Charlie rode home, worrying as she got nearer. She hoped she wasn't very late. Past the three o'clock time that Scott
had set. She thought about turning Gurth out, and perhaps going in to prepare something for Scott and Johnny to eat. She felt
confident enough to do that now, on her own. She'd had more cooking lessons from Maria, and had been well instructed
in the stove. She wouldn't turn the kitchen smoky as she had the last time she'd tried it alone.
She remembered, though, that Scott had said to come and find him, where he was working, so he would know she'd
arrived home safely.
So she let Gurth drink a bit, and went into the kitchen, to peruse the cookie jar, packing up a small bundle of them, and
keeping one out to eat as she rode.
Charlie found the group of men working. It wasn't too difficult. She rode the direction that Scott had told her to ride, and came to them.
They were ankle deep in muddy creek water, pulling fence wire and posts from the water.
She left Gurth with the horses, and walked to the edge of the creek, watching the group, consisting of Scott, Johnny, and two
other men as they worked.
Johnny called out a hello to her, and Charlie said, "Hullo, Johnny!" in return.
She sat down on the grass at the edge of the creek, and after a few minutes, Scott came sloshing out of the water, pulling off
his fencing gloves.
"Did you get to see Burl?" he asked.
"For a few minutes," Charlie said. There was so much she wanted still to say, to tell him, but he only nodded, and said,
"We're going to be here working for a while longer." He pushed his hat up further on his forehead, surveying her. "You should go
on to the house."
"Alright," Charlie said. "I was thinking-I could make you and Johnny some supper," she offered.
Scott nodded. "That would be nice. There's probably some roast beef, or cold chicken."
"I meant, to actually cook you something," Charlie specified.
"Hmm," Scott said, looking as though he were considering.
"I can do it," Charlie said, earnestly. "I've learned how since the last time I tried."
"We could just have the cold chicken," Scott said, but Charlie could tell he was considering her request.
"Please let me, Scott. I really want to," she pleaded.
"Alright," he agreed. "You go along and get started. If you have any problems, you can call for Jelly."
"I won't have any problems!" Charlie said, giving him a dimpled smile.
7
Once she'd untacked Gurth and turned him out, and put the tack away, Charlie went to the house, washing her hands, and then she went about
in search of the perfect supper menu.
First on the menu was the meat. The Lancer men enjoyed their meat, most definitely. Not fried chicken. They'd had it only two
nights before. Not roast beef, either. Steaks. That's what. She could prepare steaks. Once she had the steaks in a skillet on the stove, sizzling
most satisfactorily, Charlie set about making a salad, from the produce in the garden. She hesitated, wondering if she had the time, or the
skill, to make biscuits on her own.
A few minutes later, Charlie was in the throes of making those biscuits. She tried to remember everything that she'd seen Maria
do, and, when Scott came to the kitchen door a good while later, Charlie had just put the biscuits into the oven.
"It smells real good in here," he said, and Charlie came to him, putting her flour-covered hands on his stomach, to push at him.
"Scott, no," she pleaded. "Don't come in-go and wait in the library until the supper's all ready, please?"
"What for?" Scott asked, looking amused.
"I want to surprise you-I want to do it all on my own, for you and Johnny! Please?"
"Alright, I'm going," Scott said, holding up his hands in defeat.
He turned to go, and Charlie said, "No peeking."
"I'm not looking," Scott assured her, and went towards the library, to join Johnny. He found himself smiling, full of
pride.
L
In between turning the steaks, and keeping an eye on her biscuits so they didn't burn, Charlie went to the library
door to inquire. "Do you want to eat in the kitchen, or in the dining room?" she asked.
Sitting opposite one another in easy chairs, and sipping at pre-dinner bourbons, Scott looked to Johnny, who shrugged in answer.
"I figure that's up to you, kiddo," Scott told her. "This is your dinner party."
Charlie beamed. For a moment she thought her heart was so full it might burst.
"Alright!" she said, and spun on her heel to run back to the kitchen again.
"That's some kid," Johnny said, in admiration.
"Yes. She is that," Scott said.
When Charlie appeared at the library door once again, she said, serenely, "Supper's ready. In the kitchen."
The brothers stood, and followed her to the kitchen. As he walked, Johnny rubbed his hands together, saying,
"Alright, let's see what we've got."
In the kitchen, the table was set, and there was a vase of flowers in the center of the table. On their plates was a large
steak each, and one half the size on Charlie's plate. The bowl of salad was in the center next to the flowers and the biscuits were in
a wicker bread basket, with the jars of Maria's jelly nearby.
For a moment Scott was truly startled. He hadn't expected she would attempt to cook steaks, or actually make biscuits.
"This looks real nice, sweetheart," he said.
"Looks darn delicious, pequeno," Johnny said.
They sat down to eat, and Johnny proclaimed the steak one of the best he'd ever eaten. And the biscuits "as light as a feather".
"Nice of Maria to leave these biscuits for us," Johnny said, lathering his second biscuit with pear jelly.
