“Sunday?” Timothy looked at Mark and scratched his head.
“Oh, yeah,” Mark chuckled. “It is Sunday!”
“That’s right,” Roland confirmed. “We’re going to have ice cream and see the sights and go to the hotel for a fine dinner. Get dressed.”
Timothy looked at the two together in the yard and nodded in agreement. “Perfect!” he called out.
“Rebecca!” he hollered up the big staircase as he took the stairs two at a time. “It’s Sunday. Get Loo, we’re going to town!”
Rebecca stepped out into the hall in her night robe and looked at the man as if he had lost his mind.
“We’re doing what?” She lifted a tendril of her hair from her face.
“We are going to town with the Vancouvers today and we’re going to have fun!”
Rebecca leaned and peered down to the foyer where Emma stood waving, a soft smile on her face.
Rebecca looked up at her husband and smiled knowingly. “That sounds perfect,” she said and turned to get her morning bath.
Roland returned from the wagon and set two pies on the kitchen counter.
“Breakfast!” he announced. “Fresh baked this morning!”
“Wow,” Mark mumbled, peering at the pastries with interest.
“What are the odds of you finding your friend from the dance today and bringing her along?” Roland asked, cutting into the pies with a large pocket knife.
“I dunno,” Mark replied distractedly, watching Roland drop a generous slice of pie onto a plate. “She’s Densmore’s cousin. If I ask her we might have to bring Abigail too.”
“The more the merrier!” Timothy put his plate down in front of Roland and waited for pie.
“Alright,” Mark filled his mouth, several chokecherries sticking to his lip.
“I guess the pies are fine,” Emma returned to the kitchen with Rebecca and Louisa, both looking fresh and eager to start the day, and shook her head.
The families decided to share Timothy’s big wagon, Tim, Rebecca and Louisa on the front bench, the other couple the back, with Mark beside them. The women were happy and enthusiastic, thrilled to see the spell of the horrible experience of the ravine now being broken and put behind them. The fire was seen for miles and as word spread of the horrendous situation many of the local breeders and farmers came to the houses wanting to hear the details. Both women had overheard enough to imagine what their men had been through, but could not change the situation. Now they were eager to move on, as were the men, and the mood was happy and appreciative.
“Abigail went with her friend to the fair just outside of town and Virginia is changing and coming with us.” Mark stood in front of the Densmore house, his hands in his pockets. “I guess she’s going to be a few minutes,” he scowled.
“That’s fine.” Timothy let down the reins. “She can’t very well go without looking at least as good as the ladies we already have with us. Get used to it, boy.” Tim chuckled and Rebecca eyed him threateningly.
“It’s always worth the wait though,” Roland smiled.
Virginia showed herself quickly, her hair no longer in bouncing curls but instead soft and long and straight along her back.
“I like your hair better,” Mark commented as he helped her into the wagon.
The group began their day at the fair, starting with a spin around on the carousel. The women sat side saddle in their cotton dresses, Rebecca holding Louisa on a brightly painted horse, adorned in gold ribbons, as the men waved and smiled. Rebecca refused the Ferris wheel, but the other couples hurried into the line. When they returned they found Rebecca and Timothy and their daughter laughing and enjoying ice cream as they watched a wagon passing through carrying prizewinning ears of corn as tall as trees.
“I saw some beautiful post cards.” Emma pulled her cousin aside to the stands. “We can send them to England. Wouldn’t that be something?” They purchased several, picturing horses and wreathes and all saying, ‘1901 Billington Fair’.
The fair illustrator drew sketches of the families, silly caricatures that the men thought hysterical.
In the afternoon Timothy and his family found a shady spot and lay a blanket under a tree so that Rebecca and Louisa could rest. Mark and Virginia pursued their quest to enjoy each ride twice and Roland and Emma tried their hands at the arcade games.
