Flights of Fancy

by Jen Turano

Henry’s mouth dropped open. “You’re gonna buy us a piece of candy?”

  Isadora’s heart gave a lurch. “You have had candy before, haven’t you?”

  Primrose nodded even as she took a step toward the candy counter. “Mama used to get us a piece for Christmas when she was living, but we haven’t had any since she died.”

  Blinking away tears that threatened to blind her, Isadora summoned up a smile. “You may each choose a few pieces, but only eat two of them now. I don’t want any of you to come down with a stomachache.”

  That was all it took for the children to rush to the candy counter, peering at every jar as they went about what was obviously the daunting task of trying to decide what candy would be the most delicious.

  “Ah, I see I have some customers,” a woman exclaimed, bustling through a door at the back of the store, her arms filled with bolts of fabric. Depositing the fabric on top of a counter, she smoothed a hand over her brown hair and smiled at Isadora. “You must be Izzie, and I want to say your last name is Delmont, but I’m not certain about that.”

  Before Isadora could respond, Anna spoke up. “It is Delmont, Maggie. She’s Mrs. Delmont, but everyone calls her Izzie. Hank told me.” Anna nodded to Isadora. “This is Maggie Rogers, Izzie. She and her husband run the general store, and she’s just the person to help you find some clothing for the children.”

  Maggie’s eyes began to gleam. “You’re here to buy clothing? How wonderful. We’ve only recently gotten in a nice selection of dresses for girls, since it’s time to stock up for the coming school year.” She took a step toward Isadora. “May I dare hope that Ian has given you a nice budget to clothe the little darlings who’ve come to live at Glory Manor?”

  “He wasn’t actually home to give me a budget, but Aunt Birdie told me to put the purchases on his account. She gave me a note so you’ll know I’m not up to anything shady.”

  Maggie’s eyes gleamed brighter than ever. “Well then, since Ian is known to be a most generous man, I’m going to assume he’ll want the children to have quite a few new outfits.” She eyed Isadora up and down. “We’ve got some lovely calico dresses as well, dear. Some of the colors would look lovely on you.”

  Without allowing Isadora a second to protest, Maggie hurried over to the children and introduced herself. She began putting their candy selections in brown paper sacks, taking out a pad of paper from her pocket on which she then began compiling a tally of prices.

  “You’ve just made Maggie’s day a whole light brighter,” Anna said, right as the door to the general store opened and an entire swarm of women hurried in. “I was wondering when everyone would arrive to meet you.” She smiled and waved the women over. “Word must have already gotten out you’ve come to town.”

  Before she knew it, Isadora was being introduced to all the women, finding herself slightly overwhelmed with the crowd continually streaming into the store. After meeting an Alice, Cora, Maribeth, three women named Betty, and then a Wilda, Isadora finally made it to the last woman waiting to meet her, a Miss Olive Perkins, who’d only recently returned to town.

  “I believe that’s everyone,” Anna said, smiling at all the women now watching Isadora closely. “I’ve already told Izzie that she would receive a warm welcome after church on Sunday, but how lovely that she’ll now have friendly faces to greet her, which will make it so much easier for her to attend the service.”

  Having no idea whether she’d be going to church on Sunday, not with how life on the farm had been shaping up, Isadora merely smiled in response, relieved when Violet stole up beside her and took hold of her hand. Looking down, she found the little girl clutching a sack of candy.

  “We was wonderin’ if we can eat that candy now,” Violet all but whispered.

  “Of course you may, but remember, only two pieces.”

  Running back to her siblings, Violet opened her bag, as did the other children. Isadora watched as they popped what looked to be pieces of peppermint candy in their mouths, all four children grinning in sheer delight the second the candy hit their tongues.

  Surprisingly enough, after they’d enjoyed exactly two pieces of candy, they closed the sacks Maggie had given them, seemingly content to mind her suggestion of having only two pieces in the store.

  “Done already?” Maggie asked.

  “Izzie said we was only to eat two pieces right now,” Henry said. “But that sure was some tasty candy.”