"Maria didn't-" Charlie began to correct him, and then she saw that he was teasing.
Afterwards, when they'd finished, Charlie got coffee cups, and filled them with the coffee she'd prepared.
"Thank you," Scott told her.
"Yeah, thanks, pequeno."
When she'd set the pot back onto the stove, Scott reached out and put his arm around her waist, pulling her close.
He pulled her down onto his knee. "You did a fine job. I'm proud of you."
"Yeah. It was delicious," Johnny told her, and took a drink from his coffee cup.
"It was fun. I liked doing it," Charlie said, beaming at their praise.
Scott ran his hand over her back. "So tell us, how was Burl today?"
Charlie instantly became serious. "Mr. Val has him locked in the cell."
"Locked in?" Johnny asked.
Charlie nodded. "He said he's not sure when he'll let him out."
"Why is he locked up?" Scott asked.
This she wasn't so eager to tell them. It would only reinforce their belief that Burl was unstable, unpredictable, not safe, and all of that.
Still, she had to tell them. They would find out from Mr. Val anyway, and then it would seem that she'd kept it from them.
"He got upset when Mr. Val was telling him about not being able to go back to his shack. He messed up some papers from the desk."
"And Val locked him up for that?" Johnny asked, raising an eyebrow.
"He broke Mr. Val's lamp," Charlie admitted. "There was glass all over the floor."
"Hmm," Scott said, and both he and Johnny looked thoughtful.
"I'm worried about where he's going to live," Charlie said, looking from Scott to Johnny.
"Val has some ideas," Scott told her.
"That's what he said. But, he said he didn't want to tell me what they were right now," Charlie said.
"Maybe," Scott said, reaching up to tap the end of her nose. "It's because he knows how you get about things. Do you suppose?"
Charlie shrugged, and Scott went on, "Besides, what did I tell you today before you left?"
"That it's adult business," Charlie said, sheepishly.
"Correct," Scott said. "There you go. Give the adults a chance in this whole thing."
He patted Charlie's hip. "Get up, now, so we can get these dishes cleaned up."
"You're going to help me?" Charlie asked, hopefully.
"We'll help. Won't we, Johnny?"
"I don't remember volunteerin'," Johnny protested, but he did help.
7
The next morning, over breakfast that Maria had prepared, Charlie listened to Scott and Johnny talk about what
work they were beginning that morning.
"Scott?" Charlie began, at a lull in their conversation.
"What?"
"I was thinking-that I'd go into town again, and check on Burl."
Scott looked up, and raised an eyebrow. "How's that?" he asked.
Charlie recognized her error, and felt her face turn warm.
"Could I go and see him? Like I did yesterday?" she amended.
Scott set his coffee cup down, and got to his feet. "You've got chores. I think Maria needs your help this morning."
"After I help Maria, then could I go?" Charlie asked. "I'd come home when you say to, like I did yesterday."
"You stay around here this morning, and we'll see about you going later on today," Scott said, pausing beside her chair.
Charlie looked up at him, disappointed.
"See you later, alright?" Scott said, and then he and Johnny were gone. Outside, to their work.
L
By the time Murdoch and Teresa arrived home, Charlie had been picking in the garden, and was hot and sweaty.
She went to greet Murdoch and Teresa, the two puppies trailing after her, and Teresa said, in obviously high spirits, "Hello, Charlie! Well, we did well. One of
the shops bought nearly all the brocade that we took!"
"That's good," Charlie said. "Did they pay you for it?"
"Of course they paid us!" Teresa said, squeezing Charlie's shoulders. "Didn't they, Murdoch?"
"That they did," Murdoch said. He smiled at Charlie. "How are things around here, darling?"
Charlie told them about fixing supper all on her own merit the evening before.
"I'm sorry that I missed it," Murdoch said. "Perhaps you'll do it again soon, hmm?"
Charlie said that she would, indeed, and then, as Murdoch went off to begin work, Charlie followed Teresa up to
her bedroom, where she went behind the partition to change from her dress to her everyday clothes.
Charlie sat on the edge of Teresa's bed, listening as Teresa talked.
"The lady there at the shop couldn't believe the amount of brocade that we had-and she was thrilled. She said
she'd take more if we had it!" Teresa continued, as she came around the partition, brushing back her dark hair.
"What are you going to do with the money you made?" Charlie asked, bouncing up and down on the bed a bit.
"Murdoch said to take it to Val, and let him keep it for Burl. That way, it will be there, for things that he needs-"
"Like a place to live, right?" Charlie asked.
"Well, yes," Teresa said, pausing in her brushing. "That is the most important thing right now, isn't it?"
"Nobody will tell me anything about it, though," Charlie lamented. "They keep saying that it's adult business."
Teresa smiled at Charlie. "I know. It's frustrating for you. You're the one who befriended Burl at the beginning, and
now it probably seems as though we've all taken over."
"It does seem that way, sometimes," Charlie admitted.
