Posted August 2, 2021 / Clara Redmond Lutz
"More like the other way around!" Jemima laughed somewhat humourlessly.
Clara had no reason to disbelieve what the dour Jemima was saying about all this but she was a bit surprised that she herself had had no inkling of Arabella's..........inclinations. She had always thought herself a good judge of people, maybe she was not?
"Oh, I'd like to say I've been suspicious of Arabella ever since I first got to know her. You know: realized something was wrong about her from the beginning, but I was as blind as you were until she told me outright. Course, she's never liked me in that way!"
"Goodness! She even told you, admitted such a thing?" Clara thought that was pretty much the clincher then on this unraveling mystery.
"Then again, I ain't pretty like you, and I never saved her life and nursed her back to health and all those things she always does run on about you, Clara."
"I am not that pretty....there have been only two men who called me that - my father, who we both have to admit there is reason to believe he is biased - and Jacob. Who is no doubt putting me on a pedestal because we are in love," Clara pointed out.
"And secondly, I did not save Arabella's life. I did help nurse her back to health it is true enough but I was only doing my Christian duty as I am certain you would do the same in my place."
Suddenly the mention of 'Christian' hit her. She turned to Jemima with a very worried look on her face.
"Jemima, you have not told others about ...........well Arabella's ...bent...have you? I ask because if word gets out to certain folks......quite a few folks actually.........she could well have her reputation ruined in Kalispell. She could be driven out of the church, she might even lose her job. Her life has been hard enough as it is. I would hate to see it come to that."
"THERE'S SOMEBODY AT THE DOOR!!!"
Posted August 2, 2021 / Jemima Wigfall
"Goodness! She even told you, admitted such a thing?" Clara thought that was pretty much the clincher then on this unraveling mystery.
Jemima nodded. There had been a reason that she had been let in on the terrible secret.
"She told me about it before she was..." Jemima didn't really know how to frame it: Arabella's new found acceptance of her 'problem'. "... well, before she was 'right' with herself about it. She said she'd tried everything to cure it: prayer, fasting, kissing boys, she even tried to kill herself. Course, you can imagine the mess she made of that." Jemima sniffed.
"Well, anyway, she wanted me to try beating it out of her. Reckoned that's what monks and nuns did in olden times to rid 'emselves of sin. Well that didn't work. I reckon she enjoyed it more than anything. So I said 'Arabella you're sick, you need to see a doctor' and she did and I don't know what he did but she's as bad as ever, but she just doesn't give a d__n about it anymore." The plain girl sort of stared into space after this little tale: considering whether, if you couldn't repair your faults, maybe all you could do was stop worrying about them, and a faint smile haunted her face.
When she explained that Arabella didn't admire Jemima in that way, unlike the pretty Clara, the new Mrs Lutz was all modesty.
"I am not that pretty....there have been only two men who called me that - my father, who we both have to admit there is reason to believe he is biased - and Jacob. Who is no doubt putting me on a pedestal because we are in love," Clara pointed out.
Jemima just shook her head at this, she would kill to be as attractive as Clara.
"And secondly, I did not save Arabella's life. I did help nurse her back to health it is true enough but I was only doing my Christian duty as I am certain you would do the same in my place."
"Probably." was about as far as Jemima would go on that one.
"Jemima, you have not told others about ...........well Arabella's ...bent...have you? I ask because if word gets out to certain folks......quite a few folks actually.........she could well have her reputation ruined in Kalispell. She could be driven out of the church, she might even lose her job. Her life has been hard enough as it is. I would hate to see it come to that."
Jemima was surprised that Clara thought the Saloon owners might fire Arabella for her 'aberration'- they who ran such a den of iniquity: she might have a point about the Church though, and that place meant a lot to the subject of their conversation. She sniffed and shook her head to assuage Clara's fears.
"Here's who knows: you, me, Doctor Danforth, I guess, and that Miriam." She had no idea about Mr. Pettigrew, Nurse Leane, Caroline Mundee and Messalina McMahon, the cook at the saloon.
