(no subject)

[janet1867]

Stempel worked on paperwork all morning, in the eerie stillness
of the empty sawmill. He drank a lot of coffee to stay awake; he
hadn't had much sleep for over a week. The night before, after
he'd walked back from Lottie's, he'd sat in his easy chair with a
brandy and stared into the fire for hours. He didn't allow himself
to make plans, or put his hopes into specific terms, but he felt
more optimistic about his future than he'd felt for many years.
He'd eventually fallen asleep sitting there, and wakened, smiling,
a few hours later.

At the end of the morning, Aaron went over to Ben's store and
bought some supplies; he'd told Karen he would provide the
lunch today. He then brought his buggy around from the livery
stables to the church, which was used during the week for Miss
Essie's school, to wait for Jonathon and Karen. At exactly noon,
the school children burst out of the doors, followed more
sedately by Miss Essie and Karen. Jonathon was in the buggy in
a flash, eager to go. As they pulled away, Miss Essie called after
them, "Happy birthday, Aaron!"

Karen turned to him. " What?"

Jonathon asked, "Is it your birthday today, Aaron?"

Stempel grimaced a little. "Yeah."

"Why didn't you say anything?" Karen asked incredulously.

"I didn't wanta make a big deal out of it."

Karen was frustrated. This man took being reserved to ridiculous
extremes! Jonny was asking, "How old are you?"

"Thirty-two," mumbled the birthday boy, obviously not thrilled to
have to say it out loud, and Karen remembered why she loved
having a little brother. They would always ask the questions you
didn't have the nerve to ask. Great little spies; too bad he hadn't
uncovered the secret birthday before today, though. She
could've at least made a cake.

Aaron took them spelunking in a cave on Eagle Head Point,
which was a great success with Jonathon. They ate their picnic
lunch at the mouth of the cave, from which there was a
breathtaking view of the Sound. Everything went well for several
hours, until Jonathon started to get crabby. Karen commented
apologetically to Aaron that she thought her brother needed a
nap; he didn't sleep every afternoon anymore, but today he'd
been up at dawn. She thought Aaron would decide to take them
back to town, but instead he suggested that Jonathon could take
a nap at his cabin.

By the time they arrived, Jonathon had already fallen asleep.
Aaron carried him from the buggy into the cabin, and upstairs, to
put him in the spare room bed, which meant that Karen was
once again able to hop out of the buggy without help. 'I'm gettin'
good at avoiding those embarrassing moments,' she thought,
then realized she'd dropped a "g". Oh, no, it was contagious.

Karen was waiting in the front room when Aaron came back
downstairs, and there was an awkward moment, as both of
them remembered the time they'd spent together in this room.
There was no unself-conscious child to break the silence. They
smiled at each other shyly. Karen asked if he had flour and
things; she could make a birthday cake. Stempel said it was
alright, really, he didn't need one, and that topic died. Aaron
suggested having tea, and they both went into the kitchen. The
tension was broken as he moved around finding tea, cups, and
so on, and they had something to distract them from their
shyness. By the time they finished drinking their tea, Karen had
convinced him that a birthday cake was a good idea, both of
them using the child as the reason. They worked on making it
together, and Karen tried not to notice how a smudge of flour on
his face enhanced his appeal. Once it was in the oven, they took
a second - or was it third? - cup of tea into the front room. Aaron
sat on the sofa, and Karen, not brave enough to sit beside him,
chose the easy chair. He got a small fire going in the fireplace to
offset the late afternoon chill.

Karen thought she should go and check on Jonny, but didn't
have enough nerve to ask if she could roam around the upstairs.
She weighed the embarrassment of asking that question against
how she'd feel if Jonny was awake up there, silently
redecorating Aaron's gorgeous oak walls with shaving cream art,
and finally got up her courage, and asked. Stempel, who was
sitting and staring into the fire, mumbled his permission. Was he
annoyed, or just tired? The girl left the room, trying to look
trustworthy as she headed past him towards the bedrooms.

Upstairs, sure enough, she saw the same kind of oak walls she'd
seen throughout the main floor, but they looked untouched by a
child's hands, thank goodness. There were several doors
leading off the square landing at the top of the stairs; only one
was open. She peered in, and saw Jonny fast asleep in a small
room; obviously a guest room. She went back down, knowing
that Aaron's bedroom was behind one of those closed doors.
Well, after all, it wasn't as if she'd wanted to look in...

Once back in the front room, Karen sat down, and turned to
Aaron, trying to think of what to say. It was only then that she
saw that he'd fallen asleep, half sitting up on the sofa. Her first
thought was relief that his intimidating scowl a minute ago was
from fatigue, and not directed at her. Well, this was great. She
could watch him sleep (very tempting), or make icing for the
cake. Thinking herself very noble, she went to the kitchen and
made icing. The cake was ready by the time she was done, and
she let it cool for a few minutes. Karen walked back into the
front room, and looked at Aaron for just a short time. He looked
so vulnerable when he was asleep, and younger. She used her
willpower and resisted the urge to brush his hair off his forehead,
and she left the flour smudge on his cheek alone. When she
found herself getting very tempted to check the consistency of
the wool in the shoulder area of his sweater, she decided the
cake had cooled long enough, and went back to ice it. One side
of the cake was a bit lower than the other, so she put extra icing
there to make it look even. She couldn't find any little candles,
so had to leave the cake undecorated. She swiped her finger
along the edge of the bowl, and tasted a bit of icing. 'C'mon,
boys, wake up. Chocolate!' she thought. It was odd to be
alone; living in a household of a hundred people, it was
something that never happened to her.

Not knowing what else to do, Karen set about washing the
baking dishes. When everything in the kitchen had been
washed, she went to fetch the teacups from the front room. As
she did so, Aaron woke up, looking as if he didn't know, for the
first minute, where he was. He ran his hand through his hair,
managing to mess it up even more than it had already been.
"Oh," he muttered groggily, "I was havin' a dream - I thought it
was a dream - about drinkin' tea and bakin' a cake in the kitchen
with a - young lady - while a child was asleep upstairs... But it
wasn't a dream," he added, more to himself than to her, still
sounding like he wasn't completely clearheaded. Karen smiled
at him, not knowing what to say to him when he was still in a
daze, and went into the kitchen with the teacups she'd picked
up.

