The next morning when Charlie woke up, the sun was just peeking thru her curtains. She stretched her arms above her head,
her hair falling in front of her face. She had a sense of well-being when she first woke up. A warm feeling, and she, for a moment, laid
there enjoying the comfort of her bed, and her cheerful bedroom.
Then. Then she remembered. Today was when Katherine was coming to the ranch. Ugh.
Charlie groaned, and sat up, pushing her hair back.
There was a light tap on her door. "Charlie? Time to get up," said Teresa, from the hallway.
"I'm up," Charlie called out.
Teresa opened the door then, only enough to peek in. "Good morning."
"I'm not sure about that," Charlie grumbled.
Teresa opened the door a bit wider. "Why? Are you not feeling well?"
An opportunity handed to her like that, Charlie felt tempted. So very tempted. She could pretend to not feel well, and then she
wouldn't have to spend the day in Katherine's company. Even though she'd have to stay up here in her bedroom, she could read, or
draw, and maybe only have to appear at the top of the staircase to say hello to Katherine. Maybe not even that. As long as the family
was convinced that she was truly ill.
Then, when Katherine was gone...well, she couldn't appear to be suddenly well the minute that Katherine left. But, by tomorrow morning, then
she should be able to play outdoors and do her regular activities.
"Charlie?" Teresa prompted.
Charlie realized that she'd drifted off into thought and had not answered Teresa's question.
"Are you feeling alright?" Teresa asked, again.
Unwilling to lie just outright, Charlie said, instead, vaguely, "I'm tired."
"Did you not sleep well?"
"I thought I did," Charlie said, still keeping from a lie.
"Well, probably some breakfast will perk you up," Teresa said.
"Do I feel hot?" Charlie asked, plaintively, pressing her own hand against her forehead.
Teresa came immediately over to the bed where Charlie sat, and held her hand to Charlie's cheek and forehead.
"No, you don't feel warm," Teresa said. She put her hands on her hips, surveying Charlie.
"You should try to eat," Teresa said.
Other than coming right out, and claiming sickness, Charlie thought her choices limited. If she said she was ill, and Scott didn't
believe her, she knew she would cave to his questioning, and not be able to keep up the pretense. Then she'd be in trouble for
pretending. She had the feeling that Scott would think of it more as lying that pretending.
"I'll get dressed, and be right down," Charlie told Teresa, giving up on her idea. She'd have to just suffer thru the visit from Katherine.
The more she thought about it, as she pulled off her nightclothes, and put on her overalls and blouse, she was glad that Teresa hadn't immediately
jumped on the fact that
she'd said she was tired and all.
Because, of course Scott would have known she was pretending, and oh my, that would have been a true disaster.
Just thinking about it gave Charlie a chill down her back. What had she been even thinking of it for? Things were going so well
right now, with she and the family. Why would she do anything on purpose to mess it up?
Charlie scolded herself silently, in her head, all the way downstairs to the dining room. The rest of the family were already
seated at the table, and Charlie slid into her chair.
She was greeted with morning wishes and said, in answer, "Good morning."
"How did you sleep, darling?" Murdoch asked, from his end of the table.
"Alright," Charlie said, reaching out for her full glass of milk and taking a drink.
"Teresa said you were a bit tired this morning," Murdoch went on.
Uh oh. Charlie shot a look in Teresa's direction.
"A little," Charlie said.
"You're feeling alright, though?" Scott asked. He was watching her closely, and Charlie squirmed a bit.
"Yes."
Johnny handed her off a platter filled with scrambled eggs.
Charlie took it, saying, 'Thank you' to him.
She scooped eggs onto her plate, and passed the platter off to Scott.
"You had a nice time at Rebecca's?" Murdoch asked her now.
Her mouth full of eggs, Charlie nodded, and then finished chewing. "Yes, real nice."
"What all did you do?" Teresa asked, refilling Charlie's nearly empty glass of milk from th pitcher in the center of the table.
In between eating, Charlie chattered about the fun she and Rebecca had.
"They're not allowed to talk at the table," Charlie offered. She was still struck by the strangeness of that particular thing.
"Must be a very silent meal at their house," Murdoch said.
"No. I meant-her folks can talk, but Rebecca and Jason and their little brother aren't allowed. Not unless they're asked something
by their father," Charlie explained.
"Hmm," Murdoch said.
"My goodness," Teresa said.
"I'll bet that was hard for you, huh, pequeno?" Johnny asked, sounding amused. "Havin' to stay quiet?"
"It felt strange," Charlie admitted. "Even though I wouldn't know what to say to Rebecca's father, anyway. He's so-well, it seems
like he's hard to talk to."
"He's a good man. Well thought of around here," Murdoch said.
That might be. But, Charlie still thought of Rebecca's father as off-putting. Intimidating.
"He's so-" Charlie hesitated. "Stern, though."
"I've been known to be stern myself, darling," Murdoch said, sounding amused. "You should have some experience with it."
"Yes, but you're not stern all of the time," Charlie insisted. "You're nice a lot of the time."
Murdoch laughed, and so did Johnny.
"Well, thank you for that," Murdoch said.
Charlie reached for another slice of bacon from the platter in front of her. "You're welcome," she said, entirely serious. "I don't think
he's very nice. And he's not a good father."
"Charlie," Scott said, in quiet rebuke.
Charlie paused, the bacon midway to her mouth, and looked at Scott, startled.
"They were nice enough to have you in their home," Scott said, quietly. "You need to be respectful."
Charlie felt her face flame hot in embarrassment. She put the bacon down on her plate.
Into the silence that followed, Teresa said, "What time is the stage due in?"
"Nine o'clock," Scott answered.
"Maria and I thought that baked ham and potatoes would be alright for lunch," Teresa said, then.
"That sounds fine," Murdoch approved.
"Scott?" Teresa asked.
"Good," Scott said, in agreement. "Thank you, Teresa."
"Are you finished, Charlie?" Teresa asked. "Will you help me clear the table?"
At that particular moment, with the unpleasant looming of Katherine's visit, and still feeling embarrassed, and as though Scott hadn't been
entirely fair, to get onto her that way, Charlie felt as though the day had no shine to it at all. In fact, the one and only thing that made her
feel like smiling at all right then, was the fact that she remembered that Katherine strongly disliked baked ham.
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