Scott went off with Johnny to work on patching a fence. Charlie had seated herself on the front bench, right outside the main entrance to the
house. Scott paused beside her on his way out, pulling on a pair of leather fencing gloves as he did.
"We're going out to work up in the south pasture," Scott told her. "Get your hat and ride along with us."
Charlie peered up at him, shading her eyes from the sun. "Do I have to?" she asked.
"No. It was a suggestion, that's all." He studied her. "You alright?"
Charlie nodded. "I'm going to wait for Murdoch to get back."
"Oh," Scott said. "He may be a while yet."
Charlie dropped her hand, still squinting into the sun. "Why do you think that?" she asked, sounding alarmed. "Did he say that he was going to be late
coming home?!"
Scott looked surprised at her vehemence. "No. I just thought he might visit for a while."
"With Mr. Val?" Charlie asked, sounding hopeful.
"Maybe. Or with somebody else in town."
"With Katherine?" Charlie specified.
"Maybe so."
At that, Charlie huffed, and sat up very straight, crossing her arms.
"I don't see why he would want to do that!" Charlie said, sounding, and feeling injured.
Scott's puzzlement only grew. "Do what?"
Johnny came out, then, putting on his hat as he walked. "Ready to go?" he asked Scott. "I wanna get done and back. I've got plans tonight."
He paused beside Scott, his instinct taking things in. Scott's puzzled look, and Charlie's crossed arms. "Everything alright?" Johnny asked.
Scott gave him a look that conveyed that he really didn't know if it was or it wasn't.
"Charlie's waiting for Murdoch," Scott said, raising his brow just slightly.
"Ah," Johnny said, in understanding. "Pequeno, I told ya not to be worryin' over that-"
Charlie sighed, her arms still crossed. "I still want to hear it straight from Murdoch. That it's not so."
At Scott's frown of not understanding, Johnny said, "Charlie has some fool idea that Murdoch might want to be squiring Katherine around
a bit."
"What?" Scott asked, in obvious surprise. He turned his attention to Charlie. "Charlie, you have no need to be worried about that."
"You don't think so?" Charlie asked, hopefully.
"No," Scott said, trying to hide his amusement. "I don't think so. I'm darn near certain of it."
Charlie stood up, reaching out to take hold of Scott's hand. "I still want to wait for him. Is it alright?"
"You can wait for him," Scott told her. "I wouldn't charge head-on demanding answers from him, though. I don't imagine he'd take too kindly to
that."
"I won't," Charlie assured him. "I'll be polite. And-discerning," she added, using one of the words she'd learned the meaning of that week.
"Discerning," Scott said, still amused. He reached out and smoothed her hair back from her face.
Charlie nodded.
"Alright, then," Scott said. "I'll see you at supper time."
"Okay."
L
Charlie sat there, on the bench, not even wandering to the barn to play with the newest batch of kittens. Teresa came out once, wiping her
hands on her dress.
"Here you are," she said. "I wondered where you'd gotten to."
"I'm just sitting here," Charlie said, not taking her eyes off of the road in the distance.
"Come inside, and we'll work on a puzzle together," Teresa offered.
"Can we later?" Charlie asked. "I'm waiting for Murdoch to get home."
"Oh. Alright," Teresa said.
Charlie was still sitting there, her hands folded in her lap, waiting, when she saw the buggy come clipping up the road at a healthy pace. She sat,
waiting, until Murdoch unhitched the buggy near the barn, and turned Bartholomew out into the pasture.
Murdoch smiled in greeting as he walked up to where Charlie sat on the bench.
"Hullo, sweetheart," he greeted her.
"Hullo."
"It's a nice afternoon. Why aren't you busy with the dogs or your horse?" he asked.
"I just wanted to sit here, and wait for you."
"Waiting for me, hmm?" Murdoch asked.
Charlie nodded, her face somber. "Yes, sir. I wanted to talk to you."
Murdoch gave a brief nod. "Sounds serious," he said, with a brief smile at her.
