After the Prairie: A continuation of the lives of Michael London's Little House On The Prairie TV characters.

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Episode Seven: The Biggest Dream

Featured Characters: Charles and James

October 1890 – This episode takes places during the same time period as the previous episode, just focusing on different characters.

Charles Ingalls was exploring. It was after work and he decided to look at different stores in the area. He had just exited a store that sold hand-made furniture. Interestingly enough, the store manager told him that most of the lumber that was used to carve the furniture came from Hunter's Sawmill, where Charles worked.

The next store Charles visited sold instruments, including many fancy fiddles, or violins as the shopkeeper called them. Charles had no interest in getting a new fiddle; he was only curious about what the new ones looked like.

Charles left that store and turned a corner. Down the street he saw a construction site. He decided to get a closer look at what the men were building. As he neared the site a well-dressed man stepped in front of him.

"Good afternoon sir," said the man. "I noticed you coming this way. I must warn you that we don't allow people to get too close to the construction site, for safety reasons."

"Believe me, I understand," said Charles. He looked around the man at the site again. "It looks like that's going to be quite a nice building once it's finished," he said.

The man seemed more interested in Charles now. "Do you do construction work?"

"I do a little of a lot of things but I wouldn't consider myself a professional at construction, no" admitted Charles.

The man studied Charles. "You seem like you know enough to get around," he said. "What type of work do you do now?"

"I work at Hunter's Sawmill. You know transport, cutting, that kind of thing."

"Ah," said the man nodding. "Tell me how much do you get paid?"

"I'm sorry but my pay isn't something I discuss," said Charles politely.

"Fair enough," said the man. He took out a card from his pocket along with a pencil and wrote a figure on it. "This is the wage I pay my new employees," he said as he handed the card to Charles.

Charles glanced at it and raised his eyebrows.

The man smiled, seeing that Charles was impressed. "If you ever become interested in construction, send me a note."

Charles looked at the card again, and handed it back to the him. "Thank you," he said. "Your offer is very generous, but I'm happy where I'm working. See, it's not about the money for me. Mr. Hunter, the man I've been working for, is a fair man, and I make a good living."

The man nodded. "You're very loyal to this Mr. Hunter, aren't you?"

"Yes," said Charles frankly. "He's been good to me."

"I admire that," said the man. "If only all man had your loyalty Mr-?"

"Ingalls," said Charles. "Charles Ingalls."

"It's nice to meet you, Mr. Ingalls," said the man. "I'm Mitch Avot."

"Mr. Avot," said Charles shaking Mitch's hand.

"Well Mr. Ingalls," said Mitch, "I respect your loyalty to Mr. Hunter, but if you should ever need a job, I hope you keep me in mind." He held out the card to Charles again. Charles saw that Mitch wasn't going to take no for an answer, so Charles reluctantly accepted the card and stuck it in his wallet intending to throw it out later. "Thank you," said Charles. As Charles turned the other way, Mitch called out to him again. "Mr. Ingalls?"

"Yes?" asked Charles turning around.

"You did say Hunter's Sawmillcorrect?"

"Correct," Charles replied. Charles waved to Mitch. "Good day to you."

James sighed. He was in the Ingalls' sitting room with Caroline, Carrie, Cassandra, and Grace. The Ingalls women were pouring over a fashion catalogue.

"Oh look at this corset Ma," said Carrie pointing.

"That looks painful," announced Cassandra. "Why would anyone want to wear one?"

"A corset can be very helpful, Cassandra" said Caroline.

I'm glad I don't need one, Cassandra thought, but then silently scolded herself for the unkind thought.

"I'd wear one," declared Grace. The other women stared at the tomboyish girl. "If it means I can wear that dress," she said pointing.

Caroline examined the dress which had a very narrow waist, shown next to corset as an example. "Oh that is pretty," she said. "But you'll have to wait until you're older to wear long dresses, Grace."

Grace sighed. She was never old enough for anything.

"Ma," said James, who was sitting in Charles's chair. sounding bored. "When is Pa coming home?"

"I told you James," said Caroline looking up from the catalogue, "it will be soon. Your Pa wanted to look in some of shops. Besides," she said more gently noticing James's look "I think he just wanted some time for himself. He's been very busy lately."

"I know," James admitted sighing. As the Ingalls women continued looking at the catalogue James left the sitting room and went up the stairs. On his way up he heard the four women giggling and sighed again.

In his bedroom, James opened a drawer and took a picture of him and Albert. He took it out of the frame and read the back.

"To my little brother, James. I'll always be by your side, Albert."

James looked upward. "I sure wish you were with me right now, Albert" he said.

Everyone in the family thought that Albert's death had been hardest on Charles and Laura. But sixteen-year-old James never told anyone that Albert's death was very hard on him as well. Albert had helped James find his place in the Ingalls family. Now that Albert was gone, James was starting to feel out of place again.

James put the picture back the frame and placed it on his desk. Then he began his homework.

James was practically silent during the walk to school with his sisters and Jenny Wilder. Normally he walked with his friend Harold, but Harold had been out of school because of a (thankfully) mild case of measles.

When they got to school Jenny spotted Elmer Miles in the hallway.

"Hey look it's Elmer!" she cried and Carrie and Cassandra exchanged knowing looks.

Jenny waved at Elmer and walked towards him. Carrie started towards him as well but Cassandra hung back and looked at James.

"James, is everything all right? You've been kind of quiet all morning."

"Yeah sis," said James smiling. "I've just had a lot on my mind lately. I have a math test at the end of the week. You know how hard my teacher is."

"Okay," said Cassandra slowly. She glanced at Jenny, Elmer, and Carrie and turned back to James. "James, I love being a part of the Ingalls family, but you and I will always be Coopers, too. Please let me know if you want to talk."

