Part 1: Chapter 36: 1887: Red Deer, Alberta,
Repairs Are Expensive
Constable Wiggins returned with Constable Mercer, Constable Cummings, and beleaguered Constable Wurthers. The first three men were eager to help. Constable Wurthers looked like he wanted to be elsewhere. Each man took an area of the house or yard to investigate for who did it. None of their farm animals were to be seen, they had trampled over Ophelia's garden, being herded away from their home. The constables all converged together to discuss what they found.
"Squatters in the house must have had one hell of a party before taking off," Constable Cummings said.
"Farm animals were fine this morning. I was here for those chores," Wiggins added.
"Wurthers, were they here this afternoon?" Mercer asked.
"This afternoon?" Wurthers asked back.
"Yes, when you were ordered to take care of the Grant's animals," Wiggins added.
"I can't say that I recall," Wurthurs shrugged.
Wiggins glared.
The man started picking under his fingernails.
"We need to follow the trail of the animals, but if we can't get a good time for when this happened…" Mercer whispered as he looked at the expectant Grant family. Wiggins nodded.
"Well, I must say, that I believe I am the best man to track down the animals," Wurthers smiled cockily.
"What makes you think that?" Wiggins couldn't help but scoff back. In the three weeks Lieutenant Normandeau had been away Wurthers had cemented in Wiggins' mind that he was the silliest, laziest man he had ever met and those weren't good traits for a Mountie. Wurthers wouldn't last long when Normandeau came back. Normandeau didn't abide by laziness or entitlement.
"Well, it's obvious they're heading south," Wurthers pointed to the footprints.
"That's west," Nate said loudly.
The other Constables couldn't help their smiles, because Nate was correct.
"Perhaps we should deputize Nate and send him after the animals. He would find them faster than the rest of us for sure, and we know he won't get his directions mixed up," Constable Wiggins smiled at Nate.
Nate smiled back.
Constable Wurthers glared at the pair.
"No, Constable Mercer and Constable Cummings will track the animals. We will be helping the Grants find a room for the immediate future as their rooms inside are not habitable at the moment," Wiggins said softly to the family.
They nodded and Archie turned Galileo back to Red Deer.
The only room at the inn was only a single, and with all of their trunks carefully stacked there wasn't much room left to walk. It was more of a shuffle. The family didn't even try to change out of their clothes. They only took off shoes and all tried to sleep with so many arms and legs wrapped around each other.
The next morning, Constable Wiggins met the Grant family downstairs.
"I'm afraid I will need you to come with me as we process the damage. We'll need to know if anything else was stolen," Wiggins said.
"Else?" Colleen added loudly, and tiredly.
"No luck with the animals then?" Archie asked.
"Not yet," Wiggins admitted.
Archie nodded and followed Constable Wiggins to the wagon he had for their transportation.
"Where's Constable Wurthers going to be?" Ophelia asked. She had a bad feeling about him and didn't want him around their children.
"Oh, I haven't told him this yet, but he will be on latrine duty and mucking stalls until Lieutenant Normandeau gets back," Constable Wiggins said stiffly and with a glare.
Archie laughed at the image.
"Hopefully he learns to take his duties more seriously in future," Wiggins said.
When they finally arrived back at the Grant home, in the daylight the destruction of the inside and outside of the house was even more apparent. There were several Constables sketching crime scene images and looking at the broken pieces of several items. Archie helped Ophelia and the children out of the wagon when they parked. Archie was holding Colleen. Ophelia held Nate.
"If you'll both follow me, we will be starting upstairs," Wiggins said as he directed them inside.
They gasped in new horror. Every piece of furniture had been gutted, battered, and broken. Wiggins led them up to the next floor. Their bedrooms fared no better. There were beer bottles strewn across the floors in each room. Cigars had been smoked and put out on several of the furniture pieces. Their mattresses had been slept on, but also torn up so that they weren't usable at that moment. Archie and Ophelia quickly looked through the mess as best as they could. The upstairs wasn't missing anything, but none of their things were functional. Archie looked through their desk in the living room as Ophelia had looked around their kitchen. Their stove had disconnected from the pipe.
"They took our account leger. But there's no money in it," Archie said.
"They took my new cast iron skillet. The one Regina bought to replace the one she ruined," Ophelia said.
"Anything else of value?" Wiggins asked.
"No. We didn't have much to begin with," Archie replied.
"We had everything else with us," Ophelia said.
"Your brooch?" Archie asked.
"I left it at Edith's during the summer. They didn't pack it in our things when we went to Winnipeg. I assume it's still in there," Ophelia said.