"Oh, and Bridget Monahan. She's a funny one, that girl. Didn't think she'd understand that sort of stuff but I sometimes get a feeling she sorta picks up on things, you know? Even without being told." Jemima's usually frowny face managed somehow to frown some more.
Posted August 3, 2021 / Clara Redmond Lutz
"She told me about it before she was..." Jemima paused for a second, "... well, before she was 'right' with herself about it. She said she'd tried everything to cure it: prayer, fasting, kissing boys, she even tried to kill herself. Course, you can imagine the mess she made of that." Jemima sniffed.
"Oh my god! Tried to kill herself? That is terrible. I did not know any of this," Clara was truly shocked.
And the shocks continued. So Jemima tried to beat it out of her? That was nonsense. Yet somehow Arabella had enjoyed it? At least Jemima did something smarter, had her go see a doctor. Still...........
"So the doctor was no help," Clara frowned. Maybe she should see Rev. Thomas? But for now she kept this idea to herself.
The conversation now moved on to something which worried Clara, just how many people knew this terrible secret about Arabella.
"Here's who knows: you, me, Doctor Danforth, I guess, and that Miriam."
"Oh," Clara nodded, not as many as she had worried there might be. A doctor would never tell as it was part of his professional oath, some Greek name. So that narrowed it down further. But there apparently was one more. Bridget ?????
"Well, that is strange but then we know Bridget, the poor dear, is not quite...normal, thru no fault of her own," Clara sighed.
"So then, please, I beg of you .....do not tell anyone else about Arabella. For her reputation is at stake here. Her future in Kalispell even. As her friends we have to be sympathetic to her....problems as best we can," Clara now made her pitch on this matter.
"THERE'S SOMEBODY AT THE DOOR!!!"
Posted August 3, 2021 / Jemima Wigfall
"Oh my god! Tried to kill herself? That is terrible. I did not know any of this," Clara was truly shocked.
Jemima nodded sagely; half because she knew lots of things that Clara Lutz didn't know, but also in confirmation of what she'd always suspected: Arabella's 'close friendship' with the daughter of the handsome Mr Aurelian Redmond was all in Arabella's head!
And the shocks continued. So Jemima tried to beat it out of her? That was nonsense. Yet somehow Arabella had enjoyed it? At least Jemima did something smarter, had her go see a doctor. Still...........
"So the doctor was no help," Clara frowned. Maybe she should see Rev. Thomas? But for now she kept this idea to herself.
"That depends on how you look at it. She isn't cured, but she's happy." Jemima shrugged. "Still, that Doctor Danforth's got a few secrets of his own, I'll be bound." she was thinking primarily of the habit his Nurse Aoife Leane had of sleeping over at the surgery with him instead of coming home to her lodgings.
The conversation now moved on to something which worried Clara, just how many people knew this terrible secret about Arabella. Only Bridget's name seemed to surprise Clara.
"Well, that is strange but then we know Bridget, the poor dear, is not quite...normal, thru no fault of her own," Clara sighed.
"Oh, she's a funny'n all right" agreed Jemima "And yet for all her missing pieces, she's got a handsome cowboy chasin' after her!" At least, that was the word Dame Rumour was spreading.
"So then, please, I beg of you .....do not tell anyone else about Arabella. For her reputation is at stake here. Her future in Kalispell even. As her friends we have to be sympathetic to her....problems as best we can," Clara now made her pitch on this matter.
"Her secret's safe with me, besides, she knows my secrets too, so..." she realised there was a contradiction here, hadn't she just spilled the beans to Clara? "I only told you because, well, I thought you had a right to know. Arabella reckons that you're thinking of naming the baby after her and making her Godmother. I told her I doubted that was true, but just in case, well, you might not want to do that with someone who's got something peculiar wrong with them." she stated plainly.
Miss Wigfall now decided they'd wasted enough time talking about Arabella Mudd and her murky ways: there were other important fish to fry.
"Say, have you met Mrs Dietrich yet?" she asked Clara baldly.
Posted August 3, 2021 / Clara Redmond Lutz
Bridget has a handsome cowboy chasing after her? Clara found that hard to believe. Unless it was some one trying to take advantage of the poor thing. She wasn't all there. Who would do such a thing? Clara silently decided she might have to look the girl up and talk to her soon.