"Thanks Cassandra," said James hugging his sister. "By the way, I also love being an Ingalls."

Cassandra smiled before she walked away.

Charles was measuring a plank of wood at the sawmill when he overheard O'Malley the foreman.

"Excuse me sir, but can I help you?"

"I'm here to see Mr. Hunter."

"All right," replied O'Malley, "but please don't walk through our work area."

"I'm sorry," the man replied. Charles looked up at this moment.

"Mr. Ingalls!" the man cried.

It took a moment for Charles to remember who the man was. It was Mitch Avot from the day before.

"Mr. Avot!" said Charles approaching and shaking the Mitch's hand. "What are you doing here?"

"Well," said Mitch. "This is a sawmill and I own a construction company. I'm here to talk to Mr. Hunter about purchasing some lumber. I figure I can get a better deal buying direct from the mill instead of a lumberyard."

Charles smiled. "I'm sure you will."

"Mr. Avot," said Jake Hunter. "Welcome."

The two shook hands and Mitch took a seat in Jake's office.

"I must admit I was surprised when I received your call requesting an appointment this morning. Luckily I had a cancellation," Jake said as he settled back into his seat.

"Well I know it's short notice," said Mitch crossing his legs "But I always say, act fast or lose faster."

"Hmm…" said Jake. "I like that. It's short and to the point. I assume you're here to discuss a lumber contract."

"Yes," replied Mitch. "I need more lumber for the buildings I'm constructing."

"All right," said Jake taking out some papers. "These are the standard figures for a lumber contract."

Mitch looked it over, and raised his eyebrows.

"This is rather steep isn't it?" he said.

Now it was Jake who raised his eyebrows. "Mr. Avot, you'll find that my prices are more than fair when you see the quality of lumber I provide."

"I pay less at a lumberyard. I thought it would be cheaper to be the buy the lumber wholesale!" Mitch exclaimed.

Jake was startled. "You say that you pay less at a lumberyard?" Jim asked. "No lumberyard I sell to would charge less for lumber than a mill. Folks pay extra for the convenience of having the yard near them. I charge wholesale, but I'm also outside the city."

"Mr. Hunter," said Mitch. "I assure you that yards I'm buying from charge less than you do."

"Then it's not quality lumber," said Jake frankly.

Mitch stood up suddenly. "I must say, Mr. Hunter, I take offense to your comment."

Jake sighed to himself. He often put his foot in his mouth. He stood up as well. "Look, Mr. Avot, I am only telling you the truth. I provide the best lumber in the state. If you speak with other contractors they'll confirm that."

"I think I have heard enough," said Mitch. "Good day, Mr. Hunter," with that he walked out, shutting the door behind him.

Charles stopped his work when he saw Mitch Avot walking briskly away from the office building.

"What's with him?" said O'Malley to no one in particular.

Charles looked at O'Malley. "I'll be right back," he said.

"Ingalls!" O'Malley exclaimed annoyed that Charles has stopped his work.

Charles approached Mitch, a look of concern on his face. "Mr. Avot? What's the matter?"

"Mr. Ingalls it's nothing you should worry about," Mitch protested.

"Why don't you tell me and let me decide." Charles knew he was being noisy, but he couldn't imagine what his boos could have done to upset Mr. Avot.

"The prices your boss charges for lumber, well they're outrageous. I'm able to get the lumber cheaper if I buy it retail."

"That doesn't make any sense," said Charles. "There must be a misunderstanding."

"There's no misunderstanding, Mr. Ingalls" Mitch continued. "Your boss seems to think that he can charge as much as he wants. He claims that he sells the best lumber in the state."

"Well, that's most likely true," said Charles. "Folks come a long way for his lumber."

"That may be," said Mitch "but it doesn't mean he should take advantage of that by charging high prices and keeping the extra profit. I'm just a humble man, Mr. Ingalls. I built my company from the ground up. These men who just get everything handed to them-"

"Now just a minute," said Charles holding up a hand. "Mr. Hunter had to work to get where he's at, too."

"Well he's forgotten where he came from," said Mitch bitterly.

"I think this is a misunderstanding," Charles repeated. "Later this afternoon, I'll have a talk with Mr. Hunter myself and clear things up."

"I would appreciate that, Mr. Ingalls," said Mitch. "After all you know your boss better than I do. Thank you," the two men shook hands.

"Mr. Cooper-Ingalls!"

James looked up from his math book and started at the teacher.

"Yes sir?" he asked.

"What is the answer to the problem on the board?"

James stared at the algebra problem for a while, and looked at the teacher guiltily. "I don't know sir," he admitted.

"Well if you had been paying attention in class, you would know. I just taught the class how to solve this type of problem."

"I'm sorry sir."

"Don't daydream in my class again. You are to do all the problems on page fifty-five in addition to your normal assignment. Do you understand?"

"Yes sir," James sighed. Some of the boy in the class smirked, while some of the girls giggled, but one girl looked at James sympathetically.

After class, James walked out in hallway. He went to meet his sisters and Jenny when the girl form his class approached him.

"That teacher's not very nice is he?" she said.

"Not to me," said James. "He only likes people who are good at math."

"Then I guess I don't have to worry," the girl mumbled to herself. James rolled his eyes. "I'm Jessica," the girl said changing the subject. She stuck out her hand.

James was a little surprised, since it wasn't customary for a woman extend her hand first, but he shook it anyway.

"I'm James," he replied.

"It's nice to meet you James," said Jessica smiling. She was a petite girl. Even with her heels she was barley taller than Cassandra, James thought. She wore her honey-brown hair in a bun at the back of her head. Her dress was pretty and made of a quality material, but practical.

