By the time Charlie and Murdoch had returned to the corral and house, Scott had returned from town. Charlie saw his horse, turned
out into the pasture with the other horses. When Murdoch lowered her to the ground, and then dismounted himself, Charlie spoke up,
offering to tend to Murdoch's horse. She figured that he would want to go inside, get a cold drink, and talk to Scott, probably about
what had happened at that school meeting.
Charlie was curious, herself, but yet-she sort of dreaded to find out what had been decided. It wasn't going to bode well for any of the kids,
she was sure. The school board was probably going to install new rules of behavior. She could, she decided, wait until much later to
hear the outcome.
Murdoch gave her a studying glance, and then handed off the reins to her waiting hand. "Thank you."
Charlie gave a nod, and went off to tend to the horse, as Murdoch walked to the house. She busied herself doing that, and then spent
some odd few minutes helping Jelly chase down his pig. During that, most of Charlie's auburn hair came loose from her braid, and even though
she was hot and mussed, she found she'd enjoyed the running and laughing. Johnny had come to help, too.
Maria was ringing the dinner bell, and the hands were heading to the bunkhouse to eat, where Maria's daughter and Cip were likely
serving up the food. Johnny caught Charlie as they were heading to the house, scooping her up, and tossing her over one shoulder.
In a fit of giggling, and trying to catch her breath, Charlie felt the last of her hair come undone, dangling halfway down Johnny's
back that way.
He entered thru the kitchen, and at what sounded like scolding from Maria in Spanish, Johnny set her on her feet again.
"Wash up, pequeno," he said, turning to give Maria a smile and some soft spoken Spanish of his own.
Charlie washed her hands and face, and tried to tame her curls, and refasten them with the bow that had been holding the
braid.
"How's this?" she asked Johnny, smoothing back her bangs.
"You'll do," he said, and washed up before they went to the dining room, where Murdoch, Scott and Teresa were already seated, and talking.
"Hola, hello," Johnny said, in greeting, sliding into his chair, and reaching for the bowl of potatoes.
"What happened to you two?" Teresa asked.
"You both look as though you were pulled thru a knothole backwards," Murdoch observed, from his end of the table.
"That pig of Jelly's..." Johnny said, and began to elaborate on the necessity of a better containment for the pig.
Supper was nearly over, and still the subject of the school meeting hadn't been raised. Charlie helped clear the table, and
hesitated, stacking plates to carry, and watching Murdoch and Scott pause to talk. It was on the tip of her tongue to ask questions,
when Scott turned, and said, "You'd better see about a bath. Ask Maria to start heating some water for you."
So, she went off to talk to Maria, and then, after a bit, she settled into the bathtub, scrubbing her skin, and washing her hair. She'd just
come up from under the water, rinsing her hair, when Teresa tapped on the door to the washroom.
"Okay to come in?" she called.
Charlie said yes, and Teresa entered, wearing a blue dress that Charlie had never seen her wear before.
"I came to see if you needed help with your hair," the older girl said. Since this was a common thing for Teresa to do, Charlie
wasn't surprised by the offer.
"I've already rinsed it," she said.
"Did you get all the soap out?" Teresa asked. "Let me see." She inspected Charlie's auburn curls and said, "Alright."
"Where are you going?" Charlie asked, leaning back against the back of the bathtub.
"I'm going to a party. At the Stone's."
"Oh," Charlie said, and made a face. "That's too bad."
"Charlie," Teresa said, in mild disapproval. "Just because Lucy is-well, like she is-and her parents are too indulgent, I'm still friends
with Sarah."
"Alright. Sorry." Changing her course of conversation, Charlie asked, "Do you know what happened at the school meeting?"
A look passed over Teresa's face, which she quickly masked. "Yes, I know some of what happened."
"Well? What was it?" Charlie demanded.
Teresa hesitated, and then took a towel from the shelf, hanging it within Charlie's reach. "Scott will tell you," she said.
Instantly, Charlie felt a sense of unease and suspicion.
"Why? It is something bad?" she asked.
"Not bad," Teresa allowed, sounding cautious.
"Why won't you just tell me, then?" Charlie demanded.
"Because-it's not up to me to tell you," Teresa said.
Charlie eyed Teresa with worry. "Did they fire Miss Hummel? Is that it?"
"No, they didn't fire her. And, that's all I'm going to say," Teresa said. "I've got to go. Cole should be here anytime now to pick me up. I'll see you
in the morning at breakfast."
"Okay," Charlie said, crossly, a trifle peeved.
"Okay," Teresa echoed, in a somewhat mocking way. "Bye."
"Bye."
After Teresa had gone, Charlie got out, and rubbed herself dry, thinking over what all things it could have been that happened
at the meeting. Instead of putting on her nightclothes, she redressed in a clean pair of denims and shirt.
She took her dirty clothes to her bedroom, and left them in the basket that Maria kept there to collect them.
She took her hairbrush and went downstairs, to Murdoch's study, where Scott and Johnny were involved in a game of checkers, and
Murdoch sat at his desk, looking over some papers.
Charlie went to stand next to the table where the checker game was taking place, leaning just slightly against Johnny, and watching.
"Can I play the winner?" she asked, hopefully.
"We'll see," Scott said.
He flicked a quick glance at Charlie, and her tangled curls, and then nodded at the hairbrush she carried. "Looks as though you need to use that."
"I was hoping..." she said.
"You were hoping, what?" Scott asked.
"That you-or Johnny-would brush out my hair."
Johnny's eyes twinkled. "Hear that, Scott? We're lady's maids now."
"How about that?" Scott said, not taking his eyes from the checker board. "You can brush out your own hair," he said.
"I can, but I don't want to," Charlie said, with spirit. When Johnny chuckled, and Scott looked up to give her a warning
glance, Charlie gave them both an impish grin.
"There's more than one use for a hairbrush, kiddo," Scott told her. Johnny chuckled again, and Charlie, as she got Scott's meaning,
felt her face get warm.
"Just joking," she said, hastily backtracking from her sassiness.
"Uh huh," Scott said, dryly.
"Scott's got me beat, anyhow," Johnny said, scooting his chair back a bit from the table. "Come here, pequeno, and I'll give it a try."
So, Charlie went to sit at Johnny's feet, on one of the foot stools, and he, with a patience that would have surprised many a man,
worked out the snarls in her hair, brushing it smooth.
Scott left his chair at the table, and went to sit in one of the large arm chairs. Murdoch poured from the decanter on his desk,
and handed a glass off to Scott.
"Johnny?" Murdoch offered.
"Yeah," Johnny said. "I think I've got ya finished, pequeno." He smoothed her hair, and handed her back the hairbrush. "There ya go."
"Thank you, Johnny," Charlie said.
Charlie stood up, and followed Johnny to the sofa, sitting next to his side, as the three men conversed. Mostly about things about
the ranch-and Charlie spent the rest of the evening feeling included, even though she didn't contribute that much to their talk of
cattle, and fencing, and such. Somehow, being in the same room as them all was enough for her, sometimes.
Lancer