by Angela Lain
As she stepped back into the kitchen she could smell cakes baking, loaves sat on the back of the stove, rising ready to bake. Melody was chopping vegetables. She was already settling into this home.
Cody sat beside her in his high chair, gnawing on a piece of vegetable and whining a little, she was singing to him as she worked.
“April,” she looked up at her friend. “I was beginning to wonder, you have been gone a long time. I heard Harley drive away, I expected to see you then, but it’s been nearly an hour.”
“I was… thinking,” April returned. “Would you like me to entertain Cody, or chop the vegetables?”
“Actually, I think I would like to check his diaper, he doesn’t like being wet. He is getting the hang of asking, but sometimes he forgets.”
April moved to take over the vegetable preparation while Melody picked Cody from his chair. It amazed her how quickly her friend had adapted, and obviously become fond of the little boy. The moment she picked him up he ceased fussing, he snuggled against her. She cooed at him and he smiled, patting her face with his chubby hand.
“You seem to have him enchanted,” April observed.
“He is a cute little lad, it would be very easy to love him. Jasper, I’m not so sure about,” Melody murmured.
Easy to love? Melody spoke as if she was thinking of it, while April, and everyone else in this house, could see she had already lost her heart to him.
“Is Jasper being awkward?”
“Not exactly. He’s not really being anything. The trouble is he is not ready for this, not ready for me.” She gave a small unhappy sigh. “Society and convention dictate mourning for a year, and when you see it from the other side you can understand why. He is still grieving; maybe Cody needs a mother, but I’m not sure that Jasper needs a wife, not yet.”
“But he has asked you marry. For Cody’s sake, will you?”
Melody hugged Cody closer. “Yes, he asked me; I need to give my answer. I don’t know. I would love to stay with Cody, but… what if in a few months Jasper was to meet a girl he liked better than me? If I stay we will have to marry, what if he wished to be free? What then?”
April considered for a second.
“What if, you stayed, and married, but were not truly his wife? Then an annulment could happen if things went wrong?”
“But that would make me little more than a housekeeper. I want a proper home and a proper marriage.”
“But do you want it with Jasper?”
“I don’t know,” Melody cradled the boy, “I just don’t know, April. What if he ends up hating me? I have to give him an answer and I haven’t decided if I should say yes.” Melody sighed. “This is so hard, I had not expected it to be this way. I feel I have to stay at night, because of Cody. But if I finally say no, what then? I am branded for all time, I have lived with him, unmarried!”
“I am seen as no better. I stayed too. If this goes wrong, I will stick by you. We will leave, together, as we decided earlier. We will travel far away and start again.”
“Thank you, April. That makes me feel so much better.”
April turned back to the stew, and Melody vanished into the bedroom with Cody.
So much of this was down to Jasper. She needed to speak with him, at least she could get some idea if there was any hope for Melody. True, a mail-order bride arrived not knowing if they might truly like or even love, their future husband, but at least the man had wanted a wife; Jasper hadn’t asked for one! Maybe it would be better to cut and run now, before she got any more attached to the baby?
She busied herself with the supper, heading through the wash room to the cold cellar room to collect the vegetables she needed. As she turned to leave, Harley entered and pulled the door closed behind him.
April felt a shiver of apprehension run down her back. She hadn’t heard him return. She assumed he would apologize, but he wasn’t that happy with her at the moment.
She lifted her chin to face him down in the gloom of the cellar.
He regarded her through narrowed eyes. “I was wondering, you seem so resistant to Melody marrying, are you jealous that she will marry and you will not? Is that why you came with her, to put her off?”
“Of course not! I will be very happy if she marries. I… may not marry at all. It… depends.”
“Did Melody suggest you came, with the possibility of finding yourself a man too? Or were you going to take Jasper if she changed her mind?”
April stared, horrified at how close he’d come to the truth.
“Why did you come? Jasper has told me Melody’s story, about the man who changed his mind, but we still haven’t heard your story. How do you fit into this, and why did Mel not mention you in her letters?”
And there it was. Either she spun a lie, and Mel too would have to be part of it, or she admitted the truth. She couldn’t damage Mel’s chances with another lie.
“I came because I have lost my home, and my father. I saw your advertisement in the paper two days before I boarded the coach to come here, it seemed like a heaven-sent opportunity, and I didn’t have the time to send a letter. I took a chance that no-one had answered your letter. I met Mel on the coach and realized my mistake. She was happy to allow me to become her companion. That way, if this proved to be a failure, we could move on together. It is not easy, or safe, for a woman alone.”
Harley regarded her in amazement. “So you lied as well?”
“I am sorry. I did.”
“You came here looking for a husband.”
April tried to stare him down, but she couldn’t meet the accusing gaze, she dropped her head and stared at the dirt floor.
“I took a chance. A leap of faith. It failed. Where one man needed a wife, maybe there were others, but the way things have turned out, no-one would now accept me. I failed,” she murmured sadly. “Now, I think I need to get on with the supper.” She stepped past him and headed back into the house.
