Chapter 8

Hetty King, April 1877, Aged 17

"Children, there is something I'd like to discuss with all of you. These were the words that started it all, started what would be my path for many years to come. However, at the time no one could have guessed what would lead from them.

It was beautiful April morning, all of us were gathered around the table, eating our breakfasts before we went about our daily lives. Since graduating and coming back home I had found myself with little to do. While a short year ago I would have been planning my application for the Avonlea school board, Miss Wigins had decided to delay her retirement by a year, leaving me with little to do, except wait until the next year.

With all the children in school, except Olivia, I had been often finding myself at my wits end of boredom. That is to say, although she was a dear child with a lovely disposition there was only so much time I could spend with my four year old sister without yearning for some company for my own age. That is why, on that day, Olivia and I were both dressed in our visiting clothes as we were going to be paying a visit to an old school mate of mine, and often a watcher of the children, Miss Irene Steamer.

To say Miss Steamers' help allowed me to continue schooling would be a near understatement, and without Irene I would have not been able to continue regular grammar school, never mind higher learning. Since I could never truly repay her - and because I was going slowly stir-crazy - I often would get Olivia dressed and go pay visits to Irene and her mother. Now of course I was never one for gossip, so most often when we went to visit it was to help Irene and Mrs. Steamer with jobs in and around the house. Today I was going to help Irene do some spring cleaning, while Mrs. Steamer was going to help Olivia with her needlework.

However, before we could go about whatever our days plans were, we all listened to father. " I have been thinking of something for quite a while now children, and I'd like your opinion on it." We must have looked a highly skeptical audience, or perhaps highly fearful, for her added with a smile "Oh don't worry, it's nothing serious, and everybody is in good health. Smile for goodness sakes, it won't break your faces."

I put as much as a smile as I could muster on. Looking around the table I raised my eyebrow at Roger as he continued to look sullen. Thankfully he saw my look and immediately both sat up straighter and smiled, it was good to see he still listen to me - sometimes.

"As you all know it's been about four since your mother died." Well, there went the smiling portion of that conversation. "And while Hetty has been doing a bang up job taking care of everyone, you children still need a mother." He was really on a winning streak then, evidence by the fact that both Alec and Roger were making fists under the table. "I know this might be hard for you all to accept, or to think about right now, and you don't have to immediately tell me what you think, but I would like to hear your opinions..."

Nearly fourteen, and the eldest of my siblings, Alec rose up quicker than a flash of lightning. "You want to know what I think? I think this is ridiculous, everything is fine, we don't need a mother ..."

"We've got Hetty." Ruth piped in.

Alec continued on, giving Ruth a brief smile, "exactly, and if Hetty wants to leave someday, then things will be different." His voice was getting angrier by the second, as the things he had been holding back spilled out in a fashion most unlike my brother. "You say you want family approval but you don't care, you haven't cared since mother died. You left us alone, and Hetty was left to raise us. You've come back and now you're pretending that you're father of the year or something. Well, it just isn't fair."

As Alec barged out the back door I half expected my father to run after him, but instead he looked as if nothing had happened.

"Ruth, can you watch Olivia for a moment?" I asked as I followed Alec, asking, but not waiting for her to respond. As I ran after Alec I had no earthly clue as to what I should say to him. Honestly I was not thrilled of fathers grand idea, but I learned long ago with father, no one could change him. It was a mixture of King pride and plain bullheadedness that made him that way, but faults and all, all anyone could really do was accept him and love him inspite of his faults.

In all the commotion I had failed to see exactly where Alec had run off to, but I had a very good guess.

"Are you in here?" I queried as I opened the door to the barn. A verbal response was never given, but I could hear my brother at the other end of the barn, pitching hay into the cow stalls. I couldn't be quite sure but I thought I even heard him cry. The crying, like most things about Alec, was soft and quiet, but I had been raising him for four years now, and I had been his sister for many years previous to that. I knew, but I didn't draw attention to it. Instead I sat on one of the bales of hay several stalls away, near the goats. Far enough away so he did not think me an invader of his personal space, but close enough so my concern was apparent, and my ears available.

How long we sat like that, I don't really know, as we both seemed to lose track. I do know it was long enough for it to be time for the children to go to school, as Olivia walked in, climbing into my lap. As I moved her from my lap to the other side of me on the hay bale, Alec finally spoke "I'm not going to school today."

"I wished you'd reconsider that choice but, I'm not going to force you."

"How could he say things like that? We needed a new mother! We don't need any mother, we have a mother, and though she's gone, in spirit she's all around us." Alec stopped haying and looked at me with a look that could break your heart "How does he miss all of that Hetty."

"He's lonely."

"But he has us."

"People need more than just children."

"I suppose." I wondered if he was calmer now, if I could go with Olivia, or if I should stay with him. Alec had gone back to pitching hay, but it was slower now, as if he were thinking over something. "I feel like he's forgetting mother."

"Pardon?"

"But courting someone else, it's like he's forgotten mother, and everything else he had with her. And I'm ... I'm afraid. What if we like whomever he's courting? What if we begin to forget mother too?"

"Oh Alec!" I sighed as I walked over to him. And, for the first time in a very long time I gave him a hug. "You'll never forget mother, you yourself said that she is all around us. A mother is something you never forget, especially our mother."

"You think so?"

