The Traherns #1

by Nancy Radke

  “No.”

  “Then put something like this on during the hottest part of the day. You can dress up in the evening, if you wish.” I threw it into her arms. “Go put it on. If you can wear it, I’ll go get another one.”

  “There was more than one?”

  “Yes.”

  “Same model? Same pattern?”

  “Yes. And that’s not an issue. Go put it on.”

  While she went into her room to try it on, I washed the sticky candy residue off my fingers, and freshened up.

  “It is cooler,” Lizzie said. “And much more comfortable.”

  “That looks charming on you,” I said. “You can’t go wrong with a shirtwaister.”

  She left it on. “I’ll ask Thomas when he gets home.

  Thomas was delighted, and gave me an approving nod. “Go get yourself several. You’ll feel much better during the hot summer.” She walked away, and he turned to me. “If you can stay long enough to get her to make some friends, that’d be great. I can’t get her out of this house.”

  “I’ll try. You know… her mother…”

  “Yes. I know.”

  “Lizzie has to make the break slowly. It may take a while. I was surprised you got her here.”

  “So was I.”

  She came back in. She had added a scarf to the dress, and made it look more like Lizzie.

  “That’s a good idea,” I said. “Why don’t you come out with me tomorrow and we’ll get me another dress, and maybe you some, too?”

  She looked at Thomas. “You like them?”

  “Yes. Go with Brynn.”

  We bought her several. She seemed different, once I got her away from the house. I decided Thomas needed to sign her up for a ladies club or something.

  I even got her to go to the saddle shop with me and look at the saddles. Lizzie used to love to ride, and she looked longingly at the sidesaddle.

  “Is there a place where you can keep a horse, Lizzie?”

  “Yes. In the stable where we keep our carriage horse. But I wouldn’t have anyone to ride with.”

  “I bet there are other ladies with horses that get together and ride. You just need to find out who they are. We can ask around at your party.”

  The day before the party, Victor showed up. I stared at Lizzie’s brother in dismay as he walked up to the front porch, wearing a top hat and carrying a cane.

  “Lizzie. Victor’s here,” I whispered, loudly enough for her to hear. We were both wearing shirtwaisters and looked at each other.

  “Oh, no. We have to change,” she said.

  It had been my first reaction, too.

  “No, we don’t. I am not dressing for Victor or your mother,” I said, as she ran up to her room. “And neither should you.”

  She stopped at the top of the stairs, and came slowly back down. “He’ll tell mother.”

  “You didn’t marry her. Or your brother.”

  “You aren’t either, are you? Marrying him?”

  “No. I’m not.”

  He was knocking at the door, but I left him standing out there.

  “I’m sorry I asked him, Brynn. It seemed such a good idea at the time. I wanted you for a sister.”

  “We can be sisters in spirit. Best friends.”

  “Are you going to let him in?”

  “I didn’t invite him. You go ahead and let him in,” I said.

  “I don’t want him here, either.”

  “Then make him uncomfortable and send him to the hotel. You do have a hotel in town, right?”

  “Right. I’ll tell him we don’t have an extra room,” she said.

  “Do that. I don’t want him in the same house as me.”

  She opened the door.

  *6*

  “Lizzie?” Victor stepped back, a look of shock on his face. “What are you wearing?”

  “And hello to you, too, Victor,” I said. “You’re a day early for the party.”

  He looked at me. Took in my dress. Frowned. “Lizzie’s got room.”

  “Not with me here. You’ll need to go to the hotel. Stop your cab, and put your case back on it.” He’d brought out a steamer trunk.

  He hesitated, so I pushed my way past him and hailed the cabbie.

  “He needs you to take him to the hotel. Reload his trunk, please.”

  Victor stood there, looking uncertain. “But, Brynn. It’s me.”

  “I’ll see you at the party, Victor.”

  He tried to give me a kiss and I stepped back before he could grab me.

  “Go,” I said.

