The Golden Ring (a love story)

Did I ever tell you about the golden ring? No? A long time ago when I was little, our family, my Dad and myself, lived in a very old house. This very old house was owned by a very old widow, Mrs. Bauer. This beautiful spanish style house was on a fairly large piece of land in a very beautiful country side. It was built by Mr. Bauer and had some unusual qualities as well as a magnificent view. A place where a kid could roam and make up stories and get into mischief. Which we did. This was in the mid 1970's and as my parents were divorced we shared the house with another family, so there were always people coming and going and visiting and staying. The property also had many cottages as well as a oddly shaped library that was inhabited by bees, but that is another story. Mrs. Bauer was a well off woman and chose to make her main residence elsewhere and rented out the main house to us and sometimes the cottages to other folks. Sometimes, when the cottages were not rented she would come and stay for short visits. I remember the air changed and was charged with the electric feeling like the queen was in for a visit. It seemed like she didn't want to be in anyones way or any trouble but you could tell, the grown ups were a bit on edge and Mrs. Bauer would sometimes need help. I remember she would call the house and leave messages for some one to come and help with fire wood or move something heavy. Not unusual requests but it made people feel like they had to hop to it. Her calls did have one strange quality... she never said goodbye and would just hang up when she was finished, sometimes with out warning....