After they had eaten supper that night, Melody and Jasper announced that they had agreed to marry. Jasper would go to town to make arrangements the next day.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Tuesday morning April saw smoke rising from the forge just after sunrise, presumably Harley had ridden his horse in to work.
It was mid-morning when Melody and Jasper called to ask April and Ada if they would mind Cody while they went to see the preacher. The ladies were happy to oblige.
“I don’t see the lad often enough.” Ada waved a book at the boy, and he crawled onto her knee. “I have a few books and toys to entertain him, he is almost my grandson.”
April left her to it and got on with the housework.
An hour later the couple returned.
“We will get married on 21st December, that is Saturday,” Jasper announced. “It will be a proper wedding in the church, which will be decorated for Christmas. It won’t be fancy, but I have told Preacher Harrison that I am happy for any of the townsfolk to attend the service. Maybe that will stop any more whispers and rumors.”
They had coffee, and some of Ada’s gingerbread (for which April had made certain she got the recipe), before Jasper took both girls back to the ranch.
At supper that night Harley was very short with her. After her revelations of how she had arrived, she wasn’t that surprised. Society had ruled and she was at Ada’s, sleeping in Harley’s bed! Somehow, even that seemed wrong.
***
That night it snowed heavily once again. When April pulled back the curtains the next morning, the carpet of snow looked deep. She resigned herself to being stuck in town, in truth, now the decision was made, she felt she needed to stay out of the couple’s way.
Wednesday was spent cooking with Ada. They were making cakes and goodies for the wedding and for Christmas. Ada didn’t only have gingerbread recipes, she had many other goodies too. April could cook basics, but her mother had never been the greatest pastry cook. To learn from Ada was a treat.
As far as she knew Harley never ventu
red to town, no smoke rose from the forge, and he never called in to see Ada. She couldn’t help but wonder if their last encounter had soured their relationship, such as it was, beyond redemption. She wasn’t sure how she felt about it. On the one hand, he was everything she didn’t like, overbearing and intolerant, on the other, he was obviously a good man, he cared well for his aged guardian, and he had given her shelter despite their differences. In truth, she liked him, if only he wasn’t so… domineering.
***
Ada had talked long about the founding of Feather Hill when the Smiths had arrived more than 30 years ago. She had talked of the people, the businesses, the successes and the failures. It was much like any other small town, established when people were moving west, losing influence when the railway did not come through. It wasn’t here for mines, or any sort of industry, it served the farms and the ranches. It wasn’t a wide-open, gun happy, frontier, boom town. It was a quieter place, a good place to raise a family.
It was now Thursday, and April decided it was time she discovered if the place would accept her despite the circumstances of her arrival. Truth be told, if it had not snowed that first night, she would still be considered a good woman.
After the wedding Harley would want his room back, along with his life and livelihood; that had been the point of getting Jasper a bride. Therefore April needed both a job and lodgings.
As she left the house she saw smoke rising from the forge and walked over to speak with Harley. He was busy, and he’d come by horse, so there was no possibility of going to ranch today.
“I will take you tomorrow, hopefully. Melody wants help with decorating for Christmas, and with her dress for Saturday.”
“She has a dress?”
“Apparently she brought a special one with her, in anticipation of a wedding.”
“Oh, I see. Then I had better come to help her.” And she had better find herself something half decent to wear, too. She had packed her best dresses, her only dresses to be truthful. Nothing was new, or fashionable, it was merely clean. Yet another reason to walk into town.
She took her leave and trudged through the snow to where the sidewalks had been cleared. Her feet were already cold. Her first port of call was the mercantile once again, if she could brave the cold, she could brave Mrs. Frost.
“Good morning, Mrs. Frost. I am in need of a dress, something suitable to wear to a wedding.”
“You are marrying?”
“No, Jasper and Melody are getting married on Saturday, as I am sure you already know.”
“What about her dress?”
Really, this woman was beyond rude!
“Miss Jacobs brought her wedding dress with her. She came here to marry, everything got delayed because of the snow.”
“Hmmp. What do you need?”
“I will look at everything you have in my size, which is suitable,” April lifted her chin. To hell with the cost. No doubt this woman expected her to be cheap, but would show her expensive. If she saw everything, she could make a sensible choice. She would make no comment at all about price.
Thirty minutes later she left the store with a pretty blue dress. It was the nicest thing she had owned for a very long time. She just hoped it might bring her some luck.
For the next two hours she walked around the entire town, apprising herself of the layout and the availability of everything. She spoke with many people, some more accepting than others, and she made some interesting, and rather sobering discoveries.
The school house stood at the end of the street. She was no teacher, but possibly the school may need a cleaner, or even an assistant? She entered the building with hope in her heart.
The teacher was a woman of around her own age, at a guess. Small, she was as neat as a pin with her hair pulled severely into a top-not. She took one look at April, and hurried to the doorway to prevent her from coming further into the school room.