But for the moment she concentrated on the here and now which was making sure Jemima kept her further silence about Arabella. The girl seemed willing enough at least.
"Her secret's safe with me, besides, she knows my secrets too, so..I only told you because, well, I thought you had a right to know. Arabella reckons that you're thinking of naming the baby after her and making her Godmother. I told her I doubted that was true, but just in case, well, you might not want to do that with someone who's got something peculiar wrong with them."
"I have told Arabella very clearly I am not going...we are not going to name the baby after her but if it is a girl - after Emeline Pike. It is nothing against Arabella, it is a solemn promise I made to Emeline. She has been like a mother to me," Clara wanted that much to be clear.
"And regardless of her peculiarity I will not end my friendship with her. Friends do not abandon friends," she added.
Jemima suddenly changed the subject.
"Say, have you met Mrs Dietrich yet?" she asked Clara baldly.
"Who? No, I have not, I do not even know who that is," Clara answered.
"THERE'S SOMEBODY AT THE DOOR!!!"
Posted August 4, 2021 / Jemima Wigfall
"I have told Arabella very clearly I am not going...we are not going to name the baby after her but if it is a girl - after Emeline Pike. It is nothing against Arabella, it is a solemn promise I made to Emeline. She has been like a mother to me," Clara wanted that much to be clear.
Jemima held her council, she wasn't Mrs Pike's greatest admirer after she had failed to get a job at the diner. She believed Clara had stars in her eyes about Mrs Pike in the same way that Arabella idolised Clara.
Talking of Mrs Pike, though...
"Say, have you met Mrs Dietrich yet?" she asked Clara baldly.
"Who? No, I have not, I do not even know who that is," Clara answered.
"Widow Lady, just moved in at our's." The frowsy girl gave Clara a quick run down on Mrs Wigfall's latest lodger. "Seems all right apart from giving herself a few 'airs and graces'. I asked her if she was looking for work, and she reckoned that Mrs Pike had given her a job at the pie store."
This was all obviously news to Clara, and Jemima couldn't help adding in her sage opinion on the possible consequences.
"Now, if you and Jake're moving into the Diner and you're going to be running the place... well, I'd have thought you'd want to chose your own help and maybe not someone older than you; and maybe not someone who thinks that they're better than ordinary folks like you and me." she warned. "She might want to try and take over!"
"I hope I'm wrong , time will tell: but 'forewarned is forearmed'!" Jemima said all this with such a dry flat voice and stern and serious look that it was imbued with a gravitas that would have been lost if someone like Arabella had twittered it out. It was, after all, only gossip and opinion: even if Jemima's method of delivery was that of an Old Testament prophet, portending the doom of nations.
Posted August 4, 2021 / Clara Redmond Lutz
"Widow Lady, just moved in at our's." The frowsy girl gave Clara a quick run down on Mrs Wigfall's latest lodger. "Seems all right apart from giving herself a few 'airs and graces'. I asked her if she was looking for work, and she reckoned that Mrs Pike had given her a job at the pie store."
"She did? Oh I doubt that, I have not heard any of the sort from her," Clara frowned.
Jemima was hardly done, "Now, if you and Jake're moving into the Diner and you're going to be running the place... well, I'd have thought you'd want to chose your own help and maybe not someone older than you; and maybe not someone who thinks that they're better than ordinary folks like you and me." she warned. "She might want to try and take over!"
"Nonsense, I think you must have got your information from an unreliable source. Or this woman is just saying that," Clara shook her head.
"I hope I'm wrong , time will tell: but 'forewarned is forearmed'!"
Well Clara was now warned at least, though so far she did put much credence in it. Emeline had certainly made it sound like once she was living on Pronto's newly purchased ranch out of town, she was leaving at least the running of the diner to her. She trusted the woman completely, this was not going to happen.
"I for one am not worried," Clara declared then sighed, "Say.....perhaps it is time for us to go to bed.......well, go to sleep anyways? I for one am quite worn out by the day's exertions."
"THERE'S SOMEBODY AT THE DOOR!!!"
