“You mean the Mulhollands,” Calliope blurted. She blushed when Rowdy looked at her, knowing she’d entirely thwarted his graciousness at attempting to leave the actual Mulholland family name out of things.
“Mmm hmm,” he confirmed, however.
“I did receive a telegram from Ben Mulholland just last week,” Lawson mentioned. “Seems he’s settled in all right up in Denver, and I guess you know that he was able to sell the mill to…well, to somebody. He said you’d agreed to stay on as the mill foreman for the new owner.”
“Mr. Mulholland sold the mill? To somebody? Who?” Evangeline interjected.
But Lawson Ipswich shrugged. “He didn’t mention to whom he’d sold it.”
“And what do you mean you received a telegram from poor Ben Mulholland? You never said a word to me,” Kizzy said. “Is he well? And what about Sam and poor Prudence?”
Lawson exchanged amused glances with Rowdy as Rowdy said, “Hmm. Looks like you’ve got some questions to answer yourself, Judge.” Looking down to Shay once more, he tweaked her chin again and said, “I guess I better get back to lightin’ the lamps, just in case your daddy has to run off down the road for the sake of too many questions to answer, hmmm?”
Shay blushed again under Rowdy’s kind gaze and agreed, “I guess so, Mr. Gates.”
“You all have a nice evenin’ now,” Rowdy said, touching the brim of his hat and looking to each family member in turn.
“Good night, Mr. Gates!” Shay called as Rowdy descended the steps and headed back out toward the street. “And I’ll just keep lettin’ Warren Ackerman think whatever he thinks about your foot.”
Rowdy tossed a wave to Shay over his shoulder.
“Now you tell me right now about this telegram from poor Ben Mulholland, Lawson Ipswich,” Kizzy flirtatiously demanded. “You know how worried we’ve all been about him after…well, after everything that went on.”
But Lawson shrugged. “There isn’t much more to tell. He’s settled in comfortably in Denver. Seems he has a sister and brother-in-law that took him in. Prudence is in the asylum—a very necessary, albeit sad, circumstance. Sam has found work, actually at the asylum as well. Still, considering everything, Ben sounded fairly hopeful…in good spirits.”
“It’s all so sad,” Evangeline sighed. “Still, I can’t believe Prudence tried to…well, she tried to—”
“She tried to kill our sister Amoretta!” Shay exclaimed with anger. “I don’t feel sorry at all that she’s in the asylum, whatever that is. As long as she can’t try to hurt anybody else, especially Amoretta and Uncle Brake.”
Evangeline smiled and gathered Shay into a loving embrace of comfort and security. “Well, let’s go back to talking about how beautiful the evening is, shall we? I like that much better. And look at you, Shay Ipswich! You found out something that nobody else in town has ever known, and that’s why Rowdy Gates limps…or used to limp anyway. That’s something very interesting, isn’t it?”
“It is!” Shay said, brightening. “And silly old Warren Ackerman thought Mr. Gates was missin’ part of a foot. Pfft! Silly ol’ Warren.”
Calliope smiled as she listened to Evangeline redirecting Shay’s thoughts from the terror of Prudence Mulholland’s insanity and back to the lovely night at hand. She watched Rowdy Gates stride from one lamp to the next, ascending the short ladder he carried to light a lamp and then descending and moving onto the next. His limp was nearly gone altogether. And she was glad to know he wasn’t missing half a foot, though she simultaneously wondered how he had injured his leg in the first place.
Suddenly, an idea leapt into Calliope’s head, filling her with such instant excitement that she hopped up from her seat in the swing and announced, “I have the most wonderful idea!”
Kizzy giggled. “Uh oh! I know that expression. Looks like your big sister is about to pull us all into some sort of adventure of some kind or the other.”
“Oh, I love Calliope’s adventures!” Shay cheered. “What is it, Calliope? Tell us! Oh, do hurry and tell us!”
Calliope’s bosom was so filled with excitement she could hardly catch her breath. She couldn’t believe she hadn’t thought of actually attempting the idea before. But for some reason, the notion had only just struck her as conceivable.
“Well, Shay is old enough now, I think,” Calliope began. “And I have been thinking of this for so long, but for some reason I couldn’t just…well, I couldn’t just pull it together in my mind. Not until this very moment, when Shay mentioned Warren Ackerman and… and…”
“And what?” Evangeline urged impatiently. “For pity’s sake, Calliope! What has your eyes so lit up? I swear you look like you’re going to take to flight any moment.”
