listeners this:

“Over the weekend Mother Smith and I were lucky enough to have had a lovely visit with an old friend of