by Lori Wick
After a few minutes he bent back over his account books, wishing as he did, that he had someone trustworthy to do them for him.
thirty-four
Dear Kaitlin, Sean and Marcail,
I’ve missed you so much and worry day and night over your safety. If you haven’t written to me, please do so right away. I don’t think I can bear another day without hearing from you.
I haven’t heard from your father, but I did write him to explain. I suppose you did too.
There is one more thing I need to tell you—Percy is gone. He departed for Europe right after you left and I believe he’s not coming back. Please consider returning to San Francisco. I promise I’ll make everything wonderful for you. Please think about it.
Don’t forget to write me.
Love to each of you,
Aunt M.
“Are you going to write today?” Marcail wanted to know.
“Probably after lunch.”
“Katie, is Aunt Maureen saved?”
“I don’t know Marc. Why do you ask?”
“Because she worries so much and she said something at mother’s grave about her being gone forever. Mother’s not gone forever, she’s just gone from the earth.”
Kate reached out and hugged Marcail. She, too, had heard her aunt’s words and wondered at them.
“Father and I discussed it one night, Marc, and he’s sure that his parents were born again. Maureen has always been a great support to Father but he’s not sure where she stands.
“I think she believes in God and tries to do the right thing, but I don’t know if she’s ever confessed to God that she needs a Savior.”
“Katie, I miss Sean. We never talk with him anymore.”
“I miss him too,” Kate answered, thinking how quickly a nine-year-old could change the subject.
“Are we going back to San Francisco?”
“No—at least not right away. I have to teach for two more months and I don’t want to make another move until we hear from Father.”
“Are you glad Percy is gone?”
“I’m glad for myself but not for Aunt Maureen.”
Marcail nodded and then changed the subject once again. “What’s for lunch?”
“Oh, I don’t know,” Kate said, this time relieved at the change in topic. “I thought we might have yeast cakes and molasses.”
The remainder of the day flew by after Gil came with the wagon. The girls now had more blankets than they knew what to do with. Kate worked on some mending and her school lessons for the next week. Marcail didn’t seem to notice how distracted Kate was. About an hour before supper they began walking toward the Taylors’.
“I knew you would do this,” Jeff called to them as he brought his wagon to a halt in the road beside the Donovan girls.
“Do what?” Kate asked.
“Walk to my folks’.”
Kate looked surprised and both Gil and Jeff grinned at her from the wagon seat.
“How else were we to get there?” Kate inquired after a moment.
“You were supposed to assume that we, being the fine gentlemen we are, would come for you.”
Kaitlin laughed, but then surprised them by declining.
“I need the walk, but thanks anyway.”
“What are we going to say to Rigg?” Gil let the cat out of the bag as to who had been the real gentleman and Kaitlin laughed again.
“Please thank Mr. Riggs for his offer, but I’m still going to walk. Marcail can go with you if she likes.”
Marcail climbed into the wagon and Kate put their bag next to her. Jeff sat holding the reins in indecision.
“Will you be all right Katie?” Marcail asked as she leaned over the side.
“I’ll be fine, thanks Marc.” With those words Kate swung around and started down the road. Without Marcail, her long legs made quick work of the distance. Jeff, Gil and Marcail passed her and not too far from the farm Rigg and Sean came abreast of her. Kate stopped and watched as Rigg handed the reins to Sean and jumped down. Rigg was silent until Sean had pulled away.
“How was your day?”
“Okay,” Kate answered quietly and when she stumbled a moment later, Rigg reached to steady her. He knew when she side-stepped his touch that he had to ask.
“Katie, have I done something to upset you?”
“No.” Kaitlin answered honestly and with a little frustration. She had thought about Marshall Riggs all afternoon. She had come to the conclusion that she could fall in love with this man, but her life was so unsettled right now she didn’t feel they had a chance. He hadn’t even met her father. For that matter she didn’t even know where her father was. A sudden image of his ship going down sprang to mind and Kaitlin felt a little sick.
“Then what is wrong?”
“What?” Kate’s voice was distracted and breathless and Rigg brought her to a halt with a hand on her arm.
“Kaitlin, what is wrong?” His voice and face were a picture of determination and Kaitlin looked at him helplessly.
“I don’t know exactly.”
“Have I done something?”
“I don’t think so.” It was a vague reply but Kaitlin was suddenly feeling frightened. Rigg read all of those feelings in her eyes and one vast hand came up to tenderly cup her face. His voice was whisper soft when he spoke.
“Katie, whatever you’re running from, run to me.”
His eyes, having gone from gray to black, held hers captive and Kate stood mute for a long moment. She didn’t know what to say or do. Running to him would be so easy. Being caught and held in those arms would be a haven of comfort like she’d never dreamed of.
But her mother had only been dead a few months and her father had not been in touch, plus the fact that Sean and Marcail needed her to be strong. She said something in soft Hawaiian and carefully pulled free of Rigg’s hold.
