Here Come the Brides Cost of Rejection
Joshua struggled to squeeze in the time for lunch with Emily, starting early and working late, but Jason didn't argue with him as long as the work got done. He knew Josh couldn't keep going, and things would slow down eventually.
"You can't keep this up forever," Jeremy told him one night when he came in from working late.
Joshua just sat over a bowl of stew, struggling to stay awake. too tired to be hungry.
Jason just looked at him from across the table, arms folded. "I think you're right Josh. We need to hire that third work crew like you suggested.
Josh didn't hear him, he'd fallen asleep over his food.
Jeremy looked at Jason, shook his head and they both stood up, grabbed him by the arms to pull him up, waking him suddenly. He staggared to bed.
"Jason you need to put a stop to this," Jeremy said.
"I've not told him yet, but he's going to San Francisco to hire that third work crew," Jason said smiling. "Maybe then he'll get some rest," he laughed.
The following day, just as Joshua stepped up to the door of the Brides dorm, it opened before he could knock. Christopher and Molly bounded out. "Hi Mr. Joshua," They both said and rushed past. Emily stepped in the doorway right after, smiling. "We're going fishing," Molly said loudly as she passed."
Josh looked at Emily and smiled at her. "Fishing?" he asked absently.
Christopher stopped and turned around towards Joshua. "I'm gonna' catch dinner tonight," he said trying to sound grown up.
"Good luck," Josh said turning to him. He couldn't help but grin reminding him of Jeremy at that age.
Once they hurried away, Josh turned to Emily. "Hi beautiful," he said softly.
"I was watching for you," she said holding up her picnic basket.
"I can see that," he said smiling back.
"Well I know you don't have much time," she said stepping out and shutting the door behind her.
Josh took the basket from her and offered her his arm as they strolled around to the back yard of the dorm. Emily already had a spot picked out with a cloth spread out for their picnic lunch.
"You've brought me lunch every day this week," he said, "I thought I should come to you for a change. Even though you make the best lunch, just spending time with you is all I need," he said setting down the basket, he turned and took her in his arms. He gently kissed her and she felt a shudder go through her as she kissed him back.
Emily stepped back slightly and looked up into his soft blue eyes. "Joshua," she said smiling "If you keep kissing me, you won't have time to eat your lunch."
"You make it really hard to think about food. But your right." He reluctantly agreed.
Missy watched from her window. Jealousy was surging through her. What Josh saw in Emily, she didn't understand. "I'm prettier." Watching the couple brought back the things that had attracted her to Josh. He'd kissed her and spoken softly to her. She longed to be the one in his arms again. Why had she dumped him for Burt? Burt didn't have a romantic bone in his body. He had become boring and she decided to end it as soon as she told Josh she wanted him back.
"Jason's going to skin me alive if I don't get back," he said after lunch, he hated to leave, but he knew he had to.
"Oh dear," Missy stood up quickly, "I'm supposed to already be at the church. I Promised I'd help Candy with the children's program for Sunday." She said.
"You make it hard to leave," he said to Emily, taking her in his arms. He kissed her softly. Emily wrapped her arms around him, returning his embrace and he kissed her deep with passion. She took it in, then suddenly stepped back stopping things before they went farther than they should.
"I'm sorry," he said afraid he'd upset her.
"Don't be sorry," she whispered as she stepped back into his arms and hugged him tightly. "I love you Joshua," she whispered the words for the first time as she looked into his eyes. She reached up and kissed him again. Stepping away she picked up the empty basket.
"Let me walk you to the door at least," he said.
"No it's alright. I'm going straight to the church. I'm already so late. See you tomorrow?" Emily asked him.
"Course," he answered his face grinning ear to ear.
"I'll bring lunch to you and let Jeremy know… I'll bring Candy. Oh, and Joshua... I promise we wont keep you all day like before." she smiled.
"Okay...tomorrow then," Joshua said as he left to go back to camp.
His thoughts on the way to camp were of the kiss they shared. "She loves me," he thought smiling "I think I love her too. Why didn't I say it back?" he thought, disappointed in his self. He knew he was falling in love with her, but to actually say the words out loud scared him. He'd been a coward. He needed to get past his fears and tell her how he felt, if only he knew for sure. Kissing her wasn't enough, he needed to tell her.