“Excuse me, but I do not encourage visitors.”
“Pardon me, I was wondering if you needed any assistance, a helper or even a cleaner?”
“That would not be my decision, Miss…?”
“Miss Cousins. Who would I need to ask?” April glanced around the school room, there were more than a dozen pupils of widely differing ages, surely she could be of some help? “I can assist with the basics of reading and writing, I have reasonable book learning.”
“That is not the point, Miss Cousins, I don’t believe… I don’t think…”
It dawned on April that this woman had recognized her, maybe from church. She had heard the gossip.
“I assure you, the gossip you may have heard is untrue.” She lowered her voice to ensure none of the children could hear. “I am no scarlet woman, no brazen hussy. I came here with my friend who answered an advertisement for a mail-order bride. I came to ensure her safety. Miss…?”
“Miss Issacs. And I do appreciate what you are saying, but if you would take a look at the rules posted on the wall there,” she waved her hand towards a list displayed prominently, “you will see the demands that are placed on me in this job. I do not believe the school board would look on you with any favor.”
April stepped to read the list, and she had to admit, Miss Issacs was right.
A female teacher may not court during her employment.
A female teacher must be home before dark.
A female teacher must not be seen in a buggy, or wagon with any man but her father or brother.
The list continued through many more forbidden circumstances. April could see she would fail, or at least appear to fail, many of the requirements.
“You have to abide by all that?”
“I do.”
“Then you have my sympathy. I am sorry to have bothered you. Good morning to you.”
April exited the building swiftly. She had been well aware that even some of the children were whispering behind their hands. She appeared to be doomed!
She called into several other businesses, the bank, the bakery, even the livery stables, but none could offer her the hope of any employment. She was no more successful at finding anyone with available rooms or lodgings.
She returned to Ada’s house feeling discouraged.
***
Friday morning dawned, the day before the wedding, and the day April must go to assist and support her friend, however glum she may be feeling.
She saw Harley arrived at the forge with the sleigh, and she hurried through her jobs for Ada before heading over to the forge.
Harley nodded at her, and finished the small job he was doing.
“I won’t be long.”
“I have been trying to find somewhere else to live, and maybe a job.” April sighed. “It’s not so simple.”
“Job? And what’s wrong with living with Ada? Why do you always have to stir things?” Harley snapped.
“And why do you always have to argue?”
“Because you are ridiculous. I find you a bed, and you don’t appreciate one bit. I had hoped you would be nice to Ada, not desert her.”
“I’m not going to desert Ada, you stupid oaf!” The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them. He just rubbed her the wrong way. She was feeling down and unhappy, and instead of being sympathetic, he was unreasonable.
“You are an ungrateful harpy,” he retaliated.
“And you are a vain, inconsiderate, self-centered, ungentlemanly boor.” It was not quite a shout, but almost.
“Really? Anything else?”
She stared at him in horror. She’d not meant to shout at him, certainly not meant to name-call. This man could oust her onto the street without a second thought, he owed her nothing.
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that.”
“If you think it, why not say it?” His voice was cold. “Anyhow, I suppose I am owed that for what I said to you.” He turned away to close down the fire. “I will get the sleigh.”
April watched him as he harnessed the horse and hitched the sle
igh. She could have done that while he was finishing up his jobs. She had called him inconsiderate, but that term could equally be levelled at her, she had sat and expected him to do the job, like some privileged lady. She was ashamed of herself.
***
Harley felt the cold in the sleigh which had little to do with the snow. He had done it again, opened his mouth and jumped in with both feet.
She had taken him by surprise. He had thought she was happy living with Ada. Certainly she was making a wonderful job of keeping house, the place looked better than it had for years.
Maybe she felt the housework was an imposition? Maybe she didn’t want to keep house for the woman who was, to all intents and purposes, his mother? But surely it was as good as any other job? Or was it too menial for her?
He had to face the fact that he didn’t know this woman. He liked her, but he didn’t know her and he didn’t understand her at all.
Conversation was sadly lacking for the entire journey.
When they arrived, April immediately took herself into the house to assist Melody with her wedding preparations. Harley had no idea what there was to prepare, but the women closeted themselves in the bedroom with Cody. He and Jasper went out to gather greenery to decorate for Christmas, as specified by Melody at breakfast.
For the rest of the day they were scrupulously polite to each other. It made Harley want to yell, and shake her, but he knew it would do no good, it would be confirmation of her opinion of him as a boor.
***
To everyone’s surprise, the sun, absent for several days, shone on the wedding.
It was not a surprise to April to see a great many of the town’s folk at the wedding service. She knew Jasper had thrown an open invitation. People were nosy. They wanted to see this woman who had arrived on the stagecoach to marry Mr. Kendrick, the woman he had been ‘hiding away for weeks’. She had overheard these words while in town. She found it exasperating that people could twist the truth so shamelessly. It was less than two weeks since she and Melody had stepped off that stage!