After she'd washed and dried them, she went back. Aaron had
snapped back into his more guarded and alert state. he
mumbled some embarrassed comments about not having had
much sleep for a week. Karen tried to assure him that it was
perfectly understandable to doze off after keeping up with
Jonathon all day, and that she sometimes fell asleep right after
the four-year-old, at night. She started to say that she should
wake Jonny up, but Aaron stopped her. He sounded somewhat
nervous, as he said, "Uh, Karen - um, wait a minute. I wanted to
ask you something before the boy wakes up." She stood
silently, wondering what he was going to say. He continued
hesitantly, "Uh, last night - I said something about goin' back to
the way we'd been before..."

Karen thought, "Uh oh," but gripped the arm of the sofa, her
familiar support from the day before, and just listened. Aaron
had been looking at the floor as he spoke, but looked up now
and met her gaze. "Uh, Karen, what I wanted to say is this: I
think you know that I like your little brother very much... but, uh - I
was wondering if, uh, you 'n' I could see each other alone,
sometimes... Maybe go for a walk after he's in bed at night..."
He paused, looking worried, and added, " I hope I haven't
offended you. He's a fine boy."

Karen was definitely not offended. She'd wondered a little -
okay, more than a little - if Aaron liked spending time with her
only because of Jonathon. This suggestion meant that things
weren't "the way they were before"; this seemed like a big step.
This was almost like courting. Yikes. She remembered she
needed to answer him, but then realized that her happy
expression had said even more than she would have said with
words. She added out loud, "That would be nice."

He smiled back at her, and was reminding her, "Now, you were
sayin' - you should get 'im up?", when, right on cue, the child
called from upstairs. Aaron went up to get him.

They all ate their fill of chocolate cake, and then the adults both
said at the same moment that they'd better get back to town
before dark; so the three of them were soon on their way.

They reached the dorm just as darkness was falling. Jonathon
rushed inside to find Tommy. Stempel helped Karen down from
the buggy. 'Well, why fight it?' she thought nervously. Anyway,
it was her last chance to find out how the shoulders of his
sweater felt. ...Very pleasant...

Aaron was speaking "Uh, what we were talkin' about before...
Goin' for a walk - "

'Has he changed his mind?' she wondered.

"Um, would you - would it be alright - what about tonight?"

She relaxed. "That would be great! I was just thinking that the
day had somehow ended too soon." They arranged that he
would come back around nine; Jonathon was usually asleep
long before that.

Stempel took the buggy home, tended to his horse, changed into
a suit, and walked over to Lottie's to have supper and a drink
with the saloon owner. She insisted that dinner was on the
house, because she'd invited him to come in for his birthday. It
was very quiet in the saloon tonight; Stempel was pleased to
see that his men weren't in there getting drunk on their
unexpected day off. Lottie pumped him for details of what
they'd done all day, and he tried to give her the edited version.
She wouldn't let him evade her questions, and got almost
everything out of him, but he wasn't about to admit that he'd
fallen asleep; she'd be bound to attribute that to his being so
much older, now.

"It sounds like you had a good birthday, Aaron." Lottie was
pleased for him. Heaven knew, he was due for some
happiness, she reflected. She thought with affection of the girls
in the dormitory building across the square; bringing them here
was one of the best things Jason had ever done. Everyone was
happier, since those fresh young minds and spirits had settled in
their midst.

Another fresh young spirit that Jason had imported entered the
saloon at that moment. "Lottie, me darlin', me throat's as
parched as the desert," bellowed Clancey as he came through
the door. Under cover of the ensuing chaos, Stempel made
good his escape before Lottie could pry out of him that he was
about to go walkin' with Karen St. James, alone. Now, if he
could manage to avoid the scrutiny of ninety-nine brides and two
little boys, it would be a perfect birthday.

Luck was with him: Karen came out of the dorm just as he was
crossing the square. She smiled as she said, "Jonny and
Tommy are fast asleep, and Polly is busy sewing her wedding
dress, so she'll keep an eye on Jon for me." Aaron opened his
mouth to speak, but Karen went on, " - And Biddie is right behind
me." Without further delay, they walked around the corner, out
of sight of the dorm and Biddie's curious eyes.

Aaron headed in the direction of the docks. "D'you wanta walk
along the Sound?" he asked; she said she did. To the south, a
boardwalk began where the docks ended; the walk path
continued for over a mile along the water's edge. It was a
favourite walk for the brides and their beaux, but tonight it was
deserted. The two walked in companionable silence for awhile.
"When is, uh, your birthday?" Aaron asked out of the blue.
"Oh, I don't think I should tell you that until the day af
ter it's over,"
Karen joked. "That's how much notice you gave me. What if
Miss Essie hadn't said anything? I might have been rude and
mean to you all day long and ruined your birthday!"

Aaron's face clearly showed that his reaction was 'You couldn't
be mean to me all day long... could you?' "But you weren't," he
finally replied.

"My birthday's in January," Karen said, more sedately, not sure if
she should be so flippant with this serious man. What if he took
it the wrong way? She couldn't help thinking of dumb remarks
when she was nervous, but she tried to keep 'em in her head,
and usually succeeded. "And Jonny will be five in December."

Stempel couldn't ask how old she was; it just wasn't done. She
must be younger than Julie - she certainly looked younger - but
she acted much more mature; from having to take care of her
brother on her own, no doubt. "My sister's birthday was last
week," he said, sounding a bit forlorn at the thought of his only
relative.

"Do you miss her?"

"Yes," he said emphatically, "I do. But I see 'er when I go to San
Francisco, every coupla months. I keep askin' 'er to come up to
Seattle, but so far... she hasn't." He grimaced. "She thinks
frontier towns are too uncivilized."

Karen responded with fervour before she could remind herself to
be refined. "Oh, but frontier towns are great! New Bedford is so
boring and predicable. It's fun, here; you never know what's
going to happen. And the people here are much more
interesting than back East. And nicer. What I really like is that
everything is just starting - like the school. Miss Essie has all
kinds of fresh ideas, and she gets to try them out, instead of
having some school board supervisor lecturing her about 'the
way we've done things for the past hundred years'..." Suddenly
she realized her enthusiasm had run away with her. "...In my
humble opinion," she finished sheepishly.