"Is it really love?" he wondered. "I think so," he thought. "But shouldn't I know for sure?" all he thought of was Emily. If it's not love, then what is it? And how should real "I love you," feel? He knew to say the words were serious and they would be terrible to say them if it was something other than love…" I can hear Jeremy now telling me I always tend to overthink things." His thoughts were all over the place, and he wasn't paying attention to things around him as he tramped through the forest on his way back.
A breaking twig made him turn and he saw Missy trying to catch up to him. She stopped for just a second when their eyes met, and then she continued towards him.
"Missy?" he asked wondering why she was following.
"She was breathing heavily from rushing to catch up, her face flushed and her chest heaving under her blue dress.
"Are you alright?" he asked thinking she was in trouble.
"Joshua," she said catching her breath, stumbling into him. He caught her by the upper arms to keep her from falling. He looked behind her and all around. "What are you doing out here? Are you alone?" he asked wondering what was going on.
"Joshua," she said smiling. "There's nothing wrong, well not really. You know, I just miss seeing you is all," she said innocently between heavy breaths.
"What?" he asked, with a confused look.
"Well… me and you Josh, I want us to see each other again. You know how we used to." She said as if it were no big deal.
"Missy, you made it perfectly clear weeks ago; we were over," he said "I'm sorry, but I'm seeing Emily," he said trying to not be too hurtful.
"Oh Joshua, you know you like me more than her," she said trying to lighten things. "I love you Josh and you know you love me too, admit it. I never really wanted Burt, I was just trying to make you jealous. I didn't think you'd take things so serious." She said trying to cozy up to him. "You know breaking up wasn't for real."
Josh stepped Back, distancing himself from her and held up his hands. "I'm sorry Missy, and I don't want to hurt your feelings but, you need to go home," he said as he turned to leave.
Missy cried out, "But Joshua." She rushed to him and wrapped her arms around him.
Josh turned and pried her from him. "Missy, Stop it" he shouted at her. He didn't know what to do. He hated to make her cry. He was unsure at how to handle this without being mean. She almost seemed frantic. Not knowing what else to do, he took her gently by the arm. "Let me take you home," he said, thinking maybe Candy would know what to do since she was a woman.
Missy was shocked. How could he not see that she was the one? What was wrong with him, no man ever had turned her away before. She realized that he was throwing her love back in her face. Her desperation quickly turned into anger. He would tell Emily that she threw herself at him. Everyone would find out, and laugh behind her back. How dare him treat her like this.
Stepping away, she turned violently and slapped him hard across the face. Her nail scratching him "Get your hands off me Joshua Bolt," she cried out. "Don't you ever touch me again! I hate you," she screamed before turning and running back towards town.
Josh just stood there in shock. What just happened? He felt the sting on his cheek and was stunned at her sudden change. He thought he should follow her and make sure she was going to be alright, but she made it clear she wanted him to leave her alone. They had only dated a short time, but he still felt terrible and he hated that she was so upset, but he was unsure what he could do. Chasing after her, may give her false hope, and he didn't want that. He decided to talk to Jason later and ask him if he'd done the right thing in letting her run off like that.
He turned and continued home, glad the confrontation was over. Times like this, made him wish he had a sister to explain things, (if only…).
Missy ran and stumbled through the forest. She was humiliated and furious. She couldn't believe Josh wouldn't take her back. How dare he turn her away. Everyone would know and laugh at her. She hated him. She could picture Emily laughing behind her back.
The more she thought of Emily and Josh together, the more angry she got. She made her way to the lake, started to cry and fell to her knees. Sitting by the lake, she shook with rage and screamed as she dug her nails into the mud screaming even harder. She yanked the sleeve of her dress ripping it. She pulled harder on the fabric and ripped it where the skirt met the bodice. Her hands were dirty and she pulled at her hair and yanked the blue ribbon Burt had given her; throwing it to the ground. She ran home towards the Bride's dormitory sobbing.
