Summer of '59 (fanfic)

[tdr]

This story takes place in the summer between Season 2 and Season 3, when the Cleaver family moves to their new house.

Chapter 1: Like an Old Friend

As Ward and June Cleaver left Wally and Beaver’s room, both boys lay back on their own beds and glared at the ceiling, the walls, and the windows. Beaver had been pleased with his B for his composition about his dad, in which he decided to just tell the truth about what Ward meant to him. And Wally had been pleased with the conversation he had with the high school football coach about his being a good candidate for varsity play next fall when he would be a sophomore. But this night, after having their house on the market for almost two months, their parents came bursting into their room to say, “Boys, we just sold the house!” and that their bid for a new house on Pine Avenue would probably be accepted within a few days.

“Wally?” mused 9-year-old Theodore “Beaver” Cleaver.

“Yeah,” returned 14-year-old Wallace.

“Are you gonna miss this room?”

“Well,” said Wally, “I might at first. But once we get all moved in at the new house, it won’t take long to forget all about it.”

“I’m not never gonna forget about it as long as I live,” returned Beaver.

“Sure you will, Beaver,” said Wally.

Beaver countered, “Well, I will not! I’ve lived in this room my whole life, so it’s sort’a like an old friend, and I still remember my old friends I haven’t seen for a whole 2 or 3 years now!”

Wally snarled a bit. “Okay, Beaver, so you WILL miss the room, then. It’s not gonna do you any good, because once we’re moved out, you’re never gonna see it again anyway.”

“Well— just maybe I’ll ask whoever’s buying this house if I can come back the first of every month to visit my room again.”

“Cut it out, Beaver. The new owner’s not gonna understand a goofy thing like that—especially if it’s that Mr. Benner, who Dad said looked like he was really serious about buying it when he came to look at it last Saturday.”

“Gee, Wally, is Mr. Benner a mean man who might hurt our house?”

“Beaver—let’s get ready to go to sleep. Nobody buys a house just to ‘be mean to it.’ And anyway, if he's the one buying it, it’s gonna belong to him, so we won’t have anything to say about it.”

With sad eyes, Beaver muttered, “Gee, Wally, I knew Mom and Dad wanted to sell the house, and I thought I’d like the idea of moving to a whole new house—at least if it's not too far away from Larry and Whitey. But now that they’ve sold it, I just feel kind’a funny about never living here again.”

Wally was becoming annoyed. “Beaver—just brush your teeth and put your pajamas on.”

Beaver gave his brother his “mean look” since he was not getting any sympathy, let alone agreement.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Good morning dear,” said June as her husband appeared in the kitchen making fine adjustments to his tie. “Good morning,” said Ward, bending slightly to kiss her cheek. He took a look at the percolator to be sure the coffee was ready, then sat down and poured himself a cup.

June, with a sad smile on her face between her beautiful hairdo and her ruffled apron, looked around the kitchen. “You know something, Ward?—as much as I’ve been looking forward to a new house, I think I’m really going to miss this one.”

Ward took a sip from his steaming cup. “Well, believe me, dear, I understand that. But we must face the reality that once everything’s all signed and sealed, we’re simply going to have too much work on our hands to have time for sentiment.”

“Oh, I know that, dear,” said June as she began dishing up the bacon, eggs, and biscuits. “But we’ve been so happy here—you, me, and the boys—that it just naturally takes a little time to adjust to the thought that we’re going to be leaving the home we’ve had since Wally was just a baby, and the only home Beaver’s ever known.”

Ward, realizing that June’s sensitivity was beginning a circuit that would need to be completed in the few weeks before they relocate, held his cup in front of his face longer than necessary and looked at her with sympathetic eyes. She was still waiting for him to say something when he suddenly arose and declared, “I guess I better call the boys down for breakfast.”

As Wally and Beaver got their plates and their glasses of milk and sat down, June said, “Well boys, you only have 3 more days of school. I’m sure you’re going to miss seeing your school and your teachers and your classmates every day.”

Beaver looked confused and Wally giggled, “Gee, Mom, that’s pretty funny!”

June said, “Well I don’t think it’s funny at all. You know, Wally, you’re old enough that you ought to realize the value of the places and the people that have really meant a lot to you.”

Wally swallowed his mouthful of eggs and gulped some milk. “Oh sure, Mom, I realize that. But I sort’a think I realize even more that after 3 days we’re gonna have 3 whole months for goofin’ around!”

Ward cut in, “Now Wally, your mother’s right about appreciating the value of your education and the people important in your life; and besides, you’re not going to have 3 whole months for, uh-- ‘goofing around.’ As soon as the deal is closed on the new house, we’re all going to be quite busy getting things sorted out and moved.”

“Yeah, sure, Dad. But when do you think we’ll be doing all that?”

“Well, son, I just hope the papers are signed this week, and then it may take 3 or 4 more weeks for the loan and title processing before we close. I’m just hoping that doesn’t take longer than we’re counting on, so we can be settled in well before school starts next September.”

Beaver said, “I was telling Wally last night—I sure am gonna miss this house, especially our own room. It’s the only room I’ve ever lived in for my whole life!”

“I was just telling your father much the same thing, Beaver,” said June. “I suppose you and I are the sentimental ones of the family. But your father is right, though—we’ve only got a very few weeks to be sentimental, and then we’re going to have a lot of work.”

After a few moments of eating in silence, “Boy,” said Beaver, “I wonder what all the guys are gonna think when I tell them we’re getting a new house.”