He released her, longing as he did, to know what she had said. But it was obvious that this perplexed woman needed more time. It was a quiet couple that made their way to the farmhouse for supper.
thirty-five
With Sean in tow, Rigg was at his parents’ home bright and early the next morning, asking Kate to ride to church with them. He had been very watchful of her and considered the possibility that she was coming down with something or that she was just plain exhausted.
It never occurred to him that her feelings for him had changed and that that was part of the turmoil he was reading on her face. He assumed that her sudden unease around him was because of Percy. She was obviously remembering the way she’d been treated. In fact her memory had probably been spurred by something her aunt had written in the recent letter.
That Kate had not yet read the letter when her feelings changed, Rigg didn’t know. She seemed rested, he noted, as they rode to church and she conversed easily with her brother. Once there, she greeted some of her students and met quite a few parents.
Rigg was turning to ask her a question when she suddenly darted away from him. He looked beyond her to see Joey Parker at the corner of the church. The little boy scooted out of sight when he saw his teacher bearing down on him, but Kaitlin pursued him and Rigg watched her disappear around the corner of the building.
“Joey,” Kaitlin called, when he was once again in view. “Will you come here please?”
The little boy came with obvious reluctance. Kate accurately read the look of fear on his face. Fear that Marcail had snitched and he was in deep trouble. Kate ignored the look.
“How are you, Joey?”
“All right.” the boy answered without taking his eyes off his dirty bare feet.
“I’m glad to hear that. Joey,” Kate said gently, “would you like to come into church with me?”
The little boy’s head snapped up, his eyes wide. She could see he was excited about the idea but then his shoulders slumped.
“I ain’t dressed for it.”
“I’m not dressed for it,” the teacher in Kate automatically corrected him. “A
nd I’m quite sure that God doesn’t care how you look.”
Joey considered this for a spell. “Maybe if I sat in the back.”
“That’s fine if you want to sit in the back. I’ll sit with you. Oh! Here’s Mr. Riggs. Mr. Riggs have you met Joey Parker?”
“No, I haven’t. Hello, Joey.” Rigg’s huge hand came out and Joey stared at it a moment before offering his own grubby little hand.
“Joey and I just decided to sit together in the back.”
“Great, may I sit with you?”
It took a moment for Joey to comprehend that the question was being directed at him. He couldn’t believe this big man was actually waiting for his permission to sit with them in church. Joey muttered something and the next thing he knew he was being ushered into a rear pew.
The service had started and two songs had been sung, but Joey hadn’t heard a thing. He was still working through the fact that Marcail obviously hadn’t told on him. When they’d come in together and Miss Donovan had propelled him into the pew, he’d seen Marcail sitting with the Taylors. She looked back at him as though there was nothing the least bit unusual about his sitting with her sister.
Snatches of the sermon floated to Joey but for the most part he was too busy sneaking glances at Kaitlin. She looked real pretty, he thought, in her white dress. Sometimes at night Joey would lay awake and dream about what it would be like to have her for a mother. He would dream about her voice and the way she smiled at him. But then he would think about his house and knew that she would never even visit there, let alone come to live.
Thoughts of his house drew his attention to his father. He wondered how much trouble he’d be in if his Pa knew where he was sitting.
“In closing,” the pastor was saying and Joey was finally listening. “Please take this thought home with you. God is our heavenly Father. We need never be afraid to go to Him with any need because He loves us like a father does, only with such tenderness and compassion that we can’t help but respond.”
Up to that moment Joey believed that getting to know God might be a very good thing to do but he’d never before heard God referred to as a father. Suddenly he was not so sure he wanted to know Him.
“Joey, would you like to come back to my folks’ place for some lunch?” Joey was brought abruptly back to the present when Rigg spoke to him.
“I gotta get home,” he said with some reluctance.
Rigg and Kaitlin walked him outside and Kate told him she’d see him at school in the morning. They watched as he cut across a field in the direction of his house.
“What is his home like?”
Rigg hesitated and Kate pressed him.
“I want to know.”
Rigg sighed and spoke. “It’s pretty bad.”
“Does he actually have a family?”
“A father.”
“What’s he like?”
“He doesn’t work that I know of, and when he does get an odd job, he spends his pay on liquor.”
“Maybe I should go for a visit.”
“I don’t know if that’s a good idea, Katie. Parker is not exactly trustworthy.” Rigg would never know how he managed to keep his voice so calm. What he wanted to do was grab Kate and tell her she was not to set one foot on the Parker property, not now, not ever.
“You keep calling him Parker, doesn’t he have a first name?”
“I’ve never heard it. Everyone calls him Parker. Of course you’ll refer to him as Mr. Parker.” Rigg’s voice had taken on a patronizing tone.
“Now what did that mean?” Kaitlin demanded.
“Only that you’re just a little too prim and proper at times for your own good.” Rigg smiled at her outraged face, glad that he’d been able to change the subject as well as get a dig in about her calling him Mr. Riggs.
“There is nothing wrong with being proper and it’s fine to be prim as long as you’re not a snob.”
“Is that a fact?” They were over by the wagon now and Rigg was close to laughter.
“Yes, it’s a fact! Do you think I’m a snob?”
“No, I just wish you’d call me Rigg. Mr. Riggs makes me feel like an old man.”
