Disclaimer: All recognizable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. All original characters and plot are the property of the author. No copyright infringement is intended.
The trees that still had some straggling leaves left had suffered in the the heavy snow storm. Branches piled with snow had been torn from their boughs and trunk, falling in the roadways and onto roofs. The temperature had stayed low and puffs of white exhalation came from the two men who worked to remove a larger limb that had fallen on a fence line.
Charles Ingalls had a hand saw that he used to trim at the smaller branches one by one. Isaiah chopped at the hefty main limb with his hatchet, half humming half singing to himself.
"Hmmmm, washed his face….hmmm, with a wagon….dum dum dum, Old Dan Tucker just stands there look'n…"
With a shake of his head, Charles chuckled at his friend. As often as he had heard that song it had never gotten old. Neither had their friendship that had weathered so much over the years.
There were several branches that had fallen on the Ingalls' corral fence and it was going to be a long morning in the snow cleaning up all of the debris.
Isaiah gave the wood an angry chop, leaving the hatchet in its bark and paused, shaking out his arm.
"What I wanna know is where that kid of yours is...James? He 'ought to be out here in the snow doing this instead of us!" The tall gruff man complained.
With a straight face Charles looked up at him, "Gett'n tired a little easy Edwards?"
"Who you call'n tired Grandpa!" Barked Isaiah grabbing the hatchet and hacking at the branch with vigor. "Just wanted to get a jump on the ice fishing out there in the lake. Hear tell the fish are just lining up wait'n for a hole to be cut so's they can jump out into your lap."
Charles pulled at a few of the sticks, tossing them into a pile that would be used for kindling.
"He's out working a job in Sun Canyon."
"What about Albert?" Edwards asked.
"Albert? He's too busy to come out and clear branches." Laughed Charles.
"No no, I mean for fish'n! We should all go out there sometime. I'll bring the coffee and you bring Caroline's gingersnaps! Heh Heh!" Winked the bearded man.
Charles laughed along with him. "I don't think Albert would make it. He's just so busy with the doctoring. Even in the evenings. I haven't seen him much."
As he ended his smile had faded.
"You know Isaiah, I spent a lot of time with Albert before he went to medical school. Now, it's like he never came back." Charles tried to speak without the tugging sentiments in his voice.
Isaiah of course caught it. He knew his friend almost better than he knew himself.
"Well you know these young folks, they get going and it's all they can do to keep their feet on the ground. He'll settle in you'll see." He assured Ingalls in his natural, jolly way.
Flashing a thankful smile, Charles nodded, "I'm sure you're right. Besides I'm busy enough just trying to run this town and keep up with work. You know I've been trying to figure out this city hall thing for a while but I can't seem to get anywhere with the owner of the Nocturne to buy the building."
Isaiah had finally made it through the width of the limb and was tossing it behind him to the little hand sled they would use to transport the wood.
"Well have you asked Willie about that?" Asked Isaiah easily.
Charles stopped his sawing and turned to his friend, "Willie Oleson?"
"Right. Well he's in charge over there isn't he? I haven't been in there myself, a little too hoidy toidy for my taste. I reckon the stuff they've got in there couldn't raise the hair on a kitten…" Rambled Edwards until Charles interrupted him.
"How do you know that?"
"Well you know that funny french stuff...they squish the juice out of the grapes with their toes and what not...it's bound to take the bite out of…"
"No Isaiah, I mean how do you know Willie is in charge over there?" Charles tried not to sound impatient.
Shrugging Edwards stretched his back. "Oh that. Well I was at the 'Wooden Nickel' 'cross the street there...catch'n up with some old friends, and heard a feller in there saying Willie Oleson had fired him from the Nocturne couple some days ago. Course, Willie being a close acquaintance I was curious because he'd never said nothing about the place. So's I asked the feller if he meant Oleson from the Mercantile and he said it were the very one same as shoot'n. I bet he'd be happy to deal with ya Charles. Ya just gotta know people."
Isaiah continued to work for a moment until he noticed Charles just staring at the ground. "What's the matter?"
