Candy's Nightmare

Chapter One

She had gone to sleep and was resting peacefully until she suddenly started to dream about Jeremy. Not that she did not always dream of him but usually it helped her to sleep just remembering the times they spent together. This time it was different, she suddenly woke up screaming, Biddie came over and woke her from her dream and Candy just stared at Biddie for a moment and was about to tell her the dream when the clanging of the bell from Lottie's rang. Everyone was wondering what it was about. Jason came upstairs disregarding all propriety and told the ladies they had to dress quickly because they had to leave the town of Seattle! They were all astir and many could not believe. Jason then used his authoritative voice and shouted.

"Ladies, I do not have time to explain, please dress and take only what you need, I will explain later when we are in a safe place!" He then left as abruptly has he had come in and went out the door.

There was no time to lose as the ladies wondered why they had to pack but they thought they could take all their belongings with them when they heard an explosion. Then they realized they could only take what was necessary.

Meanwhile the rest of the town, Lottie included was gathering essentials:

"Ken, make sure the bottles are packed well, I don't want the loggers or the mill workers to miss their drinks while we are traveling!"

"Aw Lottie, my dear, thank you for thinking of me!" said Captain Clancy as Joshua and Jermyn arrive in the saloon.

"Clancy, I am afraid that Lottie won't be able to take all her stock!"
"But why?" said Lottie

Joshua answered: "Because we have to leave right away, there is not time for packing a lot of bottles, we will have to wait until we can come back!" Clancy looked at Josue and was about to say something when Jason and Aaron came in.

"Folks, I want you to know we are not leaving Seattle, but we are only moving away up to the logging camps in order to make sure that all the citizens in Seattle are safe!"
"Safe from what!" Lottie said.

Jason took his cue and said: "There has been a minor problem between the town and the local Indians, so we need to move closer to a place that will not be under attack!"

Lottie and Clancy and others looked at them, it was close to 11 and the saloon was going to close. This news did not bode well, until an explosion happened. Aaron looked at Jason and made his excuses, it was the sawmill. An explosion from the new steam powered machines. Then another explosion happened. Instead of running to the mill, Aaron said they needed to leave immediately!

Lottie took her private things as well as the loggers and the mill workers left under Aaron's direction to gather equipment that could be salvaged and headed up toward the logging camp.

Clancy asked if he could help by storing the drinks on his ship.

Lottie looked at him and said: "I don't know if I can trust you not to drink everything, but under the circumstances take everything you can and place it on your ship and sail out to sea!"

"Aye! That I will, Miss Lottie! That I will! Never fear, I will not consume a drop until we return!"

Jason said: "Clancy, keep out at sea until we can get word to you, I think that we will wire you in San Francisco in about a week or two. Thank you."

Clancy nodded and proceeded to get his crew to safely store as many bottles as possible of alcohol that he could. Joshua goes up to the camp and the single loggers and help them to prepare tents for the ladies. Where is Jeremy?"

"I don't know, he was here a moment ago, and then he said something about making sure that other families in the surrounding area were safe!" said Joshua to Jason.

Jason nodded, I will take the ladies, there are only about 25 left and help them get to the camp. You find Jeremy and tell him we need him up at the camp!" Jason left to the dormitory as Joshua headed over to other people living in the surrounding areas to let them know that something was happening.

Essie had just finished packing her things when Jeremy knocked on the door.

"Oh, well hello Jeremy, I was just finishing packing a few things, I heard about us having to leave so I have my books and everything ready, could you pack these in the wagon for me?"

'Jeremy' packed her things into the wagon and nodded to her as he left on his horse. She thought it odd that he did not say anything to her; "Well, maybe he was in a hurry." the thought and let it go. "But it was sort of strange that he did not talk to her?"

Everyone was ready to leave Seattle, but Candy.

"Oh, Biddie, why hasn't Jeremy come by? He usually will stop to say he will see me later?"
Biddie looked at her friend, and although she said what she thought she kept her mouth closed for fear that her friend, Candy, would be upset and hurt. So, she just looked the other way and then said:

"Oh, look Candy, I think that is Jeremy now!" She saw a horse and rider coming their way! But in the next instant, they both saw that it could not be Jeremy, but it was Jeremy's horse? That was odd.

Just then, Jason caught up with the ladies and asked if they had everything ready to go. He helped them with some trunks and then they gathered in three wagons and set off to the camp. Horses started off slow but with Jason in the lead and a couple of the loggers driving the wagons or helping, they started to move at a fast pace.