“Oh, Daddy!” Calliope exclaimed, looking to her father. “Can’t you just envision it? Can’t you?” Quickly she looked to Kizzy and said, “We’ve got enough young children in town now, I think, with the Chesterfields having moved in and such. Don’t you think, Kizzy? And wouldn’t Shay be perfect?” Squealing with delight, she raced to Evangeline, taking her hands and pulling her from her seat on the porch swing. “I know you can envision it with me, Evie! A white cake, adorned with yellow roses, perhaps. I’m sure Mrs. Montrose would allow us some roses from her rose garden when they bloom.”
Evangeline’s eyes lit up then as understanding washed over her. “Bow ties, little top hats, the most beautiful little dresses…with lace, of course!”
“And Shay adorned in the most beautiful dress,” Calliope giggled. “Can’t you just see it?
“I can!” Evangeline chirped. “It will be beautiful, Calliope. Oh, and everyone will love it. The whole town is bound to turn out!”
“The whole town is bound to turn out for what?” Shay asked. She looked to her father for an answer, but Lawson Ipswich merely shrugged, as perplexed as his young daughter about what the other Ipswich women were going on about.
Jumping up from her own seat, Kizzy squealed with delight as well. “Oh, Calliope, it’s a wonderful idea! I’ve always dreamt of seein’ one.”
“Of seeing one what?” Lawson asked.
“A Tom Thumb wedding!” all three adult women exclaimed with exuberance.
“A Tom Thumb wedding?” Lawson repeated. “In Meadowlark Lake?”
“Yes, Daddy,” Calliope chirped. “Oh, it will be so wonderful—and with Shay as the bride! She’ll make a beautiful bride.”
“And we can have edibles afterward, and cake,” Evangeline added.
“And we can all help with the bridesmaids’ dresses,” Kizzy suggested. “And we’ll have official invitations, and everyone in town can be involved.”
But Shay’s pretty brow puckered. “Me? A bride? Like a weddin’? My weddin’? I can’t get married! I’m not even six years old yet!”
Lawson smiled and gathered his youngest daughter into his arms. “Oh, sweetie, it’s not a real wedding. You won’t really be getting married. It’s…it’s like a play, like an acting play when people pretend, only all the actors are children. Do you see?”
Shay shrugged. She looked to Calliope, asking, “Will it be fun to do, Calliope?”
Calliope smiled, her heart continuing to swell with delirious anticipation. “Oh yes, darling, it will! You’ll get to be dressed up in the most beautiful dress we can make for you, with a lovely headpiece and veil and a beautiful bouquet. Everyone will dress up and come to see the pretend wedding, and then we’ll have food and cake and dancing. Oh, it will be a dream come true, Shay!”
Shay sighed with determination. “Well, if you say it will be fun, Calliope, then I’m sure it will be.”
“So you’ll be the bride in our Tom Thumb wedding?” Evangeline asked.
“Yes,” Shay answered, smiling, “especially if I get cake when it’s over.”
Kizzy, Evangeline, and Calliope all squealed with simultaneous gladness.
Throwing her arms around her father and Shay, Calliope hugged them both tight and said, “I have always, always wanted to
put on a Tom Thumb wedding. Oh, thank you, Shay!”
“This will be so much fun,” Evangeline said, clapping her hands together with glee. “We’ll need Amoretta to choose a date that she and Brake can attend as well. And she’ll want to help, as much as she can from Langtree.”
“There will be plenty of sewin’ to be done,” Kizzy offered. “And the invitations—Amoretta’s script is so lovely!”
“Let’s you and I amble down the road a bit, shall we, darling?” Calliope heard her father ask Shay.
“Yes, let’s, Daddy,” Shay agreed. “You know how they get when there’s plannin’ to do. I’d rather walk along and just watch the lamplights flicker, if you don’t mind.”
“Not at all,” Lawson said. He winked at Calliope as he took Shay’s hand and led her down the porch steps toward the main thoroughfare of Meadowlark Lake.
Calliope watched them leave, commenting, “Won’t she be the perfect little bride?”
