“My name is Joseph Southers, and you would be…?”
Neilson did not reply and eyed Joseph suspiciously. “You’re a mighty fancy dresser to be up in these parts. I don’t do business with swindlers,” Neilson finally said.
“I am no swindler. I am a prospector. I own number eight along the creek. I am interested in talking to you about your store here.”
“Number eight? Ain’t no one around here knows the guy who owns number eight.”
“I was away. Now I’m back. Would you be willing to talk?”
“You looking to buy the building?” Neilson asked.
“Yes, the entire building. If you don’t mind showing me around.”
“My name is Neilson and I’ll show it to you but it won’t be cheap. I took a big loss here and I’ll need plenty in order to go home looking right.”
“I understand completely, Mr. Neilson. Alice?” Joseph called his wife to his side and turned back to the owner. “This is my wife. I’m ready to see your store.”
The merchant showed them to the back of the store. If the merchandise seemed lacking in the public areas the private area of the store was even more forlorn. The building was soundly built Joseph noted. Nelson waited until Joseph had finished opening cabinets and doors and then led them through a breezeway to a back workshop in a separate building. Joseph was amazed. There were workbenches and vices, clamps and simple milling tools. There was more equipment here than he was ever able to put in his own workshop in Pennsylvania. Joseph nodded discreetly to Alice.
“Mr. Neilson,” Joseph asked, “did you build this place?”
“No. Bought it a few months ago from a fella was too old to run it.”
Joseph decided not to ask what condition the store was in then or what Neilson’s vision had been.
“I’ll show you upstairs,” the merchant said. He led them up a staircase that ran straight from the work area to the apartment upstairs that ran the length of both buildings.
Alice paced around, fighting the urge to shake her head.
Over the back building was a large kitchen with several windows covered in split burlap bags. Alice moved one bag aside and saw a breathtaking view of the mountains in the distance. A small table sat in the center of the room with one wooden chair. It was clear there was no Mrs. Neilson, at least not in Tutchone. There were wide expanses of counters and walls filled with cabinets. An immense cook stove sat along one wall that could easily heat the area and there was a generous sink. Alice imagined how nice the room would look cleaned up and with the rags torn from the windows. She caught Joseph’s eye and nodded to him.
Throughout the house there were good wood floors. The walls were straight and the staircases were solidly built. Someone had cared very much about the building once and she knew it was not so very long ago, although the dust looked as if it had been left there for years.
The house had a lovely dining room with large windows which were also covered in rags. The parlor on the front of the house was delightful. The windows bumped out an inviting alcove over the store’s front porch with a magnificent view of the sea. On the third floor the rooms had been largely deserted, the front bedroom had another windowed area that would make a wonderful sitting area.
The couple followed Neilson back to the store.
Joseph asked for a moment alone and he and Alice stepped out behind the shop.
“What are your thoughts?” Joseph studied her face.
“It’s filthy.”
“That it is,” he said.
“It would be a month just to clean it up and then there’s the entire house to set up and furnish and the store to stock.” Alice looked up at him. “I know you’ll be anxious to get the store opened but it’s going to be hard living in that house without a lot of work first. We’ll need to get help and get it livable first. Then we can concentrate on the store. I know you don’t want to hear that, but it’s a lot to try to get done all at once,” she said.
“Do you like it?” he asked.
“Oh, I do. Very much.” Alice smiled.
“How much?” he asked expectantly.
Alice laughed. “I guess you like it.”
“Should we make an offer?” he said.
Alice could see the anticipation on his face. “Of course.”
Joseph cleared his throat and paced the yard for a moment. She saw him gathering himself and watched curiously. “Let’s go then.”
Alice followed him back into the store.
“What is your bottom price, Mr. Neilson?” Joseph asked.
Alice noticed he no longer looked excited at all, but instead very skeptical.
“Ten thousand and I leave today,” Neilson stuck out his chins.
“Ten thousand?” Joseph repeated.
“Alright,” Neilson said. “Five. That’s it.”
“Hmm.” Joseph rubbed his chin.
“Five,” Neilson said. “If you really do own number eight you can afford five.”
“Would you go with me to the bank right now and sign it over today?” Joseph asked.
“I’ll put the key in your hand and never look back,” the merchant said.
“Then I’ll give you the five. Let’s go.”
Olaf Neilson’s face spread in a grin and he shook Joseph and Alice’s hands happily.
When the Southers returned from the bank they stood outside the store and looked up.
“Remember this, because as soon as we get started in there this place is going to look very different,” Joseph said.
“I’m going to need to change my dress,” Alice laughed. “Welcome to heaven.”
Joseph took her hands and kissed them both. “We’re going to get those callouses back on our hands, just you wait and see!”
Chapter Seventy-Two
Joseph knew that their lives would be much happier if they had a comfortable home. He considered going up to the cabin but he knew it would need a good cleaning as well. He resigned himself to setting up the house above the store first, but he was very eager to start setting up shop. Once the house was clean and somewhat furnished he thought he’d leave Alice to the details and get to work in the store.