James and Jessica continued walking, when they ran into Jenny, Carrie and Cassandra.

"Hi James," said Jenny.

"Oh, hi you guys," said James. "This is my, uh, friend Jessica."

The other the girls exchanged a knowing look. James blushed.

"Um, these are my sisters Carrie and Cassandra, and my cousin Jenny, well sort of."

"Actually I think I'm his niece," said Jenny laughing. "I live with his older sister who's my aunt."

"It's nice to meet you Jenny, you too Carrie and Cassandra." The other two greeted Jessica. Jessica looked at James expectantly.

"Well…" James began slowly. "I might be home a little later than normal."

"All right, James" said Carrie, deciding to help him. "We'll see you later, but before supper."

With that Carrie, Jenny, and Cassandra left.

"Charles, how is your family doing?"

It was after work and Charles was sitting in Jake Hunter's office.

"They're doing well, thank you" said Charles.

"And how is little Grace?"

"She's doing a lot better," said Charles. "She's made a friend, Matthew Simms."

"I'm glad to hear that," Jake replied. He had a special interest in Grace, because he had been the one to convince her not to run away from home. "So what can I for you?" Jake asked.

"I want to talk about Mr. Avot, who was in here is this morning."

"Oh yes," said Jake sighing. "He wanted a lumber contract. That didn't go very well."

"Well, I had met him the day before, and told him where I worked. I told him today that there must have been a misunderstanding. He says that you're charging more than some lumberyards."

Jake sighed. "I wonder if that is true," he mused.

"I don't see why he would lie about it," said Charles.

"But how can a lumberyard charge less than I do without losing their shirts?" said Jake more to himself than Charles.

"He says that you're operating at a higher profit," said Charles, without taking sides.

Jake opened a drawer. "Let me show you something Charles," said Jake. "These are the standard prices for a lumber contract."

Charles looked over the figures. "They are a little in the high side, compared to what I've seen" he said.

"Charles," said Jake frankly. "This isn't Minnesota. My running costs are higher than what you're probably used to."

"I know the cost of living is different, Mr. Hunter" said Charles. "But Avot says he is getting his lumber cheaper from somewhere."

"You must excuse me for saying this, Charles" said Jake "but if it's cheaper, I don't think it's up to the same standards as my lumber."

"What about the other mills in the state? Are they charging as much?"

"I charge a little more," said Jake. "But people are paying for the quality."

"Well the quality can't be that must better, to justify the price can it?" Charles shrugged simply trying to see things from both sides.

"Charles," said Jake. "If you compare my prices to the lumberyards, you'll find it's a good deal. And if you compare it to the other mills, you'll see it's not that much more. I am a modest man, Charles, but I know my lumber is quality and it to get that quality, my running costs have to be higher."

While he thought that Jake had a point about the running costs, Mitch Avot's words came back to him. "This is the wage I pay my new employees" Avot had said. The amount he had written on the card was nearly twice as much as Charles was making now. But Jake Hunter was a good man. "Well, I'm not sure what to think to be honest, but I'm sorry things didn't go well with Mr. Avot."

"Me too, Charles," said Jake.

"…and I'm still not sure what to think."

Charles was talking to Isaiah Edwards after work. The two men sat at a table in restaurant near the mill drinking coffee.

"Maybe this Avot fellow knows more about business than Mr. Hunter," Charles continued. "I mean, maybe he's figured out how to lower running costs, and pass that profit on to his men."

"Maybe," said Isaiah rubbing his beard. "But, no lumberyard I know of is charging less than Jake Hunter is."

"But Avot says that he's getting lumber cheaper. He must be getting it from a place that doesn't buy from Mr. Hunter," Charles said.

"That would explain why some yards are charging more," said Isaiah. "if Hunter's prices are the highest in the state, so the yards he's selling to have got to charge higher prices," said Almanzo.

Charles nodded when he suddenly remembered that he never took the card out of his wallet. "Look at this," he showed Isaiah the card Avot had given him.

"What's that?" Isaiah asked.

"That's how much Avot is paying his new employees," said Charles.

Isaiah whistled. "His new employees?"

"Yep," said Charles. "If he can afford to pay his men that much, he must have figured out how to run his business cheaper."

"They're not in the same business, Charles" said Isaiah.

"No, but you know as well as I do that the pay should be about the same," said Charles. "There has to be a reason Avot can afford to pay more."

"Now Charles," said Isaiah. "I know what you're thinking, but don't do anythin' rash. Hunter's a good man."

"He is a good man," Charles agreed. "but maybe Avot is the better man to work for."

Isaiah looked doubtful. "I think you really should think on this a spell."

Charles continued. "Now, I don't see the harm in having a talk with Avot. I'm going to head over there right now." Charles put down his change to pay for his coffee and left.

Isaiah hoped Charles knew what he was doing.

James and Jessica had been wandering around the city for nearly two hours. James was carrying Jessica's books and walking her home.

"This way," said Jessica as they turned a corner.

James looked at their surroundings confused. There were no houses in this area. "What are we doing here?"

"You'll see," said Jessica smiling.

They walked past some men and inside a small building. The receptionist waved them past. Jessica knocked and someone told her to come in to the back office.

"Hi uncle," she said. Another man sat in the chair across from her uncle.

The man in the other chair turned around.

"Pa?" said James in confusion.

Jessica looked amused. "Mr. Ingalls," she said extending her hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you, sir."

"Hello," said Charles smiling at the young woman and glancing at James. Charles raised an eyebrow.

"What are you doing here, Pa?" said James.

"He's talking to me, my boy" said Mitch Avot. "I see you've met my niece."

James blushed. "Uh…yeah. She's in my math class," said James. "It's a pleasure to meet you, sir."