Shaking his head, Charles brought himself back from more the disappointment than the shock.
"Nothing. Let's get this finished."
Charles had been hoping it was a different Oleson. But he had begun to realise a while ago it wasn't likely. He just didn't understand why the charade of working as a handyman and blacksmith and keeping his ownership of the saloon a secret. Of course it might be because it was disgraceful and would upset the man's mother to no end. Charles had learned to respect Willie over the last little while when he came back from Chicago without a practicing certificate at the same time Albert had graduated. It seemed like Willie had become a hard working, humble person despite his contradictory childhood. But now, the past had returned and some people could never change. Willie didn't even have the decency to speak to him from a business relationship standpoint. Charles didn't like to be duped.
One thing for sure, Willie Oleson would never see Carrie again.
"Willie!" His mother's voice rang sharply up the stairs as he scrubbed at his hands without much luck. The soot always seemed to cling tighter in the cold weather. He could still see his black eye through the dirt on his face in the dresser mirror even though it was beginning to fade.
"Willie!" She would continue until he answered back.
"Yes Ma?" He kept at his fingernails that were encrusted with grit.
"Hurry up! Get dressed! We've got company for dinner!" He didn't like the sound of her excited voice. It would be someone like the snooty lady from the lady's society or someone his mother wanted a favor from.
"I'm pretty tired, I might just go to sleep." He made his excuses.
The thumping of her heeled boots signaled her approach and his door flew open.
"Ma! Knock first for crying out loud!" He had his shirt off.
"I'm your mother."
"Exactly. And I'm twenty-three years old. You've got to respect my space if I'm staying here."
With a huff, she closed the door again but spoke through it to him.
"You have to come down young man. And wear a decent shirt!"
He had wanted to move out long ago when he got back from school but when his father died he stayed. Stayed so she wouldn't be alone.
He spent more time cleaning up then put on a clean shirt and pulled on his suspenders and walked out of his room.
Pausing in front of his mother's room, he took the door knob in hand and went into the dark. He lit a lamp quickly and moved over to the dresser that his mother kept all their legal documents in. He picked at the different stacks his mother had horded but kept in meticulous order. He was looking for Elise's deed. She said his mother had told her that all their land had been sold. But that didn't mean anything, his mother told the truth when it was convenient for her. It could be here, it could be anywhere. He looked for a while until he heard the door downstairs close.
Grunting he stood back up and left the room as soon as he extinguished the lamp.
He jogged down the stairs right when his mother swung around the corner to call him and she jumped.
"Come on." She hissed at him, adjusting his hair disapprovingly.
She was particular tonight he noticed as he followed her into the front room of their house. Sitting in a straight backed chair was Cassandra Ingalls.
Willie's surprise only phased him for a moment then he looked to his mother, having some suspicion to her intentions.
At this point he couldn't leave but he scowled at Harriet who just smiled sweetly.
"I invited Nancy to come too but she said she had a previous engagement at the Noctons tonight. Not sure I've met them yet." Mrs. Oleson shrugged.
Willie rolled his eyes.
Cassandra smiled at her. "Thank you for inviting me over Mrs. Oleson, I've only been in here once I think."
"What? That's impossible! Surely you've been over for dinner before? You and Nancy are such good friends!" She over dramatized her unbelief.
"Ma, could I talk to you?" Willie said evenly.
"Certainly darling. Be right back Cassandra. I'll just check the rolls!" She said to the girl and scooted towards the kitchen.
Willie closed the door of the kitchen and folded his arms over his chest. "Ma…"
"Don't you 'Ma' me. You be polite. I've gone to all this trouble to make a proper dinner." She snipped as she dished up the green beans into a porcelain bowl.
"This better not be involving me. I told you I'm not interested." He affirmed sternly.
"How do you even know Willie? She's a sweet girl and much less snippity than that Carrie."
Sighing begrudgingly he leaned his head back against the wall.
"Now look Willie, just do this one dinner for me, if you still feel the same way after, I won't meddle anymore." She shoved the dish into his hands and shooed at him again.
