Sit down, shut up, don't touch anythin'
Addy scowled at the pair. "What in tarnation were ya thinkin'? Porter! Ya oughta know better, an' goadin' yer sister ta cut herself!"
Then she glared at Leah. "An' you! Ya oughta know better'n ta listen ta a boy that's got all manner'a silly notions in his head!" She shook her head. "Reckon I should take that pie back, an' off ta bed with th' two'a ya!"
She started to reach for the tray, but then changed course and gave Leah a huge hug. "Welcome ta th' family, daughter!"
And that was how she became Leah Steelgrave-Porter-Chappel.
"Thanks 'Mom.' Good to be here." She replied with a grin that was matched by her brand new 'brother' Weedy. It was all in fun, yes, but for Leah, it held far more than that. It seemed to her that the acceptance of this childish bonding ended up with a far more serious meaning, at least for her. Acceptance. The acceptance of Addy to this hooliganism between the two. It was good to be there, a part of something that was not hostile and ugly.
"You know, I could get used to this." Leah stated, "No fussing and fighting, or trying to take what isn't ours by trickery or force. I am glad to be here." She smiled a glistening forming in the corner of her eyes.
Sit down, shut up, don't touch anythin'
"Just wait until she makes you muck the stalls!" Weedy declared with a wide grin, "but I'll surely be glad to have someone to help me!" He laughed, then glanced at Addy, looking a bit more serious. "Um...so I can get to my school lessons sooner!"
Addy rolled her eyes. "Ya best grab yer pie afore I change my mind!" Then she glanced at Leah, mouthing, 'Thank ya,' wondering if Leah really realized how important this was to the boy. Prior to Addy arriving in town, his life had been uncertain, even though his ma was still around, and Leah would understand what it was like to have family yet not have family.
As for Addy, she did have some family, but they were back in Tennessee, so far removed, but her life was here now, and she didn't mind having Miss Leah as kin!
Grabbing a piece of pie, she settled cross-legged on the floor, watching as Weedy took the other two plates, then held the one with the bigger slice to Leah. Yep, things would work out!
"Well Master Weedy, I have plenty of practice at that particular task. Mind you, we had plenty of stalls to be mucked out, and though it was the hand's job to see to it, we got the job as punishment, and with no help from the hired men. So I can muck with the best of 'em, young man." She said with a smile.
When Addy said 'thank you' Leah knew what she meant by that, and she was well aware of not only what it meant to Weedy, but what it meant to her, she nodded in reply as Weedy went to get the other two plates.
The boy hustled back and offered the larger of the two pieces to her, "I appreciate your offer, sir but I would rather you took the larger slice. You've earned it." Not by anything he had managed to do before the bonding, but because of the blood brother-sister ceremony and what it meant to all of them.
Sit down, shut up, don't touch anythin'
Oh, so was there going to be a fight over getting the smallest piece? Addy grinned as Weedy started to protest, then relented, digging into the treat with relish.
"Too bad you can't cook this good!" the boy declared, looking at Addy. "But you're real good with the horses and wagons!" He had to make that distinction to avoid Addy's ire!
"Danged right I am!" Addy laughed and looked at Leah. "Boy's gettin' cocky, ain't he? But now there's someone who can double check his lessons, until I learn better ta read an' such." Miss Anesthesia was trying to teach her, but she didn't get around as much as she should. "This pie truly is good, Miz Clara's done a good job over t' th' cafe."
"Oh, yes, I'd be happy to help with Weedy's homework, make sure he gets the best grades!" Leah stated. "Having a good education can take you wherever you want to go in life, and the more of it you have, the farther you can go, like Doctor Danforth. It took a good deal of schooling to learn to be a doctor. But Weedy, there's a vast world of possibilities out there for a young man with an education, far beyond herding cattle and busting broncs."
She could tell that a boy his age was not thinking beyond the end of the day or the last of his piece of pie. They were all about playing and having fun. She couldn't blame him for that. But she would be willing to help him with his grades.
"Addy? How's Mister Millegan? I'd heard he was not doing all that well." She asked, if that were true, it could affect Addy's livelihood.
Sit down, shut up, don't touch anythin'
"Me and Wyatt are going to San Francisco," Weedy announced excitedly between bites of pie, making sure he chewed thoroughly and swallowed before speaking again. "We're going to be pirates!"
But the conversation had moved on as Leah asked about Mr. Millegan, and all the better, thought Weedy, since he'd just revealed a secret!
"Wyatt an' I," Addy corrected, casting a glance at Weedy before shaking her head and looking back at Leah. "His rheumatism acts up more now,an' that makes it hard ta move about, so he spends more time in Helena. He's past his eightieth year, though, so I reckon soon he'll be lookin' ta stay there permanent."
The old man still managed to get around and see to his business, but he had a good group of drivers and station masters who assured that things ran well.
Then Addy gave Leah a stern look. "Did ya know 'bout this pirate business?"
"Pirates? Heavens no. I mean, I haven't been his sister but less than an hour. He hadn't share any of his secrets with me to this point." Leah pleaded. Pirates, a boy's fantasy. The high seas, salt air, billowing sails, and the black flag fluttering in the wind as the ship cut through the blue water. all the good, and none of the bad that came with that life.
"But why San Francisco?" She asked, I would think the southern tip of Florida would be the place to find pirates and catch a ship." She winked at Addy, "Isn't that where Black Beard, Bart Roberts and the like are?"
As she waited on Weedy's reply she considered Mister Millegan's health. She had not thought of him as in his eighties. She recalled him coming to Kalispell when she was a girl, a big strapping man driving a coach, how old must he have been then, if he was 'past his eightieth year' as Addy had said. Figuring her age, coming up on her twenty-fifth year, being ten, possibly twelve at the time, he must have been somewhere between his mid to late sixties. She was astonished.
Sit down, shut up, don't touch anythin'
"Oh, um..." Weedy tried to backtrack. "San Francisco is closer, and we really weren't going to do that, we were just talking about...writing a book, like Treasure Island or something." Not exactly a lie. Then his nose wrinkled up as he looked at Leah. "Blackbeard and Roberts both died even before the War for Independence." He did listen sometimes in school, Leah would have to keep her facts straight!
"Well, no pirates," Addy declared, "an' San Francisco has earthquakes...an' there's alligators in Florida, so ya may as well stay here an' face th' grizzlies an' cougars." Picking up her empty plate, she smiled at the boy. "Why doncha go see if Miss Alice needs anything fer Speed while Sissy an' I here do th' dishes."
"Yes, ma'am!" More than happy to have the easier chore, Weedy handed Addy his plate, that was near clean enough not to need washing, then rushed out of the room.
Glad that he didn't have to help with dishes, Weedy ran across the hall, but then stopped at the door to the 'sick room' and knocked quietly before cracking it open.
"Miss Alice? Miss Addy wanted to know if you need anything before we go to bed." He spoke softly, so as not to disturb anyone. "How's Marshal Guyer doing?"