Alice dug into the cleaning with gusto. When she pulled all the dusty burlap from the windows both of them were pleased at the magnificent view.
By the end of the first day’s cleaning every window and wall was washed and they both returned to the hotel room exhausted. After breakfast on the second day Alice said it was time to hire people and Joseph went off to find Chicken-leg. The two men returned with a group of men and women. The women worked with Alice upstairs while Joseph, Chicken-leg and the men all went downstairs to start work in the store. She wondered if that had been Joseph’s plan all along when she saw his eyes crinkle into a smile.
With three hardworking women by her side, the house was scrubbed fresh in no time. The kitchens and baths sparkled and the floors gleamed. She checked in with the men who were scrubbing shelving units in the back of the store and then went shopping. She found nearly everything she needed to stock her kitchen, including a fresh batch of sourdough starter, curtains, linens and rugs. The women directed her to the carpenter’s shop where she purchased several pieces of furniture, thrilled that, before the day was out, she and Joseph could be sleeping in their new home.
They had never been together at the cabin and, other than her place in Philadelphia nowhere had been home. She loved the thought of them finally being together in a place of their own.
The women all worked hard and Alice’s helpers were thrilled when she put real cash and not gold dust into their hands. Although it really made no difference somehow they felt more civilized.
Alice went out again, alone. The men had now removed all of the shelving and were scrubbing down the counters. With the junk out of the windows Alice could see that the store would soon look fresh and inviting. Joseph had even hired painters who arrived with ladders piled high on a wagon.
She bought dishes and knick-knack
s and a few parlor plants and returned home to wait for delivery. Whenever she passed, Joseph smiled broadly, stopped to kiss her and then hurried back to his work.
Alice carried wood up from behind the workshop and set a fire in the kitchen stove. At first the air smelled of burnt dust but the summer breeze soon freshened the room and it was not long before the home was filled with the delicious aroma of a good stew.
Alice walked through the rooms slowly, arranging an item here or there or straightening a curtain. The house was clearly transformed. She’d been a bit disappointed they hadn’t gone right up to the cabin but now she felt like she was content to be where she was. She took the back stairs down to the store and slipped away unnoticed.
Alice hired a boy at the hotel to carry her bags downstairs. She also paid him to bring them up the street and get them into the house unnoticed. She and Joseph would sleep in their own home tonight.
She freshened up, checked her meal on the stove and then started down the front stairs from the parlor. The stairway came down alongside the store and could be entered separately from the business. At the bottom was a screened door and she decided to open it, thinking it would bring a nice breeze through the entire house.
As she ventured down the dusty staircase pulling down the filthy rags that covered the windows, she heard a small squeak.
Mice, she thought. The bottom of the staircase was filled with trash and rotten rags and smelled horribly. She decided to go around outside and try accessing the door from there.
Alice got the keys from Joseph and opened the door cautiously, letting the sunlight stream into the space. When she saw a movement she stepped back and waited. What emerged from the pile was not a mouse or a rat but a very emaciated puppy. He was young and he could barely walk. He tried to stagger into the sunlight.
Alice called to Joseph who came out from the store immediately. She bent down to pick up the poor creature and wrinkled her nose. He was covered in his own waste and his eyes were festering and covered in gnats.
“He’s barely alive.” Joseph ran his hands through his hair and retrieved a washtub from behind the shop. He took the puppy from Alice and she hurried to the kitchen and returned with several clean rags, a pot of hot water and a bowl of her stew.
The couple filled the tub with a few inches of warm water and washed the pup gently, shooing away the insects.
When he was clean and dry, Alice offered him a bit of mashed meat. He took a few bites, but he was so weak she knew it would not be enough.
“There’s a horse doctor up the street. He might look at him,” Chicken-Leg suggested.
Alice assured Joseph she could go on her own and she wrapped the puppy gently in a soft towel and carried him up the street. Joseph watched her go, cooing over the tiny animal sweetly. She looked as if she was carrying a baby. He stood for several minutes before returning to work.
“I’ll be surprised if he makes it. His leg is broken as well as at least one rib. He’s been kicked or had a terrible fall,” the veterinarian said.
“Maybe both,” Alice said softly, thinking of the stairwell. “Just tell me what I can do for him.”
“Feed him little bits often. Offer him plenty of fresh water and keep him still. I’m going to wrap his chest and set his leg. Then wait. He should be better in a day or two if he makes it. If not he’ll go quickly. This is not an ordinary pup. This is a wolf pup. Even if he does make it he won’t make a good pet.”
Alice paced the room while he administered to the puppy and, when he had finished, she carried him home gently. The puppy never made a sound. When she got home she spoke to Joseph, took the puppy upstairs and settled him into a large basket. She tried feeding him again. He took only a few bites and just a little water and then fell into a hard sleep. Alice tiptoed down the back stairs.
