November 26th, 1871

It had been about two weeks since Ariadne arrived in Juniper Springs. She had settled in quite nicely and was meeting so many nice people. She and the McCrery's had even had Eames over for dinner last week. Eames and Roy got along quite well, and with their humor and the nice conversation from the other boarders staying at the house, it was a lovely evening.

Ariadne had mentioned the cold remark that Abigail Wilde had given her at the welcoming party to Regina, but she told her not to worry. "That girl is a genial and wonderful lady. She doesn't have a mean word again anyone; you must have just misunderstood her." Regardless of her reassuring words, Ariadne was certain that Abigail did not like her. She had seen her on the street the other morning and tried to smile and wave but before she could even rise up her hand, Abigail had looked away and walked on.

The morning had turned into a surprisingly warm afternoon, so Ariadne and Regina were sitting out on the porch enjoying the sunlight and drinking tea. It was still cold enough for jackets, but warm enough to sit outside in comfort.

They had talked about all sorts of things, Ariadne's worries about the school; she had been out there a few times but hadn't started cleaning up or planning lessons yet. They spoke of her journey out here, Regina's problems with squirrels in her garden last year, the orphanage and had finally settled on Regina's son, Roy.

"Oh honey, he has been in love with that Ashley Williams for years. You met her at the welcoming party." Ariadne nodded, remembering the pretty little blonde woman. "Ever since she slapped him for stealing her pie at the spring bake sale back in '68. She had worked all night baking it with her mother's secret recipe and Roy comes by, while Arthur Wilde distracted her and Roy took it right off the table. I think he was smitten from the time her hand hit his face," Regina laughed at the memory, "I boxed his ears when I found out what they did. Honestly the antics of young boys…"

Ariadne couldn't have planned it better; she had been dying to know more about this Arthur Wilde. And it seemed as though he and Roy were friends. Good friends. Maybe she would even get the chance to see him around here… Ariadne felt herself blushing just at the thought of it. What a little schemer I am, she thought with amusement.

"Oh Regina, I meant to ask you. Is Arthur Abigail's younger brother? I believe I met him briefly last week at the welcoming party."

"Yes he is. Handsome young man too, isn't he? Yes he has only been the sheriff in Juniper Springs for several months, but he's doing quite well for someone so young. He took the position when poor Mr. Ellis was shot."

Ariadne raised her hand up to cover her mouth. She had no idea Mrs. Ellis was so recently widowed. That poor dear. Ariadne thought trying not to imagine what it would be to lose a husband so unexpectedly.

"I had no idea. That's so sad. How has Mrs. Ellis been taking it?" Ariadne asked, hoping it wasn't too forward to pry.

"Oh, well dear… She is recovering as best as she can. It's never an easy thing… To lose the man you've shared your life with." Ariadne felt so stupid. She could see that in her ignorance she had recalled the loss of Regina's husband. Before she was able to say anything, Regina stood up.

"Well my dear, I need to start dinner. Do you think we should make chicken pies or stew?" Ariadne smiled at the older woman. She is so nice to talk to me like I get to have a say in what she does, like I am her guest. Ariadne thought pleasantly, remembering the way they had forced everyone to eat whatever was put onto the plates at the orphanage.

"Stew sounds lovely, Regina." She replied, picking up the tea tray and following Regina inside.

Abigail had been in a foul mood ever since the party. Everyone could tell, but most were too polite to pry. She had avoided Eames like the plague, but she couldn't help thinking about him. Her anger stemmed from embarrassment that she could have ever thought herself special enough to capture the sole attention of someone like Eames. In the entire time she had known him, he had never dated anyone, never been engaged… Never married. Why would he change that for her? It seemed that every few minutes she had to remind herself that she didn't even like Joseph Eames. He didn't mean anything to you. Abigail thought again and again, every time he came across her mind.

She had agreed to stretch her legs and go on a walk with her mother and Pastor Brown's wife, Kathy Brown. Claire and Kathy had been best friends since the Wilde family moved into town back in 1864. They ran the women's circle together and met several times a week for tea. Abigail knew she had to at least attempt to be cheerful in front of the woman. She was really the nicest woman in town.