  “Save all the dances for me,” he called, as he climbed back into the cab.

  I walked back up the steps and looked at Lizzie. She waited until she got inside before she broke out in giggles.

  “Did you see his face when he saw our dresses?” she said, laughing so hard she finally had to sit down. “And when you ordered him to leave. He’s never had that happen to him before.”

  “I treated him sort of rough, but I was not going to have him in the same house as me at night. He’d find some way to come to my room. He’d try to compromise me and force me into marrying him. He tried it once before. Almost succeeded, except my father saw him and threw him out. You didn’t know about that, did you Lizzie?”

  “No.”

  “I’m not going back on the same train as him, either. We’ll find out when he plans to leave. I’ll leave a day earlier. You saw him try to kiss me?”

  “Yes.”

  “Your mother wants him to marry me. She told my mother, who thought it was a good idea. My father didn’t.” I felt safer with Shorty than I’d ever felt with Victor. Clothes did not make the man. My thoughts switched to James, dressed in his cowboy clothes. We had ridden for hours together and he had never touched me inappropriately. Neither had any of the workers at my father’s estate. Except one, whom my father had swiftly fired. So it worked both ways. You just couldn’t tell about a person by their clothes.

  I thought about the clerk at the hardware store. If Victor went in there, he would be taken for a salesman. It made me start to laugh again, so I had to tell Lizzie about the store.

  She laughed, too. “A salesman! Oh, he’d be so outraged.”

  Thomas walked in at that time, home from work, and found us laughing hysterically as we shared images of Victor.

  “What?” he asked.

  We told him, and soon he was laughing. “I’m glad you finally see your brother as he really is, Lizzie,” he said, wiping the tears from his eyes. “He thinks he is so great. Your mother tells him so, and he believes it. Someday, someone is going to put him in his place. I didn’t, because I wanted your parents approval before we married. I hope he takes the lesson well.”

  “Brynn is going to take the train back before he does. She doesn’t want to be on the same one as he is.”

  “Good idea, Brynn. I’ll tell him you’re leaving on Wednesday, and you can go on Tuesday.”

  I didn’t want to leave so soon. I wanted to see more of James. “Tell him I’ll be going next week on Saturday’s train. Or Monday’s train.”

  “Do you want to avoid him that long?”

  “I came to visit Lizzie. I refuse to have my trip cut short by Victor.”

  “Do you know how different you sound? You and Lizzie both.”

  “Is it good?” I asked.

  “Makes me happy. I’m glad you came, Brynn.”

  “I am, too.”

  Lizzie grinned at us. “So am I.”

  Thomas gave her a kiss. “If Victor shows up here this evening, I’ll take us all out to supper. Then you won’t have to entertain him, Brynn.”

  “Thank you.”

  Victor did show up, in about an hour, and we left him cooling his heels in the parlor while we took our time “dressing” for the evening out. Thomas invited him to sit up next to him on the driver’s seat, letting Lizzie and I sit together in the back of the carriage. I’m sure Victor wondered why we were almost laughing all night, as both Thoma
s and Lizzie managed to outmaneuver him every step.

  Thomas dropped him off at the hotel when we were done, then drove us home. Lizzie and I started laughing, sharing the antics of the evening, and Thomas joined in, so we were all hysterical by the time we got home. I had thought Thomas very straight-laced and humorless, but that evening proved me wrong.

  The next day as Lizzie was trying to choose a dress, I told her what Mally had said about the lack of dress code in the town. “I’m not wearing one of these stiff dresses my mother just had made. I’m wearing the pretty blue party dress my father got me a year ago, that I just love. I don’t care that it isn’t the latest.”

  “Then I’ll wear my favorite, too,” she said, and pulled out a lovely wine colored dress.

  The party was too large for the venue she had chosen, so she wisely had them open the doors to the courtyard and hang up colored lanterns all around. It required a minimum of decoration, and looked like a fairyland.