Ward put down his coffee cup. “Now hold it, Beaver. If I were you, I wouldn’t go to school telling all about your new house, because our bid for the house on Pine Avenue hasn’t officially been accepted yet. It seems to me you got into a little trouble just a couple of months ago when you told your friends we were moving to Madison.”

“Oh yeah, I forgot that because it was such a long time ago,” said Beaver. “But at least it is ‘ficial that we sold this house, ain’t it, Dad?”

“ISN’T it,” corrected Ward. “And, yes, the agreement is official. But even this house hasn’t been closed on yet. So Beaver, I really think it would be best if you just not say anything about all this until we tell you it’s all taken care of. That way you can avoid any confusion about the message.”

“But gee Dad—just in case we don’t get that house and then we have to move a hundred miles away, then this week could be the last time I see the guys, and they won’t even know that.”

“Yeah, I think he’s right about that, Dad,” remarked Wally.

“Alright, maybe so,” consented Ward. “But Beaver, I’m sure it’s just your closest friends you see after school, like Larry and Whitey, who would be really concerned. So you can tell them that we’ve sold this house and we’re hoping to get the newly built house on Pine. But," he added, with sharp truculence, "just don’t make any big announcement to your whole class. Now, it’s time for me to get going. Goodbye, dear,” he said as he kissed June.

After Ward went out the door and June said goodbye and went another other room, Wally and Beaver took their lunches and started out the back door. “Wally,” said Beaver, “Dad said not to tell my class we’re moving because this house hasn’t been ‘closed on' yet.”

Wally gave him a nudge to get going. “Sure that’s what he said.”

Beaver opened the door wide, then very deliberately closed it firmly. “There—“ he said, grinning, “now it’s been ‘closed on,’ so I guess I can tell ‘em!”

[tdr]

Chapter 2—“Out From Under”

As Beaver walked out the door of Miss Landers’ classroom, Larry Mondello and Whitey Whitney were there waiting for him. “Gee, Beav,” said Larry, “what took you so long? Me and Whitey have been waiting for you to tell us what you said you can’t tell the whole class.”

“Well, I, uh, was just talking to Miss Landers about something,” said Beaver. “I thought I’d let her in on it, too.”

Whitey was dumbfounded. “Boy, Beaver, what kind of a secret is it that you can tell a teacher, just like you can tell your pals?”

“I didn’t say it was a secret,” retorted Beaver. “I just said I was only gonna tell you guys, instead of the whole class.”

“Well, that makes it a secret from most of the guys!” remarked Larry. “I guess that makes it worth hearing. So, what is it?”

Beaver spoke just a touch above a whisper. ‘My mom and dad sold our house, so we’re gonna be moving this summer.”

Larry and Whitey looked like Sergeant Friday and Officer Smith in their skepticism. “Boy, Beaver, you’re not trying this again, are you?” interrogated Whitey.

Larry added, “Oh, come on, Beav, I’m still out a whole dollar for the fountain pen from the last time you said you were moving.”

Beaver shot back, “Since the ‘last time,’ you’ve had at least TWO whole dollars worth of stuff to eat at my house! And anyway, this ain’t like last time. We only thought we had a new house out of town then, but this time we really sold our old house—so now we GOTTA move!”

“Okay—so where you moving to this time, Beaver?” cynically inquired Whitey.

“Well, my dad made a bid on this new house on Pine Avenue, and we’re supposed to know this week if they’re ‘ceptin’ it or not.”

“Wow Beaver! That’s sounds closer to where I live than your house on Maple!” gleefully said Larry.

Whitey observed, “Yeah, Beaver, that’s just a few blocks from where you live now. What’s the use in moving a short way like that so you don’t even have to change schools?”

“Well, it’s got something to do with my mom wanting more closet space and more room for flowers and junk outside. I heard my dad and Mr. Rutherford—you know, Violet’s father— I heard them talking in the living room and he said my dad wanted to ‘move up’ and help make our old street the bad part of town. He said our new house would be a ‘symbol’ of some kind. I don’t really get it, but that’s what he said. And my dad said "You’re right, Fred." But it was one of those times he said something like he really didn’t mean it.”

‘Yeah, grownups are always doing that,” said Larry. “One time a door-to-door salesman came in and talked to my dad about aluminum siding for a long time, and Dad shook his hand and said ‘Thank you for your offer.’ Then after he closed the door he told my mother he really wanted to grab his arm and sling him outside.”

“Do you know which house on Pine Avenue it is, Beav?” asked Whitey. “If you do, we could walk by and look at it before we go home.”

“I don’t know the house number, but I think I’d know it if I saw it. Dad drove all of us by there in the car 2 weeks ago, then last week he and Mom went to look at it from the inside.”

“Gee, Pine Avenue’s not too far from here; let’s go find it!” concluded Larry.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As Beaver, Larry, and Whitey strolled along Pine Avenue. Larry remarked, “You know something, guys? This street sure is longer than I thought it was.”

"Yeah, we keep getting further and further away from the school,” agreed Whitey. “Maybe the end we had to start on was the wrong one.”

Beaver said, ‘Well, it seems like it was over close to the far end. Anyway, the numbers are getting smaller now. They were nine hundred-somethings when we started, now we’re crossing from the three hundreds to the two hundred-somethings.”

“Maybe you’ll be further away from school, but closer to the movies and downtown, Beaver,” said Larry. “Sounds like you’re getting a good deal!”

“Yeah, I guess so. That’s it!--right over there!” Beaver pointed at a light brown brick house with beige trim, with new turf sections and trees. But there was no 'NEW! FOR SALE' sign as when he saw it the time before. "Uh oh!”

“What’s the matter, Beaver?” said both his pals.