"I do. And I do not think that father has forgotten mother. If anything he is trying to help me in fulfilling my promise to her, by trying to find someone who can run the house if something happens to me, or if I ever get married. He's lonely Alec. Just like you and I, and everyone misses mother, so does father. She was so much his entire world, I don't know if you remember it, but she was. Without her, he doesn't know what to do. In the next ten or fifteen life is going to be hard for him, we'll all be getting married and leaving, and he'll be alone again. Maybe if he finds someone he won't ever have to be alone again."

"Sister!" I looked down at Olivia, who was smiling very proud of herself. As I picked her up she laughed. "Olivia Jane, you have two sisters." Looking quite innocent she simply said "baby" and it all made sense, she didn't truly want a sister, but a living baby doll. However, I doubted there was much of a chance that either would happen.

"Well Miss Olivia, let's go grab your needlework and your coat and we'll get going."

"You can come along with us if you'd like Alec, give you a chance for some fresh air."

"Where are you going?"

"Irenes'. We'll be doing spring cleaning and we could sure use whatever help you can give. It'll get you out of this stuffy barn."

Alec looked up at me and smiled. "I think I could manage a bit of cleaning." However as he finished his statement the smile vanished from his face. Turning around I saw my father standing between two frames of the barn, only about fifty feet away from us. This was his way of saying he wanted to talk, even if his request lacked the one thing he was hoping it would achieve.

I reached out and grabbed Alecs' hand "I'm going to take Olivia and grab our coats and work shoes. Then we can get going. We'll wait for you outside." He nodded, by I could see the anger that he held in his eyes. "Hear him out Alec, remember what I said, remember he's a human too. We all have secrets, and no matter how much you think you know someone, there is always one thing you don't know, and it's usually that one thing that is most influential in shaping a body. Give him a chance."

As I walked past father, Olivia in tow, he looked at him, screwed up her face and stick out her tongue. However while father no longer seemed to care, instead focussing on Alec, I made sure to reprimand my youngest sibling all the way back to the house.

I never asked Alec what he and father talked about, or what happened in those five minutes we were gone. However, by the time I had collected everything, checked the house over and got Olivia and myself outside, Alec was ready to leave, but in a much more positive and agreeable mood than earlier.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Oh Hetty I am glad to see you here!" Exclaimed Irene as we reached her porch. I do not think she saw Alec at first as she immediately looked a little shocked and smiled "Alec! I didn't know you were coming." As we walked up the porch stairs she said "It's good to see you, I've got lots of work that a young man like you could really help me with.

After that the look on Alecs' face was purely ridiculous, a dopey sort of look that I had seen many men give to Irene, but only one man gave it to me. With her raven black hair and bright blue eyes, Irene Steamer was still unmarried and living at home, with many of the local gossips wondering what could possibly be wrong with her, for she was so beautiful that is a true conundrum as to why she was not yet married. And, like many other men, both old and young, my oldest brother was quite enamoured with her. Thankfully Irene didn't make anything of it, and we all went in to work on our appointed tasks.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

That night, after dinner father asked again if we could talk about his courting someone. In his mannerisms Roger still seemed very angry about the whole ordeal, but none the less spoke in favor of the idea, leading me to wonder if Alec had, had a talk with him. Neither Ruth nor Olivia put objections to the idea, there memories of mother were very faint, they both being so young when she passed away. Alec asked father if he had any one in mind that he wanted to court.

"I do in fact, I've talked to her about it even, but she told me that before she would think of courting me, she wanted me to talk to you and get your permissions."

"Maybe, ... " I began "If we knew her the lady was you were interested in we could give you our more honest opinions, be better able to tell you how we feel." To that idea the children all nodded.

"I think you're right Hetty-Beth. And, before I tell you all who she is, I want you to know I've put a great deal of thought into this decision. I picked someone who I not only fancy, but also someone who I think could help Hetty in running the house, should she ever need it..."

"Just tell us already." an agitated Roger sighed from his place on the red couch in our parlor.

"Roger!" I shot him a warning glance, which thankfully still had power in it, as he immediately corrected his behavior.

"Yes, of course, I'm prattling on, aren't I? But, I'm nervous, you crew of Kings you're something. The girl who I'd like to court is Irene Steamer..."

I didn't listen to anything he said beyond that. Irene Steamer was only two years older than I. We had gone to school together. My father was near fifty, abut Irene said that she would court him? What could she be thinking? It isn't that she lacked any beauty, so why would she agree to court my father? Looking around to my sibling I could see that they had many of the same questions written on there faces. In fact the only one who seemed especially pleased about the whole thing was Olivia who was beaming. Now, that isn't to say any one looked especially angry, or mad, but they, as well as I had looks of complete puzzlement on there faces.

"Hetty?"

"Hmmm?"

"Do you have anything to say?"

Did I have anything to say, oh I had several things I would have liked to say. I honestly thought the idea was both ridiculous and disgusting - what young girl in her right mind would want to court a man like my father. As much as I wanted to voice disapproval, I knew I couldn't. Despite simply being there sister, the time I had spent raising the children gave me quite a bit of sway. If I were to voice disapproval than that, in theory, would allow the children to do so as well, and we had already seen where that could lead. No, I had to show support, someone did.

"It is a bit surprising, you are both so different in ages. However, if it will make you happy, what can I say. I think it is agreeable that you court Irene. I mean Miss Steamer."

Following my lead the children nodded their heads, uttering similar sentiments. It seemed wrong for me to lie, but with the age differences I doubted the relationship would ever last.

How wrong I was.

A/N - Can you believe, my longest chapter to date! Hope you enjoyed - V