Stempel, who at first had looked startled, laughed. "I like your
enthusiasm," he commented. "And I agree. That's why I've
stayed. I used to think I'd make my fortune 'n' then go to San
Francisco, but, uh - the place grew on me."

They walked along side by side, but both being careful not to
touch, even by accident. Even the most formal gentleman
would usually offer his arm to a lady when walking, but Aaron
Stempel and Karen St. James were even more reserved than
customs decreed. After a few minutes, at a turn in the
boardwalk, they stopped and leaned on the railing, and looked
out over the water. It was quite dark, this far from the town
square; although there were lamps on posts along the
boardwalk, they were too far apart to cast more than a dim glow
to help people find their way. The Sound was barely
distinguishable from the sky; everything was black, except the
many stars. Karen was the first to speak. "Okay, you told me I
should tell you when you're monopolizing the conversation.
Well, now I am, so you have to stop me."

Stempel blinked and drew back a little. "What am I supposed to
talk about?"

"I don't know; tell me about Iowa. Or your best birthday
memories."

"My best birthday - that's easy. It was the year Julie was born; a
week later, I turned ten. My parents were very happy. That was
just a few months before..." He sighed, staring out into the
blackness, then, with effort, shook off the sad memories, and
continued. " 'A millionaire's family', that's what my father called
it: a boy and a girl..."

Aaron straightened up and paced a few strides away from the
railing, putting his hands in his pockets. His voice sounded more
controlled and less emotional as he continued, returning to stand
beside Karen and stare out across the water. "Uh, what I
remember about my birthdays as a child is that everything was
always orange. Field after field of pumpkins growin', and the
maple leaves changin' colour... In Seattle, it stays green all year
round; very different from Iowa. We had long winters there; lots
o' snow."

Karen tried to think of something to say. "Um, did you live in Des
Moines?"

"No, we, uh, had a farm. Not a very big one, but we got by.
Hard work, though. Three seasons of the year, my father never
stopped workin'. But in winter, there wasn't much for 'im to do -
we'd get snowed in a lot - and he'd talk for hours 'n' hours, tellin'
stories about the sea, 'n' foreign countries... He'd run away to
sea when he was just a boy, and he never lost that feelin' of
wantin' to - explore... He stayed put, once he met my mother,
though." For a long moment, Stempel was lost in his memories.
Then he moved restlessly, and suddenly aware of the time,
asked, "Are you gettin' cold? Should we head back?"

There were so many things that Karen wanted to say. Several
times during their conversations, she believed she'd caught a
glimpse of how Aaron was affected by life, and he seemed so -
isolated. She wanted to offer sympathy, encouragement, even
comfort, but felt barred from any of that by his reserve, and her
own, and by the fact that she really hadn't known him for very
long. She tried to communicate a hint of her feelings through her
tone, if not her words. "I'm not cold, but I guess we should be
sensible, and go back." They turned towards town, but walked
more slowly than before.

"What was, uh, your favourite birthday?" Stempel asked, relieved
to have this topic to help him make conversation; he'd never
been good at small talk.

"I don't know. When Jonny was born was a good time in some
ways, but my Dad had just joined the Army a few months
before, so we weren't all together that year... And I was really
shy when I was little, so I always found birthday parties with
other kids kind of terrifying... Oh, I know - when my
grandparents were still alive, and we'd go and stay with them for
the holidays, and stay over until my birthday. That was a very
innocent time in my life - before I realized that things could go
wrong, people could die... Y'know?"

"Yeah," he said quietly, remembering.

"But lately, ever since Jason rounded us all up in New Bedford,
and gave us a pep talk about what a magical place Seattle is -
I've felt more hopeful."

"Yeah, Bolt has that effect on people," Stempel sneered.

That wasn't what Karen had meant. She was tempted to drop it,
but they were almost home, and she didn't want to end the day
on a misunderstanding, with Aaron thinking she'd said that Jason
was the reason she was enjoying life, so she found the courage
to say, "He's not the only one." She felt immediately as if she'd
been too forward, and walked the rest of the way in silence.

Stempel's basically pessimistic nature tried to find some
meaning for that comment that did not mean what it seemed to,
but he was left with a warm feeling in spite of himself.

As they approached the heart of Seattle, Karen was debating
with herself about something that had been bothering her all
day. Even in her shyest years, if someone she knew was having
a birthday, no matter who it was - an uncle, a neighbour,
someone she knew from church - she would automatically give
them a kiss on the cheek and wish them a happy birthday, but
she had been avoiding the issue with Aaron all day. She kept
trying to tell herself that he would be offended if she presumed
to give him a birthday peck on the cheek, but deep down she
knew that it was really her own self-consciousness that was
getting in the way. She had to admit that the real reason she
didn't want to do this little social gesture was that she liked him
too much; hardly a good reason to shun the man. If she
honestly thought he would be displeased, she shouldn't do it,
but after the way Aaron had jumped to conclusions about her
and Jason last week, she thought she probably should. And
what if she wasn't thinking, one day, and gave Jason a kiss on
his birthday, or at Christmas, or something, and she hadn't done
so to Aaron today; what would Aaron think then? That it was
because she didn't care about him? The answer was obvious,
and Karen tried to gather up her courage as they walked
towards the dorm. "I'll go in the side door," she said to Aaron,
"and I can check on Jonny before I put my coat away; his bed's
at that end of the dorm."

Stempel walked with her to the stairway at the side of the
dormitory that led up to a second story entrance. It was darker
and more private here than the front door; he was glad he
wouldn't have Miss Pruitt and Miss Cloom peering at him as he
said goodnight. Karen stepped up onto the first step, then
turned to face him; they were almost the same height, this way.
He looked at her in the moonlight, sensed as much as saw her
kindness and warmth, and said, "Y'know, ever since my tenth
birthday, I've just suffered through every birthday that came
along... until today. Thank you."

In the next moment, Aaron was caught off guard, when Karen
put her hands lightly on his shoulders, kissed his cheek, and
smiling into his eyes, said, "Happy birthday, Aaron." Then she
turned and went up the stairs and into the dorm.

Aaron Stempel walked back to his house in the dark, not
thinking, not trying to talk himself out of having hope. Just
feeling.