“Look at that over there.” Emma noticed a man at the edge of the arcade area with several big boxes and a large ‘For Sale’ sign. Emma strolled over and peered into the first box which was filled with kittens in an array of colors. The second box held rabbits and the third several puppies, one very different from the rest. Emma recognized the odd puppy’s breed immediately as a Collie, very similar to a dog a friend of hers had in England.
“Where did you get him?” she asked curiously. She had heard the dogs were rare and expensive and wondered how the man came to have one.
“Ah, he’s a refugee that one.” He lifted the tiny creature from the box and placed it in Emma’s hands. “He fell overboard from a liner and I fished him from the water. Named him Émigré.”
The puppy was a golden ball of fur with a sharp nose and gentle eyes. Emma loved him immediately.
Roland watched her with the pet, running her finger along his back and rubbing his fuzzy ears.
“He’s awfully small,” he remarked, taking the tiny puppy and inspecting him closely.
“If he’s the type of dog I think he is, he won’t stay small. He looks like a Collie. They get big and beautiful.”
“How much?” Roland asked the man seriously. The dog looked gentle and affectionate, in need of a good bath and brushing, but healthy and well fed. He had recently thought that having a dog around the house might be a good idea and clearly Emma was smitten.
“We can get him?” Emma’s eyes lit up.
“You don’t want him?” Roland smiled at her warmly.
Emma kissed the puppy’s head and Roland’s cheek with appreciation.
“We’ll need a box too,” he handed the man the few dollars he asked for, gesturing to the stack of empty boxes behind him.
Roland carried the box to the tree where the Elgersons rested, Emma nuzzling the animal in her hands and Louisa jumped to her feet.
“You got a doggie?” She scampered to Emma who squatted down with the pup and set him on the grass.
“He is the most beautiful doggie I ever saw!” Louisa exclaimed, laying her head in the grass and watching the animal closely. “He has a pink tongue!” She squealed as he began to lick her face and climb over her. The puppy was taken with the child and Roland smiled. A good watch dog was great, but a good pet was even more valuable.
They sat under the shady tree all involved with watching Louisa and the puppy frolic and play on the lawn, the child giggling incessantly and the pup barking a tiny woof whenever she got too far from him.
“Where did you get that?” Mark and Virginia ran to the dog and began to play.
“Roland bought it,” Rebecca remarked.
“He’s so cute!” Virginia laughed as the puppy nibbled her fingers.
Abigail and her friends watched her cousin sitting on the lawn, laughing easily with Mark Elgerson and his family. She had tried to catch Mark’s eye for years, but it was plain he was much easier with her cousin then he had ever been with her. Her plans to leave Virginia at home had obviously not gone the way she had intended.
Emma touched Roland’s hand as they sat on the soft grass watching the young people playing with the dog. He took her hand and put her fingertips to his lips and kissed them softly.
“This was a wonderful idea.” She smiled at him lovingly.
Timothy held up his cup of lemonade and nodded. “Yes, Roland, a wonderful idea.”
“Agreed,” Rebecca remarked, watching the smiles on everyone’s faces.
The adults finished their day of relaxing with a hearty meal in the soft candlelight of the hotel for dinner, while Mark took Virginia and Louisa for a hamburger at the
ice cream shop, the puppy completely tuckered out and curled up in the big box.
Timothy raised a glass to his lips in the warmth of the fireplace at the hotel and studied the people around his table. Rebecca was beginning to look the expectant mother and his heart was filled with love for her. He considered how far they had come together, remembering the first times he held her close to him, the way she always looked into his eyes as if she loved him completely.
He watched Roland and Emma, their heads close together, the obvious affection they shared, apparent to anyone who saw them. He recalled the day that Roland first attempted to get on his feet after the accident, the dark despair in his eyes when the doctor informed him he may never walk again, that there were things he should expect to forgo in his life. He watched Emma’s eyes, clear and bright in the candlelight and thought of how different she looked the day she arrived at Stavewood.