Posted August 5, 2021 / Jemima Wigfall
"I for one am not worried," Clara declared then sighed, "Say.....perhaps it is time for us to go to bed.......well, go to sleep anyways? I for one am quite worn out by the day's exertions."
Worn out? Jemima was still full of pent up energy. Maybe Clara just wanted to get out of this conversation about Mrs Dietrich and her, apparently, secret arrangements with Mrs Pike. Before they could retire for the night, there was one more thing Clara needed to know about the woman.
"There's something else." she said ominously.
"Now, this is from Arabella, so you can take it with a pinch of salt, but she was hoppin' mad last Sunday cause she said that Mrs Dietrich pretended to trip right next to your Pa and spilled the hymnbooks all on the floor. She said that it was all a ruse and your Daddy caught her and she was makin' cow eyes at him and, well, tryin' to work her wiles on him, like she wanted to be the next Mrs Redmond: and all in front of your little brother, too."
That poison sown...
"Well, I said 'Arabella, don't you fret: Mr Redmond is the most intelligent and sensible man I know, and from what you have told me, nobody could ever replace the late Mrs Redmond in the affections of his heart. If Mr Redmond were ever to remarry, it would be a purely domestic arrangement, that he might have a housekeeper of sorts decently about his place: perhaps a young, strong and hardworking girl of younger years who could cook and sew and mend and clean and work the farm and look after him in older age, that his daughter and son need not worry about him. He would much prefer a plain but hardworking girl over some parasite whose looks will fade and who will, no doubt, eventually ruin him financially."
Her actual speech to Arabella at the time hadn't been quite so verbose, but had basically said the same thing.
Posted August 6, 2021 / Clara Redmond Lutz
Clara let Jemima tell her story, or rather relate Arabella's version of the encounter with her father and Mrs. Diedrich. However this was not news to her.
"Oh so that was who it was? Wyatt told me about this woman approaching Pa after church. He couldn't remember any name though. It must have been her," Clara now reasoned.
"Frankly, while I doubt any such thing would happen, if Father would decide to marry someone in the future, he would have my approval. I do not see it ever occurring but then who knows?" she shrugged.
"Now, if you do not mind, I honestly would like to sleep. It was a long active and eventful day and I am worn down considerably. So excuse me while I change.....thank you," Clara declared.
"And thank you for coming today and doing all that hard work too, I appreciate it."
"THERE'S SOMEBODY AT THE DOOR!!!"
Posted August 6, 2021 / Jemima Wigfall
"Oh so that was who it was? Wyatt told me about this woman approaching Pa after church. He couldn't remember any name though. It must have been her," Clara now reasoned.
"She must've been pretty brazen for him to remember it and tell you about it. Most boys that age are only interested in catapults, candy canes, catching tadpoles and pirate treasure." Jemima commented, laying the emphasis on Mrs Dietrich's supposed man-trapping, brassy lustre.
"Frankly, while I doubt any such thing would happen, if Father would decide to marry someone in the future, he would have my approval. I do not see it ever occurring but then who knows?" she shrugged.
This made Jemima sit up! In her mind was a list of obstacles to her objective: most of which centred around her own unattractiveness, for she was a realist, but now the first one 'Daughter might object' could be crossed through.
She contented herself with a nod, before adding: "Well, meanwhile, if you want any little thing doing for him or taking out to him, you just let me know: I can usually get out and about most days, while you'll be pretty much tied to the diner most days, I reckon." So helpful.
"Now, if you do not mind, I honestly would like to sleep. It was a long active and eventful day and I am worn down considerably. So excuse me while I change.....thank you," Clara declared.
"Sure, I'll just go bed Janella down for the night, then we can barricade ourselves in." agreed Jemima, getting up. She could really do with a smoke, but was trying to give it up: in case Mr Redmond or his daughter might think that unladylike in some way. "Tomorrow, we can fix that chimney."
"And thank you for coming today and doing all that hard work too, I appreciate it."
Jemima turned those piggy little eyes to Clara and gave her that sombre excuse for a smile and spoke in her flat contralto voice and said "That's all right, I liked it." and despite all her deficiencies and perhaps because she really meant it, for once came across a nice, normal young woman.