October 16 - 18, 1867

Stempel started thinking again the next morning, of course, and
his pessimistic tendencies remained strong and healthy, but he
wasn't able to achieve his previous completely cynical outlook.
The girl did seem to like him. He didn't expect it to last, though;
to that extent, pessimism won.

However, from time to time, in quiet moments alone, doing his
paperwork in his office or reading in front of his fireplace, a
memory of a gentle kiss and soft, wavy hair brushing against his
cheek would make him smile. And not snidely.

Karen was beat. After all the emotional upheaval and
accompanying loss of sleep from last week, she was just
dragging through her routines now. School every morning,
housework and cooking in the dorm, and chasing after Jonathon,
who had suddenly started rebelling against everything. Several
of the brides had offered to help; so had Lottie. But Karen
refused to shirk her responsibilities; it wasn't fair to expect other
people to take care of her little brother. That was her place.

October 19, 1867

Nervously, palms sweating, Aaron Stempel approached the
brides' dormitory. It was a beautiful, mild evening for
mid-October, but he was too nervous to appreciate it. He hated
walking into that den of she-bears, but he knew of no other way
to get to talk to Karen. He knocked on the door; it opened.
Thank goodness, it was Tommy Blake who answered. "Can you
get Karen St. James for me, boy? Tell 'er I wanta talk to 'er."
"Which one is she?" the boy asked.

"Well, uh, she's about - so high... long brown hair, kinda curly...
uh, blue eyes... Well, she's the most good-lookin' one - uh,
except for your mother, of course. You must know who I mean."

"No, sir."

Stempel had an idea. "Oh - uh, Jonathon's sister."

"Oh! Okay, I'll fetch her, sir." Tommy hurried into the dorm,
leaving Mr. Stempel on the porch. Why would he say Jonny's
sister was the prettiest bride, the boy wondered; she just looked
like any old girl, to him. Not like Bernice, with her platinum
blonde ringlets, tied back with pink bows and lace. Now she
was pretty.

A minute later, Karen came to the door. Tommy might have
changed his mind about her not being pretty, if he'd seen her
when she smiled at Mr. Stempel. She stepped out onto the
porch. Aaron felt strangely bashful, remembering how they'd
parted on Monday, but forged ahead with what he was planning
to say: he asked her if she and Jonathon would like to go for an
evening buggy ride. Karen accepted his invitation, and minutes
later they were on their way.

...And a very few minutes later, they were back. What had
started out so pleasantly had turned into a disaster. Jonathon
had wanted to stay and play with Tommy, and ended up
throwing a full-blown tantrum. He insisted he wanted to go back,
and finally, they did. Stempel, who had felt helpless during the
whole incident, was left standing outside the dorm, as Karen,
fighting back tears, took the boy inside.

The saloon was busy with the usual boisterous Saturday night
crowd. Lottie looked up as the saloon door opened with force;
she was surprised to see Aaron rush in. His scowling face made
her forget the teasing remark she'd been about to toss at him.
"Lottie, can I talk to you?" he demanded. She saw that he meant
alone, so stood up and went with him into the saloon's back
room. Once there, door closed, he got straight to the point. "It's
Karen. We were goin' for a ride, and Jonathon was actin' up...
We had to take 'im home, and - Lottie, she was crying." Lottie
couldn't remember the last time she'd seen him so wound up. "I
don't know how it happened. I don't remember what I said, but I
must've done somethin' to upset 'er." Lottie tried to tell him that
it was probably nothing he'd done - Karen was probably just
frustrated with her brother - but Aaron kept pacing, frowning.

"Well, would you like me to go over there and talk to her?" He
looked hopeful, but worried. "Can you keep an eye on things
while I'm gone? No, you'll scare all the customers away with that
face. Stay in this room." Lottie decided it would be safe to leave
Ken, the bartender, in charge. After all, Clancey's ship wasn't in
port tonight. She hurried over to the dorm.

Once there, she efficiently got everything sorted out. After a
short explanation from Karen about Jonathon's behaviour, Lottie
fixed him with the stern glare that had kept Jason and Aaron in
line for fifteen years, and made him apologize to his sister.
Lottie gave him a tap on the bottom and a warning not to act up
like that again, and sent him to bed. Then she asked Karen to
walk her back to the saloon. As soon as they stepped outside,
she turned her motherly gaze on Karen. "And now you, dear. I
heard you were crying. What happened?"

Karen started to say that she'd been overreacting to Jonathon's
tantrum, but under Lottie's penetrating stare, all of her
frustrations came spilling out: that Jonathon was becoming a real
handful, and how hard it was trying to raise him all by herself.
"But you're not by yourself, dear. There are almost a hundred
other girls who are dying to be mothers - give them a chance to
help you and to enjoy themselves at the same time. How often
have you been out without your brother in the last month?"
When Karen answered meekly that she'd gone for a walk with
Aaron on Tuesday night, Lottie waited for the rest of the list,
then, when it wasn't forthcoming, sputtered, "That's all? You're
young, dear; you need to get out at least a few times a week.
Now promise me you'll accept, the next time one of the brides
offers to baby-sit. It's silly to have them crying themselves to
sleep because they're childless, and you crying because you're
overwhelmed by taking care of a child all by yourself."

Karen, who prided herself on her self-control in front of people,
argued with that description of herself. "I wasn't crying. I was just
angry with Jonathon, and trying to keep it inside. And I was
disappointed because I really wanted to go for that ride with
Aaron - "

"Aaron!" Lottie remembered. "I forgot about him. He must've
worn a hole in my floorboards by now!" At Karen's bewildered
look, Lottie explained that Aaron was the reason she'd come
over to the dorm. She stuck her head back through the brides'
door. "Who wants to watch Jonny for a few hours? Karen has to
go out."

The closest bride answered, "Sure, Lottie - thanks!", and Lottie
turned back to Karen with an I-told-you-so expression.

"I'll tell him to meet you on the docks, dear, so you'll have some
privacy." As she spoke, she tossed her head back towards the
dorm window, where Biddie was standing.