"Well, don't worry too much. There's still going to be plenty for you to do," Teresa said. She laid her hairbrush on the
dresser, and held out her hand to Charlie.
"Come on," she said. "I've got an idea."
L
Teresa went to talk to Murdoch, and then to ask Jelly to hitch up the buggy. Listening to Teresa as she talked
with Murdoch, asking him about taking the money into town to Val, and then going to talk to the Silverman's. The Silverman's
were, as Charlie discovered, a family who had a daughter near Teresa's age, and also, a small house near the stables that they
rented out.
Teresa was sure the small house would be fine for Burl. A step up from the old shack, and somewhere safe for the old man to live.
"I suppose it wouldn't do any harm to ask them about it," Murdoch said.
"Good," Teresa said, with satisfaction. "Well, Charlie and I will go, then, and we'll be back before suppertime. Alright?"
Murdoch looked to Charlie. "Have you done your chores that Maria asked you to do?"
"Yes, Murdoch," Charlie said, earnestly.
"Alright, then. We'll see you both at supper."
As they trotted the buggy down the long roadway, Charlie looked at Teresa in admiration.
"How do you do that?"
"Do what?"
"Get Murdoch to give permission for things. It's almost as though you can do whatever you want to."
"I am older than you are, you know," Teresa reminded.
"I know you're grown up. It just seems as though Murdoch listens to you and doesn't tell you that you can't do
things," Charlie tried to explain.
Teresa shook her head. "Believe me, I don't get to do just what I please, Charlie. It takes diplomacy. And-"
"What's that?" Charlie interrupted. "Diplomacy?"
"That means," Teresa hesitated, thinking how to explain it, "To talk to people with sensitivity, to be tactful. Not demanding. And,
with Murdoch, it means being respectful to him, always."
"Have you ever not been?" Charlie asked, feeling curious.
"Not been what? Respectful to him?" Teresa asked.
When Charlie nodded, Teresa took a deep breath, and said, "Ohhh. Yes, a couple of times. Early on."
"What happened?" Charlie asked.
"Why do you want to know that for?" Teresa asked, looking amused. "Are you wanting to hear about how I nearly
got myself done away with, or something?"
"I'm curious," Charlie admitted. "Tell me, please."
"Well," Teresa said, as if winding up for a story. "The first time was-oh, I think about a month or so after I came to stay
at Lancer. I wanted to go to a party. I even went to town and bought a new dress for it. I had all my plans made before I
even spoke to Murdoch about it. So, anyway, when I did finally announce to him that I was going to be attending this
party the next evening, he informed me that I would not be attending. I got very, very upset, and things went downward
quickly."
"Why didn't he want you to go to the party?" Charlie asked, enthralled at this glimpse into Teresa's past with Murdoch.
"Oh, he didn't care for the reputation of the people who were giving it. They were a young couple, newly married, and they
were known for giving very unsuitable parties, for young people. Lots of drinking, not much chaperoning, things like that. They
were very scandalous, at that time."
"Glory," Charlie said, in awe. "So, what happened?"
"I tried to tell Murdoch that I'd already purchased a dress, and that I was perfectly capable of taking care of myself, and
making my own decisions. Such as the decision to go to this particular party."
"You really did sass him?" Charlie asked, incredulously.
"Oh, yes, I did. He told me to leave the dinner table, and go up to my room. I went, stomping and grumbling the whole way. And,
when he came in to say goodnight to me, I refused to speak to him."
"Did he get really angry, then?" Charlie asked.
"No. Not then. He told me he was sorry if I made the decision not to speak to him, or tell him goodnight. Then, the
next morning, I refused to go down to breakfast. He came storming up, and told me that he'd had enough of my behavior,
and that I would come downstairs immediately to eat my breakfast. I told him since he wouldn't allow me to make decisions,
like going to the party that I wanted, then I was making the decision not to take my meals with him. That I would eat later."
Charlie's eyes widened. She couldn't believe that Teresa had once been so horrible, so rebellious.
"He said no, that I could change my attitude, and come downstairs to eat, and behave myself, or he would see to it that
I learned to behave in his home, by having a spanking."
"Did he spank you, then?" Charlie asked.
"No," Teresa sighed. "I retreated very quickly, and suddenly decided that going down to breakfast was a much better
idea for me."
Charlie giggled. "You were really bad."
"I was," Teresa said, in honesty. "As it turned out, Murdoch was right about that party. There were all sorts things that
happened, that should not have happened there. So it was a good thing that I didn't go."
"What sorts of things?" Charlie asked.
"Ah, I'll tell you some of that when you're older," Teresa said, and Charlie sighed.
"You know, it makes me feel badly, even now, that I treated Murdoch that way," Teresa said, looking lost in thought. "He's really
a wonderful man. And, I owe him so very much."
Charlie felt a bond with Teresa in that moment. She understood that feeling. It was sort of that way with she and Scott. And,
she owed him, too. So very much.
L