“The FOR SALE sign’s gone,” Beaver replied. “Somebody must have already bought it.”

“Boy, now I see why you didn’t tell the whole class—it would have been just like last time!” sneered Larry.

"It would not!” snapped Beaver. “I told you—we did sell our old house, so we gotta move so some new house somewhere, even if it’s not this one.”

As they crossed the street and strolled on the sidewalk to the front of the house, the front door opened and out walked 2 familiar “big guys,” Wally Cleaver and Eddie Haskell.

Eddie’s eyes twinkled with mischief as they slunk toward the younger boys. “Well, well—if it isn’t the 3 stooges! Eh-eh-eh-eh-eh.”

“Hi Wally. Hi Eddie” said each of the 3. “What are you doing here, Eddie?” inquired Beaver.

“What am I doing here? Can’t you see this ritzy new house is no longer for sale? My father—he owns his own garage, you know—heard about the Cleavers trying to improve their social status with a brand new home, so he decided to look out for ‘number one’ and he bought it out from under you today! He asked me to come by and check a few things out for him, and I invited my best friend Wally. You see, I’m more democratic than my father. Eh-eh-eh-eh…”

As Wally turned away and scratched his earlobe, Larry indignantly said, “Boy, Eddie!—that’s a rotten trick, buying this house out from under the Cleavers! Uh—how do you buy a house ‘out from under’ somebody?”

“It’s very simple, fat boy! You just make a call on the one you’re trying to beat out, make like you’re impressed, and start talking about the going rates for new houses these days, and then they tell you what how much they bid. Then you go to the seller and make your bid for one dollar more!”

“Your father did that, Eddie?” said Whitey.

“Of course! Like he always says, ‘Don’t associate with low-class people unless you got a reason to get the goods on ‘em'-- eh-eh-eh-eh-eh!”

Finally Wally stepped in. “Alright!—that’s enough Eddie. Don’t listen to him, you guys. The reason we’re here, Beaver, is because our dad’s bid was accepted today, and he sent me over to look at a couple of things, and I brought Eddie along. Today was Senior Day at school, and some of the senior guys set off stink bombs in the hall before they ran away, so they decided to cancel school for the day about 10 this morning. When I got home Mom said our bid for the house was accepted, and later Dad called and found out I was home. So that’s why he sent me over here.”

“Yeah—I thought so!” said Whitey.

“Me too!” said Larry. “You didn’t have me fooled, Eddie!”

“Oh, sure, fats! You asked how to buy a house out from under somebody-- because you were so sure we didn’t do it! Anyway, what Wally’s dad wanted us to check out was—he wanted us to go be sure there’s no quicksand or anything in the back yard, because this lot has had a curse on it going all the way back to when the Miami Indians lived around here. They were so scared, that’s why they moved all the way to Florida and made a new city by the beach there.”

“Go on, Eddie, that’s just more of your baloney!” mocked Whitey.

“Like I said, guys—just don’t listen to him,” said Wally. “Come on, Eddie, you know we’ve got a couple of other things we want to do. Bye guys!” And Wally and Eddie left, with Eddie looking back with his suppressed devious smile.

‘Hey, Beav, let’s go look at your new backyard, just to see what it looks like,” suggested Larry.

As the boys went around to the backyard, the wind was getting up and it blew some paper trash by them, and there was a whistle to be heard from the trees. They took a look at the back yard, saw it was spacey, though not very level for playing ball, and had some large trees and some new young ones recently transplanted, still with support cords. There was suddenly another gust of wind and whistling, and one of the young trees began to fall. With the falling tree came a screechy cry, and as the tree hit the ground a black cat darted away and first ran straight for the boys. They were astonished and yelled, so the cat turned away and ran off in another direction.

Larry and Whitey started to run away themselves. “Hey, wait guys!” shouted Beaver.

“You wait if you want to, Beaver!” yelled Larry as he ran. “After all, you’re gonna be living here! I wouldn’t want to live in a house with a cursed backyard!”

[tdr]

Chapter 3— “The Curse?”


As Beaver walked through the door to the kitchen, his mother was there taking bread pudding out of the oven. “Hi Mom,” said Beaver.

“Well, hello there, Beaver. You’re home a little late today, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, I guess I am.”

“Well, we have some good news today!” June said excitedly.

“I know, Mom,” replied Beaver, unenthusiastically. “Our bid got ‘cepted and we’re buying that house on Pine Avenue.”

"That’s right, Beaver. I suppose you must have seen Wally and he told you. But you don’t sound like you’re very pleased about it.”

“Oh, I guess I’m real pleased about it. Me and Larry and Whitey went over there after school to look at it.”

“Oh, that’s where you were.” Beaver just nodded his head. “Well, what is it? You don’t think it looks right?—you don’t like the street?-- or is it too far from school?”

“No, it’s not any of those things, Mom. I think I’ll go up to my room now, since I won’t be seeing it any more after we get moved.”

As Beaver walked up the stairs he slowed down and thought about how comfortable the whole house was, though he had never particularly noticed it before. He opened the door to his and Wally’s room, and his brother was lying on the bed reading a magazine. “Hi Wally.”

“Hey Beav. Say, what do you think about the new house?”

“I guess it’s okay.”

“Okay?” repeated Wally. “Heck, I think it’s real neat! Shade trees, a nice patio for eating outside, new brick, new walls, new ceilings—almost new everything!”

“Yeah, but what about the backyard?”

“What about it?”

“I mean what Eddie said, about the curse those old Indians knew about.”