Mitch nodded. "Well why don't you two go outside for a bit? I have some business to discuss with your Pa."

"So how are you going to tell Ma?" James said as he and Charles walked home.

"I don't know yet," Charles admitted. "But if I start working for Mr. Avot it could change our lives. We could have the big house again, and Grace would have a real bedroom."

"Pa," said James. "You know those things don't matter to us. I know you want to make things better for our family, but we're happy the way we are."

"I know money means a bunch of nothing if there's no love behind it," Charles agreed "but it's good to be able save in case of bad times. With this job I could save more."

"I guess you're right," James admitted. "Besides Mr. Avot seems like a nice man."

"You mean his niece seems like a nice young lady," Charles corrected grinning.

"I just don't know about this Charles," said Caroline later that night in their bedroom.

"Caroline, think what it could do for our family," said Charles.

"What my job as the Olesons' and your pay at Mr. Hunter's we make more than enough. Remember I even considered not working."

"All right," said Charles. "I know we don't need the money, but we could use it. That was always our problem in Walnut Grove. We never could put any money away for the hard times. We were able to do that in Burr Oak, but we went through a lot of our savings with Albert's medical bills and the move. This job will allow us to save more. Besides what if one of the girls wants to go teaching college like you did?"

"Or James," Caroline countered. "Men can be teachers, too."

Charles nodded sheepishly. "I know. Look, I won't be working any more than I do now. Mr. Avot assumed me that I'd do a normal hours.."

"But Mr. Hunter is a good man. And after what he did for Grace-"

"I will never forget what he did for Grace," Charles said. "But I'm not going to let my friendship with the man keep me from providing as well as I can for the family. Avot pays his men nearly twice as much-"

"That doesn't mean he's a better man to work for," advised Caroline.

"But Avot must be passing more of his profits on to his workers. I think this is the right decision Caroline, but I won't make it unless you approve."

"I appreciate that," said Caroline. "I want you to be happy Charles, and I also wants what's best for our family. We could have the life we had in Burr Oak. If you think things will be better working for Mr. Avot, then so be it. I just hope Mr. Hunter understands."

"I think he will, and I'm sure things will be better," said Charles smiling.

Caroline smiled back and they shared a lingering kiss before Charles turned out the light.

Charles turned in his resignation to Jake Hunter in person. The older man wished Charles well and told Charles there were no hard feelings, and that he's see Charles in church in Sundays.

Charles showed up for work at the construction site the next day. Mitch came out of his office to greet Charles personally. "Welcome Ingalls. Glad to have you on board. This is Taylor, your foreman. You'll be taking orders directly from him." said Mitch.

"Yes sir," said Charles. Mitch retreated back to his office.

"Okay Ingalls," said Taylor glancing at the retreating figure of his boss "You'll be cutting up some boards over here," he directed him.

Charles gave him a look. "I thought I was going to be doing some construction," said Charles. "You can buy chopped up lumber."

"We do that," said Taylor. "But then we cut it to our own specifications. Mr. Avot is very particular about that."

"All right," said Charles slowly. He got to work.

"How was your first day, Ingalls?" said Avot when Charles came into his office.

"To be honest, sir" said Charles "I thought I'd be working on some of the construction. I was just sawing boards today. I did that at Hunter's Sawmill, but it made sense at the mill. This is a construction site."

"Charles, you will get to do construction. But you're new here, and you have to work your way up to that. I always have my new men start with cutting up boards."

"Well see," said Charles. "I may be new to you, but I've been building things for a long time. I built three houses for my family, and helped my son-in-law build a fourth. I didn't take this job to start over," he said respectfully.

"Don't worry," said Mitch. "It's just my standard policy. It has nothing to do with your skills. Besides once you get your pay. I'm sure you'll want to do something nice for your family with it."

"That's true," said Charles. "I've been meaning to wallpaper my daughter's room."

"Oh I see, it makes a lot more sense now," said James as they looked at the math book.

It was nearly two weeks later. Jessica had been tutoring James in math. He had managed to get a 86 on his last exam, thanks in no small part of Jessica. They were going over the next lesson together after having enjoyed their lunch.

"Are you looking forward supper tonight?" Jessica asked.

"I'm nervous," he admitted.

"There's nothing to be nervous about," said Jessica. "It's just my uncle, not my father."

"You never talk about your Ma or Pa," said James. "Did they pass on?"

"No," said Jessica. She suddenly found staring at the grass very interesting. "It was nothing like that. I'm sorry that you had to lose your real parents," she said suddenly.

"I miss them," James admitted. "But in a way I'm lucky. Most kids only get two parents, I have four."

"You really are something James Cooper-Ingalls," said Jessica.

She reached out and squeezed his hand.

"Welcome James! Welcome!"

Mitch Avot greeted James that evening personally. Behind him stood a shy little boy.

"Who's this?" James asked.

"This," said Jessica pulling the boy out from behind Mitch. "Is my cousin Aaron. He's staying with us while his parents are out of town until next week." Jessica wore a lavender dining dress.

"And he has a big birthday coming up!" Mitch exclaimed. He looked at Jams. "I'm building him a tree house in my yard." He looks back at Aaron. "Tell James how old you will be, Aaron."

"Five," said the boy shying, holding up a hand.

"Five's a great age," said James kneeling down to Aaron's level. "You can start learning how to catch a ball!"

Aaron grinned at James. A few minutes later a maid came from the dining room.

"Supper is served," she said.

After supper, James and Jessica went outside to the yard and took a walk.

"I like your Uncle's house," said James. "It's big, but in a cozy way."

"Yeah," Jessica agreed. She stopped a moment later. "I've been doing a lot of thinking, James" she said

"About what?" James asked.