"Abigail dear, how have you been? You seemed quite down the other day when I saw you." Kathy asked her concern evident on her face.

"Oh thank you Mrs. Brown, I'm much better. Just a touch of a head cold, I think." Abigail lied, not caring to dwell on the truth of it.

"Well that's good you are feeling better now! Now then, ladies, would you mind if we walked over to the cemetery? I promised Steve that I would change out the flowers on Paul's grave." Kathy asked as her eyes grew slightly misty.

"Oh of course we can! It's hard to believe it's been eight years since he passed." Clair replied, gently rubbing her friends back as they walked along. The Pastor and his wife had two sons, David and Paul. Both boys had left to join the Army shortly after they finished their schooling. Back in 1864, the same year that Abigail and her family had moved from Denver to Juniper Springs, Paul had been killed fighting in the Sand Creek Massacre in Colorado. That whole situation was a horrible mess. Many accused the Colorado Territory militia of murder, saying that it was an unprovoked attack; and with the Indian uprisings that were caused due to the retaliation from Sand Creek, it had been almost a year before David had been able to return to town and visit his brother's grave.

As they walked, Abigail reflected on the man she had never had a chance to meet. Paul would have been 30 this year. He was 22 when he died, younger than Arthur was now. It seemed that life could be so harsh sometimes, so cruel. From the way Pastor Brown and Kathy spoke of him, he seemed like a wonderful man. Abigail couldn't help but wonder if they might have been friends? What would he be doing now? Still in the Army perhaps, but certainly he would be married. Would he and Eames have gotten along? Probably, she thought, shaking herself from the daydream, Eames gets along with everyone. Especially if they happen to be pretty little teachers…

"Roy mentioned that Eames had dinner with them the other night. " Arthur mentioned as he shared a delicious roast and cooked vegetables with his parents and sister. His mother had inquired after the 'lovely little school teacher' and how she was getting along at the boarding house.

"What!?" Abigail exclaimed as she dropped her fork and it went clattering onto her plate. Everyone looked at her in surprise; she had been rather quite during the whole meal.

"Abigail? Are you alright?" Miles looked at her with concern.

"Oh, Umm yes... I'm sorry father. I… Umm… I just didn't realize that Roy and Eames were so close." She frantically tried to come up with an excuse as to why she would have been so startled.

Ah, so they have continued this 'friendship' and she is now inviting him for dinner?! Well why not just married already and stop flirting around the idea! Abigail thought as all the pent up frustration and anger seemed to come up to the surface. As she looked over and saw the tight grip Arthur had on his fork, she realized that he seemed to feel the same. She was surprised but didn't think much into it.

"Neither did I, but apparently with Miss Nicola in town, they have all formed a new friendship." Arthur said looking at Abigail. She rolled her eyes and he laughed. Looks like he's jealous of his best friend finding new people to occupy his time… Makes sense I suppose. She thought as she dismissed the idea.

"Will you two stop acting so snobbish!?" Arthur and Abigail looked over to their mother in surprise. She had an angry look on her face and pointed her finger at them as she chastised them. "Honestly Arthur, Roy is your best friend. Have you already formed such a low opinion of Miss Nicola that you wouldn't even want him to acknowledge her? She lives under his roof you know." Then Claire turned to Abigail, "And Abigail, Mr. Eames is a gentleman, of course he wouldn't refuse Mrs. McCrery's dinner invitation. He is a wonderful man, I'm sure if you let yourself get to know him, you would realize it."

They both mumbled their apologies, and neither wanted to continue the conversation, lest anyone realized the true reasons behind their anger.

So I know I introduced some new characters into the mix and they don't really have anything to do with the main plot but in small towns like this everyone's stories are intertwined anyway and people always have interesting back stories. I'll be writing more random back stories later on too :) Just cuz I want to give you a sense of the time period and the historical events that are going on in the area!