Chapter 3

Lottie's was busy that afternoon, the lumberjacks and the millhands were drinking and talking, one of the millhands made a joke at the lumberjack's expense, and it was all in good humor.

"Well, Josh, I say that Jason and Obie would not be able to move the steam powered saw, by hand from the mill to the middle of the street!" said Willy

Joshua just looked at Willy and then looked for Jason who was standing by the door with a drink in his hand and one of the newer brides nearby. The door suddenly opened and in stepped a tall thin man, with brown eyes, a mustache, and a cane. He looked as if he was a man of property. Aaron seeing that walked directly towards him. The man walked directly towards the bar and ignored Aaron asked for a drink, took a swig from the bottle, and closed his eyes.

"Gentlemen, my name Lauren Beason and I am looking for my wife and child!" The patrons gasped; Jason was about to say something when Aaron cut in…

"Mr. Beason, what makes you think your wife and child are here?"

"Sir, my wife, Millie was pregnant, she was last with her grandfather heading to Oregon. I was told at the last town she was at, that her grandfather had gotten lost and seemed to have made his way to Seattle. Now, if any of you know where they are would you please tell me!" His eyes pleading to anyone who was nearby.

"Sir, you have the right name, but it seems that you may have not gotten the right number of children?" Jason said before Aaron could say anything

"Jason, why are you asking this man, can't you see he is looking for his wife, maybe he didn't know about the other child, after all she was in a traveling show!" Lottie said under her breath.

Aaron looked at Jason and then at Mr. Beason,

"Well Mr. Beason, it seems you may have come to the end of your search, however as mayor of this town, I should inform you that your wife and her grandfather are dead, and the children are orphans now!" Aaron said this with some compassion in his voice but also a question as to the nature of the second child.

Lauren stood up straight and looked Aaron in the eye. He was measuring Aaron up and down.
"Sir, I did ask about my wife and my baby, the other child is her brother, or so I was told by her and her grandfather."

Aaron was satisfied with the answer and made room for Jason to take the lead and help Mr. Beason.

Jason motioned for Mr. Beason to follow him, and he and Joshua took him to Candy and Jeremy's place at once.

"Christopher, what is all that commotion?" Candy said as she was just getting supper on the table.

"Oh, Candy, Michael and I are playing leapfrog and he fell over the coffee table!"

"Well, go wash up and help Michael as well. Where is Molly, she should be back from helping Emily with the baby? Ouch! Oh darn!" A clattering could be heard from the kitchen, Candy had accidently knocked the soup onto the floor just then Jason knocked and then entered, and seeing the mess, helped Candy to clean it up. Jeremy came in from out back, he had been chopping more wood for the winter and saw that Candy was starting to cry. She seemed to be crying a lot, more so than normal, he thought as he went to her, helped her to a chair and got a towel to help wipe the soup off her apron.

When Jason had cleaned some of it up, he went to the door and apologized to Mr. Beason and when he saw that Candy was better, he went over to Jeremy and Candy to explain their visitor.

"Well, it is good to meet you Mr. Beason!" Jeremy said and offered to shake his hand, Candy offered hers as well and he kissed it.

"I was hoping you could tell me if my child is here and if I owe you anything for taking care of the baby, I would be glad to pay you." Said Lauren

Candy looked at him as Jeremy and Jason were thinking of a question to ask, she suddenly asked the question though:

"What about Michael?"

Mr. Beason stood for a moment and then said with incredulity:

"Well, he was her brother so, if you would like to keep him, I will take the baby! Now, where is the baby?"

"Do you even want to know if the baby was a boy or girl? When was it born?" Candy said accusingly.

"Mrs. Bolt, please do not think ill of me, however, I do not have time nor patience for questions. I have come here to collect the child, and whatever affects that were saved and be on my way!"

Emily came in through the back door with Abigail in her arms. Candy heard the door, went to the kitchen, and made Emily stop.

"what's wrong?" whispered Emily

"Emily, can you go back home for a little while, this Mr. Beason seems a little strange, I am just concerned about how he will take care of a newborn."
Emily nodded and was about to turn around and go out the door when Jeremy walked in and said:

"Oh, Emily, I am glad you are here, do you have the things for the baby as well?"

Candy was unhappy at that moment, "No, Jeremy she doesn't I don't want anyone to know she is here!"

Jeremy looked at her with a questioning look and then said

"I guess so, he seems to want to leave soon, although it is still dark out, maybe we can convince him to wait until tomorrow, besides, Emily needs to gather the things for the baby anyway."

Emily nodded yes, and was about to walk out when Candy said:

"Wait, I will hold Abbie and we can introduce her to her father." She looked at Jeremy with a smile, and Jeremy smiled back. Little did he know what Candy was about to do.

Emily left and Jeremy and Candy with Abbie went into the living room. She brought the baby to Mr. Beason. He did not reach out right away but eventually understood that he would have to hold the child for a little while.

He looked on the baby her eyes were a soft brown just like his, she had a shock of hair on her forehead that was wavy and brown like his. When she looked up at him, she smiled and cooed and then…

Candy saw it first; Abbie was about to have a little accident all over Mr. Beason's waistcoat. She went over and took the baby from him and left the room.

"What just happened?" He said, surprised, Molly had just come in with the baby's things that Emily had gathered.

"Oh, she is saving your waistcoat Mr.….?"

"Beason, Lauren Beason, and yours?" He said with a deep bow.

Molly still only about 15 and not quite sure of how to greet men, smiled and was about to answer when Jeremy, showed her to put her hand out.

Mr. Beason took it, kissed it, and held it a little longer than he should have, because Jason, Joshua and Jeremy all cleared their throats. Candy came back in with a clean and happy Abbie and gave her back to Mr. Beason.

"Mr. Beason, it is cold out and too late to take a newborn baby out, would you stay the night, and you can leave tomorrow with the baby?" Jason said, we can put you up in the Lottie's for the night.

Lauren closed his eyes and again thought long and hard. There was a reason why he wanted the baby and only the baby. The old man, Millie's grandfather had cheated him out of a contract that would have made him one of the richest men in the territory. If he took this little girl, he could make a tidy profit off of her as she got older, because he could have her marry a rich man and she would then have the money to pay him back. While he was thinking of these things Candy also was thinking that she did not trust this man, especially when he would not take her brother with him.

"Well, Mr. Bolt, I suppose that won't hurt anything, after all she hasn't known anyone else that I can see since she was born, so I can wait until tomorrow. "

Jason and Joshua, then led him out and took him back to Lottie's.

Candy meanwhile finished the dinner with Jeremy, and had the children get ready for bed. When she and Jeremy went upstairs to say good night, Michael was crying in his little bed that Jeremy had quickly made for him. They had borrowed some blankets but also found a blanket that Michael clung to immediately from the wagon.

"What's the matter Michael?" Jeremy asked "mommy, gone, mean man!" Michael said which left Jeremy with a question on his face. Candy came over and asked why Michael had been crying.

Jeremy said: "It seems Michael may know this Mr. Beason, he said: "mommy gone, mean man!" Candy just stared at Jeremy and wondered aloud

"I get that impression as well. But Michael may already have met him. Let me go back and get her diary, I want to read it a little more closely, there may be a mention of him someplace."

Jeremy nodded, they said goodnight and kissed Michael good night as well. Candy told Jeremy that she had to have a talk with Molly alone, 'girl stuff' that Jeremy wasn't too interested in. They kissed and he went to their room to get ready for bed.