Wiggins wrote down the potential brooch.
"We need to go back to the fort. You will need to file paperwork on the breakin and theft; I need to telegram Normandeau and give him an update," Wiggins added.
The Grants nodded and followed him.
Ophelia and Archie spent the morning filling out form after form. And then spent that afternoon filling out forms for compensation and relief, but they were told on both accounts that it would take time. They nodded, but left in frustration.
"Ophelia, we basically have what is in our savings and what James left us in an emergency, neither of which will handle these repairs," Archie said.
Ophelia nodded in understanding.
"We need to ask for more help," Ophelia said simply.
Archie nodded.
So the next morning at church, the pastor asked the people of Red Deer to be charitable to their neighbors, and lend a hand, funds, or materials when they could. That he and Constable Wiggins would lead those people to the Grant's property that afternoon. But instead of a chorus of positive talk, the whispers were saying things like "Well, it serves them right being gone so long" and "they're friends with rich people, why can't they help?"
That afternoon the Grants went about cleaning what they could. Sirius had taken to keeping track of Nate and Colleen outside, so they weren't underfoot as their parents worked. The only people who had volunteered along with the pastor and Constable Wiggins was the Clarke family, and the look of abject horror and astonishment in their faces said everything they needed to know about the situation.
Kevin Clarke was particularly murderous as he took a long look at the house.
"I'm sorry to say that I don't think anyone else will be helping, even in the long run," the pastor admitted as they pulled to a stop near the front door.
"We got some plywood to cover up the windows, and some materials to fix the stove," Wiggins added, "so that at the very least you won't be cold."
"Assholes! This town is filled with a bunch of assholes!" Kevin swore in anger.
"Kevin! I don't disagree but there are several children present," Emily reprimanded as she pointed to their four and the Grant's two.
Kevin just gave her a look back and didn't apologize.
"Sweetheart, will you please watch the younger children? Keep them out of the way?" Emily asked her eldest daughter.
"Yes, ma'am," she replied as she took Kathryn in her arms and the others joined Nate and Colleen.
The men went about fixing the stove as best they could. Then they went about putting the wood in all of the windows. The women were cleaning and decluttering the kitchen and living rooms first.
"I'm so sorry this happened to you," Emily said as they were leaning on their brooms.
Ophelia nodded.
"This is days of work with a whole crew. What are you going to do?" Emily asked.
"We don't know yet," Ophelia answered honestly.
"We'll help where we can, obviously, but Kevin is finishing harvest. I don't know how much help we can be," Emily said.
"Thank you for the help you've already given," Ophelia said with thanks as she squeezed her hand. "Archie will also be at work. Don't feel bad about it."
That night while Colleen and Nate were sleeping in the small space of the bed in the inn, Ophelia was standing outside, leaning against the post, while Archie was returning from the Mercantile.
"Regina telegramed yesterday," Archie said as he held up the message.
"What did she say?" Ophelia asked with worry.
"James couldn't find their agreement anywhere in the house. He's on his way to Sicily," Archie said.
Ophelia felt the same disappointment that Archie was showing. She too had hoped James would have been able to finish with Richard and come help now.
"He is only one person. We can't rely on him all the time," Archie rationalized.
Ophelia nodded in agreement.
"So, what can we do until they get back?" Ophelia asked.
"Fred and Jessica are not extending our line of credit any more than they already do," Archie replied with frustration.
"Can we send a wire to Edith and Regina?" Ophelia asked.
"We can try. What is yer plan tomorrow while Colleen is in school?" Archie asked.
"Clean some more. But I don't know how productive I will be, since I will have Nate," Ophelia said.
"Why don't I take Nate?" Archie asked.
"Really?" Ophelia asked with skepticism.
"Nate is a good boy. It will keep him out of yer way. I can show him what I do," Archie said with a small smile.
"Are you sure?" Ophelia asked.
Archie just nodded.
"I will post the mail and send the telegram before work with Nate while you are cleaning. You can pick Colleen up from school; then we can find dinner," Archie said.
Ophelia nodded.
After sharing one plate for breakfast between the four of them, Archie had given Colleen three pieces of fruit for her lunch to put in a handkerchief. They dropped Colleen off at school with her homework and school books. Ms. Fletcher started the day.
Ophelia waved goodbye to Archie and Nate as she walked slowly to their home. Archie held Nate in his arms as they walked into the Mercantile with the letters that were ready to send. Nate was in Archie's left arm as Archie was dictating the telegram to Edith and Regina.