“I don’t think I know you well enough to call you Rigg,” Kate stated firmly with a tone she would have used on her students. In her mind the matter was closed; it wasn’t in Rigg’s.
“What do I need to do so you’ll know me better, Kaitlin, kiss you?” Rigg watched as she blushed to the roots of her hair. He could also see that she was angry.
“If you did I’d slap you.”
Rigg thought she might be serious but he was feeling reckless.
“Thanks for the warning. I’ll be sure to hold both your hands when I do.”
With those words he grabbed Kate’s waist and lifted her aboard the wagon, effectively cutting off any reply she might be tempted to make. They made the drive to the Taylors’ in silence; Kate wondering why her anger cooled so quickly and Rigg regretting that he hadn’t kissed her right on the spot.
thirty-six
Kaitlin and Marcail spent the afternoon at the Taylors’ and Rigg took them home when he and Sean were ready to go. His words to her the evening before had told her that he’d noticed the abrupt change in her behavior.
So Kate had made a point of relaxing in Rigg’s presence, and she was sure that she’d done a good job keeping her thoughts to herself. She blushed every time she remembered the words she’d said to him on the walk to his parents’ house.
It didn’t matter that he couldn’t translate them—a young lady did not tell a man that she would love him if she could! What if he should ask Sean what she said? Oh! She couldn’t bear to think about it.
Dealing with her topsy-turvy emotions all day left Kate very weary. She had thanked May again and again for sending them home with full stomachs and a tin for the following noon. Kaitlin suddenly smiled when she remembered Mr. Carson approaching her at church.
“Miss Donovan, how are things going?”
“Fine, Mr. Carson, thank you.”
“I’ve heard wonderful things about your teaching and I know I told you it would be a month before your raise, but starting tomorrow you’ll be paid full salary.”
“Oh, Mr. Carson, thank you!” Kate’s eyes had shone with gratitude and joy and she wondered over the strange look on the man’s face.
What she didn’t know was that Mr. Carson, at a hastily arranged meeting, had been told by Bill Taylor and the other men that he would adjust the teacher’s salary, including back pay for the days she’d already worked plus a housing allowance. But the stingy monster rose up in Greg Carson and he decided on his own to start things on Monday.
Kate had no suspicions that anything was amiss. She wouldn’t have caused trouble even if she had. The family was getting along fairly well now.
Of course, all of Sean’s pants were too short, even though Kate had lengthened them as far as they would go. Marcail needed new shoes. In fact, if she wore the old ones much longer, Kate would have to slit the leather so Marcail’s toes could move.
As for herself, she was badly in need of undergarments. It was not a matter she discussed with anyone but her Lord, confident that He would provide in His time.
As the days turned into weeks, Kaitlin reached out in a special way to Joey Parker. Whenever he was near she touched him or gave him a tender smile. He did not come to church again and with seeing him every day at school, Kate did not feel led to go to his home. She told herself though, that if on any given day he failed to show up for school, she would go immediately to his house to investigate.
Two more letters came from Aunt Maureen. Even though she hinted that the children should return, she seemed to accept that, at least for the time, they were staying where they were. Maureen had also mentioned coming to Santa Rosa for a visit, but Kaitlin wrote and assured her that they were doing well. Kate was happy to read in her last letter that their Uncle Mitch had come home. She knew that his presence would ease her aunt’s loneliness
, at least for a time.
One afternoon, when school had only four weeks to go, Kate and Marcail were in the mercantile. That very morning Kaitlin had had no choice but to cut Marcail’s shoes. She knew Marcail was embarrassed but payday was not until the following week and she couldn’t let her go on this way any longer.
Kaitlin needed some buttons and, even though it could have waited, she wanted to say hi to Sean, who was working that afternoon. It seemed they saw less and less of him all the time. He usually ate lunch with his friends at school and on days he worked, he left for the mercantile as soon as Kate dismissed.
When the Donovan girls entered the store and didn’t see him, they made their way to the back of the store where they knew he would be. There was a platform area where the freight wagons from the shipping office could pull alongside to be unloaded. This is where they found Sean and today Rigg was working with him.
Both men were stripped to the waist and Kate saw in an instant why Rigg’s shoulders and arms looked powerful enough to lift a draft horse.
Kaitlin watched as he hefted enormous crates without visible effort, sometimes swinging one onto his shoulder and carrying another under his arm. They were almost finished unloading when Rigg told Sean to put his shirt on, make a delivery uptown and then return the wagon to the shipping office.
Sean, Kate noticed absently, was damp with perspiration. Rigg, on the other hand, was not even breathing hard. Kate had not meant to stay as long as she did and was embarrassed when Rigg noticed her. He retrieved his shirt and vest, put them on and then motioned to Sean who was also covering himself.
The men approached and Kaitlin was glad she was standing in the shaded area because she could feel herself blushing.
“We just came by to say hello and to see how you were doing.” Kate’s voice sounded strained even to her own ears.
“I’m fine. I was going to come for supper tonight.”
“Okay,” Kaitlin said with a smile.