Karen waited nervously in the deep shadows on the dock
across the square from Lottie's saloon. She didn't see Aaron
until he was only a few feet away; he was just standing there
looking at her, frowning with concern, not speaking, blending
into the darkness in his black suit, and she was almost knocked
over by a wave of feeling for him. "Lottie says you're - alright?"
He spoke hesitantly. He stepped closer. She was so glad to
see him that she couldn't speak. "Did I, uh - upset you by
something I said?" Aaron asked.

Astonishment gave her her voice back. "You? Of course not!"
What was he talking about?

"I, uh, thought I'd - made you cry." Still looking sure he must be
guilty of something.

Karen's automatic tension-relieving flippancy made her think, 'A
girl gets tears in her eyes, and everyone panics!', but she could
see that for some reason Aaron was very serious; instinctively,
she reached out and touched his arm above the elbow as she
responded, "Of course not. You were wonderful, as always. I
was just - really annoyed with Jonny - and embarrassed that he'd
behaved that way in front of you. And I was upset that we
wouldn't be able to go for that ride after all." It was only then that
she realized that she was touching him, and quickly took a step
back, withdrawing her hand.

Stempel tried to take it in. 'Wonderful, as always.' She'd said
that - about him. This kind of thing just didn't happen to Aaron
Stempel; decent, upright, respectable girls just didn't feel that
way about him. This definitely could not last, he told himself
firmly, but a small kernel of hope remained. For a moment, they
just stood there facing each other. Emotions were running high,
and fatigue and tension had lowered their usual inhibitions; they
were on the brink of throwing caution to the winds. But caution
was Aaron Stempel's middle name, and he took a deep breath,
and tried to break the intense emotional spell.

"Well, uh," he started, "I guess it's - too late now to go ridin'... But,
uh, maybe we could - go walkin"?"

Karen quickly agreed, and they set out along the dock towards
the boardwalk. As they walked, they gradually shook off the
overcharged emotions that had suddenly hit them an hour ago,
and they were able to relax and enjoy each other's company.
Every few minutes they would pass other couples, so the feeling
of complete isolation they'd had on Tuesday wasn't there
tonight. As they walked further, though, they stopped
encountering people. After a while, they reached the same bend
in the boardwalk where they'd stopped last time, and they
leaned against the railing and looked at the stars.

"What do you think I should do about Jonathon?" Karen asked.
"He's always been such a good kid, but lately he's getting so - I
don't know - "

"Energetic?" Aaron suggested, smiling.

"Well, that's the nice way of putting it! I was thinking more like -
frustrating. Or bratty."

"Well, my mother always said that that's how you can tell that a
boy's ready for school - " At her questioning look, Aaron
supplied, " - When he starts drivin' his parents crazy."

"Is that what happened to you?"

"No, I've always been an angel," Stempel drawled sarcastically.

"But Jonny is in school."

"Well, maybe he should be goin' full-time. I know he's young, but
ask Miss Essie; she'll know if he's ready." Karen was absorbing
this suggestion and thinking that Aaron was probably right, when
he continued, "And another thing - well, never mind."

"No, what? I asked for your advice, and I want to hear what you
think."

"Well, I think maybe - he needs to spend more time with other
kids, just bein' a kid." Karen looked confused. "Well, think of it:
he lives with a hundred young ladies... 'N' he just spent six long
months on a ship with nothin' but grown-ups... And then his 'fun'
times lately have been goin' on picnics and buggy rides with, uh,
an old - antique like me."

Karen laughed at the way he referred to himself. "Yeah, heaven
knows, you're no kid anymore. That birthday seems to be
weighin' pretty heavy on you, Mr. Stempel. What'd you turn -
forty?"

"Thirty-two!" Aaron reacted indignantly, then realized he'd been
had. "Well," he grumbled, "I don't act a day over forty, anyway..."
Karen laughed again.

As they walked back to town, Karen thanked him for his advice
and said she'd talk to Miss Essie. "How can I get him to spend
more time with other kids?" she thought out loud.

"Arrange swaps with his friends' parents - they invite Jonathon
over one day, and you take their kids off their hands on another."
Karen agreed that that sounded great, imagining long, solitary
picnics, just Aaron and her...

October 20, 1867

But that wasn't exactly what happened. The next day after
church, as everyone milled around and chatted with their
neighbours before going home for Sunday dinner, Stempel
talked to Jonathon, man to man. Karen watched them with their
heads together, one blond, one black, as Aaron knelt on one
knee in front of the boy. A few minutes later, Jonathon ran off
with a whoop and joined his friends. Aaron stood up, brushed
off the knees of his suit pants, and looking over at Karen, gave
her a reassuring grin before approaching several couples that
she recognized as Jonny's friends' parents. Soon he walked
over to Karen, looking very pleased with himself. "Alright, it's all
arranged. Would you do me the honour of accompanying me
on a picnic, Miss, uh, St. James? I've taken the liberty of askin'
Lottie to prepare us a picnic lunch." Karen was thrilled; she
agreed readily, and Aaron went to get his buggy.

Minutes later he returned, driving the mill's wagon, the one that
was big enough to hold a dozen men. Before Karen could ask
why, Jonathon and his friends ran up and Aaron started loading
them into the wagon. Karen was rooted to the spot. "Miss St.
James? Your, uh, chariot awaits." He helped her up, chuckling,
and they rode off.

Once they'd arrived at a large nearby field, and the half dozen
boys were chasing the ball which Aaron had brought, and the
two adults were settled on a blanket on the grass, Karen, sitting
with her back to Aaron, mumbled, "When you said he should
spend time with other boys, this isn't exactly how I pictured it..."

Stempel, who was reclining on his side, leaning on one elbow,
smiled at her back and encouraged, "Ah, but think of it as an
investment, Miss - St. James! One afternoon with this, uh, swarm
of boys, and then we have many childless afternoons ahead of
us, as Jonathon takes turns visitin' all o' these boys and their
families."

She turned and looked down at him. "I like the way your mind
works, Mr. Stempel." He chuckled and helped himself to a
drumstick.

The day didn't turn out too badly after all, Karen thought later.
With the boys running each other ragged, she and Aaron had
actually had more of a chance to talk than when there was only
one child with them. As they dropped each of the boys off at
their homes at supper time, Karen felt more relaxed than she'd
felt for ages.