Kizzy and Evangeline followed her gaze. “Perfect!” Evangeline agreed. “Now, you mentioned yellow roses, Calliope,” she continued. “Were you thinking yellow dresses for the bridesmaids as well?”
“Or lavender. Lavender would be beautiful! And it goes so well with yellow,” Kizzy suggested.
But Calliope shrugged. “I don’t know. I just thought that it seemed like a good time to finally, finally present a Tom Thumb wedding. I hadn’t gotten much further than that.”
“Let’s get some paper and pencils,” Evangeline suggested, “write a few things down while our minds are fresh on it.”
“Oh, Calliope,” Kizzy sighed, hugging her stepdaughter and friend affectionately, “you’ve no idea the joy you bring to the world, my sweet thing. This is a wonderful idea—and just the sort of innocent, happy distraction this town could use…especially after what happened last Halloween.” As Kizzy gazed into Calliope’s eyes, Calliope was awed by the beautiful emotion in the countenance of her father’s young bride. “You bring enchantment into the soul of anyone who is blessed to know you. Thank you for that.”
Calliope was moved, nearly to tears, by Kizzy’s words, for she could feel the fabric of their sincerity. And though she deemed Kizzy’s compliment as far too kind, she was overwhelmed with knowing the woman meant her words. What greater gift could a person give to the world than enchantment?
Rowdy Gates spun around to look behind him. The squeals he’d heard coming from the Ipswich home were that of unmeasured female delight. In fact, the sound was so foreign to him—so long absent in his life—that it had taken him a moment to recognize it. Yet when he’d looked back to see the three Ipswich women giggling with joy and hugging one another—seen Lawson Ipswich standing and smiling with amusement at their goings-on—he did remember how marvelous the sound of female laughter was.
Returning his attention to the last lamp to be lit in Meadowlark Lake for the evening, Rowdy thought on what a lucky and truly blessed man Judge Lawson Ipswich was. Obviously he’d known immense love in his life—still knew it. No doubt there had been great pain as well, for Rowdy knew that the judge had lost the mother of his three eldest daughters years before. Yet to be surrounded as he was now, with the tender, loving hearts of women—with their nurturing ways, kindness, exuberance, and happiness—it was something he doubted most men ever knew, especially to the extent that Lawson Ipswich did.
Yet Rowdy was not resentful. He didn’t envy the judge in any malicious manner. Rather he was glad for him. Lawson was a good and honorable man. He deserved the kind of happiness God had showered down on him. But before he began to think too much on what Lawson had that he didn’t, Rowdy turned his thoughts to his own blessing of miracles. After all, he’d survived what few men could have—lived through it. Maybe he didn’t have a beautiful wife or babies to bounce on his knee, but there was still time. At least he hoped there was. Perhaps if he could heal completely—walk without any limp at all—then he might find the courage to flirt a bit with the lovely young ladies of Meadowlark Lake the way the other bachelors did.
His thoughts were getting away from him, wandering to venues he knew were mere fantasy. And so once Rowdy had lit the last lamplight of Meadowlark Lake’s main street, he turned and sauntered toward home—toward a cool evening breeze, perhaps some cold biscuits and a hunk of ham for supper.
But as Rowdy neared the house just outside of town where he dwelt, he was once again struck by the lonesome sense of the absence of a spirit. The terrifying events of the previous fall had hit Rowdy Gates hard, though no one knew how hard. The madness of Prudence Mulholland had peaked its malice on Amoretta Ipswich and Brake McClendon that dark All Hallow’s Eve. But the poor girl’s violent insanity had begun with the murder and mutilation of Rowdy’s dog, Dodger, and each and every night since, Rowdy Gates missed the old mutt—missed his companionship at night when the house was dark and lonesome.
Dodger had been far more than a good dog; Dodger had helped save Rowdy Gates’s life, and the man’s heart still twinged with missing his faithful old friend. In fact, as had become his habit, Rowdy paused beneath the old willow tree where he’d buried his cherished canine friend, after managing to recover his carcass before Sheriff Dennison had put fire to it months before.