Setting his jaw he went back out to the dining room, setting the beans down on the elaborately set table.
Cassandra was still sitting cordially in the parlor but looking into the dining room curiously.
"Hello Willie." She said.
"Hi Cassandra." He responded with a nod. He could make it through a dinner. It wasn't Cassandra that filled him with dread. She was sweet and nice. It was his mother pressing him and he never knew what she would say or do.
"James says you two have been building a house." She stood up and stepped over to the table.
"Um, yeah, us and the owner." He rubbed at his eye subconsciously.
"Oh yes, what happened to your eye?" Cassandra asked curiously.
Willie averted his eyes to the kitchen door, wondering when his mother would bother to join them. "Darndest thing, I dropped my hammer on it."
He had told so many different tales about his eye he couldn't remember which one to chase. Now he just confessed to whatever came to mind.
Sympathetically she flinched.
"Yeah, dumb right?" He said and looked down at the table realizing that there was one place set on the other side and two on the side where he stood. Pulling a chair out he smiled at the Ingalls girl.
"No not at all. I remember when I was little I was holding one of Ma's heavy pots that she had polished to a shine and looking in it like a mirror while I was laying on the floor. Well I dropped one side handle and it fell into my face, knocked a tooth out too." Cassandra gushed as she walked around and obliged his gentlemanly gesture to sit down.
He then scooted her in and walked around the table to the other chair. About to sit, his mother backed out from the kitchen with a plate of carved roast and a bowl of rolls in her hands.
"Uh uh uh Willie, I think I'd like to sit there, so I can see into the kitchen to watch the gravy." She explained.
Of course the door was closed, she couldn't see anything in the kitchen. With a sigh his stood up and waited for his mother to come sit then pushed her chair in a little sharply. She glared at him when he settled in the seat beside Cassandra.
Cassandra smelled the emitting scents in front of her and said, "Ma'am this looks just delicious!"
With her little giggle Mrs. Oleson graciously accepted the compliment with a knowing nod. "Thank you dear. Willie, would you offer grace?"
He nodded and said the prayer. He was actually very hungry but waited until the women had been served then loaded up his plate. Something he hadn't done in a while and after all, he didn't know when his mother would bother to cook like this again.
The women chit-chatted as he was about to take his first bit and Harriet frowned, "Oh Willie, could you go stir that gravy? I think it's burning."
He looked at his plate longingly but got up and circled all the way around the table to walk through the kitchen door.
When her son had left, Harriet swallowed her bite and leaned forward to speak hushedly to the girl across from her. "Thank you for coming for dinner with us my dear. You know Willie's been asking for me to invite you over for ages. He was just crushed when you left for Mankato."
Cassandra's fork was in mid-air and came to a halt as Mrs. Oleson spoke.
"What?" She asked in confusion.
Never in all her years of knowing Willie Oleson had he even so much as spoken to her accept to give her a shared greeting with James or apologize for bumping into her when playing rough in the school yard.
Nodding, Harriet hissed even more quietly, "Oh yes, he sets a lot of store by you my dear."
Willie walked back through the door. "Gravy wasn't even on the stove Ma. But I took out the pie, it's a little burnt around the edges."
Harriet bubbled an embarrassed laugh. Cassandra looked from her to Willie mindfully. He hurried back around and sat again. His stomach rumbled loud enough for everyone to hear.
"Willie!" His mother tisked at him as if he could help it.
Putting his napkin in his lap haphazardly he took up his fork and knife and started to cut his meat hastily.
Cassandra put her bite in her mouth, now setting a little rigidly, looking sidelong at the man next to her.
Harriet's eyes flickered between them, "Willie just got a new haircut! Doesn't he look just handsome? I mean besides that eye, if he wouldn't have walked into that silly post... "
Willie flashed his mother a warning look as he chewed then managed a guilty smile at Cassandra. He swallowed his bite as well as the contradiction in his black eye stories.
"Um, yes of course. I'm sure Carrie would think so." Cassandra stated flatly.