Stempel sent Jonathon into the dorm to wash up for supper,
telling him he wanted to talk to his sister. Walking around to the
side stairs, Aaron looked down at her with a warm smile and
said, "Uh, Karen, I - I'd like to go walkin' with you again tonight,
but I think you need to get some sleep; we both do. Last night
we let that young fella's tantrum get us both much more upset
than it warranted. I'm tellin' you this so you won't misunderstand
me not askin' you..." He searched her face for a reaction, and
added, "Maybe we could, uh, go for a walk after supper one
night later in the week?"

She knew he was right, and was glad to agree. "Okay, but you
get some rest, too - I heard Harv say you've been doing
paperwork every night until midnight."

"No, that was just when I thought Bolt was courtin' you. I'm
alright now."

On that note, they smiled at each other, and he left. Karen went
into the dorm feeling like she'd found new parents in Seattle:
Lottie was the perfect mother, and now Papa Stempel was
giving her a new earlier bedtime.

October 21 - 23, 1867

The next day, professional gamblers came to town. "Damn,"
Stempel thought; he'd forgotten all about inviting them to Seattle.
It had seemed like a good idea, when Bolt was courting Karen,
but now he thought maybe he should send the gamblers away -
for about a minute. After all, nobody was gonna force anybody
to gamble, least of all him, so let the buyer beware.

Then that fool Clancey had to go and bet his boat. A trap set for
Jason Bolt and his hypocritical on-again-off-again morality had
snared that old man. Well, Stempel figured, seeing as he was a
kind of a softie where Clancey was concerned, when it was all
over, he'd sell the ship back to Clancey for a dollar... and a share
of the profits. After all, Aaron reasoned, he couldn't lose sight of
the fact that he was a businessman, first and foremost.

When the Bolts came to borrow money, he'd loaned them
enough that they could probably win the boat back; Mack was
an honest gambler, not a cheat. Aaron felt justified in his
business maneuvers, but less peaceful in his mind about his
tactics than he used to be. He answered that niggling doubt by
not charging Bolt interest on the money, and, of course, by
accepting Bridal Veil Mountain as security for the loan, so it
wouldn't be available to bet; Bolt was far too impulsive, that
way.

Stempel was shocked when he heard that Bolt had bet the
mountain. The fact that it had all worked out alright was another
matter. You can't bet the collateral for a loan! Especially if you'd
already lost the loan money! He'd have to give Bolt a lesson in
business finances.

Meanwhile, Karen was getting the Biddie version of the events:
Aaron Stempel had brought gamblers to town to cheat the Bolt
brothers out of their mountain and Clancey out of his ship.
According to Biddie, Lottie's saloon, Ben's store, the church, and
the brides' dormitory were all targeted by Aaron, too. Karen
managed to ignore most of Biddie's remarks, but ended up in
some heated exchanges when Biddie got personal. This time
Karen was not going to sit still for any of those "Aaron Stempel is
just plain evil" comments.

Karen had taken Aaron's advice and talked to Miss Essie about
Jonathon, and it turned out that she'd been about to
recommend sending Jonathon for full days. Miss Essie stunned
Karen by tactfully adding that she thought that Jonathon would
benefit from more independence from his sister... so all of a
sudden, Karen found her services at the school no longer
wanted. Essie wanted both changes put into effect immediately,
so starting Wednesday, Karen found herself with the whole day
free.

October 24, 1867

...Which is what brought her to Lottie's on Thursday morning at
8:00. She had just dropped Jonathon off at the church when she
saw Lottie waving to her from the front window of the saloon;
on impulse, Karen went in.

The saloon was a lot quieter at this time of day. It functioned
more or less as a restaurant for breakfast and lunch, and a
saloon later. Many of Seattle's single men regularly ate their
meals here, and some of the retired men dropped in daily for
coffee and pie and a game of checkers. The loggers, of course,
ate up at the camp, but Jason and his brothers sometimes came
in when they were staying in town overnight, especially Jason,
who couldn't boil water without burning it.

Lottie greeted the younger woman with her usual cheerfulness,
and they chatted while Lottie bustled around serving breakfast,
clearing dishes, and joking with the customers. Karen
automatically joined in wherever she saw a need: filling coffee
cups, fetching more toast, and so on. The breakfast crowd soon
headed off to work, and Lottie and Karen talked while they
carried the dishes back to the kitchen, where Lottie's staff
washed them; she employed a cook and a dishwasher. The
ladies then both took a cup of tea out to Lottie's usual table and
sat down.

"At last! So tell me, dear, what brings you in here on a school
day?" Lottie asked.

"Oh, haven't you heard? Miss Essie invited me not to come
anymore! Pretty sad, getting fired from a volunteer job, eh?"
Lottie looked concerned, and Karen hastened to let her know
she was kidding. "What it is, is that Jonny and I have been doing
absolutely everything together since we left New Bedford, and
both Aaron and Miss Essie were smart enough to see that we
needed some time apart. So he goes to school full-time now,
and I'm free all day." Lottie took it all in, including the first name
reference to Aaron as if the girl used his name frequently. Good.

"So, what are you doing with all that freedom?"

"Well, I haven't figured that out yet. I want to do something. One
thing's for sure, I'm not cut out to be a teacher. To tell you the
truth, I'm kind of sick of kids." Karen looked around guiltily as
she confessed this, and Lottie laughed. "I thought I should still
help supervise the kids at lunchtime, but Miss Essie said to see if
any of the brides would volunteer, and do you know how many
volunteers there were? Ninety-nine! Turns out I'm the only one
who doesn't really want to do it. Does that make me a freak of
nature?" The girl's tone was joking, but there was a trace of
self-doubt there, too.

Lottie patted her hand reassuringly. "No, it just makes you a girl
who had the roles of both mother and father thrust on her very
young. I'm glad you've figured out a way to spread the
parenting around. There are a lot of adults in Seattle with extra
love to give a child..." Karen thought she glimpsed sadness on
Lottie's face for a moment, but it was replaced so quickly by a
cheerful smile that she thought she might have imagined it. "So
now you're a lady of leisure?"

"Well, yesterday was my first day, and I'm already going crazy!
Could I come over here and help out during the day? You have
to let me - if I have to sit over there and crochet with Candy and
Biddie, I'll lose my mind."