  Maggie smiled. “I’m delighted you enjoyed it. Now, shall we see about finding all of you some new clothes?”

  Taking hold of Daisy’s hand when the little girl immediately scampered to her side, Isadora followed Maggie and the rest of the children through the store, leaving the crowd of women behind. Walking into another room, she stopped directly over the threshold, impressed by the amount of merchandise stocked around her. A second later, a young woman stepped forward, a bright smile on her face.

  “On my word, but Hank wasn’t jesting. You really are a lovely woman, and you’re certainly far younger than any of us expected Ian’s housekeeper to be.”

  “Thank you?” was all Isadora could think to respond as she took the hand the woman was extending to her.

  “I’m Miss Susan Rogers,” the woman began. “And do forgive me for staring, but again, you’re remarkably young, and as I said, lovely, and . . .”

  “I’m not who anyone expected Ian to hire?” Isadora finished for her with a grin.

  Susan returned the grin. “Not even close.” She released Isadora’s hand and nodded to the racks of clothing around the room. “My parents own this store, but I’m responsible for buying the goods in here. Dare I hope you’re here to do a bit of shopping?”

  “We are, and we’ll take whatever you have available for the children in their sizes.”

  “Did I mention how delighted I am to meet you?” Susan exclaimed before she hurried over to the children, and before Isadora knew it, the girls were being directed to a dressing room behind a curtain, their arms filled with dresses.

  Susan turned her attention to Henry next, eyeing him for a moment before she looked to Isadora. “Are we going with trousers, short pants, and shirts today, or should I also see if we have a few jackets that might fit him?”

  “He’ll probably need jackets for when he goes to school, won’t he?” Isadora asked.

  Susan shook her head. “Not all the boys wear jackets, especially not when school first starts and they’re working in the fields before they go to class.” She pulled out a few pairs of trousers from a rack. “But it won’t hurt to have him try on a jacket or . . . three.”

  Handing her choices to Henry, who wasn’t looking exactly pleased about having to try everything on, Susan showed him to a room that seemed to be a storage room, closing the door firmly behind him and telling him he’d need to show them the clothes once he changed.

  “I see you’ve done this before,” Isadora said, remembering her recent experience with trying to get Henry to bathe and him being less than cooperative.

  “The girls are always easy,” Susan said. “But the boys, well, I imagine they’d rather be anywhere else than in a store shopping for clothing.” She moved to stand beside Isadora. “If we can’t find clothes to fit them, do know that we carry the latest Montgomery Ward catalog. We can always order you items from it.”

  “I’ve never heard of a Montgomery Ward catalog. You can order clothing from them and they deliver to you?”

  Susan’s brows drew together. “I thought everyone knew about Montgomery Ward and their catalog. My friends and I buy a lot of our clothing through them when we can’t get the latest styles in the store.”

  Unwilling to tell Susan that she purchased most of her clothing in designer salons in Paris, Isadora walked to a rack of dresses, looking them over until she spotted one that caught her eye. Pulling it from the rack, she held it up. “This looks to be about Aunt Birdie’s size. Do you think she’d like it?”

  “Yes, she’d adore it. Pink would be a lovely
color on Aunt Birdie.” Her eyes sparkling, Susan took the dress from Isadora and hurried away to wrap it in paper, stepping past another woman who walked right up beside Isadora.

  “I’m Olive Perkins, if you’ve forgotten,” Olive began. “And I’m quite certain you’re feeling like a bit of an oddity, what with everyone clamoring to meet you.”

  “It is a little curious,” Isadora admitted. “And I’m not certain why everyone is doing that clamoring.”

  “Because you’re the woman no one ever expected Ian to hire.” Olive shook her head. “He’s a bit of a hometown hero, what with how successful he’s become. But he’s turned a little peculiar since he went off to Pittsburgh, a circumstance that has had all of us worried about him for years.”

  “Peculiar how?”

  Olive smiled. “He’s apparently decided that everyone under the age of thirty is out to try and marry him, but he’s been more than vocal about wanting to marry a woman a little more sophisticated than what can be found in Canonsburg.”

