Chapter 3- Visitors, Impressions and Envy

A/N: Yesterday the poltergeist were at it again. Seems to be around midday the site says the story doesn't exist. Oddly, when it reappeared for some, it went out for others. Sorry about the confusion. It appears that if you "follow" the story, it is easier to access at these "rolling blackout" times. You are much appreciated.

The shivering, twelve-year-old blonde girl slowly approached the stone and wooden pillars that denoted the entrance to the family property of her new friend, Addie. The large, wooden sign hanging between the pillars proudly announced the "Legacy D", and from what the awestruck child could see, rightfully so. Wendy Jo was freezing, but she couldn't help but stop and stare down the long road ahead of her, punctuated by what appeared to be an enormous, white, two-story house.

She kept her arms tightly wrapped around herself, clutching her book, her dingy, white cardigan not enough to keep out the early December bitterness. Luckily, inspecting the property and the many buildings on it as she walked helped to distract the girl. Do a lotta families live here? Wendy Jo couldn't help but wonder, as she counted three separate barns, each with its own corral, noting that there was a smattering of men working the ranch. She startled and froze in place when Mutt barreled toward her from the family barn, alerting his owners that company had arrived.

"Mutt, ya stop that now!" Festus shouted from the hay loft door of the business barn, "It's okay, li'l Miz. You kin go on up t' the door," he pointed to the front of the house.

Wendy Jo nodded her thanks and continued her short journey to the porch steps.

"Well, hello there," Addie's mother warmly greeted the underdressed child before her, "Hurry on in here, Honey. It's a little cold for just a sweater today," she widely opened the door to grant the child admittance and quickly closed it behind her.

"Hello, Mrs. Dillon," Wendy Jo quietly greeted the beautiful redhead who'd welcomed her. She was pleasantly caught off guard by Kitty's use of the term of endearment, "Honey." My mama used t' call me 'Honey,' she reflected.

"You c'mon over here by the fire and warm up a bit," Kitty led Wendy Jo into the spacious sitting room. She held out her open palm toward the children playing on the carpeted floor, "These are Addie's little brother and sisters-Scarlett, Ezra, and the baby chewing on the block is Maggie," she affectionately introduced.

"Hello, I'm Wendy Jo," she smiled, her heart quickly beating with envy. Not only does Addie have a kind Mama, she's got a big family, too…

"Hi! Wanna play blocks?" Ezra smiled at the girl.

"Sit heya," Scarlett patted the carpet right next to her.

"Miss Scarlett Kathleen, it's rest time," Kitty announced as she swooped Maggie into her arms, settling her upon her hip, "Let's go my little prince. That means you, too."

"Aww, Mama," both Scarlett and Ezra whined.

Addie bounded down the wide staircase, warning, "Remember, Santa is watching. You don't want t' be on the 'naughty list', do ya?"

Kitty kissed her eldest's forehead as she passed her on the bottom step, firmly holding Scarlett's hand with Maggie still clinging to her hip.

"Thank you, Pumpkin," she whispered, "Ezra, you come up after you gather the blocks."

'Yes'm," he replied, quickly picking up the toys. He didn't want to find himself on Santa's bad side.

"Hi, Wendy Jo," Addie greeted her friend, "I hope you found the ranch okay. Your pa didn't get lost droppin' you off, did he?"

"Um, no," the girl shook her head, "I decided t' walk."

"Walk! We live far from town. I thought you said you live just outside of Dodge?" Addie led her friend into the kitchen, "Would you like some hot chocolate? Or milk? Mama let me make some cookies for us. Let me tell ya, it was hard t' keep 'em out of my brothers' clutches. They can be such pigs sometimes."

Wendy Jo let out a genuine chuckle. She very much liked Addie Dillon because she really was as nice as she seemed. She sighed, "I'd love a glass of milk with the cookies. I don't have any brothers, so I wouldn't know," she studied her fingernails, biting her bottom lip, "Well, I had a brother, but he died when he was a little baby."

"I'm sorry," Addie handed her guest a tall glass of fresh milk. She carried a small plate of cookies along with her own glass of milk, "Follow me t' the library," she pointed the way with a nod.