They had only just gotten out of Seattle when there was a major explosion of rock, dirt, trees, and houses. Emily and Ben's store was all but destroyed, Lottie's Saloon no longer stood, a fire broke out along the dock. Captain Clancy had just pulled out when the disaster struck. Everyone wanted to look back but were afraid to. Except for Candy who was looking for Jeremy! She still could not find him!

Chapter Two

No one slept that night. Candy especially! She was so worried for Jeremy that she could not fall asleep or even rest. By daylight she was on edge and Biddie went to Lottie for some help.

"Lottie, did you bring anything to drink?"

"Why, Biddie, I didn't know you would need a drink so soon!" Lottie chuckled just to make light of the situation.

"Well, I wouldn't mind some myself, but it is Candy I am worried about. She has not slept all night. She is so worried about Jeremy that she can't seem to settle down!"

Lottie listened and said, okay, I think we can make some tea and put a bit of rum in it to help her sleep…" Just then Candy came running up to Lottie and said:

"Lottie, have you seen Jeremy? I have waited all night and I haven't seen him!"

Jason was just coming up when he heard Candy. He too was worried; he had not seen Jeremy since he had gone to the outer farms to let the people there know what was happening.

"Candy, you haven't seen Jeremy either. I sent him out so that he could let the farmers know that there was a problem in Seattle, and they should not come to Seattle for at least a week!"

Candy just lit into Jason with everything. "You, you sent him out when you knew we needed him! How could you? He may have been hurt or fell off his horse or, or…" at that moment, she struck Jason with her fist into his jaw. He took a deep breath and said to her:

"Miss Pruitt, I will talk to you later when you are better able to handle your emotions!" he then walked away. Biddie and Lottie did everything they could to hold her down and talk to her.

"Here, Drink this!" said Lottie, giving her the tea with a little extra shot of rum. Then she made her drink some more. Soon Candy felt very sleepy and sat down on a chair to sleep.

Jason, Aaron, and Joshua were sitting in front of their tent discussing what had happened. Wakanado, came up on his horse and said to Jason:

"Jason Bolt, you must come with me!"
Jason looked at him and said: "Why?"

"We need to talk to the other tribes, there is something that has happened, and it is not what white people think! I also have news of your brother! Please follow me!" Wakanado made as if to go but saw that Aaron and Joshua were going to follow.

"They cannot follow, it is only you and I Jason Bolt!"
Aaron looked at Jason and Jason said to Wakanado: "Aaron here is also a chief in our village, may he not come along?"
Wakanado looked at them and then he said: "if you trust your brother Bolt here, then yes, this Aaron may come along as well!"
Jason and Aaron made ready to leave, Jason told Joshua just to keep things quiet, they would be back soon. Do not say anything to anyone.

Jason and Aaron got on their horses and rode out with Wakanado. Lottie saw this and asked Joshua what was going on. He just told her that Wakanado needed to talk with Jason and Aaron.

Just above the encampment a lone rider sat on his horse watching the camp. He had seen the Indian come up to the camp, had seen two men ride out with him. He was very observant and wanted to make sure he did not miss anything. He was to report back to the military what he saw and what was happening. He rode off so he would not be spotted. But, down below, a little boy and his sister looked up and saw the lone rider on the horse and wondered who he was.

"Christopher, doesn't that look like Jeremy?" said Molly

Chris blinked a little and said: "it sure does!"

"I wonder why he hasn't come down here yet?" said Molly

"Maybe we should tell Candy? Then she can stop worrying, it looks like he is watching over us? Said Christopher.

Molly looked a little more and then she saw him ride off.
"I don't know, she has been so worried Aunt Biddie and Aunt Lottie had to put something in her drink to help her sleep. I think we should keep quiet about this."
We should tell Josh Jason and MR. Stemple left so Josh is in charge?"

Molly was about to answer when Lottie was walking by where they were and overheard them.

"What do you want to tell Joshua about, Christopher?"
Chris and Molly jumped up startled that someone was nearby.

"We saw a person on a horse that looked like Jeremy we thought he was watching over us but could not understand why he did not come to us?" said Molly

Lottie looked at the children and thought about what she was going to say. She did not want to upset them, but she also wanted them to let her know about when this mysterious stranger shows up.