“Beaver—I told you guys not to listen to Eddie! That curse he told you about is just more of his made-up junk. You know better than to believe that, don’t you?”

Beaver sat down on his bed facing Wally. “Yeah, I thought I knew better than to believe that. But after you guys left, Whitey and Larry and me went around to the backyard, and then the wind blew one of those skinny trees over and it had a black cat in it that hissed and spit at us! Then he ran away and Larry and Whitey got scared and ran away, too. I hollered at ‘em to wait, but Larry hollered back he didn’t want to stay around a cursed backyard.”

“Heck, Beaver, if a cat was climbing in one of those new trees, that’s probably the reason it fell, because it’s not big enough for cat-climbing yet.”

“Yeah, but it was a black cat! And he ran straight at us. That’s supposed to mean bad luck! So maybe there is a curse on that backyard!”

“Aw, Beaver, that’s dumb! I had a black cat run in front of me one day I was walking to school when we were having a big algebra test that I was afraid I was gonna fail. I made a B-minus on it.”

“Well—maybe you’d have made a B-plus if that cat hadn’t been there!”

“Beaver, I was really lucky that most of the problems were the ones I knew how to work best. That’s the point—a black cat isn’t bad luck. Nothing’s bad luck—or good luck. Things just happen; that’s all.”

“Well yeah, but just as soon as Eddie told us about the curse, the wind gets up and blows trash around at us, then just as we look at the backyard the wind gets up again and it blows the tree down!”

“Beaver—it’s like I said; things just happen. That’s called a coincidence. But let me tell you something—don’t let Eddie know about the tree and the black cat. He’ll really give you guys the business then!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wally and Beaver were sitting in the living room watching the weatherman with his wand and his big words as he stood in front of the map. “Well boys,” said June, “if your father doesn’t get here in five minutes, we’ll go ahead and start our supper without him.”

“Gee thanks, Mom,” said Wally. “I wonder if he went by the new house or something.”

Just then they heard the kitchen door open, and the boys jumped up and promptly went in to the dining room. “We’ve been waiting for you, dear,” June said as Ward entered from the swinging door to the kitchen.

“Oh, I went to go see that builder,” Ward replied. “He called me this afternoon and said there’s some dispute about the property boundary, and they may have extended the garage too far back so that it’s into the lot on the opposite corner. We probably can’t close on the deal as long as there’s a legal dispute that might go to court.”

“Oh no, dear,” said June. “I hope this doesn’t mean we may not be able to move in for quite a while.”

As Beaver and Wally glanced at each other as they took their places at the table, Ward responded, “Well I don’t like to think about it, but it could mean that. Mr. Benner hasn’t said yet when he wants to move in here, but I don’t think he would like it very much if we have to tell him there could be a delay of a few weeks, maybe a month or two, before we’re able to move out.”

“Gee Dad,” said Beaver, “how could they build part of a garage on somebody else’s property?”

“Oh, it’s probably a human error in surveying or marking,” said Ward. “After all, those lots in that neighborhood are not very uniform in size and shape.”

“What can they do about it, Dad?” inquired Wally. “Just chop off that part of the garage they built on the other property?”

“It could come to something like that, Wally, although I doubt if they will literally ‘chop off’ part of it. But there could well be some question of compensation, and that’s what could take quite a number of weeks to straighten out.”

“Dad,” said Beaver, “is it the backyard that’s causing trouble like this?”

“Well, I suppose, Beaver, in a way you could say that. But the backyard isn’t ‘causing’ the trouble; it’s human error having to do with the backyard that is.”

“Boy, Wally, what do you think about the curse now?” asked Beaver.

“I think the same thing as before,” answered Wally.

“The curse?” asked June in bewilderment.

"Well-- you see--" began Wally, "Eddie went with me when I went to the new house, and he told Beaver and Larry and Whitey that there was an old curse on the backyard. Bu they went back there anyway, and one of those new trees fell over and a black cat ran out of it and scared 'em, so they really believe there's a curse."

"Oh, Beaver, you know that's silly, don't you?" said June.

"Well, I keep wanting to think it's silly--" replied Beaver, "but Eddie's story and a tree falling and a black cat... that seems like too many bad things at once! And I left out that the wind started blowing and blew trash right at us! It's like everything's telling us to stay way!"

Ward gave a sigh. "Beaver-- as you get older you'll understand what a coincidence is. And you'll realize you wasted a lot of negative thought about nothing. Don't you remember Miss Cooper and that house on Grant Avenue? You were convinced she was a witch, and all of us ended up hurting her feelings until you admitted you were wrong and I tried to help you understand how people make up their minds about things or people that scare them based on misperception and rumors. I thought that made an impression on you."

"Gee, Dad, it did. I guess I'll just have to wait and see if things turn out right with the house. I-- I guess you don't see this new trouble with the garage as because of the curse, do you?"

"Beaver, I'm sure you know I don't. But that happens to be our problem now; not any curse that doesn't exist. But-- I suppose I do wish this could be solved just by throwing salt over my shoulder or wearing a charm for a day."

"Maybe Wally'll let you borrow his lucky horseshoe to hang in your room!" excitedly exclaimed Beaver." Wally looked embarrassed.

"Dear," said June, "please stop this talk about good or bad luck, or Beaver may come home with a crystal ball and a tall pointed hat."

[tdr]

Chapter 4 -- Independence Night


As the Cleaver family unloaded the picnic basket, the thermos, an umbrella and other items as it was getting dark on this July 4 evening, Ward noticed a paper attached to the front door. “Let’s go ahead take everything in through the kitchen door,” he said. “Then I’ll go see what that paper is on the front door.”