Jessica sighed. "The reason I left my parents, came to live with my uncle, and went to public school is because my parents wanted me to behave a certain way. I mean I'm sixteen. That makes me a grown woman," she said defiantly. "I know you're supposed to honor your parents, but you don't know my parents James."

"Yeah you are supposed to honor them," agreed James. "But they have to honor you, too. They can't run your life for you," he said.

"They wouldn't approve of you," said Jessica. "Even though you have the most loving family I've ever seen, they wouldn't approve."

"Does your uncle like me?" James asked.

"Yes he does," she grinned. "He likes you a lot. He's not like my parents, even if my father is his brother."

"Siblings aren't always alike," said James. "My sisters Carrie and Cassandra are different."

Jessica nodded. "Uncle Mitchell likes your father a lot, too. He says he's very loyal."

They looked at the autumn sky then and how it changed colors as the sun was beginning to set.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Jessica asked.

"Yeah," said James slowly. They a brief, but gentle kiss before holding hands and watched the sunset.

"Pa!" Grace squealed. "I love it! Thank you!" She hugged Charles happily.

Grace finally had wallpaper on her tiny bedroom that had once been a storage closet. With the window and wallpaper, Grace's little room looked like it had always been meant to a a bedroom.

"Glad you do, darlin'" said Charles. "Now comes downstairs. "I have a surprise for all of you."

Downstairs the Ingalls clan gathered in the living room.

"Well," Charles began. "As you know, I've been putting most of our extra money away in savings. But I wanted to get Grace her wallpaper, and now I'm going to let everyone buy one new outfit. A store-brought outfit, for every day."

Due to their better financial situation in Burr Oak, the Ingalls had store-brought clothes for Sundays and special occasions. Caroline still sewed their clothing for everyday use, though the clothes they wore every day now looked more like the Sunday clothes they had once worn in Walnut Grove.

"We've never had store-bought outfits for school," said Cassandra.

"Well you each only get one," said Charles. "After all, your Ma's sewing can't be beat."

Caroline smiled. "Thank you Charles."

"I like the clothes Ma makes us," said Carrie "because of all the work she puts into them. But it's fun to have both I guess," she smiled though in the back of her mind she wondered if Pa was getting carried away.

"We'll go shopping on Saturday," said Charles.

The next Monday, Carrie, Cassandra, James, Jenny and Elmer Miles ran into Nancy in the hallway at after school. Nancy looked at the three Ingalls siblings wearing their store-brought school clothes and nodded her approval.

"It's about time you had some decent clothes for school," she began. "Too bad you can't look as good Jenny," she said.

"I look good on the inside," said Jenny. "Sometime you would know nothing about," she finished.

Nancy glowered at them as Jessica Avot approached.

"Hi Jessica!" said Nancy cheerfully.

"Hello Nancy," said Jessica with a tight face. Jessica had met Nancy at the Olesons' restaurant the week before, and found Nancy to be as unpleasant as everyone else did.

"Why don't you come over to my place this afternoon?" Nancy said. "Mother has some new lace curtains all the way from Paris."

"No thank you," said Jessica. "James and I have something to do."

Nancy stepped in front of Jessica looking down at the shorter girl. "You should be friends with me Jessica, because we're both rich."

Jessica sidestepped Nancy. "First of all," said Jessica meeting Nancy's eye, "not that it matters to me, but you're not rich. And second, I would never be friends with the likes of you."

Cassandra giggled, James and Jenny exchanged smirks and Carrie tried her best not to smile. Elmer just shook his head at Nancy who walked off in a huff.

"Ugh," said Jessica. "I don't know how you all put up with her," she said.

"We kind of have to," said Jenny. "Aunt Caroline works with her parents."

"Well Jessica and I will see you guys later," said James.

"Bye," said Jenny, Carrie, and Cassandra in a sing-song voice waving. Cassandra made kissy faces at James.

Elmer looked at the three girls and laughed. "Poor James. I feel sorry for him having to deal with the three of you."

"I'm just looking out for my big brother," said Cassandra innocently.

Elmer shook his head. "Anyway. I was wondering if you three would like to go to Thompson's bookshop with me. There's some new stuff our English teacher recommended I read."

Carrie and Cassandra exchanged looks. "Ma's working extra tonight. Cassandra and I have to get home and start supper."

"We do?" Cassandra asked confused. "Oh right." She nodded after Carrie gave her a pointed look. The two scurried off.

"Shall we?" said Elmer to Jenny and the two walked off.

"Aaron's really excited about his birthday party," said Jessica to James as they walked after school.

"That's great," said James. They came to a corner. "Well I better head straight home," said James. "Gotta study math."

"All right," said Jessica. "Good bye, James" she said smiling. "See you at the birthday party tonight."

Charles had been working for Mitch Avot for more than three weeks and was getting frustrated. He still wasn't doing any construction work. At least at Hunters Sawmill, he had done a variety of jobs and felt like he was getting a challenge. He couldn't understand why he was getting paid almost twice as much to do half the work. He decided to have a frank talk with Mitchell Avot.

The time came when everyone was leaving work, but Charles stayed behind. Some of the men were giving him funny looks as they left.

Taylor, the foreman, walked into the yard and was startled to see Charles still there.

"Ingalls?" he said. "What are you still doing here?"

"Just thought I'd have a talk with Mr. Avot," he said.

"He's very impressed with you," said Taylor.

Charles looked at Taylor in the eye. "Then why haven't I moved on to construction? All I've been doing since I stared is sawing boards."

"We all have to start somewhere," said Taylor blandly. "Besides think of it this way: you're getting paid a bundle to do the work any ten year boy handy with a saw can do!" Taylor left out a loud guffaw, but Charles wasn't laughing.