  We were there first, making sure all the arrangements had been finalized. Lizzie knew how to throw a party, and this one was not lacking.

  “The lanterns make it, Lizzie,” I told her. “Everyone will want them at their parties.”

  “There’s a Chinese couple who live on our street. She had one on her porch. She and her children made these for me.”

  “You’ll have to tell everyone her name and send her the business, if she wants it.”

  “She makes her own paper. Aren’t they beautiful?”

  People started coming in and we went to greet them. I got introduced to people, young singles and couples.

  Victor came in and promptly headed for the punchbowl.

  “Is it toxic?” I whispered to Lizzie.

  “No. Not unless someone spikes it. There’s just a little gin in there, well watered down.”

  Dance cards had been included with all the invitations, and the women wore them hanging from their wrists. Lizzie had given me one. It was empty. Then Victor strode up, grabbed my card and wrote on it. He handed it back with a smile. “There you are, sweet thing.”

  He had written his name in every slot. I showed it to Lizzie, then tore it up.

  “There you are,” I said, and tossed the pieces at him.

  “May I have a new card, Lizzie?”

  She nodded and pulled one out of her purse.

  Just then James and Kelly and Catherine arrived. They were dressed as well as anyone there. Catherine looked beautiful, and I handed my empty card to her and got another one from Lizzie.

  I was greeting James and had turned my back on Victor, when I felt someone grab my shoulder so hard it hurt.

  “Ouch!” I protested, looking to see who it was.

  Victor, his face twisted with anger. “I filled your card. Come dance!”

  The band that Lizzie had hired had started to play. I did not want to dance with Victor, but I also did not want to make a scene.

  “I’m sorry,” James said. “Her first dance is already spoken for. Shall we?”

  He took my arm, and gently led me out on the floor. I looked back as we spun into a two-step and saw that Thomas had grabbed Victor and was talking to him. I hoped Lizzie’s brother would take a hint and get lost. I knew he had a hot temper and didn’t want him spoiling his sister’s party.

  “Who is he?” James asked. “He looked like he thought he had a right to you.”

  “He’s Lizzie’s brother. She had invited him to the party and he came all the way out from Baltimore. But I can’t stand him. She’s just learning what he’s like, as he’s been away at college. I hope he doesn’t cause trouble. I don’t want him challenging you. He’s an expert pugilist.”

  “There are lots of my friends here. They know how to take care of that sort of thing. I doubt they’ll let him get close.”

  I watched and observed several men who had gathered around Victor, thumping him on the back, and talking to him. Keeping him from following James and myself out onto the floor.

  James kept me at the other end of the room. From there, we danced outside.

  I swung my attention to the man holding me so gently, yet with a lead that was easy to follow. He was an expert dancer.

  I smiled at him. “Thank you for rescuing me, Sir Knight.”

  “Anytime. Now that I have a bull named Sir Galahad, I had better watch myself. He’ll be hard to live up to.”

  “How is he working out?”

  “Fine. He has all the lady cows lined up. Although—” he paused.

  “Yes?”

  “I do think he looks for you.”

  The dance stopped. James looked around at the many lanterns lighting the courtyard. It was not dark yet, but they glowed in a myriad of colors. “That’s a good idea.”

  “Lizzie’s.”

  The band started a waltz. James started to dance with me again. I wondered if I wanted to dance with anyone else. The waltz brought me closer to him, almost an embrace. Cheek to cheek, although I wasn’t quite that tall. He spun me around into a dream world and I really didn’t want that dance to end.

  It did though, and he held me just a little longer than the music lasted.

  I smiled at him as he let me go. He smiled back, and we just stood there, looking at each other.

  “Hello.” I turned to see Catherine, walking next to a young man.

  “Brynn, this is Arthur.” We nodded “hello” and I decided this must have been the one she wanted to meet. The stars were in her eyes.

  I smiled and closed my eyes for a second. I could feel them in mine, too. James brought them out for me.