Mrs. Oleson changed the subject to Mankato then sneakily to the girl's inheritance. Willie couldn't sit there and excused himself to check the gravy again.
Once he was out of the room, Harriet whispered loudly again, "You know he considers him and Carrie as just friends? Yes! He told me the other day he'll not be seeing her anymore. He's always saying how much lovelier you are than her! And smarter! I'm sure he's just been civil to Carrie to try to get to know you better."
Harriet was sure she was flattering the girl who had put down her fork and now fidgeted awkwardly.
"Ma'am I…" Cassandra murmured then Willie came back in with a full gravy dish.
He sat back down and Cassandra scooted away from him to the far end of her chair as much as possible.
He hardly noticed and pushed the gravy towards her with his half smile.
They ate mostly with only Mrs. Oleson now commenting. Willie ate like a starving puppy and Cassandra like a parakeet, uncomfortably picking at her food.
Mrs. Oleson left the two of them alone to go serve up the peach pie.
Willie sat back, his stomach full and happy.
Cassandra stole glances at him here and there but managed to ask him, "So aren't you seeing Carrie after school on Wednesday? She's very excited about it."
"Um, yeah...is she?" Worry pulled his lips into a frown. He had planned on having a talk with her, letting her know his feelings about the two of them, before things got out of hand.
"Yes. She showed me the bracelet you gave her for her birthday. It looks expensive." Cassandra charged him.
Looking down at the floor, Willie coughed, "Yeah, I'm glad she likes it. Probably would have rather had something else like a painting of Hadrian's Wall or that wall in China...are they the same thing?"
"I don't know." The girl sighed honestly. She was about to say more when Harriet returned with three pieces of pie and placed them on the table.
"You know Ma'am, I just remembered I have some letters to write tonight. I don't want to be rude but I may have to leave after dessert." The Ingalls girl spoke up.
Looking very disappointed, Harriet sighed, "Oh no! Must you? We were having such a good time."
Cassandra only nodded, poking at the pie in front of her. Willie had practically inhaled his.
Soon after Cassandra got up quickly and went to put on her coat and hat.
Harriet hurried over to give the girl an awkward hug, patting her cheek endearingly. "You come over anytime you want deary. Willie! Come take Cassandra home please!"
He hopped up at the order and grabbed his own coat and hat.
"He doesn't have to do that Ma'am." Cassandra struggled to get her gloves on.
Willie came over to open the door. "I'd be happy to Cassandra."
"Yes it's dark already, not proper for a girl to be out in the dark by herself." Mrs. Oleson lectured.
The rig was readied quickly and he and Cassandra went off into the cold night.
Harriet grinned from the porch as she watched them go. She had put a little smudge of whipped cream on the girl's cheek where Willie would surely see it. If there was any prompting for a girl to get moony over a boy it would be with him intently looking at her face. And Willie loved whipped cream.
Mrs. Oleson knew for sure that something would happen now.
Cassandra didn't say anything the whole ride which, now without the distraction of a rare good meal, Willie finally noticed. But he was tired and just made the smallest of talk to which she would mumble a yes or a no.
When they finally pulled up to the Ingalls' farm he came around and helped her down. She hurried up the stairs, a porch lamp burning.
"Thanks for coming over Cassandra, it was nice to see you again." He squinted at her in the weak light. "Oh you have a little, something on your…" He motioned to his own cheek to indicate where. There was indeed had a white smudge of some sort globbed there and she wiped at it but missed it.
"No it's still there." He leaned in to look closer, bringing his hand up to point at it more directly but a surprisingly fast open handed slap stung his cheek and he blinked stunned.
Cassandra's fragile composure had broken into a glare of indignance. "I'll tell you one thing Willie Oleson, my sister Carrie is the smartest girl I know but she sure was stupid about you!"
With that she went in the door and slammed it behind her.
Willie stood there for a moment trying to digest what had just happened. Scrunching his still burning cheek he went back to the rig and headed for home puzzled.
Oh the delectable awkwardness .. Sorry for all the typos/spelling errors. TY for reading.
