The war was still the main topic of conversation in town, even though the armistice had been signed, the Kaiser had abdicated, President Wilson had negotiated the peace, and the Doughboys had returned from France months ago. But, as he walked through the fair grounds, Zeb's mind was not occupied with thoughts of the war.

He arrived early to find the best spot along the lee side of the poplar windbreak. He began to clean off the petal-strewn bench but thought better of it, deciding instead that the white dogwood petals were just right. All things considered, the day promised to be perfect. The sun had come up into a cloudless sky, the wind was just a whisper, the newly cut rye grass that had made way for the tents and displays filled the air with a sweet, fresh fragrance.

Zeb had looked forward to this day for almost a year and had carefully saved his money. Every cent he'd earned working on Simpson's farm had gone into a bank account. What with the bank's half-of-one percent interest and the five dollars Grandpa Jenks had given him for every birthday since he'd been a baby, the total amounted to exactly two-hundred-seventeen dollars and thirty-two cents.

Zeb swore he would spend every cent of it today, in spite of wanting to have as much left over as possible to help with college. Although he had received a scholarship to the state university, he would still have to scrimp and save. Then there was medical school he was aiming for. But all that was in the distant future. Today was Spring Fair Day in Bardstown, the day when he would finally have a chance to sit down with Hester Markham and maybe even hold hands with her.

It was hard to remember when he had first become aware of Hester. It must have been around his sophomore year in high school, the year when war was declared and the first young men left. Whatever he thought then, the two years that followed found him thoroughly captivated and intimidated by the slender, tall, blonde Hester. It had taken a supreme effort on his part to concentrate on studies when he actually ended up in the same class and only two seats behind her. She grew more beautiful with every passing day—and more remote.

He was filled with fantasies - of writing to her while away at college, of coming home weekends to be with her. The thought of winter sleigh rides during Christmas break was almost more than he could bear. He played that scene over and over again in his mind. Serious, somber, lovely Hester occupied more and more of his thoughts.

While he watched her blossoming into womanhood, he too had been changing. Slow to grow until his junior year, he suddenly shot up to near six-feet. He realized that the girls considered him a desirable boyfriend and possibly a worthwhile marital catch.

Bardstown was still a rural community and farming remained the occupation of most of the males in the area. Even though the new spur line connecting to the Baltimore & Ohio brought new businesses to the community, few of the fifty or so Bardstown High School graduates went on to college each year. Fewer still were aiming as high as medical school. That ambition set Zeb apart and did much to enhance his matrimonial value.

Hester was not one of his admirers, however. Zeb was certainly not shy around girls, but the coolly detached Hester seemed unapproachable. Rumors were that Lem Soares, the son of one of Bardstown's two attorneys, was in hot pursuit of Hester but, as far as Zeb could see, Hester showed no indication of showering favors on Lem either.

While there were dozens of opportunities for Zeb to meet Hester, he feared rejection so much that he didn't try. Spring Fair promised to provide him with the perfect opportunity for an introduction, one where rejection by Hester would not only be uncivil, but unthinkable.

Spring Fair was the happening of the year in Bardstown. A carnival atmosphere prevailed for Zeb because the Box Lunch Raffle was the major event. The origins of the raffle were lost in the past. Essentially, it had consisted of the young, unmarried women baking something, displaying their products on a table and having the young, single men bid on the food. The proceeds went to charity, the food went to the successful bidder, and the creator had the privilege of being the bidder's companion for the rest of the afternoon.

The inherent problems with the left-over food and left-out young ladies soon brought about a change. Cakes became the preferred item, with the baker's name hidden in an envelope under the cake. This attempt at anonymous matching produced amusement in the audience and rapid and successful attempts at avoiding that anonymity. The frosted initials of favored suitors on some of the cakes finally led to the new measures of the Box Lunch Raffle.

Under these rules, the efforts at maintaining the anonymity of the producers were mostly abandoned. Instead of cakes, box lunches for two became the subject of the auction. The high school girls who supplied them were left free to submit the food in a plain box or in one with the fanciest of ribbons and decorations. The girl was then free to whisper the identifying features to one or more males, or she could simply take her chances by not revealing hers to anyone.

Zeb's fantasies didn't stretch far enough to include Hester stopping him in the school hallway and telling him which box lunch was hers, but he had a foolproof scheme in the making. Chet Wilkerson was the county's prime auctioneer and the inevitable choice to conduct the raffle. Word had sifted down to Zeb that Chet was amenable to some forms of persuasion, and Chet's wife was the one who collected the box lunches from their creators.

Five dollars changed hands with the assurance that the first box to go on the block would be Hester's. Zeb tried to figure out how many forks-full of hay he'd had to pitch into old man Simpson's hay wagon to earn that five dollars.

Box Lunch Raffle -2  >>>(Continue)