Chapter Three

An hour later they pulled up in front of the McAllisters' new home. The house they had moved out of was too small for David and Gordon to have offices in and still have room for guests. The new house had eight bedrooms, an expanded kitchen and two separate rooms for David, a physician, and Gordon, a lawyer, to have offices at home, rather than renting in town.

The house, white with dark green shutters, three stories high with the third floor used for storage, beckoned the folks from Laramie. It had a wide front porch in front of which were planted rose bushes. The roses had faded and died off at this point but bright yellow chrysanthemums lined the front walkway.

The buckboard had no sooner stopped when Hannah McAllister came out of the house to greet her visitors. The Sherman's hostess wore her strawberry blonde hair on top of her head. She wore an emerald green dress with a white yoke and lace a few inches above the hem. A smile lighted her features as she set eyes upon her long deceased friend's son whom she thought of as a member of her own family.

"Welcome to Evergreen," she called. "Welcome to our home!"

"Mrs. McAllister," Slim said, "it's good to see you again. You remember Jess don't you?"

"Of course I do," Hannah said as she greeted both young men with a kiss on their cheek. "How could I forget the first recovered patient, and guest, to eat more than Gordon does?" She smiled as Jess blushed at the memory.

"I'd like you to meet Mrs. Daisy Cooper - our housekeeper and surrogate mother."

"Mrs. Cooper,, it's a pleasure to meet you at last. Cam has told me so much about you. She truly enjoyed her visit this past summer."

"Please call me Daisy," the other woman said. "We enjoyed having her. She's a wonderful girl:"

"All right, but you must call me Hannah."

"We enjoyed both of Cam's visits," Daisy told Hannah, although I'm sure the boys could have lived without the blizzard, shall we say, of snowballs."

"I'm sure," Hannah McAllister laughed. "I'm afraid Slim must have forgotten who taught her to ambush her prey with them."

"No telling tales, Mother," Gordon said.

The two women laughed.

"He sounds like Jess," Daisy commented. "He's always getting me not to squeal on him."

"I'm afraid some of my sons' mischievous personalities rubbed off on their much younger cousin. Then again, her father was quite the scamp in his younger days."

"Aunt Daisy? I'm hungry," Mike tugged on her hand eager for the talk to end.

"This must be Mike," Hannah smiled down on the boy.

"Mrs. McAllister, this is Mike Williams - our ward," Slim introduced the boy to their hostess. "Mike this is Cam's aunt, Mrs. McAllister." Frowning he apologized for Mike. "I'm sorry for his rudeness."

"Nonsense, Slim," Hannah said. "The boy is obviously tired and hungry and here we are standing around talking! Come inside, all of you. Gordon will see to your luggage."

Holding her hand out to Mike she said, "You come with me, young man, and I'll give you some milk and cookies to hold you over until lunch is ready."

Mike took the hand of the friendly woman and allowed her to lead him to the kitchen. When he was seated she gave him a tall glass of milk and four ginger cookies.

She poured coffee for the adults and joined them at the table. Jess and Mike seemed destined to try and eat as many cookies as they could until both Slim and Daisy glared at them.

"These sure are good," the nine-year-old said around a mouthful of cookie.

"I'm glad you like them," Hannah McAllister told him.

Just then light footsteps were heard coming from the front hall as Cam returned from the errand she had been running for her aunt.

"Slim! Jess! Mrs. Cooper! Mike! I'm so happy to see you," the girl exclaimed as she gave each of her friends a hug and a kiss on the cheek - which Mike promptly wiped away with his shirt sleeve garnering him a hair ruffling from Cam.

Cam's appearance took the men and Mike by surprise, for instead of the pants and boys' shirt she usually wore except for special occasions, she was wearing a dark blue dress with blue and green squares shot through with red lines - the tartan of the Blair clan from whom she got her middle name. Her long black hair was braided and pinned up.

Slim rose to his feet like the gentleman he'd been raised to be.

"Why Miss Cameron Blair Ramsay don't you look nice?" he smiled broadly.