She circled the house and took a rake from the men’s tools and pulled out the pile of trash in the front stairwell. She quickly discovered that the pup she found was one of a litter. The stairway was filled with tiny bodies, smaller than him. Alice was so repulsed by the sight she ran around the back of the building and nearly emptied the contents of her stomach. Joseph had seen her run through the yard and rushed to find her.
“What happened?” He squatted down beside her and put his hand on her shoulder.
“There are more puppies. All dead. The mother must have had them in there and got locked out or something. It’s awful,” Alice sobbed.
“Stay here.” Joseph went to the staircase and called for Jack to help him. Soon they had removed all of the filth from the stairs and Joseph scrubbed the steps thoroughly.
By the time Alice felt well enough to venture back to the doorway the area was completely scrubbed and the odor was dissipating.
“We’re going to stop for the day.” Joseph put his arm around her. Alice nodded silently and went up to finish supper and check the puppy.
Joseph washed in the pump in the yard and thanked the men for their help. They all agreed to return in the morning. Joseph was happy with how much they had accomplished in just one day. When the wooden racks had dried they could be put back into the shop. Pulling out the racks had been a good idea. In a week, when his supplies would begin to arrive, he was certain he’d be ready to start stocking his shelves. He decided that once they ate he would design the signs for the shop.
He climbed the back stairs lost in thought over his plans for the store and it wasn’t until he had nearly reached the top of the stairs that he noticed the aroma coming from the kitchen. When he walked into the kitchen he was shocked.
The room was spotless and somehow Alice had found furniture and dishes and there was supper on the stove. He barely recognized that it was the same house they had looked at earlier. The windows sparkled and he could see the beautiful landscape for miles. Joseph whistled low. He noticed that the puppy stirred in the basket beside the stove and then dozed back off to sleep. Joseph could not believe how comfortable it all seemed.
He went to find Alice in the house and realized she had completely redone the entire space. Somehow she had smuggled in tables and chairs and rugs and even a few books sat on the shelves. He passed through the dining room to the living room and watched the sheer curtains blowing softly in the breeze, the blue sea beyond in the distance. On a side table against the wall was her mannequin stand wearing the Amish hat. Joseph shook his head in amazement and climbed the stairs to the third floor.
Alice was in the front bedroom unpacking their bags and hanging everything neatly in the closet.
“Amazing,” he said.
Alice jumped and turned to him. “Oh! You startled me. Well, what do you think?”
“I can’t believe you did all this. How did you get furniture in here?” He pushed down on the bed testing the mattress and looked around the room.
“Today I learned that with enough money you can accomplish just about anything. Do you like it? I know you weren’t here to pick out everything but I thought you preferred to keep working on the store. We can change things if you like,” she said.
“No, not a thing. It’s perfect. Are those our bags from the hotel?”
“Yes.” She closed the closet door and walked to him, reaching up to kiss him. “I thought perhaps you might enjoy spending our first night in our own home.”
“You can’t imagine how much. I wasn’t sure I could make it back to the hotel tonight. I’m exhausted.”
Alice smiled and whispered into his ear. “Not too exhausted I hope.”
Chapter Seventy-Three
Joseph lay back in a big chair in the living room and put his feet up on a stool.
“This is wonderful, Alice. Really amazing. I kept thinking we’d have to go change for dinner, figure out where we could get some decent food, make it back to the hotel and then come back here in the morning. It’s all right here. Home. Boy, it sounds nice. I’m home,” he said.
“Here, Alice handed him a small newspaper. Its three months old, but I thought you’d enjoy it.�
�
Joseph picked up the paper, realizing it was a local publication and he chuckled. “Now I really am home,” he said.
“Not yet. That comes later.” Alice winked.
“I need to digest all that dinner first,” he said, patting his stomach.
“Don’t you get too domesticated, Joseph Southers. I still intend to have my way with you at every opportunity.”
Alice brought the pup into the living room and tried offering him more food. He had eaten little bits over most of the evening but showed no improvement. Joseph listened to her cooing to the animal and watched her stroke his fur. He thought about how gentle she had been with him when he was ill or injured at the cabin. Her touch was warm and soothing and it was the same when she made love to him. Joseph realized that she had a way about her, something that was calming and inspired trust. When she put her hands on him he felt completely at ease, never nervous or shy or afraid in any way.
“What kind of a puppy is it?” Joseph asked. He thought it might be one of the sled breeds but he’d never seen a dog exactly like him.
“The doctor said he’s a wolf.”
“A wolf?” Joseph nearly dropped his newspaper. “What on earth will we do with a wolf?”
“He said we couldn’t keep him, but if he lives maybe we can set him free up at the cabin.”
“Wolves are funny animals, Alice. First he’s going to get huge, and maybe mean. Then when we set him free he’ll be a rogue. He won’t belong to any of the local packs.”
“We can’t just let him die.” She looked up to him concerned.
“No, of course not. We’ll see what happens.”
Joseph watched her face darken. By morning he had his answer.
Too exhausted to make love, both of them had washed up soon after dinner and got ready for bed. Alice had brought the puppy in and set his basket nearby and then climbed into bed.
Ill Repute Page 26