Chapter 3

The door to the shipping office opened and Jeremy Bolt came in and went to the ticket office.

"May I help you?" said an elderly gentleman.

"Yes, I would like to book passage for my wife and I to Friday Harbor, San Juan Island."

"Sir, we have a boat that leaves the day after tomorrow and arrives there approximately 2 days later."

Jeremy looked at the schedule and then asked about the kind of boat or ship that they would be traveling on.

"Well, sir. We only have the mail boat currently. They will take passengers but usually it is for the men who work in the Lime Kilns. There really is no place for a lady to stay on that boat. The other steam ships from the Mosquito fleet do go there but only once every two weeks. The next one won't be leaving for two weeks."

Jeremy said to him: "May I get that schedule, and could you tell me how much for a round trip?"

The gentleman nodded and wrote down the schedule for the next steam ship out of Seattle going to Anacortes and beyond. "You will have to switch to another ship going from Anacortes to Friday Harbor at the ferry landing."

"This brochure does not say what the accommodations will be?" Jeremy asked concerned that it would not be a better experience for Candy than the first time she set sail with him and his brothers. Although they had come to love Clancy and his 'ship' the ladies who came as brides had to put up with being on a 'mule' boat rather than one with cabins. Jeremy wanted to give Candy a better experience.

"Well, sir, there is not heat on this ship except for sitting next to the smokestack if you wanted to stay warm. You could charter a private ship if you prefer. I have a list of people who will take you there in their private boats or ships?"

"Okay, may I have that list as well?"

"Yes of course!" he handed the list to Jeremy and added "if you are going to take the mail boat you may need to book passage as early as tomorrow. I will be here tomorrow from 7 until 3."

Jeremy nodded and took the information. He would have to talk to Candy before he made any kind of decision. He left with the information but realized he had forgotten to ask what the fare would be. He looked on the brochure and the fares were listed as well as the time. In fact, there was one ship that would leave on Monday next at 7 am from Seattle, to Friday Harbor. The length of time would be 13 hours, that is better than the 6months it took to bring her all the way from New Bedford to Seattle so many years ago. (Was it that long ago?).

Jeremy was walking back to his and Candy's cabin when Joshua came running up to him.

"Jeremy, do you have time to talk?"

Jeremy said: "sure Josh, what's up?"

Josh still did the books and every now and then the three bolt brothers would sit down and go over the books together to be sure that everything was running smoothly. "I need to find out about an ordered that was processed last week. Your name was on that order."

"Oh, sure Josh, let's go to Lottie's and have a beer?" Jeremy asked.

Josh nodded in the affirmative, so they headed over to Lottie's. It was now a bar and a restaurant, and the dormitory had been changed to a hotel and had been expanded to accommodate various events.

Lottie still ran the saloon, but the younger girls were waitressing and serving. She would come in and sit and watch her customers and talk with them but for the day-to-day maintenance she had decided to put someone else in charge. Jeremy and Joshua walked in and went over to the bar.

When they got their drinks, they sat for few moments taking in the sight. Lottie's had been the place for the town meetings, the place for the loggers to gather and a sort of home away from home for all who lived in Seattle. As Seattle had grown there was now another saloon that was simply called 'Stemples" this was more of the adult saloon with pool tables and dart games. In Lottie's Saloon children could come in for food and drink, however, the other was only for adults. Mr. Stemples was strict about that. He too was married now. His wife was the head of the education committee and had not been a 'bride' but was an older woman who had been married once before and her husband had died leaving her with a boy. She came out west from the East Coast. Her son was now in his late teens and he was aspiring to go into the military. His father had been a military man himself and had graduated from WestPoint. She was in the process of writing to the governor about an appointment.

When Aaron met her, he did not immediately fall for her. She was tall, and a little plain her hair was a kind of mousy brown and she had brown eyes, when he talked to her, she looked at him and he felt as if she were really listening and hearing what he had to say. When they met at various community gatherings, he found that she was bright, intelligent and could discuss any subject that he discussed with knowledge and intelligence. She was also very funny, in fact that is why he fell for her. She may have known many things, but she also was able to laugh at herself with others and laugh with him. Her laugh, he decided was what got him. When he proposed, he did so in a very Aaron way. He took her out to a nice spot by the water and they stood and talked and then he got down on his knee and proposed.

"Sarah, Will you marry me!?"

She looked at him with surprise and said: "Why Mr. Stemple, I thought you would never ask!" then she smiled, and her laughter sounded so much like an angel's voice that he almost forgot to give her the ring and kiss her.

"The problem is not that you put the order in, it is just that it is not all there. We are missing some information, Did Jason tell you if there was more to this order?"
"No, not that I remember. He just said to me to put this order in. I didn't really look at the order I just filled out the paperwork. It was right before Melanie's wedding day. I may have been a little distracted." Jeremy said with a sheepish grin.

"So, Josh, what is the order, May I see it?" Jeremy said reaching his hand out to take the paper.

Jeremy looked at it and said: "Yes, I remember this, this is the order I put in for Jason before he left for Olympia."

Josh smiled back at him. Weddings, everyone gets too distracted he thought. "Well, we can't complete this until Jason gets back, or if you know what he wants it for maybe we can figure out what is missing?"

Josh and Jeremy sat and thought a moment, Jeremy said: "He is supposed to return tomorrow, so he will not be anywhere near a telegraph…"

"Yes, he will, he will be staying the night in Tacoma so we can telegraph the hotel and he can get back to us tonight?" Josh said this and then decided that he would see Ben and have him send the telegraph as soon as possible. "Thanks Jeremy." Josh said this then excused himself and left the saloon.

Jeremy sat there a minute and thinking about Candy and leaving for The San Juan Islands. He would have to let Jason and Josh know as well as find out if it would work for him and Candy as well. Looking around, he did not see anyone he knew so he got up and walked out the door.

Right at that moment, Josh came out of the store and flagged Jeremy down.

"What is it Josh?"

"We just got a wire from Jason; he is not going to be back until next Monday. He said that there was some problem with things in Olympia and he needed to stay and take care of things. He will tell us later if he needs anything from us." Josh said to Jeremy who had immediately worried that something may have happened to Jason.

"Well, can we send him that not on the order? Maybe he can telegraph to us what the rest of it is?"

"I did that already!" as Josh said this another telegraph came from Ben, he called to the brothers to come in.

"What is it Ben?"

"It's from…Well, you need to read this yourself!" As Josh and Jeremy read the message, they both looked up at each other thanking Ben they went to their cabin they had lived in for so many years. All three of them stayed there at one time or another but now Joshua and Jeremy would be having a private conversation about what happened to Jason in Olympia.