"Well, Molly, Christopher, I think that telling me is a better thing. I can let Josh know. Tell me, have you seen this person before?"
Molly and Christopher shook their heads yes. Then Molly said:

"We saw him last night when we were heading here to the camp, we didn't really think about it until just now when we saw him again. It kind of looks like Jeremy but it doesn't?"

Lottie thought about it and then said: "Will you two do me a favor and let me know when you see this person again? I will let Joshua know as well."

They both said yes and then excused themselves and went to find Candy.

Later that day, she saw Joshua and told him what the children had seen. Joshua looked at her and then said:

"Well, he could have gotten finished and then wanted to check on some other farms out to the east of us. Thanks for letting me know, I will let Jason know when he gets back." Joshua said and then walked away. He wanted to check on Karen. He still liked her and wanted to be sure she was alright.

Chapter 3

Even though Biddie and Lottie had given her a little more than the usual shot of rum in her tea, Candy slept fitfully, she tossed and turned on the cot, she could not settle down. Biddie stayed with her through the night and Lottie was with her during the day. But she still could not sleep.

"Jeremy, Jeremy, I can't find you, where are you?" Candy cried in her sleep. She tossed and turned so much that she almost fell off her cot. Lottie got her back on the cot when she awoke and sat up eyes staring forward, she said:

"Jeremy, I am right here, near the tree just look, look at me, you will know who I am!" Candy shouted

"Candy, Candy, wake up! Wake up!" said Lottie. As she shook her a little. Finally, Candy came awake and looked at Lottie then she started to cry.

"It's okay, Candy, I'm here." Said Lottie holding her on her shoulder

"Oh, Lottie, I dreamt that Jeremy lost his memory, but he was still trying to find me, I was calling to him, but he could not hear me! OH Lottie, what if I have lost him forever!" Candy then cried some more while Lottie soothed her.

Emily came in, she and Ben were worried for Candy as well. Emily brought their little baby along.

"Candy, can you hold my baby for me? I need a little rest!" said Emily who looked at Lottie whose face was surprised since Emily had been so upset about her new baby.

Candy took the baby and promised she would care for him until Emily had some rest. This seemed to soothe Candy who was still sobbing quietly but now that she had something to care for, she was happy for a little while.

Lottie woke up Karen and asked her to keep an eye on Candy while she and Emily went outside.

"Emily, why did you do that?" Lottie asked

"She was waking us all up and we need our sleep so, I thought she might need someone to care for. Was that wrong?"

Lottie shook her head no but then there was a loud yell, and they went back into the tent. Joshua came over he had been worrying about Jason and Aaron.

"What is happening?" Joshua called out

Karen came running out with Emily's baby and told him not to let Candy have the baby anymore. Joshua took the baby with a little fear and Emily came out of the tent and took the baby from him. She did not look happy. He then went inside and found Candy sitting on the floor and rocking back and forth.

Lottie said: "apparently, she had fallen asleep and then not realizing she had the baby in her hands she almost dropped him on the floor. Karen got there before she did drop him. Then Candy was hollering so much that we asked Allyn to help her calm down and sleep. So now Candy is sleeping, and we are going to have to watch her day and night until she starts sleeping regularly.

"What does Allyn say?" Joshua asked.

"She says that Candy is over reacting and that if she does not calm down in a few days we are going to have to give her some laudanum. I know that it is not the best solution, but it may be the only solution!"

Joshua looked at Lottie, they knew very well the problem with Laudanum. It could be addicting and if Jeremy came back would Candy be able to stop, or would she slide into another world never caring any more for anything but the next fix!

Joshua was hoping that Jason would return soon. He would know what to do, Jeremy was with the tribe as well. Josh just sat down on a tree stump and put his hands on his head and was silently crying.

Karen was still upset so she had taken a walk among the trees and when she came back, she saw Josh on the tree stump. She went up to him, he lifted his head and she knelt, and they both held each other for a long while.

Above them on the top of the hill nearby the stranger on the horse watched all that was going on. He wanted to go down to tell these people who he was, but he could not. Not yet anyway. The time would come to reveal himself but now was not the time! He slowly turned and went to his own camp in the hills. A place he had known since boyhood.

Chapter 4

The meeting at the Indian encampment cleared up many questions that Jason and Aaron had had about the destruction of their beloved city. They knew they would have to rebuild but with their friends, the ladies and even the Indians they could do it. For now, they would have to live in the logging camp until the city was rebuilt. They said goodbye to Wakanado and headed back to the camp.