Holly and Christopher watched from the other side of the lake, where Christopher was fishing. They looked at each other shaking their heads. "She was mad," Holly said. "She'll get yelled at when Candy sees her torn dress," Christopher said.
They both just shook their heads and Holly watched as Christopher's cork bobbed.
"Look," she exclaimed "you got a bite."
"I see it, I see it," Christopher said in a bored tone, trying to sound grown up. He pulled in a small catfish.
Molly walked around to where Missy threw down the pretty blue ribbon and found it. She looked in the direction she had gone before putting it in her pocket.
When Missy got into town, she was hysterical. She ran into the dorm crying and out of breath.
"Missy," Biddie exclaimed when she saw her. "What on earth?"
"Oh my gosh Missy, what happened?" Alice cried out when she saw her friend.
Other girls started to gather around.
"Joshua...He, he, he…" she cried
"Did he hurt you?" Alice screeched.
"Oh not Joshua Bolt, he would never do anything like that,' Biddie argued.
Missy, hurt and angry hearing Biddie defend Joshua, saw the look in their eyes. Their sympathy towards her, she was the victim. "Joshua, he, he grabbed me" she cried out.
The girls were horrified. Biddie couldn't believe it. She refused to believe Joshua would do such a thing. Missy's accusations spread through the Brides dorm like wildfire.
One of the girls raced to Stempels Mill. As one of the town leaders, she knew Aaron must be informed. Something had to be done.
Rebecca threw open Stempels door. She was out of breath and he was taken aback.
"Here, what the…?" he stood from behind his desk. "What's going on?" knowing the woman was in distress
"Mr. Stempel, One of the girls…she started, she was attacked!" she shouted in horror.
"Attacked? What are you talking about?" he stepped out from around the desk.
"It was Joshua Bolt," She exclaimed "He attacked Missy."
"Joshua Bolt? Are you sure?" he asked unable to imagine it.
"Where's the girl?" he asked as he led her out to find Missy.
Stempel pushed his way past the girls and knelt down next to Missy, who was sitting at the table, hands covering her face. "Missy, tell me what happened," he said.
"Did Joshua Bolt hurt you?" he pressed.
Missy just cried harder, she nodded her head, unable to say anything.
Stempel stood up and put his hand on her shoulder. He looked around at the women who were staring in disbelief.
"You have to do something;" Alice yelled "He can't get away with this."
Others chimed in, fearing for their safety.
Aaron raised his hands to quell their demands.
"Ladies, ladies," he said calmly "I'll handle this. Just stay calm. I'll go and talk to Jason Bolt and get to the bottom of things." He said. "No one and I mean no one is above the law here."
While Rebecca had gone for Aaron, Biddie rushed to the church where Candy and Emily were still helping with the childrens program.
Biddie looked at the preachers wife and with a nod she said "Excuse us a moment," while she grabbed Candy's arm and pulled her from the room.
"Biddie!" Candy exclaimed. "That was rude." She protested.
"Candy, we've got trouble…big trouble." she said ignoring Candy's frustration.
"What? "Candy asked.
Biddie explained what happened with Missy and her claims.
"There's no way, I don't believe it," Candy said and she looked from the church then towards the dorm where she saw Rebecca leading Aaron Stemple inside. "Oh no," Candy said.
"Candy, she claimed Joshua attacked her, what do we do?" Biddie pressed.
"Biddie, you keep Emily in that church. Don't you dare let her hear anything," she ordered.
"I'm going up to the camp and let the boys know what's going on before things get out of hand," she said.
Biddie rushed back into the church. "Is everything okay?" Emily asked "Where's Candy?"
"Oh she had to go up to the camp and see Jeremy." Biddie said. "So you've got me now, aren't you excited?" she asked.
Candy ran to Lottie's filling her in on all she knew. Lottie didn't believe it any more than Candy did.
They raced outside just as Aaron was coming out of the dorm. "Aaron," Lottie shouted, catching his attention as she and Candy rushed towards him.
Aaron motioned towards the Brides dorm, "Lottie, I don't have time, one of the girls…" He started but was cut off "Candy told me," Lottie said…as they talked in the street. Candy rushed to the dorm to see for herself what Missy was saying.