Timothy Elgerson knew that life was not always easy, and that it would be hard again, but right now, in this warm and comfortable dining room it was just about perfect.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Mark and Virginia watched the filly circle the corral, stopping occasionally to shake her head at the youngsters playfully.
“She’s really beautiful,” Virginia remarked, as she leaned over the split rail fence with the boy.
Mark spoke to the horse softly and she stepped up to him cautiously, wary of the new friend he had brought along.
“I don’t think she belongs to anyone now. I’m hoping my Pa might let me keep her.” Recollections of the ravine flashed through his mind. The boy had always loved animals, but he swore on that day he would never speak a harsh word or shoot or trap any animal simply for sport. He had seen so much suffering that day, suffering that no creature should ever have to endure.
“She really likes you,” Virginia jumped down from the fence and brushed off her skirts.
“I think any animal likes someone who is kind.”
“I have to go back home to North Dakota tomorrow,” she sighed as the two walked the path back to Stavewood. “I had a really good time at the fair and everything. Would you mind if I wrote you a letter or something when I get back home?”
“Alright.” Mark had his hands in his pockets and he kicked at the dirt with his leather boot. He had spent several days in the girl’s company and he liked her soft and gentle disposition. He knew that he didn’t have feelings for her like his father had for Rebecca, or Roland for Emma, but he thought she was kind and liked the same things that he did. He began to wonder if that was how people made mistakes about falling in love. Maybe they just really liked someone and thought they were in love. He looked up to Virginia, walking beside him and wondered if maybe she thought she was in love.
She smiled at him sweetly with an expectant look in her eyes and he suddenly leaned to her and kissed her softly, touching her cheek with his lips.
Virginia gasped softly and as he stepped away she stood up to him and kissed him back, quickly on the lips, then took his hand and continued along the path.
“I’ll write you as soon as I get home,” she spoke softly.
Rebecca pulled the rose hips from the bushes, watching the young couple furtively. She had seen them walk out to the back stables together and had taken note of how long they were gone. She sighed with relief that Mark was a well behaved child, and now a very responsible young man. She felt confident that he would never do anything that would be considered improper with the girl, and when she saw them kissing cautiously in turn, she was certain it was their first.
She thought back to her first time, her first marriage, and shuddered at the memory. She rarely thought of that now. She watched the couple climb into the wagon as Mark pulled away to take the girl back to her uncle’s home. They had said goodbye to the family earlier, Virginia was well mannered, Rebecca thought, and she had enjoyed having the girl along for the last few days of summer.
Rebecca rubbed her back slightly as she stood upright and walked to the garden bench. Once she had dreamed of a place like this, a home and a family. It was so easy to take it all for granted, she thought. To forget the times when she was alone, when she was afraid. She rarely thought about the train ride and the horrifying trip from England. She had no reason to. She had a wonderful husband, strong and loving and a daughter she adored. She had seen her best friend, her cousin Emma, find happiness and bring love into a man’s life who seemed to know only pain. She watched the wagon turn out of sight and sighed. She had watched Mark grow from a child into a handsome and sensitive young man. She ran her hand over her growing belly. This one would be a boy she thought, her pregnancy different in many ways. She hoped that he too would find love in beautiful Minnesota.
Emma walked up the road, a laughing expression on her face, Émigré at her heels, scampering along happily and then running into the garden. He panted with excitement and tumbled over at her feet, eager to have his tummy rubbed. Rebecca liked that they had kept the name of the pup. She and Emma were emigrants themselves she thought and the furry Collie fit right in.
Louisa slammed the back door loudly as she scampered out at the sound of the puppy’s greeting barks and the two fell together onto the soft grass, the child giggling uncontrollably and the puppy yipping continuously.
“Rumor has it that you are starting your fall cleaning today,” Emma joined Rebecca on the bench. “I’ve been instructed to supervise lest you overdo.” Emma smiled.
