Pine Grove, Wisconsin, January 1942
Immediately upon leaving the Eaton home, Barbara drove to Wisconsin to see young Timothy Riordan.
As her station wagon approached the Glenview Military Academy campus in rolling and wooded Wisconsin farmland, it was easy for her to like what she saw. Pre-teenage and older boys were riding horses of varying sizes including ponies in a wide expanse of green meadow that had not yet seen its first heavy snow of winter.
From a distance, the boys looked like little Cavalry soldiers, following their stalwart riding instructor. They and he wore a uniform of tight-fitting navy blue jodhpur riding breeches with wide white leg stripe, mirror-glossy black riding boots with spurs, smart hip-length jackets with high band collars, and wide-brimmed, tall-crowned campaign hats held by chin straps.
But then, of course, Barbara remembered. It's a military academy. She wasn't sure then whether she liked that aspect of the school her godson, soon to be her son, attended. And why all boys? Why not girls, too? She drove slowly up a serenely winding dirt road bordered by tall poplars. It led up to a cluster of white wooden administration and classroom buildings and a sign beneath them that identified the academy. Getting out of her car, she first heard and then saw a Piper Cub fly over the administration building and come in for a landing at a school airport behind it in the distance.
So far so good, she thought. Glenview's got the two most important things: Horses and planes. Three! she laughed. Men! The academy also was on a small private lake. It had not yet frozen over, so she had seen boys in kayaks paddling and sailboats beached along the shore. From the highway before entering the campus she also had seen tennis courts, a golf course, baseball diamond, and football, lacrosse and soccer fields. Since the weather was still mild, no boys were skating or playing hockey on the outdoor ice rink.
When Barbara entered the administration building she easily found the information desk in the lobby and asked about her son. A serious, handsome teenaged boy meticulously dressed in blue chambray shirt with epaulets, narrow black necktie, and navy blue trousers with the wide white leg stripe immediately stood up from behind his desk. She assumed he was a cadet at the academy and this was one of his chores or duties. He virtually came to attention at her request, then directed her to the admissions office.
Just like at the British Ferry Command, Barbara remembered. Not really cold, just military.
The cadet led her, almost marching, to the admissions office, then returned to his desk in the lobby. Barbara entered and found a woman seated at a desk who was of considerable girth, dressed in a woman's version of the cadet's attire, only in long skirt and not trousers.