When she went inside and saw the girls surrounding a haggard looking Missy. Her dress torn, and her face red from crying. Candy couldn't believe it. It clearly looked like Missy had gone through something terrible, but she just couldn't believe Josh was capable of it.
She went back out to Aaron and Lottie. "The boy has to be locked up," Aaron was saying.
"Aaron, we can't do anything until Josh has a chance to tell his side," Lottie argued. "We've both known Joshua most of his life. It's just not in him to do anything like this and you know it."
"Lottie, something happened to that girl, and if the Bolt boys responsible, we have to do something to protect those women," he said.
"Well I'm going with you," Lottie said "I think we need to hear what he has to say."
Candy shook her head. I'm coming too," she added.
Pulling into the lumber camp, Jason walked out wondering what was going on. Seeing Lottie and Aaron together in midday, he knew something had happened.
Aaron, Lottie, Candy," he greeted the three.
"Is something wrong?" he asked.
"Yes Jason, we're here to see Joshua," Arron started as he climbed down.
Jason reached up helping Lottie and Candy down.
"What about Josh?" Jason questioned.
"Is he here?" Aaron asked.
"Yes, he got back a little while ago. What's going on?" Jason looked at Lottie. "Josh," he bellowed, calling his younger brother.
Jeremy walked up smiling, "Hello Candy," unaware there was a problem but at the same time noticing the concerned looks on their faces.
Candy couldn't hide her worried face.
"What's going on?" he frowned.
"Aaron started talking but was cut off by Lottie as she tried to calmly explain.
"Jason, Missy is claiming that Joshua attacked her," Lottie said simply. "That's why we're here, we need to talk to him and find out what happened."
Jason just smiled in disbelief, "Oh come on," he said, "You know Josh would never…" Joshua," he bellowed again even louder, calling for his brother.
Joshua came from the back of the camp where his work tent was set up. "Yes, Jason?" he asked at being called.
He looked at the three visitors and smiled briefly nodding to them, before seeing their faces and knew instantly there was some kind of trouble.
"One of the girls is saying you assaulted her," Aaron started.
Josh was dumbfounded. "What?" he looked at Jason.
Lottie piped up "Joshua, Missy said you attacked her, is that true?" she asked calmly.
Josh looked around at all the faces, "No," he snapped. "No, that's insane," he protested. "I never… I can't believe this" he spat in disbelief.
Aaron stepped up, looking at his face. "What happed to your face Joshua?" he pointed out. "Maybe she fought back?" he questioned.
"Look Aaron," Jason stepped forward.
"Yea she slapped me," he interrupted, "but I never laid a hand on her." He stepped towards Jason. "Jason, she followed me and asked if we could start seeing each other, I told her no, that I was with Emily, and she went crazy," he claimed. "She slapped me, and I left. I swear, that's all that happened," He turned shaking his head unable to understand why she was claiming this. "I don't believe this!"
"Look, we can't just let this go. I've got a town full of women that are frightened," Aaron said. "I think we should lock him up until we can get to the bottom of this."
"Aaron, you know Josh didn't attack anyone," Jeremy argued.
Josh turned in disbelief. "No," he yelled, "I didn't do anything!" his face turning red, his hands fisted.
"You do look like you have a temper" Aaron pointed out.
"Come on Aaron, you know Josh. He'd never hurt a woman," Jason stepped forward arguing.
"Aaron I don't think he needs to be locked up," Lottie said in defense of Josh.
"No," Jason agreed "We'll get to the bottom of things, but were not locking Josh up." he said.
"Well what do I say to the women in town?" Aaron argued. "If it were anyone else… what makes him any different because his names Bolt? Look at him Jason. He has a scratch on his face! Why would the girl lie?"
Jason knew Aaron had a point, but he knew in his heart full well that Joshua would never hurt any woman. It just wasn't in Joshua's' nature.
"Okay Aaron," Jason started "Joshua stays out of town. Until we can prove he didn't do this, I'll see that Joshua stays up here and out of town and away from the Brides dorm. But I won't have him locked up, not without proof." Jason said.
