The Darling Dahlias and the Eleven O'Clock Lady

But they agreed that there were also plenty of personal benefits. Working at the camp gave each woman her very own salary, several of them for the first time in their lives. Bessie Bloodworth, for instance, owned a boardinghouse called the Magnolia Manor, but she had never earned a regular paycheck working for somebody else. And while Lucy sold the fruit and vegetables she and Ralph raised in their market garden, the money went into Ralph’s pocket, and he handed over whatever he thought she needed for household expenses. Working at the camp gave all of them their very own paycheck and a new feeling of personal independence.

And, as Miss Dorothy Rogers frequently said, working with people who came from somewhere else—like the Yankee officers at the camp and the young men who came from out of state—was “broadening.” Miss Rogers, Darling’s long-time librarian, was now managing the Camp Briarwood library. In the column Ophelia had written about the library, she had quoted Miss Rogers as saying that “the boys always seem thrilled to find the latest magazines and paperback books.” Off the record, Miss Rogers had told her that Captain Campbell had given her a surprisingly large budget for library materials and had hinted that once the camp had finished its work and made plans to pack up and leave, the books and magazines would be donated to Darling.

Earlynne Biddle, Verna Tidwell, and Liz Lacy were the other Dahlias who worked at the camp, part-time, as teachers. Since one of the goals of the CCC program was to give the boys as many learning opportunities as possible, Briarwood offered a full-scale educational program, with classes taught by local people. It included basic reading, writing, and arithmetic, as well as wood shop (taught by Ozzie Sherman, who ran the sawmill), welding shop (taught by Jesse Maxwell, who had recently converted his Darling blacksmith’s forge into a welding operation), and auto shop (taught by Jake Pritchard’s son, who helped his dad run the Standard Oil station).

Verna taught arithmetic and a small advanced course in basic accounting. Earlynne and Liz shared the reading and writing classes. When Ophelia interviewed Earlynne for her column, she said she’d been astonished to learn how many of the CCC boys hadn’t stayed in school long enough to learn to read and write properly. Now was their chance, and many of them were taking advantage of it. All of the classes were held in the education building, which contained the camp library and reading room as well as the classrooms. The vocational classes were taught in the adjacent shop building.

Lucy shifted her bag to the other shoulder. “It looks like almost all the Dahlias are out here today. Bessie is waiting for me, and I saw Earlynne and Miss Rogers a little while ago, on their way to the education building. And here you are. Haven’t seen Verna, though, or Liz.” She glanced in the direction of Ophelia’s car. “Sarah’s with you?”

Ophelia nodded. “Tomorrow is her fifteenth birthday. She and I drove over to Monroeville to get her birthday present—a new red swimsuit that’ll likely make Jed blow his stack.” She laughed.

Lucy rolled her eyes. “Fifteen. It doesn’t seem possible, Opie. Seems like that little girl should still be climbing trees and jumping rope.”

“I know.” Ophelia made a mournful face. “Next thing you know, she’ll be all grown up.” Sam, too—he was two years older. When the kids were gone, she and Jed would just rattle around the empty house.

“Sarah is so smart,” Lucy said with a serious look. “I hope she’ll go to college.” Lucy had told Ophelia that she had wanted to go to college, but she’d wanted to marry Ralph even more and didn’t think he’d wait for her. She wished now that she’d gone for at least two years, Ralph or no Ralph. But of course it was too late. Women her age didn’t go to college, even if they had the money.

“I don’t think we can afford it,” Ophelia said. “Sam graduates next year, and Jed is hoping he’ll be able to go. He says there’s not much future in the farm supply business. But Sarah’s a girl and—” She gave a little shrug. “Jed thinks college for girls is a waste of money. He says she’ll just get married.”