"I like to know I'm earning the pay I'm getting," said Charles solemnly.

"Take it easy Ingalls!" said Taylor who was coughing between laughs. He began wheezing.

"You alright?" Charles asked.

"Just… my asthma," said Taylor.

"I better get you to the doctor," said Charles.

"No!" Taylor insisted between wheezes. "I have a pickup!" But Taylor weakened by his asthma attack, didn't resist when Charles walked him to the wagon and took him to the nearest hospital.

"Ingalls," said Taylor before he was taken in for medical care "Just return the wagon to the construction yard. Don't tell Avot about this."

But Charles had other ideas on his mind. After he left the hospital, he decided to do the pickup himself. After all, he'd be doing Taylor a favor, and then maybe Avot would see the he could do more.

Charles looked at the invoice Taylor left on the wagon seat and directed the horses towards the address. He found himself heading down some narrow streets. "This can't be right," he said to himself, but at the end of the next street, he found a sign that said "Phelps Lumber Factory".

He knocked on the larger door, and a tall man with broad shoulders opened the door. "Who are you?" the man demanded.

"I'm here from Avot's Construction," replied Charles.

"No," said the man shaking his head. "You don't look like one of their men."

"I'm here for Taylor," said Charles holding up the invoice.

"Oh well then you must be all right," the man decided after looking the invoice over. "Besides I know Avot is expecting this lumber today."

"Yep," Charles nodded as if in agreement.

"Drive the wagon up near the loading door," said the man. Charles hopped back in the wagon and drove it closer. The man called inside and soon several man began loading up the wagon with lumber and boxes of nails. After they were done, Charles looked back at the lumber, stared at it, and quickly hopped off the wagon. He inspected the lumber.

What Charles found was lumber with holes and termite and water damage. He lifted one board and found it to be flimsy.

"What is this?" Charles demanded. "This is scrap lumber!"

"Well it ain't from Hunter's Sawmill, that's for sure!" the man laughed. "But it's exactly what Avot ordered."

Charles looked at the man, the man was bigger than Charles. Charles considered taking the man on, but a better idea presented himself. He hopped back on the wagon.

"You'll be hearing from Mr. Avot, I'm sure," Charles said angrily before riding off.

"Charles, what you doing here so late?" said Mitch Avot in his office chair.

"I need to show you something, Mr. Avot," said Charles as they walked outside. "You see I did the pickup for Taylor and-"

"You did the pickup?" said Mitch sternly.

"Taylor was having some trouble breathing so I took him to the nearest hospital. I thought I'd do him a favor."

"You're not authorized for pickup, Ingalls" said Mitch more angry this time.

Charles looked taken aback. "Well I'm sorry, but I thought I'd be doing you a favor."

Mitch's face immediately softened. "I guess you're right, Charles," he said. "Now what did you want to show me?"

Charles took Mitch the wagon loaded with the bad lumber. "This, Mr. Avot," Charles explained. "This 'Phelps Lumber Factory' is trying to cheat you on the lumber." Charles picked up water-damaged board and showed it to Avot.

Avot took the board, studied it carefully and smiled. "This looks like it could be used for something."

"I wouldn't even use that piece as kindling for a fire," said Charles.

Avot sighed to himself. "All right Charles," he said. "It's a little early, but you've proven your loyalty. I'm going to let you in on the family secret." He laughed at his own joke.

Mitch motioned for Charles to follow him to where a building was being erected. "Take a good look at the frame Charles," said Mitch.

Charles looked at the frame on the building and saw weak spots everywhere. He touched a board, and was startled to discover that it wasn't nailed in a sturdily as he would like.

"You can't build a frame this way," said Charles in shock. "The entire building will start wearing out years before it should."

Mitch laughed. "I can Charles, and I will. As for the building I use just enough of the good material to make it look good and to keep it standing. If it falls apart in a couple of years, that's not my problem."

Charles realized something then. "That's why you haven't put me on construction yet. All I've been doing since I started is sawing the 'good' materials."

"That's right," said Mitch. "You don't think I'd let my new men in on the secret without them proving their loyalty do you?"

"You can't allow this building to be completed like this," said Charles putting his hand on part of the frame. "No inspector would ever-"

Mitch laughed heartily. "Inspector? Charles the inspector's never come around here. I made sure of that."

"So, you bought people off?" said Charles angrily.

"I bought you off," Mitch pointed out. "You left your old job because I offered you more money." Charles face fell as he realized Mitch was right. Mitch continued. "How do you think I can afford to pay so much? I have to take shortcuts somewhere."

Charles put his shame aside for a moment. "You can't take shortcuts when it means cheating decent people," said Charles evenly. "I feel sorry for whoever had this built."

"Don't," said Mitch. "All after, it wasn't you!"

Charles walked closer to Mitch and grabbed him by the collar.

"You're going to stop what you're doing, or I'm going to the authorities."

Mitch shoved Charles's hands off his collar. "Just try that Ingalls," he said squarely. "I'll make sure you're buried along with me. Do you think they'll really believe you weren't in on it from the beginning? Besides you wouldn't want to disappoint your family, they're becoming accustomed to their new lifestyle. I hear little Grace loves her wallpaper."

Charles grabbed him by the collar again.

"Think of all the men you'll be hurting," said Mitch holding up a hand. "If I go out of business a lot of men lose their jobs. Decent men, like you."

Charles let go of him angrily. "No decent man would build a building like this,"

"A lot of decent men would do anything for money," said Mitch. "Besides, they know the consequences if they don't. Think about your youngest child Grace, growing up without her father while you rot in prison!"

Charles threw Mitch Avot a blow to the face for that comment, saw that he had knocked Mitch out, turned around, and left in disgust.