"House was robbed and destroyed. Need a loan ASAP," Archie had Jesssica write down. As he was finishing up, Cliff and Don Patterson, the saloon owners, sidled up behind him with their items to purchase.
"Hello, Archie," Cliff greeted warmly.
Archie glared at him.
"I don't remember giving ya leave to call me that," Archie replied as he fished out the money for his postage and telegram.
"Sorry, Mr. Grant," Cliff smiled.
"What do ya want?" Archie asked stiffly.
"Just engaging in friendly conversation," Don added as he placed their items on top of Archie's mail and where the telegram note had been set down.
"I need to get to work," Archie said instead of rolling his eyes and telling them off.
"Of course," Cliff and Don both stepped away.
Archie left the Mercantile in a hurry, but not before Nate saw the telegram message get tossed to the floor as Don picked up their purchases. Their mail in the envelope was sent, but the telegram fell into a crack on the floor. In the busyness of her morning, Jessica would forget that Archie had paid for a telegram that she hadn't sent.
Archie carried Nate to work with him and got him set up comfortably behind his window. Nate had a toy horse, a piece of paper, and a green pencil.
"I heard about your house, Arch," Ed said sympathetically.
Archie lifted an eyebrow.
"I'm sorry I couldn't help yesterday, but I overindulged at the Saturday poker game," Ed said with a slight tint of embarrassment. Ed looked like he was still reeling from the hangover.
"Don't worry about it, Ed," Archie said with a smile.
He nodded and then smiled down at Nate.
"Hello, little master," Ed said with enthusiasm.
Nate waved.
Archie and Ed worked on their opening procedures before their boss finally opened the door. There was a steady stream of people coming in and out of the bank that morning. Nate was watching his father like a hawk. Archie eventually noticed that Nate had no interest in his toys and picked him up.
"Want to learn?" Archie asked.
Nate just nodded excitedly.
"These are account books for people and businesses in town. We help keep track of their spending, and their income," Archie showed the plus and minuses. "We add and subtract as we go along."
"That's five dot four three," Nate said as he did the math up and down the column that Archie had gently traced with his pencil.
"Is he correct?" Ed asked with curiosity and skepticism lacing his tone.
"Yup!" Archie beamed proudly.
"Really?!" Ed asked in astonishment.
"Yup. He's a smart boy," Archie said as Nate focused his blue eyes on the numbers.
Ed shook his head as Archie began to ask Nate more simple math questions. Nate got each one correct.
During their lunch hour, Ed, Archie, and Nate all ate their lunches at a table behind the building, taking in the warmth of a last Fall day.
"Where did you learn all of that?" Ed asked Nate as he pointed to how he spent his morning.
"Daddy and Auntie Norman," Nate answered simply.
Ed looked at Archie in surprise.
"Mrs. Normandeau is quite the educator. She helped both Colleen and Nate keep up with their learnin'," Archie said.
"Well, if you both keep him going, I think he may have a job here in the future," Ed said with a wink.
Archie half smiled, but was sincerely hoping that Nate wouldn't have to work for his boss (or at least this cruel version of the man) when he was old enough.
After lunch, Nate had his normal nap. After the nap he played with his horse. At closing time, the men went about their closing routine. Then Archie carried Nate in his arms as Ed and his boss followed behind him.
Ophelia and Colleen met the boys outside of the inn. Ophelia looked like she had been working hard all day. Her normal bun was frizzy and falling out in places. She was standing as if her feet and back were hurting.
"How were yer days?" Archie greeted them both as he kissed their cheeks.
"Long," Ophelia answered with a grimace.
"Ms. Fletcher gave us a test," Colleen said.
"A test? It was yer first day back?" Archie asked in surprise.
"Yeah, but she said that if I had kept up properly, I would know how to do it," Colleen stated.
Ophelia rolled her eyes.
"Well, it's a good thing yer Auntie kept ya learning," Archie winked.
"That's true! Can I write a letter to thank her?" Colleen asked.
"Sure ya can," Archie smiled as Ophelia nodded.
"Yay!" Colleen smiled.
The family went up to their small room and helped Colleen write the letter on the paper Nate didn't use that morning. Archie used the back to write in Irish to Harris, (like Edith had asked). The family shared a dinner plate between the four of them again. Then they slept in the small single bed in the inn's room. The next day happened in a similar manner. Archie spent the day with Nate. Ophelia cleaned what she could while Colleen was at school. They posted the letter at the Mercantile.
This became the routine. As the week went on, Archie and Ophelia were getting more and more worried about the lack of response from Edith and Regina for their telegram.