Lottie was actually pleased that the girl had offered. Goodness
knows, she could use the help - and the company. Men to talk
to, that she had plenty of; but most "ladies" didn't want to
associate with a woman who owned a saloon. A few of the
brides came over occasionally, but Karen had more sense than
the rest; it would be nice to have her around. "I'd like your
company, dear - just come whenever you want."

Karen suggested mornings after she took Jonathon to school,
and staying until the lunch crowd was gone. Lottie thought that
sounded like too much work; rather than debate it with her,
Karen agreed to take it one day at a time, but privately she was
already trying to figure out how she could get Lottie to take a
few hours off each day. The woman worked about sixteen
hours a day, six days a week!

After what seemed to Karen like an awfully short break, Lottie
got up and started setting the tables for lunch. Karen helped as
much as she could as each new task came along; she didn't
know where everything was, yet.

The first person to come in for lunch was Aaron. He looked
preoccupied and was frowning slightly. He seemed startled to
see Karen, and mumbled something unintelligible at her, almost
scowling. Karen went into the kitchen to get rolls for the tables,
and Lottie took the opportunity to give Aaron a light backhanded
smack on the shoulder. "What's the matter with you? Why were
you rude to her?"

Mumble.

"What?"

He grudgingly spoke up. "I said, she's mad at me, isn't she?"

"Well, not that I know of!"

"Oh. Well..."

Karen returned, trying to juggle four baskets of rolls. Lottie
stopped her in her tracks with a stare, and grabbing a fistful of
Aaron's suit just below the back of his collar as if he might bolt at
any moment, she demanded of Karen, "Are you mad at him?"

Karen looked completely in the dark. "No - should I be?"

Lottie glared down at Aaron. "Are you mad at her?" He shook
his head. "Then talk, for goodness' sake!" She made a motion
with the hand that was gripping his suit as if she was tossing him
away, then went off to the kitchen in a huff.

Karen could see that Aaron was tense, not just preoccupied. "Is
something wrong, Aaron?"

He avoided answering, and pounced on the rolls as a welcome
diversion. Lottie returned with Aaron's lunch and a coffee, which
she placed in front of him. At an imploring look from Karen,
Lottie stayed and made conversation.

As Aaron ate and Lottie joked around with him, he seemed to
shake off his strange mood and start to relax a little. Lottie
seemed to have that effect on him, Karen noticed; she was glad
he'd had Lottie all these years, but she couldn't help envying that
closeness. Looking at Lottie standing behind his chair, putting
her hand on his shoulder as she talked, Karen wished she could
do that.

Other lunch customers started to arrive, and Lottie and Karen got
busy. Aaron finished his lunch, and seemed to make a point of
catching Karen's eye as he got up to leave. She stopped for a
moment, both hands full of dishes from another table, as Aaron,
looking down, rather sheepishly said, "Um, I apologize for bein'
so moody, uh - " Making eye contact, he asked, "Would you go
for a walk with me later, if I promise not to inflict my moods on
you?"

'Any mood, any time,' Karen thought, but restricted herself to
saying, "Sure", and they arranged to meet after supper.

At the next lull in the crowd. Lottie asked, "What was that black
cloud all about?" Karen said she had no idea, and was hoping
that Lottie could explain it. "Explain Aaron Stempel?" Lottie
asked sarcastically. "I'd need a Ph.D. in psychology for that."

Later, as Karen was walking back from the church with Jonny,
Ethan Williams, one of Aaron's men, came rushing up to her,
tried to catch his breath, and said that Mr. Stempel had asked
him to give her a message that he couldn't come to town tonight
because he had to stay late at the mill and do paperwork. Ethan
turned to cross the square, commenting to Karen, "Mr. S. wants
Lottie to send him down a box supper, later"; Karen offered to
give Lottie the message, and the harried-looking man gratefully
rushed off to complete other mill-related errands.

Karen spent awhile playing catch with Jonathon beside the
dormitory, but her mind kept wandering, wishing she knew if
anything was going on, or if Aaron was just busy. It was almost
time for supper when they went inside. Beth McLean was there;
she was the youngest and quietest of the brides. She'd left
younger brothers and sisters behind in New Bedford, and dealt
with her homesickness by spending as much time with Jonathon
as she could. Karen watched as Beth and Jonathon started
setting the tables together, thought of the box supper that she
had to ask Lottie to send down to the mill, and suddenly
decided she had to find out what was going on with Aaron. She
asked Beth if she'd watch Jonathon for her tonight. Beth agreed
eagerly, and actually thanked her for asking. Jonny happily ran
upstairs to fetch the books he wanted Beth to read to him after
supper.

Warmed by Beth's obvious affection for Jonathon, Karen left the
dorm a few minutes later. She went to Lottie's and bought two
box suppers, and walked down the road to the mill. She
wished she could have talked to Lottie first, but the saloon
owner had been surrounded by thirsty customers. Karen felt
nervous about showing up at the mill uninvited; she'd never
been there before.

Harv and the men had been gone for an hour, but Aaron
Stempel was still hard at work in his office. He had been trying
to calculate the mill's debits and credits for the third quarter; a
simple task, but one which was defeating him, tonight. Finally he
threw down his pen with his left hand, and reached for his coffee
cup with his right. Putting it to his lips, he grimaced: cold. He
stood up and paced to the window, and stood with his hands in
his pockets, looking towards town. Where was Lottie's errand
boy with his supper? He paced back to the desk, sat down, and
tried to get back to work, but couldn't concentrate. It was that
damn Pruitt woman, he thought; she'd gotten herself deputized
to speak on behalf of all of the brides again, and had marched
up here this afternoon to put him on notice that they were all
onto him and the way he'd tried to use the gamblers to cheat
Clancey out of his ship and the Bolts out of their mountain.
They'd had the nerve to proclaim that the dorm was off-limits to
him. Well, to blazes with them; he wasn't interested in darkening
that doorway. He stood up again, then sat down; picked up his
pen, and pulled the ledger closer. Fact was, he didn't put any
stock in Miss Pruitt's opinion of him, or most of those other girls,
but he found it hard to swallow that Karen was taking their side
against him. First he'd been angry with her, then hurt... but truth
was, it was his own fault. He should've sent those gamblers
away. Karen had been kind to him as usual this morning, but he
guessed the brides had had a meeting afterwards, and she'd
seen it their way. He bent his head over the figures, and added
up a column.