"Come on Aaron, let's go outside."

James, Jessica, her cousin Aaron, Aaron's parents and some other children were in the backyard of Mitch Avot's house for the Aaron's fifth birthday party. It was just about five-thirty in the afternoon.

"I wonder where my uncle is," said Jessica.

"He probably had to work late," said James.

"You're right," Jessica agreed. She then noticed her little cousin was reluctant to go into his tree house. His birthday guests looked impatient.

"Hey," she said kneeling down to his level. "As the birthday boy, you should be the first one in the tree house."

"No," said Aaron shaking his head.

"Come on, honey" said Aaron's mother.

"Yeah," said Aaron's father. "Your uncle had this tree house built just for you."

Jessica winked at Aaron's parents, coming up with an idea. "Even though you should be first, I'll try it for you."

James smiled at Jessica as she climbed up the ladder. The tree house and the ladder had been painted white.

"It's really nice inside," said Jessica. She poked her head out the door. "Come on up Aaron."

Aaron still was shaking his head no, as some of the boys he invited encouraged him to try. Jessica said. "Well that I guess I've have to come down and get you, then." She was grinning. James smiled at her affection for her cousin.

"Boy, it sure would be fun for a little boy to run around in here," she said loudly. Aaron's parents exchanged smiles as Jessica began jumping and running around eagerly. Suddenly James heard a creak and saw some boards starting to crack.

"Jessica!" James exclaimed.

Jessica screamed as she fell through the bottom of the tree house and to the ground.

"Jessica!" James exclaimed running to her. Aaron and some of the other little boys started to cry.

"I need a doctor," said Jessica who was laying on her side.

Jessica was taken to the nearest hospital, and her Uncle Mitch, who had woken up from being knocked out by Charles, came to visit her. Unfortunately for Mitch, he was arrested right there in the hospital. For Charles there had been no question of what he had to do. Charles had gone to the authorities and reported on Mitch's shady construction practices immediately. They admitted to Charles that they had already been investing Mr. Avot themselves, but until now none of his employees had come forward. After Charles's tip, they were able to gather evidence that Mitch purchased and used rotted lumber in his construction projects, and covered the frameworks and the foundations with good materials to hide the fact from those who purchased the buildings. They also discovered that he had bribed a city official not to send any inspectors his way. In short, Mitch was far more conniving than anyone had imagined. As for the tree house, also made from bad lumber, he had became careless and didn't take into account that the smaller structure would have more pressure on it, and collapse easier.

As for Charles's involvement, Foreman Taylor verified that Charles knew nothing about the shady practices until the confrontation with Mitch, so no charges were filed against Charles, or the other men who had no knowledge of Avot's practices. The same, however, couldn't be said for the men who knowingly constructed buildings with the inferior materials and deceived the people who owned the buildings.

As for Jessica, she was now staying with Aaron and his parents. James went to pay her a visit two days later.

"Hi Jessica," said James shyly when he was admitted into the sitting room.

"James," she said quietly. Her left arm was in a sling and there was a bandage on her cheek on the same side, but any other injuries she had were not visible.

"I'm glad you're out the hospital," said James.

"Me too," she said weakly.

"So when will you be back in school?" James asked.

"James," said Jessica looking down. "I'm not returning to school. In fact I'm returning home to my parents."

"But I thought you hated it there," said James. "You said yourself that you didn't want your parents to control your life."

"Maybe I should," said Jessica dejectedly. "Look want not having their control has gotten me. I thought Uncle Mitchell was a good man."

"So did my Pa," James pointed out. "And he has a lot more life experience."

Jessica shook her head. "It doesn't matter, I'm going home."

"You can't Jessica! Please, you have to know that I-"

"James," she continued. "I haven't been honest with you. There's someone else."

"What?" James cried.

"Well, see there is this man. He just graduated from college last year. He has a good job and my parents want me to marry him. I told him I couldn't accept his ring, yet, but now I'm going to. He'll be good to me."

"Yet?!" James exclaimed. "You should have told me you were engaged!" James cried. "If I knew I never would have-"

"James, I told you," said Jessica looked down at the rug. "I didn't accept his ring-"

"Yet," he re-emphasized. "But you told him you'd think about it didn't you? Did you even mean to have something with me? Or where you just spending time with me until you made up your mind?"

"I do like you, James-" Jessica began.

"-but did you ever mean for us to have something? Or did you just to wait a little longer before you got engaged?" James pressed.

Jessica couldn't look at him.

"I guess I have my answer," said James. "Goodbye, Jessica. I hope you will be happy. I really do." he said taking his leave of her.

That Friday evening, Charles was busy drinking coffee at restaurant alone. He was circling job listings in the newspaper.

"May I sit here?" said a voice.

Charles looked up to see Jake Hunter.

"Mr. Hunter," said Charles taken aback.

Jake sat down. "I heard about everything that happened," said Jake. "That Mitchell Avot is a piece of work."

"That he is," said Charles. "I just can't believe I couldn't see it."

"I did a little investigating of my own," said Jake. "It turns out that this Avot fellow recruits all his employees himself, he looks for men that are very loyal to their bosses and lures them away with higher pay."

"Like I was loyal to you," said Charles.

"He picked that fight with me," said Jake. "He knew perfectly well that my prices were fair."

"And I knew it too," admitted Charles. "I should have known that lumber had to be inferior."

"Even I believed that he must have found an honest way to cut costs. We all get caught up in something at one time or another," said Jake.

"Yes," said Charles. "And once again I got caught up in making more money. Once again I disappointed my family."

"Charles," said Jake. "They're aren't disappointed in you. They are happy with things as they always have been."

Charles looked at Jake again.