"Cam is that really you?" Jess was stunned to see his young pal looking so ladylike. However, after the debacle with Troy McCanles he'd learned his lesson about making smart remarks about a young lady's appearance. However he did ask, "Where'd that harum scarum tomboy we know and love to go?"

"I'll harum scarum you Jess Harper. I'm going to be sixteen in a couple of months silly. Aunt Hannah and I decided I should start wearing my hair up and wearing long skirts now that I'm growing up so fast."

"You sure look different," Mike lamented. "How are we supposed to go fishin' if you're all dressed up like that?"

"Mike!" Daisy was aghast at the boy's statement. "Shame on you!"

"It's all right, Mrs. Cooper," the girl laughed. "I imagine Jess thinks the same thing only he didn't say it." Walking over to Mike she put her arms around the boy and squeezed. "Don't worry Mike, I'll turn into your pal when I take you fishing."

"Promise?"

"I promise," Cam told him. "Just as soon as the fair is over we'll go fishing. You and me, Jess and Slim and Gordy too if they want.

"Oh boy!" Mike was much happier now.

Jess' face was a study at that announcement. He loved fishing and he loved to take Mike or go off with Slim to go fishing but he had vivid memories of losing a bet with Cam, and later, with Cam and Mike over who would catch the most fish. Cam's bread for bait had worked better than his worms.

"Or Jess could stay behind and find something else to do," the girl said with a twinkle in her eye.

"You think so huh?" The Texan rose to the bait.

"Yeah, I do."

The two of them stared at each other for a long minute before they started laughing.

"Be nice or I'll tell Slim not to give you that letter he's got for you."

"Slim Sherman! You have a letter for me and haven't given it to me yet? Hand it over!"

"Letter? Letter? What letter is that Jess?" the blond rancher couldn't help being a little evasive.

"You know - the one from her sweetheart," Jess' blue eyes sparkled with mischief. He and Cam were pals but he wasn't going to pass up the opportunity. It was no different than when he needled his partner.

"Slim Sherman you hand me that letter right now!"

Her tormentors grinned at each other as Slim made a great show of searching his pockets before finally handing her Tommy's letter.

"Men!" Cam snatched the letter from him, her face lighting up when she saw the familiar handwriting.

"Well aren't you gonna open it/" Jess asked.

"Nor in front of you two," the teen told him.

She then excused herself and went to her room to read her letter in private. Slim and Jess' laughter followed her down the hall to the stairs.

"Boys! That wasn't very nice," Daisy scolded.

"Never mind Daisy," Hannah said. "Cam's quite capable of holding her own. My girls were all grown and out of the house by the time David and I got custody of her. She grew up with Gordon and his brothers. That's why she's always been a tomboy." She fixed Slim with a parental stare, "However it would behoove Matthew Jacob Sherman, Jr. to remember what she's capable of when she's riled up. A word of warning from him to Jess would be a good idea as well."

"Yes ma'am," Slim said stifling a grin. He knew Hannah wasn't really mad and Cam would get over it.

Gordon came in with some of the luggage just then.

"Ah, good," Hannah said. "Take Mrs. Cooper's luggage to the guest room next to Cam's room. Slim and Jess have the room next to yours." Turning her attention to the youngest member of the "family" she asked , "Mike do you want to sleep in the same room as Slim and Jess or by yourself in another room?"

Mike looked at his guardians who smiled at him.

"It's up to you, Mike," Slim told him. "You decide for yourself."

"What's it going to be Tiger?" Jess asked.

The nine-year-old thought about it for a minute.

"With Slim and Jess please."

His guardians and Daisy weren't too surprised. It was his first overnight that wasn't taking place at a local ranch or farm. Given the fact that he had witnessed his parents' murder by renegade Indians and had suffered nightmares about it for months afterward, it wasn't a complete surprise that he would choose to sleep in the same room as the men.

"Put Mike's bag in the same room as Slim and Jess'," Hannah instructed her son.

She then turned to her visitors and said, "I'm sure you would like to freshen up and relax for a bit. Gordon will show you to your rooms and tend to your horses. Lunch will be ready in about an hour."