Incidentals

by Kathy Knudsen1

Every episode has both major and minor characters and sometimes there is more to a minor character than meets the eye. Each Chapter will be about one such character. Not all chapters will fall in the same order as the series episodes, and likely one or two episodes will be skipped over (i.e. Return to Devil's Hole because I never watch that one).

32. Chapter 32

Belle Haney (From Only Three to a Bed)

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I'm glad Miss BeeGee decided to stay. It's nice to have another girl in the house, because sometimes there are things that just don't feel right talking to Pa about. Like boys, for instance. I could tell Miss BeeGee knows how to talk to boys in a way that they'll listen, and she doesn't get all nervous and embarrassed around them. There's a boy in my class that I really like, but any time I have to talk to him, I turn red as a beet and get all tongue tied.

Miss BeeGee sings real pretty and can play the piano a lot better than I can. I'm hoping maybe she can teach me to play better, and maybe I can teach her something about cooking. Pa says I've gotten real good at cooking, and I've never heard any of the passengers complain about the meals I make.

I think Pa misses having a woman around the house, too. Ma was real pretty, like Miss BeeGee. She had green eyes that had flecks of starlight in them, and they sparkled when she smiled, which was pretty much all the time. Pa is always surprised about the things I remember about Ma, like the fact that she always smelled like lavender, and she was always singing or humming. She was a wonderful cook too, and used to let me help her when she was baking bread or a cake.

Miss BeeGee reminds me a little of my Ma. She's not quite the same, but enough to feel comfortable around her. She won't ever replace my Ma, no one could do that, but I can see us being close. I think she's really a kind person at heart.

Mr. Smith and Mr. Jones sure took a liking to her, and I think my Pa liked her right off, too. It was fun dancing with Mr. Smith, but when Pa wanted to dance with me, Mr. Smith sure moved in on Mr. Jones real quick so he could dance with Miss BeeGee.

I felt kind of sorry for Miss Sterling. She looked like she would have loved to have been swept around the dance floor, but when Mr. Jones asked her to dance, her brother wouldn't allow it and was really quite rude to Mr. Jones.

It's funny how people are. Mr. Sterling was what my Pa would call a fundamentalist. I'm not real sure about what exactly that is except that he's real strict about what he, and his sister can say and do, and he carries a Bible around with him everywhere he goes. You can tell that Miss Sterling must love her brother because it's pretty plain to see that she's got more spirit in her than he does, but she keeps a tight rein on it just to please him, I think. You could see some of that spirit in her eyes every time Mr. Jones tried to talk to her.

Before the stage broke down, and Miss BeeGee and the Sterlings thought they were just going to be with us long enough to eat supper, Miss BeeGee told Mr. Smith flat out that she was looking for a husband. I'm glad she decided Pa was the one she wanted to marry.

When they were all leaving the first time, I heard her thank Mr. Jones for showing her what life is all about. Once she's settled in and we start feeling like a family, I'm going to ask her what she meant by that.

Well Mr. Smith and Mr. Jones and Bronc sold the horses back to and left the next morning on the stage. I'm going to miss them, but I'm glad it's just Pa and Miss BeeGee and me in the house for a while, so we can all get to know each other better.

For one thing, it's going to be nice not having to do all the cooking anymore.