Hunkering down, Rowdy placed a hand on the stone-covered mound that was Dodger’s resting place. “How you doin’ tonight, ol’ boy?” he asked in a lowered voice. “I sure do miss your barkin’.” He chuckled as happy memories of the dog washed over him. “I even miss them slobberin’ kisses of yours, I guess. Though I can’t figure out why.” His smile faded as he continued, “Still, it was somethin’—you lightin’ up when you saw me comin’. Just between you and me and the fence, I get mighty tired of no one bein’ glad to see me, you know?” He thought a moment and then smiled again. “Though that little Ipswich girl, that Shay, she seemed a might glad to see me tonight. That lightened my heart a bit.” His smile broadened, and he added, “Of course, just settin’ eyes on her pretty sister lightened my heart a bit more.” Rowdy drew a slow, deep breath, exhaling a sigh of returning loneliness. “Still, girls like her…it’s the Fox Montroses of the world they’re meant for, not raggedy, banged-up ol’ fellers like us. Ain’t that right?”
Sighing again, Rowdy put down his ladder and sat down on the ground next to Dodger’s grave. “Look at them stars, Dodger, will ya?” he mumbled. “As bright and as beautiful as the sparkle in Calliope Ipswich’s eyes.” He frowned. “Damn that Fox Montrose.”
CHAPTER THREE
“We’ve chosen yellow and lavender as the colors,” Calliope explained. She looked to Mrs. Montrose, admitting, “We were hoping you would allow us a few of your beautiful yellow roses to embellish the cake with, Mrs. Montrose. But we will understand if you’d rather not.”
“Oh, I’d be delighted, Calliope!” Dora Montrose exclaimed with delight. “You may have as many roses as you like. Take them all if you need them. Goodness knows they’ll only end up in a vase on my kitchen table or witherin’ away if you don’t use them up. If you’re plannin’ on mid-June for the weddin’, my roses will be at their best just about then. Oh, this all sounds so delightful!”
“Have you chosen a groom yet?” Blanche’s mother, Judith Gardener, asked.
Evangeline and Calliope exchanged nervous glances.
“Well, in truth,” Evangeline began. She looked to Ellen Ackerman, sitting next to her daughter, Sallie. “We…well, we were hoping you might be able to convince Warren to be the groom, Mrs. Ackerman.”
Every woman in Dora Montrose’s parlor burst into merriment and laughter.
“Oh, I’d pay good money to see little Warren Ackerman cleaned up and wearin’ a swallowtail suit coat!” Dora squealed with delight.
“Are we to understand that it might be a bit difficult to convince your son, Warren, to play the groom, Ellen?” Josephine Chesterfield inquired.
Again everyone laughed as Ellen said, “Like shovin’ a live rooster into a cannin’ bottle, most likely.”
�
��Really?” Calliope asked with sudden disappointment, for she knew that, although Shay always pretended not to like Warren Ackerman, in truth she was sweeter on him than ants were to sugar.
Recognizing Calliope’s thoroughgoing disenchantment, Ellen answered, “Oh, don’t you worry a whit, Calliope. Warren will be the groom. His daddy and I will make certain that he will be.”
“We were also going to ask if we might hold the wedding in your barn, Mrs. Ackerman,” Evangeline ventured. “It’s the perfect venue, and everyone in town is used to gatherings there.”
“Of course you can hold it in our barn,” Ellen assured her. “Oh, this will be somethin’ to behold, won’t it?”
“Is there anythin’ we can help with?” Pauline Chesterfield inquired. “I know we’re too old to actually be in the play, but Callie and me can help with sewin’ or decoratin’ or anything else you need.”
“Oh, thank you, Pauline! There is so much to be done in preparing everything, we would be so grateful for your help,” Evangeline graciously thanked Pauline.
“And I think your brothers, Willis and Albert, would be perfect ushers,” Calliope said. “And Lena, did you say she’s eight years old? She’d be a wonderful bridesmaid.”
“My Eva plays the violin,” Mrs. Chesterfield offered unexpectedly. She blushed when everyone in the room looked to her. “I-I mean, if you’re needin’ a musician of any kind. She’s very good, and I’m sure it would be easier to have a violin for music than tryin’ to get a piano out to Ellen’s barn. Wouldn’t it?”
Calliope leapt to her feet with sudden inspiration. “Oh yes, yes! Violin music would be perfect. Can’t you just see it, Evie? Little Shay coming down the aisle with violin music playing the bridal chorus. But wait! Previous to Shay’s entrance, someone should sing ‘Oh, Promise Me’ once the ushers have seated the guests.”
The Secret Bliss of Calliope Ipswich Page 4