“Gee Dad,” said Beaver, “I thought there never was any mail or newspaper on the Fourth of July.”

“Heck, Beaver, that looks like a note somebody just left there,” said Wally; “it didn’t come from the mailman or the paperboy.”

“You boys hang your wet swimming trunks on the clothesline,” instructed June, “then come on inside.”

After the boys had done as their mother asked and had left the kitchen and went on up to their room, June dropped into a chair at the table. Then Ward came back into the kitchen and saw how tired out she looked. He put the handwritten paper down on the table, stood behind her and began to gently massage her shoulders. “Ummmm—that feels so good, honey,” sweetly aired June. “It was a nice picnic, but all the walking and wading and trying to keep our plates and cups from blowing away did rather tire me out.”

Ward responded, “Well, maybe you can return the favor to my tired shoulders in a little while. I may need it to get some tension off of them. That note is from Mr. Benner. He’s starting to really put the pressure on us about signing the final papers and getting out, or else he may nullify the deal.”

“Well dear, it’s not our fault. I know we’ve put our moving plans on hold for a month now, but how close is the builder to settling the case with the other lot owner?”

Ward sat down beside his wife. “I wish I knew. Five weeks ago I was optimistic that we would already be in our new house by now; and I was certain it would all be done before August. Now there’s a real possibility we may have to start all over in getting this house sold.”

"You know, Ward, it’s interesting how the boys have said so little about the whole problem so far. And it’s not as if we’ve tried to hide the facts from them—just that most of this goes over Beaver’s head, and quite a bit even gets by Wally.”

“Well, dear, I think it’s just that it’s summer and they’re trying to enjoy it. Especially since they haven’t had all the work we warned them about when we sold the house-- or thought we had. So I suppose the delay has been a relief in their eyes.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Beaver lay on his bed flat on his back with his hands clasped behind his head. “That sure was a neat picnic, huh Wally?”

Wally, standing by the window observing the night, replied, “Yeah, I guess it was. But you could tell Mom and Dad weren’t enjoying it like they usually do on a holiday picnic.”

“Why not?”

“Well, it’s gotta have something to do with the house situation. I know they haven’t said much about it for a couple of weeks, but I know they’re upset because we can’t get moved yet.”

Beaver sat up on the edge of his bed. “Yeah, we haven’t said much about it either. But it’s been summer all this time we haven’t been saying much about it, so I’ve been having fun playing baseball, going swimming, sleeping late in the morning, and all that good stuff. There’s no need to spoil all that by worrying about the new house.”

“That’s okay for a little kid like you,” responded Wally. “But I understand more of what Mom and Dad are up against. It took about ten weeks of having this house on the market before Mr. Benner made a deal to buy it. And now, since we can’t move into our new house, he hasn’t signed all the papers and everything they call ‘closing,’ and Dad says he can still back out of the deal if this goes on too long.”

“Gee, Wally, what can WE do about it?”

“That’s the whole point. There’s nothing Mom and Dad can do, and there’s sure nothing WE can do. That’s why all us grownups can do is worry.” Beaver looked at him blankly. “The builder and that guy that owns the other property have to settle the boundary thing between them. Dad says it could take another month or two if they go to court over it.”

“Gosh Wally, how is it such a big deal? It’s just a little bit of the garage that got built farther back than it was supposed to.”

“To grownups, a ‘little bit’ of a garage IS a big deal. And even a little strip of land in that backyard can mean a whole bunch of money.”

Beaver got up and looked out over the yard and the garage at their present home. “You know, Wally, I still say it must be that curse on the backyard of that house that’s causing us all this bad luck.”

“Beaver—I thought I told you weeks ago that curse is nothing but a lot of made-up junk by Eddie Haskell.”

“Yeah, I know. But that black cat and the tree blowing down, and now we can’t get moved.... It seems like we oughtn’t to move to that house anyway.”

“Oh brother, I give up!” Wally said exasperatedly. “Beaver, what would it take to get it through your head that there’s no curse on that backyard?”

“Well, the first thing would be that they finally get this whole fuss straightened out, then we could move if we still want to.”

“Alright—suppose that happens this week? Will you forget about the curse then?”

“Well—maybe. But if I see another black cat there, or another tree falls, or I break my ankle in that backyard or something—then I’ll know it’s gotta be true!”

The sound of a string of firecrackers going off was heard from a distance not too far away.

“Hey, Beav—it’s been dry and everything so far this summer. Do you think if there’s a curse on that backyard that it would catch fire from those fireworks?”

“Na—a curse doesn’t mean everything bad HAS to happen—just stuff that’ll be bad stuff for the people in it, too.”

“Suppose we snuck over there tonight. Do you think something bad would have to happen to us?”

“Gee, I don’t know, Wally. If we got caught, we’d be in big trouble. And summer’s the worst time of the year to get grounded or something.”

“Yeah, we better not do that. Because if we did get caught and get grounded, you’d say that was the bad luck, so the curse is real.”

“I would not—that’s a different thing from the curse!-- ain't it? Anyway, it was YOUR idea, and you don't believe in the curse, so the curse must not believe in you!" Before Wally could say "What??" Beaver cut in "So... I say let’s try it, and just hope we don’t get killed or anything.”

“Well—if you really want to. I guess we haven’t snuck off at night for a long time. We’ll just think of it as celebrating the holiday. And then when nothing happens, I don’t want to hear you talk about that stupid curse again. Okay?”

“Okay, Wally.”

“Okay—we’ll wait til Mom and Dad have been in bed for about an hour, then we’ll go out the window and down the tree. That may be a long time, so let’s go watch one of those old movies on television for a while.”