"What are we going to do, Archie?" Ophelia asked with worry as she held both of her sleeping kids late Friday night.
"I can't think that they are intentionally ignoring us," Archie said, "makes no sense, to be so generous to complete strangers, then not help at all after we've come to know them."
"Can we send another one?" Ophelia asked.
"Not if we keep having to eat out twice a day," Archie said.
"What are we going to do then?" Ophelia asked.
"I will see how much it will cost to replace everything we lost tomorrow. We will work at the house again. Kevin stopped by today to say he will be there this weekend. Then I will weigh our options," Archie said.
Ophelia nodded sleepily and rested her head back.
As they were working, Constable Wiggins also came by to help on his day off. Constable Mercer and Constable Cummings had come back without the farm animals. The thieves had put them on too well traveled roads and then split up. It made it hard for them to find the people responsible when they looked like normal livestock travelers. The paperwork had been sent off, but they couldn't give the family any time frame for when they would be reimbursed. As Archie was working with Wiggins and Kevin Clarke, he was beginning to realize that he would have to be responsible to get thousands of dollars worth of repairs and replacements done.
By the end of the weekend, the Grant home was livable, if it had nothing to sit or sleep on. The couple agreed to spend two more nights at the inn, so that they could purchase new tables and chairs.
On Monday, Archie's boss said that this was the last week that Nate could come to work with Archie. On Wednesday, they kept Colleen out of school and Archie only worked the morning, so that they could get their limited belongings inside their house. On Thursday, Archie was told that he was required to attend Saturday night poker that week. On Friday, Archie applied for a loan to cover the costs of the replacements and repairs.
Instead of sleeping on a single mattress in a small room, the Grants were sleeping in sleeping bags with every bit of warm clothing on their bodies in the kitchen where their stove was.
"Daddy, whhh...whh...when do we get our beds again?" Colleen's teeth chattered with cold as she was being held by Ophelia.
"As soon as we can afford them, me love. It will get better, I promise," Archie said with a kiss to her forehead.
She nodded then fell asleep.
Archie had spent what he could of the diminishing daylight moving purchases with Wiggins and Kevin (both men noticed that the Grants were looking a little ragged and threadbare). Archie had brought Ophelia some food supplies so that she could start making meals again. Although, they were still small and spread between the four of them, since they no longer had chickens, their milk cow, or their pigs, these items for food, needed to be bought still.
In the evening, Archie was getting ready to go back into town.
"Boss says he needs me," Archie said in a way of explanation to the children and his wife. Everything about his body language said he was dreading this.
Ophelia just gave him a long, calculating look.
Colleen and Nate gave him both long hugs and kisses good night.
Archie then held Ophelia for a long moment.
"I love ya," he said looking into her chocolate brown eyes trying to show how sorry he was that this was necessary.
"I know why you have to go. I don't like it, but I pray this part of our lives will be resolved quickly and without more trouble," Ophelia said as she kissed him.
Archie rode away on Galileo. That night, Archie was quieter than normal, but he felt that the people he was playing with were devils (except Ed). Archie won a decent amount. The bank team split their winnings, and Archie rode home as soon as he could. The money from the games turned into their food money for the week.
It was into the second week of this routine that Emily Clarke confronted Ophelia about their meagre food resources before school started. Becky and Elle had both been asking for extra lunch. They didn't say it was for Colleen, but they gave her what Emily had packed.
"Ophelia, how is everything going?" Emily asked as he gave a worried look to her loose dress and Archie's new belt notch on clothes that had fit them fine.
"We're getting by," Ophelia answered. "It's a struggle, though."
"The girls have been sharing their lunches. I'm sorry it took me so long to make the connection, but I made some lunch for you and Nate as well," Emily said as she handed over the sandwiches.
"Thank you," Ophelia said as she grabbed the sack.
"It's not much. Kevin and I are also giving you two chickens once your chicken coop is built," Emily said.
Ophelia looked at her in surprise.
"That is overly generous. We know exactly how much you rely on those chickens," Ophelia protested.
"It's not nearly enough, since everyone else seems to think that helping others is completely beneath them. And like you said, we know exactly how much you depend on them," Emily said as she looked at the sack.
Ophelia smiled in thanks as they went their separate ways.
During this time, the family had been writing to each other. But due to the slowness of the mail, it was several weeks before they reached their destination and the right people. Regina had said that James had made it to Sicily and was currently scouring their old house. Edith and Harris continued the language lessons, and wrote about their days. No one mentioned the telegram. Edith, Harris, and Regina had no idea anything was wrong with the Grant branch, and were shopping for Christmas presents to send when they first got wind of the issues. It was old letters from the beginning of November that made them pause.