  Isadora frowned. “Why are you smiling about that? Seems rather insulting, if you ask me.”

  Olive waved that away. “Ian’s always been driven, so his wanting to marry up is no surprise. What he doesn’t know, though, is even with most women finding themselves swooning ever so slightly over his lovely face and . . . well, all those muscles of his, none of us in town have the slightest desire to marry him.” She gave a bit of a shudder. “Who in their right mind would want to enter into a society atmosphere, what with all the rules involved?” She sent Isadora an expectant look.

  “Who indeed?” Isadora said somewhat weakly.

  “Exactly. But when Hank came to town the other day and told us about you staying on the farm, it allowed the people of this town, all of whom adore Ian, to finally have hope that their favored son was realizing there’s more to life than merely amassing a fortune and climbing up a social ladder.”

  “And they realized this because . . . ?”

  “He hired you.”

  “Perhaps he was impressed with my housekeeping abilities.”

  “You told me you’re not gifted with housekeeping skills,” Anna said, bustling into the room with Maggie Rogers by her side, all the other ladies squeezing into the room after them. “That’s why we’ve decided to intervene.”

  Apprehension was swift. “Intervene?”

  “But of course, dear, it’s what we do. But first, we will need you to convince Birdie that there’s no need for her to be embarrassed about us coming out to the farm to lend our assistance.”

  “Why would you think Aunt Birdie would be embarrassed about that? She doesn’t strike me as the type to embarrass easily.”

  Anna and Maggie exchanged looks before Maggie caught Isadora’s eye. “That’s what we always thought, but then Hank told us that Birdie was merely using Mrs. Gladstone’s surly nature as an excuse to keep us away. She’s always been an independent sort, so we concluded that she was uncomfortable not being her normal independent self, what with trying to recover from her accident and all.”

  Something began niggling at the back of her neck. “Hank certainly does seem to spread a lot of gossip around, doesn’t he?”

  “He is a talker,” Anna agreed, shaking her head. “But he’s also a reliable sort, helping out where he’s needed and taking on additional work at all the farms around here when someone needs a helping hand.”

  “And he’s a local Canonsburg man?” Isadora asked.

  Maggie looked to all the women gathered in the back room. “How long has Hank been here?”

  “At least six months, if not longer,” said a woman Isadora thought might be Wilda.

  The niggling increased, but before she could ask any additional questions about Hank, Anna cleared her throat. “Since you seem to believe Birdie won’t be upset if all of us descend on Glory Manor, you may tell her to expect us tomorrow bright and early.”

  “Bright and early to do what?” Isadora asked.

  “Help you get Glory Manor back into shape.” Anna smiled. “We’ll also be bringing delicious dishes with us—it’s what we do. That means you won’t need to worry about burning the house down again because you’ll have enough meals to last you for weeks.”

  Opening her mouth, to say what, she had no idea, Isadora was distracted when Primrose stepped through the curtain, her cheeks pink with pleasure as she showed off a simple calico dress that looked adorable on her.

  The next thirty minutes were spent admiring the girls in all the dresses Susan found that fit them. Henry balked after showing them his second pair of trousers and a shirt, stating quite emphatically that all the trousers were the same, so what was the point of having to show everyone. Taking pity on the small boy, Isadora told him he could simply make sure everything else fit, and if it did, he could then wander around the store.

  As Susan wrapped up all the purchases, although there was no need to wrap up the dolls the girls had selected or the slingshot that she didn’t believe Henry was ever going to let go of again, she found her hand taken by Anna, who surprised her when she gave it a good squeeze.

  “Now, don’t you fret about all of us coming out tomorrow. It’s not like you’re shirking any of your duties. You’ll just need to tell us what to do and keep us on task.”

  “I am good at organizing.”

  “Wonderful. Stanley just stopped by with your wagon. It’s good as new, so allow me to encourage you to get on your way. I took the liberty of putting a casserole under the front seat, and I wouldn’t want it to go bad before all of you get a chance to eat it.”

