Jane Smiley - Early Warning

The Langdons

Walter Langdon (1895)

Wilmer Langdon Walters father

Elizabeth Chick Walters mother

Ruth Cheek and Lester Chick Walters maternal grandparents

Etta Cheek mother of Ruth Cheek

Lester and Howard Walters brothers

Rosanna Vogel Langdon (1900)Walters wife

Otto Vogel Rosannas father

Mary Augsberger Rosannas mother

Charlotta Kleinfelder Ottos mother

Hermannand Augustina Augsberger (Opa and Oma) Rosannas maternal grandparents

Rolf, Eloise, John, Gus, and Kurt Rosannas siblings

Julius Silber Eloises husband

Rosa Eloise and Juliuss daughter

Elton Jackman Rosas first husband, Laceys father

Lacey Rosa and Eltons daughter

Ross Eloises second husband

Shelia Johns wife

Gary, Buddy, Jimmy John and Sheilas sons

Angela Guss wife

Francis Frank Langdonfirst child of Walter and Rosanna

Hildegarde Andrea Bergstrom AndyFranks wife

Janet Frank and Andys eldest daughter

Jared Nelson Janets husband

Emily Janet and Jareds daughter

Richard RichieandMichael Frank and Andys twin sons

Ivy Richies wife

Loretta Perroni Michaels wife

Chance, Tia, Beatrice BinkyMichael and Lorettas children

Joseph Joe Langdonsecond child of Walter and Rosanna

Lois Frederick Joes wife

Roland and Lorena Frederick Loiss parents

Minnie Loiss sister

Ann Annie and Joseph JesseJoe and Loiss children

Jennifer Guthrie Jesses wife

Joseph Guthrie and Franklin Perkins PerkyJesse and Jennifers sons

Mary Elizabeth Langdonthird child of Walter and Rosanna

Lillian Elizabeth Langdonfourth child of Walter and Rosanna

Arthur Brinks Manning Lillians husband

Sarah Cole DeRocher and Colonel Brinks Manning Arthurs parents

Timothy Timmy, Deborah Debbie, Dean Henry, and Christina Eloise TinaLillian and

Arthurs children

Hugh Debbies husband

Carlie and Kevin KevvieDebbie and Hughs children

Linda Deans wife

Eric Dean and Lindas son

Henryfifth child of Walter and Rosanna

Clairesixth child of Walter and Rosanna

Paul Darnell Claires husband

Grayson and Bradley Claire and Pauls sons

THE FUNERAL WAS a riot of floral exuberance not just lilies, but daffodils and tulips and sprays of apple and pear blossom. Frank Langdon sat with his daughter, Janny, about six pews back on the right; his wife, Andy, and their month-old twins, of course, couldnt come all the way to Iowa. Janny, two and a half, was behaving herself. Frank took his hand off her knee, and she stayed quiet. The broken sounds of tears being suppressed rose all around him. Franks sister Lillian, her husband, Arthur, and their four kids were two pews ahead on the left. Mama was sitting in the front pew, staring straight ahead. Granny Elizabeth was sitting next to her, alone now Grandpa Wilmer had died in the summer; in the intervening nine months, Granny had traveled to Kansas City, St. Louis, and Minneapolis. His mother liked to cluck knowingly and say, Shes blossomed, hasnt she?

His brother Joes baby, the same age as his twins, looked like she weighed what they did together. Joes wife, Lois, and her sister, Minnie, passed the baby back and forth to keep her quiet. Frank stared at Minnie for a moment. He had known her his whole life, walked to school with her for years, known always that she was on his side. Maybe she loved him still. Frank cleared his throat. Annie, the childs name was. Janny couldnt get enough of her she talked to her and stroked her head if she got a chance. Across the aisle from Minnie were Franks brother Henry, his communist aunt Eloise, and Eloises daughter, Rosa. His sister Claire fourteen, nineteen years to the day younger than Frank himself kept turning her head and looking at Rosa, and why not? The girl was at her peak at twenty, severe and slender, with the look of a French actress. She made Henry, who was only months older, look like a girl, Claire look like a sheep, Andy, even glamorous Andy, look like a frump. Rosa was much more alluring than his aunt Eloise had ever been. Frank looked away. It was his fathers funeral.

After the interment (where Janny wanted to walk from grave to grave, smelling the daffodils in full bloom; Frank didnt stop her), Frank calculated that hed kept that sad smile on his face for eight solid hours. He held his drink, Scotch and soda supplied by Minnie, who was now assistant principal at the high school and lived here, apparently comfortably, with Lois and Joe. Frank watched the neighbors come and go. This house, much grander than the house theyd grown up in, was industriously clean. The famous dining room with the sliding French doors that had been the envy of farmers around Denby, Iowa, all through Franks childhood, still had flowered wallpaper and heavy moldings. While he was pondering the double-hung windows, Arthur Manning came up to him, as if they were merely brothers-in-law who just happened to see each other at a family funeral. Frank often wondered if his sister Lillian had any idea of what her husband talked to Frank about, or the uses he put him to.

Arthur held Tina against his shoulder. She was three months now, wiry and active, as if she planned to head out the door any moment. Arthurs tweed jacket was festooned with a folded diaper. Arthur jiggled and comforted a baby the way a great athlete hit a ball, as if his adept grace and evident reproductive success were the easiest thing in the world. Tina burbled and muttered, wide awake and not crying. Frank admired this.

Arthur said, How are Richie and Michael doing?

Coming along, said Frank.

What are they now?

A month. But they were four and a half weeks early, so lets call them newborns.

Precocious, then, said Arthur, with a straight face, and Frank smiled a real smile. He said, Its a good thing Mama hasnt seen them. She might suggest putting them down.

Arthurs eyebrows lifted.

Mamas strict about babies. If you arent good-looking, you could be carrying something contagious.

Arthur kissed Tina on the forehead.

Dont worry, Arthur, said Frank. Tina would pass.

Arthur laughed. But Frank could see it even at his fathers funeral, Mama doled out words and smiles like stock options. Annie and Lillian were the preferred stock; Timmy, Arthurs oldest at six, the class-A common stock; Debbie, five, Dean and Janny, both two and a half, the class-B common stock not much of a risk, but not much of a dividend, either. Tina, who could still turn out to be blond, could rise in value or decline. As for Frank himself, well, he had taken his company private, and Mama didnt have much of an investment there at all a peck on the cheek, a reassurance that everything was going to turn out fine. Frank lowered his voice: Have you talked with Eloise?