The library?! How rich are these people?! Wendy Jo wondered, as she followed her new friend into the cozy, book filled room. A small wood burning stove in the corner kept the room toasty, while the soft sunlight beaming through the floor to ceiling windows provided plenty of light. A long, dark walnut table adorned the center of the room, surrounded by several leather tufted chairs. Angled out from one corner of the room was a matching chaise lounge, next to a side table.

"Addie," Wendy Jo spoke barely above a whisper as she explored every inch of the room with her eyes, "this room is…it's just beautiful," she placed her glass upon the table.

"Thanks," Addie sincerely replied, "I love it in here. It's always quiet. Mama makes us keep it that way. Me and Matthew and Adam do our homework in here, and my mama and grandpa like to read in here, too. I thought it would be a good place for me t' help you with your book report."

"I thought Garth was comin' over, too," the blonde shyly replied, not meeting her friend's eyes.

"He is, but not for an hour. I told Mama I wanted some time to visit a little with you. Plus, I'm not really allowed t' have boys over, but since I'm helping you both with school work, my parents said it was okay."

"Oh," Wendy Jo replied, lowering her head to sample a cookie. She was both embarrassed and grateful that her friend who was a year her junior could help her. School wasn't exactly a priority as far as her step-father was concerned.

"So where did ya live before?" Addie asked, her mouth full of cookie while plopping herself onto one of the over-stuffed chairs. She looked curiously at the shy, new girl, hoping to make her feel at ease.

"We came t' Dodge from Amarillo," Wendy Jo sat in the chair next to Addie.

"Who is we?"

"Me, my older sister and my pa. Well, he's not really my pa. Ma married 'im a few years back 'cause he got her in th' family way," nervous, sea glass green eyes met warm, ocean blue ones over the rim of her milk glass, "Please don't tell anyone," the blonde suddenly regretted her candor.

"I promise," Addie reassured her, "It's no one's business, anyhow. And besides, it happens all the time. People just don't talk about it."

Wendy Jo returned her friend's understanding grin. Most kids would think that was horrible. She really is so nice.

"Where's your mama now?" Addie dared to ask. Wendy Jo had never spoken of a maternal figure at school. That said, she didn't speak much about anything.

"She died a day after my brother was born. Then he died three days later. My sister always says Ransom, our new pa, never cared nothin' 'bout nobody, but he might have worked harder t' keep a little girl alive."

"Why is that?" Addie asked, her brow furrowed.

"My sister says that Ransom thinks that girls make ya money. One way or 'nother." Immediately Wendy Jo became very preoccupied with her milk.

Adelaide Jane Dillon found herself speechless for a moment.

"My mama had a baby too soon a couple of months ago. A little girl. She didn't ever even get to have one breath. It was shortly after my birthday. Our whole family was really sad," Addie shared, trying to make the newcomer feel at ease by sharing her story.

"I bet you were. That's terrible," Wendy Jo couldn't resist the temptation to learn more about this large family, "Who all lives here?"

"Well," the freckle-faced girl smiled, "Us six kids, my mama and daddy, and my grandpa all live in the house. My Uncle is the ranch foreman, and he lives in one of the barn houses and Mr. Moose and Mr. Lacey live in the bunk house. Miss Abelia helps my mama and sometimes she stays over." Addie didn't see any reason to gossip about where Miss Abelia slept when she stayed the night.

"Ladies," Doc knocked as he opened the door, "you have another classmate here. Garth, why don't you sit across from the girls over there," he pointed, adding, "Adelaide, your mother said for me t' leave the door open and she'll be in shortly to check if you need anything. She also wanted me to let you know you have an hour and a half to get your work done," he tugged on his ear lobe.

Addie noticed that Wendy Jo seemed captivated by her grandfather.

"I understand. Grandpa, this is Wendy Jo. She just moved here a bit ago from Amarillo," the proud granddaughter formally introduced.

"Nice to meet you, Wendy Jo," the elderly man grinned and nodded his head.

"You, too, Sir," the girl couldn't help but return his warm smile.

"And I've already met Garth, so I'll leave you young 'uns to your school work."

Garth made himself comfortable on the other side of the table.

"Can I have one a these?" he pointed at the cookies.

"Sure. Have two," Addie smiled.

"Addie," Garth asked with his mouth full, "is it true your grandfather was the town doctor?"