[tdr]

Chapter 5-- Midnight Mystery


Wally and Beaver were sitting in the living room silently. They had turned off the television from the movie they were watching because they thought it might be so scary it would make them too jumpy to proceed with their midnight dare.

“Okay, Beav,” said Wally, “Mom and Dad have been in their bedroom for forty or fifty minutes now. Let’s go ahead with the plan. You go out the back door, but be real quiet, and I’ll walk up the stairs just loud enough for ‘em to hear me in case they’re not asleep yet, then I’ll climb down and we’ll go.”

“Wally, how long will it take us to walk to the new house and look at the backyard and then walk back here?”

“I don’t know for sure—maybe close to an hour, I guess.”

Beaver opened the back door and stopped in his tracks for a few seconds. He knew there had to be something not right—that is, more than disobedience to his parents—about sneaking out of house when it was getting close to midnight. But it was the 4th of July, and he felt that a midsummer adventure was something to which he was entitled, since they had so far missed the adventure of moving, even though he still felt bad for the house he would be leaving behind. And besides, he really did want to become further convinced the backyard of the new house is really cursed, or to finally start thinking it wasn’t.

The boys met at the base of the tree Wally so nimbly scampered down, even in the darkness. He was getting to be quite a vigorous, well-coordinated athlete, was Wally. So with a few whispers they set out toward what they still hoped would be their new home. An occasional car went by, one of which was weaving quite noticeably down the street, and a few more firecrackers were heard and a couple of times a faraway sparkle of a rocket of some type. Once sirens were heard also, as if from the other side of town. “Wally,” excitedly said Beaver, “do you think that may be Gus in engine Number 5? He said he was gonna be on duty today.”

“Nah,” replied Wally, “he was talking about during the day. Anyway, we’d have to be hearing sirens all over if it got to where Gus had to go out to a fire. He’s just there if they have a whole bunch of fires in one day.”

There was not much other conversation as they walked along. Mayfield, as a rule, does not have a lot of late-night activity, even on a summer holiday. But the sounds they did hear were enough to remind them that it is not their normal time to be about. Besides firecrackers and sirens, there was a hotrod peeling out, a few dogs barking and others answering, and once a car came by with its radio blaring Frankie Avalon's Venus, and the boys hid behind a shrub because they didn’t know what such a midnight driver might be thinking if he saw them.

Finally they saw their new hoped-for house and it was the darkest house they had seen in their 20-minute walk. “Wally, something about the house looks kind ‘o spooky from here,” nervously confessed Beaver.

“Well,” answered Wally, “I think that’s just because there’s no streetlights close to it, and no other lights anywhere around. Maybe if we do get to buy the house, Dad can yell at the city until they put a streetlight there.”

“Yeah, maybe he can then. But I don’t know about tonight, walking to the backyard when it’s so dark we can’t see where we’re goin’.”

“Beaver—we wouldn’t even be here if you hadn’t said you wanted to come.”

“I know I said that, but it was your idea in the first place!"

“Okay—okay! I came up with the idea, but it was you who wanted to do it." They both hesitated, but finally Wally resumed "But it doesn’t matter now. So if you don’t want to go the backyard, suppose you stay here while I go around one corner of the house to the other. Then, if nothing happens will you say it’s not cursed?”

“Uh-uh,” timidly replied Beaver. “Maybe I’m scared, but I don’t want to have walked all the way here in the dark for nuthin. Besides, I don’t want to stay here by myself either—so I’ll go with you, Wally.”

“Okay—let’s go then. We’ll just go around the house and come back, then go back home.”

They walked rapidly until they approached the first corner into the backyard, and then they saw it would be even darker as they went around by the rear of the house. Beaver gripped Wally’s arm. Under normal circumstances Wally would have pushed Beaver away; but not this time. Wally’s knee struck something hard. “Owwww!” he said. “Wally!—what’s the matter?” cried Beaver.

“Oww—“ said Wally again, “and shhhhh! Don’t yell! I can feel it with my hand now—it’s that stack of bricks around the outside of the patio that I hit my knee on. It smarts. But come on—let’s get this over with.”

Wally tried to feel his way around the patio, with Beaver still hold of his arm, as both boys lost their footing and fell over to their side. “Ahh!—what happened!?” cried Beaver.

“Quiet, Beaver!" said Wally, trying to keep it a whisper. "It was just kind of a little hill; we couldn’t tell there was a slope in the ground.”

A light went on at the opposite side of the garage, which caught their attention. They could slightly see each others’ faces in this dim light; Beaver’s expression was one of fright, and Wally’s was one of worry. “Come on, Beaver,” said the worried one, “we better hurry up and get out of here.”

As they rose to their feet, another light—this one a strong beam—really got their attention. “Hey!-- who's out here?” a course voice called.

Beaver gave a little screech as they started to run. Then the beam of light pointed straight at them. “Alright, you boys—stop!” With the bright light in their eyes, they could not see the man who was shining it at them. They looked at each other and Beaver exclaimed, “Wall-y-y-y!” They turned away from the light and started to run again, but he voice repeated, “I said stop!-- right now!”

Wally, almost as scared as Beaver, came to a halt and Beaver almost ran past him. But Beaver was afraid to run if Wally was not with him. The man with the high-powered flashlight spanned the area with his florescent beam. Seeing no one else besides the 2 trembling boys, he approached them cautiously. “Alright—what are you boys doing here at this time of night?”

“Well, um—“ Wally stammered.

“We’re looking for night crawlers!” blurted out Beaver.

“Why here?” asked the man they still couldn’t really see.