Charlie stayed quiet, and Murdoch sat down beside her on the bench.
"Something troubling you, Charlie?" he asked.
Charlie nibbled at her lower lip, and turned so that she was facing him, and looking up into his eyes.
"I was wondering about something," Charlie said.
When she said no more then, Murdoch nodded again. "Alright," he prompted her to continue.
"I was wondering about Katherine."
Murdoch was quiet, waiting for her to go on.
"I think she likes you!" Charlie said, in a burst of words. "I've seen how she behaves around menfolks that she's interested in-and that's how
she's acting around you!"
Murdoch was surprised into silence. He raised his eyebrows, and studied her small, serious face.
"I just-" Charlie hesitated. "I hope you don't like her back, Murdoch! That would be just awful!"
"My goodness, young lady, you have got yourself all worked up," Murdoch said.
The 'young lady' combined with his stern expression had Charlie feeling anxious.
"I don't mean disrespect," Charlie said, softly.
Murdoch put his arm around her shoulders, hugging her tightly against his side.
"I'm polite to Katherine, because she's a guest in our home, Charlie. There's nothing more to it than that."
Charlie felt relieved at his statement, though there was a small part that still fretted.
"She is awfully pretty, though," she offered. Generously, to Charlie's way of thinking.
"Yes. She is," he agreed.
"Only on the outside, though. Inside, she's not," Charlie said. "And even if you don't like her in that way-I still think she feels that way for you."
"I think you're mistaken about that," Murdoch said, indulgently.
"Well-if she sets her mind to having a man, she gets him," Charlie said, artlessly.
Murdoch blinked at her in quick surprise. He moved his arm from her shoulders and lifted her chin with his hand.
"I think this conversation has gone beyond what's necessary," he said. "I don't want you to worry any more about this issue."
"I've seen her do it-" Charlie continued on to press her point. "At parties, I've seen her, and sometimes the man she aimed herself at didn't even
know what hit him-"
"That's enough," Murdoch said, quietly, but with enough authority that Charlie went still. "I said that you're not to worry about this any further. Understand?"
"Yes, sir."
Murdoch let his hand lift from her chin, and instead took her hand in his. For a moment there was silence there on the bench,
and then Murdoch spoke again. "Do you know what the definition of precocious is?"
Charlie wrinkled her nose. "Mr. Val called me that once. I thought he was being mean when he said it. Then I looked it up in the
dictionary."
"And what do you remember?"
"It can mean intelligent," Charlie said.
"That's right. It can. It can also mean something else. It can be used to describe a child who talks or behaves as an adult." Murdoch paused, letting his
words sink in, and then said, "In this conversation, that's what I see from you."
Charlie felt her face flush warm in embarrassment. "I'm not acting like an adult, Murdoch," she protested.
"Not in actions, perhaps. But the manner you're expressing yourself, the things you're saying, they're not what a little girl should say."
To her further embarrassment, Charlie felt her eyes fill with tears.
She turned her face down, towards the ground, not wanting to look at him, so he'd see that she was going to cry.
"I was only worried for you," she defended herself, barely audible.
"And I appreciate your concern," the older man said, not sounding so stern. "I promise you, though, I can see what people don't always
show. I won't get swept up by Katherine's charms."
Charlie nodded, still looking at her shoes. "I'm sorry I was being-precocious."
"And, I'm sorry that you saw or heard things before you came to us that perhaps you should not have seen or heard. Look at me," he prompted.
Charlie lifted her face, tears still shining in her brown eyes.
"When I said that, it wasn't toward anything but your choices of words. I just want you to rein that in. You're a smart, compassionate
little girl, that I love very much," he said.
Charlie met his eyes, and then pressed her face against his shirt front.
"I love you, too," she said.
"Alright," he said, and gave her one of his most comforting of hugs. The sort that made Charlie feel as though she was wrapped in
a giant, tight rug. Protected and cherished.
L