  We were no longer alone in the courtyard, as people began to find it and come outside.

  The band started another song, but James and I stayed to talk to Catherine and Arthur. I felt heady, like I had drunk too much punch.

  Then one of James’ friends came over and claimed a dance, then another. The men kept all the girls there, busy dancing. There were almost twice as many men as there were women.

  I said something about it to one of the young men. “They’re here looking for a wife,” he said. “All of us are. There are so many men, you have to grab quick or you miss out. Women don’t stay single for long out here. I’m surprised Catherine still is.”

  “I think she isn’t.”

  “Arthur?”

  She was still with him, looking delighted, and ignoring anyone who tried to take her away. James was still there. He hadn’t left to try to dance with anyone else.

  I caught his eye and he moved toward us as the music stopped. I put my hand into his outstretched one, and we walked back to Arthur and Catherine. Lizzie and Thomas had joined them. I don’t even think I even remembered to thank the young man for the dance.

  “James was telling us about Sir Galahad,” Arthur said. “I need to come see him. I could use a bull like that on my land.”

  “Where is that?” I asked.

  “Central Oregon. I can’t grow much wheat like James and his father, so I raise cattle. A bull like that sounds like what I need to improve my herd.”

  “Just so you don’t claim the girl who comes with it,” James said, patting my hand as it lay upon his arm.

  “I don’t come with every bull,” I protested. “Just Sir Galahad.”

  James’ eyes danced with humor. “Aren’t I the lucky one,” he said.

  “Yes,” I agreed. “And so am I.”

  “You could come out to the ranch tomorrow and see him,” Catherine said to Arthur, ignoring us. “I’d show you around.”

  “Yes,” James added. “That’s a good idea. You could come stay with us for a while, if you’d like. No need to stay here in town.”

  “I’ll take you up on that,” Arthur said. “I really need to come and check him out.”

  “Should take you a week at least,” James said.

  “Yes, that sounds about right. Or longer, if I need to.” He was looking at Catherine as he spoke.

  I stood beside James, completely happy and content. I’d like to
be out visiting the ranch also, but couldn’t think of a reason to go.

  “Wouldn’t you like to come see how Sir Galahad is doing?” James asked me.

  I grinned, catching Lizzie’s surprised expression. “Would it take a week?”

  “Maybe longer.”

  “I must make sure he is well taken care of,” I said.

  “And that his grain has a little sorghum molasses on it?”

  “That, too.”

  James smiled, that beautiful smile he had, that made his eyes dance with humor. “I wondered, if I let him out, if he would come to town looking for you.”

  “I hope you don’t. He scares people. Someone might shoot him.”

  “Then you’d better come see him. I think he’s getting truly lonely.”

  “He is?”

  “Very much. Pines for you each day.”

  Lizzie looked from one to the other of us. “I thought you got him delivered safely.”

  “Oh, yes, but he misses her,” James said.

  “And I miss him,” I added. “I’ll have to borrow your buggy, Lizzie, and ride out to the ranch to see how he is doing.”

  “But you don’t need to— Ouch!” she turned to Thomas. “What was that for?”

  “Let’s get some punch. Then I need to dance with my wife.” He took her arm, said, “See you,” and led her away.

  We walked around, then danced some more. In between dances, James introduced me to more of his friends who were there.

  They announced the last dance, and James swung me into a slow waltz. I closed my eyes and almost melted with contentment. I wished the music to go on and on, but it came to an end. James held me for a second longer. Then he kissed me.

  He had brought us to a fairly dim area. I kissed him back, hoping to let him know how attracted I was.

  “Don’t forget to visit Sir Galahad,” he said.

  “I wouldn’t forget that.”

  Then people started to leave. As the place emptied, they said their thanks to Lizzie and many gave her a hug. I heard one woman say she would see her next week, and I looked at Lizzie to see what that was all about.

  “She has four horses. We’re going riding together next Wednesday,” Lizzie said. “Along with Annie.”