“Uh—I think because there might be more of ‘em here because it’s so dark--” said Beaver, “Sir,” he added, almost crying.

“You—the older one—“ continued the man, “tell me what you’re doing here.”

“Well sir,” began Wally, “I brought my little brother here so he wouldn’t think there’s a curse on this backyard any more.”

“What?!” said the man.

“Yeah, that’s really what he brung me here for,” said Beaver, nervously and rapidly. “Only now I believe it more than ever! Wally hit his knee on the bricks, then we both fell over on the ground that ain’t flat, and now we don’t know what you’re gonna do to us! Do you think this place is cursed now, Wally!?”

Wally didn’t answer, but the man, seeing that they were 2 scared boys, not delinquents or vandals, turned his flashlight toward the ground. “Boys, I don’t intend to do anything to you. I was in that house on the other side this garage, and I heard something out here, so I just thought I’d better see what’s going on. But I’ve still got to ask—why are you here? It’s just about midnight and obviously you boys don’t live on this property. Where do you live?”

“Well sir,” said Wally, getting back at ease, “we live a few blocks from here, and 4 or 5 weeks ago we thought we would be living here by now. But something’s holding up all the papers and junk that make it official that we can move in here.”

“Yeah,” said Beaver, “I thunk it was ‘cause of the curse on this backyard that we can’t move.”

“Boys, would you tell me your names?” asked the man, now more calm and almost pleasant.

“I’m Wally Cleaver.” “And I’m Theodore ‘Beaver’ Cleaver.”

“I thought so,” replied the man. “I had heard the Cleavers have 2 boys. But where did you get the idea there’s some kind of curse here? What is that all about?”

“From my friend, Eddie Haskell,” answered Wally. “He likes to give guys the business—you know, I mean he likes to make up crazy stuff little kids might really believe.”

“Oh, I see. He’s what we of the older generation might call a ‘windbag.’”

“Is it okay if we go now, Mister?” said Beaver. “I think we’ve done what we come here for.”

“No, I’m not sure you have,” responded the man with the face still too much in darkness to be made out. “At least not you, little one—uh, Beaver. If you came to see that there’s no curse on this property, but you still think so after tonight’s ambling, what would it take now to convince you there’s no curse?”

“I don’t know,” said Beaver. “I guess just for all the stuff to stop—I mean the stuff that happens every time we come here, and the stuff that still keeps us from gittin' moved.”

“Well, let me tell you what--" resolved the man, "I’ll shine this light so you can see to get back to the front of the house so you won’t run into anything else, and then you wait and see what happens in the next day or two. Is that fair enough?”

“Yes, sir,” said both brothers.

"Alright," said the man a he turned to walk away. But he quickly turned back around and said, “Would you like for me to drive you back to your house?”

Beaver started to speak, but Wally cut in, “No, that’s alright; we can make it back okay.”

Beaver held onto Wally’s arm as tightly as before until they came within the familiar confines of their own block. They went around to the side of the house and Wally started to open the kitchen door. “Wally, I think I twisted the lock on my way out,” said Beaver. Wally tried the door, and it was unlocked after all. He looked at Beaver, who looked away at first, but then was the first to step inside. He was glad to be back into the familiar night-time safety of the only house he had ever lived in.

As they started up the steps they thought they heard a sound from upstairs, perhaps meaning that one or both of their parents were awake. But being in no frame of mind at all to go back outside and climb up to their room the hard way, they hurriedly tiptoed up the steps and did not breathe until they had softly closed the door behind them. Although they wanted to talk about what had happened, they knew their voices might be heard, and that would give away that they were ‘up to something’ during the night. So they lay in bed with restless eyes until sleep finally overtook them.

[tdr]

Chapter 6 (Conclusion) Now That the Ordeal's Behind, Let it Bee

As Beaver awoke he looked at the clock and saw it was almost 10 a.m. They were really glad it was summer and they could get away with sleeping that late. Wally was already getting dressed. “Oh hey, Beav—you feel better this morning?”

“Yeah, I guess so. At least it’s not dark any more. But I’ll still be afraid of going to the new house even when it’s light.”

Wally just took that remark in silence and went downstairs. June was dusting in the living room. “Good morning, Wally. This is about as late as you boys have slept yet since school’s been out for the summer. You can have a late breakfast or an early lunch—which do you want?”

“Gee Mom, if I have breakfast now, it will be a whole 2 hours till lunch, so why can’t I have both?”

“Well, Wally, why don’t you and your brother just have a small bowl of cereal. That will hold you for an hour and a half, and then your father’s coming home for lunch at 11:30 today. He called not long ago and told me.”

“I thought he usually goes to lunch with Mr. Rutherford or some of those men he calls ‘clients.’ How come he’s coming home for lunch today?”

“Well I really don’t know, Wally; he didn't mention a reason. But don’t you think it’s very nice to have your father come home for lunch once in a while?”

The boys ate their cereal, then went into the living room and turned on the television, doing a few exercises along with Jack LaLanne, then watching reruns of I Love Lucy and December Bride. By 11:30 June had sandwiches and cups of soup prepared as the rest of the family was waiting for Ward. As he opened the front door Wally said, “Okay, Beaver, he’s here, so we can eat!”

“Boys, slow down,” said Ward. “Yes, we can eat, and while we’re doing that I have some good news."

After they all sat down at he kitchen table, Ward said, “Well, I finally have the good news we’ve been waiting for. The property dispute has been settled and your mother and I will be on our way to the bank for a one o’clock meeting to sign the closing papers. So we’ll be moving for sure in just a couple of weeks or so.”