“I’m being very good,” Rebecca assured her. “While the girls are taking down the summer curtains I came out and puttered in the garden. After the windows upstairs are washed you can watch me supervising them putting up the winter drapes. Would that fulfill your responsibility to keep me from doing too much?”
“Perfectly,” Emma responded, chuckling as she watched the antics of the child with the tiny dog.
“She sure loves that puppy,” Emma remarked. The animal was so loving and affectionate. He tried hard to be a watch dog, running off a chipmunk in the garden and then returning to Emma dutifully, tongue lolling and filled with pride.
“Timothy and I talked about getting one for her ourselves, but with the baby coming I’m not sure I want one living here all the time.”
“Let her enjoy Émigré for now. He has so much energy and it helps me if she wears him out as well.”
“We’re so lucky Emma,” Rebecca choked back tears.
“Oh, honey,” Emma put her arms around her cousin’s delicate shoulders. “Why are you crying?”
“I just saw Mark kiss Virginia. I think it was their first. Then I was thinking how lucky I am, we all are.” She pulled a soft cotton handkerchief from her pocket.
Emma began to cry as well, the two women wrapped in one another’s arms, sobbing suddenly.
Timothy and Roland emerged from the mill path and stopped, watching the women. Louisa giggled with the dog and both men knew there was no need for alarm. They stood witnessing the emotional release between the women, and Timothy smiled.
“I guess all the tears are part of it,” Roland remarked.
“Wait until the baby starts kicking all night. You’ll be shedding plenty of tears yourself,” the big man chuckled.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Timothy stepped down from the wooden ladder to join the others as they looked on from across the big room, the fresh smell of pine filling the air and the tree draped in garlands and sparkling ornaments. The porcelain angel tilted slightly to one side and he climbed the ladder again to set it straight.
The holiday tree, a huge Scotch pine, stood in the center of the ballroom at Stavewood, the branches filled with tiny candles and miniature silver pails filled with treats. Rebecca smiled approval as Timothy returned to her side.
Most of the preparations were completed for the Christmas Eve gala the Elgersons had planned. There would be a large crowd, including the children of their friends, and those from the orphanage and all would receive gifts.
Several weeks earlier Rebe
cca had approached Timothy with an idea.
“Timothy,” Rebecca had lain beside him in the bed, feeling the soft flutter of her baby inside of her. “Do you remember when we took the vegetables to the children’s home?”
Timothy Elgerson kissed his wife on the forehead and put his big hand on her stomach softly. “I remember,” he muttered.
“What do they do for Christmas?”
“I’m not sure,” he responded, waiting for the movement of a tiny foot or fist.
“Could we do something for them? We have so much and I’d love to have a party for them.”
“At the orphanage?” he asked.
“I was thinking here, at Stavewood. We have plenty of room in the big ballroom. It seems a waste to close it down all winter. We could light the big fireplace and put up a tree. There’s a beautiful one right off of the road close to the Vancouver’s. I don’t think they’d mind. We could buy gifts for all the children, some for boys and some for girls. I’ll get Louisa to help me decide. We have so much, Tim. I don’t want to just heap gifts onto each other when there are all of those children in the orphanage with so little.”
Now the family stood looking up at the pine with pride. Roland and Timothy had felled it and loaded it into the big wagon, and Mark helped them build a sturdy stand and set the tree upright. Rebecca and Emma clapped with appreciation as the men hefted up the tall pine and cut away the binding ropes.
“It’s perfect!” Rebecca gasped, the tree full and aromatic, filling the center of the room invitingly. The women filled the lower branches carefully, and instructed the men as to where they wanted decorations on the higher limbs. There was warm teasing of how Timothy was the only one tall enough to reach some of the higher branches, and what was just beyond his range was done by Louisa, standing gleefully on her father’s lofty shoulder as he balanced her to put up the highest decorations.
South of Stavewood (Stavewood Saga Book 2) Page 16