"See Charles, we all have our lots in life. Your lot wasn't to be a wealthy man, but to have a strong family. Most families love each other, but your family has a strength that most will never have."

Charles nodded.

"I know it's always been your dream to make it big in order to help your family, but you already have. Panning for gold, inheritances, designing tables: none of it will bring you true happiness. You already have what matters."

"That I do," said Charles.

"Then let go of this dream of being rich. It happened for me, but it's not meant for everyone. To tell the truth, I rather have a family like yours than all the money in the world."

"Thank you," said Charles.

"And there are two other things," said Jake. "First, I expect to see you back at the mill on Monday."

Charles couldn't believe it. "You mean it?" he said.

"Yes I do," said Jake. "Secondly, on the job you do have to call me Mr. Hunter like everyone else, but outside of that and as my friend I'd prefer it if you call me Jake."

"Sure thing, Jake" said Charles.

The two men shook hands and enjoyed some coffee together.

Charles went home that evening and told Carline what happened between him and Jake Hunter. Then he said that he needed to have a talk with the entire family.

"That sounds good," said Caroline. "But first you need to go upstairs and talk to James. He's really feeling down, and Cassandra and I finally got something out of him. I think he's ready to talk."

"All right," said Charles. "What's going on?"

Caroline told him everything she knew about Jessica Avot.

In his bedroom, James sat quietly at his desk.

"Son," said Charles entering his room. "Your Ma told me what happened."

"How could Jessica do it Pa?" James asked. "We were becoming so close, but it was all just a game to her."

"Maybe it wasn't," said Charles. "Maybe she really would have ended things with that other man for sure if she knew she had something special with you."

"But Pa," said James. "You should have heard her. You should have seen her. She said that that other man would be good to her. She didn't even sound like she loved him, but that she was just glad that he would treat her well."

"Well, that's not for us to judge, if she loves him or not" said Charles.

"I guess not," said James. "But I wish I had known she was considering someone else so seriously."

Charles sighed. "She's young and she made some mistakes. You're both young." He remembered John Sanderson Jr., who had broken Mary's heart when he fell in love with someone else and lied about it. "Sometimes young people do things they shouldn't, when it comes to love, because they think they are protecting someone by lying, In reality they are hurting that person even more."

"I should have known not to carried away," said James. "That's how puppy love is. It happens so fast, but when you take time to really look at it, it's not always as great as it seems."

"I should have known, too" said Charles. "Mr. Avot's job offer wasn't what it seemed either."

"Yeah," said James.

"It's an important lesson," said Charles. "We've got to take risks in this life," he said "but we still need to keep our heads. If something sounds too good to be true, then it is. Everything good in life requires hard work. That's what makes it so good."

"Yeah," James agreed. He looked at his father. "That Mr. Avot thought he could scare you into keeping quiet. He sure was wrong."

"That he was," said Charles. "But I sure did let him take me for a ride." He paused for a bit and patted James on the shoulder. "Come on, we're going to have a family meeting. I have something to say to all of you."

"Well," said Charles as everyone gathered in the sitting room. "You all know by now, what went on with Mitchell Avot. I'm very grateful to Mr. Hunter that he gave me my old job back."

"We are too, Pa" said Carrie. "He's such a fine man. That brings us to something else," she said exchanging a look with her siblings. "We can't keep those new clothes you bought for us, knowing where the money came from."

"It was dirty money," Charles agreed. "But I hate to make you give them back. I'll find some way to-"

"Charles," Caroline interrupted him. "Pride goeth before destruc-"

"All right, all right," he said holding his hands up. "You're right. Besides that, money I put into savings from that job, is going to the law, to gave back as much as possible to the people Avot cheated. I'll donate those clothes to the church Christmas Barrel fund."

"Thanks Pa," said the children.

"But there is one thing," he said looking at Grace. "That wallpaper stays, young lady. After all, we may not be rich, but we're not too bad off either. I'll donate the cost of the wallpaper to the fund as well."

"Are you sure, Pa?" Grace asked.

"Yeah darling," he said. He opened his arms and Grace came to sit in his knee. "We all know how important that was to you, to have your room finished."

"Thank you, Pa" said Grace hugging him.

"And now," Charles began, "there's something more I need to say." Grace sat up straighter on his knee and the others looked at him expectantly.

"This family has been through some hard times with money, but over the last few years in Burr Oak especially, things have been better for us. But even though I knew this family wasn't going to starve, I still wanted more."

"Pa-" Cassandra began.

"Let me finish," said Charles. "James, Grace, Cassandra," he said. "You three haven't been with the family as long as Carrie has. Carrie you remember Gold Country, and when we thought we'd be getting a lot of money from my uncle. I got carried away."

"Pa-" Carrie began.

"Is anyone around here going to let me finish?" said Charles laughing. "And then those tables. Sure, I wanted to have my name on something, to be remembered, but I also liked having the money I was making from them. When that didn't work out, thank the good Lord Caroline helped remind me what was really important." His wife smiled at him.

"So what I'm trying to say," said Charles. "If no one will interrupt me, that from this moment forward, I promise no more chasing ideas to make it big, or spending money I think some rich uncle is giving me. I'm done. I've got everything I need right here."

As the other children surrounded Charles, Caroline looked at him in her quiet way. She had always supported Charles in his efforts to make money for the family, but she felt a sigh of relief she hadn't realized she had been holding in all these years.

That night Charles sat in the sitting room alone smoking his pipe and thinking over the events of the last month. He remembered Jake Hunter's parting words to him earlier that day.

Remember Charles, you've already achieved the biggest dream a man could have—to love, be loved, and be shown that love every day of your life.

Charles had to agree.

Stay tuned for episode 8