“Ward, that’s wonderful!” said June. “What in the world caused the builder and Mrs. Jenson to settle the dispute?”

“To be honest, I don’t know,” replied Ward. "The builder just called me this morning and said Mrs. Jenson agreed to a reasonable settlement, where she had been pushing a hard line before. I don’t know what caused her to change her mind.”

Wally looked at Beaver with raised eyebrows. “Maybe it was MR. Jenson that changed his mind—" said Beaver, "he didn’t want people to think there was anything wrong with that garage or house or anything.”

Ward replied, “Beaver there is no MR. Jenson; Mrs. Jenson has been a widow for many years. She lives all alone in that house where the property adjoins what will be our backyard.”

Beaver said, “Well gee, Dad, then who was—“ Wally cupped his hand over Beaver’s mouth, then he took it away and grimaced as he felt the soup on his palm.

“Wally, what did you do that for?” asked June.

But as Wally hesitated Ward said, “Boys, do these questions of Beaver’s have anything to do with why you left the house last night?”

“Uh,” stammered Wally. “Left the house last night!” said June. “Well?” added Ward.

“Yes, we left the house last night close to midnight,” admitted Wally. “We walked over to the new house because I wanted to prove to Beaver there’s no curse on the backyard there, like Eddie told him that day."

“Boys-- do you realize how dangerous it can be to be out walking the streets at that hour?“ scolded June.

“And what happened at the new house?” asked Ward.

“Well,” said Beaver, “Wally hit hit his knee on the bricks, and then we fell over on the ground that ain’t—that’s not—flat, and a man in that other house heard us and he shined a real bright light on us. And I told him we were over there because I wanted to see if there was still a curse, and he said there wasn’t any curse and to wait and see what happens today and tomorrow.”

“Beaver, that’s quite a mouthful of a speech,” said Ward. “Did this man say who he was?”

“No, he didn’t tell us, Dad,” replied Wally. “But we thought he was the owner of that house.”

“Well, I suppose it doesn’t matter who he is,” concluded Ward. “But he must have known something about Mrs. Jenson softening her stance—or maybe he was in some position to cause it.”

“Well I’m glad it’s finally all worked out, dear,” said June. “So now, boys, it looks like we’re going to have the hard part in the coming days.”

“I’ve got another surprise for everyone, too,” said Ward, smiling. “You know we haven’t had a vacation this summer because I didn’t schedule one, since I didn’t know when I was going to need the days. Well, there are still two weeks open the second and third weeks of August. So if you boys promise me you will cooperate and help as much as you can, I’ll schedule those two weeks for vacation, and hopefully we’ll be able to spend some time up at a lake cabin before the summer’s over. It'll be nice to have that getaway after all we’ll have been through by then.”

“Gee, that’s swell, Dad!” said Wally.

So the Cleavers got all the papers signed and all the formalities done, and after another week all the approvals were in, so they packed up books, papers, keepsakes, tools and other things from the garage, and the potted flowers and small stands from outside. Then the next week June supervised sorting out the clothes the family was going to keep and the rest they were going to give away, or throw away if they were not fit for anyone to wear. Then the drapes, sheets, blankets, dishes, and knickknacks were boxed up and most were taken to the new house, where they began storing items away.

Finally moving day came on Friday, July 24, 1959. Beaver and Wally watched eagerly as the moving men carried their furniture, piece by piece, and their detachable appliances to the van. By the early afternoon all was loaded, and the Cleavers got into their car and backed out from the driveway for the final time. Ward hesitated before driving ahead, as they all gazed upon what was now their former home. Beaver rubbed his eyes and June gently placed her hand upon Ward’s arm. Even Wally’s eyes got a little red. But as they traversed the streets of Mayfield their looks began to brighten, and they were all smiles as they pulled into the driveway of what was no longer a dream. The newly built house at 211 Pine Avenue was now their home.

And later that evening, who should be the first visitor to ring the doorbell? Naturally, Eddie Haskell. Beaver, who was just on his way down the stairs at the time, answered the door. “Hey squirt!” said Eddie. “You decided to move here in spite of that cursed backyard, huh? eh-eh-eh-eh-eh.”

Beaver, who was sweating from helping Wally setting up their desk and bookshelves, came a little too close for Eddie’s comfort as he said, “There ain’t no curse there, Eddie. Wally and me came over here at midnight on the Fourth of July and proved it!”

“Hey, watch it, kid!” said Eddie. “Don’t touch me with those sweaty paws. As soon as I see Wally I’m going over to Mary Ellen Rogers’ house.”

As Beaver continued to step closer he saw a bee light on the brick wall behind which Eddie was backing up. So Beaver said, “You know Eddie, there might really be a curse on this house after all.”

“Yeah, how do you know?”

Beaver held out his “paws” in a threatening way and Eddie backed all the way to the wall, then yelled “Yowwww!!” as the bee stung him on the buttocks. “That’s how I know,” laughed Beaver.

June heard the yell and came running up to the door. “Beaver, what’s the matter?”

“Oh, Eddie got stung by a bee, Mom.” Eddie smirked and looked embarassed. “Hey, Mom,” continued Beaver, “I’ve got stung by a bee before, and you put soda on the sting to make it better. So maybe—“

“Oh, dry up, squirt!” cut in Eddie, as he turned and marched off. But he did turn around to say, “I hope you really enjoy your new home, Mrs. Cleaver.”

June answered, “I’m sure we will after we really get settled. It’s always a relief to get an ordeal behind you.”

As Eddie turned his head around one more time, Beaver was laughing uncontrollably.