Chapter Six

Steve, who had assured McColl there was no need for the foreman to stick around and that Steve would be to work at the crack of dawn, watched as the Barkley's long time employee rode away. Then, even though McColl had shown him the house and told him the history of the place, Steve began taking a closer look at the house. He shook his head as he inspected the walls of the front room. They were in bad need of a paint job, a few boards looked older than the hills and were full of small holes. When he inspected the fireplace that set in a portion of the south wall, he was relieved to discover just how solid the thing still was. It would be one less thing to worry about. However, when he stood up and took a step towards the doors that set to the right of the fireplace, the board beneath his feet let out a groan loud enough to wake the dead. He moved away from the boards a split second before the board broke; the left side of it flew straight upward and then stopped. "How come I get a feeling I'm going to be fixing the front steps, the floor and," he said looking up as he realized light was coming through the roof and saw a few holes above his head, "the roof before I do anything else?" Of course, no one answered him.

Steve then stepped through a door on the north side of the room and into a hallway. He looked to his left; he could see a bedroom at the end of the small hallway. He then looked to his right; another bedroom sat at the end. Since he could also see an opening into what he assumed was the kitchen and dining room south of the bedroom, he walked up the hallway until he could turn into the kitchen. The moment he stepped into the dining room/kitchen, the boards underneath his feet creaked; he could also see light coming in through a small portion of the roof. He would have said the same thing he'd said when he'd been in the living room only he couldn't as a scene from long ago suddenly played itself in his mind.

"Come on Tommy, Mama always bakes on Mondays. There will be something waiting for us."

"Are you sure?I mean, are you sure she'll give us something before dinner time?"

Steve could see two small dark haired boys running through the back door that sat in the east wall on the other side of the kitchen. It shook him up, though it bothered him even more when he a strong impression told him he was one of those boys. However, Steve couldn't have told anyone which one if his life depended on it. However, when no other memories presented themselves, Steve shook himself and started making a list of what he'd need to get to work on the house.

~oOo~

"Why don't you and Steve come to supper tonight?" Audra asked as she climbed back up into the wagon and took a hold of the reins. She had thoroughly enjoyed her visit with Lily, and all the orphans adored her new friend. Audra thought it would be great for Lily and Steve to eat with the family.

Lily shook her head as she took her place on the buckboard. If the house she and her husband would live in needed as much work as they'd been told, Steve wouldn't feel like going anywhere but his own dining room for supper. "Thanks Audra, I really appreciate the offer, but I'm afraid I'll have to take a rain check. Though, I promise I'll talk to my husband about doing just that in a few days."

"May I ask you something?" Audra rubbed the reins with her thumbs and asked after they had traveled down the road a mile or so.

Lily could see how hesitant the young woman was as she asked the question. It made her wonder what she'd done during the day that was so wrong. "Sure, just don't get mad if I can't answer it." She smiled as she replied.

"What made you leave the mountains?" Audra then quickly apologized, hoping it didn't sound as if she wished Steve and Lily had never come. As she pointed out, they hadn't been there long enough to do anything to warrant such a desire. "It's just that, dressed like he is, Steve sure stands out."

"And so do I," Lily chuckled as she looked at her buckskin dress. She then became somber. "If you'd seen my husband a few years ago, you'd have asked what we were doing up in the mountains in the first place." She explained that her husband had not let his hair grow or sported facial hair until the day Adam Brighton passed away. "There were…" Lily hesitated as she struggled with her words, "other things my husband was dealing with at the time. Crazy as it sounds, I think that; maybe, he simply chose to let his hair grow as it was something he could control. And, at that time, there was many things that made him feel very insecure." She then commented how often she'd seen people do one thing or another simply out of the need to feel like they had a say in what was happening around them.

"I understand that one." Audra told her new friend. "And I'm sorry if I was out of line in asking. I was just curious. Though, please don't tell anyone I actually asked you that. I'm sure they'd be appalled at 'my lack of manners'. After all, we've only just met."

Lily began smiling wide. She was not the least bit offended that Audra had questioned her. "As my father always said 'Si tu ne poses pas de questions, tu n'auras jamais de réponses'." She starting chuckling as Audra's eyes widened and gave her a confused look that might as well said 'WHAT did you just say?'. Lily then repeated herself only she spoke in English. "If you don't ask questions; you'll never get any answers." The moment she said the words, Lily turned her face away from Audra and pretended to pick lint off the dress she, Lily, was wearing. She had to; the moment she'd repeated her late father's words, Lily had felt like screaming…mostly because she didn't know how to get her husband to talk to the Barkleys or look up the Alder family and start asking questions.

"Oh, okay," Audra started beaming. She was extremely happy that Lily had answered her in that manner, and not chosen to be mad instead. The rest of the way home the two women visited…though Audra did most of the talking, something Lily was more than happy to let her do. After all, if Audra was talking, she couldn't ask any more questions.