He was so absorbed in what he was doing that he didn't hear
anyone approach the office. At a knock on the office door, he
called, "Yeah, come in," without looking. A moment later he
glanced up and saw, not Lottie's errand boy, but Karen St.
James. Automatically, he stood up. Emotions flashed through
him: hope because she'd come down here to see him, anger
that she would come and lecture him in person after having
already sent Candy, and, as his eyes fell on the food from
Lottie's that she was carrying, disappointment that she was just
here on an errand. He tried to keep his emotions out of his voice
as he said, "Runnin' errands for Lottie is part of your new job,
eh?"

She just looked at him with those blue eyes and said something
about wanting to have dinner with him, since he was working
late. He mentally shook his head; this didn't make sense. But
there she was, sitting down and getting the food out of the two
boxes. Didn't she understand that his cancelling their plan to go
for a walk tonight was his way of going along with that message
that she'd sent Candy to deliver? He sat down slowly, wariness
in every muscle. "You came up here to lecture me about bringin'
the gamblers to town," he guessed. He braced himself for harsh
words.

"No," she answered calmly, passing him the basket of rolls from
Lottie's. "That's nothing to do with me, is it?"

He was suspicious; what was she up to? "Well, you're blamin'
me for Clancey losin' his ship, though, eh?"

She stopped in the middle of buttering a roll and frowned at him
slightly. "Why would I? Captain Clancey's an adult; if he
chooses to gamble his life's work on a hand of cards, isn't he the
one who's responsible for the results of that decision?"

This was making Aaron angry. Why was she toying with him?
"Well, the Bolts came this close to losin' their mountain, y'know!"

The girl looked him straight in the eye and spoke with sincerity
as she said, "Yeah, I wanted to ask you about that."

'Well, it's about time. Here it comes,' he thought, ready for one
of those vintage Aunt Pearl tirades.

Karen was continuing, "How could they bet their mountain when
you'd accepted it as collateral on the loan for the money they'd
already gambled away? Shouldn't it have been impossible for
them to lose the mountain, because of the way you'd set up that
loan?"

That was enough. Stempel jumped to his feet, threw down his
roll, saying angrily, "Stop baitin' me! Just say what you came up
here to say!"

" 'Can you give me a tour of the mill?' " she ventured hesitantly.
"What in blazes - ?" He scowled more fiercely, eyes daring her to
tell the truth.

She looked intimidated, and reluctantly confessed. "Okay, what I
really came up here to say was: are you really working late on
paperwork, or are you just avoiding me for some reason?"
There they were again, those honest blue eyes lookin' at him
with what seemed to be concern.

Stempel sat down with a thud. He just didn't get it. Almost
dazed, he muttered, "But Miss Pruitt said you wanted nothin' to
do with me."

Karen's face was a study in confusion. "Candy said that I - "

"Well, you 'n' all the brides..."

"All the brides what? What did she say?"

Stempel grudgingly repeated Candy's message. "She said the
brides'd sent 'er - every one of 'em. She told me you all knew I'd
tried to cheat people outta the mountain, the ship, the saloon..."
He paused, then continued, "And she said somethin' about me
not darin' to show my face at the brides' dormitory..." He trailed
off.

Karen looked indignant and spoke with vehemence. "You have
got to be kidding! ...You're not. You didn't take her seriously,
did you? ...You did." Unbelievably to Stempel, the girl was
looking at him with a warm, sympathetic expression as she
continued to speak. "Well, she certainly doesn't speak for me, in
this or any other matter. I can't believe she'd do this! Y'know,
she goes off on these - these crusades of hers, and half the
brides don't even get consulted - the ones that she knows will
disagree - and the other half are so brainwashed by her that she
keeps getting away with it! I don't know how, but somehow she
managed to appoint herself official leader of the brides," Karen
commented disgustedly. "From there, it's just one short step to
queen, you know!"

Aaron couldn't help laughing, out of sheer relief, as well as at the
torrent of words that the mere mention of Candy had provoked.
Karen looked embarrassed. "Sorry. As you can see, she really
gets to me. But surely you knew that I didn't have any part in
what she was saying?"

"Well, I didn't blame you - there was some truth to what she was
sayin'. I shouldn't've asked the gamblers to come here; I was
mad at Bolt after that town meetin', and acted without thinkin'..."

Karen sat silently for a long moment. Stempel couldn't tell what
she was thinking. Her hands were clasped in her lap, and she
was looking at the floor. Then she looked up at him and smiled
nervously, and spoke quietly, and fairly quickly, as if to get it
over with. "I'm not good at saying things like this - last time,
Lottie had to bully me into it, and I wish she was here to do it
again. I - I don't want you to listen to Candy, or Biddie, or the
ghost of Aunt Pearl - " Aaron blinked in surprise that Karen had
known he was thinking of his aunt. " - Or anyone else, if they're
saying that I've washed my hands of you. It's just not going to
happen. This feud between you and Jason - I don't totally
understand it, but - it's really between you and him, and it
doesn't change how I - what I think."

Stempel just looked at her, not able to absorb it. "But - "

She leaned forward and said with more ease, "Just think of me
like Lottie - or even Jason. They've both remained your friends
through whatever ups and downs, right?" As Aaron nodded, she
went on, "Well, I'm just as stubborn and contrary as they are
about not giving up on a friend. And I think we all see something
in you that Aunt Pearl was too nearsighted to see."

Stempel was numb; speechless. Karen sat back in her chair and
visibly relaxed, now that she'd said what she thought needed to
be said. As her words sank in, Aaron found himself believing in
her sincerity, and he looked at her with an openly friendly smile
that was reflected in his eyes.

Karen looked back with an embarrassed but amused
expression. "Now that I've managed to say what Lottie would
have killed me for not saying, will you give me a tour of the mill?"

Stempel jumped to his feet with a cheerful "Yeah, alright"; now he
was on familiar territory. He walked around his desk, then on
impulse turned and took a couple of sandwiches out of the
boxes from Lottie's, and offered one to Karen. They walked out
of the office together, both relieved to move on to a less
emotionally charged topic.

As he held the door open for her, though, he smiled down at her
and said appreciatively, "Lottie couldn't've done better herself."