  After thanking Anna for her kindness and saying good-bye to the women, Isadora got the children loaded into the wagon and on their way. The ride home passed quickly, and before she knew it, Clyde was clomping down Glory Lane.

  Smiling as the children scampered out of the wagon, running toward Uncle Amos, who was walking across the lawn, Isadora made her way to the front porch, finding Aunt Birdie sitting in a worn rocker there.

  “I’m afraid I have some disappointing news” were the first words out of Aunt Birdie’s mouth.

  Isadora braced herself. “Disappointing how?”

  “Hank quit.” Aunt Birdie shook her head. “Told me Amos chased him out of the barn with an axe even though Amos doesn’t recall doing that.” She released a breath. “I tried to reason with Hank, told him Amos hadn’t meant any harm, but Hank said he won’t be returning, no matter that he needed the job.”

  “Please tell me the two men Ian recently hired are still here.”

  “They’re in the barn, finishing up the afternoon milking.”

  “Then I suppose, given my position, I should go make certain they’re not considering leaving as well.”

  After she marched her way to the barn, her concerns were soon put to rest when the two new hires assured her they had no intention of quitting their recently secured positions, and that they’d be back again the following morning to take care of the animals.

  The rest of the evening was spent tidying up the yard, salvaging what she could of the laundry, serving up the meal Anna had provided, and then making sure the children washed up. After that, she began reading them a story they’d all agreed they wanted to hear: The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald, a book she’d found on one of the shelves in Ian’s library.

  When Daisy’s eyes began to close, Isadora told the children they’d continue reading the story the next night, and after getting everyone tucked into their respective beds, she repaired to her own room, falling into bed a short time later and into a sound sleep.

  That sleep came to an abrupt end when the sound of mooing woke her up. Sticking her head out the window, she found Buttercup standing directly beneath the window, mooing mournfully as she looked up at Isadora.

  Not wanting the cow to wake everyone up, Isadora grabbed a wrapper and headed out of the house, following Buttercup as the cow led the way to the barn.

  Apprehension stole through her when she reached the barn
and saw that the door was wide open. When she stepped inside, that apprehension quickly turned to dismay as she realized there was not a single animal in sight, save Buttercup, all the other animals having gone . . . missing.

  Chapter 22

  THREE DAYS LATER

  As soon as the train screeched to a stop at the Canonsburg station, Ian was the first passenger to step to the platform.

  It had been a trying trip with little accomplished. All he wanted to do now was return to Glory Manor, and in all honesty, he wanted to see Izzie again.

  Exactly when he’d begun thinking of her as Izzie instead of Mrs. Delmont, he couldn’t say, but even with his almost every hour being consumed with business matters in Pittsburgh, his thoughts had returned again and again to the woman he’d left behind, a woman he couldn’t stop thinking about, no matter that he knew it was foolish in the extreme to allow her to consume so many of his thoughts.

  She was a woman in service and did not fulfill one of the main requirements he’d convinced himself he needed before he’d turn an interested eye in any lady’s direction. But . . . she pulled at him in a way no woman ever had, disrupting his thoughts even when he’d been deep in negotiations with the union men.

  Those negotiations were now at an impasse, a direct result of Mr. Andrew Carnegie’s interference.

  He’d long admired Andrew Carnegie—a self-made millionaire whom Ian had striven to emulate as he’d gone about the business of securing a fortune of his own, but his admiration for the man had dimmed significantly over the past few days. That dimming was a direct result of Andrew breezing into Ian’s meeting and announcing to everyone assembled there that he’d been called from New York by his team of investors, who believed it would be for the best if Andrew stepped in to handle the trouble with the laborers at the iron mills. He’d then nodded pleasantly at Ian and told him he was more than welcome to stay to watch the proceedings, but that his job of negotiating new terms with the union men had come to an end.

  Quite frankly, Ian’s first impulse had been to stalk out of the room. But when Andrew made the announcement that he, along with other investors and most mill owners, had decided they were not receptive to any concessions, Ian had stayed put in the hope of talking a bit of sense into the man.