Harris had picked up the mail and read the letters, which made his instincts rise.
"Mother?" Harris said as he walked in his warm coat up to his mother and aunt.
"Yes?" Regina said as she put some purchase options in front of Edith.
"I think something's happened," Harris said.
"What do you mean?" Regina asked. Edith had popped her head up as well.
"Colleen's mentioned being too cold to sleep well," Harris said as he passed over the letter from her.
Regina read it quickly. When she was done she passed it to Edith.
They all read the letters out loud.
Dear Edith,
I hate to ask, but can you send some warm clothes for Christmas presents for the children? We have been slowly replacing our things, but it is slow going, since Archie, Kevin, and Constable Wiggins are the ones that are doing the repairs. Archie is doing his best, but we don't have much to spare with all of our replacement purchases. With winter setting in, they will be quite cold and both are growing very quickly. I won't be able to afford new clothes for them until after the new year at the earliest.
I appreciate everything you've done for us!
Best,
Ophelia
"What repairs? What replacements?" Regina asked with annoyance and anger.
"Something must have happened," Edith said.
"But why didn't they ask for help?" Harris voiced the burning question.
"They had to know we would help," Regina added.
"We need to find out what happened, and why we weren't told," Edith said firmly.
"I may have some people I can push buttons on," Regina said sitting regally in her chair.
"I will write a letter to the Mountie Office in West Winnipeg. Surely they would have passed on this information to James," Edith said.
This was how the Mountie Office learned not to get on anyone with the last name of Normandeau's bad list.
Regina had Harris escort her to the nearest Mountie Office and made enough noise and glared at enough people that two inspectors agreed to send Mountie's to their house later. Then Regina used her own contacts as a former Normandeau of THE Normandeaus to get help with getting whatever information she could. They waited impatiently for the Mounties to arrive that afternoon.
Edith had insisted on being at the meeting. But their house was large enough for her to keep a safe distance from their visitors. When the Mounties arrived, Edith immediately noticed that something was off.
"What's wrong?" she glared over her veil.
"Ma'am?" one asked in surprise.
"Your office has messed up somehow. What happened?" Edith stated.
The Mounties looked at each other.
"Somehow the last memo from Constable Wiggins in Red Deer, missed our pile for Lieutenant Normandeau," the man admitted.
"What was in this memo?" Regina asked.
"We can't disclose the entire nature of the message," the man replied.
"But the contents would have made him rush back," Edith said as she looked at the man.
"Knowing him, yes, ma'am," the constable replied.
The constables were both apologizing profusely. But didn't say exactly what had happened in Red Deer.
"We need to get in touch with James," Regina said once the men left.
Edith raised a surprised eyebrow.
"My fight with Richard, as annoying as he is, can wait," Regina said. "It sounds like the Grants need him more."
Edith nodded in understanding.
"But you're so sick," Edith said as she saw Regina's increasingly pale demeanor.
"I don't think I can travel that far myself. But we can help as best we can from here," Regina said as she looked at the portrait over the mantle.
"I wish Red Deer had telephone service," Edith said as she looked at the telephone Regina had installed.
The others nodded in agreement.
James actually telegrammed them first the next morning saying he had found the file and was looking at sailings across the ocean again, but due to winter seas it may take some time. Edith messaged him back about something happening in Red Deer. James had reacted much like Regina and Harris had. Then he became suspicious.
He let them know that he was booking passage on the first ship heading towards Canada, but it would be after New Years before he would be back on Canadian soil.
Edith, Regina, and Harris all sent a package to the Grants with Christmas presents, and warm clothes. Edith drew a Christmas card and put the location of some of the cash they had hidden. Edith had even written it in Irish so that Archie would be the only one to read it.
What no one knew was that Blinky Morgan's crew was watching mail lines and stopping and holding up mail couriers. They were taking random items, so that their target, any financial help to Archie Grant, was interrupted, stolen, or taken. Seamus Grant was very much aware of Archie being in Red Deer. And Seamus had taken his brother's defection personally. He wanted to punish Archie, by putting so much stress into his life that Archie finally does things that Seamus had resorted to. Blinky Morgan was needing a new money man, and Archie was always good with numbers. Better than anyone else that Seamus knew. He also knew that Archie would need to be forced against a wall before joining Blinky Morgan's gang.
Thanks for the positive reviews! Sorry for the long wait. I was working on the story, just different sections (when and why Nathan signed up to be a Mountie, and Nathan's recovery after Hell's Gate).