"Yes," she replied while opening the book Wendy Jo had brought, "he retired about the time my brother Adam was born. Sometimes he helps out Doctor Brooker, but he mostly sees t' us," the redhead focused, "We'd best get started. An hour and a half will fly by!"

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Wendy Jo and Garth walked part of the way home together. She'd been relieved that Garth hadn't offered to walk her home. Seems he had been instructed to hurry home in order to help his pa with some chores around the gunsmith shop, so she hadn't any cause to come up with some silly reason as to why she needed to walk the journey solo.

After all, would anyone want her classmates to know that she lived in an area known as Rat Hole Alley? The only other student in the school who lived there was Pate Gibbons, and for some odd reason he'd chosen to keep his lips sealed about Wendy Jo being his close neighbor. Maybe he knew that she would be seen differently by her classmates. He, better than anyone, should know. In fact, for the most part, Pate had become invisible. His mother had worked at the Long Branch many years ago for Addie's mother. How could Mrs. Dillon act like she didn't know him?

To help keep her secret, Wendy Jo would always wait until most children had left the schoolyard before she'd head down the road that led south of town. Once, Addie's Uncle had offered to give her a ride in the family buggy, saying he'd be happy to take her to her family's farm. Luckily for her sake, it was a warm day and she'd been able to explain that she sincerely enjoyed the stroll in the sunshine. After that close call, Wendy Jo had begun to ask Miss Nelson if she could help clean the chalk boards after school, in an effort to kill more time.

How on Earth am I gonna explain this nice coat to Pa? The twelve-year-old had tried to politely refuse Mrs. Dillon's offer of one of Addie's "old" winter coats, but when the kind lady had made her try it on, the child just couldn't resist. The woolen coat was so warm and the color a rich green, one which Mrs. Dillon had said brought out the lovely green in Wendy Jo's eyes.

"My pa will get mad, Ma'am," the melancholy girl had confessed, "He says he don't like charity."

"How about this," the lovely redhead lifted Wendy Jo's chin in order to meet the child's sad eyes, "If your pa says anything, just tell him I lent you the coat. When it no longer fits, you can return it to me and I'll save it for Scarlett for when she gets older. Deal?" Kitty smiled brightly.

"Yes'm. That sounds fair," Wendy Jo had smiled and nodded, desperately wanting to hug the gracious lady.

But deep in her heart, the young girl knew she would have to hide the coat somewhere. She had a wooden chest at the foot of her bed that her real daddy had made for her, and thankfully, Ransom had never dared to explore the contents of the trunk. He'd always assumed it was full of lady things. He was never awake when Wendy Jo left for school, so she could easily leave wearing it. Coming home may be more difficult, but Ransom was usually drinking with his pals in another shack, or off trying to peddle her older sister. He just hated the fact that the owner of the Bull's Head got fifty percent of what his eldest step-daughter earned, so if he could arrange private rendezvous, that meant he himself could keep fifty percent.

Wendy Jo knew it was just a matter of a few years before she would be worth money to Ransom Danko. It was very easy for her to get caught up in envy. I bet Addie Dillon never has to worry about her father taking advantage of her. And if something ever happened to her 'daddy', as she refers to him, her mama would protect her. And if something happened to her mama, she has a grandpa and uncle who love her. I wish my mama hadn't been such a fool to have fallen for a drunk like Ransom Danko.

As the dilapidated shack that she called home came into view, the child walked as closely as she could to the tree line that ran behind several of the shanties. Once she was hidden by the leafless oaks, she removed the beautiful green coat, wadded it up and tucked it under her arm. As she approached the dwellings from behind, she could hear Ransom laughing with some other men a few buildings away. Wendy Jo quickly ran to the front of the shanty, happy that no one had seemed to notice her.

The clever girl hid the forbidden coat under a clean pair of sheets in her chest. As she stuffed the coat into her trunk, she spotted some colorful hair ribbons that had belonged to her mother. She held them close to her heart and swore that she wouldn't tell Ransom anything about the Dillon family. She knew deep in her heart that he would try to use her friendship with Addie to swindle the wealthy family out of something. That was Ransom Danko's style; lie, cheat and steal. Well, he wasn't going to use her again, no siree. She would be as vague as possible.

TBC