Josh frowned, Emily was in town and he needed to talk to her, and explain.
"Jason,' he protested "Emily, I need to talk to her…"
"Jason put his hand on Josh trying to reason with him. He looked over towards Aaron, "Josh will stay away from town. Judge Conner's' due next month so until then, I'll take full responsibility."
Jeremy shook his head and looked at his brother. He looked at Candy's expression and walked towards Josh, whose eyes were red and watery with anger, hands fisted, kicking at the ground.
"Josh, I believe you," he said softly.
Josh just nodded his thanks, but stood there red faced and angry. He couldn't believe the story Missy had concocted against him. What would everyone think, what would Emily think. Surely she wouldn't believe it.
"Jason I have to talk to Emily," he pressed.
"Jason he can't come anywhere near the Brides Dorm," Aaron ordered Jason, ignoring Joshua.
"I'm right here Aaron," Joshua yelled. Then he snarled, "Don't worry, I won't go into town, but let me tell you one thing; I didn't hurt that girl, I didn't do anything. She's lying." He said finally shaking his head in disbelief.
"We'll get to the bottom of things Joshua," Lottie said to reassure him.
Josh just shook his head accepting her support.
Candy looked at Jeremy before stepping towards Joshua. She touched his shoulder and looked into his upset face. "I'll bring Emily tomorrow for lunch as usual," she said trying to ease his anger.
He couldn't hide his frustration but finally nodded his thanks to her. He had to look away, embarrassed she may see him tear up.
She squeezed his shoulder, and turned towards Jeremy.
"Thank you," Jeremy mouthed before he helped her up into the buggy, where the three left back towards town.
Word of Missy's attack spread through Seattle. It reached Burt quickly and he raced for the Brides dorm to find Missy.
"Where is she?" he shouted as he burst through the door. "Where's my Missy?"
He spotted her at the table, ladies surrounding her. She was disheveled and crying, her face in her hands. He pushed his way past the women, sat down next to her and wrapped her in his arms. "There, there baby. I'm here. It's going to be alright." He said trying to sooth her.
"Oh Burt," she cried harder.
As he held her, he looked up at the women surrounding them. "They said it was Joshua Bolt. Is that true?" he yelled.
"Missy said Joshua attacked her," Alice said with disgust.
"Aaron Stempel's gone to the logging camp now. He's going to be arrested," she added.
"Ain't no need to arrest him because I'm going to kill him," Burt said as he stood up abruptly.
His rage frightened some of the women, and fear of him caused a lot of them to leave. Some of the girls ran to the church, their place of safety. Inside they found Biddie, Emily and the preacher's wife.
"Oh dear," Biddie moaned, knowing the cat was out of the bag. Emily learned everything.
"It's not true," Emily cried. "I won't believe it, not for a minute."
"Oh Emily, Candy told me to keep you here so you wouldn't have to hear those awful stories," Biddie said.
"We all know they are just completely untrue," Biddie said. "None of us will believe for one minute that sweet Joshua Bolt would ever harm a woman."
"Well you just go and see for yourself," one of the girls spoke up. "He's dangerous!"
Emily looked at her and then to Biddie. She raced out towards the Brides dorm.
"Emily," Biddie shouted, "You're supposed to stay here. Oh dear," Biddie muttered.
Emily rushed in and slammed the door behind her, everyone turned and silence followed as Missy and Emily stared at each other. Emily saw Missy's haggard red face, her messed up hair and torn dress. Her nose running, face streaked with tears, Missy burst into tears at the sight of Emily, knowing Josh had chosen this girl over her. The distraught emotion Missy felt only made her claims more believable.
Doubts began to seep in for Emily. "The Joshua she knew, could he have done this?" She looked at the faces of the women standing there trying to calm Missy. Eyes looking at Emily as if it were her fault. Burt had settled back down and was straddling the bench with his arms wrapped around Missy, comforting her.
She turned and slowly walked up the stairs. Her walk slowly turned into a run. She flung herself onto her bed and sobbed. "How could her Joshua have done such a terrible thing?"