"Jason, you know this is going to take a lot of time and money for this rebuilding project!" said Aaron Stemple

Jason nodded and waited.

"Do you want to call our bet off?"

Jason looked at Aaron and said:

"Aaron, the bet was one over a year ago. What are you talking about?"

Aaron just smiled; "Never mind, I knew that I was just still trying to get a least some part of Bridal Veil Mountain!"

Both Jason and Aaron laughed.

"They are back! They are back!" Christopher called out as he and Molly were finishing some chores. They ran to Jason and Aaron, and both chimed in and said:

"Jason, we think Jeremy has been watching us, we told Lottie and she told Joshua. There is a man up on the hill and he watches us from his horse!" They both said at the same time.

Jason smiled and got off his horse and asked Christopher and Molly what they meant that someone was watching them.

Aaron got down as well. He looked at Jason after the kids had told him and Jason said to the kids:

"I will check into that, meanwhile I need to see Joshua and Candy!"

Aaron said he was going to check with Harve about his mill workers and they would clean and get something to eat and meet with the townspeople later.

Jason went directly to see Joshua and Candy. He noticed that Lottie and Biddie were coming to him.

"Oh, Jason, thank God, you are back! Candy has been having an awful time and we wanted to know where Jeremy was. Also, we would like to know about going back to Seattle!" Biddie said. By the look in Joshua's eyes, Jason had more to worry about.

"Biddie, can you bring Candy into the tent please?"
"Jason, it is good to see you back. No, Biddie don't bring Candy just yet, I need to tell Jason what has happened with her!"

Biddie nodded okay and went to see Lottie and tell her.

When Aaron and Jason had had their supper, had rested they called Ben, Lottie, Joshua together to discuss what the Indians had said to them.

Aaron began:

"When we sat with the other tribes, we listened to what they had to say. It seems as if there was some sort of 'fire from the sky' that rained down on our area of the planet a week ago. The Indians believed it was an ominous sign and indeed for us it was. They said that they did not know this would happen. They had seen many of these over the course of the years and yet there has been nothing that they have seen to make it happen like it did. If they had known, they would have told us."

"So, Aaron, you are saying that not telling us was not their fault!" Ben said

"No, what they were telling us is that if they would have had any indication, they would have said something. They themselves suffered some problems as well. They had to leave their village the same night we left ours!"

"But did they have the explosions in their village? I mean they do not have the steam or machinery we have; how could they have explosions!"

Jason spoke up: "Their explosions were in the guise of fireballs' something like a St Elmo's fire. It rains down on their homes and once it catches if spreads!"

Ben seemed to understand better and sat down. After the meeting, Jason and Aaron called the entire town to discuss what happened and what the plans were to rebuild.

Joshua pulled Jason aside and asked what they were going to do with Candy and how they were going to tell her what happened to Jeremy.

"I don't know yet. I have asked Biddie and Lottie to watch her and the other girls as well. But I am not sure she is ready to hear what happened to Jeremy."

Joshua listened to Jason then he asked another question:

"What are we going to do about Jeremy? He is out there wandering around and not sure who or what he is?"

"I have asked Allyn and Miss Essie to go to Tacoma, and wire Clancy in San Francisco to find a doctor to help Jeremy or at least get us some ideas on what we can and cannot do. Allyn says, his memory will improve over time, but he needs to be someplace he is familiar with."

"Meanwhile how do we keep Candy from overdoing the laudanum. If Jeremy gets his memory back, I don't think he will want to see Candy attached to that stuff?" said Joshua

Lottie, Karen, and Biddie came in at that moment.

"Candy will not be attached; I will not let her!" said Lottie and Karen also agree. Biddie who was there to find out what to do just nodded in agreement.

"How do you know Lottie?" Jason asked

"I have seen my share of young girls attached to that, in fact there is one girl I remember once who now has moved on, she was one of the girls who seemed to get too attached to certain things that were not good for her!" Lottie stopped and then said: "No, Candy is not that kind of girl. She is in love and is grieving for Jeremy, but she will not become attached. It may take some time but with my help and the other ladies we will keep her healthy for when Jeremy returns!"

Jason looked at Lottie and was grateful that she was truly a mother to the Bolts as well as all the girls. He gave Lottie a generous hug and then said that they needed to talk to the town.

16