Stranger In Their Midst
Chapter Six
Harriet sat in front of her mirror rolling her hair up in curlers. She was talking a mile a minute, as Nels did his best to ignore her. After all, as usual all she was doing was complaining about one thing after another; this time it was the social that had her up in arms. She had just finished insisting that one of the worst things to happen to Walnut Grove was the day Catalina moved in. "Women like Catilona Igloos, like to appear like they are a lady, but they're just phonies and should live elsewhere!"
Nels laid his book down and shot his wife a dirty look behind her back, "First off, the name is Catalina Iglesia and, from what I can see, she is very much a lady! Just because she doesn't believe in sitting down to give you a detailed account of her life, doesn't mean she doesn't belong here." Then knowing the real reason his wife was upset, and siding with Catalina, he picked his book back up and said, "You should have left her alone."
Harriet whirled around and barked, "All I did was try to compliment her; I told her she had the air of a true lady about her and thought she should think about what it would do to her reputation to let a poor country vet escort her to the social! After all, she is wearing another man's ring! She didn't have to stand there giving me a lecture like she's my mother or some schoolmarm."
Nels lay down on his side and muttered, "She wouldn't have to if you didn't act like you were a lioness looking for a mate."
Harriet, who had turned back to her mirror, whirled around again and barked even louder as her eyes blazed fire, "What did you say?"
"I said I'm going to bed. It's getting late." Nels rolled his eyes before closing them. Sometimes he wondered why he stayed married to his wife.
0000
Laura and Albert sat in the loft talking. Both of them had thoroughly enjoyed the dance, the food and visiting good friends. At the moment though, they were laughing and giggling over the fact that Catalina had not backed down from Harriet Olsen. "Harriet's face was priceless!" Albert laughed again. "Personally, I like Mrs. Iglesia."
Laura stopped laughing as her eyebrows turned down. "I wonder if she is even married. I mean, all the adults talk as if she has a husband, and she is wearing a golden band. I just get a funny feeling that, if she does have a husband, his last name isn't Iglesia."
Albert reached over and tapped Laura very lightly upon the forehead. "Her last name is Iglesia. If she has a husband somewhere, his last name would be the same." After he'd said the words, Albert shrugged his shoulders. He had to admit, he had a funny feeling when it came to all this talk about the woman's missing husband. "I guess we shouldn't worry about it. I mean, she's nice. She helps everyone out that she can; well, except Mrs. Olsen. I think she'd even help her though; I mean, if she really needed it. Goodnight, Laura." Albert slipped into his bed while Laura pulled the curtain and headed for hers.
"Good night." Laura said as she too lay down. Though, she couldn't stop wondering why such a nice lady like Catalina was alone if she had a husband.
0000
Hyrum sat on a chair on Catalina's porch. The moon was full and it was bright. Catalina sat on a chair a few feet away. He had asked if they could talk for a few minutes, and she'd agreed. However, she was starting to wonder what he was really wanting, as anything they'd said to each other could have easily have waited until the next day, if not longer. "What is it, Senor Hyrum?" She had dropped the Baker part at his request, but couldn't get herself to drop the habit of calling everyone Senor, Senora or Senorita.
"I want to ask you something I know I have no business asking. May I ask anyway?" Hyrum set the cup of ice water she'd brought out to him down on the small table that sat between their chairs.
Catalina smiled. She would never tell Hyrum no when it came to asking her questions. "What is it?" she asked as she kept her eyes on his face.
The talk about a missing husband refused to die; he'd heard guesses repeated more than once. As a general rule, he would have just ignored such talk and feeble minded gossip, but since the feeling he'd knew her wouldn't go away he figured he might as well start finding out more about her. With that being the case, the first thing he had to do was get the first question on his mind out of the way. "Why are you alone?"
Catalina stood up and walked to the edge of the porch. Hyrum misunderstood the reaction; he quickly joined her and apologized. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked." Without thinking he laid his hand upon her shoulder.
Catalina looked over at his hand and smiled. She then turned and nodded towards the chairs. "It is okay for you to ask such questions. I will answer." She walked to the chair and sat back down; Hyrum did the same.
"It is simple enough, but a long story. I will try and keep it short. First off you might as well know, I might have been born and raised in Southern California, but my father and mother were not; we spent a lot of time in Mexico. After such a trip to Mexico, we returned to Southern California. Not that long after our return, I met my husband. We married rather quickly," Catalina sighed, "within a month after my marriage I learned of my grandfather's condition. My husband understood my need to help my grandfather and said I should go back to Mexico that he would not argue if I helped the old man for a short spell…as long as I understood my husband needed to stay in the United States." Her voice grew bitter and her eyes dark as she continued, "I angered my father when he learned of my marriage; after all, my family is quite wealthy and our marriages are supposed to be arranged. When the rest of my family also returned to Mexico to help with grandfather, my father insisted I annul the marriage, but I would not." She sighed and shook her head. "Like I told you before, he began doing one thing after another to keep me in Mexico. The last thing he had done as I had grown, how you say…fed up with things and was on my way out was to have a telegram sent to me. It told me of my husband's 'death'. I suppose he thought it would keep me in Mexico and that he would be able to get me a new husband. He was only partially right. I stayed in Mexico, or Southern California, for years." She closed her eyes and paused, feeling anger towards her father rising.
Hyrum again got an uncomfortable feeling and sat straight up, keeping his eyes on Catalina. "He isn't dead, your husband that is. He's the friend of who spoke that day you asked me about memories."
She shook her head. "I visited some friends in Southern California a few months before coming here; I was shocked to hear them talk of things my father had done and I realized he'd been the force behind a lot of lies. I also about had heart failure as they talked about a trip they'd taken and the man that had befriended them. At the time, I figured my father must have lied to him too."
"So you left California to find him and tell him everything," he remembered what she'd asked him before, about the memory issue and he added, "but he doesn't remember you." Hyrum sat back and looked at Catalina, who nodded in the affirmative.
Hyrum would have continued talking to her but out of all people… Nels Olsen was hurrying his way. Dr. Baker jumped to his feet and flew down the steps. "What is it, Nels?"
"It's Lars Hansen; I think it's his heart." Nels answered. The two men excused themselves and hurried off to help their friend. Catalina stood on the porch and watched them leave. She prayed for the best when it came to Lars Hansen.